Car-less

Not until you are truly car-less do you fully comprehend just how much you rely on it. Living as far as we do from the CBD and having access to little adequate public transport for local trips, a car is a must.

With the family in Sydney for the school holidays I am car-less. It's no real hassle as I get the train to work 3-4 days a week normally so 5 days a week isn't that much of a stretch. Where I do notice it is the weekends. I'm very lucky that a bunch of my lawn bowling mates are very helpful in picking me up and dropping me off for bowling engagements, and I'm very appreciative. However, outside of that I find myself walking a lot. Main St for milk, train station fir a trip to town and so on.

It's great to get out and about on foot, but I miss the convenience of a car. Only one more week.

Our first teenager!

Well, it had to happen eventually. Yesterday Patrick turned 13! we celebrated with cake after he got home from soccer training.

He's really enjoying high school and has made some new friends this year. And what's more us he looks like a teenager with his braces ad well :)

Happy Birthday Spud.

Comedy Festival 2011

On Friday night Karen and I went to see Alan Brough at the Melbourne
Comedy Festival. That was not the highlight of the night
unfortunately. While it did makes us laugh in places, it was not a
show I'd recommend. Adam Rozenbachs at Trades Hall I would recommend!

Anyway, we stopped for dinner at Il Tempo in Degraves St before the
show. It's a cosy little Italian restaurant in one the lane ways in
the CBD and the food and service was great. The duck risotto was
beautiful.

After the show we walked around the CBD (it felt like 6 times) looking
for somewhere to have a drink and a chat with the friends we had seen
the show with. We walked not and out of several places after seeing
just how packed and noisy they all were. We're getting old!

We ended up jumping in the car and finding somewhere closer to home -
Switch at Knox Ozone. It was perfect. We had a couple of drinks,
chatted and Karen and I shared a sticky date pudding. It was a great
night and we were all so glad to have found somewhere to kick back
after the show - even if we did discover we're now old :)

First post for 2011

Well, Patrick has started high school this year, and it's already the end of term one next Friday!  He's already been on camp, indoctrinated his new iPad to its life as the possession of a 12 year old boy, and made some new friends.

The three boys are nearing the end of their summer basketball season and have all had a great time.  Patrick will most likely play in the finals and with three rounds to go, Angus and Owen could yet too!

Lily has started at 3 year old kindergarten and is loving it.  She goes on a Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon.  By Wednesday afternoon she's pooped and needs a nap.  She also manages to bring home some sand from the sandpit each day.

Karen is flat out driving the kids between engagements and running the household - with 4 little tornadoes it's a challenge.

And me, well I'm enjoying life back at Computershare and have jumped feet first into my new role.  In some ways it's like I never left.

Here's Banjo!

Here's the newest member of the family - Banjo the Ragdoll cat. You can click on the photos to get full size ones :)

The dreaded lurgy

The Walker household is awash with chest infections (at the adult end of the spectrum) and coughs and sniffles for the kids. This has by far been the coldest winter we have experienced since living in Victoria, and probably equally as cold as the coldest winter we would have experienced in Sydney.

Global warming and the moderating of the climate has seen us sail through the past 6 winters - but this one got under our guard.

One good thing though - Owen hasn't been hospitalised with asthma since May 2009 (touch wood)! So that's a massive bonus :)

While the sun is shining through my office window at the moment (lovely), the 7-day forecast doesn't look quite so promising :(



I'd better bask in it while it lasts.

July 2010

July has been flat out. After coming back from Sydney earlier this month, the boys returned to school and Angus had school camp in week 2 of the term. This was a 3 day/2 night camp at Phillip Island, and I went along as a parent helper with 2 other Dads and 2 Mums. It was a bit on the cool side which was to be expected, but we had a great time. Flying foxes, giant swings and sleeping in cabins witness their mates, the kids had a ball.

The following week the kids all went downhill with sniffles, coughs and headaches, culminating in all 3 boys having a day off.

This is turning into the coldest winter since we moved to Victoria, but we need the rain that's coming with it.

Our veggie patch is ticking over, and without the earth in the air, the veggies are using what sunlight they can soak up and the eater from the clouds and growing. We should get some veggies before Spring and the be able to sow some more - and maybe even set up a second raised garden bed at the same time.

Kids sports on Saturday mornings are keeping us well and truly busy and logistically challenged. The boys are still enjoying their sports, so I suppose it's all worth it :)