iPad - Better late than never (and not a Mini)

Yes, finally took the plunge today. $409 at Meyer in the city, so it was quite a good price. Anyway, discovering a whole new world of Apps, and bought my B&W Photography magazine for $3.49, whereas the paper version is $18.50. Great stuff!

Karla on her blinged-out iPod touch

...Eugene on the iPad and Karin on her iPhone....

Eugene getting into "Bubbles"...

...which is quite addictive, as Karin and I soon found out, haha!

Hawthorn, Corona's and sunshine

So, we travelled up North to my mate, Greg's place yesterday. He cooked a traditional "potjie" (Afrikaner stew), and while we waited we cooled down in his splash-pool enjoying ice-cold Corona's. Soon talk turned to footie and I am now almost a Hawthorn supporter, but still back the Dockers too...darned Corona's! Haha!

Eugene and Karla swam for hours and it turned out to be a great arvo. At some point the Chivas Regal was opened too.

Geno and Dante cooling down. Dante was like a lamb when in the water, but a real hooligan once he got out :-)

The girls cooling down too, with Eugene splashing them as per normal.

L to R: Me, Greg and Trevor prepping the vegies for the Pot. Men make the best chef's...

Aaah, reward for the hard slog in the kitchen. The pool, some icy Corona's and talk about AFL; all good.



Lorraine dishing up some traditional "potjie kos" from the traditional African camp-oven.



Christmas Lunch at Eat Greek

Some quick photo's from today's wonderful lunch at Eat Greek in Freo. I can recommend it, anytime. Great setting, food and atmosphere. The hosts are top-notch too!

(More photo's & a video on Facebook)

Greg, Karin, Briar, Karla and Geno at lunch. It was 39 degrees C, so thank goodness for air-conditioning!

Karin getting right into the Greek Dancing! (as she does :-))

The kids & the Christmas Tree 2012

Karla & Eugene with our Christmas tree, Sunday - 16 December

Karla is really getting very good at playing guitar, and along the way Eugene is getting some free lessons too.

Hatfield Way Xmas Street Party 2012

Last night we had the chance to attend our second Christmas Street Party here in Booragoon, and it was another good one. It started of being quite cool, but got colder and colder as the afternoon drew on. By the time evening fell we had had sufficient port and sherry to combat the chilly evening air. The kids had a great time too, so we are already looking forward to next year, God willing.

Here one can see my car at right, so you can see just how close to home the party was. How cool is that?! 

...taken at ISO6400

Eugene's last day at Buggles Day Care

So, today marks Eugene's last day of Day Care. Next year he embarks on his full-time school journey. In a way this is both a sad and exciting day. He had excellent care at Buggles and the most exciting things about today as far as he was concerned was the cake! Kids.

Eugene with the special cake (blue, his favorite colour) on his last day at Buggles.




The great team who cared for Eugene during his time at Buggles.



Fraser & Letta kom kuier!

Ons goeie vriende van toe ons die eerste keer in Napier gebly het, het gister hier by ons 'n blitbesoek afgele oppad SA toe. Was dit nou lekker om hulle almal weer te sien?! Fraser en Lettie lyk goed en nog net dieselfde. Lettie is nog net so kwaai en Fraser en ek het die botteltjie wyn sommer tjoef-tjaf leeg gehad. Ons sien hulle weer oppad terug (hulle woon nou in Allexandria, Suid Eiland NZ), so sien uit daarna ook.

L to R: Karla, Michiel, Sandri, Fraser, Lettie, Karin en ekke.

A weekend among weekends...

Well, how to start this entry....? At the beginning I guess. On Friday my good mate and long-time AWTA stalwart dropped a bombshell. Did it shock us? Safe to say Rob and I nearly fell of our chairs, or as close to it as "damn it" is to a swear word! Andrew is moving on to bigger and better things, but is leaving behind a void. Fortunately he will be less than 5 minutes away, and instead of the regional manager, he will now be our biggest client. I reckon he'll be a tough customer, haha! Anyway mate, jobs may change, but mate-ship remains.

How did I react? Friday night, no sleep. Saturday, complete revamp of the garden and installed new blinds for the bathroom window etc. Karin and I were totally smashed. And those bloody flies! In your nose, ears, eyes...crickey!...but we slept like babies. Sunday; very slowly got out of bed, stood up even slower and moaned-and-groaned about the aching muscles we'd forgotten we had. To relax we smoked some Salmon, Swordfish and cooked some Boerewors on the Weber (on one of them anyway :-)). Monday, who knows? Anyway, Rob's saying of  "Something big always happens in December" certainly is true again this year.

The back garden, with all the messy bush and crap removed. Some new palms, Kangaroo's Paw and Lavender plants have gone in.

Our trusty "Down Under" gas BBQ and my three Weber's. The green one was a gift from Craig Baker, the red one from a verge collection some months back
and the black one from my dad in NZ. I now need the blue and gray ones, haha!

ilCibo and first summer BBQ - Nice and warm today

So, we've been waiting for a while, and summer seems to have finally arrived. It's been warm before, but you can tell that this is the "real" stuff we're getting now. I already have sun-tanned feet for crying out loud! 

Eugene really enjoys Phoenix Organic Cola, which ironically is from NZ. Tastes great and keeps mister-Gene quiet for a minute or two :-)

He still has the sniffles, and it is most likely hay-fever. Luckily Karla and I seem to not be affected. We were down at ilCibo, a cool coffee shop in Freo, doing our usual Saturday morning chill-out. I worked arvo-shift last night, so we ran a little late.

Our brown-eyed girl, all grown up...

I reckon Karin loves these outings, just to relax, watch people go by and think about nothing in particular (same as me). In fact, I spend a lot of time just looking at her; why wouldn't I ?

So, when the temperature hit 32 I quickly threw some snags and Boerewors on the barbie. Were heading down to the Swan River (Point Walter) at about 3pm. Great spot; will post some pics later. Check the sprinkler going in the background.

The view down to the Swan River (at Pt Walter); just a beautiful spot.

Karla and her friend,Jess, with the river in the distance..

...and a closer-up picture of the buddies...

One of the many picnic areas at Pt Walter

...and one of the play-parks for the kids.

Eugene if fighting fit once more

So, after nearly a full week at home, sick, Eugene is almost his old self again. He just had a bad cold/bacterial infection. Last night he was eating again (only spagetti, but it was a start) and we even allowed them the portable DVD player at the dining room table. Bad, I know, but this is the first time we've ever allowed it :-)

I am also running out of white-board space at work, so finally had to wipe their hand outlines off, but snapped this picture for posterity...

Some B&W Fun - The brief "No smiling"...

Netball Grand Finals - Lost 23-24 against Kardinya. Noooo!

The pre-game warm-up.

...and pre-game coach talk.

Karla putting some "war paint" on Ella.

GAME ON!

Karla did her usual fantastic job defending. Well done my angel!

The parents looking.

GOAL!!

Scott making some running-repairs after Tamara fell.

Scott getting drenched after the game.

Well done Scott. You did a cracking job this season mate. Bloody well done.