The Donaldsons in Oz

Strong winds, rain, floods and 12 degrees sounds like Scotland but is actually Melbourne! At last the catchments are getting some decent rain with over 100mm in the main catchment dam for Melbourne in the last 24 hours and lots more forecast. (the dams are still only 29% full which I find slightly worrying but people here seem relatively relaxed about?)

The ski season started early here too with all the ski reosrts in Victoria having loads of snow over the last month…..I suppose the good thing about snow is that it will eventually turn into water. Mount Bulla, which is a couple of hours drive from Melbourne, was nearly wiped out with bush fires in February and is now a winter wonderland of deep snow.

Still we are now nearing the end of our first month of winter with only 2 more to go then we head into spring which means nicer weather again.

We’re having Christmas in July next Saturday with our friends round at ours for turkey and all the trimmings. K and Mhairi are busy in the planning phase already….I even think the crimbo tree and decorations are making an appearance! – I’ll post some pics after the event.

Alan

We just had a lovely weekend in Ballarat. We were staying with Amanda, Kirstin’s friend from Mothers Group, and her 2 daughters. Although it was very cold we had a very relaxing time.

Ella had a ball as usual and just didn’t stop all weekend. All the kids were great and the adults had a good time too, with good food, good wine and good conversations. Today was spent just reading the weekends papers and eating homemade scones. Not too much exercise though…mental note to myself……I must start running again!

Alan

Saturday morning included a visit to our local Toy Library to do our 2 week swap of toys for Ella. For $50 per year we have access to 2 small items and 1 large item every 2 weeks. This week we returned a tractor and cart with animals, a leapfrog pad and a vanity unit and mirror. In return, we now have a set of building blocks, a schoolhouse and a slide. The slide and the blocks are a real hit…so much so we may have some problems taking them back in 2 weeks!!

Sunday morning involved meeting up with Mark, Fiona, Aoife (Fi’s sis) and Hugh for brunch at Carousel which is a lovely cafe set on Albert Park lake. It was a chilly start so we were all wrapped up, including Charlie in a hat that his Grandma Donaldson knitted……

Alan

This may be hard to believe but I’m at last re-engaging my brain post babies……It may be a voluntary position but I’ve found myself a little job managing the database of our local Toy Library.  It’s an interesting role as they’re currently undergoing a huge membership drive and switching over to email driven contact and campaigns (not easy with a computer that’s seen better days).  It’s hardly back in the ‘rat race’ but it’s a start!
K

Ella’s quickly approaching her second birthday and her language has been constantly improving with more and more words every day…in fact she repeats anything we say now! We need to be careful.

Recently she started finishing sentences in her books and humming songs and over the last couple of weeks has now mastered singing songs! So all day K has the pleasure of constant renditions of Twinkle Twinkle and Incey Wincey Spider….it brings a tear to the eye.

A

Typical…..follow Scotland for years with the Tartan Army, watching defeat after defeat. World ranking 86 then….I move to Australia and we start winning – world ranking 14!

Still if we qualify for the finals it may be a good excuse for another TA adventure…

A

It may sound odd but we’ve been fish-sitting for our friends Neil & Kirsteen.  It all came about after Ella stayed overnight at their place so we looked after them when ‘mum & dad’ were home in Scotland.  But tonight they had to go home….I think Neil’s been growing increasingly concerned about their welfare as he’s been trying to get them home since Saturday!  Now they’re gone Ella will probably have a renewed interest in them and her softie Daddy will end up in the pet shop…..

Kirstin

Ella was delighted that her little buddy Hugh returned from his holidays this week. All the time he was away she kept telling me ‘Hugh Holidays’ and ‘Hugh in Fiji’ quickly followed by ‘Mummy Ella Fiji’. If only she understood Fiji is not a bus or tram ride away. Similarly Hugh asked for Ella every day and got quite distressed one day when he spotted a pair of red crocs (the same as Ella’s) on the beach to which he stated ‘Ella shoes’. His mum said is took some convincing that they weren’t actually Ella’s and she wasn’t in fact somewhere on the beach. They’ve delighted in each other’s company since being re-united!

Kirstin

Charlie had his 4 month check-up on Monday afternoon and he tipped the scales at 9.035 kilos and is 69.5cm long already!  How do we breed such big babies?????  He’s a healthy, happy soul and they’re pleased with his progress.  Starting to cut teeth too and the nurse reckoned his first ones will be through within the month.  Our baby is definitely growing up……

Kirstin