Bulb Failure

The tulips were doing so well. The second bulb was overtaken by the first as a strong single shoot sprouted.

Two months later, flowers were beginning to emerge and unravel. We had given up on the third who was struggling to do anything!

So only two remained and then a week without love or  heating (as we were away on our skiing trip), the flowers suffered and withered up. Bulb failure for 2018.

Taking Over the Lodge

Doorack Lodge at Guthega has the capacity to house 24 people. With our extended family plus the Jones/Walter gang joining us this year we took up 18 spots!

The weather forecast for the week was ever-changing so we opted to take a lesson on the first day of skiing which looked like the best. The morning was a little hectic as we celebrated Makhaya turning 12! After present opening, we were all sorted and ready for a day of action.

We decided to book a couple of private 2hr afternoon lessons splitting the group into those who could parallel or mostly parallel and those who were learning to parallel. Everyone enjoyed themselves, improved their skiing and had lots of cues to go away and practice. Andy, Ella and Mia seven tarted to learn how to carve! Post lesson we retired straight back to the lodge.


After skiing, Andy had to retrieve an ever important ball of wool for Ella (who is currently in a knitting frenzy!)  and spotted this little guy. We had no idea that we would be saying hello to wombats everyday!

Oh Snow

Our annual extended family ski week started with a flurry. We were blessed to have had a lovely dump of snow over the previous days and as we drove out of Canberra, the surrounding hills were dusted with snow and sparkling in the morning sunshine - a rare sight!

Keeping a close eye on the road conditions, which steadily improved the closer we got to the mountains and by the time entered the National Park, the main Kosciuszko Road was clear. However at the junction with Guthega Road it was time to fit chains to La La Loopsy. The drive was slow but beautiful. It's not often that we get to see the bush covered in so much white stuff!

By 11am we'd arrived at Guthega, geared up and were hitting the slopes in the sunshine which didn't last long. Over the next few hours we enjoyed a family ski... the only one for the week!

Match of the Year

Cousin Mia plays for Majura Pride in the same division that Ella's team Shooting Star is in. So we (Nana, Susie and us) were all excited to be watching the same game and a great game it was. The final score was 1-1 extinguishing any cousin bargain rights which was nice.

Over the Years

July 2007 the date we moved into our house with 10 week old Ella. It is so great to look back and see the changes we have made. In finishing our most recent project, raised vegie beds, I've taken the time to look back at the faces of back garden over the last 11 years!

Early January 2008 - an overgrown weed patch

 

Early February 2008 - Some sort of structure

Mid February 2008 - Vegie Patch beginnings

Late February 2008 - Vegie patch fenced off and new plants arrive!

February 2009 - Vegie patch going great guns!

August 2009 - New stone path for Pippa to run on!

October 2011 - Filling up with play equipment

March 2015 - Preparing for renovations

April - August 2015 - During renovations 

January 2016 - Post renovations clean up and pond installation

November 2016 - Laying turf!

July 2018 - Raised vegie beds

Done

With the vegie beds done, it was time to redesign the area in front of them.

The top part of the path moved about half a metre across. This allowed the garden bed adjacent to the fence to increase in size. It is looking rather bare after the very sick looking partially dead silky oak tree, my first mothers day present from Ella unfortunately had to be removed.

The spindly rosemary bush was in the middle of the path to the vegie bed so it was also pulled out. One of the blueberry bushes was repotted into the wine barrel. Both compost bins were relocated. The spare railway sleepers were repurposed into step/retaining walls and the soil behind levelled out.

We are really happy with the final result. This spring we look forward to testing out the new beds as well as replanting the grass but this time using the hardy buffalo type!

Season Pass

Making the most of purchasing a season ski pass for Perisher/Blue Cow this year and with lovely calm snowy conditions, we snuck off for another weekend day trip. We met up once again with the Jones/Walter family. The group on several occasions splintered only to regroup a short time later. We lunched at the Burning Log in Guthega. Unfortunately post lunch, I hit the wall feeling sick so skied to Blue Cow and caught the ski tube back to Perisher while the others continued on their adventures. In hindsight I probably shouldn't have gone skiing at all as I spent the next few days at home with no voice. Nevertheless the mountains were very beautiful and we all enjoyed our time on the slopes.

Construction Complete!

Another weekend with a few spare hours allowed us to construct the final vegie bed. We thought we'd get away without having to move the raspberries and rhubarb, but unfortunately we couldn't quite do it, so transplanting was necessary. Hopefully these plants will enjoy their new garden and produce prolifically in the summer.

While digging around in the corner, we unearthed a lonely dirt encrusted Pooh Bear and Paddington that Pippa had taken and carefully buried!

Now to find time to re-landscape the path and surrounding beds.

Winter Skating

For a few years now, Andy and the girls have made their way into Civic to ice skate on the pop up outdoor ice rink during the July school holidays. After reflecting on the previous year and complaining how small and crowded the rink was, they decided instead to go to the proper ice skating rink located on the southside of town. Turns out that Katy got a better offer from a friend for a play date and snubbed the ice skating expedition so Andy and Ella enjoyed a few hours together.

Once geared up, Ella quickly zoomed around the rink. Bored with just skating around, she turned her attention to mastering a 360 turn. As you can see she was pleased with her efforts! The two hour skate was a success and no doubt we will be visiting the rink again soon.

Another Overseas Trip

After downloading Andy's photos from his phone, I'd realised that I'd failed to mention his last overseas trip. For a few weeks last term, Andy was away on a work trip. This time he had a week in the UK which allowed him to spend some time with our friends Robyn, Jo and their two girls plus Stewart, Maggie and their two girls!


From there he travelled to Davos, Switzerland for a conference. Located in the Swiss Alps he enjoyed a few adventure runs up in the mountains.

Construction Continues

Learning quickly about the best way to approach installing the post and sleepers, we managed to finish our u shaped vegie patch in an afternoon! The winter crop is going great guns despite all the renovations around it! Only one more bed to go followed by redesigning the garden bed and path.