Happy New Year!  This year is already starting to get busy and I thought things were going to slow down a bit but I do like to have things planned and things to look forward to so I'm not complaining but I think my dear husband might think it's a bit much but he will just do what he wants anyway so that keeps us both happy.

Our granddaughter turned 18 the other day and we are all going out for lunch on Sunday and we are looking forward to another day with all the family.  Our daughter in law also has a birthday on the same day so we get to see her too, but what to get them is the difficult part.  I think this year we will give them some money to do what they want with it as GD is going on a holiday with friends so money will be useful for her and DIL has a busy life and probably will use it for a relaxing massage.

The grandchildren about 15 years ago!

The other family news is that our GD got her 1st preferance for Uni so she is very happy.  She got a score of 89 for her Yr 12 so had quite a few options, she was a bit disappointed as she was hoping for a score of 90 but we think her score was excellent and she had worked so hard last year as well as having a part time job.  She is a wonderful young lady and we are so proud of her as we are of our other grandchildren, with our 2 grandsons at Uni too and our other granddaughter doing Yr 11 and she has a part time cake making business which she does from home and makes amazing cakes for weddings, birthdays etc.  As you can tell we are very proud grandparents.

The next big event is Australia Day and we are the volunteer BBQ  cooks for our retirement village.  We have done it every year since we have been here so almost know what we are doing, but the village has a few experts to keep us on our toes!  We do enjoy helping out and everyone is very happy with the BBQ.

Last week we took a day trip to Strathalbyn which is about 70km south east of Adelaide on the edge of the Adelaide hills.  The weather was a bit drizzly at the beginning of our trip but by the time we got to Strath the weather had cleared although still overcast but good for driving and a pleasant change from the recent hot days.

A rusty old car in a paddock

We saw a sign to Crystal Lake so decided to investigate and found some interesting sculptures but the lake was more of a pond, but the area is very dry so the lake has probably dried up.

We continued on to Strathalbyn and had a wander around this pretty little town which has a few antique shops.  The one we decided to look through was huge and like a maze but at last we found our way out but didn't buy anything as now we live in a smaller house and have no room for any extra nick nacks!

Some lovely old houses

Kenny Blake sculpture

The amazing, life-size sculpture took over 3 months to build, using around 4000 pieces of scrap metal and mechanical parts.

An old machine in the park

As you can see, the countryside is very dry in South Australia.

It wouldn't be South Australia without some vineyards

Beautiful area around the Angas River in Strathalbyn

I hope you have enjoyed coming on our day trip to Strathalbyn.

Merry Christmas

 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Happy 2025.

Here are a few photos from around our home and garden which I hope you enjoy. 

They are not special or perfect but our home is our little piece of South Australia where we love to relax when we are not travelling. 

I think I am ready for the Big day- presents wrapped, cards sent, and the fridge is full.  Now I am going to relax and might even have a glass of bubbly.

My wish is that 2025 brings some peace to the world.

 I have had a very busy and interesting month since my last post.  We had a cruise booked since last year and finally in early October we were on our way, to New Zealand.  We had a  hectic time leading up to getting away as there were the usual medical issues and appointments to make sure we had the spare prescriptions as well as enough medication to see us through the 21 days and also the travel insurance to negotiate.  We finally got on the ship here in Adelaide in October and had 3 weeks cruising New Zealand which was wonderful....but we got Covid on the last 3 days of the cruise and spent it in isolation in our cabin which forrtunately had a balcony.  We had been lucky not to have had Covid before and had all our jabs but still we were feeling quite sick and my husband was worse and slept on and off for most of the 3 days and didn't feel like eating which was unusual for him.  The staff on the ship were very good and kept checking on our temperature and making sure we had food delivered even though we weren't wanting to eat much.  When we got back home we saw our GP who gave us antibiotics and within a week we were much better and now after a month we are back to normal, having lost quite a few kilos which is probably a good thing. 

Here are a few photos of the ship and the ports we visited. The only place we missed seeing was Fjordland as the weather was a bit rough but we have sailed there before and were not well enough this cruise, but it would have been disappointing for others that wanted to see the beautiful scenery there.

Wellington

Diamond Princess

Wellington

Welcome Spring

A lovely surprise gift,  Spring time in Adelaide.

The Royal Show ...so it must be Spring!

My beautiful granddaughter

We had a great day at the Adelaide Royal Show. We haven't been for many years but decided to go this year as our granddaughter was staying there with her school in the Agricultural area. She loves animals and one of her subjects involved animals so perfect for her.  They had different clothes for each event and they all looked so very smart.

After visiting the beautiful cows we went to a Grand parade in the main arena, and also some horse events.  It was good to sit and have a rest for a while as it all involves a lot of walking.

And to finish the week , a couple of my paintings.

Have a good week.

Wordless Wednesday

 Linking to Drifting through Life, Wordless Wednesday

A few random photos.

Spring is here!

My first Spring daffodils

My latest card painting

Morning Walk

Another painting