My Hometown ....

It's the last day of February so I thought I had better get my act together and do the challenge for the month.
Here is my 'current' hometown ALBION PARK RAIL.

The collage shows - Warilla Beach, Lake Illawarra, a view of the area with the red arrow pointing to our house and Minnamurra Rainforest.

I chose here for my hometown for several reasons....
Firstly when I moved back to Sydney from the bush in around 2002 I could afford a house here and be mortgage free.
I loved the 'open country' feel of the area and when I came down to look for a house, there was a girl walking a horse down the street - it made me feel right at home.
It is between the rainforest and the sea - 10-15 mins either way AND it was near my best friend Maureen who lived in Kiama.
So - I bought a house here at 'the Rail' and settled to my new life as a 'single' person.
Although there have been some changes to my original plans, it it has worked out well and I am happy here.
My DD Tracey and her family now live in my house and I share a house just a couple of streets away with my mate Maureen.
The beautiful Lake Illawarra is just 5 mins away and I love to look over it as I load my shopping into the car in the carpark of Woolies at Shellharbour Square. I also trundle down to the lake with my kayak and have a paddle sometimes - not as often as I would like.
If you look closely (click to make it bigger)at the lake photo in the collage you can see me paddling in the distance!
Just an hour up Macquarie Pass and you are in the Southern highlands towns of Mittagong or Bowral with their tulips and crisp autumn and winter (brrrrrr) days.
I like to 'adopt' a mountain range for mine - in Narrabri it was the Nandewars - here it is the beautiful Illawarra escarpment - so clear and crisp with the morning sun on the rock faces.
I now work 2 days a week just 10 minutes away in the picturesque old town of Kiama - life is good.
This is a shot of our house with it's lovely reserve out the back. We don't have much yard here but then who needs one when I can just go out the back gate with the dogs and we have all of this great area to walk?

Lastly a few more photo's of the area.

Yes there is a railway station here - Albion Park, but I usually catch the train the next station up - Oak Flats. It's a two hour trip to Sydney.
We also have an airport here - the Illawarra Regional Airport.
There used to be a QANTAS fight direct to Melbourne but we lost that a few months ago. The airport is home to HARS - the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society. The big hangar houses 'Connie' the only Super Constellation flying in the world. I remember seeing the '3 tailer's'at Mascot when I was a little thing. They also have a wartime Catalina flying boat, a DC3 and a couple of other historic old aircraft down there. The weekend is busy with small aircraft overhead practicing their 'stalls' etc plus helicopters and ultralights. There used to be a jet joy flight company called Topgun which was a bit noisy but they have moved on in recent months.
Then there's Kiama as I mentioned earlier. It's just down the road with it's trendy growers and craft markets on Black Beach. Zara and I love to go and feed the seagulls and pelicans.
Then sunset on Lake Illawarra - to get that shot, we went and sat by the 'Ski Gardens' with a glass of 'bubbly' and some nibbles waiting for the sun to set.
As I said - life is good.

Our first photo

 

Look at this.
Due in September!
Any bids on the gender?

Learning the basics ....

 

Zara was very efficient at washing up her breakfast dishes this morning with a little held from Mardie.
As you can see the hard hat is essential wear.
She always gets it for me to wear when she arrives and she usually wears a yellow Bob the Builder one.
Now it's time to hang out the washing ... another life skill.
Ho hum eh?

Go the soft focus - there's life in the old girl yet!

 

The pool is a great place to be on these hot days.
Harry is very confident and we had great fun doing 'monkey monkey' around the edge.

Look at me .....

 

Harry loves glasses! And, here he is in Mummy's.
Quite studious I think perhaps he is going to be a scientist?

A weekend at Old Bar

I hopped on the train at Oak Flats on Friday morning at 8.45am and arrived at Taree at 5.10pm. It was a 'cool' ride and I read, slept, did word puzzles and did some revision on chorus songs. What a way to spend the day! I arrived rested and ready to spend a couple of days with the family. Here's a new photo of the boys.

This is a nice one with Henry the Lab which Katrina took in December last year.
Ben the eldest is holding Harry and Sam is standing at the back while Nick is on the back of the bike.
This morning, Nick and I set off into Taree armed with the newspaper and the GPS.
Not too much on offer but we managed a few toys for Harry and some clothes for Zara. We stopped for a drink at Maccas on the way home and Nicks comment was - 'we spent more on two drinks that we did at the garage sales!'
Oh well that's the way of it sometimes.

Brad and Katrina have gone out for dinner and a movie while Nick, Sam and Mardie are Harry sitting. Then tomorrow morning - the train epic again.
It's been a short but nice visit.

Happy Australia Day

 

We had breakfast in the Park at 7am on the foreshores of Lake Illawarra.
It was a nice cloudy morning, good music and a tasty $3 breakfast which was put on by Shellharbour Council.
Then home for 'Cockies Joy' - damper (cooked by Maureen)and golden syrup - YUMMO.
I even found some TOY boys! Everyone was having fun.
Now off to have a 'nanna nap' before heading off to sing at an Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony with Wollongong Council.
Happy Australia Day to you!

Strutting our stuff ...

 

Here we all are
singing up a storm.

Maybe we should recruit these
transient visitors to become members
of the Chorus?

Congratulations Cobie and Joseph

 

Wishing them health and happiness
in their lives together


Here they are
Mr and Mrs Harradine

A very special 'sing-out'

 

This afternoon, under the trees at Jamberoo Valley Lodge, members of Wollongong Harmony Chorus were priviledged to be able to sing at the wedding of one of our special members.
Cobie was the 'baby' on the risers until recently and we have watched her as she has developed into a beautiful young lady and a confident member of the front row.

Look ...... Magic!

 

It is time to 'thin' the carrots.
We pulled one out - washed it in the dogs water bucket and presto - crunch.
Zara thinks it was worth the wait.
When to we pull some more Mardie?

Who remembers 'Curly Pet'?

 

Mardie had fun curling up Zara's hair when she was looking after her last week.
I thought it looked cute - mother was not too sure though. LOL
Here she is sitting with Tammy our Siamese who is becoming quite tolerant of her (most of the time)and enjoys a gentle pat.
They were sitting quietly watching Iggle Piggle and 'The Night Garden'
What do they see in it I wonder?????

New Year at Old Bar

 

New Year at Old Bar was a quiet one with the family having to come to terms with the death of James, Katrina's ex husband and father of the three boys Ben, Sam and Nick. He was killed in an accident on his motor bike on the 22nd of December.
The family took comfort in watching Zara and Harry playing together and opening their Christmas parcels - Zara managed to put on four or five pairs of undies while Harry put his on his head - how often children can 'normalise' our feelings.
Nick was sporting his 'shark' bite - it was really caused by the fin of his surf board but he likes the shark story better. Here is a picture of his suture line the day that he had the stitches out. Then it was only two more days and he could get in the pool!
Sam looks a bit like Al Capone in his 2nd hand hat from Mardie and there are the 'kissin' cousins' - cute eh?
Harry enjoyed sharing Aunty Leelee's icy pole but wasn't too keen on staying onshore with Mardie while big brother Nick and Daddy Brad went off in the kayaks to set some crab traps.

Memories of Christmas 2008

 

Here are a few images of Christmas at the 'Rail' 2008.
Zara enjoyed opening her presents and we all enjoyed watching her.
Bailey thought the pink tent was pretty good too.

Carols with the Wollongong Harmony Chorus

 

Being a member of Wollongong Harmony Chorus is great fun - especially at Christmas.
At Christmas, the chorus sings carols at various venues such as shopping centres around the Illawarra.
Here we are today, singing at Dapto Mall.
It's great to watch the audience, especially the children who sing and dance as they enjoy the music we make. WE all enjoy it too and it's a great way to recruit for new members. As you can see, Helen never misses an opportunity!
Five more sleeps until Christmas!
Where did the year go?

That man in the red suit ....

 

Oh my goodness who IS that? says Zara.
I don't think I like him too much even if he does come bearing gifts.
BUT, I did eventually end up waving to him (from the distance) and blowing him a kiss!
I liked his sleigh and all the tinsel and he gave me this cool backpack with some gardening tools and a car.
Maybe he's not so bad after all.
Mardie had fun!

Just what IS supposed to happen?

 

Look what Mardie bought me yesterday!

 


Reckon it was worth $5?
I do!
I wonder how I can share it with cousin Harry?

Mardie's Helper ...

 

Zara loves to help - especially when there is water involved!

Christmas Tree's

Here are a couple of Christmas trees.
The first one I took at Circular Quay last weekend.
I was realy taking the blow up 'Boy with Swin Ring' which was kinda different.
Not sure of his significance really.
Must take a ride in one of these 'green' taxis! Saw some in Melbourne when we were down there last month.

 

This tree was in Melbourne .....