Gardening

With the weather starting to warm up it is time to start thinking about our summer vegie garden. We paid a visit to Bunnings and stocked up on some seedlings - tomatoes, kale, cucumbers, capsicum and basil. Peas, beans and beetroot will follow when we clear some space and our storm damaged fence eventually gets fixed.  The dogs like to chew on cat grass so we got them some of that...

 Peter got busy planting it all...

 We have had an abundance of kale over winter which has been made into many smoothies...

 And as always Peter's trusty little helper oversees everything he does...

Adelaide and Ball

Janelle recently had a very busy week. First up was a presentation by her and Emma at the Rural Health seminar about their studies on menopause and Aboriginal women. It went well and was a great relief to get out of the way! 

She then flew to Adelaide to participate in the Uni Games. With her foot being so sore and not being able to do any running training for the month leading up to the games she almost pulled out. But with flights and accommodation paid for she decided to go. Her first event was the 1500m which she led for the first lap but lack of training kicked in but she was happy enough with the result and just running!...

Janelle had a great time supporting the other athletes. She then got chosen to go in the relay teams. She ran in the  4 x 100m and the medley relay where she ran the 200m. Both teams won bronze medals and Janelle was very happy about that!...

With competition all finished it was time to party and dress up for a night out at a Mexican restaurant and clubs (I think the theme was people who help people) Janelle went as Wonder Woman!...

Janelle flew home on  Friday morning and then had a few hours to get ready for the Med ball...

The theme was Soiree in the snow...

With Emma

Janelle and Kyle

A very busy week indeed.

Found

When she is not following me all day and wont come when she is called I know something is not quite right. So I went looking and this is how I found our silly little Bella sitting on Sarah's pile of clothes on her chair. Would love to have been a fly on the wall to see how she got into this position!

A life well lived

We were very saddened to hear that our dear friend of over 40 years had passed away after a short illness. Nanna A lived a truly remarkable and inspirational 98 and a half years. She was a fantastic cook (winning many shows), great sewer, poetry and short story writer, accomplished musician, gardener and used a computer right up until the end. We were very fortunate to have such a wonderful person in our lives and one day we will master that perfect pumpkin scone recipe she gave us! Rest peacefully lovely lady.

Darwin Days 4 & 5

Today was our optional choice day. We had a choice between fishing (up at 4am), crocodile jumping tour or a day trip to Litchfield Park. We chose the park. It was a 2 hour bus trip from Darwin and a good opportunity to see more of the Northern Territory countryside. The short walk down to Wangi Falls was very pretty...

Until you read the warning signs!...

We decided to do the walk around the Falls first as it was getting quite hot then cool off with a swim...

It was so nice walking through the bush...

As we got up higher over the top of the fall the lush bush thinned out but it was still very pretty...

We then braved the water and had a swim with crocodile spotting eyes wide open!...

A caterer had driven all the way out with our lunch which was a huge feast of yummy platters. They had well over catered and when we were told the uneaten food would be thrown we invited all the other tourists and backpackers over for some food. They couldn't believe their luck and it was fun watching some of the backpackers eat enough to last them for another week!...

When we returned to Darwin we went for a walk to Lyons Cottage and bought some jam and sauces made by the local Aboriginal people and had a look at the gallery of paintings...

Corner park near our motel - love the tree roots

As it was Peter's birthday we celebrated with a very small cake after all the food we had eaten earlier...

That night we were taken to the old Commonwealth Bank ruins from Cyclone Tracey and it had been set up beautifully for a dinner and band for us...

The night kicked off with some Aboriginal dancing, singing and music...

After we had finished packing the next morning we went for another walk at Bicentennial Park and also walked down to the beach...

Just enough time for a cuppa with Peter's clients then off to the airport for the flight home. We both really enjoyed Darwin and hope to return again one day as there is so much to do and explore in the area and beyond.