dec, 31st - roaming free....

day 321:

one of the things that Limi will miss about Oz.....

the extra long crawling-runway passages.......

dec, 30th - brunch with bill, jack and jill....

day 320:

there are definitely a few things that we miss by living in London.......views of blue water is one of them....yesterday we had the quintessential view of sun, sails and that blue, rippling water....we introduced Limi to her great aunt and uncle, Jill and Jack......

 and caught up with old friends....

(Limi with her new favourite book - That's not my Tiger)

today.....was another reminder of things that London is missing.....first, some good friends (that now live in Sydney) and creamed corn for making sweetcorn fritters...i miss creamed corn (such a part of my varsity years). we woke up to bright sunshine and strolled from our friends' place down some fantastically buzzy streets in Woollahra to Bill Granger's cafe for a catch-up lunch (oh and some delectable sweetcorn fritters).

dec, 29th - sunshine....

day 319:

pretty.....sunlit and festive Sydney. 

reminding us of what Summer is all about.

we're here for one night to catch-up with friends and family before leaving Oz.

dec, 28th - a day at the beach....

day 318:

i lived close to the beach as a child in South Africa. during the holidays, visitors would flock down to coast from places like Johannesburg and Bloemfontein and we would always be amazed that they would go to the beach even if it was raining and the wind was howling the sand into a dust-storm.....

well today....we were those people. it's been raining non-stop and our raft building is coming along nicely, so we decided to take a break and head to the beach. (the only consolation is that it's warm rain and you're going to get wet anyway....oh and Limi doesn't have to discover the love affair between of sunscreen and sand)

sadly for Limi whether she's in England or Oz, her experience of the beach has been a bit drizzly this year (see day 151)

we finished off our day at the beach with fish and chips....Limi's first. 

(love the curling toes.)

dec, 27th - namesake.....

day 317:

Limi's full name is Lissom (see day 6....hmmm, yes it did take us 6 days to name her). It was her great-grandmother's name on A's paternal side. I had never seen a picture of Lissom but had loved the name from the first time I heard it. By all accounts, Lissom was a feisty lady and raised 4 young children on her own after her husband died unexpectedly from pneumonia. So, a great woman to name Limi after.

Today, I caught my first glimpse of Lissom. A's folks have this picture on their wall from her wedding day.

there are many things that i love about this photo.....

the shoes, the veil, the fact that Lissom is carrying Arum lilies (one of my favourite), a full eyebrow, the shoulder bouquets and that delicate watch worn as a cuff.

it's fantastic to be able to put a face to the name.

dec, 26th - noah's ark and indoor activities....

day 316:

boxing day and the rain since we arrived on Wednesday, has been biblical.....unrelenting and torrential....we even suspect that it may be the making of 'noah's ark 2' or 'the return of the ark'. the problem is that if it is, then we have obviously not been selected as the perfect human specimens for saving.....we will need to fend for ourselves (i once did raft building which may come in handy).

the area that we're in is called the sunshine coast.....at this rate we'll be writing to the tourist board and asking for a refund.....even the snow in London is starting to look appealing.

so, even though there is the hugest backyard, we've been stuck indoors....trying to entertain three children and 7 adults.....there's been plenty of indoor gymnastics, block building and

lego construction.

verandah

hoola-hooping.

and cardboard-car-passage-motoring.

dec, 25th - merry christmas....

day 315:

Merry Christmas!

i hope that your day was wonderful and filled with family, good food, delicious wine and brilliant conversation (and for me this year.....the best gift was a long afternoon nap....after weeks of travelling and time changes, i am feeling a little bit shattered)

instead of snow outside our window this morning, we had these guys instead.....

dec, 24th - music in the blood...

day 314:

although A. and I come from completely different backgrounds and countries (which sometimes means that we speak a completely different language) one thing that our families have in common is a love of playing musical instruments and singing.....between us there are quite a few piano players, a few guitarists, some drummers, a banjo, a flute, a clarinet and a cello player.....(we could have an interesting jamming deciding on a song would probably cause some chaos). anyway....music lessons were a big part of my childhood. like learning to: look after a pet, bake a cake, ride a bicycle.....learning to play an intrument (and read music) is definitely something that we will encourage limi to do....

Christmas time is the perfect opportunity for hauling out the instruments and gathering around the piano to sing some carols. in fact a couple of years ago some friends had a 'bring an instrument' party....it was fantastic....I got to play a trombone which is a amazingly satisfying instrument....it gets rid of a WHOLE lot of stress....

over the last couple of days....music has kept appearing in the house....

Happy Christmas Eve! 

dec, 23rd - cousins in oz....

[Limi with Ella and Theo, Yandina, December 2010]

day 313:

Limi has cousins on three different continents. she's now met two sets and will meet the ones based in Africa in the new year. i sometimes think how crazy it is that she has to fly to see her cousins but then i remember the looooong car trips that we had to do as kids to see ours. although a long-haul flight makes everyone seem so far away, Limi will probably get to see her cousins as much, if not more than we did ours!

i took a set of pics of her with Theo (6) and Ella (9) on their grandparent's sofa at the farm today. similary to these and these, i wonder if this collection of pics will be like these for Limi.

Ella (9) likes:

• playing the cello
• being upside down
• converse trainers
• competitive pick-up-sticks (santa gift)
• headbands

Theo (6) likes:

• lego
• starwars, especially light sabres
• watching tv
• hot toast
• having the biggest present under the tree

dec, 22nd - santa's coming....

day 312:

we've reached A.'s parents' ginger farm up north. we'll be here for Christmas.....it's a lush part of the world, full of ginger and sugar-cane, well-known markets (like Eumundi and Yandina) wide beaches, chi-chi surf shops and a mixture of swimsuit vs farmer clad locals. although we're here to have family time and introduce Limi to her Aussie cousins, we're also looking forward to lots of outside time with Limi and trips to the beach.

but first there's a Christmas tree to decorate......

[Limi with her Aussie cousins Ella and Theo and her Nana]

[Ella as Santa]

[everyone helping out]

[three more sleeps]

dec, 21st - eating sand....

day 311:

i really want limi to love some of the same things that we love. A. and i both love the sea, the beach, swimming and playing games on the sand.

i think limi loved her first visit to an Aussie beach a little too much....she ate what seemed like a bucket load of sand.

dec, 20th - aaah, different lives....

day 310:

we made it to the gold coast today to spend a few days with our friends angie and arran (see angie's fantastic speech tips on day 224). i haven't seen these guys in ages and hadn't met their two gorgeous boys ben and hamish. last time we met up, it was all about travelling, cooking complicated dishes and opening a bottle or two. now..... 

then: pre-dinner cocktails

now: pre-dinner puree

then: flying off to exotic locations

now: flying space-ships in the living-room

then: latest adventure stories

now: bedtime stories

then: taking our shoes off because we've danced too hard

now: taking our shoes off to curl our feet up on the couch

and it's all good!! 

ps. how immaculate is angie and arran's backyard. dream yard for kids.