Sunday 31 March 2013

Easter Day

Happy Blessed Easter everyone.. hope you're enjoying a lovely day with family or friends.
 
These cow slips are a little pressie from my DH..
For those of you not from UK they are a wild flower and used to grow where I played as a little girl.  I used to pick some to take home, but this is not allowed these days. You can buy them from specialist growers.
A non calorific present!
But I did have some little chocolate bunnies from my step daughter, five, which I have eaten!
 
We are having a family day with the tradition Easter lamb dinner.. here is Nell on the stairs wating for hers!
Happy days!


Chris xx

Monday 25 March 2013

Back to my home town

Our B&B overlooked this beautiful beach, however it wasn't calm like this.. the waves were high and the wind wipped up the sand on our legs. It was bitterly cold, but we still enjoyed our long weekend in my home town of  Porthcawl.
This last weekend was my annual visit to put flowers on the graves.
One afternoon, we sat in the car drinking foul coffee from a burger van and watched several surfers and felt the cold for them!
How could they stand the cold sea?
The coffee was scalding hot so kept us warm!
We had some lovely days just enjoying the sea air, listening the the calls of the sea gulls and eaing ice-cream.
This is the light house on a rough evening.
 
The town is different to when I was young and living there,  but there is still the same haberdashery shop there after all these years. I spent quite a while in there and bought a some pretty scissors and yarn to knit myself a jumper.
Once again we looked at the price of houses there, when I have visited there,  the pull to go back is so strong, although I think of where I live now as home. The town where I was born will always be my first love!
 

Chris xx

Monday 18 March 2013

All part of our holiday.

My DH had to see penguins. This was taken on a reserve during the day because you are not allowed to take any photos when they all arrive from the sea at night and waddle up to where they have their burrows. DH had paid extra for us to be in a small group with an individual person telling us about the penguins. We had front row seats when they emerged from the sea. They looked so funny, all waddling along at quite a pace and some a far way to go up the sand hills. It was late at night but there was low lighing along the wooden walk ways so you could see them quite clearly.
 
All the birds were beautiful.
This a rainbow lorrikeet, so pretty as are nearly all Australian birds but what a noise they make, unlike our UK birds that sing,  these squawk! Don't those figs look yummy!
This was in Hanhdorf, it was a super place where we stayed more like an apartment than a B&B
And I went back because I wanted to see my friend Jenny again. This is us in her garden.
Gosh I really do need to lose weight! My greatest failing is butter so I am going cold turkey and giving it up!

Chris xx


Sunday 17 March 2013

Australia, just a short note

 
Lots of photos but I won't bore you with them all, just a few to show we were in Australia, so me paddling in the sea at Queenscliff.
 
And on the little train in Cairns going up to Kuranda
And what you expect to see in Australia, this little fellow was woken up for us at a koala reserve.
Mike feeding a wallaby, they were so tame they came right up to you.
And a different view of Melnourne from the river, we had an afternoon cruise.
All in all we flew to Melbourne, then flew to Cairns, where we visited the rain forest and the Great Barrier Reef. We then flew to Adelaide and drove to the pretty little German town, Hanhdorf where I met up with my friend Jenny.. then we drove along the Great Ocean road stopping at Portland where we drove off into the outback to visit my cousin Lance and his wife Coral.. which was lovely.He drove us all around his farm to see his 150 cows! We met up with some other relatives at Queenscliff for a picnic all organised by Linda.. we ended up visiting her and DH Idris on our last day as they have the most gorgeous home set in the woodlands of the Dandenongs. It was a perfect end to our trip, lunch on their veranda, such a beautiful day.. I don't suppose we will ever visit Australia again, it is so far to go and does cost a fair bit, but worth it. It was an amazing holiday and the sun spoilt us for the dreadful winter weather that greeted us here when we got home.Roll on spring !!