Christmas over and done with, a threatend cyclone over Christmas did put a slight damper on procedings, but not enough to stop our christmas day bike ride with the 2 younger boys on their new bikes.

Still working hard which is a very sweaty process at theis time of year, not liking my shirts sticking to me when out on the road visiting clients.

Life is plodding along for us, the boys are back in school. J gets assistance in class now he has his statement of educational needs after being diagnosed with Aspergers.

Hoping to be finiding out if a move out of Darwin is on the cards by June/ July time. If so we will move during the summer hols. Hopefully to Melbourne.

The biggest news we have is my sister is coming to visit us in March, so i shall take some time off so we can have a good time showing her the sights of Darwin.

Not much else is happening just living life and putting up with the humidity as best we can.

Mandy  

Well it doesnt seem that long ago since we rushed through immigration in St John's (unexpected stop) and after a brief stop at Halifax landed at Fredericton Airport without any luggage other than our hand luggage Shame I had booked a huge GMC Van with the capacity to carry 8 suitcases plus hand luggage

For us it was almost text book emigration, landed on Saturday Nov 5th, two interviews scheduled for Tuesday 8th Nov, one job offer 11th (with a 24 hour limit within which to accept it) and a second offer the following week). Started working on the 21st of Nov, brought a house and moved in on the 17th December .. One mad rush to say the least. If you are interested in more details of the past see the archives on this blog (it goes back to the early days).

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We had the usual wobbles and homesickness and I am not sure everyone is out of it yet. The pangs still seem to well up when watching something on BBC Canada. For me I am a total convert, my life here is far better than it was in the UK. I have a 15-20 minute commute to work, I really enjoy my job, and I have a chainsaw .

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We are now Canadian Citizens, (since october 2010) and have had the opportunity to vote in the last general election and the provincial election. My daughters first experience of exercising their civic duty (as I told them ) and after they were pleased that they had voted.

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We have volunteered at several local charities (something we didn't do in the UK. I believe purely down to more free time here), we own and use chainsaw, axe, gas powered lawn mower, snowblower, snowshoes, cross country skis you have to get out an embrace the winter otherwise you turn into a hermit.

Observations:

• Most of our friends are from away, our neighbours are friendly enough but they have lots of friends and dont need any more LOL
• We have become use to all the adverts on TV (muting and unmuting and having a conversation while the ads are on)
• We celebrate our Britishness probably more than we ever did in England, and try to make sure our daughters know their UK history.
• We have developed a liking for BBQ ribs
• We like walking in the wilderness and not hearing any traffic noise or aeroplanes flying over head
• We love the house and the space it offers, the size of the garden etc...
• I like the woodstove and the changing of the seasons, each one needs preparing for and it gives me a sense of ease as we move through them.
• Because I have more time I find I do more DIY fixing (not necessarily the things Jules wants me to do) I have learnt how to repair car body work, re-polish headlights, repair basic problems on the cooker (stove) and grow our own vegetables.
• Teenagers/young adults, university, college etc is expensive regardless of where you live.

Every year we have held a huge bonfire party on our Canniversary, we have had up to 75 guests, but this year it was a small family affair (I am sure we will regret it ). Nice and cosy just the four of us, some hot dogs and a burger. Next year I expect it will be back to the Whelbourn Canniversary Bonfire party with a real crowd of people.

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Anyway I have to dash, must put the finishing touches on winter preparations. The garden furniture is safely stored away for the winter,  I have winterised the lawn mower and brought the snowblower out of the shed for it's annual pre-winter service. I need to get the woodstove stoked up for this chilly evening (-2c), it has been colder but today the temperature hit 13c (well above seasonal).

No this isn't the start of Ian Drury and Blockheads song (thats part 3 ), but if you want to listen click here

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Nearly a month has passed since my last post and a lot has happened in that time. In September I did my now annual(4th year running) volunteering as an MC at the Fredericton Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival. This year I was promoted to the HooDoo tent  where I opened up Thursday night show, great night had by all. Friday I was back on the Queen Street Acoustic stage introducing a band 'Freisia and the Offsprings' a Father and son and daughter band. I am not sure if you remember but I introduced them about 3 years ago and my observation is that most of the show I open the stars are older, greyer and shorter than last year, but this group are taller, hairer and still young. Very impressive performances by all.

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I am not sure if you are aware but the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival (a 5 day event) is manned by volunteers. Over 1200 in total and they do everything from security, driving, stage managing, bar tenders, door / ticket sales, sound dudes and MCing. The performers love to come because of the volunteerism makes it very different.  This year a couple of UK bands came over and BBC Suffolk also attended and put together a report broadcast a week after the event.

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Family are busy as bees, the big news is that Kathryn was given a place on the Nursing Programme and now she is busy studying to become a Licence Practical Nurse  Julie and I are so happy! (putting it mildly), we had kicked up quite a fuss when she was turned down AGAIN. I thought 'sod this' and called our MLA (similar to MP) and complained. He intervened and I made lots of noise about complaining to the Population Growth Secretariat (truly it does exist) regarding how can they encourage immigrants and then their children not get the educational opportunities. Any she started and life is much more settled.

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Gemma is busy starting the third year of her applied arts degree and participating fully in the autumn flu season!

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Jules is designing like crazy, perfecting her own designs, pattern and dressmaking skills.

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Final reason to be Cheerful - we had a backed up sewer problem, i.e. flush toilet and it goes nowhere infact fills with water. After investigation and some calls to Steve at "Ready John" (honestly that is the septic cleaning service name) we came to the conclusion the pipe between the house and septic tank was blocked! so I remembered my UK drain rods  (I knew I brought them over for a reason). I waited overnight to let as much as possible drain away before using a rubbermaid plastic storage bin as a collecting container and slowly undoing the inspection hatch on the septic pipe. The challenge is that all other drainage pipes are higher than the inspection hatch (see below). This means once you unscrew the hatch all the waste water empties out

Anyway to cut a long story short, I successfully dealt with the spill (without too much mess), and cleared the blockage! So saving a couple of hundred dollars and proving that drain cleaning is the same in the UK and Canada .

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we have a Turkey dinner with all the trimmings and I'm (yes me) making a pumpkin pie. I will be taking a list of things to be thankful for and getting the others to contribute theirs.

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One final note on the veggies front. We had a -6c Frost on wednesday night which finished off the cucumbers, peppers and squash plants. I will be sure to position the peppers and tomatoes in a better place next year, and start cucumbers early. On the bright side we will be eating our own cabbage with Thanksgiving dinner (must be saving us a couple of dollars ). Like the UK we are having a bit of a heat wave, today is wall to wall sunshine and 27c feeling like 29c and the forecast tomorrow is sunny 21c.

After Irene smashed the Tomato plants and the Squah plant about we have suffered another downfall. Woe is me, all of my tomato plants have bit the dust (so to speak). Tomato Blight struck a week ago and the plants quickly went down hill (as plants can do). I think we had tasted about three ripe ones, before the plague struck. Apparently there is a lot of it about this year (dampness and splashing dirt up while watering keeps the lower leaves moist giving ideal conditions for Blight!

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Oh well the cucumbers are growing like crazy (no flowers yet I was very late planting them). I have three Spaghetti Squashes which look like this:

and apparently when cooked taste like...... Yes you guessed it Spaghetti, here is a recipe we will be sampling from. The Leeks are nearly ready to harvest and the brussel sprouts probably won't reach maturity (they need more sunlight) because we are getting our first frost tonight and they are very small.

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We are recovering from watching England just beat Argentina in the Rugby World Cup 2011 (phew it was a close call). For those of you here in Canada TSN2 (channel 105 on Rogers) look like it is showing most of the games (unlike Setanta which have none). So enjoy and I suggest you get some sort of recording device unless you dont mind getting up at 3 or 4am to watch your rugby.

Hurricane Irene is bearing down on New Brunswick (well technically, up if you are looking at the world and North is at the top) but the forecast is showing a couple of inches of rain plus moderate winds. I am not sure what a moderate tropical storm wind is? Oh well, I will be taking precautions, lashing down the chairs and BBQ, covering the woodpile (which has been drying nicely).  The USA seems to be evacuating all the low lying areas near the coast.

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It is official, there is a New Year in the Whelbourn / Chinese Year Calendar. The Year of the Earwig .. and it started in 2011. I have never seen so many Earwigs, and Jules has developed a new skill "Earwig Whispering", she can spot them from 400 yards and they seem to love to be around her  (only to be killed)

 For those of you who love Earwigs here is a photo.

This year has also seen the extended Mosquito Season, it normally ends in the middle of August, But probably due to the wet summer they are still very active and we are still fully participating in Mosquito feeding. I think I have said before that there is a difference in Mosquito feeding habits later in the season, They come up and bite immediately, in the early season they seem to know they have plenty of time to waste and fly around you to annoy you and tease you (a bit like a cat with a mouse). Early season biting is a game between you and the Mosquito, involving lots of high pitched buzzing and waving of arms. Late in the season it is all stealth and slapping after they have bit you , all we can do is spray on lots of 'Off' to keep them Off! (I have ran out of pickling vinegar - which works too)

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Gemma had her registration day yesterday at the New Brunswick College of Art and Design. She is in the middle of an Applied Arts degree, and having completed the two years of University study into classics and literature, anthropology etc.... she is moving to two years at the College to complete her degree. She is all excited (like a kid going to school) hence the title back to school. Apparently she is taking sculpture the first semester, move over Micheal-Angelo.

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Work has been intense the last couple of weeks and I am now on holiday (vacation). We are just pottering around the house, harvesting the veggies (the Beets were excellent), the brussels are starting to sprout and I have created a support for the Squash (an sort of netting bra type affair to stop it drooping too much  and breaking its stem).  I am already planning the next years upgrades and I have started to build a raised bed 8'x 4' in a sunnier spot. The late cucumbers and carrots are growing quickly in the green house (I may put in a kerosene heater to extend the growing season) and my tomatoes are just starting to ripen. .

Veggie Patch Update:

Today I harvested six cauliflowers from the veggie patch. There was a variety of sizes and a range of whiteness  I did tie the leaves together over the top to stop the sun from turning the cauliflower green (apparently they change colour and one or two of mine had started). All in all a good harvest. 10 minutes ago I had finished preparing them for freezing and popped them in the freezer! We are looking forward to eating our own cauliflowers through the winter.

My husband is a Chartered Structural Engineer currently on a renewed One Year Work Permit

Sent completed forms off 21st May 2009

Forms Successfully delivered on 25th May 2009

Forms sent back due to incorrect payment meathod, by personal cheque on 23rd June 2009

Forms posted off again with Bankers Draft 24th June 2009

Forms Successfully delivered on 29th June 2009

E-mail reply from Centralized Intake Office 17th September 2009 telling us we can't apply for PR this way  Silly me forgot to send in the LMO.    Begging e-mail from me sent the same day saying that I was going to send the LMO asap and asked them not to send everything back.

Cheque for refund received 6th October 2009 but no forms, now I have to fill them all out again!!!  Lucky I took copies of the last ones, hey.

Resent application 18th November 2009

Receieved the 120 day e-mail on 26th January 2010.  Woo Hoo!

Collected all the information and posted it off to London, UK.  In time for the 25th May 2010 deadline.

Received File Number from London 6th June 2010 by post

Medical requests received 12th May 2011 by post after we had sent an e-mail because our eight months were well and truely up.  I think we helped to push them along, don't just wait!

Passports requested then sent off 6th July 2011

Shiny VISA's in our passports 5th August 2011

Just need to land and get the PR card

Beautiful weather here in New Brunswick +30c at 10am today, lots of sun. This last week has comprised of hot sunny days punctuated by big thunderstorms with lashings of rain (sounds like an ice cream). Anyway it is very good for the Veggie's they are all growing and I can see a glut of tomatoes and lettuces.

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I spend a week on the cabbage soup diet and lost about 8lb (about because I didnt weigh myself first) and it wasnt too hard, even though I was sick to death of cabbage soup by day 5. I am planning to run a cabbage soup diet week once a month to help reduce my weight.

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Our winter fuel (wood) arrived today. We use about 2 cord a year (1 cord = 128 cubic feet of wood). However this last winter we probably only used 1.5 cord. I still ordered 2 cord this year from Rob the wood man ($260 per cord). There I was stacking wood after he dropped it off .... sweating like a pig. Thank god for the pool

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The big surprise this past weekend was Chris (Kathryns UK boyfriend) asking me if he could marry Kathryn...... Five years we have been here and they have been (virtually) going out for about 4.5 years, although they met in college in the UK. So I said yes (and thought "at last") and then I took them all out for a meal at the Mandarin Palace (the best chinese restuarant in Fredericton). Then on Sunday we combined an "out of the blue BBQ" with champagne (Moet no less) and celebrated the engagement with friends.

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I worked all week fixing up Kathryn's car, that had failed the Motor Vehicle Inspection test. Fixing up the exhaust and both sills (lots of pop riveting and filler). Any way it passed yesterday so she is mobile again. I can hear Jules saying "Thank God"

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Life is good, I feel accomplished, a veggie grower, car fixer, Ace Greek Salad lunch maker, and holding down a day job too!. What more could a woman want

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Jules has spent the week doing double duty also, single handedly decorating Kathryns house before they arrived (Chris and Kathryn spent a week in Montreal together before coming to Fredericton). As usual she has done an outstanding job. She has also managed to complete another dress design and the result is outstanding (I am hopeful that one day I will be the kept man while she makes dresses for the rich people).

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Tonight we will be eating Chicken and Moroccan Rice with healthy brown rice option(yum). Then if the thunderstorms hold off we will light a fire in the fire pit and sit toasting some marshmallows and perhaps hotdogs too. Tomorrow is forecasted to be 24c (cooler) and I will be mowing ALL the grass (all 1/2 acre of it).

Well it is now July and we are experiencing sunshine and hot temperatures (at last). The black fly season has passed (just) and we are in the middle of Mosquito blood donation month.

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The Veggie patch is growing like the clappers! Below are a couple of photos.

Veggie Patch growing like crazy.

Three Pepper plants with lots of flowers (hopefully later peppers).

The following are growing:

• Tomatoes
• Peppers
• Beans
• Leeks
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Brussel Sprouts
• Beets

We have already been harvesting the lettuce which seems to be encouraging them to grow even more. We are looking forward to more harvest and I am planning to double the output next year. I have been using the Dig for Victory guidelines to help plan the veggie patch and I want to get up about half the 90x30 size they recommend.  It is all about learning how to grow your own food (and getting another hobby besides blogging and working .

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The family are all well and I believe the sunny weather makes people happier.

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The above ground Pool is up and we have been enjoying it when the water temperature hits 24c (or when I convince them that the temperature is really 24c

Well hello............ yes I'm back again.  I know I say it won't be too long and I promise I'll write more often but to be honest I don't think I can keep my promises any more.  I'm just going to be honest with you and honesty is certainly the best policy in life............lets be honest......lol.

So whats Cassie been doing, well we've been on holiday to Las Vegas and that is its own blog entry, so hey here it is, the whole story about our fantastic holiday!  We have been to Vegas before back in 2004 but this is Vegas and it changes a hell of a lot.   My whole entry could really start at the airport, at the end of the day this is Cassie and if it didn't involve an ounce of "drama" there would be something wrong.

So we get to the airport with plenty of time, because as as a traveller I want to be there well before the check in desk even opens!  We walk up to the desk and she checks the passport then asks us for the ESTA.   Both Neil and I look at each other rather puzzeled,  I look at the clerk and say "Sorry what's an ESTA"  The only words I heard the poor girl come out with is "I'm sorry but you can't fly today without it!"  Yes WTF very nearly came out of my mouth but it wasn't this persons fault.  We had booked our holiday with Sell off Vacations, we went in one of there stores as both Neil and I hate booking 'important" things over the internet.

Lets just flash back to that moment for a second.  It was one bright Saturday sunny day and we decided to go and enquire about booking a holiday in Las Vegas.  We had gone to enquire at West Ed Mall on the Thursday but Sugar Daddy didn't have his credit card with him to book (don't worry I used the term Sugar Daddy for comedy effect, he doesn't acually play that role very well) So lets get right back to sell off Vacations where we are greated by I think a seven year old sales assistant.............. no sorry..........my mistake that was her daughter.  So as you can imgaine the lady wasn't quite paying attention to our "British Accents" which should in theory set some sort of alarm bells that we would need a ESTA so lets give her another chance.  So we are asking about hotels and I stress.............I mean totally stressed that I didn't want to be in a crappy hotel.   She suggested Bally's, so not having Trip Advisor on hand or any other means I put my trust in this sales lady.  We show her our passports when we book, erm yes we show her our passports.  cough cough.   No.......I don't think she has noticed the colour.   The next part is just great she hands us a print out of our holiday details and the toner has nearly run out, some parts you can't even read.  I should have known this holiday was going to be fun.

So fastforward........................have I got you.  Great.  So we are stood at the check in with the desk clerk telling us that it's ok there are machines that we can get these ESTA's from it can take a few mins or 72 hrs..... Hang on, what did      she     just    say.    SEVENTY TWO HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I mean that would mean we were not going to go anywhere.  I nearly started crying. 

If you're bored and want to know more about these ESTA's that set you back $15 here you go https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

So, me at this point is panicing like a good Drama Queen, trying to punch my details in this stupid touch screen, will it or won't it let me travel today.  If I give it a kick, will it work faster?  Hey lady please don't walk away I need you to help me, which button do I press......oh crap 72hrs, as tears start falling down my face.  My helpful lady pipes up and insists that I complain to Sell off Vacations as they should have informed us.  At this moment in time I could have very easily have wrapped my hands around that sales persons neck (the sell off Vatation one).  Neil presses enter on his and not moments after he gets his ESTA I press enter on mine and nope I have to bloody wait WTF.      For the record, mister machine now waving my right hand at it! I don't do waiting at the best of times and to be honest now is not the greatest time to ask me to bleeping WAIT.

Every second drags, I think after 10 mins I get the all clear.  As they feel sorry for us they give us the extra leg room seats which is great, right at the front and my 6 foot 7 husband is very happy.  Now we are waiting to go throught security clearance.  I get to the screen and there is this big fat mean guy staring at me.  What are you going to America for?   I kind of looked shocked......... for     for   a vacation I reply.  How much have you got?    erm      $800  I think, yeah $800.  Put your four left fingers on the panel in front of you.     Now I don't know why.......I really don't know why but I put my god damn four Right fingers down........ yes I did.  "YOUR LEFT FINGERS" he states firmly.   I could have dropped a dump in my pants, he scared the crap out of me.  then we moved to the thumb  I swear if he asked me if I was English I would have replied I think so, he made me that nervous.  So my holiday or vacation if you want to be Canadian about it, started with a bit of a bang.

The flight was fine, we got picked up at the airport and taken to the hotel and we walk through the doors.  Immediately we get grab by this old lady, well you can't be impolite to the ederly can you.  She says that the line up is far too long at check in right now and we should come speak to her about some free show tickets.  Well we're in Vegas, this kind of thing that happens.   We are shown a selection of shows and trips that we could have for "free"  and yes I'm started to giggle..... no one ever gives things for free what's the catch.  No catch she insists, all free.   After a while I can't be bothered and want her to cut the crap and ask her to spit it out.  She proceeds to tell us that all we need to do is watch a 120 min video and all is good.  We get to say no and have our free tickets.  I was getting bored and just gave my details along with Neils $40 for transport and walked off.    We check in but don't get our room key, so we hand in our luggage to the bell hop and walk out the hotel having to come back again in a couple of hours for our trip out to see this presentation.   I'm getting increasingly upset about this now, getting a really bad feeling it's making me sick.  We get approached by another freak saying the same thing to us.  He holds us up another half hour.......we are surposed to be on holiday and everyone wants to suck up our time on these presentations that yes if you haven't guessed already are timeshares.  I nearly have to get rude with this idiot before he stops and gets the message.

We head back to the hotel and now I'm feeling terrible, there is something that's now saying DON'T DO IT.  It's really overwelming that as i'm walking even closer to the lobby I feel so sick it's intense.   Something is telling me not to do this, and I feel such an urge to listen.  Now how the hell do I get out of it, as we are being frog marched to the mini bus.   Come on Cassie think!   

I look at Neil, "I don't want to do this"  all have in my head right now is that this mini bus is going to pick us up and take us $40 worth of mileage away from town.  They could do anything, who would report us missing we have no family in Canada, would our work collegues miss us...... oh god I feel sick again.

The man is talking to us, it's going in one ear and out of the other he was talking crap anyway so who the hell cares.  A mini bus pulls up with other suckers on it, I don't want to be another sucker.  I'm going to stand up.   I walks up to one of the suckers and asks them what they had just had to endure.   The guy didn't seem too bothered.  He said that they start off nice and towards the end they are really mean.  They treat you like crap and say you are cheap.  I'm on holiday I thought........I'm not having someone bully me when I'm on MY holiday.   I turns to the guy and tells him that I'm getting a bad feeling about it and I'm not going to go on his minibus.  I hand in all my vouchers to the silly old woman with the most stupid job in America and we get our $40 back but to be honest I feel annoyed we got "roped" in so to speak.  Thinking about it I should write and complain to Ballys, I thought it was a part of the hotel, the way it was first handled.

Moving on,I managed to win money probally over $100 but not too much over.  There was a slot machine called the Godfather and he loved me.

Would I go back to Las Vegas, to be honest no.  The whole place seems to smell of cigerette smoke even outside.  It's really quite bad.  It wasn't as good as what it was back in 2004 but I think that was before the celebrity scene got into full swing.  Would I ever stay at Ballys again......No the place is horrible and noisy.

So here I wrap up my blog entry.  There is more but I'm getting tired and I'm not as witty when I'm sleepy, so see you.

 x o x o

That has flown over, cant believe how quickly it has gone.

I did put the boys into private school the best thing ive ever done. Life has been plodding on. I started work in November first as a home and community care coordinator on 25 hours and im currently working as a case manager for the elderly on community care packages in their own homes. Love the role im only covering for matrnity leave on 30 hours a week but secretly hoping the girl doesnt come back and i get to keep this role. The company is known in a few states around oz but our Darwin office is certainly not the best and has a big retention issue with staff.

We enjoyed our holiday in cairns and meeting up with some expats up there.

V and the boys are now oz citizens but i still have around 3 years to wait. I still get frustrated with Darwin especially with the health care. J has been waiting for formal assessments since we arrived and we are now having to go private to get this done as it is stalling how much he help he gets in school.

Ive had my own health issues and had a few addmissions into hospital and the expereince has not been then best. Although im fine with living in Darwin for now, i know it is not the place i want to put down roots. I look forward to eventually moving on .

The eldest is on a school camp at Kakadu, C goes next month after the half term hols.

V goes on exercise for most of the school holidays which stopped our plans for a holiday in Melbourne. Was looking forward to that as well. We are now planning on a short holiday in the gold coast in the october school hols and then in the summer going to melly. Certainly need to escape from Darwin.

WE have explored litchfield national park over the easter and public holidays and really enjoyed ourselves.

Ive not really had any homesickness, although on occasion ive missed certain people.

My life is in Australia now and i feel happy to call it home

My last post was April 2nd and full of snow, and here we are at the beginning of June and everything is green, the veggie patch has been planted, the grass is growing so fast you can almost see it and it is Blackfly and Mosquito season (AGAIN).

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You can always rely on the regular rythmn of nature to take you through the year.

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List of things we have done since April 2nd

• Re-surfaced the biggest hardwood floor in the house. Julie stripped the old varnish, I sanded it down, we applied 3-4 layers of varnish using squeegee type pads, and then I sanded it again (fine sandpaper) to get rid of the imperfections and Jules put down the last layer by hand with a brush.... She is a hero! - Looks great too
• Submitted tax return, and received a refund (again)
• Set up Kathryn's old Green House, dug, prepared and planted a veggie patch. Roll on the harvest!

• Road trip to Collingwood and back (heck of a long drive)
  • Visited Toronto and went up the CN Tower
  • Visited Niagra on the Lake and Niagra Falls
  • Drove through the USA and re-entered Canada at Gananoque (pronounced Gan-a-nock-wee), took the 1000 Island Tour (where 1000 island dressing was invented).
• Mowed the lawn 5 times (feels like 10, and it needs doing again)
• Went fishing  from a Canoe on the Meductic River for Smallmouthed Bass (yesterday). My observation is that Small mouthed Bass have a very big mouth! Yes and I received the obligatory sun burn

beached for a break on an Island to Fish a pool so I snapped this

Jaws 3 -  Good Job I have an armour-plated thumb

• Gemma's new boyfriend called David (Canadian from Saint John), came round for dinner, he seems like a nice lad (good name after all), albeit quiet, but it is hard to get a word in at our dinner table when the Whelbourn's are in full debating flow (no it isnt arguing it is reasoned debate).
• Kathryn has added to her menagerie with another dog (Buster). Another SPCA special (apparently from Bathurst and understands French, so she has a bilingual mutt). He might be bilingual but he is as thick as a plank, loves to chew and dig. Kathryn brought him as a companion for super intelligent Millie .....

• Also anyone who received Jule's Christmas letter would have known that Kathryn has a couple of cats! I found out this weekend, and threw the predictable grumpy response, which is why I wasnt told. I was heard muttering something about stupidity and crazy cat woman.  

PS

Happy Birthday Dad!

So there I was last week watching the snow disappear from the roof, snowdrops and crocus's flowering, the grass even looked like it was getting ready to turn green!..... Then yesterday we received a snowstorm that deposited 20-25cm of fresh wet heavy snow.

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Thank god for my trusty snowblower  I am sure it saved me from a heart attack this morning.

I was just getting use to walking around the garden looking at the snowdrops and crocus's in flower and now there is a blanket of snow 20-25cm deep.

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Oh well it will all be gone in a couple of weeks (hopefully).

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This year we have decided to plant more vegetables, but to speed things up (because of the short growing cycle) we will be buying seedlings rather than growing from seed ourselves.

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary, 29 years and I am sure there were a few who said it wouldn't last.  We will be hitting the Mandarin Palace (again) to see if the quality of the food is the same as last time.

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Who knows maybe this time next week I will be bringing out the lawn mower for a service.

Today is chill day in more ways than one. I am resting after working on the basement yesterday morning (I boxed in some ventilation pipes (it has only taken me 3 years ) and the weather is bright and sunny, blue sky and bloody cold in the wind!

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Everyone is moving along fine, Gemma has a relatively new Boyfriend (David) and she seems smitten(ish). She has told me to be nice to him.... as if I am anything else but nice . She is still working hard putting in 30 hours at MacDonalds, studying full time at UNB and looking after a horse... I dont know where she finds all the time from.

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Kathryn is still studying Chemistry and recently received a B- in a mid term paper (much to the surprise of everyone in the house - even Kathryn). She is also still busy working, studying, looking after two dogs and generally managing a life on her own.

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Jules is designing new dresses like it was going out of fashion (no pun intended). She put together her latest creation and I was VERY impressed. My new ambition is to be a kept man.

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Me .... I'm as busy as ever, working hard, not playing much , and I have just started to study for certification in Programme Management. No rest for the wicked.

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Well we have an election in May and as citizens we are all eligible to vote. I don't think the election will change much here in the terms of seats. One thing about minority government, not alot can be changed. I have come to the conclusion that this is a relatively good thing if things are pretty stable. I believe Canada has only fared well in the global recession because it wasnt able to change the rules for the national banks etc...

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Well have to go, time to get back to my studying, and tax-returns this afternoon. One thing I have to admit, I love the Canadian Revenue Agency, every year since being here I have had a tax refund!

Well one week can make a real difference in March. Here are a couple of photo's exactly one week apart

5th March 2011

12th March, the thaw started on Sunday 6th March

The thaw has triggered the sump pump in the basement, it has been going every two minutes. So far so good (no flooding in the basement) but the hairline cracks in the concrete floor are darkening ..... Typically when the pump runs every one minute (i.e. it only takes 1 minute for the sump to fill up) the basement will start flooding via the line between the basement floor and walls. Fingers crossed  it will hold it's own and the thaw will slow down to give us a dry spring.

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I forgot to mention that for Gemma's 21st birthday we visited the Mandarin Palace in Fredericton (at last a relatively authentic Chinese restaurant ) See the photo below . I had a nice crispy beef and asked for medium spice level (so the others could sample it).

It has been a busy start to March (in like a Lion) We had a party to go to last night one of our team (John) a consultant from Ireland was 50 and he put on a big party! Crowne Plaza probably about 40-50 people with a buffet dinner, disco and casino with monopoly money. A good time was had by all, I think we got to bed about 1am.

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Well thats it for this post, we are all still busy (which is good).

Seems like the Groundhogs were wrong. They unnamiously predicted a end to winter and POW the temperatures plummet well below normal and we have two more snowstorms. The latest drop 30-40cm of snow Friday and early Saturday morning! I have just checked and the snow plough has been so the roads are clear.... just the drive to clear now.

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This last couple of weeks have been busy at work and Jules is designing her own dresses and she has been fending off cabin fever by creating some new designs. Yes cabin fever does exist and normally starts to show around mid February / early March (after the 2 weeks self confinement due to the coldest part of Winter end of Jan beginning of Feb) people feel restless about being shut up during the last cold snap of Winter.  So the plan is to get out tomorrow and go Snowshoeing....

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Yes I know I have said this several times the last few weekends but each time the windchill was excessive. Today it is -10c with a windchill of -21c so no fun walking around outside. But tomorrow forecast is -8c and no wind. The plan is to get out tomorrow. OK have to sign off and go clear the drive of about 40cm of snow (it drifts onto our drive). Have fun this weekend and think of me clearing snow and then getting out and about tomorrow.

Since we arrived in November 2005 our experience tells us that the last week of January and the first 2-3 weeks of February are the deep winter months. Bitterly cold and often with some wicked windchills. This year has been no different. The snow has been coming down in weekly storms, gradually building on the previous layer. I think 2007/2008 Winter had more snow, but this year it has been arriving consistently.

Here are some photos:

Home from the front

Looking down to the Shed.

House from the Shed at the bottom of the garden.

Path to the deck, notice Mount Colossus on the right. That is the snow removed from the deck. Every year we have given them a new name and this year we felt Colossus would fit the bill. I think last year was Superior? (check the archives)

Path to the front door (still with several inches to clear out).

The forecast tonight (Sunday 13th Feb) and tomorrow is for another 10-15cm  of the white stuff. Next weekend we are definitely going snow shoeing

Here is Jules taken while walking around the beaver pond at Mactaquac

This was taken 19th December, there hasnt been a thaw since then.

We are starting to plan our vegatable garden (wishful thinking for spring), especially as the weather forecasting ground hogs have all agreed it will be an early spring. LOL sure it will

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On a seperate note, Kathryn (in her infinite wisdom) decided to get a companion for Millie (her German Shepherd cross) and now she has two dogs (Dad was speechless). The new one Chester and looks like a Pointer cross. Another rescue dog from the SPCA. He may have difficulty understanding what we are saying (He has no idea what we are saying when we call him) because apparently he came from Bathurst which is in the French speaking part of NB. Perhaps I should try adding a French accent on for effect . "Bonjour Chesterrrrr, Bon Chien" ... OH MY GOD he responded to Bon Chien.... I have my work cut out to make him bi-lingual (perhaps he could get a good job if I am successful).

OK time to go help Jules with Sunday dinner (roast beef and yorkshires ) I hope you are all ready for Valentines day?

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Oh one more thing, my friend Matt in the UK sent me a link to a Youtube video of a Beefeater providing some tourguide expertise. This guy is funny and worth seeking out all four parts of his tour.