An Update On Meow

Hi There,

Thought it was high time I presented you all with another post. It's been ages, and I feel, as usual, like I've been neglecting my blog friends.

So, what have I been up to ...

Well, it was my mum's 60th birthday on the 2nd March, and I spent some time putting together a huge collage poster of photos of her, and stuff that she loves. It turned out great, she cried (she cries at the drop of a hat ... she is a very emotional person !!) ...

It was a lovely party, mainly just family and some close friends ... about 20 people ... we put on a bbq and salads, and stuff ... yummy ... drinks, music, and good old fashined fun. We bought mum this concrete garden statue / ornament thingy, which she loves (once again, she cried ... not sure why, but she did LOL) ...

My poor Mitsubishi Magna finally gave up the ghost. It had been regularly giving me various problems ... overheating, strange noises, brake issues ... this time it was the automatic gearbox ... nothing worse than driving an automatic, which chooses not to use all it's gears, and screams then clunks quite violently into the 3rd gear, all the while putting out a smoke screen whilst stuck in peak hour traffic ... at least no-one could see me LOL. Not nice at all. It did bring things to a head, and we went out and quickly bought me a new car (well, a used car, but it was new to me!!). It is a gorgeous burgundy/red coloured Daewoo Lanos 3 door hatch. It is a 2000 model, with only 74,000km on the clock. It had only had one owner, and all the books and service details were there. We got it for a song. I looooove my new car. It's a 5 speed manual (the Magna was an automatic), and it is such fun driving it, as it is a zippy little car.

The weather has been horrendously hot lately. For the past couple of weeks, it has been in the mid to high 30s ... that's really hot, people. No rain, very dry, and horribly hot. At times, it was also windy ... it was like being in a furnace ... yuck !! Fortunately, a cool change (finally) came through yesterday, and it was a pleasant mid-20s today. Aaaah, much better !!

Yesterday, I picked up Clare O, a friend of Clare's, from London. She was staying with some friends in Bulleen, whilst visiting Melbourne, during her 6 week trip to Australia. We went for a drive to Frankston, where there was a Sand Sculpture Exhibition. The exhibition was amazing, and the sand castles (if you can call them that) were incredible ... all in the theme of Fairytales & Fables. Here are a few photos of my favorites ...

This first one shows Clare in front of the Wizard of Oz sculpture ...

This next one depicts May Gibbs Gumnut Babies ... taken from an Australian children's story .

This one is of the characters from Dorothy Wall's Blinky Bill stories ... another Aussie story.

Puss in Boots ...

Alice in Wonderland ...

This next one was huge, and featured many of the stories from Mother Goose. There were so many things to see, we just had to keep going back to look for more ... just amazing.

Hansel & Gretel ...

Little Red Riding Hood ...

Three Blind Mice (part of the Mother Goose sculpture) ...

Goldilocks & The Three Bears ...

When we had had our fill of admiring and photographing the amazing sand sculptures, it was most definately time for lunch and an eagerly awaited drink (it was still way-hot at this stage ... the cool change hadn't quite hit !!). We went into a restaurant on the foreshore, and ate with our eyes ... we ordered too-big pizzas, which we had to take the remainders home with us. They were yummy, and the cold Pepsi's we had with them were great.

After eating our fill, we headed back outside, where the cool change had hit, and it was now blowing a gale !!! We walked out on the Frankston Pier (getting slightly sand blasted as we traversed the beach), staying near the railing, for fear of being blown over the edge !!! The wind had chopped up the normally calm sea (part of our Port Phillip Bay), and there were waves and white-caps. Fun !!!

We decided to head back to the car, and took a scenic route through the countryside, ending up at Lysterfield Lake. Whilst I actually live quite near to this beautiful lake, I had never actually been there. Now I know what it is like, I will for sure go back. There were people swimming (it was more sheltered here than at the beach, and it had gotten a bit warmer again). It was just lovely.

Back into the car, and over to my place, where a long cold Pepsi was waiting for us ... sightseeing sure works up a thirst !! We chatted for awhile, I shared some of my photos from our travels, and then back into the car to take Clare back to where she was staying, so she could catch up with the people she was staying with !! I struggled with some peak-hour traffic coming home, but not too bad. It was a great day, and I must say, Clare is a lovely person. It felt like we were old friends, and we just chatted away all day. Thank you Clare, for allowing me to be your tour-guide for the day, it was a pleasure !! Here is a photo of the two of us in my lounge-room, before I took Clare home !!

I went back to work today, for my last day until the week starting Monday 7th April, which is after the school holidays (the rosters aren't done yet, so am not sure which days I will be working).

Hubby, Chicky and I are off this weekend to Bonnie Doon for Easter, then back home for a day or two, then we pack the car for a 10 day camping tour around the country-side ... we are doing a couple of days in the Murray Sunset National Park (Vic), a couple of days in Renmark (SA), a couple of days at Lake Mungo National Park (NSW), back into Victoria for a night somewhere, then down to The Grampians for another couple of days. Should be quite a lot of driving, but a lot of exploring, and guaranteed ... a lot of photos !! I'm sure we will have a ball ... just the 3 of us. Can't wait.

So, enough from me for now ... I would like to finish by wishing you all a Very Happy Easter. Stay safe, and happy, and enjoy the extended long weekend. Oh yeah, don't eat too much chocolate !!

Till next time ...

Take care,