Mmmm snails!

MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS! While you were chomping on... ah.... turkey and ham... we were munching into snails, and let me tell you they were great! Christmas in Paris and having a good time. Yep, wish you were all with me! Funny, love the lights and the cold feel and all that, feels sort of more Christmassy, but being away from home doesn't. Did a few of the main sites today, Notre Dame, walking along the river, eating a not-so-great crepe, and we actually scored an upgrade in our hotel from the turned out to be nice (amazing I know!) French lady in the hotel. Bitterly cold here. Feet and fingers freezing! Couldn't see much of the good old Eiffel Tower today through the fog. Let us know what you are all up to, would love to hear! Love Jodes and Danxx

Merry Christmas

Hi All

What's going on? No new Blogs in a while :)

Well, I thought I would just say that I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Only 5 sleeps to go. Hope everyone gets spoiled.

Cheers
Danny, Bob, Lachie and Kenzie.

Fun at work

This is a couple of pics from last week at work. We were raising money for Make a Kids Day (clown doctors mainly). The first pic is me and my staff at the bank and the other is our Dollarmite Addy (all the kids thought she was Dora the Explorer) in front of the bank car. It was heaps of fun walking down the street with this Dollarmite, everyone was just gob smacked, it was funny, we raised about $260 which wasn't too bad from one day.

You want photos!

Ok what do we have here. St Finbarr's Cathedral in Cork - very cool inside - has a touch of Westminster Abbey to it I think. Where we live on the map, but Danny would already know that (lol). And a portrait of me!

Yep, pictures are ALL MINE

No recent significance with this shot - took it while in ummmmm Egypt. What other photos would you want me to put on this site?

Can't ad a picture????

Hi All

I have been trying to ad a few pics and Ellie, I know you have been having trouble too adding pictures. Apparently there is something wrong with Blogger, I was in their forum and about a million people are having same problem, so my bet is to ride it out and it should get fixed.

Cheers
Danny

Alca-ma-hol...

Hey guys

Just a quickie as there's lots of bumming still to do... only 3 wks to Xmas!! And then it's the NY and I have to start job-hunting! No fair!

Not much going on - in between eating and drinking very well (!), I'm still cruising at the beach, but I'm also teaching myself French from this DVD I've had for ages now - it's really interesting. J'aime la plage! I'm also doing a bit of drawing, which I don't think I've done since high school - interesting too, although think I have a way to go before I'm a particularly good drawer!

Lisa and I had a brilliant bum around and catch-up the other weekend when she was down in Sydney (no pics of Kylie Lisa?). And last weekend Mark and I went up to the hunter valley and did some wine tasting - it was brilliant! I've never done it before, but it was so good and so much fun - I want to go back again soon. I can't believe I lived in Canberra for so many years and never visited the wineries around there! Doh...

Has anyone seen the movie The Corporation? We rented it and watched it again last night - such a thought-provoking movie (although it's a bit propaganda-ist itself!). I just ordered a copy of it online. It really is amazing when you think about how much stuff you buy and how much of it you throw out again (packaging etc but also when you just chuck stuff out instead of trying to reuse it or fix it if it's broken). Was just having a dig around and found this good little checklist of stuff you can do that's really easy to build into your routine. Think I'll go back to hankerchiefs...

Hmm no pics today since the site won't let me upload them for some reason - will try again another day. Take care guys.

Well.... here's some more.

well hello again. Been a little quiet lately... been busy at school and doing some social writing for the paper. Cool thing with the paper is I get to go to whatever social events I want for free (pretty much). Went to the theatre this week, and a wine tasting and the launch of the mini cooper (which wasn't that great... more like a night club and I am getting too old for those sort of things.... lol)
Anyway, to fill you in on some bits: last weekend we went away and stayed in a nearby county called Kerry again. We helped out a mate of ours who is doing his Phd on some sort of fish studies. It was beautiful there but really cold! Nice local pub though, in practically the middle of nowhere! Stayed in our van in the pub's carpark. So windy here lately! Yesterday a guy got blown off the bridge into the river because it was so windy. And I was on bus duty at school which means because these kids have so many 'problems' we can't let the little things walk from the bus to the school building - who knows what they will do or where they will go. So in practically terential rain and wind I had to go out and lead these kids in, bus after bus... lovely!
Taking it easy this weekend though. The pics are us at a lake on Kerry, the lake, and Dan and some of our mates in a pub on his birthday.

Me Again

Don't know if you all know, but my brother Ben and sister Jessie were personally invited to compete in the World Line Dance Championships in Nashville next December and I have conned Bob into letting me go with them. I am pretty excited. We were all going to go but it would have cost way too much, so Bob has agreed that I can go as long as I take Lachie, so it was a deal. I still have over a year until we go, but I am already planning where I want to go (Nashville will only be a small bit of the trip for me - line dancing isn't really my thing, i'm just the fan club - lol). I want to try and get an around the world ticket so I can come home via London (hopefully arrange to see you Jode), Dubai and Hong Kong. Anyway, hopefully I will do it this time, everytime I arrange to go on a big trip, something comes up and I can't do it. Well, just wanted to share that with y'all.
Oh, this is a pic of Lachie and I at Whiteman Park in Perth, he thought the steam train was Percy (from Thomas the tank engine).

Bye.

Hi All

 

Well thanks to Ellie, I have discovered how you are all able to sign in and do posts in your own name rather than using my e-mail address to log in. I have sent “invitations” to you all which you can accept and set yourself up a google account. I just did it for myself, it was pretty simple.

 

See Ya’s

 

Danny

Hey guys

Well had a great day of bumming yesterday :) Did a bit of touristy stuff, cos I still feel like a tourist here! Did a wander around near circular quay, to macquarie place, which started as the garden of the 1st government house in the 1700s. The anchor from the sirius is there, which was one of the ships in the 1st fleet - interesting, it looks so dodgy and hand-made! There's also this little obelisk monument from 1818 I think, which they erected to mark the point from which all distances to other towns were measured - it's this incredibly plain looking stone thing, which apparently they hated because it was too ostentatious! Here's a pic. The first street light in Australia was also put in there - it was lit with whale oil! Yummy!


Then went to the Museum of Sydney, which is built on the site of the first government house, which was built in 1788 and pulled down in 1849 or something I think. It's pretty cool - lots of stuff on the early governors and convicts, and the aboriginals point of view of settlement (invasion?). They've also marked out in different coloured granite on the pavement in front of the musuem the original outline of the house where the foundations are, and the black grid is what they used to excavate the site in 1990. Looks like they've got a great cafe there too, so will have to check it out sometime.


Then Mark and I went to see Sarah Blasko last night in Newtown - she was good, really enjoyed it - a bit more rocky than I was expecting. Crap support act though - he got the shits because the audience wasn't responding to him enough - get a grip dude...

Correction

Hi All

Just for those that don't know. Ki is Angela Lovett's baby. Angela is now Angela Ward and Kate is now Kate Dunn. Kate only has two boys, Joey (3) and Harry (1).

Cheers
Danny

Xmas pics!

OK, now I'm on a roll... just found some pics from Denmark at Xmas last yr - Jodes, Daniel, Mark and I went over from London. Here's us pissed as on Xmas eve night in this little pub near our hostel:









Here's us actually at Xmas lunch at this massive buffet in Copenhagen (complete with zany hats, which I think we had to bring - can you remember Jodes?). Xmas eve is much bigger than Xmas day in Denmark, so we did well in the end to find a big lunch like this as most places were closed - well done Jodes.

Here's a couple of snowy pics:


Now it's off to bed - I'm tired, it's hard doing nothing all day ;)

bits & pieces

Hi guys

Hey I just made myself a contributor individually to the blog instead of through your email Danno. Just means I don't have to remember your email address ;) And also that you guys can tell it's me that has posted. It's in the admin settings if you want to do the same.

Also, just changed it so that only the last wk's (7 days) postings will be shown on the front page - think it was getting a bit too long!

Woohoo! Bum-time...

Yay - first work-day where I didn't have to go to work! :) And it was sooooo sweet. Bummed around all morning, then went to Balmoral beach in the afternoon, then dance this evening. Bring it on! Although I've got another stupid dentist appointment tomorrow for another filling, which is crap :P Cracked me up last time - horrible as it was, just because it's the dentist, I was halfway through getting this horrible filling and I just had this thought of how funny the dentist actually is. It's like some old medieval tortune scene with someone strapped down in a chair and tipped backwards, and 2 people standing over them shoving all kinds of drills and suction devices and other instruments of torture into their mouth!! But I didn't think it was that funny for too long...

Leaving work was so fantastic! I have worked there for 5 1/2 yrs now, and I was so over this office down here - all the problems here at now someone else's to fix :P Had some good farewell stuff - drinks and lunch and stuff. The guys got me a day spa voucher for this place in Turramurra - looks brilliant (hehe website's pretty dodge though), and the voucher's for $200!!... although then I had a look at the prices and it's like $175 for a single treatment!! Better be good...

OK, so here's some pics from me - sorry I'm so unorganised and it's taken so long. There was this sculpture thingy on near Bondi on the wkend, which Mark and I went to check out. I got a bit sunburnt in the process - very naughty :( Here's the 2 of us - sorry didn't get a pic together - how stunning is the ocean and sky?!



Here's one of the sculptures - these crazy little iron guys, I think at 50% normal height so they look like you've got a widescreen field of vision. They were cute, I liked them:









A couple of wkends ago we went up to toowoomba for a friend of Mark's wedding - here's a pic of Mark and I from the top of this lookout near where the reception was. Toowoomba was pretty nice - everyone had told me it was really crap, so I had low expectations though ;) It was like a green, scenic, possibly more affluent Junee...

So that's enough pics for now I think. Will comb through other photos and put more on at some point, and hopefully have some good sydney ones after some serious sightseeing in the next few wks... ;)

Take care guys - Ellie xox

Hi All

Did ya's all have a good weekend. Nothing overly exciting here. We went to Warwick on the weekend and did a little christmas shopping. It was actually the first time we had taken Lachie out without a nappy on and he had no 'accidents' for those without kids this is a big deal :)
Today Bob turned 25, so we went out to this nice cafe for lunch and then she went to the movies with a friend of hers.
I applied for another transfer on Friday. The job is as Business Banker in Wagga. I'm not overly confident or excited, because it is a completely different role to what I am doing now, I simply applied because I desperately want to move closer to mum and dad (i know, I am a big baby). It's been 7 and a half years since I lived in Junee or Wagga so the prospect of moving back is kind of exciting.
Well, I have my little girl trying to grab the keyboard and it's driving me nuts, so i will chat to you all later.

Ki & I

10/11/06

The Wards

Hi everyone

This is attempt 2 as my first go failed. This is Kiandra 3months old hanging out at home.

Mackenzie

I couldn't resist posting this picture. This is Mackenzie being sprung with all her toys on the floor. She cracks me up, she'll crawl over to her toy box and not touch anything and just suck on the chain that connects the lid to the box, when I finally catch her in the act i'll post that pic.

Snowing

I didn't believe it when I saw it, but it snowed three times today. Here is some pics I took at home at lunch time today, it was snowing pretty heavy, but only lasted for a few minutes before turning into rain so we didn't get much ground cover.

You asked for photos!

Hi guys,
I am attempting to put some photos on. And hey - I logged in! Woohoo! Just some photos of Ireland really, from recent trips. Went to the Blarney Stone and kissed it - you guys heard of that? Prob you have Danny, suppose to give you the gift of the gab when you kiss it - guess I didn't need to kiss it really. Also went for a weekend away in the van around the Ring of Kerry and went on a few bushwalks. In one pic, as you can see, well that's the thing, you don't see much at all! There's also a cool stone fort there... something like 1000 years old!
Talk to you all soon online...
JodesX

My Turn

Hello everyone, I'm glad you all like the blog. We have one for my family and one for Bob's family so I thought it'd be fun to set one up for us, it'd be esepcially good for you Jody so you can show us all your pics from your world travels. I nearly put in for the Branch Managers job in Broome the other day, but mum cried when I told her so that's not gonna happen now, I'll still wait for a Wagga transfer, I hate waiting :)

This is a pic of Lachie with all his Thomas toys (mind you this was taken two months ago and I swear his collection has tripled since)

It's a start...

OK guys. I am the most computer illiterate of all of us so... how do I sign
in? After stupidly writing the word HYPERLINK for the username loads of
times, then realising I had to write something else... I still can't get in.
Can you please spell out clearly what I need to do to sign in. :)
You all sound so busy! I'm off to an international night at church and have
to bring food from our country - what do we have that no-one else claims? I
am attempting lamingtons - my sponge looks like a biscuit base :( and my dip
at least will succeed!

Nice to hear from all of you. This site is a great way to find out what's
going on with you guys - Danny, you've done a fantastic job!
I am working as a special needs assistant at a school for kids with mild
intellectual disabilities (and that's using the word mild mildly) as well as
writing a social column for the local newspaper and other freelance bits and
pieces from time to time. At school I have been slapped across the face a
few times by a kid with down syndrome... but there's no hitting back (even
though I want to). It's a challenge, but in a strange way I enjoy it. It's a
nice change and also glad I am doing a little newspaper work as well.

Getting pretty cold in Ireland now, and slowly doing some travelling. Been
out in the van a couple of times (yep, the one with the bed in the back).

Lisa, don't envy you at all with uni stuff... and rub it in Ellie about time
off!!!!! (not that I can really talk). That trip to the dentist should have
brought you down to earth. And Danny... love the pics!

Hopefully someone will enlighten me on the password and I will post some
photos soon... back to the lamingtons. Love JodesX

Lisa is in da house

Hi guys! Yes I too have made it here onto the blog. What a great idea Dan - now we just have to get the word out some more. nothing much happening here, busy spring cleaning. Actually I have been stressing a bit about what to do about uni, but it is all good, turns out I don't have to complete my masters, I will shortly qualify for a graduate certificate - which is a relief because I really am just finding it that little bit too hard to juggle study and work. Not to mention sporting activities, weekends away plus renovations - the list is never ending and somehow study was always the last thing to be done, so it had to go. I am thinking though I might take a side-ways shift and move into teaching - adult education like TAFE preferably, but at the moment I am just thinking about it....I think I will enjoy the time without study for a while though (don't let me put you off though Dan - my priorities have just changed!). Anyways, enough serious stuff, here is a pic of Glenn and I on Holidays at great ocean road - good times.

Hi All, just found out that if you send an e-mail to summerells1.juneefriends@blogger.com it will automatically post it to the new blog.

 

Danny

Hahaha - better!

How's this Danno - just had a play around with the templates etc. It's still a bit green, but less chunky than before - thoughts?

Ellie's post!

Hi guys

Yay, I'm the first non-Danny person to post... Well Dan I have to say this is great timing - I have 3 days left of work before I become a jobless bum for a few months, so will have stacks of time for posting pointless stuff on here with lots of random pics too :) Like the boring pic on my MSN, I've gotta pull my finger out and find some interesting pics to send to you guys - we go through phases where we take heaps of pics and then don't touch the camera for months. So get ready to be spammed... :)

Unfortunately right now though, it's off to the dentist for me...!!! I won't be able to talk this evening since I'm getting a filling and my mouth will be all numb and drooly. Mark's getting his wisdom teeth out as I type this too so will be shitty as all hell tonight too - we're going to be a great little household! Soup for dinner tonight!

Take care guys.

Btw Dan, can we change the background etc so it's not all green and chunky?

This pic of Mackenzie was taken the same day as the one of Lachie. She is a real cutie. What you don't see hear is that less than 10 seconds after this pic was taken that flower was nearly devoured be her, but thanks to some quick maneuvering by myself, I avoided a potential mess.

This is a good pic of Lachie at Tenterfield Creek on the weekend. It was such a nice day and we had heaps of rain the day before so the creek was nice and full (you can't see it real well, but that is a small waterfall behind Lachie).

Hi welcome to our new blog

Hi All, I thought I would start a Blog so that we can all upload our pictures and share them since we all don't get to see each other often. You can post pictures or just write stuff and post it on here plus you can add comments to any of the posts. It'd be great to see a few pics from everyone. This is the first pic of Myself, Bob, Lachie and Mackenzie when we were in Perth in August, you can't really see the bright lights of Perth very well behind us, but trust me when I say that it's an awesome view.
C Ya's