A weekend away

We've just had a very busy weekend without our kids. The boys went to my mum's for the weekend to be spoilt rotten (junk food, late nights etc) while we went away to participate in the Ballarat belly dance bazaar.

I learnt lots  in a couple of belly dance workshops while Stu learnt lots visiting the homebrew shop and gathering items so he can  start brewing soon. We then took the opportunity to shop for bulk bargains that are hard to find at home, stocking up on cans and dried beans to get us through several months of from scratch cooking.

After delicious cuppas and cake with Kim, who was to perform with us, and her hubby, we readied ourselves for the evening. 
It was a great night.  We caught up with dancers from all over Victoria, watched some terrific dancing and helped raise funds for the Ballarat NICU. I love being able to watch and support the range of amateur and professional dancers at these concerts and then have them support us - that's what its all about, sharing in the dance community. 
At last it was our turn.  We dumped the nerves beside the stage and did our best.  I think we did very well.... You can watch it on our website or youtube if you like. 
It was wonderful to share the joys of performing with Stu and then celebrate together afterwards. 
Tired but relaxed on Sunday, we said our goodbyes, pottered around a local market (bought a new plum tree for the mini-orchard) and came home.

At home we managed to get some more work done on the new veg beds before the boys were dropped home. It was so good to see them. 

Needless to say, we all fell into bed very early and slept soundly in preparation for a new week.

How was your weekend?

Two cars or one?

We're a two car family, but this week we only have one.  My mum had one of their cars die, and they were in a real jam, so we let them borrow one of ours for the week, thinking Stu was only working one day this week.  Turns out he is now working all week again, so we're having to do the one car juggle.


We live in a tiny town (a primary school, a pub, a general store and a couple of hundred people), 10 minutes drive from our nearest small town and 25 minutes drive from our big town - Warrnambool.  The kids go to school here, Stu works in Warrnambool, I teach belly dance in the small town and do the shopping in Warrnambool, so there is a reasonable amount of driving done by our family each week.  It is usually very easy to manage, but with only one car or one driver it becomes a real juggle.

http://www.tropicalnsw.com.au/aaa_site/album/environment/rural_road.jpg

At the start of this year, Stu was unable to drive for medical reasons for three months.  This had its moments of being stressful, but thanks to kind friends and family and his work hours being a bit flexible, we managed.  The most challenging moments were when he couldn't get a lift and I had to bundle the kids in the car to do a 1 hour round trip to pick him up, or when I was working and he needed to get the kids somewhere.  But we managed.

This week, with only one car, Stu has taken it to work today, and I'm left at home with no way to go anywhere today and tomorrow.  I think this is great!  I have a huge list of things I want to get done over the next couple of days, and don't have to worry about fitting in a trip to town to do the shopping.  Tuesday is usually shopping day, but I have plenty in the pantry, fridge and freezer and will make do for a couple of days.  The real challenge is going to come when I have to go to work during Stu's work hours on Thursday and Friday, but we'll find a way around it.

Unfortunately, the solutions to these problems won't work long term for us, otherwise I would love to get rid of one of the cars permanently.  Think of the savings!  I would halve the payments for registration, insurance, car servicing and maintenance.  We would have an extra space in the carport and the money from selling the extra car.  We would also be saving on trips to town (if they're more challenging you're less likely to do them) and therefore petrol and spending.  And on top of all that would be the environmental savings.
Perhaps one day we'll be able to do it, but for now, the odd challenge is enough.

How about you?  One car or two?

A surprisingly good Melbourne visit

Don't get me wrong, I think we are very lucky to have a state capital as beautiful as Melbourne, but I usually really don't like visiting the city and I don't like attending funerals either, so the prospect of a midweek trip to Melbourne for a funeral put me in bad spirits.  But it turned out to be a surprisingly good trip!

We left before school on Wednesday morning to a crisp foggy morning.  It was beautiful driving down through the country which looked all the prettier for its foamy misty coating.  We only stopped once on the way to get petrol and buy a few grapes to add to our homemade picnic, and then made it to Melbourne without a drama.

We were nearly put off of our plan by the damp weather, but the kids' excitement made us follow through, and we drove all the way around the Royal Botanic Gardens enjoying Melbourne in Autumn and finally parked in the perfect spot to visit the Ian Potter Foundation's Children's garden.  We'd read that the garden was good, but it was GREAT! 

We parked our picnic on the lawn in the centre and the kids went wild (no really, they were doing Gorilla impersinations and imagining booby traps everywhere!).  They loved the bamboo forest the best, but the rocks, tea-tree forest and black stump were also a hit.  Stu and I also loved playing in the garden and the boys and I paid an educational visit to the fabulous kitchen garden.  All in all, one of the best things we've ever done in Melbourne and it was FREE!  We'll be going back in summer so we can play in the stream and water features.

After the gardens, we paid a visit to the Shrine.  The kids really enjoyed it and with ANZAC day school activities fresh in their minds, they asked a lot of great questions and we all learnt something.

Our plan was then to visit Yarra Bend park to visit the flying fox colony (for my bat mad boy).  We got there and it was very muddy and we didn't see a single flying fox :(  A bit dissapointing....

From there, the kids snoozed in the car while we drove to Nanny Kath's house.  Kath is one of my collection of grandmothers (long story) and always makes us feel at home.  She played with the kids, cooked us a lovely meal and we just relaaaaaaxed (and I still got to have my Wednesday favourite - a glass of wine and Offspring on the tele!).

Thursday was the funeral for Stu's Nan.  It was a lovely service with her children (including my father in law) putting together a wonderfully warm and interesting summary of her 93 years and a great collection of photos.  She was an amazing woman, strong and independent, who worked very hard to support her family financially as well as being a great Mum and Nan.  I loved hearing about her garden and her inginuity and the stories of her draining her 100 or so chooks that she killed, plucked, gutted and sold for Christmas on her hills hoist!  We'll be planting a citrus tree in our chook yard in her memory.  R.I.P. Nan.