One Year On . . .

Year On Blog. . .

The 22nd August was the anniversary of Sheldon and I arriving in Australia. It is now November. We cannot quite believe it has been well over a full year since leaving the shores of Britain. In that year so much has changed for us. . . some great things and some not so great. Once we got the immediacy of living in Tasmania out of our system in the later half of 2006, and decided to settle in Sydney. Things are looking rosy now that we have a plan. . . .

We list the "Top 10" Things that are great in our lives right now - Starting at number 10.

10. We have moved out of the townhouse on the northshore and have rented a bungalow in the southern part of Sydney in a suburb called Marrickville. The house is sweet and has a little garden. We have lovely neighbours and a neighbourhood of people who introduce themselves when you meet them on the street. It is probably about the same distance from town as Hackney is from Central London and we are very close to a rail station that is 4 stops to Central Station.

09: Sheldon is going to be the best hairdresser Sydney has ever had! No ifs or buts. See this article that Sheldon was in for the Sydney Morning Herald Careers section last month!!

08: It is great to be around immediate family - you never know what you really missed when you didn't have it. We have spent a lot of time with my sister, Mike her partner and her your son Artie. They live about an hour from Sydney but we go and visit them often and they come to Sydney quite a bit. We had a great holiday together to Tasmania which was great. My brother had his 40th Birthday bash in August where we caught up with lots of the Moffatt's and Gow's. We attended the Victorian, country wedding of my cousin Sasha to his beautiful Japanese bride in January this year. What a clash of culture there was that day.

07: Although it is bad that Kylie the 4WD has unfortunately been bonded back into the work force - she is lugging road building materials for a real worker - we now have a more reasonable City car Shel has nicknamed Violet - she is white!

06: Sheldon has started to enjoy cooking again . . . what with me working evenings he has no choice. So nice to pop home for a home cooked green chicken curry or a bunch of home baked White Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut cookies!! All good as far as I am concerned

05: Balmoral Beach on a Sunday . . . what a corker. Mid Winter. 25C bright sunshine. The harbour, beach and great food and wine. You can't beat it. There are plenty of amazing beaches around Sydney but Balmoral is, I believe, one of the best for water, sand, grassy parkland, coffee, cafes, restaurants and sun. Of course there are many more beaches and places just like this. Many other places that are no where near the beach that have just as much interesting things to do - Dank Street, Rozelle Markets are some of our favorite places.

04: Friends, good food and fabulous wine. . . these two go together well. We have made a lovely group of friends - a mix of old friends of Nicks from way back when combined with some new friends we have met since being here. Wine seems to be always at the centre of hanging out with these friends, sometimes a bottle of bubbly and more often than not for Nick - a bottle of some lovely cold Larger!! Just remember - screw cap bottles of wine are the way of the future!! Buying wine is such fun here in Aus. The stuff on the shelves of the local cost cutter just don't cut it - even the Aussie stuff!

03:Old friends coming to stay! So far we have had several visits from people in the UK. Good ol Jen is always good for a visit to the Sydney shores . . . keep em coming Jen. John from Shanghai had a good long visit en route relocating to China. Good ol Terry H-R made a visit very early on this year - funnily enough just in time for Mardi Gras. It was great to have you with us! Ali Bell making her 4 month Aussie trip coming in a few weeks time. Good one. Keep em coming. We always have a bed available for friends from "The World".

02: Our 50 acres in Tasmania now has a "shed" on it - Sheldon likes to call it the Cottage. The water tank has been attached in our last visit, the furniture installed. Now the hard work comes making it comfortable and with some more amenities. I am planning to build the dunny extension - or as Shel might call it - the Amenities Wing. Composting toilet and shower bucket hung from the roof! It will develop over time. Can't wait. Next trip in January.

Number 1 . . . . .drum roll. . . . .are you ready . . . .you've already guessed it . . .

Farrah Fawcett Moffatt - or FFM to her friends. Well she is just the cutest. Our beautiful 8 month old Toy Poodle. We love her to bits - she would melt anyones heart. We cannot imagine our lives without her now. She is mad sometimes - but what little girl wouldn't be!

Attached are some pics of her!

See the comparison?