Frangi

With many thanks to Ton and Ellen we have been able to spruce up the side of the pool with some beautiful Frangipanni - well, hopefully they will be beautiful over time, and grow into coloured gorgeousness. There is also a palmy sort of plant (sorry - forgot its name), of which we have quite a few but who grow into quite impressive plants.

Sold

Promise has sold! We ended up selling her to the lovely lady who trained her, Cathy. Cathy will agist her near Casino, where she has a friend who was looking for a companion horse for her own, and will do some more training and trail riding with her as time goes by. If and when, she might sell her on to a good home, but for now she couldn't be in a better place. We've not actually made any money on the sale but we are confident she'll be happy in her canine way. Now only Samson to go ... who will be looked at by another set of 'prospects' on Monday.

As a goodbye of sorts, here's a follow-up to the earlier movie. Mind the subtle way in which Cathy gets Promise to stop ...

Shape Up covers

The Argentinian version of Take Shape is out!

Shape up is a new stimulating four-level primary course with a focus on real-world themes and opportunities for students to talk about their own realities and experience.

Shape up introduces language through a variety of content-rich contexts. It emphasizes the development of the four skills and includes graded writing activities and a programme of useful phrases to aid fluency. This series also promotes lexical development with a focus on high frequency words.

Shape up allows children to gain proficiency and confidence in English whilst becoming more knowledgeable about the world in which they live.

 

Key Features

* A Pupil’s Book with 12 main units, 6 review sections and games every 4 units. It includes audio enhanced real-world e-Reader for class or home study

* The real-world e-Readers, by providing authentic-type material, give students the chance to read for pleasure while learning about different subjects at the same time. All the stories or texts are accompanied by interactive activities

* An Activity Book that provides students with an understanding of form and meaning through carefully graded tasks and fun activities. At the end of each revision, it includes specific practice designed following the style of the main international exams

* A CD with Teacher’s Notes with easy-to-follow instructions and objective-based extra activities. It also includes Tests and extra photocopiable resources designed to extend lessons or to be given to fast finishers

* 2 Audio CDs containing all listening texts, songs and conversations 

Story

Tess wrote a beautiful story, and she gave me permission to put it up on my blog. Enjoy.

I remember. I remember it a thousand times. Her hands slammed softly onto my shoulders, a concoction of noise escaping her lips in dramatic effort. My heart fluttering, adrenaline pumping through my veins, I spun, whirling to face her smiling face, unfocused as she giggled hysterically.
“Did it work?” she squealed as she teetered on her toes, her body electric with energy. My eyes adjusted, her features focusing, her soft amber curls quivering with her quickening, excited breath. I waited. She waited. The late afternoon sun curled its way through the threads of her scarlet hair, igniting a crimson fire that danced around her features in the humid winds. We stood, our breaths in symbiosis as we waited routinely. Her emerald eyes bore into mine, our gaze impenetrable as we waited for the answer we both knew was coming. 
“Hic.”
“Dammit!” she yelled. “Ok, you know the drill, hold your breath. Quick, quick!” She filled her cheeks up with air, her head bobbing up and down and she pointed to her cheeks and murmured incoherently through her closed lips.
I concentrated, gusts of carbon dioxide escaping like rapids over my tongue, teeth, lips. I held myself for a moment, empty, and then drank all the oxygen I could manage back in to fill the depleted cavities of my lungs. I continued to swell them with oxygen, thirsty, as though they were limitless, filling every millimeter and I was sure I would burst. My fingers wrapped around my nose to prove my sincerity.
I heard her giggle. “No cheatin’!”
I watched her lips. Pink, stained with freckles, I heard nothing as I watched them mouth the numbers.
“43…44…”
I burst. My lungs exploded and through my lips escaped the toxic substance, my body expelling every atom of the unusable gas; it had been depleted of its usefulness. I gasped, my breath labored as I doubled over with the exertion of starving my body of oxygen. My heart beating rapidly, desperately trying to regain it’s rhythm.
I felt her anticipation.
“Hic.”
She shrieked. “This one’s a toughie!”
I heard her feet hit the tarmac as she ran. In a heartbeat she had returned: the water lapped over the sides of the cup as it attempted to regain its place within the glass.
Instinctively I bent over, my breath still ragged. My curls swung in front of my vision and I focused on my feet, planted firmly on the ground. Taking the glass from her delicate fingers I put it to my lips and began to drink clumsily.
“What are you doing! You’re spilling it everywhere! We’re in a drought you know!” She moaned as droplets of water escaped the corners of my grin to explode and melt on the burning tarmac my worn feet had grown to call home. I straightened, lightheaded with laughter and stumbled over to the yellowing grass where I collapsed in bliss. “Hic.” I cooed.
Grumbling merrily with exasperation, she threw her body towards mine, our bodies colliding gently, she straddled my stomach.
She grabbed the sides of my head, her fingers laced through my own curls. She gazed into my emerald eyes, my freckles dancing as she quivered with joy at this routine.
And with the most perfect, articulated execution a six year old can have, my sister whispered: “I’ll give you a hundred dollars if you hiccup again.”
Silence. Her head collapsed onto my chest in excited exhaustion, her ear above my pounding heart. This was ours. It had always been ours.

Her skin translucent, she faded into the sheets. The monitors flashed foreign languages at me, languages of unfamiliar heartbeats and oxygen levels. I pressed my head onto her chest, my curls splaying over her delicate body, tangling with the cables that snaked their way from her every orifice, as I listened for the steady rhythm of my childhood that would not echo back its chorus, her heart faltering, her pulse weak, her breath ragged and muffled. 

“I’ll give you a hundred dollars if you stay alive.” I screamed, inaudibly.
One noise escaped her cracked, bleeding lips. “Hic.”

“Dammit.”

Take Shape again

Just received an email from the (ex) editor of my Mexican primary course, Take Shape, who sent me some lovely photos of Mexican kids waving level 5 around. The email said: "I’m just back from a market research trip to Mexico. While we were there we were trying to find out about the Mid-High segment and did school visits for a week. We were trying to find out about Take Shape and what feedback they’d had. We basically couldn’t get any criticism from anyone, everyone seems really happy with it. Everyone at Macmillan in Mexico was really happy with it and the principal and co-ordinators we spoke to said students and teachers really like it. We observed one Take Shape class full of lovely kids who were so enthusiastic! So I wanted to send you a couple of pictures I took with them (see attached). I figure that no one seems to have told you much about how Take Shape is doing and you might enjoy the feedback and photos!"

Always nice to get this kind of feedback!

Looking at

'Ere's looking at you! Me and me 'orse. Hey, we won't win the Grand National (No bets, please...) but we have a swell time together.

Best policy?

Some people are just too honest, or innocent, or perhaps they assume their customers are gullible? Such is an antique(s) dealer in Newrybar who apparently makes antiques daily. Not sure whether that should inspire confidence, or not...

Visitor

Imagine my surprise when I walked out of the front door the other day and found a gre-feathered visitor on the porch, perched on a garbage bag. He seemed to have lost one eye and to feel the worst for wear. It wasn't until late that night that he (she, it) hopped away, to be found behind the car the next morning, but since then he seems to have returned to wherever tawny frog-mouths go. If you are wondering whether this is, in fact, an owl, you might not be wrong: read here.

owl - create a slideshow

Tidy

Last weekend Tess and Yarrow gave us a hand tidying up after the storm, so we spent a few pleasant hours lugging branches and building a second bonfire which Tess may use in a few weeks'  time for a party with friends.

trees - create a slideshow

Storm

For those who have been following the weather Down Under, Niki has put up some photos of the havoc wreaked on our property. Compared with what a lot of other people have had to suffer, we came off lightly, really, with a few trees toppled, a bit of water stopping us from going places and some roof sheets almost coming off one of the sheds. Yes, there were wind gusts of 120-140 km per hour; yes, especially on the second night the howling winds were actually quite scary as I lay awake, unable to catch sleep, hoping that nothing would be blown off or torn to pieces; yes the water levels rose 9 or 10 metres in Eltham; and yes, three days after the storm another small trees (a tee tree) just sighed and fell over, as if it had only then decided that enough was enough, and it was tired and wanted to lie down - but, really, it was nothing. The grass was well-drenched and now wants to grow, the horses are happy and their bellies full.

Have a look here.

Promising

So, Promise has been with Cathy Ryan now for almost a week. On day 3 we visited Cathy in Spring Grove, and were amazed by what she had alreadyh achieved. Cathy is full of praise for Promise: a "bloody good horse" that has, according to Ryan, the three qualities any good horse should possess: she is calm, smart and brave, and apparently they do not often all occur together. Promise is up for anything, takes things into her stride (including a dog who thinks he is the horse in the area -look for it in the video...) and takes no time at all to learn new things. The short movie clip will show you where we are but Cathy is also giving us written interim reports. You will see that at this stage Promise could...

Ground work

• stand relaxed while rubbing her all over with stick and flag, and throwing string over her with rhythmn
• tie up
• lead naturally, from near side and off side
• lead off another horse at walk and trot
• pick up feet relaxed
• come to you with a light feel
• back with light feel on nose
• back with rhytmic feel on the lead
• circle left and right, moving shoulders out and away
• flex laterally both left and right
• move hind to disengage on step
• while handler sitting up on fence, stand parallel to fence and wait, then move hind round both left and right
• move head to ground with light feel

Obstacles

• weave through barrels
• figure 8 round 2 barrels
• pop up and down small ramp
• float load

Saddle

• mount off the fence or block
• lateral flexion left and right
• disengage hind both left and right, and beginning to go somewhere happily

Orse

A lot of the recent posts seem to be about animals, our animals - rest assured we are all well! Another photo of Promise, whom we shall be visiting tomorrow morning, showing her progress. Nice saddle, huh. (Not ours...)

And this is where I work...

Well, this is where the humans work, and I think I am supposed to be in the same spaces as where they are, sooo ... I guess this is where I work, too. Not sure what I am supposed to do here, though: I mean, there's no ball involved, so it can't really be that important. Hm. Have I had breakfast?

Hello? Anybody? Sigh. I'm bored. Better get some shut eye.

Not too bad. Might get used to it.

It has to be said...

You know, one can be philosophical about it, or even contemplative, or perhaps a tad pensive. Pondering the chimeras and delusions of life, I might even be tempted to turn introspective and find myself in brown study. But where I actually found myself this morning was here, and it doesn't really need any further speculation, imagination, musings or reflection now, would you agree?

It has to be said that it really doesn't get much better than this ... So, why do us canines end up with dog baskets and the humans get this? Gee.

Permanent

We had totally forgotten about this. We had mentioned the other day that 'it was taking quite a bit of time', but no more than in passing, and it sunk back into that little nook of oblivion called Daily Life. But today - as I was checking the Bails (on account of Cathy moving out) I suddenly heard shrieks and howls from the house, which made me think: "Snake!". My love came running around the corner of the Bails and jumped up into my arms. 'I've got it!"I've got it!' Before I could even wonder about what it was that she had got, it became clear that Niki was talking about ... The Permanent Visa! She is now proudly a permanent resident of Australia, almost an Aussie. (She can apply for citizenship at the end of December 2014).

GREAT news!

Promise!

Today was the day that Promise was taken to her trainer, Cathy. In fact, the cattle mover was supposed to have picked her up yesterday, but seeing as there was no cattle ramp at Donna and Craig's place (where she was agisted), he refused to load. Traipsing around the properties around Craig's at 8 in the morning (most residents still fast asleep....) I had no luck in spotting another 'race' or 'ramp' - apparently most of them around this area are 'hobby races' and most of them have rotted away over time. Also, I found out (much to my surprise) that there are in fact no horse movers in the area, at all: there were three in the Yellow Pages and they had either stopped trading or moved away... Realizing that my only option was the cattle mover, Tony, whom I had contracted to to the job and the only professional ramp was my neighbour Peter's, I had to walk (yes, walk!) Promise (and Samson!) from D & C's to home in the pelting rain. Two walks, clothes change in between, soaked on both accounts. Both Samson and Promise were angels, though - this was Promise's first long walk along a road, but she was not phased by cars, trucks, rain, a big slasher tractor, splashing puddles, other horses and assorted distractions which gave me hope for her training. She just ambled along on a loose rope behind me.

Having arranged a new time with Tony, which he couldn't keep, and after further subsequent delay this morning the horses were finally picked up at 12.30. Samson was dropped at Cedar Creek where Fiona will re-train him; and Promise was introduced to Cathy, in Spring Grove, and her dog Cowboy (a true blue Red Dog!). Already this evening, Cathy sent us this beautiful picture of Promise under saddle!

Promise?

Promise is going to be broken in! Today we decided that she is going to go to a natural horsemanship trainer, a Mrs Cathy Ryan, in Spring Grove, 10ks or so outside Lismore, for a month. Cathy will break Promise in, and teach her all the tricks of her trade including, apparently, standing on top of a big tractor tyre Without Worrying About It At All, while Cathy stands on her back, and also more useful horsey things like accepting a saddle, taking the bit, running around barrels, jumping, floating, trotting, cantering, leading etc. She'll come out a ride-able (and therefore salable) horse, green-broken as 'we' call them. We met with Cathy this morning and we really liked her. Monday morning The Truck (same one as last time when they were moved from our place to down the road) will pick both Samson and Promise up from Donna and Craig's and then take Promise to Spring Grove; and Samson to Cedar Creek (just down the road), where he, too, will be trained a bit just to get him Back Into Things and can also be sold. In Promise's case breaking her in is an investment which should make her more attractive to prospective buyers. Here's fingers crossed that it will all go well and that both of them will soon go to good new owners who will have the time to care for them and ride them. Fiona, Niki's riding teacher, will take on the job of selling them for us (advertising, talking to buyers, showing etc) so with the help of all these good people I'm hoping that we'll be successful in the not too long term. (Oh, P.S. - to start her training, Promise will need to go to the dentist apparently, which the trainer will also take care of).

I knew it...

Do we sometimes feel the lids drooping after lunch? Do we feel like a little nana nap might refresh mind and matter? Well, you may be right to give into it. And you can now give it a name: post-prandial dip. So, a typical conversation might go like this, preceded by a yawn. "Hmm. I feel a tad post-prandial, dear. I might have to just lie down for a tick." (Followed by silence, and the sound of snoring of conversation partner, who has already tucked into a good afternoon nap).

From an article in Yes! "7 Ways to Find Your Wild Side (Start With a Nap)", 17 January 2013."The modern conveniences that increase our productivity and synch us up globally—electric light, jet travel, computers—may also be disrupting our bodies’ natural sleep cycles. The phenomenon called the post-prandial dip—that drop in energy after lunch—was traditionally treated by many cultures with an afternoon nap, a practice largely abandoned today. And science writer Jesse Gamble reports that in the absence of artificial light, humans revert to biphasic sleep that is quite different from the standard sleep pattern in industrialized society. Rather than an uninterrupted eight-hour block, we naturally sleep twice per night in roughly four-hour segments: from just after sunset until midnight, and again from 2 a.m. to sunrise. In between is a quiet, meditative time during which humans historically talked, went for a walk, or connected with a partner. Today, night waking is often diagnosed as insomnia and corrected with sleeping pills, but a book may be a better prescription. And a midday nap." 

Chin

How nice is it, at the end of a hot summer's day, on which we've worked well, to slide into the not too cold, not too hot pool with a glass of Vinho Verde? How nice? Well, it's awfully nice!

Hot

OK, so in Sydney today they measured 43 degrees Celsius, and there are 143 bush fires burning in New South Wales at the moment (43 of which are out of control, but don't worry - nowhere near us). Still, a venerable 40 degrees on the car thermometer - it warrants a towel on the head ... no?

Grand

A wish come true for Ton and Ellen, to have at least four of their grandchildren together, sharing time with them. The big smiles tell it all. Beautiful.

Wag

No, I swear, we never let da leedle phuppie onto the bed, let alone, in the bed. 

Never. 

Ever.

...

80 ...

Today is 80 days till we leave for Europe ... Tess and Yarrow are still as excited as they were when we announced the trip, as are we! People in Europe are also looking forward to us descending on them. We've just the other day arranged / added a night's stay in London, with Richard, Niki's second cousin, and his family, which will allow us to spend a bit more time in that city and enjoy more of its sights and perhaps even take in a Shakespeare play.

Killin you softly

Today I took Niki to see Killin Falls, a wonderful waterhole close by (only 20 minutes down the road). Daleedlephuppie also come along and tried to swim along with Niki, but somehow he doesn't seem to like the skill very much ... On account of the summer holidays it was a bit busier than we had expected (normally there is noone there...) but it was a nice break in the day anyway. Niki has gone back to work today...

Sheridan

Peter and Ann gave us a wonderful present for Christmas 2012: a 2nd edition of Thomas Sheridan's Dictionary of the English Language, carefully restored and rebound. 

Sheridan (Swift’s godson) originally published the dictionary in 1780; this second edition was published a year after his death in 1789, while the French Revolution raged across the Channel. 

Interestingly, it has a section of advice to Foreigners who want to learn to speak the English language properly - his advice is (from our perspective) quite idiosyncratic and a long way from how we teach learners of English as a foreign language to speak nowadays but fascinating! The first word we looked up was Tess' favourite word of the day, solipsistic: and found it to be a word that was (according to Sheridan) not part of the English vocabulary at the time.

Thank you, Peter and Ann, for this wonderful 223-year-old present! It will give us many an hour of vocabularian pleasure!

N & E

Tess and Yarrow's cousins, Nick and Esmée, have 'descended' on our home and are spending the week with us. They're enjoying the pool, and spend time with us and Tess and Yarrow, getting to know 'these distant cousins' better every day. We had a lovely Christmas lunch on Christmas Day with the whole family, and today (Friday) we left for Natural Bridge where we admired lots of natural beauty, waterfalls, lookouts, animals, vistas etc. A great day (admittedly quite a few kilometers...), after which we dropped Tess off at work to return to an enthusiastic Daleedlephuppie who had been patiently waiting our return tied up on the deck (with food and water, of course).

Here is another fantastic picture, taken by Tess made of the Natural Bridge cave! Wow!

 

Mystery

Going through piles of old paperwork I came across a document stipulating that our cat Elliot was sterilized in the womb. According to the document it was done before she was born! How good is that ... (I know, of course, that her 'official' birth date was only decided on after she had come to us, but still, it looks kind funny, doesn't it.

Mystery

And suddenly five girls, among whom were Tess, Yarrow, Bryony and Bella descended on our home today. They specifically aimed for its pool, with great delight and a lot of squealing, which they rapidly descended into fully clothed. Of course. The fifth girl, Jess, seemed to be on photographic duty (but got thrown into the pool for good measure once they were finished, without camera I hasten to add). We wonder what they are concocting ... They seem happy enough going about their concocting business ...

China

It's very interesting to see one's books on websites that are linguistically so different, but visually quite recognisable. The first level of English Grammar for Teens (FLTRP, China) is for sale on the Chinese Amazon site and on another Chinese site, dangdang.com.

However

However... today's batch of tough-touch, or chewy-chewy came out really well (thanks partly to advice from Anjes who suggested less cooking time, and I also got the measurements right!) and was enjoyed by all and sundry at a lovely pre-Christmas party at our friends Ken and Louise's. I'm keen now to bake many varieties of this yummy stuff, so beware of more taai-taai Down Under! Thank you Ann, for the recipe for pepernoten - slightly different but next on the list of gourmet bakery products...

Not taai taai-taai

So, here I go, getting all enthused to do some Christmassy cooking, making a batch of lovely traditional Dutch spiced cookies called taai-taai. Hey, it's the season! The name, literally, means 'tough-tough', as they should be chewy when done. Well, hmm, something must have gone wrong because even though they were chewy when taken out of the oven, not 'alf an hour later they were rock (as in rock) hard! Now, could this be because I mistook 200g of honey for 200 mls? Or because I doubled the amount of honey (in mls, not g) because the dough was still too crumbly? I don't know. Any advice gladly received! In the meantime I will try another batch and do gs instead of mls.

Formal

Here's Our Yarrow, or The Lady Yarrow, as she may call herself on account of owning a plot of land in Scotland, just before her Year 10 formal with school friends, dressed up and anywhere to go! Isn't she lovely?

One more night

Ooh, and tomorrow my love will arrive back home from Pacific Noumea where she has had a very successful and fulfilling time examining, training and promoting for Cambridge ESOL. Can't wait - but will have to, for a bit, as she will still have to drive home from Brisbane and won't be able to rest her weary travelling feet till midnight or thereabouts! Bon voyage, minha amorada! (I believe, though, weather gods permitting, there will be a relaxing beach day ahead of her on Thursday).

Orsey stuff

I went out for a ride today with Hans, a neighbour down the road, who I met some years ago but have recently got to know better via the Richmond Valley Riding Club. I rode over to his property about three clicks from ours, and then we continued down a lovely lane called Lavis Lane (forest track it feels like). All in all I was on the horse for a bit more than two hours, which was lovely! We'll invite Hans over to our neck of the woods next week and take him on "our" rides around the hills here.

Oh, and another one ...

It's as if I'm getting a book a day in the post, at the moment. Level 3 of Realtime, the secondary (teen) course for Dutch schools was published recently and arrived today. There are so many books in this series: 4 school years, each year consisting of 4 or 5 'streams' linking to the Dutch school system, that sometimes I can't remember what I've done for what book! I've been working on this series for, what, 3 or 4 years now ... Anyway, nice to see another one done and dusted. We're writing year 4 over the next 6 months.

12 12 12

December 12 is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. Today is the twelfth day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year, a date that only comes around once every century. There are 19 days remaining until the end of the year. Oh no, hold on:  the Ancient Mayan calendar speaks of 12-12-2012 as the end of times as we know it, and the beginning of a new cycle of evolution for planet earth, humanity and the cosmos. Mayan elders say that the Ancients were informing the modern world to be ready for a giant transformation for the human race. Interestingly, traditions across the world including Buddhism, Tao, Hopi and Vedic knowledge predict a ‘Golden Age’ or ‘Satyug’ in their calendars around the same period. December 2012 is being looked upon as a significant spiritual event and a momentous shift in the collective consciousness of the planet.

Right ...

Fortunately, there is also earthier news ...

Twelve on 12/12/12 ... Happy birthday, kids. 

THESE 12 youngsters are turning 12 today which is, of course, 12/12/12. And most of them expect to blow out the candles on their birthday cakes at 12.12pm.

For Lucy Roberts, her birth was yet another 12, with mum Wendy in labour for 12 hours."I'm hoping that seeing as I'm 12 on the 12-12-2012 that I might be lucky enough to get 12 presents," Lucy said.
Kings Langley twins Christian and Daniel Marman are on to that trick, too. Mum Elaine said the pair "are using the occasion to leverage better presents".

Northern beaches tweens Jaime Sinclair, Sophie Thomas, Claudia Bowden and Riley Wilson, who will all attend Barrenjoey High School together next year, share their birthday today. It's been a long time coming for Claudia, who worked out she would turn 12 on 12/12/12 when she was nine. "It's not going to happen for another 100 years so it's pretty special," Claudia said. "All my friends are talking about how lucky I am, saying they wish their birthday was on a special day as well. "I'm hoping that I will have something good happen." Claudia, Jaime and Sophie all met at dance class and "just clicked", before discovering they share their birthday.

A record 123 couples are also registered to marry today at the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages - more than on January 1, 2001 and 08/08/08.

So, where will you be at 12:12 pm on 12/12/12?
Source: The Daily Telegraph

Surprise

Chinese edition

UK edition

How pleasantly surprised can one be? Expecting the teacher's book accompanying my new Business course, Business Update, in an envelope from Garnet (one of my UK publishers), I was happy to find a Chinese edition of my (co-award winning) book English for tourism and hospitality in it. I had no idea even that they had licensed it. Made my day!

Timeless

Just a nice image I came across the other day by Renée Louise Anderson.

Proud to present

Here's the announcement of Niki's Saturday workshops in the Pacific. The YLE Monkey refers to the Cambridge Young Learners Exams.

Mixed bag

Pottering about somewhat desultorily, on a somewhat aimless, lazy Saturday morning. Not much happening: weather a bit unstable, rain coming later I think. I managed to get myself to do some 'poisoning' around the place to keep the weeds along pool, paths and patios down, but other than that I can't quite muster the enthusiasm to do much else. A bit unmethodical, but rather a nice feeling nevertheless. 

Missing my love muchly, needless to say: she's working hard today somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, giving teacher training workshops on 'Generation Me' (teaching English to teenagers) and music or games (the second topic escapes me at the minute).

About to go off to a lunch at Ton and Ellen's in Eltham with neighbours, family and friends. Taking a plate of 'desserts' of sort - good ole Dutch 'peperkoek' (Bolletje, of course, to be eaten with a thick - I said 'thick' - layer of butter!), 'speculaas brokken' and fruit loaf, as well as biscotti and fresh fruit. Couldn't get hold of 'schuimpjes', 'taai-taai' and 'pepernoten' this year, but my friend Jacomien did send us our 'annual' stash of speculaas spices so we can bake our own! Muchas gracias, Jacomien!

Tess and Yarrow are working today (and tomorrow) at the Clunes store, and the Channon market, so they are keeping themselves busy. Tess is studying really hard (aware that she will miss out some time when we travel in her important Year 12 - last year of high school) and is eagerly saving up as much money as she can for Europe (seeing as I have given her a birthday present saying I'll top every $100 with $10 when she shows me her savings balance in March). I better start saving myself then ...

Well, I'm not sure where the past few weeks have gone, but gone they are and I feel hopelessly behind on everything that happened to us.

Noosa

Niki and I went to a town called Noosa, up the coast, on the Sunshine Coast (not to be confused with the Gold Coast). Niki had to work at a language school there and while she did that I worked in what appeared later to be the staff room where everybody normally had lunch: only this time I was there and hogged the place. We had decided to spend two nights there and had a couple of pleasant nights there. The apartment we had rented was really nice, quiet, lovely pool. On the way back we unfortunately drove through Maroochydore (if the name wouldn't keep you away from there, then at least its reputation should, because it's the pits), and then detoured through the wonderfully quaint Glasshouse mountains where we had lunch. Lovely weekend, and Noosa is a very friendly and interesting place to spend some time.

Horses

Another weekend we set off on a horse-riding adventure with the Richmond Valley Riding Club. With the help of John, who proved to be a horse whisperer of sorts, we managed to convince Duchess it was quite OK to walk on to (and stay on) the horse float; loaded them both up on Saturday morning and made our way to the lovely, erm, location of Mummelgum. That afternoon we had a fascinating, scrambling-type of a ride with a group of about 25 or 30, on and around the property of our host. A warm fire kept us in meat and warmth at night but we soon succumbed to sleep and when the rain started to tumble, nay, bucket down we hid in our tent (the outer tent, that is, as this nincompoop had forgotten the inner tent). Despite said lack of bedroom, the outer tent kept us dry enough while outside the weather became ominous: lightning, thunder all through the night. In the morning there was great hesitancy among the horsey people as to whether the planned 4.5 hour Sunday morning ride was going to happen, and when an almighty thunderclap struck at 7.30 am you could hear numerous voices piping up around the field where we were camping: ' Right, that's it. I'm off.' Within ten minutes the site was empty and we, too, made our way through torrential rain, homeward to freshly rained on paddocks.

Other than that we have been working hard, trying to ensure a little break over Christmas and as I write this my love is waiting at Brisbane airport to go to Numea for her week's Cambridge work. It's been a goodly while since we've been apart for this long and neither of us are liking it, really. No doubt we'll settle into a temporary routine and the week'll be gone before one can say, erm, well what one says under circumstances like that.

Summer

Summer has, in the meantime, entered the fray with a vengeance, and is smothering us in hot, tropical, humid weather - which I actually quite like, although it doesn't help the hot flushes I have to say... Our friend's the green tree frogs are back in action... and we're using the pool lots, both during the day and at night.

English

On the work front, a new website has just been launched for my 25-year old " blockbuster"  (lol) course Real English (www.realenglish.nl). The site contains, amongst other things, a video clip in which a teacher talks about her and her children's work with the course. It's so nice to see it being used in a classroom: one of apparently more than 3,000 (which is 37.5% of Dutch schools).

Banana

Ton and Ellen once gave us five banana plants, one of which grew up to be a substantial banana tree - the other day Niki ran in excitedly to announce the birth (?) of a bunch of bananas. I must admit it's amazing the way they grow. 

Beautiful, no?