Happy Birthday Nanna

My Mother with her grandkids in Australia. Jennifer's three big
teenagers are at the back, Angela's are the three smaller kids
on the front left, and Fiona's are the three at front right.

Today it is my Mother's 70th birthday. She had a party in Perth on the weekend with family and two old friends. That's where the photo of her with the grandkids was taken. Tonight in York she is having another celebration - a dinner with a group of ladies who dine together in York.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!

Hello Australia!

A message from Sophie...

Aussie Rules

We brought a football to France with us. Sophie is very keen to teach the French kids how to play Australian football, but usually they think it is a rugby ball. The Viennet family got the hang of kicking and marking pretty easily, and Stephan has a pretty good boot on him. (I don't suppose that will translate very well for those using the Babel Fish translation service.)

We stopped for lunch near the river at a pretty village called Pesmes on the river Ognon (yes it means onion). Annick had packed a substantial lunch of bread, cheese, ham, juice, wine, yoghurt, and fruit. It was quite chilly in the wind but once everyone started to play football they warmed up. As you can see in the photos most have shed their thick jackets.

We were already in the Australian spirit playing footy, so why was I surprised when I saw an emu?? Yes, a real emu, walking back and forth trying to get out of its little pen, in the village of Pesmes. Apparently there is an emu farm somewhere near the Grenoble airport too.

Farewell Ash

We are all feeling a bit sad today, because Ash, our dog at home, died. David, who's been living in our house and looking after her, emailed this morning with the news. She had an accident jumping off the ute and got run over by the sheep feeder apparently.
Ash was Roger's number one sheep dog, and the only one we kept when we left the farm. She was also the only the dog that the girls aren't scared of. Hugh liked to play with her and he would roll around on the ground with her. He would give her biscuits to eat and he has on occasion tried to clean her teeth with a toothbrush.
I have found a few photos with Ash in them for her final farewell.