Back in Sydney now, this was Melbourne

What a fine time I had with the family in Melbourne this Christmas and I managed to catch up with some friends too. I flew into Melbourne on the 23rd and went straight to my brothers for a lovely dinner and to meet my new little nephew Daniel (pictured bottom) for the first time. I was lucky enough to have lots of cuddles and a play with my nephew Christian. The next day I was off to mum and dads and they surprised me with a manicure and pedicure! It was great fun because I have never had one before. It was early to bed on Christmas Eve after wrapping my presents, flights can be pretty tiring.

The next day it was up early to help set-up for Christmas dinner. The whole family was coming over and I was running around for mum who wasn't well.

At about 12pm Noel (pictured below), Jo (pictured above), Oliver, Alex, Bib, Vicky, Sean, Daniel and Christian arrived and we ate and drank. We opened lots of presents and ate some more. I managed to get everyone to sit down to read te Christmas poems I had written for them. Unfortunately I got a little emotional but I think everyone liked them.I stayed up and ate lots more when Noel and Jo brought out the seafood platter which was lovely. The next day it was off to Noel and Jo's for some more fun. Shopping on the way for a great weekend of laughs. It was nice to spend some quality time with them, I don't see them enough

On Sunday the 27th I popped over to the Mentone Hotel for a few tasty beverages with some of my old friends, this is Me and Tracey (pic above) one of my old school friends. Sunday night I stayed up quite late with Noel and Jo and had a few vodkas but I was up bright and early the next day for bowling.

I went with mum and dad down to Mordialloc Bowls Club and had a few laughs. I am now known as the dumper because I really can't bowl very well and I dump the ball instead of bowling it.

Later Sean, Vicky, Daniel (pic above) and Christian came over for dinner and I had another hold of my newest nephew.

The next day I went shopping for Jo's birthday present and a present for Grahame who met me at the train station near the airport. Later in the afternoon I went to the beach with Dad (pic at the top). It was nice to go walking with Dad and try to get rid of some of that Christmas belly.

I had a great time and I can't wait to go back but I think Bali is next on my agenda if I can save the money.

Sydney Board Games Dinner

Well, what a fine dining experience with great company we had last night. It was the Sydney Board Games annual dinner and as usual our President Wayne or 'El Prez' as we know him made it a night to remember.

We started off with a few drinks at the bar and then made our way to our seats in the air-conditioned comfort of Stapletons Restaurant in Sutherland. Our waitress made us comfortable with a dribble catcher on our laps and then we were served some delicious bread as a starter. There was much conversaiton around everyone's holidays and the Christmas celebrations to come. Harro had our appetites going with the news he ate a Grasshopper in Thailand....apparently deep fried grasshoppper is quite a nutty flavoured delicacy.

It was nice to see Gary back after his overseas adventure and he is ready to join the group again next year. It was also great to see partners of the players joining in our celebration. Big thanks to my other half Grahame for coming along even though his work comitments meant he had to get up at 3am.

Entrees came out and I filled up my glass and drank through it. There were many oysters and calamari dishes but no lambs brains?

Main course was delicious as usual thanks to our chef Leo (seen in group picture above). Many of us indulged in his great steaks and ribs but probably not enough 'spuds' I heard from one. I enjoyed the Eye Fillet steak with Bearnaise Sauce......I definately recommend it.

When our tummy's were full we went onto trivia and trophy presentations which is always a great time of the evening. The trophy standings were:

1st - Rob Askew (seen pictured above)

2nd - Rob Harris

3rd - Leonie Shephard

Wooden Spoon - Gill Grey

Aub's wife explained how she would make a great curry with that wooden spoon making us all laugh. This year they were great trophies too, well picked out El Prez!

The trivia certainly had a few tricky questions this year. None of us knew the New Zealand flag had 4 stars on it, most of us said 6. I was also intersted to learn Clint Eastwood's real first name is actually Clint. Well done Rob Askew and Gill for getting 17 out of 20 in the trivia, can that Rob lose anything?

Rob Askew's wife Christine showed up after her Christmas Terminal do so it was great to see she made the effort to come along and see Rob get his trophy

Whoever the winners and losers are we know we always have great laughs when we get together. A big thank you to El Prez for putting it all together and our money man Rob Askew. Thank you everyone for making it a great year and after last night I can safely say I will be back again next year for some more good clean gamey fun as long as I can get a lift to peoples houses...anyone?

I must also say my year has had it's fair share of ups and downs, I have been able to count on the Games Association to give me plenty of giggles throughout the year. When that Monday night comes around and we all get together, we all seem to forget our problems for the night and enjoy each others company. El Prez introduced some great 'homemade' games to us this year and we are looking forward to some new ones early next year.

I woke up at 5:30am this morning and it felt like I had been hit in the head by several passenger trains. Damn that cheap red wine. Work is a little bit ouchy today.

Thanks again everyone for last night and a sad 'Good bye' to Leonie as she ventures on her overseas trip next year.......good luck and I hope you come back to us safely.

BBQing is here for the summer

Well, as you can see Grahame constructed the BBQ last night. After 2 and a half hours and me constantly saying "Is is ready yet?" it was ready to go.

I brought home some beef skewers, pork skewers, prawn skewers and some barramundi to be cooked. By the time it was ready, about 8:30pm a huge storm was headed our way. Not the most ideal conditions for a BBQ but Grahame managed to get it working despite the gas blowing out 4 or 5 times and causing him a headache, he did very well.

The storm got progressively worse and it started thundering and lightening, it was also blowing a gale. Some of the trees near the unit looked a bit dodgy but after about an hour it was over.

A word of warning to any new BBQ enthusiasts, if you get a new BBQ always wash the hotplates before you use them. We managed not to wash them therefore all the food tasted a little bit weird, kind of plasticy.

I threw together a spinach leaf, paremsan, capsicum and spring onion salad with Balsamic dressing which turned out okay, see picture above. We also had some pasta salad store bought from Woolies which is Grahame's favourite...........I spoil that boy.

You can see by the second picture Grahame was ready to BBQ his head. The poor guy had worked from 5am to 4pm, picked up the BBQ and got home about 5pm. He walked up to the station to help me carry my shopping bags and then spent all evening putting the thing together and cooking. By the end he was exhausted and in bed by 9:30pm.

I'm pleased to say I have made some contact with some more school friends from Kilbreda, one I found out is living in Sydney! I just sent her an email telling her we need to catch up, it's probably been 18 years since we have spoken. Another friend Rochelle, who used to be my cricket buddy, is working for Victoria Police. We met through our brothers both called Sean and we never looked back. I am hoping to see her over the Christmas break but it is a busy time of year.

So far I have received 3 Christmas cards and I have sent none so I am doing really well. Tomorrow I will be starting work on my family poems for Christmas day so I am looking forward to that. it's been a full year of laughs and tears.

Back to work I go, thanks for reading me

Back to Work, It's Monday Again

Well what a great weekend I had. It started with Friday off work. I had to go to Court for Grahame and everything went as well as it could have done. Unfortunately he has a drink driving charge hanging over his head now, sentence to be handed down in February. He will probably get community service and a $3,000 to $5,000 fine. Good news is he has been great keeping away from the alcohol, he was especially good all weekend.

We went home and did lots and lots of washing then it was off to the post office with the pictures Sean bought off ebay for Daniel's room. I tell you what, those pictures are driving me up the wall. Who buys pictures in Sydney for $10 and then have to get them posted for about $50 (including bubble wrapping)? Poor Grahame lugged them all the way to the post office and after I found out the price he had to lug them all the way back. I am gonna kill my bruva!!!

Friday night I made Jo's mexican tortilla stack and it was absolutely delicious. Grahame loved it and we ate heaps and heaps of it. Thanks Jo for the tasty recipe, I just had the last of it for lunch.

Saturday it was time for a bit of a sleep in, then we went up the shops and bought eggs and bacon for breakfast. I had another community outreach activity for the firies. This time I was down at Engadine promoting fire action plans, partaking in sausage sandwiches. It was rather a hot day. Me and Elise had a good chat and we popped into her sisters to see her new kitten 'Simba' on the way back. We also hit the Reject Shop and I spent my usual $20 on heaps of junk. I bought little disco balls for the Christmas tree, awesome at $4 a box.

When I got back to Sutherland it was time to do more resting and snoozing. I painted my nails and Grahame even helped me stick some pretty stickers on them (see pic above). Thanks Mum for getting them for me.

Saturday night Grahame took me out for dinner to our local Thai restaurant, Thai Rose. He ordered the usual Chicken with Cashew nuts and I had Thai beef salad. I drank nearly a whole bottle of red wine so I was a little bit tipsy....maybe more than a little bit.

We got home about 10ish and we turned the balcony Christmas lights on. We took a photo of ourselves when we got home (pic above), I tried to take a photo of the lights but it wouldn't work. I popped a DVD on called 'I Love You Man' and it was hilarious.

Sunday it was up early to make my standard Sunday morning breakfast - Eggs Benedict. I woofed it down and Grahame enjoyed his then thankfully I got a text from Elise. She picked me up on the way to firies, lucky because my head was a little fuzzy from the red wine the night before. I hopped in her car and she had brought me a banana smoothie (bless her cotton socks), she even cooked Anzac biscuits............yum!

We trained with Acting Captain Matty and he is a great trainer. We simulated different ways to tackle a fire, firstly doing a head attack, coming up directly behind the fire and attacking it head on. We trained down the back of Loftus and it was very tiring, We had to drag 3 lengths of hose up a steep hill and continually wet down the area. We were all glad of the debrief afterwards because we sat around drinking lots of water. I enjoyed throwing my water at Big John and Petey. We then did the attack again, this time I had to lug a breeching piece up the top of the hill along with a dry length of hose and a branch (Nozzle). We split the attack from further up the hill and I backed Elise up. We always make a good pair on the fire-ground.

We packed up our many hoses and headed off to refill the tank because we were only left with a quarter. We went down to the creek and drafted. I used the pump again and had my turn at priming the lines and filling the tank. We were absolutely filthy by this stage, me and Elise started cleaning the top of the truck. The weekend trainers had used foam in the tank and it started spilling out everywhere like something out of Ghostbusters. By the time we had finished we were drenched. On the count of 3 Elise whispered into my ear to give our capatin Matty a hug. We gave him a huge bear hug and covered him with our dirt. I think it's the filthiest I have ever gotten at training. Back to the station at about 1pm and we were very happy to take our yellow pants off. I love taking my pants off anyway HAHAHAHA!

Elise gave me a lift home and I ate more tortilla stack with Grahame. I had my afternoon snooze while Grahame vacuumed, cleaned the balcony and cleaned the glass balcony door. I couldn't believe it when he was finished, I woke up to a lovely clean house. What a gem that boy can be!

One of my mates Lee droppped off her birthday invite for the 19th of December at the Brass Monkey, only problem is that's the date I am celebrating Christmas with Grahame so I won't be going to her birthday. Big shame because it would have been fun but I will have lots of fun with Grahame.

I cooked up some steak and sausages and chips and vegies for dinner and fed Grahame as much as possible. He needs to eat more, he is only 4 kilos heavier than me which is outrageous. He was in bed early last night because he has to be up at 4am, that's the life of a Grabo.

I wish it was still the weekend but good news is now it's only a couple of weeks until I leave for Christmas with my wonderful family in Melbourne..........I'm counting down the days.

Christmas is coming and Clare is getting fat

I ate so much last night my tummy is bursting. Thanks Jo again for a wonderful recipe, this time I made stuffed mushrooms. I marinated pork in a lemon and honey marinade and I popped a couple of baked potatoes in the oven then grilled cheese and blobbed ricotta on the top, it was yummy.

We put the Christmas decorations up last night and opened the first door of our advent calendar. You know Christmas is really on it's way when you start the old calendar happening. Grahame helped me put up the tree (see pic) and we both put the star on the top together. I bought some Christmas lights for the balcony yesterday and Grahame is putting them up today so our balcony will be one of the best in the neighbourhood. He wanted to open more doors on the advent calendar because the chocolate was delicious so I had to restrain him. Stop laughing at my crappy tree, it was only $20 and it will have lots of presents under it soon. If only Grahame could read my blog and start adding the presents..............dream on Clare. He works as a Garbo so he has trouble texting me let alone using a computer. I love him for it though, it's kinda cute when he sends his texts through with all the spelling mistakes. He called himself a Super Sud last week, Stud Grahame, you mean Stud.

I must say I am a bit boring, after dinner I did the dishes then snuggled down in bed to watch a bit of telly. The Amazng Race is nearing the end so I was watching that but Packed to the Rafters has finished for the year. Loved that show and can't wait for it to come back. It's set in Carrs Park in Sydney which isn't far from where I live in the Shire.

I found a few old school friends on Facebook this week so I have had a little chat to them, WOW! how everyone has grown. I'm looking forward to finding more too.

Have a super super day

Windy Tuesday in Syndey

Well, I promised to post yesterday but things were a little hectic at work. Here's what went on this weekend:

Friday night I met up with a girl I used to work with and had a couple of drinks at the NSW Leagues club. We laughed for a few hours and shared stories. She is living in England now and it was great to see her. She has just made it into the robberies division in her precinct and she is doing very well in the Police Force.

Grahame came into the city and we went to see the Christmas tree at Martin Place (see above). We are the 2 dots infront of the tree, needless to say it's beautiful. Tonight I will be putting up the Christmas decorations, one of my favourite times of the year.

Saturday morning it was up early to cook the sausage rolls for my Writers Club Christmas party. Thanks again Jo for the recipe, they went down a treat. See picture above

I had to nick out early to get to the Fire-Fighters fundraising day. Down at Como Markets we spent the whole day cooking sausage sandwiches. I was lucky because one of my friends Carmen droppped by and kept me entertained for an hour which was really good. She's a little crazy but heaps and heaps of fun. The day was a great success and we raised over $3,000. Grahame came up and bought me a snow cone, what a gentleman. The temperature reached about 38 degrees so I was very greatful. One of my buddies Stubbsy decided to have a pineapple snow cone and it looked a little like he had found the yellow snow. I really shouldn't have said anything to him because he spent the next 10 minutes flicking it in my hair.

Sunday it was off to training with the firies and what a great day we had. Our acting Captain Matty was our leader for the day and he went through using the portable pump with me. I operated it myself and fed 2 hose lines through it down by Mirang Pools, near Waterfall south of Sydney. Again it was a hot day and Matty decided to fill my helmet up with water and throw it all over me...............it was a great relief from the heat. The first time he tried it I managed to spill the water all over him so we were even. The picture above is me in front of one of our trucks. We have 2 trucks called Loftus 1-Alpha and Loftus 1-Bravo. Sunday at training we used Lotus 1-Alpha. When we got back to the station we filled up the tank from the hydrant outside and I called back to our communication headquarters to tell them we were back at Station 14 (Loftus). We then ate lots more sausage rolls which my station buddies loved.

Back home in the afternoon and I relaxed with Grahame for a bit before he took me out for a beautiful dinner at Jai Dee Thai restaurant. I had mussaman lamb and he had chicken with cashew nuts (as always). We had a great night and I nearly made it through a whole bottle of Fifth Leg Cabernet Sauvignon..........not a bad drop.

And now back to work for me, Ihope your weekend was as great as mine

Friday at last

What along week it seems to have been. A big thank you to my faithful sis Jo for commenting on my blog. We are really sister's-in-law but I love her so much she is like a sister to me.

Thanks to Jo for the sausage roll recipe, I am wowing the office this morning with the delights of yummy sausage rolls. Grahame ate them last night and loved them too. I had them for dinner, breakfast and I just had 2 for morning tea.

My mission to lose 4 kilos before Christmas has stopped at 1 kilo. I weigh myself every Friday morning and this morning I was the same weight at 74.0kgs. Ah well, better luck next week for me. Truth be told exercise went out the window this week.

Well, what a busy weeekend I have got ahead of me. Tonight it's off to the NSW leagues club for a few tasty beverages. One of my mates from Westpac (I worked there in 2001) has popped back from England for a few weeks so we are catching up for a beerie. Hopefully Grahame will make it into the city to have a couple of light beers. I'm heading home at 8pm to make more sausage rolls.

Tomorrow morning it's up early and off to Sutho library for my writers meeting. We have a little Christmas celebration tomorrow for end of year and guess what plate of food I am taking....you guessed it, those delightful sausage rolls.

At 2:30pm I have to be down at Loftus Station to get my yellows on for our Como Markets day. A great day to show the kids the truck and the weather is holding out for us too. Lots of sausage sandwiches will be sold (I hope) to increase our fundraising. That finishes at 9pm and then I am sure I will be ready to drop dead.

Up early again on Sunday for Fire Training. One of my favourite days of the week. The crew down at the station are all fantastic, they are like a second family to me. We check the trucks for gear at 8am then usually about 9am we head out into the bush to fight pretend fires. I will be sure to blog about this on monday and tell you all about our amazing adventures. Our deputy captains are great because they put a lot of thought into our training. Sometimes we have to attend pretend car accidents. last week we simulated a fire over-run. An over-run is when the wind changes direction and all the fire-fighters are caught in a dead-man zone. The only action you can take is to get back to the truck , turn the sprinkler bars on to cover the truck and shield yourself with blankets hoping you don't die.

Our area has had some bad fires in the past and this season has already been classed as potentially catastrophic. We have done many hazard reductions to try and bring the fuel load down to a minumum in the bush. Although we a very prepared who knows what the summer will bring. Fingers crossed it's not too bad.

Hope your weeekend is going to be as fun as mine. Oh, and Alex if your reading this (the cutest niece in the world) I hope you had a brilliant time at camp.........be good to your mum and dad and give Oliver a big hug from me.

Love yous all
Clare xo

Updating my blog coz I haven't done it in ages

Here I am again back on Blogging, thanks to my sis Jo for giving me a push. It's now 26/11/09 and I think today our family emigrated from England in 1982. Well done for sticking it out everyone. My life has changed a fair bit since I last blogged. I am now living with a new flatmate called Privy, she's nice but she buys 1 ply toilet paper...........derrrr! I am thinking she buys the crap stuff so I will just take over and keep buying the Sorbent paper.

Today I am happily at work paying all the hotels superannuation. I work for Rendezvous Hotel Group as a payroll contractor. Apparently I am filling in for someone while they are out on stress leave. My contract that was supposed to go for 2-3 weeks has lasted nearly 2 months. Thanks for that boss 'cause I seriously need the money. I love the job and I am hoping I get to stay on forever.

I am now kind of dating a guy called Grahame. We have had our fair share of problems but we have worked through everything so far. Big problem being his drinking but now he is attending AA and spending a lot of time trying to keep me happy....it's working!

I am a volunteer fire-fighter with the Rural Fire Service at Loftus and I love it. We have training evey Wednesday night and every Sunday. This weekend is our biggest fundraising weekend. We take the truck down to Como twilight markets and sell lots of sausage sandwiches and bacon and egg ones with or wothout onions. I show the kids the truck and let them hold the maglite. For some reason they are fascinated by the maglite, go figure?

I am getting more into my writing and I have joined the Federation of Australian Writers. We only meet once a month and I have been voted in next year as treasurer. We are having a little Christmas bash on Saturday lunchtime so I am taking some sausage rolls..thanks Jo for the recipe. Grahame is out today buying me the ingredients.

This year I finished 5th in the Board Games Association. I am an avid member of the Sydney Board Games Association. After coming 3rd last year I was really hoping for a trophy again but I was just pipped out by our president.

I'm off to Mebourne to spend Christmas with my family and that is the biggest thing I am looking forward to at the moment. I am also looking forward (heaps) to the end of year firies Christmas Party. They are a great bunch of guys and we now have 2 new girlie recruits which I am very proud of.

Thanks for reading me
I'll be blogging soon (yes Jo, soon)