12 February 2009

One Week of Rain



It's been overcast and either raining, misting, sprinkling, or down pour all week long. The forecast is for more of the same over Valentine's day weekend.


Pumice with Dave's and Neo's hands

Dave took Friday the 13th off to be home with me - isn't that sweet? He went down to the beach to see what treasures might have washed up with all these storms. He was not disappointed. He found pumice rock. Pumice is very light and will float on the water. This has no doubt been floating on the water for a very long time. There was even a sponge growing on one of the pieces. Dave believes these are from a volcano that had created a new island in Fiji in 2004.

Because it's been so wet, our evening walks to feed the ducks are limited. Instead, more birds are coming to us on our balcony.

This Sulfur Crested Cockatoo landed on our roof. He didn't seem to mind that I was right below him taking pictures. These birds are very loud and usually travel in flocks.



These are Rainbow Lorikeets. We had 6 sitting on our balcony eating bread pieces tonight. The kids were very excited and spent a good hour watching them and throwing bread. Very exciting.


Clara with Green Parrots on Balcony

The children completed their first full week of school with their assigned teachers. They seem happy. Tristan is a little put out in the morning but generally comes home with great excitement over an event at school - either earning a sticker or a "Copa Blue". Copa Blues are a reward program. Apparently the child will receive a reward when they have collected a minimum amount. Each child is given a lanyard to keep their Copa Blues in.

Because it has been so wet - and the temperature is in the low 20s, I have had to buy the children their "winter" uniforms. I bought each of them "jumpers" aka sweaters/sweatshirts. Zoe's jumper is like a cardigan but made of sweatshirt material and snaps up. Clara's is a pull over sweatshirt. And Tristan has a hoodie sweatshirt. All the jumpers are in Navy blue with the school crest on the chest. I spent most of my week driving to stores looking for the uniform pants for Tristan and leggings for the girls because the uniform shop is sold out....and so were many of the stores. Zoe also wanted a "chair bag". It's a cloth bag attached to a piece of cloth that is the right size to slip over the back of the chair the child sits in. She can keep her text book there.

On Monday, the children can pay a fee for the privilege of wearing "street" clothes. It's called Mufti day. The money raised will go to help the families in Victoria burned out of their homes.

I went to my first P&C meeting - it's like the PTA. I believe the P = Principle, but I'm not sure. They meet the first Tuesday of the month at 1pm. Very convenient for me. No problem bringing Neo.

Part of the monies that the P&C raises goes for insurance for the school Canteen. The Canteen is where the children can buy lunch and other snacks. It runs 4 days a week (not on Tuesdays). It's a kitchen with 1 staff person and parent volunteers. The order is placed in the AM. By lunch time, it's ready. Most of the food is fresh. There's an talk of growing vegetables for the canteen to use. Very special!

In other news, the Australian government passed a $42 Billion stimulus plan. It was very interesting to listen to the debate live on BBC last night. Their Parliament is similar to the British system - where the other representatives comment audibly. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stated that the Australian stimulus for 2009 is equal to 2% of Australia's GDP....compared to the 6% of GDP for the USA.

10 comments:

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LizzyT said...

I am wondering what the weather is going to be like when we are over in July. I know it will be winter in Australia then. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will have had some luck with selling the house by then, it will be lovely if we can book a one way ticket. The wildlife is fantastic over there and it is one of the many things I am looking forward to seeing again when we are there.

Unknown said...

Janet -
I think it will be very similar to what we've been experiencing lately. 20s during the day but as cold as 5 at night. That's what our neighbor said, anyway. It's only been in the teens at night right now. The wet is causing chills.

Dana said...

I've just started reading your blog. It's great, and nice to read about similar experiences to our own. (I love all the different birds too!)

Unknown said...

thanks, Dana. I have read your blog too. We both came from North America. Now we're both in NSW. I'm just above you in the Central Coast. Nice to meet you.

Laura said...

I love the birds here-- though I rarely see lorakeets where we live. And I've only seen a kookaburra once (just about a week ago!). Those sulpher crested cockatoos though are all over the place and so freaking loud!

Unknown said...

FL Girl - are you back in Australia now? We see Kookaburras a lot around here. Since the first day of our arrival in Queensland, we have heard their primal song. The problem is, we never have a camera ready when we see one. There's a pair at my children's school ground. I hope to take a picture some day soon....

Laura said...

I am back in Sydney-- we were in Florida for about seven weeks and now we're back and started Kindergarten a couple weeks ago.

Laura said...

I just added you to my blogroll, keep up all the good stuff, I love your blog.

Unknown said...

Thanks for your compliments, FL Girl! I've got you on my blog roll, as you can see. I enjoy your posts too.