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.