My apologies for such a gap in between posts, it must look like I have fallen off the face of the earth lately!!
It has been about a month and a day since I last posted, and I'm not going to make up or use any excuses.
Basically, I have been slack!!
Each night I think about doing a post, then the procrastinating side of me wins by saying "You've had nothing interesting to write about lately" so I take the easy way out and do nothing.
Sorry!!
So tonight will most likely be just a few short snippets about just a few things that have been going on. Our school Principal has headed away for 7 weeks, so I have felt a bit under the pump at times, but over the past week have been able to juggle my commitments more effectively.
It is indeed a small world!
First of all, one of our boys, Will, moved to Canada a few months ago to work in Banff.He is working at Banff Gondola, and recently the previous Director of Education for our part of Victoria (a state in Australia where I live) was travelling there. Apparently she heard an Australian voice and asked Will if he was Australian.
She then asked where he was from, and the interchange was something like this...
"Victoria"
Which part?
"Bendigo"
What's your surname?
"Kerrins"
Are your parents Bernard and Jenny?
"Yep"
What a small world!! We really enjoyed having Philomena Billington as our Director, and it has been a couple of years since she was in that role, but for her to bump into one of our sons overseas was totally amazing.
Phil meeting Will at Banff Gondola.
We hope you were looked after Phil!!
Will (left) and a few new friends trying their best to catch a fish on a lake in Canada.
Clearly, he hasn't had a haircut since lobbing over there!
The weather is certainly changing...
We are now one month into Winter and I am totally over it already!! I much preferred the really cold winter we experienced in Europe back in January when we were in Italy and Austria and Budapest, being knee deep in snow!! Perhaps it was the novelty of the snow that made it more appealing?
Anyway, I just hate these cold mornings and evenings.
Why? Mainly because I like being outdoors and doing things outdoors, so when it is really cold it just makes me a tad miserable. Also, it has been too cold to ride my new motorbike to work (had to give it a plug somewhere!!), but the afternoons have been really good riding weather.
I did ride it a few times recently, but even with double gloves on I was still unable to undo my helmet and zips on my jacket as my fingertips got so cold.
Okay, it doesn't look pretty here, but it is very practical on the bike. This 'neck sock' keeps the gap between my collar and my helmet warm on cold days on the bike.
Might need one for my head now that the follicles are appearing less and less!!
Okay, so I just had to get another shot of my bike in the blog!! I'd spent the best part of the day mowing our yard in the background, so I felt I'd earned the time on the bike!!
Simple bike philosophy!
Driving to school last week, most mornings have been between zero and 3 degrees, so I've been precious and driven instead!!
It may have been cold last Friday morning, but the sunrise was just beautiful on the way to work.
Another son, Sam, is working in London, having been there for a few years now. He is soccer mad and just loves playing the game, so how excited do you think his old man was to see him in a football (Australian Rules that is) team photo recently.
He plays in this competition in London at the end of his soccer season, and as I was brought up on this game I just love it when the boys play it. A shame I have rarely seen them play though.
That's Sam,back row, 2nd from right.
Something else that has been exciting this year has been watching my Australian Rules Football team, Richmond (the Tigers) actually start winning games and becoming a serious challenger for the end of season finals. We have lost 5 games this year, but 4 of those were by 9 points or less which were just heartbreaking as we been in winning positions in each of those games. We just have a habit of losing games in the last minute of play!!
No wonder us Richmond supporters cop so much stick from the supporters of other teams!!
One of the most in-form players this year in the competition, Dustin Martin, and he is ours!!!
He is out of contract at the end of the year and lots of clubs are dangling big wages at him, but we are desperately hoping he stays with us!!
And this sums up exactly how I feel after some of our recent wins!!
Jen and I recently spent a Saturday at a Camping and Caravan show that was on here in Bendigo. We often think about buying a caravan, but for the moment we are trying to do as much overseas travel as time and finances will allow.
But on this day, while we did see lots of vans that suited us, all we came out with were a few bottles of wine, cider and liqueur that we saw at a winery stall!!
If we ever do get a van, one of our first trips will be to Cobram to get more of these from this winery!!
These haven't lasted long since we bought them!!
And just a bit of light humour that has brought mixed reactions from many female siblings, friends and colleagues!!!
This might alienate me from all of my female readers!!!!!
And something else that I have needed a lot lately...
I think my colleagues must get sick of me saying every time a potential problem surfaces at work..."We have no problems here, just solutions"!
And since I have mentioned our two other sons, how could I not include our youngest, Lachie, who is the only one still in Australia?
It doesn't show up here, but Lachie has as much hair as I don't!! It tumbles way past his shoulders, and thankfully he has it neatly tied up here. He told us last night that he is considering doing a 'cut for cancer', where he has to take off a minimum of 30 cm. If only I had 1 cm!!!
We had the pleasure of having Lachie home for a few days, which is a real novelty for us as it is usually just the two of us at home nowadays.
Now what has happened to my U.S. Readers?
For some time now, the majority of my readers have been from the U.S.A.
For reasons unbeknown to me, this dramatically dropped off a few weeks ago, not gradually, but suddenly.
Why?
I just don't know, but if anyone who has been a reader can shed some light I'd love to know.
I don't think that I publish anything that is offensive or controversial. Rather, I am content that if anyone from my school read this blog it would be totally safe for them to do so.
Whereas I was getting close to 1 000 hits a week from the USA, I am now getting single figures, and for the life of me I cannot explain why.
It does disappoint me somewhat, as when I write I really do remember that I am writing for an audience, and I hope that I am giving them something of interest.
If all of my USA readers suddenly got bored, let me know and I'll rise to the challenge and produce posts that will leave you craving for more!!
There you go, the challenge is set, and hopefully I'll not let you down!!
Pleasing to see that I scored a few hits over the past week from Finland, a country I visited last year and would dearly love to visit again.
I learnt so much from the schools and people I spent time with when I was there and have been trying hard to implement some of your ideas over here.
It is hard and slow, but I will persevere!
Thanks for reading Finland!!!
Well Readers,
I am sorry for my tardiness with my posting of late, hopefully I will rectify that as we begin two weeks of holidays at the end of this week.
And remember, comments are always welcome!!!
Until my next post...
Cheers!!
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