Holiday Rattlings...

Well Readers,

Here we are 3 days into our two weeks of school holidays. I don't actually count the weekends as we get them anyway!
So, what are we up to??
A few weeks ago it was my birthday so Jen surprised me with a mystery flight. The funny thing about it is, when we told people what we were doing their first reaction is to say "Oh, where to?".
Well, on Monday morning we received an email to say that we would be going to Brisbane the following day. We weren't disappointed at all with that result, but in my mind I was thinking that we'd get Sydney. So, the rest of the day was spent getting things organised and making sure our Summer clothes still fitted us!!
All the while, we had family from Queensland staying with us and we we were trying to get organised for a family dinner on Monday night!

How ironic, we had family coming down from Brisbane to visit us, and as soon as they leave we head to Brisbane. Actually, we left our home on Tuesday morning well before them as we had an early flight. It was strange saying our goodbyes the night before to people who were actually staying the night in our house!

I mentioned in a previous post that the medication I have been on has had some rather ordinary side effects, so I stopped taking it. Among these was drowsiness, and I am still suffering a bit from it.
We got onto the plane for the flight to Brisbane and I was out like a light even before the plane took off!! For the life of me, I just could not stay awake. As the lady beside me kept bumping me and hogging the arm rest, I kept being jolted awake, so drastic action had to be taken!!

Luckily I had my iPad with me, and it had the movie 'Mamma Mia' on it, my absolute favourite.
So, no sooner did I crank it up and put my earphones in, I could see that she was trying to watch it over my shoulder, albeit without the benefit of sound.
This was really bugging me, and one part of me was celebrating the fact that she couldn't hear it, but I still didn't want to share it with her, so I strategically tilted it more towards me and rested my arm on the side, just about blocking her view completely. Winner!!
Halfway through the movie the lady on the other side of me (my wife!!) pulled out one of my earphones and used it herself. I soon discovered that this was just a short term move as she just wanted to see the scene where they sing 'Voulez Vouz', our favourite part of the show when we saw it in London.

Our next minor drama occurred at the airport when we were given the wrong information about our shuttle bus that was to deliver us to the door of our hotel in the city. We ended up waiting more than an hour and a half for the next one, but as we had nothing planned we were content to just sit it out and have a coffee. My lack of sleep on the plane hit me on the bus. Despite it being the joltiest  ride, I still managed to nod off, and this pattern continued for the rest of the day whenever I sat down for an extended period. Needless to say, I was in bed early last night!

Today has been very relaxing as the weather has been very bleak today. We have just wandered around the city centre and just taking life very easily. We started off doing the shops together, and Jen quickly, and smartly made the decision that perhaps it would be best if we went to different shops on our own, rather than bore each other with having to go through stuff that the other was mainly interested in. As we were in the women's section of David Jones at the time, you can imagine why I took off faster than the Road Runner!!

By the time we settled into our digs it was off to explore the centre of Brisbane, something that we have only briefly done many years ago.

First stop was a feed in the Mall and a nice cool drink, as it was such a warm day, a direct contrast to what we left behind in Victoria.

                                

As I said earlier, it was a bleak day today, so we stayed mainly indoors, although I did squeeze in a quick walk between rain episodes as I'd go insane without any exercise!!

                                  

        

                                 

                         

Tonight I thought I'd wash a few clothes in the washing machine in our digs. I thought I'd read the instructions okay, but 2 hours later and it is still going 😬😩!!!

Needless to say, Jen, who has gone to bed is far from impressed and has gotten out of bed, swung a few buttons and managed to stop the machine. 

At least I know my clothes will be super clean!!!

I'm thinking that perhaps I will be banned from the washing machine in the next few days😆😬😁😩

Tomorrow is a bit of a different one for us. We are hiring a car and heading down to the Gold Coast for a look around. Just something to get us out of the area we are hanging around in at the moment. As it is expected to be 24 degrees I'm glad I have some clean shorts to wear!!! (She wouldn't find that funny.....yet!)

I haven't gone through and checked this for typos readers as I hardly use my iPad when blogging, I usually use my laptop. The program behaves a little differently on the iPad and uploading photos was a chore, but I have it sorted now.

So, apologies for any obvious errors!!

Perhaps you could tell me how many you find? Just leave a note in the comments box at the end, they are always welcome!!!!!

Until my next post...

Cheers👍

What a Week?

Hi Readers,

I know we all have 'those weeks' when everything just seems to pile up.

Well, tonight it feels like I've had one of those weeks. I'm not complaining though, that's just how things go, and because I always adopt the attitude of "There are no problems, just solutions", I manage to get by with a smile on my face. Well. On most occasions!

That was all I managed to scribble down last week readers, and on reflection it looks like I was behaving like a real sook! Sorry!! I promise not to use this blog as a way of complaining. One does need to take a good dose of perspective at times, and this is one of them!

This is mainly for my overseas readers, but heavy and prolonged rain is something of a rarity here. 

So, imagine how we react when we get 2 days of non-stop heavy rain that causes floods right across Victoria.

We have had a fair soaking this week, and sadly some towns to the north-west of us are still suffering terribly with high water marks expected tonight.

Roads are closed in many areas and schools are closed.

We got off lightly.

 This is the creek that runs around the boundary of the school I work at. This is 50m from a classroom.

 Here you will see a class of Gr 1's negotiating a muddy track to go and see the creek in flood.

 They are just about there!!

 Believe it or not, there is a path here.

 Gr 5 are checking out the flooded creek, but what you cannot see is the wallaby that was hopping around, trapped by the rising water. Thankfully, it escaped.

 The view from another area close to the school.

 Hard to believe that this is just 50m from the school.

 A view of the creek from the school.

So, after a day of dealing with constant rain at school, I get home and as soon as I get out of my car I hear my son Will banging on the window and pointing at his brother's car in the carport. It was still bucketing rain, and we find a rooster nestling on Sam's car.

Keep in mind that we do not have chooks at our place, but a few of our neighbours do, so where do I start the search? And in pouring rain?

Luckily, I located the owners on my second house, and they duly came to pick up 'Billy the Rooster".

What a great way to meet the people in your area, they were lovely!

My biggest fear was that he would do a runner while I was locating his owner, luckily he stayed put.

'Billy' was getting edgier as I got closer.

The next part of this story was sending photos to our son Sam in London to show him how his car was being cared for while he is away.

Needless to say, he was unimpressed!!

The only other interesting, or sort of part of the week concerns my ongoing problems after recent shoulder surgery.

I have been put on medication for it until I see another specialist in a few weeks.

Since being on it for the past three weeks I have noticed that I have been feeling bloated and totally knackered all the time. As soon as I sit down on the couch at night I have been crashing and then waking up later feeling just as tired. Also, I have quickly chucked on 4 kg, even after watching my diet and maintaining my exercise regimen. But perhaps the most concerning was that I have become aware that I have had trouble with aspects of my speech. Others have not noticed it, but I have certainly been aware of it.

So, the other night I was thinking about these recent changes in my body, and I wondered if it was due to being on this medication.

I did a bit of research on it and discovered that what I have been taking has a long list of side effects, and among these were weight gain, slurring of speech and drowsiness, among many others.

This really alarmed me, that what I was taking was alleviating pain to some extent, but was creating all of these other hassles.

Needless to say, I immediately stopped taking it and already feel a bit better, although a lot of my shoulder hassles have returned.

I was quite shocked to read about the side effects of what had been prescribed to me, and although I don't fully trust 'Dr Google', I found enough information to convince me that perhaps I was better off not taking it.

It will be interesting to see how I feel over the next few days as this drug leaves my system.

Finally, and on a good note, holidays are here. Yeeeessssssss!!!!

Not much planned apart from my wife and I heading away for a few days on a mystery flight. All we know is that it is not Tasmania, so hopefully we'll score somewhere warm. My bet is Sydney, or maybe that is what I'm hoping for. As for Jen, who knows. 

All I know is that it will be great!

And on the family front...

Our son Will who is at Uni here in Bendigo, plays for Eaglehawk in soccer, and they recently won the 2016 Championship. At the end of the season they hold a knockout cup between the teams, and Eaglehawk have made the Grand Final this Sunday. Sadly for Will, he copped yellow cards in his last two games, so he cops a 1 match suspension, meaning he misses the Grand Final. To say he is gutted is an understatement.

Lachie, at Uni in Melbourne turned 19 today. I rang him at about 8.45 this morning, and it quickly became clear that this was far too early for him! Nevertheless, Happy Birthday Lachs!!

Finally, Sam. He has been in London for the last two years and has recently been sponsored by his employer to stay longer, which he has decided to do. While we miss him enormously, it has been great for him, and Jen and I are already thinking of planning a trip over there next year to see him Just need lots of $$$$. Sam is coming home in a fortnight for a week or two so that will be just perfect.

A lot on these holidays readers, hopefully I can be more consistent with my posts.

Until my next post...

Cheers!!

Work, Health and holidays...

Hi Readers,

Sorry I have not written for a while, the past two weeks have been fairly manic, and tonight is the first chance I have had to really sit down and have a good blog.
There are still a lot of things I need to do but they can wait, as I just really wanted to crank out another post.

I suppose that says that I must really enjoy doing it and don't find it a chore at all.
One thing I must admit is that by spending time writing down one's thoughts, it really does make you stop and think about what has been happening, and what is important to me.

I must start by thanking all of my wonderful friends for the kind thoughts and words they shared for me on my birthday last week. It really makes me feel special and grateful to know that I am surrounded by amazing people in my life.

A funny story about my birthday that I just can't fully believe, even after 38 years...

From my earliest years I always had my birthday on August 18th.
However, when I was 15 I had to produce my birth certificate because I got  reported playing football, and upon looking at it I noticed that my birthday was actually on August 17!
When I asked my mum about it all she could do was just laugh and say "Oh well, there is quite a few of you"!! I just love that attitude, it was no big deal at all.

She then asked me if I'd like to keep using the 18th as my birthday or switch to the 17th. I don't think she really considered the implications of this. Imagine me saying for the rest of my life that my birthday was on the 18th, but on documents etc I would have to write the 17th!!
So, since when I was 15 I switched to having my birthday on the right day, and believe me, it did take some getting accustomed to.

Along with the usual pressies, I received a book from my sister Anne who obviously knows me so well. Already I am engrossed in it, which is a mean feat as I usually don't have the patience to sit and read a book, but this one has floored me.

It is titled "How Far Can You Go?", written by John Maclean.

Basically it is the story of a super fit and super dedicated sportsman who becomes a paraplegic after a road accident on his bike, and the story follows his path of recovery.

As I am only three chapters in, I am yet to find out what happens, but already I am inspired by this amazing bloke.

As the former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh says, "If you look up mental toughness you'll find a picture of John Maclean". Not a bad comment from someone known for having extreme mental toughness himself.

"Look how far you have come, now how far can you go?" - The words from his father that changed his whole mindset. Maclean was alway focussing on what he was able to do in the past, when he was more able bodied. Now his father was urging him not to dwell on the past, but focus on the future.

In this short moment, Maclean was able to forge ahead with greater resolve, and I am eagerly anticipating another chapter tonight!!

Work has been a bit manic over the past week and a bit to say the least. In my role, one of the things I need to do each term is have meetings with parents of children who have special needs. Trying to get them all booked in over a few days is a nightmare in itself, but I nearly got them all in. Three days of meeting after meeting does become taxing, but at the same time is enjoyable because it is all about trying to find greater success for their children. Special Ed is a new role for me, one which I am still finding my feet in. I'm learning so much all the time, but still wonder if I'm doing it as well as previous people at our school who were brilliant at it.

After attending a Special Ed meeting at our local Education Office on Wednesday, it was then off to Melbourne with my wife as I had an appointment to see my shoulder surgeon. Jen had to come just in case I had to get a certain procedure done on it which precludes one from driving a car  for 24 hours.
By the time we got to our digs in Brighton we were famished, so into the restaurant at the hotel we went. The lovely waitress presented the menu and was about to walk away when we both blurted out "We'll order straight away"!! We did, and the meals were gone in a flash, as were the desserts. God only knows what the waitress thought of us!

The next morning I was off to see my shoulder surgeon, as it is still giving me grief a few months after surgery.

It now turns out that although it is structurally sound, there is still a lot of inflammation in it, so I have been referred to a rheumatologist as he thinks I have developed rheumatoid arthritis.

Not the result I was really hoping for, but a lot worse could happen.

So, now I have to go and get some new treatment on it, hopefully it will help. 

Being a positive person, the biggest hassle I can see is mainly in trying to spell my latest ailment!!!

So, I've blabbed about work, and my health, so what is on the cards for the holidays?

As you might know, I love to travel, and for my birthday (the 17th or 18th - feel free to choose, I had to!!) my family gave me a mystery flight.

This means that in the upcoming holidays, my wife and I are going away for a few days to somewhere in Australia. All we know is that it won't be Hobart, in Tasmania. Jen will get an email the night before we go, and all I have told her is that I need to know whether to pack for 'cold' or 'hot'.

It will be interesting to see at what stage I discover where we are going, as it is my plan to do everything I can to not find out until the last minute.

Regardless, wherever we go it will be great to just chill and explore for a few days. 

The first thing I did when I opened the envelope however was to check that we would not be away for the AFL Grand Final day, as that is the pinnacle day of the sport I love the most. As we are travelling home on a Saturday, I'd be a massive danger on the road trying to listen to it on the radio, and an even worse passenger!!

Well, time to check out as I want to concentrate on the game on TV, and I'm also trying to psyche myself up for a big day of mowing in the yard tomorrow. If I really pull my finger out I'll nail it within 4 hours, let's see if I can do it!!

Until my next post...

Cheers!!

Some recent Learning...

Hi Readers,

Wow, hard to believe I know. Nothing for more than a week, then more than one post in the same night!
Someone take my temperature!

I have always been so lucky to be on a continuous learning journey, as in my work I am regularly receiving excellent professional development ( and some not so good) and have been fortunate to have listened to and met some of the leading educators in Australia, as well as a few with world recognition.
Along the way I have also done a lot of study that has also helped me.
And how can I forget the trips to New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and Finland that were all directly related to my role.
All of these experiences have left an indelible mark on me, and not for a second am I not grateful to have been part of them.

So what has happened lately, and what is coming up?

Last week, the Principal of my school and our Literacy Learning Leader went up to Sydney at very short notice  to attend the LEAP Conference, which was all about how to build an effective professional learning community (PLC's)

With only a few days to plan our trip and get our bookings done, we were off.
The conference opened with a keynote address from Professor John Hattie, a world leader in defining the things that have an effect on the child's learning.
John delivered a compelling address that challenged us and really got us thinking.

After grabbing a coffee we then headed into our next workshop, and as all the tables were taken, the three of us grabbed a seat down the back.
Imagine my surprise and disbelief when someone came and sat in the spare seat beside me and greeted me with a warm hello.
It was none other than John Hattie himself!!!

How excited was I !!!

Anyway, after a quick chat, the workshop was about to begin and the organisers came down to us and insisted that we find a seat at a table. My colleagues and I obeyed, but John just parked himself. They weren't game to ask him a second time to move!

So that was my brush with fame last week.

But it wasn't all totally serious!

As we got to the airport early, we had time to go to a bar and relax with a drink before our flight to Sydney. As we finished our drinks, Tim said he had to visit the toilet, and asked us to watch his bags while he went.

Well, the second he was out of sight we just grabbed all of our bags and bolted to another part of the terminal about 60 meters away, where we could still see where we had been sitting, wetting ourselves laughing all the time.

We had to lay low when Tim came back as he nearly walked past us, and to watch him get to our table and realise what was going on was priceless. He just kept looking around with a wry smile on his face while Nat and I rolled around in hysterics. Eventually we rang him and called him over, but from that moment on I never left my bags out of my sight and took them with me when I needed a toilet stop. No way was I trusting those two!!!

I also organised something for Tim to do on the plane so that he wouldn't get bored as the picture shows.

                           A bit of colouring for Tim on the plane.

And on the way home we hardly spoke as we pored over the books that were bought at the conference.

We didn't get back to Bendigo until after 10.30 that night, so rest assured that we were all a little sluggish the next day. It was a quick trip, but well worth it.

This week I'm off to hear another world renown speaker by the name of Brendan Spillane. Relax though, it will only be an hour up the road at Echuca, I'm not even leaving the state!.

I heard him speak a few months ago and he too was compelling, and this is the second part in a series of talks he is giving to Principals and Deputy Principals in our zone.

Brendan speaks to all sorts of organisations, not just in Education. The New Zealand Rugby team for example is one of his clients, and we all know how dominant they have been over a long period of time.

My brother Peter who is a Principal in Brisbane was fortunate enough to hear him speak at a conference just last week.

I won't be stalking him for a selfie, trust me!!

And this week I will also be spending time in classes working with the kids and their teachers, and that is where some of the most important learning of all will be taking place.

Until y next post...

Cheers!

The Block 2016 !!!

Hi Readers,

Sorry for my intermittent posts of late. Each day I tell myself to go and add just a little something, but then I always seem to get distracted by other things, more often than not mindless ones!!

So what has been going on of late?

As some of you who know me would know, I'm really in to Inquiry and Project Based Learning, which happened to be the focus of my trip overseas earlier this year.
I'm lucky to work with some teachers who are also keen to dip their toes into maths projects, and I totally understand their nervousness and hesitation, as it does require them to let go a little (and a lot!) of their control and hand it over to the kids.

It's my belief that if the content is engaging enough, and at the kid's level with just the right amount of challenge, they'll take to it like ducks to water.

Last week we launched a new maths project with the Gr 5's at my school titled "The Block 2016".
It is based on the tv show of the same name and the first challenge that the kids have is to design a bedroom with a $10 000.00 budget.
Rather than planning ahead what we will teach them, we let certain content surface naturally then address it on a needs basis. This is not to say it is totally loose, as we are aware of what content and skills focus will need specific teaching, but we are letting it arise naturally when the kids need it.

For example, in the first few days it became clear that the kids could not all make life size beds out of newspapers to see what they looked like in real life. 27 kids in one room trying to create 27 bedrooms? We'd need a paddock to fit them all in!!
So, this was when it was an opportune time to address the concept of scale, and the kids were primed and ready for it.
Let me say, the lessons I took for two classes this week were just the most fun as they were so tuned in for something that they needed to know. By mixing it up with practical examples, the kids were able to see how we could shrink the size of the actual bed 100 times, and then make the planning and organisation of our rooms much more practical.
Plus, their amazement at how they could do this so easily came as a real surprise, and the work they produced was excellent.

Imagine the mess we made, a mess that we didn't care about because the learning was more important. They will now use these same skills for the rest of their house.
In my mind, this is a much more beneficial way of covering measurement rather than getting the kids to complete mindless worksheets that have no relevance or worth to the children.

This is the size of an actual single bed. What you can't see is the scale model of it, which was only 2cm x 1 cm

So why 'The Block'?

A couple of years ago at my previous school we developed this same project, but it only began with one room. The success of doing it just snowballed into planning other rooms, then a whole house. The kids (and teachers!) became so absorbed in it, to the point where we ended up making 3D scale models out of recyclable materials after seeing how to do this from a visit to our local Building Apprentice Trade School.

The culmination of our project was an expo of all of the work that the kids had done, and we actually had two of the stars from the series of The Block that was on tv at the time come to our school to see the work the kids had done.
They were just brilliant, and the school was full of visitors for the day celebrating the amazing work completed by the kids.

This is the clip I made to launch the project, I hope it plays on here!!!!!

If not, I hope to get it fixed!

Until my next post...

Cheers!

Hello Germany!!

Well,
What a surprise when I hop on to my blog tonight to see that there has been a big spike in readers from Germany for some reason.
Or perhaps one person in Germany logged on 19 times!😂
Either way, welcome to my blog, I hope you find something there that interests you.
Speaking of Germany, I did visit there a year or so ago and just lived Berlin. We even took a train from Berlin right through to London, although we did have to swap trains a few times, but it was a fantastic country to travel in.
Potsdam in particular was a great place to spend a day.

Not a great deal has happened over the past few days so this will be a short post.
I was on duty at the front of our school the other day just as school was dismissed.
We have 550 kids at our school, so the after school pick up gets fairly hectic at times as traffic jams are the norm.
Our system is to have the cars come through and stop in one of five bays, get their kids then take off again. When we are slick and the kids are there it works well, but when a kid is late to the pick up area we often have to ask their parent to go around again, and this might take them 10 minutes. We really feel popular when that occurs 😁!!
Anyway, I digress!
While I was directing kids the other day a prep boy came up to me and said "What's your name again?"
I said back to him "I'm Mr K"
"Ohhh, that's right. You're the weird one" he said as if it was just stating a fact.
"Why do you say that?" I asked him.
His honest and straightforward reply was "Jack told me that, but he said you were funny too" , and off he went.

I could not take offence at what this boy said, because he probably hit the nail on the head, and I just love the honesty of kids. Plus, I deserved it because I do carry on and behave weirdly a lot!!!

Tonight will be a late one as I'm watching The Tour on tv, and as they are doing the hills again I am glued to the screen.
It just amazes me when I watch ultra endurance events, and maybe that stems from my days when I could do marathons, and going for long runs was a daily habit. Sadly, my dodgy legs have stopped that but at least I still have my family and my health, so I have nothing to complain about.

Well, my German readers, I'm glad to have some new people to blab to, perhaps you could let me know how you found my blog, and give some comments. I'd love to chat with you, or anyone else for that matter.
Just hit the comments box at the end of my post.

So,  until my next post...

Cheers!

My 100th Post!!!!!

Hi Readers,

After posting my last rambling, I have just realised that it was my 100th post, and that I have recently cracked 5 000 page views.

I remember getting excited when I got 1 000 views!!

So, feel free to leave a comment, especially if you are an overseas reader!

Who knows, as I have travelled a bit over the past few years, I may have been in your city, or may be going there in the future???

Until my next post...

Cheers!

That was a good holiday break...

Well the plan was over these holidays to put up a few posts, but in true procastinator style I have waited until the second last day of the holidays to do something!

So what has been going on for the past two weeks?

Let me say that I have really been enjoying the firebox that was due to have been a surprise birthday present for my brother who sadly passed away suddenly a few weeks ago.

A glass is always raised in his memory when we crank it up, and we have had many happy gatherings around it with various family and friends over the past few weeks.

It might be good for my liver however if we give it a break for a week or two, as it just seems totally normal to down a few beers and just watch the flames as the fire grows.

I remember visiting the home of a good friend (Hoges) way back in the mid 80's. Hoges lived in St Arnaud and I gave him a lift home one night so that he could play in a basketball competition. His dad was sitting in their lounge room in front of an open fire, as it was a cold night. He said something to me that has always stayed with me, and maybe it was because of the moment, but it has stayed with me ever since, and in particular whenever we have a fire.

"A fire is the best friend you can ever have, you can sit and watch it all night"

I couldn't agree with Hoges' dad more. One only has to sit and watch a fire, and pretty soon they become mesmerising. Is it because the same thing doesn't happen twice, and the fire is always changing? Who knows.

Even with the fire we have burning in our lounge at the moment has the same effect, but not as strong as sitting around an open fire in our yard.

I can see that this box will get a lot of use before fire restrictions come in force later in the year.

Last week my wife, Jen and I spent a few days in Melbourne as I had to receive treatment on the shoulder I had operated on 12 weeks ago.

After the events of the past few weeks, it was a welcome break as we had hardly spent time together at all.

On our first night we hit one of our favourite restaurants in Collins St, Mamasita's, a really nice Mexican restaurant.

At Mamasita's, you cannot book a seat. You just rock up, eat and then leave. People form large queues at the entrance, but as we went early, and there was just the two of us, we got a seat straight away overlooking Collins St on a wet and dismal night. Perfect!

It was just as well that it was relatively dark inside, for even though I just love spicy food, I break out in a pretty fierce sweat when I eat food that is only mildly spicy. It wasn't long before I was dabbing more than my lips with the serviettes as I started to react to the amazing food we were eating.

After finishing our meal we ducked into the 7-11 next door to grab some chocolate to take back to our hotel, and just as well it was raining because my head looked like I had just been caught in a downpour, but it was only my reaction to the magnificent meal we had just had!!!

So, the real purpose for our trip to Melbourne was a shoulder check-up, as I have been having nothing but trouble since my operation.

It appears that I have a 'frozen shoulder', something that occurs after about 10% of operations according to my surgeon. No big deal, but it does take time and further treatment to remedy.

So, the first bit of treatment involved visiting Olympic Park the next morning to have a procedure done where they insert a needle into the joint under pressure and try to expand it a bit, then inject a variety of juices and cortisone to hopefully fix it. To say this was painful is an understatement, but when one considers that I have friends receiving treatment to save their lives, I have diddly squat to worry about.

I have a sore arm and shoulder, it will get better.

This photo shows the needle in the joint and the tube trailing out that the juices were injected through.

If this doesn't work, I need another one in a few weeks.

On the right you can see where a lasoo is present from my recent operation that shows where the bicep tendon was reattached.

And if anyone has settled on a dodgy name for a restaurant, then this has to be it!!

Poor old Tontei!!!!

And as we are both teachers, we are suckers for great displays and ideas for classrooms and the schools that we work in.

What a great display for books in a classroom!!

This shows the seats outside a small restaurant in the city. We both loved it and would love to set up something like this in a classroom.

As neither of us have a class to teach in our current roles, we still keep an eye on possibilities if we should end up with a class again.

Another great way to display books in a school or classroom.

And last week we had another night around the firebox (yes, it is becoming addictive!) with our great friends Nev and Nat Zimmer.
It might appear odd that we are so rugged up in our kitchen, but this was just while we were carving the meat that had been cooking on the spit for the past few hours, and we snuck inside to carve it before heading out back to the fire.

A perfect night with perfect people.

And to finish the week off, we ducked out to visit the other Deputy Principal from our school who I share the role with.

Jess Widdicombe recently had her first baby, so Jen and I headed out to pay her and baby Mac a visit to see how they are travelling, and they are going fantastically.

Jen is testing out her maternal skills before Mac readies himself for a feed. She hasn't lost it!!

So, as I sit here in front of the fire enjoying one of my own home brew beers, I consider myself extremely lucky to have the life I have and to be surrounded by the people in my life.

Life is good.

And it will only be better if the Tigers beat the Bulldogs tonight - Go Tigers!!!!!

Until my next post...

Cheers!!

It's Holiday Time...

Well,

The past three or so weeks have been a massive blur.
Sadly, we lost one of our brothers unexpectedly and as well as getting his funeral organised, there have been a few trips to the place where he lived and worked to pack up his belongings.
It is more than 8 hours each way, so it is a trip that cannot be taken lightly.
There still may need to be a trip or two to finalise his affairs up there, we'll just have to wait and see.
The next few months will be spent tidying up his finances and selling his properties, something that I have been given the task to do, but one which makes me feel like a vulture in a way as it feels like I am invading so much of his privacy.

Just leaving Broken Hill as the sun comes up. Only eight and a half hours until we get home. The next three hours in particular can be a little tense at times due to the large number of goats that roam around here, as well as emus. Then there is the constant hassle of kangaroos, especially at this time of day.

Will and Nev after two days of solid cleaning and ready to hit the road for home.

The shed is just about done, perhaps a trip at a later date to collect the boat.

Our son overseas...

For nearly two years, one of our boys, Sam, has been living in London. He is currently working there as an accountant, but is also getting away as much as he can to see the rest of Europe. It was a highlight of my trip over there a few months ago to spend time with him in London.

Over the past week or so he has told us that he is having a bit of a sporting focus, going to the races at Royal Ascot ( he did see the Queen), heading over to France for Euro 2016, and next week heading o Wimbledon.

The races and soccer don't really interest me, but as for Wimbledon...Jealous!!!

These few shots at the races clearly show that it started off as a very respectable day, but the last shot shows that a good time was obviously had!!!

 

The start of the day and it is looking good.

Arms in the air and around each other as the day progresses...

Peace, Love and Happiness all in the one shot!

And this must be after a successful day at Royal Ascot. I can't imagine that the Queen looked the same at the end of the day!

Apparently a few days ago the boys were camping in France after watching a game at Euro 2016. Sam woke up in the middle of the night to see a face right over him. It turns out it was someone reaching in the window trying to steal stuff while they were sleeping.

Sam said he just started yelling at the intruder and waking everyone else up, and got in about 5 punches to his head before he pulled himself back out the window.

It turns out that they had noticed this bloke skulking around their van earlier, needless to say they will be even more vigilant now.

The last I heard they were in Amsterdam watching some more games.

 Some shots taken at school on Friday when I was working in a class of Grade 4's.
They have a pup that spends time in the classroom, and she is great at helping the kids to relax.
She just roams between the two rooms and the kids are totally fine with it as they don't get distracted by her.

To finish the school term off on Friday, we had a netball match between the Grade 6 children and the staff. The whole school gathered in 'The Shed' to watch and it was a huge success, not just for the spectacle, but also in the way that it really strengthened the staff/children relationships (which are already incredibly strong I must say!)

And finally, yesterday we cranked up a firebox that was made for our brother who passed away recently.
This was meant to be a surprise birthday present for Moose from his workmates at Broken Hill, something which he would have loved.

As there are only three brothers who follow Richmond, my siblings decided that I was to have it, as one couldn't take it back to Brisbane on the plane, and the other one felt that he didn't really follow them as madly as I do.
Needless to say, as the flames took hold last night I definitely charged a glass or two in memory of Moose.

We are now on holidays for the next two weeks, so hopefully I'll be able to get back into my blogging.

This week is a few days of stuffing around the house before heading to Melbourne for a few days as I have to get my shoulder looked at again as it is just not getting better despite recent surgery.

My wife has been away for a few days visiting her parents, so the firebox will be torched again later today as will the spit roast. A few relaxing drinks together tonight around the fire is something I'm really looking forward to.

Until my next post....

Cheers!

It's been a rough week...

For the past fortnight I have been scratching my head for something to write about, sort of a writer's block.

Little did I know what was around the corner after last weekend.

After a very relaxing weekend (well, every weekend is fairly relaxing as I still can't do much with my crook shoulder) I was super organised for school and had lots of planned meetings with parents scheduled to get through.

I was in my first one of these when I could feel the gentle vibrating of my phone ringing in my pocket. Thankfully it was on silent, so I ignored it. But the phone was not going to give up and it rang persistently, and I continued to ignore it.
Next minute our school secretary pops her head in to the meeting to tell me that I need to answer my phone urgently.

The next few minutes were a blur, as I took a call from my wife who sadly had to tell me that one of my brothers had died, being found dead in his home in another state of Australia.

So many things were rushing through my head, and thankfully our secretary sensed what was going on and very calmly was able to calm me down so that I could think more clearly so that I would be able to drive home safely.

I was home 20 minutes later, and after ringing the police was able to get the full news about what had happened to our eldest brother, who is known by everyone as 'Moose'.
Then it was the worst 20 minutes of my life as I rang my six other siblings to break the news to them.
Absolutely the six hardest phone calls I have ever had to make in my life.
The short sense of relief after finishing each call was replaced by the dread of the next one to make.

After hearing the grief coming down the line during each call, I was wondering if I would be able to get through them all, thankfully I did. Then it was time to ring close friends in the Colbinabbin community where we all grew up, as well as close friends and relatives.

In a matter of hours there were various siblings at our house sharing their grief and supporting each other, which really helped.

The next day was in to the funeral director's to get it all organised, and the care and concern from Mark at Mulqueen's could not be surpassed.

As Moose lived and worked in Broken Hill as a quarry manager, we needed to travel up there to collect his things and begin to sort out his affairs.
This isn't just a quick trip in a car, it is about a 9 hour drive, so last Weds myself and four siblings jumped in my car and off we went.
It's just as well that we all get on, because 16 hours in a car over two days means that if someone grates on the others, it can be a very long trip.
So how did we entertain ourselves? Put 5 teachers in a car and there is instantly loads of stories about kids, teachers, programs, professional development and whatever else that involves teaching.
Sounds nerdy, but it passed the time.
And as for some of the games we played...lots of arguments (friendly of course!) debates and challenges. For example, one of my sisters really challenged me when I said that Congupna ( a town in Victoria) starts with a 'C', while she insisted it started with a 'K'.
Thank you Google for helping me on that one!!
And two sisters went to town on each other with the spelling of Enniskillen, where one insisted that it started with an 'I' while the other was sure it started with an 'E'.
Google to the rescue again.

The rest of the trip up and back had more games such as "List 3 things you will see in the next three hours" (they were not allowed to be blatantly obvious). My brother suggested ' goat up a tree', because he actually saw that on the trip up. As for the trip back...zilch. One of my suggestions was 'a car crash', which they all thought odd. I eventually confessed that I overheard on the radio in the police station that there had been a crash on the highway just before we left Broken Hill.

When we all felt like crap after having to deal with the loss of Moose, it was great to be able to have this enforced time together to be able to talk about so many things, and to be able to help each other to deal with it in their own way.

So the next few days will involve being back at school for a few days before the funeral, then I'm heading back to Broken Hill again to do the final sorting of Moose's things. Luckily I'll have one of my sons with me, so even that time together will be special.

Not a great thing to write about tonight, but it has been therapeutic for me.

RIP Moose.

Until my next post...

Cheers