Hot, lazy and start-up after holiday
February was hot. The heat kept us from doing many activities. Just a simple walk during the day gets you totally wet from sweating. On average it is several degrees above 30 degrees Celsius and humidity is high as usual for a subtropical area. There were also some warnings to be careful because snakes were very active and present in large numbers.
However, it is always good to have a BBQ, so we had several “barbies” with others at their or our home. To be honest not many people here are quick with letting you in their private environment. Several migrants told us that the Australians are very nice, but it stops at the front door. Nevertheless we have met many people and some of them we consider already as our friends.
The school holidays have ended at the end of January so the children had to go to school again. Both Jorick and Nicole were looking forward to start in their new class. Nicole is now going to year 2 (primary) and Jorick to the preparatory year. After two weeks they got used to the new rhythm and sometimes preferred to stay at home. Nicole continued her tennis lessons and started guitar lessons. Both Jorick and Nicole continued swimming lessons. Jorick had already two show&tell presentations. One about a favorite toy (Lianne the giraffe) and one about a favorite photo (his birthday party in Bosch en Duin with candles on the cake).
Also for Anita and Jan the normal daily life continued again. Anita started to work in a new project from Geriatrics/General Medicine to help develop a new service called Home Based Acute (Hospital) Care. Besides his consultancy work Jan started an MBA in the UK to refresh his knowledge and to get it formally recognized with a certificate as well.
After we bought a large trampoline already half a year ago we decided to create a playground in the bush garden. However first we had to remove many trees and to flatten an area with a machine (bobcat). This plan was delayed by a broken chainsaw and other activities. Anyhow this finally happened so now the kids have their trampoline and the swing. Perhaps we will also extend the area with a sitting area and a BBQ.
In the evenings suddenly crowds of Flying Foxes showed up. It seemed that several trees have blossoms they like to eat. Besides already all loud noises in the evening these foxes added another flavor.
Visiting the Samford Historical Museum we saw how the first settlers here started their community. 150 years ago the land was sold and in 1872 the first school was build. Al lot of old equipment some houses and a school are shown with some explanation on things developed.
It’s a bit weird that differences between summer and winter are limited. Nevertheless different animals show up during the year depending on the time of the year. During a party at the Sweeney Reserve some parrots showed up.
Also Grass Hopper are everywhere and sometimes real big ones show up like this one on the car. And of course they like a good concert as well.
The breeding season of the Brush Turkey is over and we didn’t see any chuckling. Though the Lace Monitors had a good time eating all the eggs that were laid inside. To end the game we have decided to clean up the messy mound also being a breeding stove for many insects as well. So here we go.
Kind regards from us all.