Good news in a sad week.

We are thrilled and blessed to be expecting a new little member of our family! We already know Cath is carrying a healthy, perfect baby and it is another girl!

She is due to arrive in our world around the 4th January 2011.

A special little sister for Laura.

Farewell to a wonderful Poppa.

On Tuesday the 8th of June we said goodbye to Poppa Foster at the age of 86 years, he is now resting in peace after a 6 month battle with lung cancer. He was Catherine's dad's (Brent) father and Laura's only surviving great grandfather. He has left behind Nanny Foster after 60 years of marriage together. Although it was expected, it has been a terrible time for the faily and we say our last farewell to Flin Foster on Wednesday 16th June.
Say hello to Matthew and give him a hug from us upstairs poppa xxxx

Cope Place goes back on the market.

Our beloved home for the past 4 years will be back on the market and open for inspection this week. A bit sad but a big step forwards and towards the big move to Parkerville. Hopefully it will sell quickley this time as none of us are looking forward to home opens every fortnight and trying to keep the house and garden spotless!

Good news on the building front!

Well after many months, the building licence was finally signed and granted so we can commence the construction of our home! Finally! This has been a looooong haul (we started plans with this builder October last year!!). So we are very excited about the pad finally going down - hopefully next month.

Laura's first haircut and the hair dresser.

Note the healing black eye sustained at easter!

Laura has never had a proper haircut, only mummy chopping at it with a pair of blunt scissors when she wasnt looking! So it was time to neaten up that hair and giver her a proper trim! We went to Banana Skins in Applecross and they did a fantastic job. She felt very special and loved the whole experience, which makes it a lot easier for next time. Her favourite part was sitting in the car and getting sparkly glitter hairspray!

Easter 2010

We even made and decorated an easter cake together.

Laura's second easter, she was excited this year and enjoyed following the bunny footprints and the egg hunts!

She actually had 3 hunts, one at home, one at nannys and one at nanna and poppas.

Unfortunately we did end up at PMH hopital for children half way through the long weekend because she tripped and fell face first onto a piece of furniture, giving her a very swollen face and 2 black eyes! There was no broken nose or cheek bone thankfully. All the chocolate helped her recover!

Fire in the sky.

Tonights beautiful sunset from our loungeroom window.

Operation Sick Roo.

Errol the kangaroo whisperer (David's dad!) got quite close with the lure of a piece of Rockmelon!!

Cath just managed to trip and fall over the vegetation!

We had a little, or rather big, visitor again today. We thought it was the same Kangaroo that David bumped into on our steps eating apricots from our tree a few weeks back. I also met him laying by the fish pond a few weeks ago. Both times he has stood taller than David - about 7 feet tall. But on closer inspection, this handsome boy was actually badly injured with a swollen back leg that he cant use. He is very skinny and quite weak. He doesnt seem as tall as our other friend. We are hoping it isnt the same majestic boy that has come to visit us before. If it is, he has become sick very quickly.

So, we figure we cannot leave the poor roo in pain and suffering and we just happened to have a trained wildlife carer over for lunch who is a roo expert, at the time the roo visited (clearly the roo knew this!). He has been laying by our back fence all day, not worried about us at all, most likely because he is unwell. So the plan is to give him fresh water and food over the next few days, see if we can get close as he gets sicker and humanely put him out of his misery. Not a nice thing to do, but it will be much nicer for him. The leg looks beyond help and really painful, bless him. He cant use it, so escaping any predators would be useless for a roo of his size, on 1 leg.

The laundry.

Everyone needs to have a designer laundry! Well maybe not! I just wanted light and bright really. Top tile is the border tile, then the laminate bench top, cupboards and limestone floor tile.

Cope Place goes on the market!

In the next month, the place we call home will be up for sale to make way for our new home in the hills. We have had some profoundly special times and memories here - our first home together, our engagement, our wedding, the birth of our first child. Not to mention the many summer BBQs and partys!

R.I.P Lilly Rose.

We thought, while on the topic of animals, that Lilly-Rose deserved an honorable mention, seeing as she passed away before this blog was started.

Lilly-Rose was the first of our fur kids, an important and much loved part of our family. She was with Catherine before the husand and daughter arrived!

Such a loyal, funny old girl, Cath rescued her from being euthanased at the vet where we worked. Despite her many ailments, she went on to have a happy, fulfilling 7 years with us. She came away on all our holidays and we will forever miss her waggy tail, cute arthritic waddle and loud snoring!

RIP Lilly-Rose, October 2009, 17 years of age.

The fur kids and their latest dramas!

Glad there is a vet in the house. In terms of fur kids, we currently have 3 Whippets and 2 cats. Catherine has had to take a break from dog showing due to the shortage of a healthy and non injured show team! Ripley, Scarlett and Leroy (Whippets) managed to get themselves into a fight over a dog chew, leaving Scarlett scratched up, Leroy with grazed pads and Ripley with a very long term injury to his stifle tendon, which he is curerntly having Physiotherapy and laser treatment for. Leroy has gone to live with a friend temporarily so they can show him. Scarlett is fat and has been on a weight loss diet so Cath could get her back in the show ring, when she came into season ..... Ripley proved to be not so immature in mind, despite being only 10 months old .... without going into details, Scarlett is most likely now pregnant!! Not what i had planned just yet, as Ripley was meant to be the new star in the show ring and to gain his championship title before sireing ANY puppies! Scarlett was surposed to be back in the ring after her litter last year, but will be taking time off for maternal duties now.

The cats - Benson is on antidepressants for his anxiety. He has also just finished his 3rd course of antibiotics for antagonising the neighbors cat who rightly so, beats the living daylights out of him - giving him nice big cat fight abscesses! I wonder why he is anxious?!

Dylan came home last night, very sore and irritable, with a swollen chin and fever.

I wonder if goats and sheep are less trouble?!

Glad there is a vet in the house!!

Our newborn friend.

This tiny little gecko decided to pay us a visit today. Im guessing there are eggs somewhere as he was very newborn. He was climbing up our linen cupboard door! We left him be, to explore his new surroundings and find food. Glad i havent sprayed the spiders in all the corners lately (do geckos eats spiders? ....)

Tiles in the bathroom

Our bathroom - feature/border mosaic tile, benchtop, cupboards and olive coloured floor tile.

Kids bathroom - feature/border tile, benchtop, cupboards, olive coloured floor tile.

Malmalling Winery

We visited this winery one day when we were visiting our block. It is a 5 minute walk down the road from us! The wine was lovely and there is a nice little cafe too. What luck - a cafe and winery within walking distance from home!