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Saturday, 11 July 2009
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Echuca
5 July - can still not load photos, sorry - will add them later.
We fueled up in Daylesford and then proceeded north towards Castlemaine.
As Tim drove I talked to Duncan on the phone about our great great great uncle Benjamin Couper who was buried up there. He was the younger brother of our gr gr gr grandfather Daniel - they had both come out from the Shetland Islands via South Africa. Benjamin was around 21years old and was killed while gold mining. He was buried in the Castlemaine cemetary - it must have been devastating to his much older brother who was responsible for him and for his parents back home. They eventually found gold under the cemetary so all the bodies were moved to nearby Campbells creek. There is no stone for Benjamin but we found the general locality. Azzan was fascinated by the cemetary and had to try a grave for size. I realised that I had never taken the younger children to any cemetary before - they wandered around reading the names and dates and asking questions as to what and why etc.
We stopped at Bendigo briefly for a leg stretch. We are getting good at finding public toilets and playgrounds so all comforts can be taken care of
There was a humungous Catholic cathedral there which could be seen for miles. Azzan was so taken by it but we couldn't find an appropriate place to stop. He also saw a beautiful old fountain which was right in the midst of busy traffic - so once again we didn't stop. He was gutted. But once we found the playground all was forgiven!!
We arrived in Echuca just after 5pm. Eventually found The Echuca Holiday Flats and unloaded all our gear. Then Dave & Michelle arrived with pizza for dinner. It was so cool to see them again. They are Kiwi friends from Nelson who are on a working holiday over here. After they left we popped all foud kids to bed and then Tim & I zipped around the corner to the supermarket to stock up with necessities.
After Tim went to bed I enjoyed a quiet evening with hot chocoalte, chocolate and watched an most interesting documentary about a TV series made 25 years ago called 'Women of the Sun'. It follows several aboriginal women through periods of time showing the misuse and abuse of them and their children. Shocking stuff!
6 July
I put through 2 loads of laundry and hung them out to dry. Then we called into the Info Centre before going to the historic Port of Echuca and booking some tours. Firstly we were entertained by a guy with his parrots. One in particular had been maimed by a hawk and now has only 1 leg and half a wing missing. He depends totally on the man. He was incredibly funny.
The same man took us for a guided tour of the historic wharf area. Very interesting stuff and told in a particularly amusing manner. We then zoomed back to the flat for a quick lunch fo soup and toast before going back to the wharf for our trip on the paddle steamer 'Pevensey'. It was an hour trip up and down the Murray River. Like all the rivers we have seen here in Australia it was very slow moving, muddy and quite dirty. It was also very very low due to the drought. But at least it had water in it unlike many we have gone over which are dry as bone.
We all got ice creams to take on the boat - there is a yummy ice cream parlour on the street which no one could possibly pass by!! Tim took the children into the Penny Arcade while I zipped back to the flat to get the washing off the line before it got too damp as the day was clouding over. Nathan & I found the library and spent half an hour on the internet.
Then we all met up, picked up ice cream and food at the flat and headed around to have dinner with Dave & Michelle. They are house sitting for 6 weeks so were in a very comfy home. We had a great evening with them Watched a bit of Micael Jackson's last show, played with play dough. Graham called up from home so we caught up on happenings there. No sooner hung up from talking to him when the phone went again and it was Estelle. She had tracked us down via Graham. Nice to chat with her too. Crazy thast we are both too busy to talk when we are at home but catch up across the Tasman!!
We finally had to drag ourselves away and say farewell to Dave & Michelle - knowing that we wouldn't be seeing them again this trip but also knowing that they will be back in Nelson in a few months
Thursday, 09 July 2009
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Melbourne
I haven't managed to get to a computer until now so I will back track and fill in from where I left off last entry. I cannot add any photos right now but will cvome back and edit and add them in as soon as I can.
We went to Jesika's Growth Group for a shared dinner the first night.
We met lots of her friends.
It was a great night.
The children were all very tired though.
We had the 4am NZ start and then by the time we left Robyn & Ari's place it was after 10pm Aust time - which was midnight NZ time. Azzan fell asleep on my knee and the girls were pretty close in following him.
I managed to find our way back to the cabin alright. We all hit the pillows gladly.
Next morning the children began their travel journals just before Jesika arrived.
She drove us to Knox City Mall to do some shopping. We introduced everyone to Boost juices. Heavenly. Shanni has been hanging out for one since last year. We queued for ages to get a sum card for our phone. We now have an Australian cell phone number which is very handy.
We then went to visit Marion & Bill Stolk. Marion took Shanni & Hali with her and her girls to a cheese making demo with some other home schoolers. Tim stayed to talk with Bill and Azzan played with the boys and Aggie. Jesika, Nathan & I went off to Forrest Hill Chase to do some grocery shopping. We stocked up for a few days and the around 4pm picked up the rest of the crew and headed back tot he holiday park. It had been raining which upset Jesika - she doesn't like her bike getting wet - she had left it parked outside our cabin for the day.
The children did more journaling while we cooked dinner. We had Jesika's salad and foccacia bread - very yummy. We were all in bed soon after 8pm.
It rained in heavy patches throughout the night. But when we woke and packed up it was easing.
We left Wantirna before 8am and had a good run around the city. Jesika had mapped the route out for me the night before so it was a breeze. We arrived at Bullerook soon after 10am and spent a lovely couple of hours with Tim's cousin Sue, who he hadn't seen for over 20 years. We enjoyed morning tea with her and Bill and their wee dog Jack. A couple of their fallow deer were rather fascinated by Azzan and followed him around the house.
The children were not terribly fussed by the long 'boring' trip.
We arrived in Ballarat soon after midday and signed in at the Sovereign Hill Lodge. We stayed two nights in the Military Barracks. Very cosy bunk rooms. We had 8 bunks in the room all to ourselves.
We went straight down to the Sovereign Hill historical living village and spent the afternoon exploring.
We went to a pantomime which ALL the kids loved. I was pleased to watch Nathan's reaction - he is not too big to enjoy a crazy play - in fact he enjoyed it so much he wanted to go again. I then took Mahalia & Azzan for a ride on the horse and wagon. They kids got to sit up by the driver. That made Hali's day. Tim, Shanni & Nate went to see the gold pouring. We explored further and then left Tim to talk to the Wheel Makers while we went up to get dinner ready.
We made stir fry veges & beef with mashed kumara. Very tasty. The children spread out in the dining room and did their journals while I cooked. After Tim and the kids went to bed I w2atched TV in the lounge. The accommodation there was great. Lovely and warm which was good as it was quite cold, bleak and damp outdoors.
Sat morning Tim cooked up porridge for us all then with warm full tummies we donned our jackets and headed down the hill again. This time we walked through the chillers and saw the ice carvings. They were amazing. Then the children went ice sliding. Tim & I had a go too. It was fun.
From there we did a tour through the Red Hill Mine and then to the Victorian Theatre. This time to watch an authentic play from the 1850's. Tim then took Nate, Hali & Azzan for a Gold Mine Tour. Shanni & I had already done this last year so we opted to go wandering. Shanni had a go at 9-pin bowling - loved it. Then we all met up at the school. Funni8ly enough the 3 youngest loved this part of the day - practising writing with pen and nib and ink. I bought them some to use at home as they so enjoyed it.
We went 9-pin bowling again. Azzan loved setting up the skittles for everyone. We went to the candle making demo and did some candle dipping. That is always a fin thing to do. Then we went to Ragged School and the children took part in a story telling time about when the early folks came out from England to Australia. Azzan was right into it and was asking and answering all the questions!!
While we were at school Tim went off to the Gold Museum. I knew he would enjoy it over there and he really did. He came back full of info he had learned. I took the kids back up at 4:30pm to get dinner started as they were quite weary by this stage.
I made stir fry veges in a pasta sauce with spirals for dinner. We are eating very simply but very nourishingly. We had splashed out and eaten lunch from the Sovereign Hill bakery twice - that was rather expensive to fill all 6 of us so won't be doing that too often.
We then got all our warm clothes on and headed off back down to the village at 6:45pm, in time for the Sound & Light show. It was really good and we all enjoyed it. It was retelling the story of the Eureka Stockade battle using sound and light - but no actors. It is very effective and moving. Azzan said to me he cried cuz it was so sad. He was very upset about the death of Scobie - one of the miners - which was a trigger of the whole rebellion.
Even though it was a cool damp night we kept warm and didn't get rained on at all.
Walked back up to the barracks at 8:30pm and Tim popped the children into bed. Nate & I stayed up till 10ish reading our books over hot chocolate.
Sunday morning we were up early. We enjoyed a very filling breakfast of fried sausages, eggs, onions on toast. Then we packed up the car and drove down to the main entrance. Even though we had vacated our rooms we were still able to access the village. Tim took Hali & Azzan to see the Chinese mining camp. A lady made them some origami birds and flowers. I took Nate & Shanni shopping at Soho Foundry. Nate bought a miners lamp and Shanni bought a whistle. Then we went and had our photos taken in old fashioned clothes. The kids loved that.
Tim took the girls ice sledding and watched the ice carving. It is done with chainsaws and electric drills etc. Very talented men. The boys and I went to the hotel for a drink. Then we discovered the saddlery. I bought a few things there. Azzan and an entertaining time chatting the guy behind the counter while he stamped leather book marks for him and the girls. Nathan got a hat. That took a bit of deciding while he tried on a few to get the best look! We picked up the photo and then I went to the gift shop while the kids did some last minute ice sliding.
Found some great books for school projects.
We got pies from the bakery and finally headed away from Ballarat around 1pm.
I am now out of internet time so will leave it here and will update in a few days time when I can. We are steadily moving northwards at the moment.........
Wednesday, 01 July 2009
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We've made it to The Land of Oz!
We managed to get through the weekend and got all packed and out the door around lunch time Sunday.
Tim & Nathan stayed another night and drove out Monday morning.
I dropped the 3 children off at Granny's at 3:30pm and went to deliver the 3 banana boxes of library books back to the library. Then popped around to have a cuppa with Summer and her cute wee boys while I was waiting for Sam to wake up.
She had worked till 4am so was only just waking up.
I met her at her friends salon and spent a couple of hours there with her.
She cut my hair and coloured it.
I had been feeling rather wool-blind so it was great to be able to see again.
Monday morning I had to be in Havelock for a meeting with the accountant.
Tim & Nate met me there at 8:30am.
It was a disgustingly wet and wildly windy day.
We got back to Granny's for lunch and then packed up and headed off towards Christchurch.
We drove through patches of heavy rain, some hail and hiugh winds. But as we got closer to Chch it eased off.
Tim & Nate diverted off to Loburn and spent the night with Bri.
The kids and I said a quick hullo to Christine and Les as we drove across the city.
I needed my Caramel Frappaccino by this time so zipped into Starbucks at Riccarton.
Then we popped into the supermarket to get food for dinner and by this time it was late and we were all very very happy to get to Alvin & Vonnie's.
Vonnie was home.
We unloaded everything into there living room.
They so obligingly put up with all our gear strewn everywhere - thanks guys
Corrine and Cleveland arrived around to visit us so we all had a great chat and catch up of the past months.
Tuesday we did a few things around the city.
I had to change the portable dvd player again - finally figured out that plugging the 12v charger into the 24v cigarette lighter is not a good thing to do!!
They graciously exchanged it for me - again.
Third time lucky eh?
Met up with Emma and her crew at South City. She and I had a cuppa while the kids played on the playground and the big girls chatted.
Then I zipped up to Merivale to collect a Lonely Planet Guide of Australia's Eastern States and finally over to Christine & Les's to met up with Tim & Nate and Bri.
Christine made scones which were devoured very quickly.
We then had to head off into the sunset which made it quite hard to see, and leave Tim's Safari at Lyn & John's and head over to Halswell to get dinner and repack for the final time.
Today - Wednesday July 1st.
We woke at 4am.
Hurridly dressed and packed our bags into my Safari and Alvin drove us to the airport.
We had to be checked in by 5:15am. We were there in good time.
It was a bit of a mission juggling all of our bags and me writing out 6 departure cards and filling in luggage labels as we wound our way through the queue.
Amazingly, despite having a huge quantity of luggage we still only had half of our maximum weight.
We got through security okay and then waited and waited and then finally because we had kids we were loaded onto the plane first.
Azzan was very excited.
As soon as he was seated he got out his puzzle book and started doing the puzzles flat out.
By the time we took off he had finished them all and was on to something else!
He was chattering to me about how amazingly exciting it was to be on a plane for the very first time.
The flight was only 3 3/4 hours and the kids lasted the distance pretty well.
Azzan was getting a bit impatient during the last hour but he was good.
It was a bit of an act to get through customs and pick up our bags and then meander our way outside and along the road to wait at Macdonalds for Jesika.
She picked up our rental vehicle - a Kia Carnival - and drove it to the airport for us.
Saved $500 not picking it up there.
Jesika brought Maddy with her so Shanni was so excited.
They were so funny - not having seen each other for a whole year.
Soon the 3 girls were giggling away togerhte int he back seat and we were heading off across the city to Jesika's flat.
We spent several hours here.
She had made some buns which we all devoured.
Being two hours behind NZ we were all beginning to get very hungry and also rather weary.
Shanni had fun dressing up in some of Jesika's clothes.
Jesika said it was all too scary having her wee sister fitting her clothes and shoes!!!
This is the Xena outfit that Jesika wore to a fancy dress party.
We were rather amused to see Shanni in Jesika's clothes because there has always been a very strong likeness between the two girls and now Shanni is getting older the gap is closing.
Watch the next few years with interest
We finally all packed back into the car and dropped Maddy off back home. INtroducde those that hadn't met yet and then zipped into a supermarket.
My fantastic new travel card wouldn't work.
I was pretty upset cuz I didn't know what I was doing wrong.
So went to an ANZ bank.
Waited for over 1/2 hour and then a lovely lady helped me out. Think it is all sorted now.
We then went to Wantirna Holiday Camp and found our cabin.
Had a snack and unpacked then we headed back over to Jesika's.
This time I drove to get a feel of the vehicle and try to get my bearings so we can get home tonight.
We are about to head off to Jesika's Growth Group for a shared dinner so we can meet some of her church friends.
It is raining here now.
Melbourne is proving to be Melbourne
I somehow do not think it will take much to rock us all to sleep tonight!
Friday, 26 June 2009
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A fast jam packed trip to town
Shanni and I made our get away just before 8am.
I was a bit concerned about the road but it was fine the whole way.
There was a bit of frost along the way - white sheets of it actually.
But there was a lot of grit and gravel spread so I never hit any ice.
The temperatures were a lot milder too so all was good.
I was coming along the road above St Lawrence and the early morning sun shinning over on Deep Bay was so beautiful I had to stop for a photo.
And looking back to the north was a different early morning scene with D'Urvile Is and all the smaller islands in the distance.
A few miles on I just had to stop again to capture the view looking back through French Pass.
Shanni was commenting that if we kept stopping to take photos we would never get to town!
Tim had managed to fit Poppi's large cage in the back but after we clanged and clattered up the hill from home and swooped around many corners I could see the poor bird couldn't get comfy and was moving around the cage in a concerted effort not to be swung off his perch.
So I told Shanni he could come out for hte journey as long as he stayed on her side of the vehicle.
Which he did.
When we got to town we had a few jobs to run around doing.
Poppi came too.
Most of the time he was sitting on Shanni's hat - it was so funny watching and listening to peoples reactions.
We had only 20mins to find Shanni some black boots.
And we did it.
She is pretty rapt too cuz they have heels!
Fancy my 11 year old wearing heels already.
(They are not high - just an inch)
She is just growing up way too fast.
We then spent an hour at the bank getting a few things sorted int he way of travel money etc.
After that we had to race up to catch Margaret and the girls.
They were heading to the skating rink for the afternoon with the home school group.
So we unloaded Poppi, managed to manouver the cage out - darned if I know how Tim got it in there - and then Shanni went with them to try roller skating for the first time.
Her verdict was - 'It was heaps of fun, can I do it again please?'!!!
I went back into the city and gathered up some journals etc for the kids to scrapbook their trip in and then met David, Sasha & Nadia for lunch at Devilles.
It was a pleasant hour or so.
Then I spent the rest of the afternoon chasing around doing all the things I had to get done before the night meeting.
I was pretty happy to find a portable dvd player at The Warehouse for only $169 plus 3 free dvds.
That should help to entertain the kids on the plane.
My last call for the day was the hospice to visit Don & Kathy.
I got there just before 5pm.
But when I asked to see them the nurse suggested I go home and call Kathy.
So I hopped into the Safari and headed off out to Richmond to find her.
I spent a lovely hour with her and her son Matt from Melbourne.
Don had died in the early hours of the morning so I had missed seeing him.
But Tim had caught up with him last week and it was good to have time with Kathy before we head off.
A very emotional time but we know he is in the arms of Jesus now and we can just be so blessed we knew him and that he is now out of pain. He was in so much pain before.
I managed to literally fly back into Nelson and get to the conference about 15 mins before it began. Graham had met up with Margaret and Dave and they were waiting for me in the foyer.
Lots of material to view before going in
We spent the next couple of hours listening to Chuck Missler talk about strategic current events and how they relate to what was prophesied in the Bible.
It was great to hear him speak in person.
We have listened to him on the radio for years and have a lot of his teaching materials.
There was a most interesting Q&A session at the end.
It didn't finish until 10:30pm.
I had to rush off to catch the supermarket before it closed at 11am.
I was starving cuz I had been too busy to eat dinner.
I got back tot he house to get Shanni, waited for the athers to arrive and then we headed off home soon after 11pm.
Shanni filled croissants for me as we drove.
I was so so hungry that I devoured them as fast as she could make them.
Picture her sitting with croissants, tomatoes, avocado, brie, capsicum and a creamy chilli spread on her knees.
Trying to cut, slice, spread as we drove along and then as we wound up and down and around the Wangamoas.
It was quite a feat but she did well.
I certainly appreciated her for doing it
She didn't go to sleep until nearly an hour from home.
We got back just after 2am.
I was in bed by 3am.
Today I was a bit slow getting out of bed but with the help noise of Azzan & Mahalia's high jinks I was up soon after 8am.
Nuana had cleaned Shanni & Azzan's rooms yesterday and changed beds.
So today I changed our bed.
Managed to get our packing another step towards completion.
Did a heap of laundry.
Tim etc had gone out mussel working yesterday morning and then in the arvo he, Nate & Constantin had gone mustering.
Today they drenched sheep and then went up the hill after lunch to dig some fence post holes.
Constantin cleaned out the Safari for me while Tim had a meeting next door.
Nuana and I have begun packing the Safari now it is clean.
Mahalia & Azzan cleaned the bathroom.
They had a lot of fun and made a lot of wet mess.
They were both soaked when they had finished - for some reason unbeknownst to me they have to be inside the shower with the water running to actually clean it!!
So they stripped off and had a spa afterwards.
That increased the washing loads for me!
Shanni is missing Poppi
She left him with Grace last night.
Grace has an Alexandrine parrot and is going to be mother to Poppi while we are away.
She called up today and had a long talk and apparently talked whistled to Poppi over the phone.
It is going to be a long few weeks for her I think.
But I am sure the birdlife in Australia will side track her a bit
I was getting pretty shattered as the day came to a close.
Managed to get through dinner and then conned Shanni into giving me a massage.
While she was massaging my feet she was prattling away as per normal.
She asked 'Why do people have hairy armpits?'
I was trying to get my head around answering that and mumbled something about protection etc to which she asked
'How come we don't have hair under our knee caps then?'
On that note I am really going to have to go die for a few hours.
My bed is calling me so loudly - I never saw it for long enough last night.
Tomorrow is D day.
Have to get all packing etc completed by tomorrow night.
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
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Currently
Cola's Journey
By Cola Bilkuei
see relatedBusy busy busy....
Yesterday Tim and Constantin headed out to Clay Point to bulldoze a track.
Tim said that what he planned to do would make it easier to muster the sheep in future.
He came home after lunch time to get a generator from Graham's hut as the dozer had stalled.
Graham had headed out to Motueka for a few days to help a friend build her kitchen.
Tim didn't get home till around 7pm.
It was dark and I was getting quite concerned.
But as per usual nothing was wrong, and he came in bright and cheery after a good day out on the hills, despite the frustrations of the dozer not going for a time.
Nuana cleaned the outside bathroom and wash house area in the morning.
Smells and looks lovely and fresh now
Then she and Mahalia got stuck into Hali's bedroom after lunch.
I had realised in the morning that it was a total tip.
Hali had been stashing stuff under things and into boxes - no wonder she can never find clothes that I know she has!
It took a while but Nuana managed to get rid of several huge bags of rubbish.
It now looks very clean and tidy.
I have been tidying my study also.
Got rid of a heap of paper rubbish - continual paper war goes on in here.
Drives me potty.
I file into various places and if after several months goes by and the paperwork hasn't been dealt with it is either out of date or it doesn't matter anyway so it gets binned!
I also spent most of the day getting my accounts up to date on the computer and all the important paper work filed so I can take it all out to the accountant on Monday.
It is time for gst and end of year accounts and I will be away when they are due to be filed.
So while I am away he is kindly going to do this months gst for me - oh how rapturous a feeling that is - no gst for me
The Great Escape!!
The bay was absolutely beautiful in the mid afternoon
The clouds were all layered and the bay was like a mill pond.
This morning there were three large dolphins cruising past my window.
I could look right down the steps from my office and see them.
It was magic.
Tim called the girls to come see but they were far too busy.
Shanni was wanting to give her birds a bit more protection from the cold and winds and I had suggested she could use the old bamboo blind that used to hang in the kitchen decades ago.
She decided today was a good day to hang it up so had Hali up on the roof holding it for her.
I cleaned out the book shelves in the office this morning and found a lot of school related books that I had been buying over past month. So they have been relocated to the school room.
I also keep a stash of books etc for bribary and corruption and for presents!
In amongst them was a chemistry box of things to do with Crystals.
Azzan swooped on it as soon as he poked his nose around the hall door.
I think he has a nose for chemistry things.
He loves doing experiments.
He came into me the other morning -I was still in bed.
He asked me how I would feel about gong to Nelson everyday?
What???
'Well', he said, 'I want to go to science school and Nuana said I could go everyday if you will take me.'
Sure babe - I don't mind driving 6 hours a day just for you!
Anyway, he got Nuana to help him with the instructions and when I caught up they were seeing what happens to the crystals in water
and lemonade
and then they made a crystal tree.
At midday -
'Wow Mum! Look the crystals are beginning to grow already.'
Then 4 hours later -
It is so exciting when you actually can see a reaction and something has happened
Isn't this just so super cool?
Shanni & Mahalia have tidied the Sylvanian's and were having a birthday party for two for them this morning.
They have also been playing up in the attic with the Kelly's and Barbie's.
They are normally fairly quiet but at times it sounds like there are elephants up there!
At least they have gotten into the habit of shutting the trapdoor so the house heat doesn't dissipate up there.
It is hard enough to heat the house without having to heat the attic too.
We have been on the final library book hunt.
I have finally finished reading 'Cola's Journey' so if it can go back.
Incredible story - certainly opens your eyes to the plight of some of the war torn African children.
Nathan is frantically reading the last of his books.
Still cannot find a couple of them - bother it.
I was so hoping for a clean sweep before we go.
Shanni has been clearing out the creek by the tree house too and Azzan has re-found the tree house so there has been a bit of outside play oging on despite the rather cool weather.
It is still cold but not as cold as it was a few days ago.
Shanni & I are heading into Nelson tomorrow.
We will drop her baby into some friends who are going to look after it while we are away.
She is not terribly happy about leaving Poppi bit at least he will be in good hands.
I am going to hear Chuck Missler tomorrow night.
Didn't think I was going as the tickets had all sold out but then a friend couldn't go so he offered his to me just yesterday - thanks Herbie - love you
I have begun packing my clothes.
Well, I have them all in piles on my bed so I guess I realy should go pack them before it gets to be bed time and Tim chucks them off on to the floor!!
Please pray for my trip to town tomorrow - the roads are apparently very icy all the way -
I do not like ice
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About Me
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I am a mother of 10, a home educator - still teaching the youngest 4 children, wife to farmer of sheep, cattle & mussels. We also run tourist accomodation. Secretary and business manager to same. I am passionate about my art - collage, altered books, journals, rubber stamping, card making, etc. I love reading a wide range of literature - esp enjoy historical fiction and biographical works.
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