Saturday 10 August 2013
Saturday 27 July 2013
Making Limoncello - Stage 1 - {ick Lemons from the garden
The Kids report for duty in the garden for lemon picking!
No no no!!... thats the tangerine tree - we've got no idea what to do with these!! - they taste revolting
off to the lemon tree.....
So with quite a decent number of lemons ripe on the tree, we have decided to make some limoncello and Lemon juice ice cubes - First thing - pick 50 lemons
No no no!!... thats the tangerine tree - we've got no idea what to do with these!! - they taste revolting
off to the lemon tree.....
So with quite a decent number of lemons ripe on the tree, we have decided to make some limoncello and Lemon juice ice cubes - First thing - pick 50 lemons
Friday 19 April 2013
Autumn arrives
Settling in to our first fire of the year. And talking of a second Christmas in July!!.. Bring on the chestnuts
Saturday 13 April 2013
Thursday 11 April 2013
Monday 1 April 2013
Sunday 17 March 2013
School of Mum and dad now turns to business studies
The 'School of Mum and Dad' is back!!....
Now that the kids have gone back to school, and we are no longer on the road, it would have been easy to close the school, but instead we have taken the idea to a different level!
The kids have opened a little import business which takes advantage of the opportunity to import cheaply from China to Australia. After careful consideration and extensive market research, their product choice was yoyos, and having negotiated with a range of chinese factories, a deal was struck to import 100 yoyos all of which are metal alloy with bearings, and come in a range of colours
The yoyos arrived on Tuesday, and have been on ebay for the last 24hrs, 2 sold so far, 98 to go, and the kids are yet to hit the school market!
profit margins, sales strategies and growth plans are all in place! job titles are:
Imogen - Marketing Director
Felix - Sales Director
Dad - Data Entry and Finance
Mum - Dispatch & Administrator
Whilst out on the beach last week, Felix asked how many yoyos he would need to sell to get the massive gin palace parked on the bay. - The answer was quite simply 1 yoyo for every child in Australia - He said 'Okay - better get started then'.
Click link to see the product on ebay
Tuesday 12 March 2013
Our First Visitors from Blighty!
It was great having Russell and Sarah with us for a week, it was a lot of fun, and best described by pictures, the week never dipped below 30 degrees, and with Russells snazzy camera we finally have some decent shots of the local area
The Melbourne Skyline from our local pub
The sunset from our local pub
Our House
Chilling in the garden
At the Brown Cow for Brunch
VB
Barbie relaxation
Cloud Nine
Swing ball, or as the neighbours call it - Totum pole tennis
The famous brighton beach huts in front of our house
Seagull Island
More Huts
The Melbourne Skyline from our local pub
The sunset from our local pub
Our House
Chilling in the garden
At the Brown Cow for Brunch
VB
Barbie relaxation
Cloud Nine
Swing ball, or as the neighbours call it - Totum pole tennis
The famous brighton beach huts in front of our house
Seagull Island
More Huts
Sunday 3 March 2013
Saturday 2 March 2013
Monday 18 February 2013
10 Weeks in!
Tomorrow marks our 10th week in Melbourne, and the last 4 weeks have just flown past, a sure sign that we have found our routine, and no doubt the count will now turn to months and not weeks. Immy and Riggers have both found a good number of friends at school, and are having a great time there. I see very little evidence of any actual work going on however, with the emphasis being more on play! I was impressed with Immy's Japanese language skills, although confused as to why this is a core subject when Science is not, nor is Chinese for that matter!
Steph is enjoying her daily routine of exercise, tanning and housework! oh and the occasional helping out with school activities. The idea of going back to work seems to be slipping away!
I have now accepted my second Job which I am actually quite excited about, and this kicks off in early March, I quit my current role at the end of this week, so will enjoy a few days off, although the big bike race is this sunday, so I may need to rest up for some of it.
Immy had a great birthday on the 14th, the teachers were on stike so she had the day off school and enjoyed it with 5 friends on the beach, mainly having water balloon fights. Felix also had a friend over and got a present, as his last birthday was spent on a train in Vietnam!
The weather is overcast today, but we have basically had clear blue skies and temperatures in the high twenties to mid thirties for the last 10 weeks - Its tough!!... will be interesting to see how bad the winter gets.
Steph is enjoying her daily routine of exercise, tanning and housework! oh and the occasional helping out with school activities. The idea of going back to work seems to be slipping away!
I have now accepted my second Job which I am actually quite excited about, and this kicks off in early March, I quit my current role at the end of this week, so will enjoy a few days off, although the big bike race is this sunday, so I may need to rest up for some of it.
Immy had a great birthday on the 14th, the teachers were on stike so she had the day off school and enjoyed it with 5 friends on the beach, mainly having water balloon fights. Felix also had a friend over and got a present, as his last birthday was spent on a train in Vietnam!
The weather is overcast today, but we have basically had clear blue skies and temperatures in the high twenties to mid thirties for the last 10 weeks - Its tough!!... will be interesting to see how bad the winter gets.
Saturday 9 February 2013
Friday 8 February 2013
Thursday 7 February 2013
Wednesday 6 February 2013
Tuesday 5 February 2013
Monday 4 February 2013
Morning Rides
I have signed myself up for an endurance bike race on the 24th February, which is now only two and a half weeks away! it is 155km through the Melbourne countryside, with a couple of vicious hills thrown in for good measure. This means I am now in training and spending as much time as I can on the saddle. Biggish rides at the weekend, and as many little rides as I can cope with during the week.
One of my favoured rides, and the ride I did again this morning, takes me north from our house on the Esplanade up the Beach Road towards St Kilda, the time is approximately 5:50am and the sun has not quite risen, but the first signs of day are there. The beach road is busy with cyclists from about 5:15 am onwards, as cycling here can only be described as a national obsession. I attach myself to the back of whatever group passes by at the right speed and off I go, falling off when the pace gets too much, or jumping ahead if they slow too much (this deosnt happen very often)
St Kilda at sunrise is a very different place to the bustling entertainment centre it becomes during the day, and the hedonists playground it is by night. The beach front is deserted except for the occasional reveller who's beer legs let them down the night before, and the high street with its multitude of restaurants sleeps with just the occasional sign of the previous evenings excesses on show. St Kilda is the bohemian centre of Melbourne and the people much alike to the residents in Brighton back in the UK.
At the top of the high street I turn right into Albert Park, a tranquil grassy setting with a large lake in the middle that invites runners, sailors, rowers and cyclists to enjoy the surroundings and test themselves in their chosen exercise. Albert Park is of course more famous as the home of the Formula 1 race held each year in March, and as we approach that date, the park is slowly transforming itself from sleepy hideaway into an upcoming centre of global sporting interest. This morning I saw significant change from my last ride as the home straight now has full grandstands on both sides, and the safety fencing stretches round most of the circuit. Cycling round the circuit makes for a very exhilirating ride. Well the difference between my Giant road bike , retail value $2,000, powered by one ageing Brit, and a formula 1 racing car, retail value $BIG, powered by a thousand horses, is significant, but the ride doesnt stop giving you a small feeling of what it would be like to burn round this road at extroadinary speed, with the backdrop of the Melbourne skyscrapers on one side and the sailing boats on the other.
The scene is made ever more dramatic as the morning hot air balloons reach up over the city skyline, there are usually half a dozen balloons each morning, and whilst the view from up there must be great, they make quite a decent view from the ground as the sun peeps up and catches the skyscrapers to dazzle them in orange. I zap round the circuit a couple of times before making my way home in time for another day in the office, it is a great way to start the day!
N.B Lycra is definately the national dress of Melbourne!!
Thursday 31 January 2013
I'm addicted to job interviews!
An odd statement I know, but it is true, I just love them!
Interviewer:
"Come in"
"Please Sit Down"
"Can youTalk about yourself for an hour!"
Errr! So what isnt there to love, its simple exhibitionism! bring me more!
Can I just sweep through my time in Australia going from interview to interview slowly cranking up the salary level with each one! - A professional interviewee!! - always winning never delivering!!
Truth is, with all cockyness aside, the job hunt for my second role in Australia is going very well, helped along by the fact that I got employed so quickly as a Country Manager when I arrived! Sadly though the role is not great and I am lookng forward to taking on a second position. I just need to make sure I get the right role next time!... and I need to juggle the options available long enough to give some of the better options time to mature.
And if any of those prospective companies are researching me and come across this blog -its your company I am waiting for!!
(I may need to delete this entry!)
Interviewer:
"Come in"
"Please Sit Down"
"Can youTalk about yourself for an hour!"
Errr! So what isnt there to love, its simple exhibitionism! bring me more!
Can I just sweep through my time in Australia going from interview to interview slowly cranking up the salary level with each one! - A professional interviewee!! - always winning never delivering!!
Truth is, with all cockyness aside, the job hunt for my second role in Australia is going very well, helped along by the fact that I got employed so quickly as a Country Manager when I arrived! Sadly though the role is not great and I am lookng forward to taking on a second position. I just need to make sure I get the right role next time!... and I need to juggle the options available long enough to give some of the better options time to mature.
And if any of those prospective companies are researching me and come across this blog -its your company I am waiting for!!
(I may need to delete this entry!)
Wednesday 30 January 2013
Tuesday 22 January 2013
6 Weeks in
We have now been in Melbourne for 6 weeks, and with a week and a half of work under my belt, I dare to suggest that we are starting to feel a little settled. The kids do not start shool until next week, which will be a major advancement, and Steph has not found work yet, but then the plan was always to make sure the kids were well settled before jumping that hurdle.
Starting work was a bit of a shock! and to be honest I am still finding the necessity to get up and be productive a bit of a strain, especially as the rest of the family are still at home, but Hey Ho! at least we have a long weekend coming up to celebrate Australia Day!
Steph and I have been debating the advantages of Australia (of which there are many, especially when you hear of the snow back home), and we have been weighing up whether this is a likely short, medium or long term adventure.
I think we really only have one conclusion for sure, and that is it is unlikely to become a permanent move. The lifestyle maybe great, and it is quite without question a better place to be than England, but it is not home, and as such we believe we will want to return at some point. We accept that we will possible regret a return, once the UK becomes 'normal' again. So we find ourselves in great symaphy for the 'Ping Pong Poms' who make repeated migrations between the two countries in an endless effort to find the right place!..... maybe the answer is to go travelling again!!!! - Only joking (or am I!)
Starting work was a bit of a shock! and to be honest I am still finding the necessity to get up and be productive a bit of a strain, especially as the rest of the family are still at home, but Hey Ho! at least we have a long weekend coming up to celebrate Australia Day!
Steph and I have been debating the advantages of Australia (of which there are many, especially when you hear of the snow back home), and we have been weighing up whether this is a likely short, medium or long term adventure.
I think we really only have one conclusion for sure, and that is it is unlikely to become a permanent move. The lifestyle maybe great, and it is quite without question a better place to be than England, but it is not home, and as such we believe we will want to return at some point. We accept that we will possible regret a return, once the UK becomes 'normal' again. So we find ourselves in great symaphy for the 'Ping Pong Poms' who make repeated migrations between the two countries in an endless effort to find the right place!..... maybe the answer is to go travelling again!!!! - Only joking (or am I!)
Monday 7 January 2013
RAMSAY STREET
Sent from my Xperia™ smartphone smartphone
Sunday 6 January 2013
Saturday 5 January 2013
BBQ & Bikes
have been out numerous times on the new bikes!... its hot here! - 41
yesterday
Thursday 3 January 2013
And it all came together!
We now have everything sorted:- Job, House, School! - the final hurdle of getting a Job was jumped on New years eve as I was offered a role working for a IT company as their Business & Sale manager for Australia, or Country Manager! - sounds grand, but the reality is maybe less so, We shall see, it is a start and I'm looking forward to earning again.
We celebrated by buying bikes for all, and I will post Pictures very soon, especially Steph's bike who has a Californian Retro Cruiser!
We celebrated by buying bikes for all, and I will post Pictures very soon, especially Steph's bike who has a Californian Retro Cruiser!
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