Continuing

Hello again
I must have pressed a wrong key and the Blog was posted before I finished. I took a photo of Annie and the band which I tried to post but lost it.
Kate, Hasi, Mum and I had an enjoyable afternoon celebrating Liam's 18th birthday with several of the Faggions. Fran could give those tv chefs some hints.
The O'Loughlin women had lunch here on Sunday to farewell Moira as she and Uncle venture OS again.
Mum is still the Scrabble Champ despite the combined efforts of Frz and Aunty Kate to topple her.
Love to all Dad/Tjilpi/Old Man/Kev.

Penshurst calling

Hello!
What a thrill to have communications from Marty.
How's the new job going Deputy?
I told a mate at the TAB that I had ducked up to Canberra to see a Musical that my daughter had put on. "Will you do the same if your son puts one on at Darwin?"

greetings from the south coast

Hi all,
How do you get in a kayak without putting your feet in water where crocs cruise??
The flannel flowers are nearly out, the grevillias are looking gorgeous in the front garden. Ive got only one more coat of floor varnish in the kitchen, then we can finally move the dresser out of the middle of the kitchen. My hand made tiles for the kitchen are stunning, and ready to go up on the wall. Im dreaming of the tip shop in Darwin that had heaps of old tiles-wish I could find some down there. I will definitely be making more for the bathroom.
Foxtel has been negotiated for a twelve month trial,(remember the present idea, some months back?) and steve is finding out about the finer details.
Spring is in the air.
Thanks to the mountain mob for a great arvo for Liam's 18th. Every man should have a pair of cufflinks!
Time to sleep,
Love to you all, zak

news from the capital

Hi all. Well the musical is finally over! It really went well and we got rave reviews from everyone who saw it. The boss shelled out a lot of money to hire proper sound with radio mics the sound was fantastic. It is great, but strange to be leaving school at a reasonable hour and to be at home on Sundays. Today I actually baked biscuits! Last night we went to Michael's for a bbq birthday party.Nothing else much has been happening here. Marty I ran into Diana Harvey at St Francis Xavier (her son is in the same year as Clare) and she said she would love to get in contact with you and catch up. I think I can get her email address as I know someone she works with. Anyway that 's about all the news. Annie

Happenings in Darwin

A good week in Darwin this week. Mark is up from Alice which is the first time he has visited since we moved up here. We are both at work but he is getting around and having a good time. Hopefully he will find it not so bad and visit on a more regular basis although humidity is in the nineties already. Not much else is happening we have a constant stream of Alice boys staying, josh is here for trade school and another one flies in on Sunday for a couple of weeks of trade school. It's good for them as accommodation in Darwin is crazy.
Claire has her sea kayak but hasn't used it much as she has a bad back. I might give it a run this weekend just to see what it is like.
I'm a bit out of touch with the whole neice and nephew thing. Are both Lucy and Liam doing year 12 this year?
Went to Joe's last Saturday for an election party......not much of a party.....
Anyway Love to you all
Marty and Claire

greetings from the south coast

Hi all,
Yep, Im truely blonde on the inside, as Moo tells me. Im not mucking round with the list anymore. Only one change Fran buys for moo-last bought for in 2004. Hope this is Ok.Sorry annie you only get one present like the rest of us.
I,m with mum, while dad is in the canberra seeing Annie,s show. He,s the leader of the Blackie Iso fan club-never missed a show yet!!
Looking like its a good weekend for a party!
Cheers to all,
Love Zak

Welsh Greetings

Hello All
Who'd have thought that I could win money playing darts? That's exactly what happened last night when we entered a pairs tournament run by the league.
My partner, Pauline, and I made it to the quarter finals and won £15! Unfortunately, we had to knockout our own team mates in our second round match but they were good losers.
Have been tweaking the home furnishings and decorating. Hopefully the house will look almost complete when John and Moira visit.
Pontardawe Festival is on this weekend. Looking forward to some good music.
Hope you have a great 18th birthday Liam. We will be thinking of you. Let us know what you would like as a gift from Wales. Enjoy the celebrations on Sunday and good luck with the election work.
Best of luck with the musical Annie. I'm sure the opening night was fantastic and will be the same for all performances.
Hope everyone is well and happy - as we are.
Love to All
Moo xxxxxx

Hold all tickets

Greetings to all.
Katie worked for several hours to siphon out those who had bought for others so many times while not having bought for others at all. Pages of spread sheets littered the table when I arrived home from golf. We had the dickens of a job to get onto the Blog but the result appeared. Kate had not got home when Moo texted her. She rang me in a panic to get onto the Blog and call all bets off. Moo had beaten me to the punch.
Next week watch this spot for ammended results. Let's hope you will be as happy with the ammended list.
Kate entertained Joy, Aunty Kate Joan and I with photos from her trip featuring Steinen, Berlin, Wales (starring Moo and Jules), Gen and London. Just plug the camera into the USB on the tele and away you go for a slide show. Out with the screen, loading the slides and the projector. How modern technology has made life more amenable!
Love to all. Dad/Tjilpi/Old Man/ Kev.

Welsh Greetings

Hi All
It seems that Kate has to return to the drawing board next Friday when she returns to 39. I have been left off the list for receiving a gift. Annie is getting two! Sorry Annie, I spotted that!
All good in Wales. Had a lovely birthday. Thanks for all the calls. Great to speak to everyone.
Take care all.
Love Moo xxxx

Greetings from the south coast

Hi all,
After being completely inundated with so many ideas for christmas from you all, I,ve organised it myself. Just let me know as soon as possible if you do not want to be included, in case I have to do it all again.
After a discussion with moo, I have found that in the last 11 years we have been doing the "draw" some people have never bought for some and others have bought a few times for the same person.
So here's what ive come up with...

Dad buys for Steve last bought 10 years ago
Mum " Mart " 9 years ago
Jack " Hasi " 9 years ago
Fran " Annie " 9 years ago
Mart " Zak has never bought for her before
Claire " Mum has never bought for her before
Zak " Fran last bought 10 years ago
Hasi " Annie has never bought for her before
Annie " Jules has never bought for him before
Steve " Claire has never bought for her before
Moo " Jack last bought for him 10 years ago
Jules " Dad has never bought for him before

So go spend up - lots of time to get yourselves organised

Cheers Zak

greetings from the south coast

Happy birthday Moo!!
Its going to be a good day for sure for Moo-she was already on to her 2nd glass of champagne when I rang her at 9am!!
Im not writing much as I want to get to bed soon.
Hope all,s well with everyone.
Anyone want to be in or out of the christmas draw, speak up, as I will sort it out this week with mum. Do the kids still want their own? any ideas, speak up now!
Hope everyone is safe and well
Love zak

greetings from the south coast

Hi everyone,
Well here i am sitting back in my kitchen, drinking chai, and feeling sick at the thought of going back to work tomorrow. I,m going to buy $100 worth of lottery tickets today, then i'm sure to win, so i can just travel forever. And how amazing how many weeds can grow in the middle of winter in 5 weeks. And how bloody cold and windy is it today! How many layers of clothes can you wear, and still be able to bend your elbows? Mart and Claire you wont know the answer to this question, as I see it was 34 degrees in Darwin yesterday. Really I should just go back to bed, but the entire contents of my pack are thrown all over the lounge room floor, so I really should get a bit organised today. Thinking a thai massage may be a good idea actually. What an amazing 5 weeks in Europe!! Perhaps Im not really back, and Im just dreaming and any moment now, i will wake up in my bed in Ponty, or in Evie,s bed in London, or in Sabine's flat in Berlin, or cycling along the Weisse River to the ice cream shop.
Congratulations Claire on finally finishing your studies. Good luck with the sea kayak, wonder how long it would take to paddle to Timor-could be acheap option for a travel plan.
Enough blah blah blah.
Love to you all,
Zak