Widow Twankey...

went to the small town of Clunes today to visit a surprising little shop called Widow Twankey's. In one half of the shop is a coffee shop and ice cream parlour, on the other side is a sweetie shop (or Confectionary Emporium to give it its proper name) with hundreds of different types of sweets including a number imported from the UK! Evie chose a Dip Dab.... ah the memories come floading back of hours in my childhood spent with that lolly stuck in the side of my mouth (rotting my teeth no doubt) and then of the tingly feeling when you dunk it in the sherbert and suck it off.... She asked if we could go back next week to get another one... it's certainly a strong possibility..... can't think of any reason why not!

And that reminds me of another one of my 'words in translation', the word lolly here means any sort of sweet not just lollipops; so there you are!

Bush Fires

It's been a sad week this week with the newpaper and TV news full of reports about the bush fires here in Victoria. So many people have been affected, losing loved ones, homes and communities. We have been taking toys and clothing into school where they are being taken and distributed to the communities worst affected by this disaster. We are safe here in Ballarat but fires are still burning and people in other areas are still on high alert so please keep praying that the fires will be contained and put out by the fantastic efforts of the firefighters and emergency personnel. Although we are not directly affected, there are students in the boarding houses here whose families have been touched by this disaster... I know of one student whose family home has been destroyed..... as I said, it's a sad week.

Phew, the first week is over....

So here we are at the end of the first full week of school and ..... we have all survived!!

Isaac can now say Happy New Year in Chinese and had his first proper piano lesson this week (thanks to Dad for the early day tutorials but we've progressed to a proper teacher now LOL!!) He has also signed up for the after school swim club this term which will be great for him.

Evie was measured for a violin (lessons start next week for the whole year gratis!!) and she will also start recorder lessons next week. She was awarded a certificate today for being friendly and helpful in class this week..... have to frame that one, and she has signed up for the folk dancing after school club this term.....

Both of them have really enjoyed this week and seem to have made some tentative friendships (well, that is Isaac has made tentative friendships, Evie has made friends for life with every child in her class and has invited them all over after school sometime!! Why does that not surprise me!)

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.... I've survived this week too without any tears and have actually enjoyed going out a couple of times on my own! It still feels odd to be 'home alone' and having to make up lunch packs in the morning before school is a feat of organisation (do I have any bread? what else can I put in there apart from a sandwich? how can I make this relatively healthy? are all questions that skit through my mind at 7am!) However, I can pop down to the school at lunch break and just look at them if I get bad withdrawal symptoms and I have looked after a couple of four year olds for friends a couple of afternoons this week so I haven't been too lonely!