Monday, January 26, 2009

Australia Day with the chookpen Chook and Rooster

Goosy, goosy, Gander,where did you wander?
Through my Lady's chookpen where the mower did her best.
And the family all met to travel to, The Settlers' Rest.
The food it was sooooo excellent but breakfast turned to BRUNCH.
Kids headed for the swings, while waiting for their 'munch'.
She loves swings
RICK SUPERVISING THE SWING
THE KIDS FINISHED WITH A PLAY IN THE POOL HERE. rICK'S LOT ARE GOING TO THE LOCAL FIREWORKS , WHICH ARE NORMALLY VERY GOOD,rICK HAS TO WORK OFCOURSE.
Riley with boobs
Whirlies

Thursday, January 22, 2009

From the Chookpen's annex,the big annex.

A sight of the way this world is heading, a family home, the study or back room, 2 kids and 2 parents, a computer each, 4 in a row.
And yes, I might be proud of my Dutch heritage and even the kids are a bit, I think.But......I am very proudly, Australian. A good thing too, since we have lived here for over 56 years and the country has given us a good and satisfying life, as well as an Australian family to (again) be proud of.We will celebrate Australia day on Monday by having a family breakfast at "The Stockman's Rest, a country restaurant with a very Australian name and among other things, dishes like,uitsmijters and croquetten on the menu. A true blending of cultures.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

THE CHOOKPEN ACTIVITIES IN THE LAST 3 DAYS

On Sunday, Scott,Trev ,Riley & Zoe went fishing. T=H;I-S is the result. He even had it for lunch.
Monday it was Chinese at Billy Lee's in Northbridge with real gelare from up the road , to follow
To Denise & Bruce, the REAL 4 legged angel!!!
Today it was the new,unfinished Cohuna Wild Life Park
Koalas are gorgeous ,cuddly and well looked after as are the other animals including the Kookaburras
They did NOT fall off the wall.
Sarah & Friend Holly Wallabies,deer and birds were allowed to be fed popcorn,great for the kids
See the Joey
Cockies bite,ask Riley.
Yes eating again; The picnic Lunch
Girls drying out after swim at Scott

Friday, January 16, 2009

Cousins from the chookpen

Hope Lyndall & Paul don't mind.This one is for the Kelder cousins in Holland. Henk's daughter Lyndall with from l.to r. Matthew,Husband Paul and Christopher,not to forget dog Harry.

Fairies at the Chookpen

Today we had a visit from two fairies,the big one named Isabella and the smaller one Sarah .Hope they spread enough fairy dust to bring us good luck for a change.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Cool Pics from Holland via the Chookpen

Told you it was cold in the Northern parts of the world. These are some of the photos sent by cousins Ger and Goos.I must say it looks much more beautiful than our heat buuuut it would be soooo hard to get warm. The lakes iced up enough to skate and Ger says that was the first time in 12 years.
Winter on our heather near Hilversum
Goos and family skating
Cousin Ger walking her dogs in Limburg(Andre Rieu territory)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

HEATWAVE at the Chookpen

This world of ours is a bit messy again. Fierce and deadly fighting resumed in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinians. Why can't neighbours live in peace? Mind you, it's the fanatics that are behind all these varied attacks.Would but there was a way to get rid of all the fanatics in the world. There have been some devastating storms in Queensland and the South Pacific again. The economy , world wide is at a low ebb .There will be many jobless. Then , in a brighter note, the inauguration of the USA's new President happens soon.The first black man elected to be the US President and good on Mr Obama, we can only wish him luck and success. Mac trying to destroy Oi's ball, on our bed.
Kids in Scott's pool ,when I had the 4 last week, where is Riley?
Melbourne here we come Victoria Markets
Circle Tram
Crown Casino
Today has been a wonderful day because the temp was only just over 25 C and yesterday it was 27. What more do you want? Well ,14 days over 30 and mostly over 35 is really a bit much and they tell us we'll have 37 on Thursday again and 39 on Friday. Yes it would be more comfortable if we were in our little house now but it has been quite bearable in the caravan ,with the aircon on.The annex gets very hot but the old boy says he does not mind, with the fans on him he still sits there and watches his telie.
The council is supposed to decide on our house on Feb. 17Th and wanted an extra $440.00. Why?? Supposedly because it is slightly bigger than allowed! So, why that should cost another 440 BEATS ME!Now waiting for the environmental officer to come,too late the trees are down but Rick and Karen have planted so many trees on the block since living here, they should be complimented rather than denigrated.It seems our house may actually have started,despite council. A bit scary but surely they would not refuse permission?
Apart from the frustration of the house, life goes along.Played Mah Jong again on Monday & Zoe & Riley came with me.Today Zoe not well with ear infection, too much swimming ,spent most of the day in bed. Tomorrow have the girls here, though Bella only some time as she's having a sleepover.Grissabell, the girl's cat disappeared yesterday, snuck out the door but was found just after tea and it seems she did not like the outside because she was hiding in a cupboard today. Must take a picture of her some time and blog it.
Well , what we need is a holiday and the 9Th of Feb can't come fast enough.Did a little bit of looking around on the web the other day and looked at some brochures Net & Gary had. Thought we might do a tour in the "Puffing Billy" and ofcourse there's always Victoria Markets and shopping Centres and Trev wants to do the Melbourne Cricket Ground Tour. Just 3 weeks or so to go.

Monday, January 12, 2009

EMAIL from the CHOOKPEN

A few bits and pieces I wanted to put on the blog,plus I wanted to try the email again. I just wonder if the attachments will show so have chosen some from Vicki's Facebook site.They were still from our trip to Thailand in September,but worth sharing. Trev trying to mimic a statue of a naughty cherub and all the kids on a gold Dragon. Both in Dreamworld.


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Sunday, January 04, 2009

Hot Spots from the Chookpen

Next door, bar one, the property on the corner,one of the horses dropped a foal about a month ago. She is quite gorgeous and today she actually came up and let me pat her.
Our Maccie in the togs he got from Santa
Yes , it's hot but surprisingly bearable in the chookpen.Has been well into the 30's for quite a while now but that's better than the well below minus they're suffering in Canada and I guess in Holland it will be pretty cold now too.Sleeping has been no problem as nights have been very cool, mostly under 20 degrees.
Today we had a very pleasant lunch in the Jarrahdale General store. Jarrahdale being a pretty little country town near here . It used to be a timbertown but I guess now a tree change town.Lovely food and very quick service, with prices very reasonable.We dropped Pop back to the chookpen and the rest of us headed for Armadale to the movies where we saw the very delightful"Bedtime Stories " and had a refreshing drink at the "Dome". There was quite a large fire and it was a little close to the property of Karen's friend Tash. Problem was they were away on holidays so Rick was prepared to move the animals but it must have been OK because a call never arrived, thank goodness. They are a dreadful threat here , particularly in summer.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

New Year at the Chookpen

The new Year's eve was a quiet one. Karen's brother, Darren & kids called in to see her. The kids had a marathon session on the Trampoline. Vicki, Trav & I played a few hands of Mah Jong, Karen played scrabble with the girls while the old boy watched the fireworks on TV. We did not wait to see the New Year in. Net & Gary have gone off for a few days to Melbourne and we do the same on Feb 9th, for 6 nights. Using some cheap airfares while they were on offer. Lucky for Allied Travel, there are others thinking they need a holiday and they have been quite busy for the last few days. Good for them because there had been a lull in bookings. Hope it continues for them.