And so the focus is back on Josh..

Vad jag skrattade när Joshan skulle äta själv! Det blev bara kladdigare och kladdigare.. hihi.

En dag var vi ute och cyklade. Det slutade så här.

Och den sista bilden tog jag för han såg så "Aussie" ut i sina ugg-boots.

Surprising news..

What has the world come to when people tell their family of their news through blogs and tweets? .......

After our trek our time away was over. The weekend was spent in Newcastle. On the Saturday John wanted us to go out and we organised a babysitter, John booked a restaurant and we went for an adult night out (yay!!), all dolled up and in fine spirits.

The dinner was really lovely, The Bistro offers fine dining and is one of Newcastle's oldest restaurants. -It looks it too! It's quite run down, we sat on broken chairs and had bent knives and were almost put under the stairs leading up to the piano man. The menu to this fancy restaurant was paper on a clipboard and in the bar they had a video of a tropical reef playing and the reception was terrible. Haha, at least we got a good laugh. The food was terrific though so no complaints there.

After our lovely dinner John wanted to go to the top of Monument Hill for a look. I wasn't very happy about that, feeling cold and tired. I uttered many complaints on the way up in the lines of "I'm cold, i don't want to go up here!" "you shouldn't take your date if she doesn't want to go" and then when we got to the top I was reminded of my first time in Newcastle and uttered "how the hell did I end up in this town!?" (Newcastle is ok but a bit of a never-ending suburbia, pretty boring too with the only entertainment for people being the beach and the mall. Downtown itself is a ghetto!).

The view wasn't bad though and it was nice to go to the top of the hill (although being such a cow I didn't admit that).. Now didn't I feel like a total KILLJOY when John looked at me and said "will you marry me?" NOOOOOOOOO!!! This is not how it's supposed to go! I wanted to go back to the car and start over and be not be such a cranky bitch! Anyway, i said "No, you don't want to marry me" but he popped a cherry ring from the Maitland Reject shop on my finger anyway and it took me 20 minutes of being totally shell-shocked and monosyllabic before i said "yes".

He had meant to ask me on our hike but since he couldn't start a fire he didn't. That's why he got so angry when he couldn't start a fire and why he swore so much! How sweet!!! That setting would have suited us so well!

John's mum later said she thought he had done very nice for himself (choosing me) but I think I am the winner here. : )

Look at that $4 baby sparkle!

Recent events with some much-longed for hiking

I have had a couple of good weeeks of late. John had some time off work and we went to the Blue Mountains for two days. Stayed in Blackheath at a small but oh-so-friendly motel. We did day trips and went for a nice hike on the second day to Pulpit Rock lookout. I had Josh in a sling and maneuvered quite well if I may say so down slippery slopes and across creeks. Not as bad as it sounds but exciting enough. "Don't tell mum!" John said..

On the Monday we went to Sydney and met up with our dear friend Annie and the next day we went to the Sydney Aquarium which Josh absolutely loved!!

On Thursday we left Josh with his nana and went to Barrington Tops to do the Corker for the third time. 2.5 hours of uphill hiking before we reached our camp. How nice is that place!! It is a choice spot and I love going there. Unfortunately we arrived to Wombat Creek after dark this time and because all the wood we found was super wet we couldn't start a fire. John was cussing and cursing "I can't believe I forgot the f###ing paper, f###ing this and that" etc etc. I told him to calm down and that we could just go to bed (it was freeeeezing so I was longing for the warmth of my sleeping bag..) he was adamant though and even sacrifized his "Where Eagles Dare" by Alistair Maclean. I couldn't understand his frustration.. until later when it became clear and even the cussing was endearing! That night was a cold one and we awoke to frost but another BEAUTIFUL, sunny day. The hike down was great as well and it was a fantastic outing!!

Lite nya bilder

Vi firade midsommar hemma hos en av de svenska tjejerna och det var jätetrevligt. Här är vi med våra kransar. Vi hade lite dåligt med blommor.. Josh dansade bl.a med en jättesöt tjej.

Ända sen puss-kalaset har Josh var en riktig pussgurka. Här pussar han t.o.m "blindhunden" på shopping centrat.

Puss-kalas

Josh är nu lite mer än 14 månader och för ett par veckor sedan fick han sin första riktiga kyss, och vilken kyss det var!!! En liten tre-årig tjej som heter Ellen, halv-norska och hur söt som helst kunde inte hålla läpparna ifrån Josh. Hon dök på med munnen rätt på Joshans och tryckte till ordentligt. Efter två timmar av detta fick jag höra att Josh grät, fann honom under Ellen helt utpussad! Oj oj oj, vilken syn! Och jag säger bara det vilka kyssar!

Köks renovering

Vi beslutade oss för att äntligen rätta till skåpet i köket så vi kunde få plats med kylskåpet. Skåpet monterades ned och en hantverkare sågade av en fjärdedel, monterade sedan upp skåpet igen och då såg det ut så här.....

Hmmmm något opraktiskt med två handtag uppe i taket!! Undrar över logiken bakom detta eller var det inte meningen hihi.

Nu ser köket ut så här med ny färg och allt. Litet men helt ok.

Denna "post" är för mamma, ni fattar varför..

Skivan har vi inte spelat sen Josh var tre månader gammal. Han verkar gilla när det svänger i alla fall.

Fler updates..

Fick ett email från pappa häromdagen där han skrev att jag skulle uppdatera min blogg lite oftare för farmor och farfar vill ju se vad som händer i våra liv. Jag la ju upp bilder för en och en halv vecka sedan och sa till John att jag har inte ett intressant nog liv för att lägga upp nya grejer oftare!! Herregud John vi måste hitta på mer kul grejer så jag kan "blogga"! Haha. Men nu så har vi i alla fall spelat in Josh, om filmen funkar här.. Han började ju gå på riktigt den 4 maj, 13 månader kan man ju säga. Detta är den första film vi tagit så bättre följer.

Yengo National Park camp last weekend in April 2010

Annie and I decided to meet at Yengo. I'd drive from Newie and she'd go up from Sydney on her motorbike.

I arrived to a wet camp at 12 pm on Saturday. Set up the tent while Josh was happy getting wet and dirty in the grass. Fortunately it was a bit uncomfortable for him to crawl in the grass and he didn't move at a great speed and could be kept under control.

I was so relieved that he stayed happy the whole time. He absolutely loved the whole experience. The wet grass, the old fire pits, the wood pile, the trees, the rocks the works pretty much. He even found the tent exciting.

Annie came after a while and we decided to go for a walk and have a look at the Old Great North road that lead from Hunter Valley to Sydney back in the 1830s. Apperently 700 odd convicts built it by "hand", well pickaxes and the like and when they were finished it was only used for a few years as bushrangers were prevalent in the area (think Ned Kelley). As no one really wanted to be out in the middle of the bush and get robbed of all earthly possesions the road soon became unsued and instead people travelled to Newcastle by sea. We went to the circuit flat bridge which is one of the few remaining bridges that are in good shape. It was a nice walk, lots and lots of nasty flies but beautiful, lush bush.
The weather also cleared and it turned into a beautiful afternoon.

The next day we decided to go for a walk on the old convict road and when we came back the camp was empty. The three other campers had left so we were alone with the wildlife. There were about three goannas hanging around eating whatever foodscraps they could find. They hung around our camp and as we know they pay little attention to anyone trying to scare them away we let them have their way.

Here's one by our camp fire.

This is me and Josh having our lunch. Josh is pointing at the goanna and I look like a happy camper. Too bad we don't have a few more pictures of what happened next...

Suddenly the goanna charges at Josh and I, with sandwich in one hand, grab him by the back of his shirt and very roughly yank him out of the way of the goanna. This is true! Annie saw the whole thing. Josh was crying and Annie thought the goanna had gotten him as it was that close. Phew, I think he was a bit shocked and maybe his neck hurt a bit but at least those nasty teeth and claws didn't get to him. I have NEVER seen anything like it and will never look at goannas the same way again. Their teeth are very dirty as they like to eat rotting meat, among other things like juicy babies..

This is a close-up of one of the ones from the camp and it shows those big claws.

Later on, we're sitting around and one of the goannas sniff Josh's toy train, grabs it and runs off with it. Look closely at the photo and you can see the yellow Duncan train in its mouth. Haha, I think they liked the smell of Josh.

Josh and I stayed on for another night and were joined by John who had just arrived back from Germany. Annie left for Sydney. It was a lovely star-lit night and luckily the lizards left with the sunlight and Josh could play like he wanted.

Beautiful site, one that I'd like to go back to and I definately want to discover more of the national park.

The Opera House

On Tuesday arvo I boarded the slowest train in the Western world (Ol Red - Sydney) as Annie and I had tickets to see Regina Spektor at the Opera House.
When I finally got there, hours later.. we had a pub dinner at Circular Quay and then wandered off in the crisp beautiful evening to the Opera House. The moon was almost full and the harbour beautiful!
The concert hall turned out to be really intimate. We sat close to the stage and the sound was great and the voices and musical talents of Jupiter One and Regina Spektor were just breathtaking. It's amazing that there are so many artists out there that can hardly sing live that are hugely famous and then there are artists like these that are not as huge but should be!! Still very, very popular though. She had the audience spellbound.

In the intermission we sipped champagne on the terrasse and gazed at the bridge, lunar park and the moonlit water. Aaahh, what a night!

Even better when you get to have a night off being a mum. But early in the morning I had to hop on that miserable (but the scenery is beautiful, especially around the Hawkesbury) train again back to Ol Red.

I guess if every night was a good as that one I just wouldn't appreciate them that much. That's why I am thankful for nights at home watching bad teve. : )

Finally I am done with the vege path for a while..

The last few days I have finished off the sowing. I now have asparagus, rocket, carrot, parsnip, silverbeet and kale in rows and squares. Hopefully there will be a big harvest in a few weeks.

My helper slows me down a bit...

At spotlight I got a few bits for a new scarecrow. Cost $4 and was heaps of fun to make.

Went to Sydney on the weekend and spent a night out with Annie and her friends. On Saturday we drove up to the Hunter Valley vineyards and had a long leisurly lunch at Bimbadgen and then went around to a few different wineries and shops on the most beautiful of days. Very nice!

Easter camp 2010

We set off for Yagon as this is one of our fave camps. I love it cos the beach there is so beautiful and deserted. John was a bit worried all the camp spots would be taken seeing it was Easter and sure enough the camp was packed with young partiers. Luckily though we found a quiet corner and a great spot for our tent.

As we were starting to set up a goanna wandered into our camp. Totally fearless and on a mission for food. I said to John we better keep an eye on Josh as he might be taken for a nutritious snack.

We turned our backs and the next thing we know Josh is being approached by the goanna. No big deal really as we were around, but he was fearless, I tried to shoo him off with a stick but he wouldn't have a bar of it. He was going through our camp whether we wanted it or not.

Then came the cookaburra. It sat right next to John as he cooked our steaks and John said "I'll be! I've never seen them as bold as that". Yeah, he speaks like that, he also says he is feeling "poorly".. Haha what a grandy! When we sat down to eat the cookaburra struck! He flew over and with his strong beak grabbed John's medium rare (he didn't want my welldone steak) and John and he fought over it. John won but the Cookaburra didn't give up. A bit later he attacked again and this time John flung his wine over the table, the steak the bird himself etc. It was so funny. He was totally flustered. Apparently scarred from a young age when a magpie attacked him drawing blood.

On the beach we saw this beautiful crab and this other beautiful crab..

And some more..

Köpte en pyjamas till Joshan och vi tyckte han såg så himla rolig ut. He loves wearing his leasure suit!

Tur att vi inte bor i Sverige; Josh är för o-cool!

Bilder på Joshan

Halloj,


Idag har vi tagit bort ännu mer buskar och dylikt. John sa att det är "a bare yard now". Jag tycker det är roligt att kunna sätta egen prägel på stället. Kanske planterar ett citrusträd istället. Jag kan se mitt land nu. Det måste bara rensas ett par dagar till sen kan jag börja plantera. Yay!


Nu till det somliga väntat på; fler bilder.


Josh får ofta kuta runt utan blöja när jag bytt på honom och häromdagen när jag lämnat ytterdörren öppen så ...

Eller så kryper han in i "papperskorgs-skåpet"

Här är han med sitt hår lite friserat.

Sweden etc

These posts won't appear in the right order, they come out as I think, irratic!

Sweden was great, we had an awesome winter. This is how much snow there was in places.

This photo was taken on a skidoo outing.

Meanwhile Josh was

inside with g-ma

getting a chair-

massage..

I have tonnes of photos but not muc time with a (still) crier on my hands, but ther is one more I must add.

He met the Heineken girl at Bangkok airport. What a little adventurer. Wearing the geekiest outfit ever! Sorry!!

Joshan's first birthday

Josh turned one on the 21 March. Holy hell, how did this happen and how did we survive that first year of hardly any sleeping and screaming screaming screaming??

We had a party at the park and a heap of people turned up. It was a great day and this is Josh with the bike that he really would have wanted rather than the books and clothes he got. Unfortunately it belonged to one of the guests.

However much fun he had, most of the day he spent like this:

Back in Ol Red

We got back to Oz on the 7 March. Arrived to sunshine and unsual heat this time of year. Quite a change from what we had over in Sweden.

Aww my garden. What a catastrophy zone. I forgot to take "before" photos of most areas but there are some that shows what I have achieved in little stints here and there. Every time I put Josh down I run out to dig dig dig.

This is the front garden.. before..

And after.. It looks bare and horrid but we decided to put down grass here plus a nice bush of some sort. Bit more user friendly than the evil thorny rosebushes we used to have. I like it. Hate to say it but it feels "zen".. haha

That's some of the garden stuff. Won't bore you with more