Chilly Canberra

Oh my goodness, the last couple of weeks have seen us freeze and then freeze again - if that is possible, and I think it is. You see we flew to Canberra to care for our 3 grand-daughters whilst their parents jetted off to the US for two weeks. And coming from the warmer climes of this great country, it was almost like a culture shock - OK weather shock. The temperatures the first week were totally unheard of for us, I mean below 0 degs in the mornings and not getting very high during the day. Oh what a bleak old place it is.

There was one day where it was well into the minuses first up, then only reached 5.6 deg. by mid-day. Now that is really chilly and I have to say we indulged with hot coffee for Pete and a hot chocolate for me - with marshmallows!

To start with while the girls were at school I started to help son's mother-in-law to make some bags to sell at a steam train day out - sadly I had to leave them to her to finish as this was when I started to feel under the weather, as they say. All that needed to be done was the handles stitched on, and then they were finished.

All was going well with the girls and I was able to help (or do) a crafty item with Miss 7 yr old. Why I say I made up the dolly is because surprisingly it said it was for 6+ years, well with the amount of stitching their is no way even a ten year old could manage it. However Miss 7 yr old is delighted with Annabella.

Pete also guided her with some plaster mould making and, the painting of said moulds.

The only real problem we faced was falling for a doozy of a dose of the flu each - me first, then it appears I generously gave it to Pete. Having said that, I believe our son may have given it to me before he jetted off. Oh my gosh, I don't think either of us has been so horribly sick in many a long year. Pete also contracted (don't know how) a good dose of conjunctivitis for good measure. It got to the point where we just wanted to get home to our own environment, our own bed and our own lounge-chairs. And although we have been home just on a week, both of us are still not 100%.  Guess we just have to rest some more and give it time to work through our systems. Thankfully we appear to be on the mend though.

Because we really could not do much, I was able to do a bit of hand stitching for myself which I was happy with, and also I read a couple of books.

It was laughable when son and daughter-in-law returned and asked if .... 'same time next year'? The answer was a definite NO! Minding the girls ... no worries, but not in winter!!

For the moment, I think I shall head back to my lounge-chair, put my feet up and enjoy a cuppa - after taking some more medicine.

Cheers for now,