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This Boating Life

Poppy on Australia DayWe have had another amazing long weekend away on the boat and at the risk of providing similar content to previous posts, I just can’t help but share more photos with you!

Our time was spent with our friends at South Bruny Island and incorporated lots of water play, flying kites, beach BBQ’s, swimming, sleeping and eating. Nick and Brett went for a dive on Saturday and returned with abalone and crayfish!  Australia Day was spent on Butlers Beach in glorious conditions.

Poppy flying her kite

Needless to say, my time on the boat is not always ‘smooth sailing’.  These are some of the quirks I persevere with:

  • It is a nightmare getting Poppy into bed on the boat, let alone for her to go to sleep before 9 pm!  (This topic is a blog post for another day)
  • James hates wearing his PFD (Personal Flotation Device) and every time we go ashore he bursts into tears and cries most of the time he is on the beach
  • If we move at night the anchor winch is so noisy it has been known to wake both Poppy and James, after hours of getting (her) to sleep
  • When pulling the dinghy back in the water on Saturday afternoon, I got oil on the sleeve my cashmere jumper.  Mental note – wear old clothes!
  • Bless our little Tagus for sometimes she leaks and my bed gets wet
  • Two children, a dog, Nick and I crammed into one small space can push the most even-tempered to become ‘snappy Tom‘.

Despite these woes, there is nothing better to wake up with my family on a blue sky day, crank up the tunes, cook up some pancakes and see Poppy jump off the back of the boat into her Dad’s arms!  Bring on the many more trips, wet bed and all!  Xx

Poppy flying her kite

Beach Babes

Brett's Crayfish

Butlers Beach

Poppy's Hand

Mistraal & Iverus

Bushwalk

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Australia Day

Happy Australia Day for the 26th.  We are off again on our little floating caravan … bring on the good times!  Xx

Tagus

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Mountain ♥

IMG_5721I have been craving an extended trip into the mountains … but it will have to wait until my little peeps are a little older.  So instead, I loaded everyone up in the car this morning and we went on an adventure to Mt. Wellington.

I pointed out the native plants to Poppy along the way, we picked up sticks, sang ‘walking in the bush‘ song from Playschool, had a few wees and had rocks in our shoes but we finally made it to Sphinx Rock where we enjoyed the view and the fabulous sunshine.

Not quite an epic five-day bushwalk but certainly satisfied a smidgen of my mountain cravings!  Xx

Pink Mountain Berry

My little peeps

Hakea

Sphinx Rock

Sphinx Rock

Eucaplyptus

Pops in the bush

Tree detail

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Sneaky Peek : Sunny Sarah

The perfect temperature

It is the perfect temperature in Hobart right at this moment in time!  I LOVE it – none of this crazy 38ºC like last Friday.  To top off this stellar weather, my oldest school friend – Sarah came to stay with us last night!

I absolutely love being in the company of old friends that you have shared a lot of history with – it’s almost like slipping on an old comfy jumper.  There is so much familiarity you finish each others’ sentences, you start conversations with: “Remember when we …” and you can be brutally honest with one another.

I have very fond memories of our friendship when we met in 1987 at Launceston College.  Big hair, multiple converse socks worn with masseur sandals and over-sized Balance jumpers were the cutting edge fashion of the day (oh really)?  We would cruise to the east coast of Tasmania in my orange Volkswagen beetle, dropping in at her family farm on the way to raid the pantry and spend hours on isolated beaches with the whitest of sand.  U2’s Rattle & Hum would be played relentlessly on the ‘tape deck’, followed by Guns & Roses and a bit of Spy V’s Spy!

Luckily we have moved on from there, but our friendship has stayed the same.  We don’t need to speak often but when we do catch up, it’s just like wearing that comfy old jumper again … it just feels right!

Sarah & James

James & Sarah

James and his Mummy

James and his Mummy

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Yum : MONA Market

Wild Rice SaladWe popped out to the MONA Market (MOMA) on Saturday afternoon with my sister.  It was a stunning day, we ate lovely food and listened to some (interesting) music.

We were incredibly impressed with the use of enamel plates, denim napkins and timber utensils.  The lines were a little crazy but hey, everyone had the same idea as us!

MONA Market

MONA Market

Mmmm ... what will I eat now?

Pops

Pops trying to put her brother's pants on

Nick, Cath & Pops

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6 Months Old

Our Master James is 6 months old today!  I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown by, but looking back at how tiny he was when he was born, it seems a world away.

James - 6 months old

Baby James

James - 6 months old

Here is little Poppy at exactly the same age!

Poppy - 6 months old

James has been spending lots of time in the Jolly Jumper with his old pal – Captain Calamari:

James & Captain Calamari

James & Captain Calamari

James - 6 months old

James - 6 months old

James - 6 months old

Poppy & James

He has also just had his first taste of rice cereal this morning and didn’t seem too impressed!  A whole world of amazing food is all in front of you little fella!

James - 6 months old

James - 6 months old

James - 6 months old

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MOFO

MOFO

MOFO

MONA FOMA is on yet again and last night Nick and I went out on a date and dropped by.  We didn’t actually see any bands but the atmosphere on the docks was alive!  Love it!

MOFO

MOFO

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Silver Sandal ♥

Today I am loving Poppy’s new silver Saltwater Sandals:

She had grown out of her red ones from last summer, and was wearing shoes that were too small for her.  So off we went to Charlie’s Bucket in Hobart and decided that the summer of 2014 was going to be the one of the silver sandal!

Mummy, I love my new silver sandals!

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Sneaky Peek : On Order …

Macbook Pro

After putting up with my trusty old MacBook that has never been right since my IT glitch last February, I have ordered a new MacBook Pro laptop!  No more waiting for ever for photos to download, webpages to open and a trackpad that only worked on one side.  Excited!

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Summer Lovin’

James and his Dad

Boy oh boy – talk about a busy week enjoying these glorious summer days! I have three photo galleries for you today!

1.  Last Wednesday Nick and I looked at the weather forecast and decided to sneak away on the boat for a couple of days.  We spent last Thursday with our friends at one of my favourite places – North Tinpot Bay on Bruny Island.  Poppy was so exhausted from being in the water all day, it took her a couple of days to recover!

North Tinpot Bay

2.  We returned on Friday afternoon and went to Rectango for a little boogie.  On Saturday I went to the Hobart International Tennis Tournament to watch the women’s final.  An amazing view from the stadium seats and a total bonus to experience such international sporting prowess!

Sisters

Hobart International

3.  Jimmy, Tracy and their children were also visiting us from Sydney over the weekend and after a big breakfast cook-up we went to Richardsons Beach for another day of beach folly.  Slip, Slop, Slap!  Oh how I love summer.  Xx

Jimmy Martin