Back from the Dead

It has been brought to my attention that the last post from Down Under was in September.  Well, it was either post to the blog or entertain or give up the online history course I took through December 26.  Here's what has been going on:

1)  Our friend Kathleen from NY visited in October.  Local bachelors still mourn her departure.  This is her and Debbie at a bookstore in Bungendore - if you look at the writing above their head you will see the words: "The Kathleen Tanzy and Debbie Ikins Wing Dedicated 24 October 2010."

 

2)  Our friends the Maseks arrived on Oct 30 to attend the Melbourne Cup in November (BIG horse race - everything in Australia shuts down for the afternoon to watch). Marjorie's father, a naval officer in port in Melbourne, attended the Melbourne Cup in 1934, betting on Peter Pan, and apparently won big time.  It was reportedly a good Christmas.  They stopped briefly in Canberra and then headed down to Melbourne for the race.

Oh yeah - Debbie took over the betting for us and we bet on - of course - Americain - which won.  We bet about $20 but won about $150.  My intention to mortgage the house was thwarted by Debbie, to our regret.

3)  Before the Maseks left for Melbourne, our friends Heather and Lindsay from Sydney arrived for an anniversary weekend.  That's them at the front left and right.  Heather has just dropped lamb on the floor and trying to decide if the 3-second rule applies (actually she's talking to Karnak).

4)  Then, Brother Tom and Sister-in-Law Jan arrived in November for about three weeks.  Their visit and that of the Maseks overlapped for about a week.  But that's why we got two extra bedrooms (and even turned my office into a bedroom for Miles).  We all had a great time together in Canberra, driving up to Sydney, then farther north to Port Stephens (where we chartered a fishing boat and Miles Captained it), and then after the Maseks departed Tom, Jan, Debbie and I went to Melbourne.

 

 

This is the State of Victoria Library - also where they keep Ned Kelly's plow-share armor:

And here's Ned...before and after hanging.

 

We even had dinner on a tram that drove all over the city:

 And then there was a lot more stuff like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New year  plus my having to a lot of reading and writing for my historical research and writing online history course (I am taking another course as we speak, and then I start a graduate program in military history in March...paid for by the Australian Department of Defence).  Pretty good deal.

I will provide further detail and bring everyone up to date on our activities since September but this should suffice for now.

OK - one more if you insist - this is us prior to going 100 feet straight down under the Fremantle Prison and into a little canoe, where we paddled around through the water supply tunnels for 2 hours.  Just to whet your appetite for more of our adventures...

 

 

You know, the secret to a successful marriage is you just have to find something you can do together...no matter how mundane it might be.


More later.