A mad few weeks

The last few weeks since the previous post have certainly been stressful - its hard to know where to start. Firstly Ethan turned 7 and we / he had a good day doing the usual frantic opening & playing with his toys. However, in the same week, grandma Hawkins passed away after battling with cancer. We got to spend some time at the hospital back in June which was good but was also difficult to see somone who used to be so fit looking so poorly. Work also took on a new twist (post several internal interviews) in the same week and I was asked to go and meet my new team in the UK - with 6 hours notice. So back on the plane to the UK again 7 days after having left, I spent the week in Uxbridge and a flying visit to Newcastle for grandma's funeral. Back in Aus *I think* 5 days later and I'm not quite sure where my head is at......

What do you do with 50 lemons ?

OK, we're back safe and sound without any incident. Nothing to report other than fatigue and finally getting a shower.  As its mid-winter and the citrus trees are in full fruit mode - as you can see from the picture of my orange tree. So here's the issue - what can you possibly do with 50 lemons. Answers and recipes to the usual e-mail address!  Given there are likely to be 200-300 on the tree next year, they will come in handy. A few pictures of the trees taken today are here.

The Farewell Blog

Well, our time in Blighty is nearly up as we leave for Australia tomorrow. Weather wise its been incredible - it's only rained 1 day in 3 weeks !!   Hosepipe bans are starting up and there's 2 months of English summer to go. Starting to sound like Melbourne..... The trip this time has included everything from Golf with the boys to trips around Northumberland (happily we avoided Rothbury !). Some of the pictures from the trip are here.

Ethan's English Birthday

Ethan is usually a bit like the Queen - only by the fact that he has 2 birthdays. His real birthday is 14th July, but while in England always has another one at his Grandma's, including all the present unwrapping etc etc.  Here are some pictures from his 'unofficial' birthday at the weekend with a fair chunk of the Tosney side assembled...... thanks everyone for coming over !!  (Carol - the chocolate cake was lovely !)