Farewell Festiva....and Zoom Zoom Zoom!

Another chapter in the Merlino Diaries draws to a close and my little Festiva has been sold to make way for the new family Burgess Mobile (a moment to reflect).

But with every closing chapter, a new one is created and thus enters our new Mazda (Chakka Zoom Zoom, as christened by PJ recently). Please see pictures below of the proud new parents:

With driving now a pleasure, Cam and I have taken several trips up and down the coast already but decided that one of our first was a spin around the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney and in particular, I was keen to drive out to the Heads past Vaucluse - very scenic!

Music and Merriment at Jacaranda Lodge

The weekend of the 25th of February heralded not only Anna's real birthday but a weekend of frivolity in Taree, with special guests Tony and Sylvia, direct from London's Hampstead Garden Estate (insert wolf whistles and cheers).

Me in my party dress and new shoes ( perhaps I am trying to show off my eyelashes?!)

Saturday evening saw a party hosted in their honour, complete with professional karaoke tunes as arranged by Dani and Chris. Fear set in and I vowed to not take to the stage however several glasses of Marlborough wine got the better of me and before I knew it, I had microphone in one hand and Cam as my backup singer in the other and was belting out 'Stuck in the middle'. After a terrifying 4 minutes, I survived this experience and decided that Cam and I would be well suited to a duet - so we took Chris aside and asked him to assist us in preparing a rendition of 'Please don't ask me'.

The adults table looked rather tame at the start of the evening; the kiddie table, with PJ as our guest (one night only)

In the meantime, as it was party central, Miss Donovan refused to stay in her crib and demanded to be seen by the public - see shot below in her jumpsuit, struggling to keep her eyes open but refusing to be beaten by such a threat!

As the aspiring duo toiled hard at the song preparation, Dani took over and entertained the masses with her beautiful country twang and sassy nature. The crowd were then privy to a rare treat as Burgess and Burgess took to the floor in what was surely a heartbreaking rendition of the Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham classic (I shall leave you to determine in what way it was heartbreaking..).

Edna and Dianne kicked off the evening with a French rendition of...a French song?!; The gents step up to the plate with a noisy version of 'Oh Lord, it's hard to be Humble'. Indeed :)

As the evening wore on and the wine continued to flow freely, I even found myself adapting to my surroundings with the greatest of ease - my proudest moment that evening was surely being able to collect Cassidy before she ran down the driveway, in one arm, whilst not spilling my half full glass of wine in the other :)

Who is this handsome fella then? Young Fred makes an appearance; Uncle Cam and Cassidy; Cam and I - the dynamic duo

Anna's 25th Birthday

To the faithful fans out there, apologies for the lack of entries of late and prepare to be updated!

To begin, we shall revisit my friend and bridesmaid Anna's 25th birthday which was held on the 19th February (officially the 26th). My friend and Anna's flatmate Linh suggested a picnic might be a suitable way to mark this eventful occasion and when the heat/storms threatened our original suggestion of a Centennial Park venue, Cam and I volunteered to play host to allow for both cooling off in our pool and shelter should the heaven's open.

We gathered an intimate group of close friends and with meals provided by all (I even baked quiches and a slice; as per all culinary attempts by me however, I burned the first batch of quiches and frantically whipped up another before the guests arrived, whilst the chocolate slice contained suspicious black chunks...) and ball games in the pool that only the men could enjoy for hours on end, an enjoyable afternoon seemed experienced by all.

Johnny and Anna pose for the cameras; Anna blowing out her candle in true blog-moment style!

The birthday gang gathers round

Valentines Day

February 14 marked the occasion of St Valentines Day. For many years, this day held fear and nervousness for me - would anyone give me a Valentines this year; would I be convincing in my assertion that it didn't matter when the day passes again, no gift forthcoming?

Come 2002 and a wonderful thing happened - my new and fabulous boyfriend Cameron had flowers delivered to my work place and I finally joined the ranks of the Valentines recipients! Funnily enough, 4 years down the track, the day doesn't bother me anymore and can pass without a worry - except for the fact that my now wonderful husband spoils me still (and I do feel very special as a result!).

I pose with my roses and the fudge; close up of the fudge basket samples.

This year, Cam had a dozen red roses delivered to work - they were so beautiful and smelt lovely! I also arranged for my fudge basket (red balloon voucher from Anna for my birthday last year) to be delivered, so all up, Tuesday night was a nice escape from the realities of the working week.

Cam and I pose for a self shot.

Welcome to the World Nicholas!

After a 9 month wait, Nicholas Charles Pace finally arrived into the world at 7.47am on Sunday 12th February 2006.

Cam, Wendy and I journeyed to Camden Hospital to visit Ann-Marie, Jason and the newest member to the Pace family. He was so lovely and tiny! Here is a photo of me with Nicholas - stay tuned for updates on this little trooper as he begins his journey into life....

Australia Day at Palm Beach

Australia Day, 26th January 2006 was to be held at John Cross' family beach house in Palmy (Palm Beach for those not down with the lingo). Ever the baking force, I prepared some Aussie lamingtons for the day (with the help of my spunky Sous Chef, Cam). They were received with enthusiasm and I felt a sense of achievement after 3 previous years' failed attempts - too bad we do not have photographic evidence like the white Christmas!

Here are some photos from our day:

The crowd gather for the feast - as described by Phil "We went into Woolies and just swept up as much meat as we could fit into the trolley". In true Aussie style, we made sure we had some lamb!

Cam involved in a game of backyard cricket - how Aussie are we?!

The Ladies stand - Me, Michelle, Claire and Tina.

The beach - complete with Home and Away celebrity sighting by Cam :)

Huskisson

New Years Day 2006 saw Cam and I driving down the coast in the 43 degree heat to the South Coast destination of Huskisson. Cam was nursing symptoms of sunstroke after the previous days antics (and the absence of sunscreen) and he wrapped himself in trackies, a long sleeve shirt and my sarong to avoid the sun's harsh rays "No...not the sun..!"

We arrived in Husky after one of the most challenging road trips I have ever driven - too hot to wind window down, too hot to have window up! - and promptly collapsed into the hot and stuffy caravan. The fan provided little relief and with Cam still fearing the sun's harsh touch and therefore refusing to go to the beach, I chose the ingenious option of feet in cold bucket of water and cool wash cloth on forehead (oh, and left over chocolate chip cookies for sustenance :)

Mum and Dad came to Husky a few days later and Wendy also arrived shortly thereafter. The time consisted of a golf challenge between Cam and Dad, 6 km daily walks for mum and I and hours of fun on the beach - I even snuck in some assignment work!

Here are some snapshots of our time in Huskisson: