triple words float my boat

I have always loved playing Scrabble.  I love the way your brain has to work to figure out how the letters go together.  It is like maths.  And I love how you need to know a lot of words to do well.  Like English.  I love how it hasn't changed the rules my whole life, and I have friendships based on playing a game of Scrabble together.  Old rivalries and cups of tea within a rhythm of a relationship.

When I was younger my goal was to beat my dad.  Then my goal was to make as many words in a square as I could.  Now I play Words with Friends with three people, having several turns a day, and my goal is just to beat them (competitive much?).

For my birthday this year I received a lovely delux Scrabble board, and a scrabble mug, and a scrabble key ring....

I think people know I like Scrabble.

Sunshine Coast quick trip

School holidays are great.  Time to nip up to the Sunshine Coast for a beach fix.  Time to finish my novel for bookclub.  Time to drink tea with friends.  Time to take the dog in the waves.  Time to eat delicious lunch with mum.

Thanks Sunshine Coast for turning on the most amazing weather!

We barbecued in the park

We gymnasticed on the beach

We talked and talked and talked

We made human child pyramids

We jumped at sunset

We posed

We ate fish and chips and swam

We collected a beach of shells (really, what do you do with the shells when you get home...)

Still got sand between my toes and suncream on my ears.  Ahhh, the beach.

ok it's cold in Armidale

Last weekend I had a lovely time whizzing down to Armidale to celebrate a dear friend's 40th birthday.  Fortunately I packed all my winter clothes - because it got below zero..brrrr.

Gab and I had a great time catching up with old friends and making new friends.  I think there is always room for new friends.  I love having a wide wide circle of friendships that ripples in from every part of my life.  Friends like that are like me, friends that complement me, friends that have known me a long time, friends that I just met on the weekend that I feel like I have known for ages.

We sipped on hot mulled wine and enjoyed fancy little cakes, ate warm soup and pork buns and created home made pizzas.  I think I may have rolled back to Brisbane...

My friend and I composed (I think we can use that word - I wrote lyrics and she wrote music) a song for the birthday people.  It was called '40 years old'.  I wrote an encore verse but it wasn't requested at the time of singing.  I sang it anyway later.

Happy birthday Chris and Michelle!

Lovely Gab in the afternoon light at the farm

A big bonfire was lit at dusk.  I was a little concerned the hose didn't reach the fire.  But they had big rubbish bins of water available if needed.  And there were plenty of country boys to poke at it with sticks.

At the dam for a picnic the next day.  Gorgeous weather - we walked all around the dam.

This is our attempt at a bookclub photo.  I have a skype bookclub with these girls, as we all live in different cities.  It is an awesome way to keep in touch, and I have read books I never thought I would read.

Love them.

Gab found some leaves lying around, raked them up, and jumped in them.  Because you have to.

Thanks for a great time Armidale.

You cold cold town.

Pine Forest

We took an afternoon walk through the Pine Forest near Armidale.  There were lots of bikes and kids and chatting and eating and laughing.  And some whinging.  The photos look like we had an idyllic walk through a lovely forest, skipping gladly through the flowers and discussing matters of the heart and philosophy (actually awesome friend Fiona and I did that part).  However, the real sound track to the walk consisted of a lot of whining, yelling, shrieking, shouting for no reason and declarations of hunger bordering on starvation.

The Pine Forest hosts some medieval re-enactments yearly, and some structures stay there all year.  We imagined this was a big meeting hall or a hut.  And I imagined being out here in the middle of an Armidale winter prentending I lived in the 13th century.  And then I was really glad people built houses with heating and cupboards full of hot chocolate and shortbread and the internet.

No, we could not figure out what this structure was either.  Gallows?  Quick! Get out of there Calab!!!!  Pine Forest ooggedy booggedy!

Clambering over the partially collapsed huts was fun.

 
I miss her!  Much silliness and chatting had to be squashed into a few days.  But lovely.  She has a farm to run in Gerringong (I learnt how to 'process' chickens...). Fiona is wearing a cool scarf overshirt combo.  Me - a muppets shirt.  Explains a lot.

 
Gab chose sun and safety protection at the same time on her head.  She makes me laugh.

 
The kids were mountain biking pros, especially second youngest nephew.

However, just after I took this photo oldest niece did a spectacular stack onto this bit of gravel road.  It was like it was happening in slow motion, and her chin took the brunt of her fall over the handle bars.  Ouch....she was so brave.  I would have cried and yelled a lot more.

So the day ended abruptly for the Pines in the Pine Forest.

we are so groovy

So the lovely Susy had a seventies themed party.  I won't say what age she was turning - only that it was after 39 and before 41.  But my lips are sealed.

We glammed up in our seventies gear - mine was from an op shop.  The other girls had originals from their mother.  I personally don't think Katy wears a yellow pantsuit enough.  It's so flowy, yet practical!

One of my favourite parts of the night was the seventies themed supper - cocktail onions, kabana and cheese on a stick, prunes in bacon, prawn cocktails, chocolate fondue, celery sticks with sultanas and peanut butter and did I say chocolate fondue?  It was like all my primary school lunchbox treats had gathered together in one awesome table of tastiness.

I love that I can still hang out with these girls many many years later.  Fun!

My date for the night had the chest hair happening.  So seventies.  And groovy.

Yay.

Recovering today though from a trip to Nambour and back in one night.  I am not as young as I was.  But not as old as the birthday girl...yet.

ahh friends

Some of our favourite people have moved up to the Sunshine Coast.  Which gives us an excellent excuse to go up and enjoy the beach, kayak, hang out and relax.  And I took the dog on a very long walk on the beach which was leash off - which meant I was very startled when a council guy came up to me at the end of the walk.  He was handing out free doggie bag dispensers and generally saying 'hi' to dog owners - but it gave me a start.  I always get that funny tummy feeling when someone in authority in a uniform fixes their glare on me - even if I know I am not doing anything wrong.

Anyway.

 
We are ready to kayak!

We made it all the way to Bribie Island - saw pelicans, a manta ray, crabs and fish.

 
Awwww.  Worth the trip!

 
He learned to ride a bike!  After I ripped off his training wheels and said 'go for it'!  It is much easier with someone else's child - less emotional attachment and angst.

Nothing like spending time with your godfather.  They had a peaceful hour reading comics together without saying a word.

 Ahhh friends.

friends...

I have known these girls for ....ummmm..let's just say since before we were twenty.  All three of us speechies and all three of us completely different personalities.  We have watched each other through travel, living overseas, coming home again, changing relationships, babies, almost teenagers, job changes and all of life's emotional waves.  But yesterday when we hung out at the beach and prevented out children from being sucked out to sea down the Caloundra passage it was like we were young things again.  The rhythms of the conversation and the giggles.  The gentle questions and the unspoken support.   To find people in your life that stay constant like this is a precious gift.

I remember the first day I met Susy.  My first day at university - fresh faced and completely nerdy (actually that has not changed too much).  I found out she was in the same course as me, and I said - do you want to go to the first lecture together?  She said okay - and we were pretty much joined at the hip for four years.  She has an astonishing gift for making friends in new places, and she is cheery for my soul.  We shared many lollies up the back of lectures, I helped her find the notes and instructions for assignments, and she instructed me in how to get along at uni.

I met Katy not long after, and man does she make me laugh.  She is my scrabble buddy and a perfect introverted fit to mine and Susy's needy extrovertedness.  She is wise and I have watched her grow so much in the last few years.  And through some wonderful quirkiness her daughter and my daughter have become best friends.

And Susy has produced this wonderful child (her other wonderful child was running too fast for me to catch a photo!).

I could just gobble up his sturdy chubbiness.  Susy didn't notice that much when I tried to convince him to be my third child.

I am so grateful for these girls.  And all the other wonderful friends God has dropped into my life.