12 Apr 2010

Our term holidays

So this is the photo post where I show you just what we've been up to during the past two weeks.

The view from our tent

Friday-Monday: First there is the camping. It was great, and no, Susan, the tent didn't leak. We did find the new fandangled airbeds cold the first night, but an extra layer of bedclothes underneath the sleepers rectified that for the rest of the stay. The fancy rechargeable camping light didn't work after the first night either, except on its night light setting. Oh well, made for romantic evenings, she says resignedly.

Jemimah getting to grips with her new camping light

We stayed at Dixons Creek near Melbourne, a region that was decimated in last years dreadful Black Saturday Bushfires. 173 people died as a result of these fires - Australia's highest ever loss of life from bushfire.

A year later the forests are regenerating, but the legacy of that day will remain. Where the fire was hottest the regrowth is patchy, but in others the density of new seedlings is amazing. New plant species are reappearing, and native wildlife is slowly returning to the area as trees and plants damaged by the fires regenerate.

Birds are everywhere.

We were in Dixons Creek to participate in the RPCA Fellowship Camp, and in between wonderful bushwalks, times of Psalm singing and far too much food we were blessed with a series of excellent studies presented by Dr Murray Capill, Principal of the Reformed Theological College.

Murray Capill with his wife, beating their way through the regenerating bush at Fern Gully.

Murray spoke on Building the Church based on the often controversial chapters in 1 Corinthians - 12-14. The resulting discussion groups were excellent, and I came away from camp feeling inspired and...well...built up!

Monday: The Easter Bunny arrived late this year depositing eggs around our Northcote garden to the joy of young Jemimah. (Sorry, Ruby.)

Tuesday: Most of the chocolate accompanied us on our meandering trip home via Bendigo and then the gypsy caravanners, and we arrived home just before my parents who had come to say with us for a few days. Visits by grandparents are so priceless, aren't they?

Wednesday: You've seen photos of our Wednesday already...

Thursday: Mum and Dad left on Thursday and my brother and his family arrived. Phew!! Can you see why I wasn't blogging?!!

Here's a couple of back-of-head pics of Jemimah with her gorgeous cousins to preserve their anonymity.


Saturday: The rellos stayed just long enought to see Jemimah play in her first game of Minkey Hockey in the District Competition against a neighbouring town. She was quite bamboozled by the whole thing, but had a lovely time and was delighted to be selected for a coach's award after the game.

Mouthguards do not make for flattering portraits, do they?

And by Saturday afternoon it was all over.

We slept.

So now I'm wondering why I've told you all this stuff. Is anybody really interested to know what we did for our holidays? Do you read these posts or are they totally selfish and self ingulgent? Do they make us more real to you, and does that matter?

What do you think?

15 comments:

  1. Well, I just wanted to comment and say I enjoyed reading about your trip :) Sounds like it was very enjoyable. Besides, if no one else reads these then you have something to look at later. Just think, someday you could make a book of your blog as a memory book :)
    I, for one, hope you continue to post your possibly selfish and self indulgent posts :) Uh, not saying that they are... but if that's what they were...okay, stopping now :)
    Have a great day!

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  2. Who cares if they are self indulgent?! I loved reading it and am soooooo jealous!

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  3. Love peeking in at others' lives! I'm also learning about this strange Austrailian culture. :) So consider your blog posts educational for your American readers!

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  4. Self indulgent or not, I like reading about what you guys are upto! As some one else commented, I use my blog as a journal of sorts to show Rebekah later and I'm sure Jemimah would love to have the same from you:) So, your posts have many purposes:)

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  5. If nothing else consider it a writing exercise. Dorothy L. Sayers contended that you could get anybody to read anything if you made it interesting enough ~ & to prove her point did the Dante translation that is still considered the definitive work.

    I, of course, will read anything.;P

    Nah, enjoy reading bits about your real life. Blogging's a funny old business. However you dice it you only ever share a patchwork.

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  6. It's really cool reading about what other fellow homeschoolers get up to on there holidays. It is your blog after all! xxx

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  7. We are all a little nosy and like to see how others live - and if we were face to face discussing holidays you would probably share this with me!!

    Glad to hear that you are having lovely holidays. Was it cold camping?

    Good to see that the trees and wildlife are returning to the bushfire affect areas - it can take ages for full recovery.

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  8. Jeanne, I loved reading about your exploits during your holidays.

    Do I think you're self-indulgent - nah, never!

    But...*shock, horror* Easter bunny...now, surely you don't still believe in the Easter bunny??? lol

    Have a wonderful week, my friend,
    Love and blessings, Jillian ♥

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  9. "Of course I do, Jillian," she says, wide eyed, "Don't you?"

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  10. I love knowing what you do on your vacation! And it does make your blog more warm and personal. So thanks.

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  11. You have got to have a life to have a bit of homey interest for us to read about. All work and no play.....
    But I am very concerned about the rabbits and hares in your part of the country. They have mutated to produce eggs I believe? And chocolate ones not little baby bunny ones? Curious and curiouser!

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  12. I'm delighted to read about your holiday! Of course, this is as close to camping as I hope to get, even though you were lucky enough to score the only waterproof tent in the whole of Australia.

    I don't know if I am the only one like this, but I truly do love to see pictures of happy kids. They make me beam! So far from thinking it self-indulgent, I think it is a kind way of sharing your happiness with us.

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  13. I'm interested. I love seeing what you get up to.
    Guess what? Lucy does Minkey too. Her first session is this Thursday.
    Louise

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  14. Of course we like sticky-beaking into your life - otherwise we wouldn't be reading your blog!

    We had a church camp over easter too - though just over the long weekend. Our theme was the 'Blessings in Christ' -lots of encouragment along with some heart felt convicting of the need to share it with others more.

    We were camping in our caravan - but we've had it awhile and travelled in it quite a bit,since it hasn't had alot of maintenance for awhile it does leak a little - usually we have great weather camping though so it's not a big issue.

    We've never been big of easter chocolate - we're not great tolerators of lots of sugar. The last few years I've bought my family packets of dried organic mango and they all love that. Easter Sunday this year was also Taiwan's Children's Day and so we celebrated that with our little one.

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  15. Hi Louise!!

    Good for Lucy!! Hope she enjoys it as much as Jemimah does!

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I'd love you to leave me a message. Tell me what you like - and what you don't. Just remember that this is what we do in our family - it doesn't have to be what you do in yours...