MOUNT MONSTER CONSERVATION PARK

After a somewhat  delayed departure from home this morning Royce and I reached the Mount Monster Conservation Park (about 20 minutes south of Keith) at about 4pm.  We had a pretty good run on the road today, stopping shortly before Tailem Bend to make some lunch then stopping at Tailem Bend for a milk shake (Royce) and coffee (me). 
This is a beautiful spot - lots of bush around us and plenty of magpies warbling outside.  It was quite warm when we arrived so Royce set up the generator and we got the air conditioner running (what a hard life????).  We cooked a couple of steaks for tea then decided to go for a walk.  It was only going to be a short walk but we ended up doing a 1 hour circuit to get back to the caravan and boy are my hips feeling it!  Still, it was a lovely walk and we had a look at the old gold mine, saw lots of magpies, galahs, finches and a couple of coloured parrots.  There are quite a lot of bees around the place (a property nearby has a large quantity of beehives) but they aren't bothering us much once we shooed out the two that came into the caravan when we first got here.  We did see a fairly large beehive in one of the trees when we went for a walk as well. We also saw a very large hare but it hopped away before I could get a photo.  It was about the size of a smallish dog. The flies haven't been too bad (so far) and hopefully that situation will continue.

Some of the bush area near us

five of the magpies

Miss B Haven

The old gold mine (part of it at least)

Some of the bushland along the track we were walking on

KENNY ROGERS

We went to the Kenny Rogers concert at the Adelaide Festival Theatre tonight (Royce's Christmas present) and what a great night it was.  Royce is a real Kenny Rogers fan and whilst I like some of his music I wouldn't have gone out of my way to go to his concert.  Having said that, I am glad we did go.  I enjoyed it much more than I had expected.  We went out for tea at Fasta Pasta first then headed into the city.  We had to do a bit of a circle loop to get a park but after that all went well.
The first act was a young South Australian woman and for the life of me I cannot now remember her name but she had an amazing voice and I will have to try to remember her name so we can see if she has a CD out.  We think her name was Amber Lee Pointon or Polton or something like that - anyone heard of her?  I will try to find out her name and see how we go. 
When Kenny Rogers first walked onto the stage I thought "OMG he is old and looks like he is pissed".  Appearances can be deceptive.  Whilst the guy is in his 60s and is not a high energy act, he can still entertain.  He sang many of his old songs - including one from the 1960s when he fronted First Edition.  I am not sure of the name of that song but it was something about checking the condition of his condition!  It was certainly very 60s when mind altering substances were all the rage, but it was still a pretty good song and I bet if it was re released now it would sell well!!!!!  Lots of the old favourites and some newer ones as well.  He also engaged the audience really well during the whole show.
We had a really good time and for us old codgers it wasn't even a real late night - home by 11pm.
It was also surprising how many 'young' people were in the audience.  The place was packed with very few empty seats and whilst the majority were our age or older there was a good showing of under 30s.
It is now 11.20pm and time for all good (older) people to hit the sack.   Talk again soon.

Casterton

Royce and I headed over to Casterton on Tuesday last week (11th).  We didn't take the caravan but stayed with my sister Sharon and her partner Richard.  We had only intended to stay a couple of days but that extended out a bit.  We had a leisurely drive to Casterton, stopping on the way to pick up a turtle (tortoise?) that was sitting in the middle of a single lane, narrow country road just south of Langcoop.  We couldn't leave Tommy there otherwise he was sure to get run over, so we emptied out a crate, put him in it and let him go by the billabong at Casterton.  We saw two emus crossing the road and a lot of Rosellas.  It was a pleasant days drive.  We spent time walking, talking, eating and I got a lot of craft work done!  On Friday Royce and Richard headed into Mount Gambier in the morning, picked up a hire truck and drove to Adelaide where they loaded a whole lot of book shelves and stock for Richard's new shop in Casterton - Bikes Books and Bits.  they slept in Adelaide Friday night and drove back to Casterton on Saturday and we all got stuck into unloading the truck which they took back to Mount Gambier on Sunday.  They both worked pretty hard to do all that driving, but particularly loading up the truck!  We got a couple of days of wet weather with one day being particularly bad.  Casterton was on flood watch and the river did rise a few metres but luckily it did not suffer the same fate as many other Victorian towns.  Our hearts go out to all the people affected by the Queensland and Victorian floods!
I didn't sleep very well at Casterton.  There were a few different reasons but one of them was that Royce and I discovered on Sunday night that we were using each other's pillows!  After we swapped over we both slept reasonably well Sunday night - what a pair of wallies!  The corellas at Casterton are a noisy mob as well and whilst they quieten down eventually there are still quite a few that seem to like chatting on through the night.
We left Casterton Monday morning and again had a leisurely drive back to Adelaide arriving late afternoon.  On Tuesday we re-arranged our room (boy was that a big job - had to empty out all the book shelves, wardrobes, drawers, cupboards then shuffle everything around a few times before we got all the furniture where we wanted it), did some cleaning and some washing and today has been a bit of quiet day.  My nephew Jayden and his girlfriend Alkisty popped in this afternoon to see Rory, Emma and Marshall and while Alkisty was nursing Marshall I managed to get a photo of one of his smiles.  He is smiling more often now and it was good to capture one on the camera.  He had his weigh in and 6 week check up today and is now 9lb!  He is getting quite chubby and growing out of quite a few of his clothes.  He is very aware and alert and loves to sit on your lap and have a chat!


The billabong near Sharon & Richard's house




Richard's dog Bonney splashing in one of the many puddles during one of our walks




A small flock of corellas taking off ahead of us.  There were a squillion of them !!




Two horses and one of the ponies currently agisted in Sharon & Richard's bottom paddock




Marshall wearing his Ford jumpsuit given to him by Sharon and Richard




Managed to catch him smiling at Alkisty!



A QUICK UPDATE

Royce and I have been very busy and I have no idea how we ever managed to find time to go to work!  A new baby in the house certainly manages to create chaos, and all the things that we didn't get done before are now coming back to haunt us so we have had to pull our fingers out and try to catch up on a lot of outstanding jobs.  We almost have our heads above water now and are looking forward to experiencing some of that laid back, relaxing retirement lifestyle we keep hearing so much about! 
Our first Christmas with Marshall was lovely.  Rory, Emma, Marshall, Royce, Kane and I exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve as we anticipated Christmas morning may be a bit hectic.  Kane had an absolute ball opening his own presents and then ripping all the other wrapping paper to pieces as well.  Marshall had no idea what all the fuss was about, and the rest of us enjoyed the moment.
Christmas Day was a bit of rushing around.  Royce travelled the State to pick up his godfather and his mum and bring them to our place.  Rory and Emma looked after Marshall and I tried to get all the food ready.  I had set the table the previous day and done as much as possible ahead of time but even so everyone was here and ready for lunch and I was running a bit behind time.  Didn't really matter that much - we all had a lovely lunch and exchanged gifts, chatted and then Royce did the reverse run taking his mum and godfather home while I cleaned up.   We headed out to my brother's for Christmas tea with my family.  It was a nice night but I am wondering if we shouldn't think about changing the "Foster" get together to a picnic on Boxing Day.  May have to canvas the others and see what people think.
Royce and I babysat on New Years Eve (the dog and the baby) while Rory and Emma got to let their hair down for the night. 
Marshall has been a bit unwell recently - some sort of tummy bug and was borderline running a temperature so he was pretty unsettled for a while but he seems to have come good and is now feeding like a real greedy guts!  He is growing pretty quickly and now has chubby cheeks and a slight double chin.  We discovered dimples in his knees recently.   He has started focussing on people now and makes really good eye contact.
Emma's two sisters from Sydney were here for a few days and they loved being able to catch up.  Marshall's aunties spoiled him rotten - buying him some really terrific clothes, rugs, bibs etc. 
Only a short posting but it is getting late and this will have to do for the time being.
I have included some photos and I apologise to my Facebook friends because some of them you will have seen on Facebook, but I needed to include them here for those people who aren't on Facebook

Kane in the aftermath of his 'opening presents' Christmas Eve

Emma, Great Grandma (Royce's Mum), Marshall Christmas Day 2010

Rory, Marshall, Uncle David (Royce's godfather), Royce - Christmas Day 2010

Marshall and Emma - Christmas Day 2010

Marshall enjoying a bath in the kitchen sink - 22/12/10

Royce with Marshall 23/12/10

Marshall 24/12/10

Sleeping like a baby = 30/12/10

In one of his new outfits from his aunties - 7/1/11

Cheeky (cat) and Kane relaxing togther