Dad's 80th Birthday weekend at Kangaroo Valley

Hello there, Dear Readers!

I have a huge number of photos to share with you from my lovely fathers 80th birthday weekend, so make a cup of tea to sustain yourself during this epic post. 

Not all these photos are mine and I have cropped and tidied up a couple. And many thanks to all of those  I have nicked pics from!!!

To begin :-  above is the Stewart - Malby - Doodson clan with their assorted partners. (Edith was asleep and missed this pic). 

Shall I name everyone? ?

NOOO it gets too complicated! But its all the children, grandchildren  and cousins together.

This photo is the ultimate selfie,  as Sean took it with his drone,--- great hey! That's why you can't see his hands!... More drone photos further on. 

This house is also next door to my son's Andrew's School were he teaches. Glengarry.

 https://www.tsc.nsw.edu.au/glengarry 

____

And Below:- Margaret and Ian and their three kids. (Bruce, Cathy & Kim, I'm the eldest, Bruce next, and Cathy is the baby). Very rare to have us all in the same place at the same time!

There is so much to tell that I will break this whole post into chapters!

 

Chapter 1 - Lake David - The House

Cathy found this house, isn't she clever.

It was gorgeous! 

https://lakedavid.com.au/

These drone shots from Sean, the Drone Master,  really show how dry it is.

 

 I took heaps of stuff to cook with, no need to as the kitchen was fantastic.

 Beautiful property, with wombats, yes I will come to them later.

However! 

Walking around in the serenity, then you hear a buzzing, like a mosquito, and from above the crest of a hill a red eyed science fiction creature hovers into view.....

Above :- is the Drone Master, and his Pop, taking selfies with the drone!

And the interior.. was just my style, shabby chic, although I like a little more colour of course.

We think that every room had a theme.

 Below, is the TV room - 'The boat room'

The kitchen/dining room was all to do with chickens!

The kitchen has 2 dishwashers YEY,....2 ovens , 2 fridges,YEY, YEY .

In fact it has everything - don't bring your lasagna dish, like I did, as there was 4 there!

Chapter 2 - Party Day

Okay, so we got there on the Friday.

Graham and I arrived, (after a 10 hour drive)  in the dark and  miraculously managed to avoid killing any wildlife on the road,

Saturday was so windy that it was difficult to do anything. But I did cook dinner. 

(for memory's sake it was - Four Cheese's  Lasagna, and Cauliflower Cheese Pasta Bake. Along with green veg and bread, lots left overs!). 

I had a support crew for clean up etc. Which was good as I was a bit 'tired'.

And... Sunday 2nd September 2018 was Fathers Day, and Dads birthday!

So a BBQ lunch party

 Okay Dad! We have the message.. Happy Birthday!!!

Below :- Edith is ready to blow out  those candles. 

(that we haven't even put on the cake yet sweetheart). 

This is a photo comparing the size of the cake to the baby.

Chapter 3 - Wombats

 OMG! 

Where do I begin.

There were hundreds of them. And they are staving due to the drought. 

Their little hips are sticking out.

I tried to count them one afternoon. 

I counted to 30, looked around and estimated a hundred that I could see.

 There must have been more that I couldn't see.

There is no food , so instead of being their usual nocturnal selves,

 they are out all day trying to fill their tummy's. 

Poor things.

And..they have burrows EVERYWHERE,,, its like Hobbiton!

The owners  have a live wire around the house to protect the plants.

And the wombat poo.. It was everywhere!!~!!

There must be an industry for that?

Okay, so I know Dear Readers 

That this is a burning question that you have all been ASKING!

Q:- Why is a wombats poo square?

 

A:- The wombat is highly territorial so uses its cube-shaped poo to mark its territory, preventing conflict. Wombats have been found to differentiate between various poos and show avoidance behaviour when presented with poo produced by predators and other male wombats. The hormonal content of poo can also be examined, for example so that males can tell when females are most fertile. 

https://theconversation.com/why-do-wombats-do-cube-shaped-poo-55975

 

Conclusion 

Well, I think everyone had a great time. Certainly a memorable one.

AND!!

A BIG

THANK YOU.

To my lovely little sister, Cathy, who did the majority of the work to pull this event together.

And a second THANK YOU, to all the family.. 

Everyone's different, BUT., we all get on well .. don't we?

(Mum's 80th in 2019 - don't know what we will do for that)