St Patrick's Day

Gem & AD on new patio swing

Ret & Yudian take a turn

Bill in discussion with Greg & Benn

Benn leading the posse to the restaurant

The rain seems to have stopped, but Greg doesn't realise

Greg, Gem, Ret & Peter

AD, Daina, Me & Benn

Lonely chairs circle the patio swing

Had a great trip home from Copenhagen to Sydney, and then onto Ballina. I miss Kim, but don't miss the icy cold weather or climbing all 64 steps to get up to her apartment each day. No wonder she stays so slim & fit!

My return to Ballina was well timed, as I made it back in time for St Patrick's Day, a special day in our family because of our Irish heritage and the VERY important fact that I was born on this auspicious day! Murray & I joined my sister, her husband and our aunt along with many fellow church parishioners at a St Patrick's dinner at our local RSL on 17th March.

The good times continued with the arrival of my eldest son Benn & his delightful girlfriend Daina. They flew up from Sydney on Friday to spend the weekend with us. The party really got going around 5pm on Saturday when 11 family turned up to co-celebrate my birthday along with the 65th birthday of an older brother. We started out with champagnes here on our patio, and then we walked in the drizzling rain to our local Chinese restaurant. My sister in law had made a delicious chocolate cake for our dessert to finish off our meal. Back at our place, the music came out and some danced to the good old songs.

My sister Ret & Aunty Dympna had bought us a two-seater patio swing (as thanks for taking them along with us for 3 weeks on our RV trip last year), and it was the most popular seat all night. If you were sitting on the swing then stood up to refresh your drink, someone else took your place on the swing. The swing was surrounded by people all evening, so it looked rather forlorn with just a few empty chairs circled around it this morning. Everyone has now gone back to their homes, and Murray and I have 2 weeks & 2 days until we fly back to America and start another wonderful 6 months RV trip.