Catching up

I've got a lot to catch up with on this blog, so this posting will be quick.

Last night (Tuesday) we had dinner at Jeff (Jonnene's cousin) and Trish's home along with their three kids, Nicole, Lisa, and Simon. First off, this was the most animated dinner I've had in a long time! The kids stole the show and I regreted not taking Jonnene's advice to bring along the camcorder to get it all on video! We had an orange beef casserole and a baked marble cheesecake to follow, and it was plenty good. From Trish trying to get off the phone with a talkative friend (we were hollering in the background for Trish to do things so she'd have a "legitimate" excuse to hang up) to Nicole talking about her cooking class (yes, it IS possible to burn chocolate), it was a laugh riot. We also showed our wedding video since they had not seen it yet, along with the wedding photo albums. Trish asked about my mom since they had hit it off at the wedding last May.

Mom, don't be surprised if Jeff and Trish show up for a visit some day!

Today, Jonnene and I took a driving trip east of Perth up into the Shire of York, or for you USA folks, the town of York. We drove through some beautiful "outback" rolling country past wheat fields and herds of cattle (as well as a herd of shorn, very naked-looking sheep). In York, we took a walking trip of some of the historic places there, many of the buildings were over 100 years old and the Town Hall was quite impressive (photo to come soon). We had lunch at the Jah Roc Cafe, which is part of the Jah Ruc furniture factory and showroom at the old York flour mill which had been restored by the two founders of the furniture company. The food was good and the furniture in the showroom was incredible, although pretty darn expensive! If we win the lottery, I'm going to order some of this stuff and have it shipped to the States! Check out their website at www.jahroc.com.au and you'll see what I mean. Click on "History" at the bottom of their home page and there'll be a story about the company along with the restoration of the flour mill. I think you'll be amazed at the Galleries of their work, too.

I took care of a bit of Christmas shopping but I still have a long ways to go.

It had rained quite heavily last night and we encountered a few showers here and there. Being up in the hills, this weather kept things on the cool side (I shivered a few times!) and the wind was blowing around 30-35 mph most of the day. After touring around York, we drove north to Northam, Shire of, and took a look around there for a bit. We walked over a suspension bridge that stretched over the Avon River and after a very brief look around town, we headed back to Perth. All told, we were gone for about 8 hours and it was a very nice trip.

Tomorrow is mostly a shopping day as I finish up getting souvenirs for the folks back home and a few things for myself. We're also going to see the movie "The Guardian" which opens that day, too. Since it was filmed in Shreveport, Jonnene might want to see it. All of the pool scenes were filmed about a month before Jonnene swam in that same pool when she visited me last February. We'll see if she recognizes anything.