2010 - What a Year!

What a Year!  Kunghur Creek living, Cruising in Mexico and Alaska in March, April, May,  working and playing in the USA in July and August, and moving to Coff’s Harbour in December

Yes, our heads are still on but they are spinning at times.   We really enjoyed living at Kunghur Creek for 15 months, but I have to admit I got very tired of bush living once the wet weather set in and would not leave. The front and side yard have major drainage problems and the mud was relentless. No matter had careful we were with walking to the cars, we would soon have mud splashed onto our clothes and look like country bumpkins before we ever made it into town.  The one thing we really enjoyed about Kunghur was the old Queenslander house, the space we had and the great bush hike up on the hill behind our house. Buddha loved it as well with all of the Roos around, they kept his nose busy and our arms strained as he pulled against the lease to chase them.  The old house was wonderful(feel like I have to say that so it is not all negative at the end of our time there), but after the bush rats decided to make their night time journeys into our kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, and the snake and goanna in the ceiling space above our bedroom kept eating the baby Rosella chicks in the middle of night above our heads, my thinking about bush living changed.  Funny how that happens!  Needless to say, we were more than ready for a change, PLUS, we both decided we wanted to live around more people and not be so isolated.  So the search for where to move to began and we ended up in Coff’s Harbour, NSW, about 3 ½ hours south of Kunghur.  We are actually living in Sapphire Beach, just 8 Km north of Coffs. We are currently renting a beautiful, brand new house right next to the beach.  Talk about altered realities, no cows mooing day and night here, just the steady rhythm of the cars/trucks on the Pacific Hwy and the ocean waves breaking on the shore.  It is a five minute drive in to town on roads without potholes!  Maybe our car tires will have a chance to make it to 60km before we have to buy new ones?

Our Sapphire Beach House

Our kitchen and dining room

Our veranda, beautiful ocean views including Solitary Island and the lighthouse.

There are so many little stories to tell about the last 9 months. The sailing stories are on our other blog “Melonie and Susan Afloat”.   Well, keep checking to see if I really keep writing!

Laurel is Married!

Laurel and Craig Crisafulli

My baby girl is now a married woman.  Wow, how did that happen?  Seems like in the blink of an eye she slipped into adulthood.  I have found the experience of seeing my daughter married a major passage for me as well.  I see in my minds eye, Laurel as my beautiful young child/baby and now this beautiful married woman. They are one and the same, shaped by her childhood and upbringing and metamorphosed into her own womanhood, making the choices in the her life that she feels suits her the best.  What a privilege to be allowed to see this happen with Laurel. It is bittersweet for me as the loss of this for Jonah is even more acute.  It makes seeing Laurel grow in her life even more of a blessing. Laurel married a great guy, Craig Crisafulli.  Laurel organized the entire wedding and she pulled it off wonderfully.  Craig's family were great support and organizers as well. Here are a few photos.

Laurel at the Bachelorette party....I wonder if she ever wore this sexy nighty??

Laurel waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Laurel and Craig posing for the post wedding pics!  I love this shot.

Laurel and Craig at the alter.  It was a beautiful August summer day.

Laurel and her cousins, Kevin, Kari, Halle and Maddy.

Radiant Laurel

The support team!  Kari and Susan with Laurel. 

OK, I had to put one in of Laurel and me.

Melonie Signing Off for Now

OK, I leave for San Diego in 48 hours for our new adventures at sea....for more details see our new blog.  I guess the Down Under site will be pretty quiet for the next couple of months.

Kunghur Creek Python

Holding on to the empty snake head

When we returned to our home in Kunghur Creek from the airport, Susan found this snake skin under our back stairs. When I picked it up, the skin was still moist and coiled up (It was a bit smelly also). I uncoiled the snake skin and it turned out to be over 7 feet long. The pattern in the skin looks like a Carpet Python. YES!! It is good to have this snake around as they keep the bush rats under control around the house, which also keeps the very poisonous brown snakes away, as there is no food for them. I took the flashlight under the house in my quest to see the real thing, but could not find it. It might be up on the roof. I hope to get a look at this beauty soon. Susan still has not touched the skin!

My Daughter is Getting Married!

Laurel is getting married on August 28, 2010. This is huge news and she is busy putting together the plans for the wedding. Craig Crisafulli is the luckiest guy on the planet, and I get another SON! Laurel is very happy, and I am so excited for her as she moves on with her life.

Laurel and I bought her wedding dress two weekends ago (NO, I cannot post the photos of her trying on her wedding dress before the wedding, but believe me I will post them after! And like a proud mom, she is BEAUTIFUL) I am learning more and more about weddings and also trying to stay out of Laurel's way and what she wants. I found out I need to buy a "mother of the bride" dress for this afternoon, summer, outdoor wedding,...so off we went to the shopping mall. We never found ANYTHING that either one of us liked, but we had fun pulling out the ugly dresses and laughing.

Here are some photos of our fun with the dresses!

This looked like a "respectable" mother dress, so we thought we would try it on. We did scare Craig when we told him with both bought the same dress to wear to the rehearsal dinner.... :)

NOPE!!! Looks like I will need to look at other respectable options! YEA!

Laurel looks much better in the old lady dress than I do!

OK, we had to keep going, this is one of many BAD photos I took on the many BAD dresses we saw. NOPE this one won't do either!

I am looking forward to sharing this wedding experience with Laurel and to expanding our family. Welcome Craig