Hot Days

Early December brought the heat of hell upon us! We live in a gorgeous location, but the house sits in a little bit of a depression and the breeze is blocked frequently. So when the temperature climbed into the 40s Celsius (104 Farenheit!) we really started to melt.

On one day, the temperature outside reached 48 degrees (118.4 F) and it was 40 inside! We spent the days wearing wet sarongs and putting our heads inside the freezer. Yes, it's true! We even spent part of one day sitting in the car with the air conditioner running!

It was unfortunate timing when Susan developed a cold and started running a fever. I drove to Tweed Heads and bought a portable aircon for the bedroom. What a difference it made. (And yes, Susan did get better.) The heat and humidity were finally broken by huge rains. Yea! The beginning of the wet season was finally here! We'd had no rain for nearly 8 weeks and the lawn and plants were dying. We were so excited to see the rain as our water supply had reached critically low levels and we had no water for any plants. Domestic queens that we are, we celebrated by doing tons of laundry!

Buddha Goes to Boot Camp!

Buddha all packed with his favorite toy and food dish, on the eve of his boot camp training!

Our little Buddha is a very smart, active 9-month old puppy who has a desire to please HIMSELF, not us. So when Buddha constantly refused to "come" when called -- well, actually, it was not even that he would not come, he would bolt and run the other direction when called -- it was time to call in the big guns.

It all came to a head when there was a bushfire down our road and I wanted to get out until I knew what was happening. Buddha thought it was a great game to avoid getting in the car and it took me 30 minutes to catch him. (I was on the verge of leaving him on his own.) We found a woman who trains police and military dogs nearby and we signed up Buddha for an 11-day/10-night reprogramming experience. (While Buddha was in Boot Camp, we were relaxing in Byron Bay again. Ha ha!) He did very well, but we were briefed that he was truly a Jack Russell in a Pug body!

We got him home with our own DVD of his training and more skills to work with him. The choke collar and frequent behavior corrections will be a part of our lives for quite awhile. While we still have our "moments" with Buddha, it is much more enjoyable having a (mostly) obedient pooch! We love ya, Buddha (most of the time).

Susan Turned 40 with American Friends

Susan had big plans to celebrate her 40th birthday. She wanted a party at our house then to spend the following 7 days in a big, beautiful house we rented in Byron Bay, as a thank-you to her friends who travelled so far to help celebrate -- Xavier, Kathleen, Cheryle, David and Jeff. With Susan's dad (Woody) passing on the day of the party, our plans shifted a bit, and her 40th essentially became Woody's wake. It was a great night nonetheless, with friends of ours and Woody's arriving to honor his passing. Thanks James for all the beautiful songs you sang that night! Woody made it known he was at the party in spirit.

We still all took off the next day for Byron Bay anyway. The local Aborigines consider Byron to be a power place of healing and we were just three blocks from the ocean. It was nice to get away and shift energy a bit. Susan had lots of down time away from her computer. So soon after losing her Dad, she said she felt best whenever she was on the beach.

The group of us spent the week fixing each other dinners, taking long walks to the lighthouse, swimming, boogie-boarding, surfing, suntanning, kite flying, drinking water, beer and wine, and getting a lot of rest.

Cheryle came prepared to bellydance at Susan's 40th, so when the party didn't happen, she was a great sport and gave us all the gift of her wonderful dancing one evening in Byron. Thank you, Cheryle! We love you!


On our last day, Susan, Gary and I drove to Ballina and listened to some great Aussie rock music outdoors. One of Gary's mates was the lead guitarist and man, he was really, really good! It was hard to come home and back to the reality we had left, but we forced ourselves to return. Once home, it was so great to sleep in my own bed. You know the feeling!

Here are some photos of our dear friends. We miss you all already!

Xavier and Kathleen

Susan and me

Gary and Susan at The Rails ("The Friendly Pub")

The gang flying kites

Jeff in his sexy new Aussie hat!

The gang (minus me, taking the photo)

David, Susan and Cheryle at the Beach Bar

Animal Life in the Bush

Morning in OZ

Most of the time when I get up in the morning at the Kunghur house, there are many wallabies hanging around outside our windows. I feel like I'm in a Dr Seuss book sometimes with the snakes, echidnas, birds, cows, calves and the wallies. Susan describes it as us being in the fishbowl and the animals peering in, wondering what we're doing, what we'll do next, etc. I feel truly privileged to be living in this spot and am enjoying true bush living.

Echidna curled up in backyard

Wally bouncing along. Bounce... bounce...

A family of cows, frequently around the house like a Gary Larsen cartoon! We do have a fence around our yard, so the cow pies stay just outside the gate and fence. Come to think of, it does smell like a barn out here.

One rough mama!

Cutie!

Woody Died October 24, 2009

Woody telling a joke in Chillingham...

Woody happy at our gathering of friends for a BBQ at Woodstock

As most of you know, Susan moved back to Australia in 2007 to care for her father, Woody. He had a terminal cancer diagnosis and died early in the morning at the Murwillumbah Hospital on October 24. Both Susan and I lived out at his property, "Woodstock", to care for him at home.

As we reflect on our time with Susan's Dad and the fact that our care allowed him to stay home until the very end, we are blessed with a little more peace knowing his wishes were honored and that we made a huge difference in the quality and quantity of his life. We all learned a lot from each other over those many months. It was all a big gift for Susan, Woody and myself. Susan set up a blog for Woody at woodydavid.blogspot.com Please take a visit there.