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I am so glad through this crazy period that we are once again able to have our boys come and stay through the school holidays. Day 1 Ollie wants to play Monopoly with me, he has quite obviously not learnt anything from previous games, Nana is a tiger at Monopoly, everyone else knows to stay away but the challenge is on, Ollie does tend to cheat a bit though. While we are doing this Grandpa and Connor are busy making bread and rolls for our picnic lunch tomorrow. Well done you two, we had to have a try while it was still warm and that is pretty good bread.
Monday we are up and ready to take a trip to beautiful Walhalla. We have visited here before but we are really restricted at the moment about where to go with Covid-19 and at least we know we can take a look around here even if nothing is open we can fill in a bit of time with the boys. Luckily when we arrive we find the mine tours are operating so we book in for the 1.30pm tour and then go back to the town for a bit of a look while waiting for the tour. We arrive back at the mine and go and choose our hats for the tour and then meet up with the tour guide at the entrance. We are given an introduction talk which also covers the extra restrictions with Covid and then we all walk into the mine. The tour was more interesting than I originally thought and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Walhalla, I am a bit claustrophobic and was originally a bit concerned but the tunnels and the rooms are more than comfortable for anyone like me. After the tour we found a nice picnic spot and stopped for lunch to enjoy the rolls Connor and Robb had baked on Sunday, before driving back to town for another look around. We really wanted to take a train ride but it wasn't running today so we will have to do this next time. We had a good day and we were all a bit tired with Ollie declaring we probably needed a rest day for Tuesday, which we all agreed to. Back home and I made crumbed lamb cutlets for dinner and then the boys were soon off to bed.
A relaxing day on Tuesday but Grandpa and Ollie did make blueberry muffins and they were very good.
Wednesday we are rested and ready for another day exploring. We are going to visit the refurbished Long Jetty at Port Welshpool, it was opened in December 2018 and this is the first time we have taken a trip down there to have a look. Robb and I were most impressed with the structure, I think it cost $11M and you can see the value, it is very long and was a very scenic walk to the end. We took time to read all the information on display in the shed near the end and also the boards at the start of the walk. There were a few people fishing at the end but they didn't seem to be having any luck. We left here and drove to Port Albert for lunch, there is an excellent fish and chip shop near the pier and we were hoping it might be open. Luckily it was open and as always it was very busy, they were strictly following the Covid rules and only two people were allowed in the shop at any time so the rest of us lined up out the front, one row for those wanting to order and the other for those waiting for their number to come up. We waited for about 15 minutes for our food and then found a seat overlooking the water to sit and eat lunch. We had given the boys strict instructions not to feed the seagulls as they are notorious here and the first sign of someone ready to feed them they were all over you. The fish and chips were as good as they usually are and when we were finished we packed up and drove home. We were home in good time thankfully, we had Daniel, Sue and the girls coming for dinner and we had a large roast to prepare and Robb wanted time to make his duck fat potatoes and they take a bit of preparation. All went well and Connor and Ollie enjoyed spending time with their cousins.
True to our usual form Thursday was a relaxing day at home, we had some left over dough from the pizza's we had made so I decided to use that in the muffin pans to make mini pizzas and egg and bacon pies for dinner. They went down very well so I will do that again some time. Friday we had planned to go to Bunnings for a few garden items I needed, I had run out of potting mix and seasol and I was interested to see what options they had to tree surrounds for my roses. We found the potting mix and seasol but not a lot of joy with the surrounds so I think I could make something up myself for what I need. Ollie wanted to plant some vegies so we went to see what was available and he chose broccoli and carrots. I already have broccoli in and it is not that easy to grow but it's what he wanted so be it, and I have never had any success with carrots but if we don't keep trying we will never learn. Because he is going home tomorrow we had to brave the elements and plant the seedlings in the rain but I prepared the garden bed and he only had to come out and put the plants in the holes and I filled them in with mushroom compost and fed them some seasol to help with their settling. In the afternoon he made muffins with Grandpa because he wanted to take some home tomorrow and we are leaving early in the morning. Together they made blueberry and chocolate muffins and they look excellent and I am sure Ollie will enjoy them at home with his Mum, Dad and brother.
