more pics from 10 may....

breaking news........

Rusty has popped................ Mark and Shazzy are the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy. born at 12.47pm on the 28th of May. 6.1 lbs.......
Both the baby and Mum are doing fantastically........... dad's cool too....
by the way it looks like borgus won the bet being the closest to the mark.. looks like I get to name the baby..... ummmmm....... let me think about that.......????

place yer bets....

whadda ya reckon folks. when are burgs and rusty (a.k.a. shazzy) gonna pop......

to give you a heads up burgs is due the end of june, shazzy on june 15th..... post a comment and place yer bet -> date, sex, weight.................... extra point for birthing postion..

current bets for rusty

shazzy - boy 18 june 7.1lb

mark - `gal 16 june 7.0lb

borg - boy 07 june 5.2lb

sal - boy 17 june 6.12lb

shags - boy 14 june 7.2lb

col - boy 18 june 6.0lb

breeza- gal 13 june 2.75kg

george - boy 18 june 7.0lb

manta - gal 12 june 6.5lb

dog - boy 16 june 6.6lb

burgs - boy 19 june 7.4 lb

si - boy 14 june 7.9lb

current bets for burgs

burgs - gal 27 june 8.8lb

si - gal 6 july 9.3lb

borg - gal 27 june 6.7lb

sal - boy 5 july 9.2lb

col - gal 25 june 7.8lb

breeza-boy 18 june 3.2kg

shags - gal 2 july 8.olb

mark - boy 30 june 7.5lb

shazzy - gal 3 july 8.6lb

george - boy 3 july 8.6lb

manta - tba

dog - tba

winner of each gets to name the baby. futherest one away has to host the party!!!!

we now pronounce you mr & mrs erectus...

what a special day. we just loved it and really felt honoured by everyone's presence. I SO do!

What a pretty lot the crew are! Plenty of style and panache.

Why so many tears? Apparently they had all wanted to marry Tyler.Even Mick Jagger shed a tear.

palais de erectus

check out the current stage.

we were quite excited to see the radial sawn timber effect today. the timber cut is straight off the tree and not squared off. it gives it a bit of a log cabin effect. our builder hadnt used it before so we werent quite sure of the final look. we love it.

the windows are in. most of the roofing and gutters complete. electrical, coms, and plumbing near complete. shes about ready for lock up.
lock up to keep this type of creature out. a modern day monger....
you can sort of see how thermal mass will work in the picture. the winter sun will come in and warm up the rammed earth walls making the house nice and toasty. in the summer the sun sits higher in the sky and will be blocked from hitting the r.e. walls by the angle of the roof keeping the house nice and cool. pretty cool eh.....

LAST CHANCE TO SEE RARE BEASTS

They're not often seen these days in aussie waters and sadly this Sunday will be the last opportunity for a sighting of the Exotic German Painted Sweetlips fish and the Eastern Shovelnose Ray. Col and Isa are taking a big jet plane back to the UK this sunday night, so we're having a Sunday Session at the Breakfast Creek Hotel to see them off. 3pm kickoff. Come one, come all.

state v state.... mate v mate.....

Letter from Nardine!

Hi all,

Sorry for the group email but I am basically just a slackass communicator. In saying that, I am feeling quite homesick and missing you all dearly.

Life is good here..a little boring during the week, not a lot happening in Al Ain where I live. The attached photos are quite typical of how comical the people here really are. I am finding it quite interesting learning about the Muslim religion and then there's the elitist Emirate culture itself. Boy the Nationals have it good - they have all been given free property,a shitload of money, free electricity / water, great jobs and salaries...etc.
The ladies (maths teachers) I advise, are a good bunch whom I get along well with...but none of them have to work but choose to so they can have some sort of social life. Otherwise they are pretty much only allowed to socialise with their extended families...there are baby shops everywhere!!!

On weekends - I have been getting out of town most of the time - Dubai or Abu Dhabi where there is more happening and much more cosmopolitan. The night life is pretty good, Dubai especially has got the restaurant, club and bar scene down pat. I have made a few friends in and out of town..none of which however match up to friends from home.

Am dying to hear about Sal and Tyler's wedding and have been checking the weeklyfix daily but alas all I see is Bluey and his blow up friend - neither of which are particularly surprising. Tried contacting Sal and Tyler but no luck. Can someone please pass on their email addresses to me. I have lost a lot since I am no longer scabbing off work email from Clayfield.

I have agreed to stay on and teach at a Summer school program for the first couple of weeks in July, then will have 4 weeks off so am planning on heading to London to see the gang, then off to Africa for a trip through Botswana for 10 days followed by a week in Greece (does anyone have any tips on what not to miss in Greece) before starting back for the new school year. Then I will get another 2 weeks off during Ramadan in September - thank God! Can you imagine not being able to drink or eat anything in public during daylight hours for a whole bloody month?? I think I will have to start wearing an abaya and hiding drinks (intravenous tubes maybe) and snacks for the 2 weeks I am here for it.

Sorry to talk just about me... Would love to hear how the beautiful Mums to be are travelling (Shazzy and Burgs), news from the wedding, and any other news I should know about. Shagga - how are you liking Brissy? Kymbo and Pauly - have a great time in Sydney (Happy Birthday Callum), congrats on the promotion! Kym for some reason couldn't reply to your work email. Kyls - how goes the half - marathon training. Plenty of job opportunities over here for you and Katherine. Drew - are you still being a workaholic or have you returned to anti-establishment, scientific entrepeneurial behaviours?

Big hug and love to you all and all those whose email addresses I don't have. Please forward on to anyone who might be interested..Sorry it's not a little more entertaining and witty...am a bit out of practice and humour is pretty much lost and wasted here. (although plenty to giggle at)

Could someone please send me addresses for Sal, Tyler, Jo, Drew, Lyndal, Jonathan & Jarrod etc

Well I know you are all busy so won't take up any more of your time. Again - I miss you all very very much.
Nardine the Sardine xxx

buck on the run... hen on the loose..

well well, the hens and bucks nights were just on for those of you that didnt know. more photos to come. the below is just a teaser....

bring on the weekend and the main event. its almost too much to conceive...... just like below... thanks to everyone that made last weekend one to remember..

by the way there is lost and found from both events. can everyome make sure they see Shagga this weekend so we can hand it back.. or alternatively it will be in the paddo vinnies next tuesday... bluey, luke & bear manton we definatively have some of your gear..

oh dear.... oh no.....

the x factor.... go the double drop mate.......

Would you marry this man?

yep, its that time of year???

nice werk shagga.. keep those eyes open...

vegas baby......