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March 2021

Laxmi had a dragon themed birthday sleepover. Four friends came to stay after the homeschooler’s gathering in Malanda.
We made more pottery
…and lots of it got glazed and fired.
John got a new slasher deck for the tractor and put up a very large fence post.
There are big blue banded bees in the cassia and we are hosting a bee hive.
There are insects, pumpkins and limes in abundance
We went to the Julatten Theatre Group’s Trivia Night at the pub.
I got a job at an art centre in Tennant Creek for two and a half weeks.
Laxmi took over keeping our streak going on Duolingo while I was away.
Cosmo and Dakoda came over.
There was a trip to Lake Eacham with the homeschoolers.
John and the kids went shopping in Cairns and got an iPad with and apple pencil! Varsha and Laxmi had been doing animations on their phones but it will be much easier on the iPad.
They went to the historic Chinese temple in Atherton.
Fire engines and rainbow.
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February 2021

Fungi
Op shop finds
Varsha’s latest art creature
Drawings by Laxmi and Varsha
The homeschooler’s trip to the gem cave was amazing!
We started selling pickles and plants at the shop.
The slab is poured.
John pruned the fig growing from the top of the boiler chimney.
John cut logs for the shed.
We moved the Morris on to the slab and started work.
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January 2021

Dakoda came to our house for a sleepover for her birthday.
The native bauhinia new growth is like tiny red butterflies.
Varsha made dumplings from their Christmas cookbook.
Varsha and Laxmi got a parcel in the mail from Grandma Lois and Grandpa George in America.
We dried some of our dragonfruit and varsha made heart shaped chocolate chip cookies.
I had a lovely birthday party.
Varsha made their first art doll,
Mangoes, dragonfruit, limes and eggplants from the garden
Varsha’s scrimshaw
Luster Creek is lovely after the rain.
We started pottery at DAB in Mossman. Varsha made a daruma for the Morris.
Sunflowers from the garden.
Laxmi loves dragons, reading and drawing
John has been moving earth around getting ready to build a shed
…and cutting timber.
It’s pretty hard work.
First homeschoolers activity this year was ten pin bowling at the newly renovated bowling alley.
Cat started a second hand shop at the old bakery. I have been helping.
Great mushrooms came up after the rain
Bruno did a great logo for the Boiler Block that John negotiated the purchase of on behalf of the community.
Rainy season sunset.
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December 2020

Malanda falls with the homeschoolers
Recording the Variety Night and cooling off in Churchill Creek afterwards.
Dad’s tractor and mower arrived on a truck and we have a container to keep it in for now.
End of year homeschooler’s disco
We had a yummy Indian dinner in Townsville after our first day of driving headed south for Christmas.

We had a big day getting to Rockhampton and then driving through the rain to Mum and Dad’s new house.
There is a lovely palm forest right next to the new house. Katie came with us while we explored.
We were there in time to help with the last of the packing up at Goonengerry. Stu hired a big truck.
It was lots of fun to be all together at Christmas in the new house.
We went to visit Jen and Nic
…and Jo and Richard.
We had a flat tyre in Brisbane on our first day on our trip home. It was a public holiday and nowhere was open to fix it, so we put our spare on and kept on going. The spare wasn’t very good though and it blew out just before Pomona. We ended up spending a couple of days waiting for the tyre shops to open in Pomona. It was pretty nice actually.
We got home in time for New Year’s Eve and the first big rain there.
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November 2020

Mum and Dad drove up for a visit. Lorne and Cat, Will, Maya and Cosmo came over for morning tea.
Dad and Varsha diagnosed the problem that was stopping the Morris from starting and Dad worked out what was going wrong with Erica’s starter switch in the Rocky too.
Dad and John got the motor going in the pug mill and made some recycled clay for us to use.
Erica helped me finally paint most of the kitchen wall.
Melissa brought over some of her beautiful roses. They smell as gorgeous as they look.
We went with the Tablelands homeschoolers to Quinola Lake
…and walked around Lake Barrine.
Orchids
Mark and John moved a big paperbark log onto the Boiler Block ready for a sawmilling demo/fundraiser.
The jackfruit tree at Cat and Will’s house was loaded with fruit.
Erica and I did some yoga.
We went swimming at Luster Creek.
We went to see Maya perform in Steel Magnolias. We had a picnic dinner on the beach at Port Douglas.
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October 2020

We made masala dosas for the markets
…and had leftovers the next day.
We got a big box of eggplants from Albie at the markets too. They were delicious roasted over the fire.
John playing the sarod
We did another natural dye workshop with Ulla and Peder. This time at our house.
Laxmi playing chess
Afternoon walk
We went to the Tablelands Homeschoolers camp at Malanda Falls. Laxmi and Milou performed in the concert.
We had dinner for Will’s birthday.
Laxmi did some science experiments.
We grew some lovely tomatoes.
Halloween!
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September 2020

  • Chillagoe
  • Viv Sinnamon

John and I drove out to Kowanyama where John has been working on a project to protect the habitat of the white bellied crimson finch. I was interested to meet Viv Sinnamon who has an amazing cultural heritage collection there.

Sunflowers coming out on John’s terraces
John started volunteer work with the local fire brigade

We started travelling south for Stuart and Stephanie’s wedding. Mum and Dad had shouted us a holiday in a campervan. We got to Babinda Rocks the first night, then Townsville and the Platypus campground at Finch Hatton that Bruce and Toni ad recommended.

We drove out west to Carnarvon Gorge and visited some friends of John’s who live on a big farm near Roma.

Laxmi has been drawing and playing a wolf game and reading voraciously.
The wedding was lovely though I didn’t take any good photos
We had a great stay with Jodes. It was sad we couldn’t see mum and Dad because the border was closed.
We met up with Bruce and the family on the night after the wedding. Katie stayed with us.
Sarah and Renee and Oscar and Harry came to stay when we got home.

That was just before Varsha’s 16th birthday camp out sleepover!

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August 2020

Undara Lava Tubes camping trip with the Tablelands Homeschoolers. Bruce, Toni, Ruby and Frankie came too.
New blue cupboards
Kiko got a new collar
Laxmi’s is enjoying her new Ohuhu markers
John got special boots when he joined the fire brigade. This is the big boot dance!
Bruce and Toni and Ruby and Frankie came to visit. They were on a big road trip travelling up the east coast from Canberra.
Fingerlime and icecream: a new favourite
Theatre games to warm up for work on the Variety Night
Natural Dye workshop
Drummonds birthday party at the oval
John built a lovely new sink for the pottery shed
Early birthday present for Varsha: new gouaches.
Veggie Tempura
  • Veggie patch
  • Flowers and herbs
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Variety Night

The kids were all involved in putting together last years digital version of the Variety Night. Laxmi and Cosmo do performances. Varsha and Maya are the MCs again and they finish off with a swing dance. Maya edited the videos together.