Back to dreaming in Broome - Saturday 7th November

We've been doing so much travelling lately - especially David - but we never fail to enjoy returning to our second home in Broome. Time for a matso's beer and watch the sun set over the Indian Ocean at Cable Beach. Isn't my husband handsome?

Thursday 5th November - Oaks Day

Cathy poses with Kym Forrest and Leanne Thomson.

Monash Children's Hospital is incredibly grateful for the work of Jody from the Bellevue project, who runs an amazing fundraising event every year for us. It’s the ladies day to dress up, put on the fascinators and enjoy the excitement of the silent and live auctions, table sweeps and goody bags provided. The stormy weather returned, with a tornado heading for Melbourne at one stage. By the end of the day, the sun was shining through as if nothing had happened. Got to love Melbourne weather - looking after my garden by watering in the new plants!

Cathy poses with Veronique who is planning our next big fundraiser - the Dandelion Ball. Can you believe she has 5 children?

Tom had arrived home from Germany just after we got back from Ireland. He came over to find his car, clothes, computer so we enjoyed the night with him.

Melbourne Cup day Tuesday 3rd November

Gardening with the Joneses

Cathy had returned early Monday morning to go to work whilst David stayed in Bright to go cycling. She decided to use Cup Day to tidy up the garden and plant some new things. Phil had offered to help and Mary and Graeme decided to join in the work day too.

Dad showed us how to prepare the vegie patch

Phil helped construct a new raised vegie patch. Mum helped with weeding. Cathy did a bit of everything as she directed proceedings.

At the end of the day, there were petunias along the front garden, silver-beet, chilli, lettuce, basil and tomatoes out the back and a ream of satisfied workers relaxing on the back deck.

When David arrived home, Cathy was appalled to see he had joined the "bird-murderers club"! As he drove home "sedately" in the Troopy, apparently a bird flew into the bull bar then lodged itself on the aerial. To make up for this, we put him to work fixing the fence.

Saturday 31st October -Back in Bright

Our traditional Cup day weekend involved Cathy turning down an invitation to champagne in the birdcage at Derby Day. Cathy was keen to make her first attempt to cycle up Mt Buffalo. Unfortunately the weather gods decided to rain, thunder and put those ideas aside. A shopping trip included bargain shoes at the Op Shop which Cathy hopes to wear to Oaks Day, but the day was marred by losing her pearl pendant after the clasp must have come adrift when looking at handbags:( It was a relief to relax after a frantic week returning to work.

Sunday 25th October

Although Cathy had managed a few runs whilst away, David was missing his bike. Together we went for a ride down to South Rd and found a great cafe for lunch on the way home. Cathy went to church in the evening to hear about the work Phil has been doing in Mexico. She caught up with many friends from Deepdene days.

Thursday to Saturday 22-24 October

Rather than the warm Spring weather we'd been expecting, Sydney decided to be cool and stormy. Cathy still managed to get out for a run along the clifftops each morning. Cathy was straight back into work mode at the PAC conference. Whilst there were many friendly faces, her fellow troublemakers were not there so there was not much partying. Jet lag enforced some early nights too. Cathy contributed to a session on the indigenous child in the ED with some of her experience working in the Kimberley.

A highlight on Saturday was to catch up with Tim and Jackie for lunch. Tim was recovering after having his appendix removed the week prior, so he hadn't managed to play in the Salut concert after all. We have the dates for 2016 to ensure we get to Canberra for part of next year's series.

On Saturday night we finally completed the journey to home with Mother Mary and Mexican brother Phil at the airport to meet us. Phil had arrived whilst we were away. First time we've seen in him over 18 months so it was good to catch up.

Flying back to Australia - Tuesday 20th October

After Cathy's birthday was over, it was time to fly home to Australia. We set off in style with champagne before take-off.

Flying in to Dubai before sunrise, we had to circle the city until our landing slot, so we admired the lights.

Clare the teddy bear accompanied us and enjoyed her first flight. We were glad to see on Facebook that Serena and Fergus had arrived in Thailand and settled into the honeymoon suite. Not to be outdone, Cathy arranged teabags on the bed in our room at Crown Plaza in Coogee beach to create a romantic atmosphere. It didn’t work well as we both just fell asleep.

Celebrating Cathy's birthday - Monday 19th October 2015

Woke up to a beautiful birthday card and kiss from my husband. He chooses such lovely greeting cards to mark our special days. Fergus and Serena gave us a special little teddy who we named "Clare".

The newlyweds were heading off for a honeymoon and graciously dropped us off at the Ashling Hotel on the way to the airport. Amazingly, we stopped at the Barack Obama Plaza in the middle of Ireland for lunch! Who would have thought he had connections here! Fergus dreads the security screening and Serena dreads the actual flying so we thought they were very brave to choose a honeymoon in Thailand. Talk about facing life's challenges together!

Dressed in her little black dress and Chanel shoes, Cathy felt fabulous heading out to a special birthday dinner at Pichet restaurant. Serena was spot-on sending us there, as the food was delicious and the service excellent. Great to celebrate the highs and lows of every year.