Team Building

Having had a couple of changes to the staff at The Atrium Cafe (where I work), Janie (the owner) invited us to go with her on a yoga retreat...somewhere out of Launceston.  The idea being we could get to know each other a bit better, and have some R&R. The others were unable to go, but Friday 12th March saw Janie and I leaving the cafe a little early to drive to the retreat.

It was nice to be heading out of town and seeing another part of Tasmania. Unfortunately for me the weekend didn't start off so restful, within the first few seconds of arriving at the location of the retreat (a lovely farm over near a mountain range I've forgotten the name of!) I managed to stand in the middle of a nest of Jack Jumper Ants. Ants...how bad could it be you say? Well these ants, probably about 1.5cm in length (so much bigger than te ants in NZ) are also biting ants...and not bits like mosquitos or sandflies...but nasty stingy bites that can result in death! Luckily for me I didnt react, but some people have anaphylactic reactions to their bites, and it seems they haven't sorted a reliable anti-venom. For me they were very sore, and gave me a fright...welcome to Australian Wildlife! Luckily the lady running the yoga retreat was on hand with Thyme Oil (a natural remedy for the bites) which worked wonders, and by the next day my toe was only slightly tender when touched.

The weekend was a nice break, a chance to meet some new people and get out of the city. Besides meeting the jack jumpers, I also got to see an echidna (like a hedgehog!), and listen to the kookaburras (they make crazy noises!). Here are a few photos of the farm.

The photo on the left is of the yoga studio - it is built of straw bales.

On the way home, we stopped at Christmas Hills Raspberry farm...they do the best raspberry baked cheesecake :)

The Daily Grind

We have both settled in to a bit of normality over here. The weeks are filled with Ollie going to school, me going to work, having dinner together in the evenings, Ollie studying and me doing my own thing so as not to distract him from studying :) (this normally involves watching TV, reading or working on a craft project).

Our weekends often involve going out for brunch together - our weekly treat - walking to the supermarket for our weekly grocery shop, and study. The last couple of weekends, Ollie has studied with Wayne and some classmates, while Wayne's fiancee Suzanne and I have spent time together. This weekend just been Suzanne and I went to the Body & Soul Festival. The study sessions often end with a BBQ at Wayne's place.

My job is going well. I work 2.30pm - 5.30pm, Mon- Fri, in The Atrium Cafe. I also get a few extra hours here and there depending on what is happening. Last week we catered for a monring tea - for the opening of a company called Elephant Property, so I prepared most of the food for this, including these cupcakes.

Realised we didnt include a photo of the outside of our place, so here you go :) the garden area in front of our apartment is currently being landscaped so once it has been finished we'll get some photos of that too.

Our place is the ground floor window on the otherside of the ramp.

We often walk along by the river - its a chance to look at some boats.....

A view of the city from one of our twilight walks.

There are often events happening in City Park - which as we've mentioned before we think of it as our back yard. We went to listen to the Tasmanian Youth Orchestra yesterday and had a little picnic.

Not part of the orchestra...but they live in the park!

Might not be able to see them so well, but they are a type of monkey.

And Ollie, head in the books - a very common site!