Well He's Finally Done it!

As you have all heard from my hubbie to be, he has finally done it, and put a ring on my finger! Well nearly...a stunning ring will be ready for collection on Saturday and then it shall be official! We spent the weekend following our engagement/anniversary night at a small cottage in the Dandenong Hills. The place was a real find and just oozed romance.

from the outside...

From the inside...

Couldn't resist showing you this one!

Just outside the kitchen door

We spent Friday soaking up the atmosphere and early (ish) Saturday morning we headed off to the 'Puffing Billy' Railway line to see some of the surrounding countryside.

We had a wonderful weekend, relaxing, fun and of course filled with the inevitable wedding planning - you know me!!!

Honest Woman

Rella and I celebrated our 10th anniversary yesterday, and I thought it was about time that I made an honest woman out of her, and so I asked her to marry me!!!

Thankfully she said yes. The deed was done in our 'cosy' flat before we went out for a meal. It's become a bit of a tradition at special occasions to make each other cards, and my proposal was a small poem in the card, naturally on one knee and with a dozen red roses.

We haven't set a date yet, but we'll be back in the UK in March. We both want a Summer wedding so are setting our sights on either Aug 2008, or Aug 2009.

Just one last detail - at our celebratory meal last night, I had brains for a starter. Never had them before and it was yummy!! (even Rella liked them). Who said romance was dead...

Going to the Snow!

After a hectic week at work, we quickly jumped into our 'Rent a Bomb' car and headed for the snow. Excited, but tired, we stopped over for the night in Bright, a small town about three or four hours from Melbourne.

Ed was not that happy about it...he was far too excited about those slopes!

Views on the way up

An early start found us on the mountain climb to Mt Hoffam, where we had booked ourselves in to a lodge complete with log fires, bunk beds and quickly accessible ski runs. The journey was a bit tricky

...thankfully we made it more successfully than others on the road -he he he!

Wheel chains were a necessity!

Finally we made it...

quickly grabbed our rented ski gear and headed over for a lesson.

Paul, Ed and Mark went into level 4 and little old Rellie had to head over to the beginners group. The morning was great fun, snow had been falling quick and fast and the slopes were covered in a fresh covering of brand new flakes...lush! The afternoon was a little more tricky as the boys insisted on taking me down some pretty steep stuff (well, it was steep for a beginner!), with much grumbling from me we managed to get down to the bottom and proceeded to do it all again. Much better the second time!

The weekend continued in much the same manner - the boys headed off for more dangerous stuff and I stuck to the lessons, joining them in the afternoon.

I am glad to say that I didn't even attempt this one! Ed did

and look what happened!

Our comfy lodge

Our bodies were way too tired for much apres ski partying, so we spent most of our time with glass of wine in hand by the fire - I can think of worse places!

Knackered!

One of those weekends...

The weekend began well, we joined Mark at his local, a record shop/bar where we consumed copious amounts of red wine to get rid of the chill. Saturday however, brought around a couple of headaches that were not necessarily due to the wine. We headed in to town, where we were meeting most of the usual suspects to go to the rugby New Zealand v Australia...a game we'd been looking forward to for a while. A few drinks and a curry to precede the game were always on the cards, Paul having a serious reaction to the nuts was not.

After a while spent in first aid at the 'G' he was given the clear. This was followed by the most boring game of rugby I have ever put myself through and queues to the bar that were so long it just wasn't worth the bother. The game finshed, the heavens opened and we walked home in the bitter cold and rain - it's not always shiny down under!

Sunday was better though, a trip to 'Winter Wonderland'...

a wonderful place filled with all sorts of wonderful things including a singing caterpillar...oh boy, (make your own judgement!) and a kiddies ice rink...you could just smell those e numbers in the air!

The ice skating was fun but in general...not a great one...looking forward to next weekend and hoping it will be better!