(en)rolling along ...

Scenes from Vaughan's year of Distance Education

We collect the keys for our new home/life on Thursday.  It will also be Vaughan's first day at his new school.  He has already had a sneak preview because we visited briefly on the pupil-free first day of term, just after our initial inspection of the house.

I'm not sure what appealed the most, the small-size school, the three resident cats or the classroom axolotls and fish! 

In any case while all family members waited impatiently for news of our rental application, Vaughan was just as keen to hear whether we "got the school", so there were beaming grins all round when both verdicts were positive.  Given his excitement over "getting" the local small school, we are hopeful our Young Master re-joins the classroom in super-smooth fashion.

It is fair to say his previous traditional school experience was not positive.  As a result, throughout the greater part of 2012, Vaughan studied at home under my supervision.  We had already been doing "School of Hamby" for several months when our enrolment with Sydney Distance Education Primary School was effected in May.

Some of Vaughan's "expressive, original artworks"!

Our work-sets were delivered by post, with support documents on flash drive.  Vaughan's teacher was always on hand for guidance and we looked forward to receiving his comments (and cartoons!) on marked work.

Being Vaughan's supervisor this past year has been an interesting learning experience.  There were many highlights, which included being VIP guests at the special Book Week author presentations hosted by Lake Macquarie and Newcastle libraries.  

We definitely appreciated being able to augment the formal curriculum with frequent "excursions" to a number of wildlife parks and zoos as well as the Australian Museum. 

Distance education definitely agreed with Vaughan.  He received a number of merit certificates throughout 2012 - as well as a Principal's Award for his wonderful collage picture book, "The Sleepy Swamp Turtle".   His end-of-year report was "highly satisfactory" with "high achievement" in both English and Mathematics - and many positive comments for his other subjects.  As a parent it was heartening to read of his progress as a "motivated learner" and know that my supervisory efforts had contributed to his excellent results.

As much we have largely enjoyed "School of Hamby" together, it is time for Vaughan to (en)roll along and rejoin the traditional classroom.  Fingers crossed the "getting" is good!

Our Riverless Cottage!

5 acres of potential!

Vaughan and I have been watching a lot of "The River Cottage" series lately.

It is a sign of Hugh's influence that our vegie-phobic Young Master actually sampled a spoonful of miso soup (before rejecting it) and ate half a snow pea last week!

I know.  It isn't much.  But it's definitely a tiny dint in his "nothing green" philosophy. 


I'm hoping that if Vaughan becomes my gardening assistant, he will be tempted to try the fruits (and vegetables) of our labours.  Of course, I have fingers crossed that our efforts actually produce edible temptations!  I am a very good armchair gardener and have enjoyed watching Gardening Australia and similar programs over the years.  However, my practical gardening experience is fairly modest.  In the past I have successfully grown cherry tomatoes and various herbs - in pots, about 1000km further north in a different climate-zone. 

Although there are a number of fruit trees growing near the house, I'm not sure there has previously been a vegie garden.  If there was at some stage, it is long gone.  We will be starting from scratch - and actually starting will be one of the most important steps. 

We pick up the keys to our new home on Thursday.  Meanwhile I am researching gardening methods and possibilities - and telling myself that gardening isn't rocket science (unless we decide to plant rocket)! 

Caravan capers!

Caravan front  (interior views)

Last week was definitely a big one - as well as Vaughan's dental operation on Monday and signing the lease for our new home on Tuesday, we bought a caravan yesterday! 

The van is unregistered, which isn't an issue as we don't intend to use it for touring - well, not yet anyway (though we are tempted)!  For now, we'll stick to our original plan of using it to create an instant house extension for Erin.

In case you might be thinking we flaunted the rules by towing the van without registration, we purchased a permit from VicRoads (for the bargain price of $21.30) which grants us permission to tow all round the countryside for the next month!

Caravan rear (interior views)

We are well pleased with our purchase.

The caravan is perfectly serviceable as is but will be given a mini-makeover with new curtains and upholstery, when we get a chance to measure up and purchase suitable fabric (or praps raid my stash once our stored stuff arrives on site)!

She'll be apples (and peaches, pears and figs)!

We've had a huge week - and it's only Wednesday!

After all my financial wizardry on Monday, Vaughan's dental operation yesterday was quite successful. Some of the expected work was not necessary, which obviously was a much better outcome for our boy (and our bank balance).

He is recovering well and quite keen to show of his new "armour-plated", "Jack Sparrow" teeth!


In normal circumstances we may have achieved some "school" today (Vaughan is still enrolled with Sydney School of Distance Education) but instead Nick and I walked up to our local post office first this morning to obtain our money orders for bond and one month's rent. There were a few moments of angst when the postal worker suggested there may be a daily account limit for such transactions but all processed smoothly and we headed out of the city shortly afterward.

After signing the lease, Nick sought permission to go onto the property and walk around to establish the best position for a storage container. He has been making enquiries about hiring one but they can be delivered in a few different ways (which impacts on cost), depending where on the site you want them - so the walk-around was good for sorting that out.

While Nick was pondering possible locations, the rest of us were walking around - counting fruit tree varieties and just breathing deeply of the country air, which smelled wonderful!

We had previously spotted several apple trees, a couple of pear trees and perhaps a peach/nectarine. Vaughan is particularly chuffed with today's discovery of a mulberry tree - because one of his friends gave him a collection of silk worm eggs prior to our departure from Summerland Point!

Love it when a plan comes together!

Our neighbouring cows and countryside ...

We've had a huge day here. I rang a local paediatric dental clinic this morning at 9am and was able to secure an appointment for Vaughan at 10:30am. Everything went a bit crazy after that.

Vaughan is booked for day surgery tomorrow. There was a small mountain of paperwork involved in securing his admission. Not to mention some intricate juggling of finances..

At some time amid the afternoon madness, Nick rang to check whether any verdict had been reached regarding our rental application - and was advised we were successful!


As welcome as this news was, it necessitated more calculations and financial wizardry. Given Vaughan's procedure, we have organised to sign all the lease documents on Wednesday morning (rather than tomorrow as the agent suggested). For obvious reasons, we've been a bit (or a lot) preoccupied today but I'm sure a more suitable level of excitement will kick in soon.

Our tenancy will commence later in February so we have a few more weeks of serviced apartment living - and dining out. I think we are all keen to move on though. The house is three bedrooms on 5 acres. There are several existing fruit trees on the property, including a fig "bush". (I've been researching fig jam recipes in preparation. I'm good, just ask me)!

There is talk of chookies - and bees. Vaughan has plans of stalking our resident rabbits as a catch and release exercise. Nick is more keen to emulate Elmer Fudd (the cartoon character, not our truck)!

4-Star Camping!

In the lead-up to 5 December (when both destination/direction were still unresolved) there were many half-serious jokes about us going to live in the forest.  Of course, Vaughan quite liked the idea!

As D-day loomed closer with no solution evident, talk of forest camping became more serious and some discussion had commenced regarding a separate tent for the cats. ( I guess that would have been a kit tent)?!

Finally, barely two weeks before our exit date, we received confirmation of a three-month temporary accommodation booking in Melbourne (part of Nick's relocation package, though his initial contract was only delivered two days before our departure).


As you can imagine, life in a serviced apartment is vastly different to free-camping in the forest! 

Although most of our belongings are in storage we have more "stuff" than usual hotel guests, so on Tuesdays and Fridays there is a bit of a scramble to clear some space for the cleaners.  Even so, they left a note for Erin on top of a pile of clean sheets because they "could not arrange this sheet" (due to all the stuff over her bed)!

Caged Cats! (16 December 2012)

Nick's relocation package includes three month's  accommodation for our family with various other generous benefits. 

Unfortunately our apartment is a pet-free zone, so Oscar and Sunny (pictured at left) and Keegan (Erin's rainbow lorikeet) are enjoying a holiday also, staying out-of-town with family.  They are being very well looked after - spending more time outside than behind bars!

Indeed they may not be keen to come home, particularly Sunny who has been hand-fed chicken tidbits to tempt his appetite!