Jamestown

Hi All

We have been in Jamestown now for about 3 months now and so far so good. The girls attend occasional care once each a fortnight, Brandy on a Tuesday and Mickalee on a Thursday. We go to Play group on Mondays and to Kinder gym on Fridays so most weeks they have something to do. Mum is also only an hour away so we go and visit her often also. I think it is great to have some one on one time with each of the girls while the other is not here, Mickalee and I go to the park if it is fine enough and Brandy and I catch up on chatting, napping and reading. Her motor skills aren't quiet advanced enough for her to enjoy the play equipment as much as Mickalee, she just runs up and down the ramp, or climbs up 2 steps, down 2 steps. The park is great for the to run and wear herself out too. I would have done it weekly however the facilities are to be shared and once a fortnight is as often as they can be slotted in, other mums need time out too not just me ; ). The preschool just does not have the facilities for bigger groups, and I am sure staff per head is also an issue. I believe this is soon to change with a larger facility and day care being introduced, I have not been given any thing official to confirm it though. If it is to go ahead I assume due to extensions being built it may take a while. I also understand that not all the funding has raised. So only time will tell.

Now that I have caught up to the present I will be able to post every couple days with things we are doing, place we have been and interesting things the girls have done. I have no idea what possessed me to go back and start where I did. I just think I wanted some sort of record for the girls I guess. I have attempted to make baby books and scrapbooks for the girls but they have only been half finished or things collected with good intentions and never started. I am sure I am not the only person who does this.

Tony is still housed in Clare and we are currently renting in Jamestown, he is housed there with his job and travels to the wind farm daily from there. It is closer than travelling from home, and he is able to come home twice a week to have dinner with us. We see him a lot more often now than we did when we were living in Virginia. It is 70k from Clare to Jamestown and it takes him about an hour. The current roster with the wind farm is 4 weeks on 1 week off. This suits us heaps better than the prior of 2 weeks on 2 days off. We could not achieve anything with such a little break and it was not worth packing up and going anywhere. Next break off lines up with the Adelaide show so we are hoping to go. Fingers crossed the weather holds up for a couple of days and it isn't raining. For the farmers out there please note I am not telling the rain to go away I know you really need it ; ) but even if it held up for two days that would be great.

I have made a couple of friends since being here and thanks to Tracy I am now a blogaholic, she is trying to get me to knit, but really I don't think so. I am going to do some sewing with her though. I can't wait until I get to spotlight and get some material to start the quilts I have planned for the girls. Of course I am a beginner and have no idea what I am doing so Tracy is going to be on hand to help me. Thank goodness. I met Lisa through Tracy and she is a very nice person too. I little bit too keen on exercise for me (laughs) but I can deal with that. I have also met friends of mums, that she made while she was living in the van park. Rod owns and operates "Jamestown Tourist Retreat" he has been very accommodation on occasions by letting me use the laundry facilities to get my clothes dried. I have also met Damien "Pee Wee" Clarke, an iconic Jamestown resident who puts a lot of time and effort into community based projects especially his love of football. For those of you north of the S.A border, yes I mean AFL football, the ballet kind. Our landlords Tim and Vanessa have also been very helpful and welcoming. I can call with a drama and they do everything they can to help me. The first morning I was here I ran out of gas for the heater and did not even know where to start in regards to getting a new one so I called them only to discover they were in the business and delivered it for me.

I had not up until about a month ago had a chance to meet my neighbours with the girls being toddlers in destructive mode I didn't want to impose only for them to trash the place. The lady next door another Tracy is a nurse at the hospital and works nights so she also did not have a chance to come over to meet me. Our dogs are normally in Clare with Tony as the yard there is fenced. Our yard needs a gate to keep them in. However one weekend when Tony was at home he bought the dogs as normal and Hippy ran away. As a general rule they don't roam however when you get complacent it will happen. I put up signs, contacted the pound, told everyone I knew she was missing and basically sat back and waited. She was gone 6 days when I received a phone call from a lady saying she thought the dog she had found belonged to us. Long story short it turned out Hippy had been next door the whole time. One way to meet the neighbours I suppose.

I look forward to making more friends here it is a nice place, however as with any small town it will take a while. Wish me luck.

Bye for now and Happy Blogging

Bec