Crumpled Home » Gingin

October 2011, Photo Wrap-Up

Luke — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:07:50 +0000

In October, we drove south to Eagle Bay with some friends for a few days, and north to Gingin for a weekend with Grammy and Poppa. RJ had his first t-ball game and… his team won! In the middle of all of this (and the Royal Show AND Halloween) we somehow found the time to visit Scitech with some friends to see some of their new exhibits. Wow! We need a break!

We took a trip down to Eagle Bay and had a great time in the water. It's a lot easier to do now that the weather's warming up!

We climbed to the top of Sugarloaf Rock where we stopped and watched the ocean attempt to smash it down. The waves were HUGE.

While the other two girls were at horse riding, we set off on a hike around the bay.

Eventually we could see the ominous "Dragon Mouth Cave". Perhaps we'll go inside next time.

While the other two enjoyed breakfast and reading in bed, he just sat there, staring.

Grammy helped RJ and LR make their own dolls. RJ made Bear Grylls, complete with snake and sports watch, while LR made Cleopatra, complete with snake but no watch.

RJ had his first T-Ball game. WHAM! A great hit RJ! Drop the bat first and run! No, not over there! To first base!

... and he leaps into first base. He's safe!

We spotted this elegantly dressed lady on her way to work.

Off to Scitech, where LR is trapped in an underwater bubble.

RJ constructs his own fog tornado... His next version will be bigger, much bigger... MWAAAHAAHAAA.

Off to Gingin for the weekend! Mom and Scarlet enjoy the sunshine, but not the flies.

Poppa shows off his new phone cover... Angry birds! The kids loved it!

You da man, RJ! No! You da man, Dad!

There are certain dangers you must be aware of when letting Dad operate the fork lift.

This year we netted some of the fruit trees, in an attempt to stop the parrots from eating our delicious peaches. There were, however, some complications.

The latest version of the flying fox got even longer and faster, especially when RJ started pulling.

Time for sleep! Goodnight!

August 2011, Photo Wrap-Up

Luke — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 03:07:21 +0000

In August, as many of us suffered colds and ear infections, another birthday rolled around, RJ played his soccer final, and the kids dressed up for Book Day. We also spent a great weekend up at Gingin with some friends and discovered LR really can be an angel when she wants to.

Make a wish! Mom slices into her favorite cake, pinapple upside-down cake!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Poppa and LR look over some of his pictures of New York as RJ backflips in the background.

RJ takes the ball in his soccer finals! Go Ninjas!

Coach Jeremy presents RJ with a medal with a congratulatory handshake.

RJ rescued this waterlogged dragonfly at the beach and resuscitated it successfully.

The kids dressed up as their favourite characters for Book Day: RJ as Korlo the Gatekeeper and LR as Nancy Drew.

We spent a weekend up at Gingin, and a friend brought along their dirt bike. LR thought it was AWESOME.

RJ enjoys a piece of cake while taking a break on the pizza oven.

LR threatens to jump on Dad's head from a great height.

A huge stone warrior, bewildered at his sudden relocation to Australia, makes friends with LR.

RJ admires the warrior's collection of snakes, and wants to join the club.

After dark, LR and a friend posed for some light-painting antics.

Big news: RJ has started piano lessons and loves it! In other news, the song "Chopsticks" is taking an unassailable position as least favourite of all time (amongst parents age 30-39).

May, 2011 Photo Wrap-Up

Luke — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 03:07:42 +0000

In May, Mom enjoyed a bit of a sleep in while RJ planned to conquer the world, with style. Poppa and Grammy took us to a great place to hide from Dad, and Joey soccer started up again, this time with RJ on board. Up at Gingin, we built version 1 of a flying fox (zip-line), which suffered from some serious design flaws, but was pretty fun regardless.

LR watches as Mom reads the Mother's Day card that she made.

RJ works on one of his amazing inventions. I think this one was the bacteria to destroy the world.

We stopped by the location formerly known as the "Knock it down house", now renamed the "Build it up house". The kids weren't thrilled... at first.

But after they discovered how good it was for hide and seek from Dad, they had a terrific time.

RJ worked on his different looks. This one required a toothpick before it was complete.

RJ was chillin' in the giant freezer full o' meat shop. They provide the coats; RJ provides the style.

Joey Soccer started up again, and this year, RJ's on the team.

RJ's pretty quick on the field, and plays well, provided he doesn't get distracted by anything shiny.

Go for it, RJ!

At Gingin, Mom watches as LR and Poppa bring the tractor around. It's project building time!

Dig, dig, dig! This is where we'll need the post.

RJ gets ready to ride...

Zoooooooooooom!

LR rides! Go, go, go!!!

Winemaking and The Museum of the Universes of Science

Luke — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 03:07:26 +0000

On the weekend, we all drove up to Gingin to help with the second stage of winemaking. The first stage, picking the grapes and first pressing, was already done a couple of weeks ago; it was time for the second pressing and getting the wine into vats for fermentation. We also spent time working on LR’s latest project, “The Museum of the Universes of Science” — a showcase for all the amazing animals, bones, plants and rocks that we discover up there.

Obviously, winemaking is a very serious business!

LR and Poppa drain the wine from the grapes, to get them ready for the second pressing.

PULL, LR PULL!!!! LR works the press, getting every last drop out of the grapes.

Time to clear the press. Mom, Grammy and RJ take the pressed skins and seeds to fertilize the garden.

Although the wine grapes had already been pressed, we went over to the orchard to see what other fruit was ready for picking. We found a huge number of table grapes ready to pick, as well as some native limes. Sadly, birds had eaten most of the olives!

RJ waits for a ride on the gate at the goat-proof fence to the orchard and vineyard.

LR and Grammy pick table grapes from the vines. The wine grapes were all picked two weeks ago, nothing left there now except raisins!

LR is ready to carry the harvest back to the house.

RJ’s continuing fascination with hats led the kids to making hat stands out of some styrofoam heads that Grammy had sitting around. Grammy has all the great stuff you need for art projects.

LR, RJ and Mom work on making some hat stands for the kids.

RJ admires his finished product, complete with 'evil guy' moustache.

Throughout the weekend, preparations were made for LR’s grand museum project. A set of science-oriented colouring in pages were done up for kids who visit the museum, including some dot-to-dots and letter pages from RJ. Future plans include a science art gallery and a geology department.

LR had a fantastic plan to create our own museum. After a lot of thinking, she decided to name it "The Museum of the Universes of Science." She was in charge of doing the labels and signs.

While LR made labels, RJ went to work arranging the collections. The kangaroo vertebrae had their own section.

LR works on some more labels as Mom looks on.

RJ carefully lays out the ribs. He eventually had a matched set for the left and right sides of the body.

After building the sign and pushing it into the ground (with a tractor!), RJ and LR welcome everyone to the new museum.

LR shows the reptile shelf, complete with a mulga and a western brown snake.

LR shows off some of the finer specimens to the museum's first visitors, Poppa and Grammy.

As the sun set, the kangaroos lined up again at the water trough. It's been a long, dry year and they can't wait for the rains to start again.

The latest news from the “They’d Make Great Pets” department

Luke — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 03:07:21 +0000

While we were up at Gingin helping with the yearly wine making, a few cute little arachnids happily made their way across the floor to say, ‘Hi‘. Of course, the kids spotted them before anyone else. At first, we thought one of them had been crushed, but it turns out they are just deceptive little creatures and relish disguising themselves in places where they have the opportunity to attack your toes.

We found a suitable plastic container (one with multiple latches, locks, a secondary containment unit and an airlock) and collected them up so we could have a closer look.

Meet "Stingo", a (hopefully temporary) new addition to our family. We think he is a "Lychas spinatus spinatus", but we haven't identified him properly yet. A lot of people just seem to call them "Little Marbled Scorpions".

Unlike our last pet from Gingin (Mr. Bitey), these guys don’t have a disturbing taste for meat (raw, cooked or still attached to your body). They also don’t inspire the same deep, visceral fear that a vividly-coloured, 8 inch venomous predator with the alarming ability to scale any surface at surprisingly high speeds does… And the legs…. Oh god, so many legs…

We did a little research and discovered that they are terrific for getting rid of garden pests! Amazingly, they are happy to feast on slaters (pill bugs), which our garden beds are always crawling with.

Of course, the inevitable question came from RJ. “I can keep these as pets, right? Forever?”

…

Four hours later, the car was packed and we were driving home to Perth. As I drove, I had visions of our news friends escaping… Our first clue being a yelp from the dog, then yells from the kids, “The scorpions are out!!!”, followed by a lovely evening by the side of the road unpacking our gear and madly stomping around on the ground, eventually ending with us hitching a ride back, our car abandoned on the side of the road with a rough sign in the window, “Danger!!! SCORPIONS!!!!”

Fortunately, we made it home without a problem.

So… We’ve adopted three “Little Marbled Scorpions” for at least a week, just to see how they do. RJ can be responsible for finding food for them, and he’s already named them: “Fango”, “Stingo” and “Pinchers”. Unfortunately, they are venomous.

We wont be bringing them out for cuddles or playtime, but we have Bob for that.

How to install a pond!

Luke — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:07:54 +0000

We added a pond to our backyard. Everyone helped out!

You must first recruit your team and get your equipment together.

A spirit level is a useful piece of equpiment to have!

Check to see if it will hold water. Your assistants may need to take their pants off for this stage.

Drive up to Gingin and collect some interesting looking rocks. Don't forget to grab some big ones!

Small rocks are useful for filling in the gaps.

You might need a ute to carry all those rocks... and also to smash paddy melons as you drive across the farm.

Don't forget to play on the swing before you leave.

And then place your rocks, plant some plants, fill with water, add fish, pull weeds, install the pump, adjust the fountain, return the pump to the shop because it has a european plug and the adapter you hoped might survive outdoors is shorting out, reinstall the pump, reconfigure the fountain, and you're done!

There, wasn't that easy?

A Trip to Gingin

Luke — Fri, 21 May 2010 03:07:55 +0000

We took a quick trip up to Gingin over the weekend and discovered that some of the trees had fruit on them. We also drove around the farm, stopping at the big pit for an explore. On the way back, we scouted for bones in the fields and discovered a complete fox skeleton, with teeth and everything else intact!

Foxxy made the rounds at the kids’ schools for show-and-tell, and was a big hit!

LR is fully loaded up with mandarines from the citrus trees.

We had a big surprise waiting for us. The citrus trees were all loaded with ripe fruit!

RJ carries back a big load of citrus.

LR and I. work hard squeezing the juice from the mandarines.

RJ enjoys the juicy reward from all the hard work picking.

RJ, I., LR and J. explore the giant sandy pit as Scarlet watches over them.

LR demonstrates her fearlessness by leaping off the embankment.

LR loves to fly!

I. makes a run for the ute. Don't get left behind!

J. holds a conversation with Foxxy. Apparently he's on a very strict diet.

Oh no… we definitely don’t get enough scarcasm around here

Luke — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:07:37 +0000

(during a family lunch with everyone sitting at the dinner table)

Poppa: So does anyone want to get up and fetch me a glass of water?

(no volunteers)

Poppa: (gets up and walks into the kitchen) I guess I’ll get it myself.

LR: (with mock dismay) How come Poppa has to do all of the work around here?

Harvest time

Luke — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:07:26 +0000

Despite the hot weather, we made it up to Gingin for the grape harvest, but Grammy, Poppa, Kath and Brad had already picked all the grapes and crushed them the day before we got there! We made the most of it anyway, picking a lot of figs and table grapes that were ready to eat. Mum cooked up some fig jam and we had a big sewing ‘sesh’ during the heat of the day, before going for an explore out in the paddock.

Our incredibly brave**, heroic** and good-looking** dad rescued us from this marauding beast** that had been ransacking the countryside and was intent on destroying the farm.

We found this guy having a drink from the dog's water bowl. He's a bobtail lizard which are pretty common around here.

**Hyperbole employed as official privilege of the author

The grapes have ripened and been harvested again for another year. This bunch of turkish seedless table grapes was delicious!

RJ gets some serious needle and thread action.

LR works on sewing together a present for someone special.

Grammy helps RJ put the padding into the pillow. 'It needs a LOT in there so it is SUPER soft.'

Grammy helps LR pin some of the pieces together in preparation for the sewing machine.

Mum was jamming in the kitchen. LR picked the music.

Dad tried the free lens that was given to LR. Not bad!

After exploring the field and trying to piece together a kangaroo skeleton, we all head back up to the shed to climb on the tractors.

LR finds some kind of emergency nourishment in her pocket which helps her survive the long journey.

There was a bit of a discussion about the harpoon and whaling in general. Conclusion: we need a cannon at the farm to shoot the harpoon (in case we are attacked by whales).

Watch out poppa! Hat thief!!!

Poppa is hatless and dismayed. And unsatisfied, she strikes again!

Water is pretty scarce around here during the summer. The watering trough brings a crowd of roos every night.

The roos like to listen to Abba while having a drink. LR and RJ put on a dance performance for them.

RJ does some cool moves and crazy spins.

A trip to the Gingin Gravity Discovery Centre

Luke — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:00:46 +0000

We took a trip out to the Gingin Gravity Discovery Centre. The highlight was the 11 story leaning tower where you can drop water balloons into an incredibly cratered sand pit below. There are lots of other science experiments to explore too. We followed up with a night walk to spot some of the local nocturnal animals. We ended the night looking through telescopes at some of the features of the night sky. Great fun!

RJ looks deep into the black hole simulator.

No Mum! Kids don't go down there! They'll be spaghettified!

LR and Dad push the Bernoulli Principle to its limits.

The mums get the exciting job of filling a bucket full of water balloons.

It's a very, very long way down -- about 11 flights of stairs.

The kids begin the onslaught. Balloon after balloon is dropped onto the zone of destruction below.

E gets a closer look at a butterfly's wings.

LR gets a microscopic view of another specimen.

The face of sadness... E won something in the raffle. LR did not. Life is just so very unfair.

RJ agreed with LR... It is SO unfair... or maybe it's just way past their bedtimes...

We all went out with flashlights on a night stalk to spot animals.

The Leaning Tower of Gingin teeters towards one of the domes housing the big telescopes.