Yesterday, as Rob and I sat in our “eyrie” upstairs looking out over the trees that inhabit our back garden, we heard a flock of rainbow bee-eaters. We both love the bell-like sound they make, especially as a group.

So they have begun to gather into small flocks around the metro area. That means that the young are becoming strong enough for their migration north to Asia.

By mid February they will have gone, to be back in October, but before they go we look forward to listenings and sightings of the flocks as they coalesce into the huge migrating groups we have become used to.

Since Elwyn returned to England in early September, the pile of things that are to be sent over to her new home has been growing. As well as her favourite cricket bats (yes that is batS) and some nice clothes which she left out for me to pack, I’ve added her favourite ornaments, some pictures from her Nepal trek, her Avon Descent number, and other momentos which seemed right for her new home.

Because there was such a pile Rob helped me take it all to the Pack and Send office in Leederville one Thursday in late November. The manager there was also a cricketer and so could appreciate how precious her cricket bats were. He promised to pack them really, really well. So Rob and I unloaded all the things from the crate in which they had travelled there, and left him to sort and pack everything. The promised arrival time in England was 3-4 weeks…

Six weeks later, Rob and I were watching TV one evening (actually the DVD of the Volvo Ocean Race which Elly had sent Rob for his birthday), when the phone rang about 10pm – it was Elwyn. Her big package had just arrived and she was unpacking her cricket bats! And her nice clothes! And some of her favourite ornaments!

Her happy, chirpy voice was reward enough for the effort it had taken to get them all to her home in London:-)

Today Rob and I returned from our 2-week sailing trip. We had been as far as Hamelin Bay, just north of Cape Leeuwin. This might not seem far by car, but it takes a long time to sail there, AND to brave the Southern Ocean. It was very kind to us, and we had a good motor sail down to Hamelin Bay from Busselton.  As this was the farthest south we have yet sailed we were very focussed, and it seemed further away than it really was. Or perhaps home seemed further away from where we were than it really was. Whatever the reason, as we pulled up in our drive this afternoon, having cleaned and packed up Dusky Dolphin in her pen, we felt that we had travelled much further than we actually had, and for much longer than we actually had.

Perhaps now we are at home with the sea…

This year, with everyone going away for Christmas, we had our family gathering on the Saturday before, the 16th.

We spent the week arranging presents, the Christmas tree went up on the morning of the 16th, the house was tidied and decorated, and all was ready. It did seem strange though, doing our last minute shopping when everyone else was yet to do theirs…

We gathered in our family room – my Mum, Rob and I, Jeanette and Christopher, Tristan, Blaine, toddler Tom and baby Alythea, and of course Elwyn by video chat on Jeanette’s laptop. It was a noisy, happy gathering, first of all for afternoon tea, then giving out the gifts that we had all put much thought into, then some of us “helping” Tom to play with the water table he’d been given (somehow Tom soaked Tristan with the hose…), then an early barbecue Christmas dinner.

When it came time for everyone to go home, there was a great feeling of peace amongst us, peace from sharing time and gifts given with love, peace from connecting with each other with love.

It was a good Christmas, and the family room held that feeling of peace for a few days afterwards.

This year, every time we asked Rob what he would like to do for his birthday, he said “I don’t want presents, I want to have time with all of you”.

So we took him at his word and planned some gatherings for him, as surprises.

About a week beforehand he told me that the new James Bond movie, “Casino Royale”, was coming out in time for his birthday. That would be one of my presents to him! So the day before his birthday, the 9th, we looked like having a quiet day. When I saw him looking at the movie timetable in the paper I thought is best to let him in on his first surprise – tickets to the afternoon session of Casino Royale. We met Jeanette and Christopher there and really enjoyed seeing the “new” James Bond in action!

Next morning (Rob’s birthday – 10th) I let him in his next surprise – a brunch at Tristan and Blaine’s. They put on a great cooked brunch of eggs, bacon, mushrooms with bread and birthday cake (Rob’s favourite – chocolate – cooked by Blaine). Rob really enjoyed playing with Tom and spending time with our growing family.

The next Tuesday had taken more planning. As Rob would be working that day I had spoken to his secretary to ensure that he would finish in the operating theatre in time for me to take him to the special “Twenty Legends Cricket Match” at the WACA, with legends like Dennis Lillee. I told him that morning what would be happening, so he could look forward to it all day. As promised, when he came home from work, I took him into the WACA where Tristan, Jeanette and Christopher were waiting with a picnic tea and seats taken. They all enjoyed a memorable evening watching this memorable match, then brought Rob home.

And then his birthday was over – we’d given him exactly what he’d asked for!

Somehow I’ve become known as the Whale Lady amongst our sailing friends. OK, I’m not exactly a light weight, but it’s not because of that. It’s because I love the whales and dolphins we share the ocean with, and do a very short “Whale Watching” segment in the annual 2-hour briefing for the Quindalup Cruise which Fremantle Sailing Club organises each year from 26th December to early January.

So tonight I was up there again, having included whale watching sheets in the briefing notes for people to refer to. Rob had prepared a DVD of the blue whale at the start of David Attenborough’s “Blue Planet” that we’ve watched countless times. My message was that (for me, anyway) it’s a privilege to share the ocean with these magnificent creatures, so recording our sightings and passing them on to Western Whale Research to include in their database is the least we can do to ensure that they are around for our grandchildren to enjoy.

As usual, some people were really enthused and took the brochures I had ready.

Listening to the rest of the briefing I thought about the first time we’d attended a Quindalup briefing in 2001. We’d been really nervous about going that far south. Now, we were planning to attempt to get to Albany while the formal fleet sailed to Quindalup! And we were going to do it by ourselves. I hope we see some whales…

Tonight we babysat Tom and Alythea (first time for Alythea), while Tristan and Blaine went to the Robbie Williams concert nearby. Because it takes half an hour to get from their place to ours, we gave them all an early dinner before giving Tris and Blaine a lift to the concert. Of course Jeanette was there as she always is when Tom is around. She has a special connection with that little man…

Blaine had been telling me about Alythea’s routine and ways for some days, and I’d done my best to remember it all. I was very grateful that she brought me written instructions that night, just as she had when we first babysat Tom.

We enjoyed the usual noisy meal we have when the children are here, farewelled Tristan and Blaine for Rob to take them to the concert, then commenced bed-time. Jeanette and Christopher helped Tom set up his bath (which means him running betwwen his toy box and the bath the that evening’s bath toys and Jeanette holding back any soft toys he might try to throw into the bath), bathed him, read to him and put him to bed in his portable cot. He’s very good about going to bed. I bathed Alythea, gave her her bottle, burbed her and put her to bed in her bassinet. She had trouble settling, as she often does. I went through all the suggestions that Blaine had left me but to no avail. Fi had told me that sometimes a massage-type of stroking can help babies to settle, so I tried that, speaking softly to her just above the classical music she likes to have in the background. That worked.

As soon as she was settled I sms’d Tristan and Blaine so they wouldn’t worry.

Then Rob, Jeanette, Christopher and I sat around the family room and shared some red wine and chocolate!

It was Eilean’s funeral today.

She was more of a friend to Donna than me, yet when I invited everyone to celebrate my return to health after the heart surgery she was there with Donna.

She sent me photos of her graduation last month as a PhD doctor, which I have on my screen saver. so she pops up every now and then:-) She was either sitting down, or held up by friends, because she was very, very weak by then.

Her son Rob has been wonderful, keeping us all informed of how she was going towards the end when she could no longer handle the computer.

First Roberta, now Eilean…

That’s middle age I guess, and I was especially grateful to walk in the early morning today.

The day after Fiona left Rob and I moved onto Dusky Dolphin for almost a week and set sail for Rottnest. Unusually there was very little swell in the ocean around Rottnest, so we could safely plan to spend the time there without the risk of having to sail back to Cockburn Sound to avoid rolly anchorages.

We spent a happy few days on Longreach Bay, walking ashore each day to the settlement. One day we took a bus from the settlement to tour the main lighthouse. The history of this old building was amazing – the way the lighthouse keepers tended the lighthouse in all weathers. It was very isolated, yet there was a small school for the children. Must have been very lonely for the wives…

On the Wednesday the year 12 school leavers arrived on the island the celebrate finishing their school years. Many of them achieve this with rowdy parties, so we moved  out to the west end of Rottnest on the Tuesday to avoid this, mooring in Rocky Bay. Our last full day their we walked out towards the West End where a privately chartered bus gave us a lift right out to the West End, where Rottnest meets the Indian Ocean. It’s always an amazing energy here, with the waves rising up to meet the shore, seabirds wheeling and calling, sometimes dolphins surfing (but not this time). We walked back via the western-most bay, and spied the boat of friends of our anchored there, complete with its own small school  leavers party!

Today we sailed back to Fremantle Sailing Club – a real romp with good winds giving us a good speed through the waves. It had a been a good week, but we were looking forward to seeing our family again.

My sister Fiona left Perth today, to return to her home in Tasmania. She’d arrived here last Saturday and stayed in the room where Tom and Elwyn sleep when they are here.

She puts a huge effort into our family (Mum, Rose, Nigel and their children, and Helen’s children), but Helen ignores her as she does me. So it’s good to just spend time chatting when she’s here between visits to everyone else. She sees Mum every day, taking her out for a coffee or lunch. And one day she took Mum to one of her favourite places, Araluen. The tulips were fading, but they had a good day there, although as I find it’s hard physical work because Mum is quite infirm these days.

This visit we didn’t get any lengthy times together, but we connect about so many things that somehow that didn’t matter. I’ve really enjoyed hearing about the house she’s building on her block of trees in southern Tassie, near the D’entrecasteaux Channel where Rob and I chartered a yacht a couple of years ago. She’s quite a developer, and as she told me about it all I reflected on the way Dad developed Oakleigh Buildings in Perth so many years ago. If he’d still been alive he would have been very proud of her.