The a fore mentioned temperamental computer was treated shamefully today.

While Bert was eating his fourth bowl of soup (yes the questionable concoction from yesterday), I thought I would make myself useful by sending a couple of pictures to the family. The computer was perched at the end of the table so Bert could see the screen as well, without disturbing his protein intake. No problem. Pictures were sent. Meal was over and then in my haste clear the table I tripped on a cord.

Smack, on the floor it landed. Bert of course was in shock. Me too cause I quite like the little thing now. But after our breathing started again, we saw it had not skipped a beat.

I knew we would get along, this computer and I!

There is some lentil soup in the making on my stove right now. But the smell in the kitchen is not the nice hearty smell we love associating with soup. It is more like…dirt. (I feel like I am channeling my five year old self. For about a year, everything smelt and tasted like dirt. Ahh the joys of childhood!) I think we need a new recipe over here!

The shortest day of the year, that’s it. Ok maybe not the shortest since they really are all the same length, but the darkest anyway. It was dark shortly after 4 p.m. today. One of the men in church said they used to call it the "Evening of Three Suppers" because there is enough time to fit that many in. Sounds good to me! Haggis and Tatties anybody?

Sunrise behind our house (this is 180* patched together)

Being the good little Presbyterian I am :), I went to the "Listen to Christmas" performance that was on at the Hall on Saturday night. It took a little convincing to think that the Holidays were actually yet to come, since we were all together with my family a few weeks ago and Bert’s family just before that. A local poet read Christmas poems and stories, the community choir sang, and they had a wind band as well. Kilts were worn. Great fun was has by all.

The wind is absolutly raging. That fairly common apparently. Not usually for this long, but they do have some pretty good winds.

I checked the weather report on line and we are having 30 mph winds with very frequent gust of up to 50 mph. Bert stopped to ponder that and came up with, "That’s pretty strong. Imagine trying to stand on top of a car that was going 50 mph?" After seeing the look on my face, he said, "You haven’t seen Teen Wolf have you?" :)

My temperamental computer.

Do I love it? Do I hate it? I can but only ponder this. My sweet hubby spied the little thing at the bottom of a rubbish bin. Bert loves computers. He loves cords. He loves anything that has more memory than his calculator. He loves computers. This being the case, the opportunity could not be passed. Out of the bin came the dejected little laptop. Screws were loosened, others were tightened. Clean, clean, ‘scrub’, ‘scrub’, and the second generation Pohl family added the third computer to their belongings.

Ok so that is the background. Now the crazy bundle of keys has begun doing all manner of things she should not. If you have ever been friends with a mule, you may have some idea of how my sweet little computer is behaving. She simply refuses to budge at times. We are cruising along, "Dear Mom, ……" Send. And boom. Out of the blue, I am reminded who is really has the upper hand in this little game.

But in the end, I love it. I thank the person who binned it, and thank my hubby for so loving thinking of me when he saw the thing in the dump and also for spending hours fixing her for me.

Most of all though, I thank the Lord for giving me such a sweet hubby.

Here we are. In the northern Highlands of Scotland. All cozy in our little house. The wind is blowing and the rain is coming down, but what does it matter with a roof over the head. God is good.

We are in Aultbea. It is a beautiful little village all by itself on the west coastal side of the highlands. We traveled up here on Wednesday night, Thursday we settled in, Friday I went into the larger town to get some food (three cheers from Bert:) and now we are finaly catching up with the world on the web.

Our house is on the right half (without the bushes in front)

Looking into the housing part of town. (our house behind the trees on right)

An glance in the opposite direction of the last picture.
The rainbow didn't show up as well on "film".

We discovered our address today as well. It is:

6 Peir Road

Aultbea

Ross-shire

IV22 2JQ

UK

The telephone yet remains a mystery. Hmmm, small town. We will find it I am sure.

It is a bit like this. Snow angels and piloting your own airplane are things you never are too old to do.

In a few short hours, we fly out of Adelaide en-route to the States. I always get a little uptight when it comes to....about now. I do not even know why. Is it wondering if we will get everything in the bags, which I have not yet even begun to pack? Perhaps it is the reminiscing of the flight I missed in Chicago and as a result had to spend the night on cot stamped American Airlines. Or the maybe all the stories Tony told the dinner guest last night about the flight disasters? He firmly believes that the safest place in an airplane that is crash landing is in the back lavatory. I am not so sure about that. :)

But off we go, getting younger by the minute. We leave at 9 am and after nearly 30 hours arrive at 9:30 pm the same day. You can not beat that.

The bags are calling much louder now...

Doctors can be strange little people. Tony, I am not necessarily talking about you!

Since we have been here in Adelaide, Bert has been to see a doctor that specializes in chronic fatigue. Apparently there are only four doctors in the world that are as specialized in chronic fatigue. Bert had his first visit with this doctor a couple of weeks after we were here. He gave him a couple of helpful hints to try till the next visit. No problem.

So last week we went back in for the follow up. It was a beautiful drive with vineyards and indigenous trees scattered about over the hills. His office is in his home. We rang the doorbell and waited for a while before he led us around to the office side of his home. No sooner than we are in his office he is wondering if we liked the music he was playing.

“Yes, it is very nice. I am not very familiar with classical music, but very nice.”

“It is the opera by …….sung in Italian….. (pausing to soak it in)….so and so wrote it and it is about this man who…(another pause)……and he begs for forgiveness…… (15 minutes later “maybe I should turn this off for him” )….more pausing…..and well, ok lets get to your appointment.”

It was very interesting, but you begin to wonder if he was around the bend.

So into the visit we went. He began to explain what happed when certain cells break down other cells, “They creep in and split the original cell, weakening the entire molicu……….and this is were he asks for forgiveness (long pause)….and she is forgiving him….although she shouldn’t have….” (“Honestly, let me turn that off for you.”)

But in the end, he did seem to have gotten further into the problem than any of the other doctors Bert has gone to.

All the best, Crazy Doctor Man.

Isn't this a great idea? Anyone who has ever tried to move cows, sheep, goats,you name it, knows that a man's best friend is a good dog. This trucker had that principal built in......literally.

Sheep are more common in Australia than cattle. My dear hubby had his camera in hand at just the right time (shocking:).

Thanks to Cousin Lauri, I learned my one thing-a-day checking e-mail. Isn't this interesting?


"I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty
uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The
phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the
ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Amzanig huh? "

And that is enough of that!

The Rest of the Trip

Here are a few more pictures of the trip to Robe. That was a week ago, but I am just that slow. It it is any consolation, not much has happend since then. Ants invaded the house, the dog hasn't been happy with us, and the like.

This road winds through the sand dunes all the way to the ocean. The white speck is were we abandoned the car and took off on a hike to the beach.

Are we there yet? The 4x4 buggies are the only ones that drive though here.

Kept the two of us out of trouble for one morning.
Rocks eaten away by the slow movement of smaller rocks shuffled around by the waves at high tide.
Long live the Queen. "Anyone for a Cuppa? (have to have their tea even on the beach)
And the next day...
Sunset light on the beach grasses.
It was a three hour drive down to Robe. Not bad at all for one of Rozeboom blood line. We stopped for tea once and also another time to streach etc. I had to smile a bit. If it isn't one of the three main meal times or the gas tank isn't empty, why are we stopping?

Away in Robe

We made it back from the holiday in one peice. Sharks managed to leave us alone and fun was had by all. Between Bert and Tony, we have pictures jamming up all three computers in the house. There are hundreds of them. So I will just start with the surfing ones and then do a few more a bit later on.
Bert had to fix his board up before he takes a beating.It was much harder than it looked!

The waves were thumpin'....oh wait, for the beginer.

That little speck on the left is Bert. The speck it is headed for is me.

Catching one.

It was great fun. The water was freezing cold but the with the wetsuits, you couldn't tell except for the toes. The waves were about 4 1/2 feet on the second day that we went out. That was as big enough for this inexperienced surfer. I rode one wave in all the way to the shore laughing the entire way. Then it dawned on me that I had to get back out. I started plowing through them, one wall at a time, till a handsome surfie dude told me that I could "duck dive" under them and miss out on the bashing. Bert used to surf and wind surf all of the time so it was fun get the live window into that part of his life.

Speedo or Not

Foreign public swimming pools.

The question is should men be allowed to wear Speedo swimming suits?

You know the type.... I dare not post a picture today.

This morning was marked with trying on the old wetsuits. Very scary. My hubby had his from his glory days of surfing and the rest of the family had them too. Bert simply had to see if his would still fit or if the arm would fall off from dry rot when putting it on. I on the other hand, was trying to find one that might work for me. Ann said to try hers, but she is about one half of me and after one quick glance at the opening for trying it on, that idea was out. Then on to Jax's. By now it was clear that I was not meant to fit into the Pohl family. :) It went on with much effort. The legs, which were supposed meet the ankle, where more like mid-calf. The arms, mid-forearm. Bert did get it zipped, and it seemed like a winner (a tight winner) until he deflated my bubble by asking me if I could touch my toes. "Of course I can! But I don't think the wetsuit would agree...." So now we have to see about a rental.

All of this is because next week the whole Pohl Family (except for Jax and Brian) hope to go on holiday to Robe. Without Robe as the destination, no Pohl holiday would be complete.

It is a little surfing/fishing village about three hours south of here. Mostly forgotten by the rest of Australia, Robe still maintains the cosy atmosphere we all crave for getaways. So off we go.

On Sunday, Bert and I dropped by one for a little walk at one of his old stomping grounds. It was up in the hills not far from church in Morialta Conservation Park (state park) . This particular spot was great for rock climbing. He used to go out there with his outdoor recreation instructor from school. How lucky are they?

Anyway he took me out there and it reminded me so much places along the Buffalo River. Tall clifts, lots of trees, and all the people we saw, looked like they were having fun. There was only one small thing....

We hadn't taken anything differnt to wear. One of the rock climbers was saying, "It might just me be me, but you didn't come here to climb did you?"

Ah, the finds in your father-in-laws office. Most all of the piles of papers are medical records from patient of years gone by. A few piles of CD's litter the desks and floors. Filing cabinets line the wall on one side, while bookshelves finish off the decor on the other.

But over there, just past cup of pens and box of paper clips, lies something that neither blends in, nor stands out. Hmmm...looks old. In for a closer look.....well that is definitely true. A book of some sort, but it has a lacy blue print on the cover. Do I dare pry further? Sure why not....Ahha, a photo album. Bingo!

Grandpa Pohl had been a fighter pilot back in the day as Bert had told me. But here were the pictures to prove it all. He in the center of the bottome row. Apparently he was a fighter pilot instructor. This was back in South Africa where Bert was born. The family goes back for generations in South Africa. Some of them were originally Dutch, some Irish, some Polish, some English, and some we have no idea.

This is one of his planes we are assuming. The propeller made up for the small windscreen....
There were several pictures of this crash in there too. He lived far past the time frame of this picture, so either it was his plane and he survived or maybe it was not his.

So good things can be found in crowded offices.

Today was a beach day. On Saturday Bert said we were defiantly going for coffee or something on the Monday. Yeah! So we hoped in the yellow Corolla and away we went. It seems to be our style to start out with no particular place in mind. The "no particular place" turned out to be the beach front at Norlunga. It is a little surfie town about a 20 minute drive south of Adelaide. Tiny little place with one or two gift shops, a barber shop, half a dozen coffee shops, and yes....several surf shops. It was about 70ish, and the water was freezing, but that didn't stop the school kids.

Ahh, the day to relax.

This is a Stump Tail who was gaurding the trail we were on. Apparently he is one of the few non- "deadly" wildlife forms in Australia. :)

Bert just goofing off with the camera

If you ever get a chance, just run down a sand dune. It came highly recomended, and I'll definately second it.

Kids get to do some surfing for a school outing, what a life!

Teach them how it is done, preacher boy.

And that is the end of that...

Ann still needs to gain weight. So we have been working on it, one hill at a time. We go walking each morning after breakfast for at least an hour, sometimes two. Their house sits right in the middle of what feels like one of Adelaide's steepest hills. We are motivation for one another I believe. She feels like she needs to keep up with me, and I know that I should keep up with her.

Most often we take the "beach route". There are a countless number of things to see on the beach. Strangely enough, the thing that measured highest on the unique scale was not a person. It was the.................


ExeLoo

You have to push a button to get the door to open. Once you are in, the door automatically closes and easy listening music starts playing from some hidden speaker. Very ironic. There is a button to press for tissue paper. At the sink, you are meant to start on the left hand side with an automatic squirt of soap; then onto the middle for some water; finally, off to the far right with automatic hand drier. "If you can not finish all this in 10 minutes," warns the eerie man living in the Loo speakers, "you will be forever shamed when the door zings open." (not verbatim)

Eventually, when Bert is caught up with sermon prep, I have to ask where the cord for downloading photos is. But till then...

This is for Netter and Mom....and he even has a sence of humor. :)


"I want to spend every single night for three months going out with a different famous actress. You know, Halle Berry one night, Salma Hayek the next, and then walk on the beach holding hands with Leonardo DiCaprio."

– George Clooney, on his plan to confuse the paparazzi, to Vanity Fair

What about the Ice Cream Van?

You have to love them! Bert and I went for a walk on the beach and faintly in the background, the tinny little sounds of an Ice Cream Van floated by. Why is it that that sound is universally understood as ice cream music? We may never know. Thankfully though, I could believe that this was an ice cream van. It was pretty warm out and we were on the beach. In Glasgow, Scotland, we could hear the music out the window of our flat and it was raining and freezing outside....and it was the middle of winter. All things combined, it was hardly believable that young children would dig into pockets for a pound just to freeze further by eating a Mr. Whippy Cone.

They have to keep me in the family now, I know too much!

Mr. Bert looking all sexy in his 'safety goggles". His poor dad actually as to where those things when he is operating on someone. On the upside, you never loose them....

“Dad, what is all this for?” This was coming from a little boy eagerly watching his dad as he transferred building supplies from their shopping trolley into the back of their ute. “Well Mattie, we are going to build…..” that was as much as I heard as I passed by them. But it was great to see a parent taking time to do constructive things with their child.



That must be fun and very difficult all at once when you are a parent. Here you get to watch them make a hundred mistakes and take a gazillion times longer than it would take you. Thank you Mom and Dad, for all those times when you did just that. For all the cakes that were less than perfect, but now we can cook for ourselves. For “every hair on your head” that was a different length, but now we can cut hair. For all lawns that had to be asked if they had been mown, but now we can take care of our own yards. Dad, for letting us drive……oh wait, but hah we learned that anyway! But seriously, for each and every little thing that we may not have appreciated at the time, thank you.

“The Ute Legend”

“The ute is more than just a car. The ut is a thing of beauty. The ute is part of our national identiy. The ute is an expression of one’s lifestyle. The ute makes boys into men.”

“The ute is Australian”

(All this is taken from the Ute Appreciation Association of Australia)

Nothing kills the spontinaity of writting a bit in here like writting it twice. I am tellin' ya'. Well we will just have to save the creative, spontanious, happy me for another time, cause as a good sister friend of mine would say, " this computer is just not picking up what I am laying down." I do love you all, I just don't have to like computers right now....