Emily’s Aussie relatives

Emily Rude’s cousins live in Melbourne, Australia. They have never meet Emily but they know they would like her a lot. They have written a poem for her:


When Emily Rude
is in a bad mood
she fills up her mouth and spits out her food
(Even the bits she has already chewed).

But when she feels good
She eats as she should
Mouth neatly closed - we wish everyone would!

School for Clever Dogs

Mummy's cousin Bonnie has 2 dogs. Molly is a Springer spaniel and Clancy is a beagle. Clancy likes to chase bunnies up and down hills but cannot catch them. Molly is very friendly but also very messy. She likes to play ball at the beach and recently swallowed too much salty water and had to go to dog hospital until she was better.

This photo was taken on the day Molly and Clancy started at Dog School. This is where they learn to do what Bonnie wants them to. It was very tiring and Molly and Clancy were all tuckered out.

Bendigo Easter Festival

Arpa and Arma went to the Bendigo Easter Festival. There was a torchlight parade in the dark on Easter Sunday and a lunchtime one on Monday. There are lots of Chinese people in Bendigo and they brought their beautiful dragon. It was huge! Here are some photos of the daytime parade.

Weekend with Woody

Auntie Hil and Uncle Rob holidayed on a houseboat on the Murray River over Easter so they brought Woody, their pet stick insect to stay with Arma and Arpa. Woody’s Eucalyptus leaves have to be sprayed with water everyday so that they stay fresh and she has water to drink.

Stick insects look just like sticks and pretend they ARE sticks so that birds will not see them and eat them. There are thousands of different types of stick insects. Woody is a Giant Spiny Stick Insect

Here’s an explanation from Auntie Hil,: “Rob took a pic of Woody to show where her eye is. Her mouth is to the right of her eye - it's that thing with the small arm-like bits sticking out (Rob calls them ‘mouth arms’). It's confusing that her eyes are behind her antennae, unlike ants which have their eyes first then their antennae.”

A new toilet seat for Arpa and Arma

On Saturday Arpa and Arma went to Bunnings to buy a new toilet seat because their old one was rather manky. There were all sorts of toilet seats to choose from. There were lots of coloured seats and some had frogs, flowers or sea-shells inside their see-through lids. Mads would have liked those. But in the end Arpa and Arma bought a plain white one. It is much better quality than their old one and it is very nice to have a fresh, clean, new toilet seat in the bathroom.

Happy Easter Maddy!

Arpa and Arma say, "Happy Easter!" to Mads and her mummy and daddy. We hope you have a fun time exploring your new country and seeing what Easter is like in Germany.

Off to Singapore and Germany!

Arpa,Arma, Michelle, Fiona and baby Thomas all went to the airport to see Maddles, Mummy and Daddy off.
After checking in the luggage mountain there was time for a snack and a romp around the airport lounge.
Then it was onto the plane and away!
Bye bye Maddles, bye Mummy and Daddy! Have a great time! We love you!

The morning of the big day!

April 3rd arrived at last and while Mummy and daddy were getting ready to go to Singapore Maddles, Arma and Arpa had a happy morning together playing at Kerford Road

The Last Night at Arpa amd Arma's

Here are some photos of Maddles having her last bath, story and sleepover at Arma and Arpa's before going off on her exciting adventure to Singapore and Germany