The Dracula Sneeze

First of all lots of pigs got sick.

Then some people caught flu from the pigs. Now hundreds of people have piggy flu.
So now we all have to do the Dracula Sneeze when we feel an achoo! coming on. We point our nose into the crook of our elbow which makes us look just like Dracula wrapping his cloak around his face. This stops our sneeze landing on anyone else.
You can make your own mask so that you won’t breathe in germs.

We all have to wash our hands for 20 seconds which is the same length of time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday”. Every time I wash my hands I sing “Happy Birthday To You” so I will know when to stop.
It is the Queen’s birthday on Monday so we are having a holiday from work. But not a holiday from washing our hands

Librarians rule!

Librarians all over Australia are celebrating how great libraries are. Colleen (not the toy hippo, the REAL Colleen) made a large chocolate cake with a bookworm decoration on top. It looked amazing and tasted delicious.

A popcorn man came and made hot, buttery popcorn for all the students at Arma’s university so they could eat it while they watched movies in the library. There was also a barista who made hundreds of coffees and hot chocolate for everyone. Famous Author James came along and told us about clever people who write books – just like Mads’s mummy.

We all had lots of fun but no-one has done any work at all this week!

Mothers' Day

Sunday was Mothers' Day in Germany AND Australia. Arpa, Arma, Mummy, Daddy and Madeleine talked to each other on Skype and said, "Happy Mothers' Day!" Madeleine showed Arpa and Arma the wonderful things she had made at kindergarten during the week. One was a magnificent dragon with a long tail and scales. It looked very realistic.

Later, Arpa and Arma went to Auntie Hil and Uncle Rob's place for dinner. Rob cooked tuna on the BBQ and Auntie Hil made a beautiful Salade Nicoise. Arma was amazed to see her poaching eggs by wrapping them in Gladwrap and putting them in a pan of water. They turned out perfectly.



The highlight of the meal was dessert - Crepe Suzette! This is a delicious pancake with orange, Cointreau and brandy sauce poured over it and then set on fire at the table! If you look very carefully at the photo you can just see the blue flame in the ladle of brandy.



There was a present for Arma to take home too. It was a very good Mothers' Day all round.

Second Cousin Once Removed

Here are some pictures of Isobel Nicole Tate. She was born on 20th September and is Mumma’s second cousin. In one of the pictures Isobel looks very like Hard Donnie, don’t you think?

The other pictures show Isobel with her brothers Stephen and Bailey.

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.