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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real: Loving Darwin

Joining Like Mother, Like Daughter for this Thursday tradition.

{Pretty}



This is our one and only 'souvenir' from our trip to Singapore this December/January.  Singapore was hosting the Elephant Parade - a fundraiser for an elephant sanctuary in Thailand.  Basically, they get artists to paint large elephant sculptures for auction, and make a certain number of replicas in smaller sizes for sale.  Our little elephant is called Blossom.

The large elephants could be seen all over Singapore, but we bought our small one from Tang's department store. Tang's is a Singapore institution.  It was set up in the 1920's by Mr Tang, the son of Presbyterian missionaries.  The store still retains its Christian origins today.  In shopping mad Singapore it was just about the only major shop closed for Christmas, and they actually had bible verses emblazoned across the shop Christmas display and on the Christmas shopping bags.  Can you imagine that in other parts of the world?  I can't imagine a major department store doing that here in Australia.

{Happy}

In case you can't tell it is a candle holder - as in shine as a light in the world!
Oh boy, am I loving Darwin.

It might be stinking rotten hot.  But, are the people we are meeting ever making up for that.

We have more social commitments coming up in the next couple of weeks than we have ever had in any other posting.  I have too many activities I want to attend with Ginger for days in the week - choices will have to be made, as will they with two invites to fortnightly coffee catch-ups which clash. 

I met my lovely neighbour on Sunday (a gorgeous girl from Indiana).  Less than an hour later she popped round to ask me to come over for supper.  Oh, and she and her daughter are making us brownies when DHA fixes their oven:) - her 5 year old informed me of that, not her Mum.

We tried out our new church on Sunday.  And, we are blessed they have a creche.  An Anglican church with a creche!  Unheard of in Australia in this era of ageing church congregations. And, after some persuasion Ginger agreed to stay in - I heard my first sermon in over a year.  She came out proudly bearing her craft project and then went off to play with the other pre-schoolers.  All ten of them, and half the congregation is down south for the holidays; at our previous church she was the only pre-schooler.  She had a fantastic time.

Mr Provincial found a friend in the congregation who he went through military college with.  His wife is also expecting a baby this year.  We have a dinner arrangement for Saturday.
I am feeling truly blessed.  This is by far the most positive start to a posting we have had.  And, we have done four postings in four different states in five years!

{Funny}






Ginger has taken a serious liking to her Father's favourite book The World Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft.  At first I thought it was just because her Dad was looking at it, but in the days subsequent to me taking these photographs she has asked me to take it off the shelf for her to look at several times.  I wonder what the appeal is?


{Real}





I am struggling to come up with homemade healthy snacks for all our morning teas.  I can bake - but I have my doubts about how healthy the regular addition of a piece of cake to our days is.  I thought I had hit the nail on the head with a recipe from the CSIRO Wellbeing Book for Kids for Cheesy Vegie Muffins.  No nasties in these and plenty of carrot and zucchini.  Only thing, Ginger took one bite, spat it into her bib and flatly refused to eat any more.  Oh well, at least Mr Provincial and I like them.

11 comments:

  1. Hi there, thanks for stopping by my blog! I have heard that darwin is hot but a friendly place to live and sounds like you are settling in well!
    How cute that your daughter is loving daddy's book! One of my girls (the outdoorsy twin)has taken a real liking to a flyer advertising ride on mowers and she continually points out one that looks just like daddy's...amazing what they like isn't it!
    I tried those muffins to for the exact same reasoning and unfortunately they both spat them out but we liked them!
    Enjoy that creche..what a lucky find!

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  2. Sounds like you've moved to an amazing new community! So nice that you get a little break to listen to the sermon again as well!

    The Indiana neighbor made me wonder - are there U.S. marines blended into your government housing community? I'd read that another thousand or two would be working out of Darwin this year but didn't know anything about the time frame for their arrival.

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    1. Hi Sarah,

      No my neighbour is just an American married to an Australian (Air Force member). In terms of the marines, I think they are meant to arrive later this year, but from what I have heard it is an unaccompanied 6 month deployment.

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  3. Finding community is so wonderful! A true blessing :)

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  4. I love the daddy and daughter pictures.
    Blessings,
    Dawn

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  5. I'm glad you're so happy there!

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  6. Hooray for getting to hear the sermon! Hope there are many more for you.

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  7. It sounds like you have settled in well to your new posting, and to have met so many friendly people truly would make setting in even easier. It's interesting what captures little ones attention, it's sweet that it's her Dad's favourite book too:) I think your muffins look great and sound pretty tasty to me. One of my favourite Mum blogs is Meagan at ecoMIlF, she has lots of healthy recipes she makes for her two little ones. Thank you for stopping by it was lovely to meet you.

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  8. Told you you'd love Darwin. As for your food critic, i strongly believe you have to offer a child the same thing 10 tens in different ways before you can agree, they don't like it. Different ways being - snack, lunch, with fruit etc, not necessarily your baked goodness mushed up with peas!! I had the best social life in Darwin too, they look after when your husband deploys SO much better than any other place. Love Posie

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  9. Well, if you were only going to get one souvenir, that one is lovely!
    Thanks for joining!

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  10. Sounds like you too are settling in to your new posting. We would love to go back to the NT. It is such a special place and such a pleasure to be able to have called it home. It is the people that I want to go back for. Are you attending the Anglican Church near Gunn? If so they do a fab market once a year:)

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