Update

 Did you miss me? I meant to be back much, much sooner but I still can't get to my Blogger Dashboard on any browser other than Firefox. This is annoying because I prefer to use another browser but, hey, I can work with this. So this is a catch up on what's been happening around here.

First of all there were the usual seasonal celebrations in our case mainly family oriented. The Thursday before the Easter break began we celebrated the Cambodian New Year with lots of yummy food and catching up with family. Then we had another family lunch on Easter Sunday - this is another tradition  for us all where we go to my artist niece's home. They live on a bush block about an hour from Perth and it's always fascinating to see what new and quirky and changes they have made. As well as this we have a bunch of family birthdays in this period so lots of family and fun.

While I seem to be the odd one out in my family having missed out on the visual art gene it is showing up in the next generation. Miss Nine and Miss Six visited during their school holidays and spent some of their time drawing - and produced some quite passable efforts. These now adorn our fridge. Master Two's drawings are a little more problematic although he insisted that his swirling green creation was a rainbow. We took the littlies to the park behind our house where a good time was had by all and they left with a promise of a baking session next holidays. When I suggested the girls think about what they'd like to make there was no waiting. "Cookies," they said.

We were lucky we could do that because then Perth was blanketed with thick smoke on and off for a number of  days. This means those who like me have a bad reaction to smoke can't get outside. It's a  pity because it's a real pleasure to be outside now the summer heat has eased. The smoke comes from preventative burning off in the bush and on country properties and is a frequent problem at this time of the year. I understand the necessity but hate the experience.

Oh, and I've been writing up a storm. With all my health problems I'd just about stopped doing anything creative - but here it is again with a succession of short stories ready to be edited and wrestled into something worth reading from their somewhat messy first draft shapes. It's been very satisfying I have to say and with luck some of them will end up going places.