Life is a Journey – Page 209 – The life and times of Libby Withnall

The Week That Was

Posted on May 2, 2011November 9, 2026 by Libby Withnall

With all our travels it’s been a while since I did one of these posts. I do enjoy them as a way to share random photos or photos taken for my Project Life album. This week we returned home from our fabulous long weekend in Canberra, with no intention of leaving for another 5.5 weeks.

There were beautiful fresh flowers to be enjoyed….

There was a very sad looking chicken (vet said it was just excessive malting)…

There were pups to be played with…and photographed being cute…

There were friends to play Masterchef with… wedges and scones were made and enjoyed…

There was, of course, the Royal Wedding, to watch on Friday night. Amy only watched a little of the actual ceremony with us. I watched the BBC coverage from 5pm until after the kiss. Christy surprised me by watching the whole ceremony. She loved knowing she had stood at the gates of Buckingham palace last year

And insisted on staying up until they kissed – she JUST made it.

There was a new chicken house bought and assembled…

Just a bit of an improvement don’t you think? The old one was really falling apart.

For those who think the Prius is a small car… just look what it can hold…

There was an exercise bike delivered and new desk put into the spare room.

Love it. Will use it for sewing, doing household accounts, wrapping presents,etc. Just need to tidy the rest of the room now :-).

There were also new chairs for the scrapbook room… looks nice and co-ordinated now…

There was a VERY rich and decadent chocolate cake made by…. wait for it…. Kevin !!!!

There was art done by the girls…

And there was a new headband worn by me…

It’s been nice being back home, and getting back into our normal routines. Unfortunately I’ve really been suffering with swollen hands and feet (going to Docs tomorrow) and my heel spur is bad again so I’m just trying to get my house back in order as I can. It’s going to be a bit of slow, and frustrating, process :-(.

RIP Peace Voilet

Posted on April 27, 2011November 8, 2026 by Libby Withnall

When I checked on the piggies this morning I found Violet dead. She seemed well enough when I check on her last night but she’s a very old girl – over 6 yrs old. We’ve been expecting it for some time so no one is overly upset, but she will be missed.

Here she is as a baby in 2005.

It will be interesting to see how Jasmine goes an only piggy, after having been with Voilet

Canberra – On our way home

Posted on April 27, 2011November 8, 2026 by Libby Withnall

After a morning spent packing we had one last stop in Canberra to feed to local black swans.

As soon as we pulled into the driveway they came over to meet us. As you can see it was much cooler today, and no blue skies to be seen.

Kevin… the swan whisperer…

We then said our farewells to the Powells – who were headed back to the War Memorial so Sarah could spend a bit of time there – and hit the road. We stopped at the Big Merino.

And actually walked up inside it where you can look out the eyes. I also got the most beautiful hat/beenie in the gift shop. We then had some lunch at the Bakery.

then it was the last leg to home, sweet, home. Looking forward to being here for a while. So that’s the suitcases put away…. until 5.5 weeks when we pack for our trip to Disneyland and Alaska.

Canberra – Science & Sport

Posted on April 25, 2011November 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Back to Questacon today. We arrived just on opening so it was nice and quiet and the girls were able to spend time doing what they wanted. Christy & Amy both attempted to do the free fall but chickened out (even though they both did it when they were younger).

We finished our visit with a science show and a visit to the shop. As we left 3 flighter planes flew overheads on a fly-by for the Anzac parade. It was pretty awesome. Then we stopped at Subway to get to some lunch and headed to Weston Park.

Wish I could eat lunch with a view like this every day.

After eating the girls played while I took some photos.

Canberra in Autumn on sunny days is just magical. I have so many favourite photos.

From here we headed to the Australian Institute of Sport.

Loved the HUGE sculptures out the front.

We went on a guided tour which stated off with the sports play room.

Kevin tried some downhill skiing.

Christy had fun practicing her soccer.

And Kevin & Noel played basketball.

After 30mins here we set off on the tour. The gymnastics room….

the most awesome weights room….

the basketball court where the Junior Australian team (under 18s) were training.

and the main training pool.

On the way back to the car Kevin got stickered.

Upon arrival back at our room we were quite horrified to find the broken glass we had reported still all over the carpet. Tonight we enjoyed leftovers for dinner and wrote a scathing report about our apartments on Trip Advisor. The glass-cleaning incident was the last thing we weren’t happy with so we definitely won’t be staying here again.