Happy Holidays

Well, contrary to the previous blogs, we survived a near disasterously snowed-in Seattle Airport and made it to Montana sans luggage until the last flight Christmas Eve! Santa shimmied down the chimney to shower us with gifts for our inaugural 'Lundberg White Christmas'. We ATV'd, sledded, snow-shoed, horse rode, horse wrangled and 'two horse open sleighed' our way across the snow laiden fields of Gallatin Gateway whilst enjoying the wonderful hospitality of Jason, Michelle and Madison Veitch in the architecturally remodelled 'Rockin' V' cabin. Bucky Perlstein, Mike, Jeff the coffee brewing BirdMan, Mitchell and friends, and the lovely Kesta, Diane and Graeme all made our holiday oooh so enjoyable! Thank you!! For loads more photos, click here.

Snowed in?

No flights into Montana this side of Christmas and no flights back to
San Francisco... On standby tonight for SF flight but not looking good.

Stranded in Seattle

Alaskan Airways ran out of de-ice spray yesterday for the flight to
Bozeman...! Awaiting rescheduled flight :(

Montana

All flights snowed in (frozen to the ground actually) except ours!
White Christmas in Montana here we come...

Festive Spirit

A week before the big event, and Santa just made a special pre-Christmas delivery... Christmas PJs!

Melbourne

Well, it was short but oh-so-sweet! It was a fabulous trip home - the farm was peaceful; I relaxed with Mum and Dad and Dani; got to know Ben Hulyer a whole lot better, and my new god-daughter Mila and met both little Mack Seabrook and Albie Browning for the first time; the gallery party was very emotional yet wonderful (see MobileMe link on side column for more pics); and hung out with a heap of old friends! 14hrs on a plane... the silence was blissful :) and David handled the kids and their hectic routines extremely well... may have to do this regularly!! The hugs from the boys when I returned was priceless. For loads more photos, click here.

Flying Solo

Sitting in SFO awaiting my boarding call for the SF-LA leg of my
journey home to Melbourne. Just me, a good mag and soon a glass of
vino... Looking forward to seeing everyone - I can't believe it has
been a year. Left the boys to their own devices for a week - they'll
have fun I'm sure!!

Thanksgiving

The Veitch's arrived with gorgeous baby Madison - just in time for the Lundberg Lodge's inaugural Thanksgiving! Jack wove his usual magic with the baby prompting plenty of coos and coy smiles as Sam slowly tested the waters unsure if this new creature had the ability to usurp his position within the family... he slowly warmed to her, finally requesting special playtimes with Maddy in the games room! Teak was especially smitten entertaining her every time she was placed on the floor.

The huge 18lb gobbler (organic free range thank you) was brined in special spices and lunch was served: creamy potato gratin; green beans with tomatoes, olive tapenade and goats cheese; autumn carrots glazed with maple syrup and parsley; parmesan, artichoke and Italian sausage stuffing; and, of course, cranberry sauce! Michelle whipped up a pumpkin creme brule... yummmm!! A few good wines were downed, and we whiled away the evening with some friends and their children around the pool table - the Pococks and the Brooks (from Sammy's preschool) whilst the kids all watched the karate chopping Kung-Fu Panda.

Rodeo Beach

Just a glorious spot, 2mins from the Golden Gate Bridge on the Marin side. You pass under the 101 from Sausalito and emerge from the long tunnel into another world... a long sandy beach, trails criss crossing the ridges and an expansive ocean view before the fog rolls in! Everytime we have been, there is hardly a soul around. Glorious.

Sea Ranch Chapel

About 5mins north of Sea Ranch lies The Sea Ranch Chapel. Offered as a 'nondenominational sanctuary' it was designed by a San Diego artist in 1985 and gifted by two local residents. It is an amazingly incongruous sight as you drive by on Highway 1; nestled into the forest with it's cedar thatched roof, bronze spire and stained glass windows - it is part mushroom, part witches hat and part peacock... inside is even more spectacular. It is a tiny room with softly carved benches and
flagstone paving inlaid with shells. A wrought iron chandelier hangs from one corner and the sunlight pours through the multi-hued abstract stained glass windows. We missed it several times as we drove up and back from Gualala, but finally it appeared and I just had to stop and peek inside!