Time for bbq's, horse racing, and warm weather

by Jo Spong

Its official, BBQ season at the McKelvie-Spong residence has commenced. Last weekend Al cooked up a bbq feast for dinner and we sat outside to eat it whilst playing the Aberdeen version of Monopoly. That's right, there is an official Aberdeen version of Monopoly and thanks to Jan and George, we now have a copy of it. It was the first time Al had won at Monopoly, however he clearly had the advantage so it was a little unfair. I dont think the win counts actually :p



Today has been 29 degrees, fantastic weather for the Caulfield Cup. We placed a little bet on a horse named "Dolphin Jo". Al chose the horse because of me, so of course I thought that was sweet. But with further thought Im hoping it was because it has my name and not because he thinks I look like a dolphin! Unfortunately it came in third last so I think our method of choosing horses to bet on may change for the Melbourne Cup in a few weeks.

Tomorrow is to be 23 degrees. We are planning on driving to the Yarra Valley (Victoria's main wine region) for the day as there will be a farmers market on at one of the larger wineries and with this weather it should be a great day.

We hope you are all well

x The Dolphin & Al

The newist convict on the block

by Allan McKelvie

Good Day

Yesterday marked an important occasion, after a few months preparing our case, I have now become a permanent resident of Australia*. Ripper Bruce!

Needless to say I had to convince the immigration department to overlook my stint in Cell Block H, I just flashed a smile and gave a quick Alf Stewart impression (ya flamin galah!), and all was well...


Mucho credit has to go to my darling Jo for her meticulous attention and organisation when going thru the file, thank you honey! Thanks to the immigration department too, you've made the right choice.

So we obviously went on a wee celebration spree afterwards and called our friends and family who probably thought we were off our trees. We both suffered a bit today but it was worthwhile.

In other news, Jo presented at a conference in Adelaide last week to much acclaim, thankfully her Qantas experience was smooth, no emergency landings or bits of the plane falling off. Although there was a yelping bairn in the seat next to her. Good job the flight was only an hour.

For me, uni is only 4 weeks from completion, the job hunt is about to begin in earnest. I'm enjoying my time at Monash Uni, where I am doing my internship. Things are coming together there and I'll hopefully give them something they can use.

We are going to try and stay up this sat night to watch Scotland play Norway in another world cup qualifier, hopefully it will be worth staying up for. It's pretty much a must win game. Which we usually lose. Nae doot!

Alright, well Jo is hanging to play Risk on the laptop, so I better help keep the peace and get moving.

Hope you are all well. Take care, Al and Jo x

*Small technicality applies - in 2 years my case will be reviewed but hoping it will be straight-forward.