19th March 2011:

A while since I've been online here, sorry about that. Much to report, and mostly good. Simon is now several weeks into the Springboard programme in Adelaide, and has successfully passed his probation period there, so he can stay with them for up to 3 years. The programme is run mainly by volunteers and involves lots of group sessions. Simon finds some of these a bit humdrum e.g. they often have a session where they pat a balloon across the table to each other! However, this is interspersed with valuable speech therapy and physio. It is a very long journey for him, so we have decided to just go on one day each week. We go to a local sports physio twice per week, and he is making good progress there.

Last week Simon gave his second speech at Flinders University to the Speech Pathology students. He did really well and we received some wonderful feedback from the students. He is going to be a regular guest speaker for them from now on. Next week, Simon, Matthew and I will give a seminar at Flinders Business School, this will be an important milestone, and we hope that it will launch Matthew's research into a new phase.

We have had a great harvest of squash, tomatoes, peppers, and chilis. I am now trying to persuade some carrots and beets to grow. My neighbour, Maria, advises me about the moon-cycles which give an indication of the best times to sow seeds. This may be where I have been going wrong in the past.

My sister, Margaret, set off on a cruise holiday today to Japan!! I hope that they will be safe. They are very good travellers, but even so, when you are stuck on a ship there are not so many options. However, Margaret is the type of person who would wrest control of the ship and turn it around by herself if necessary. I fully expect to see her steaming up the Torrens with a jolly roger at the mast, wearing an eyepatch and shouting "Arrhharrr, Jim lad...."

Our air conditioning is broken, and is going to be horribly expensive to repair. Luckily, we have not had a hot summer and so we have managed without. I will need to repair it because the same system also gives us heating in the winter. Simon needs heating because he is not able to move around enough to keep warm.

We bought a new PC and this is helping Simon a lot. I am trying to set up narrator and want to get some dragon speak software. Anyone used this? Any good? Next week, I will give my first live on-line tutorial - very scary but I want to crack the technique. We still have limitations, because Oz broadband is underdeveloped at best we have ADSL, not even at the speeds we were getting in the UK five years ago. There is a national plan to improve this but it has been contentious and many delays. I am involved in a project to deliver an MBA with a regional/rural focus, and I desperately want to get the online stuff working well. My poor long suffering undergraduate students are the victims of my experiential learning. Don't worry, I will look after them, even if I have to replicate the tutorial physically each week.

Skippy caught a mouse recently. He strutted around the house triumphantly for many days.

We feel blessed to be in this part of the world that is so untroubled. Even other parts of Australia have been terribly damaged this year, and it has been terrifying to watch that happening. I don't know if prayers help, but I keep trying.

Lots of love, Marian