Bungendore Olive Pick

We always enjoy a trip to Bungendore. We get to see our favourite people and do our favourite things and we always come away reminded of how special the five years we lived there were and how grateful we are for them. It's really nice to not live too far away that it's possible to do a weekend here and there. This time we were invited to the Pappas Annual Olive Pick. A incredible weekend of picking, food and friends. It was wonderful and such a joy to be part of their family tradition. 

Easter + Parade

Easter is a favourite in the Catton household. Bunnies, chocolates, easter hats! What's not to love. And Easter at Avonlea is very fun, with lots of hiding places and real life bunnies and chickens to share in the search. This was also Lily's first year in the Easter Hat parade and designing and making her hat was a family affair with much planning and consideration. The motif of 'Maypole' was decided upon and our imaginations did the rest. Levi was called in for engineering expertise, Primrose for creative guidance and Lily and I set about bringing the vision to reality. And what a wonderland was created. It makes me want a real maypole. Miss Lily paraded with great pride and many comments at what a marvellous hat she had created. It may become a family heirloom. 

Show Time { Maitland Show 2026 }

Another very fun show year with lots of entries, excitement, big wins and lots of ribbons! As is tradition we had a ride on the dodgem cars and the kids chose a great fun ride flying up in the air. We saw the animas and the cutest bunnies, which we would take taken home but we have reached bunny capacity. The poultry was impressive, we saw a few breeds we liked the looked of and took notes for future reference. Our favourite of course is racing to the pavilions to see who has taken out the most wins! 

School's Back

Big milestone for us this year. All four of the Catton children are in school! Lily is the most excited of course. She has been waiting patiently to start Kindergarten for the past two years. Literally counting down. Everyone else is well and truly in the swing of things. Finley entered Year 8, Primrose Year 5 and Quill Year 2. They were all as ready as they could be. Squeaky clean, new shoes, pencil cases and bags packed. We are excited for everything ahead of them this year. Finley has his debut musical performance in Mamma Mia coming up in June. Primrose has Virtual Academy at school and leadership opportunities. Quill begins karate and is working hard on his reading and Lily has started dance and is starting to learn to read too. We are proud of the little people they are and are looking forward to the the year ahead.

Lily Takes on Big School

 

Well the day finally arrived! Lily is in Kindergarten. She has patiently waited for literal YEARS for this day to come and here it is. She is ready and thrilled it's her turn to back her bag, get on the bus and learn, learn, learn. Every morning she has jumped out of a bed with a 'is it a school day?' There were no tears on her end saying goodbye, but I had a little moment in the car after leaving her. Just so grateful for the years I've had her at home and what a joy she's been. A beautiful way to finish 13 years of my little ones at home in the week. 

Miss Lily { 2025 }

This has been a really special year for Lily and for mummy. It's Lily's last at home before starting Kindergarten and my last child at home after 13 years. I've been keenly aware of all the lasts, while Lily has lived her best life with preschool (club), nature club and dance and lots of special time with mum at parks and cafe's, going on adventures and having time together baking and crafting at home. She has been very excited all year about school approaching. She can't wait to catch the bus with the other kids, wear her uniform and special shoes and get right into learning and life with her friends at big school. 

Master Quill { 2025 }

Our beautiful boy has grown so much this year, in his height (he is almost as tall as Primrose), in his reading and writing and especially in his swimming and bike riding skills. This year Quill really got the hang of riding his bike and there was no stopping him once he got going. We are so proud of all his efforts to give new and hard things a go.

Miss Prim { 2025 }

Fun, adventure, learning, horses, horses, bunnies, bunnies, bunnies, Primrose has had a lovely year full of all of her favourite things. Lots of fun with the usual - school, netball, pony club.. Lots of determination, courage and effort. And lots of memorable adventures along the way too. 

Mr Finley { 2025 }

This is the year Finley has been waiting for. 2025 meant the start of High School at Hunter Valley Grammar School with all of the possibilities and wonder of the future that comes with new beginnings. It's also been a big year with with soccer, drama, Air League, his first concert, an epic 13th birthday party, a motorbike camp in QLD and lots of camping and fun on the farm with friends. 

Avonlea { Chapter Two }

Chapter 2

We had our first floods this year and it was as great as everyone told us it would be. It had a covid like feel to it, the rushing to get food, preparing for who knows how long at home, the kids anticipation of getting to miss school. Then there was watching the water rise across the road and the quiet after the rain has finished but the flood waters are still high and we have the run of the roads to ride and be our own little community. There were nightly drinks down at the flood water, a visit from the SES flood vehicle, time just to be, because there was no going anywhere. I learnt quite a bit, like that if we are flooded in so are a lot of people all across the hunter so many things grind to a halt like sport and travel. So the best thing to do is just go with the flow and enjoy it while it lasts. It wasn't all fun and games though. The sheer amount of rain basically swept our driveway into the Flower Paddock. We also had water seeping in downstairs and spent many an hour with the wet vac trying to manage it. It's been a wet year, the dams are full to overflowing which is a site to behold.