Family Matters

Back home again after just over a week away in Sydney. A wonderful family re-union and a week of much celebration, catching up, laughter, eating good food and drinking good wine. Equally special for Alan and I was the chance to have a holiday in Sydney. Country Life is peaceful and healthy and we wouldn't change it but we always love the chance to visit a city, especially one as beautiful as Sydney. Impossible for me to pick out one highlight as there were many with seeing family at the top of the list!! So many people in Sydney, especially so many from different cultural backgrounds, a kerbside spruiker flanked by a flag draped coffin, a perfect Panania Deli and a cute market, a fun family barbecue to farewell Paull, a naked lady at Circular Key running through the crowd, a man sitting cross-legged on the lawn in the Botanical Gardens knitting happily and meditatively, the Bridge and the Opera House of course, the fun of riding on the Ferry on a perfect day, the view from `The Gap', harbourside walks, lunch at the Art Gallery and the chance to see some wonderful Artworks, browsing in the Art Gallery shop, lunch at beautiful Avoca Beach, Bellbirds at Erina, a cockatoo sitting on the hand of a statue in the Botanical Gardens and drinking from her mouth, hours in a second hand bookstore, laughter on the bus, fish and chips and Gelato at Watsons Bay, dinner at Waverton followed by a balmy evening walk, singing along with James Reyne at his concert, glorious cool and sunny weather, really good coffee everywhere. In a word perfect! This picture was taken at Watson's Bay and I have taken some artistic licence with it. I also have some special souvenirs. I bought a John Olsen print at the Gallery which I will get framed and some Arty fridge magnets and of course I have my photos so I may do a Collage, watch this space!

Pussies Galore

Yesterday I took myself off on an `Artist's Date' to our local Art Gallery. Alan and I are members of `FOG' - Friends of the Gallery and we are invited to Gallery Exhibition Openings among other things. Our town has a beautiful Art Gallery, housed in a heritage buiding. Two storied with a wonderful curved timber staircase (Think Rhett and Scarlett). So yesterday there were 2 exhibitions opening. One called `Pussies Galore' with a collection of artworks all depicting cats. And the other a collection of pastels depicting endangered animal species from all over the world. After the speeches a guy played 2 of his own compositions on the guitar, followed by Lennon's `Imagine', and then we had afternoon tea. So as you all may have guessed I bought a `Cat'. It was hard to choose as I loved them all but I finally decided on a sculpture in Hebel entitled `Morning Stretch'. Its a beautiful scupture of a cat stretching and I love it. He even has a bell round his neck! I forgot my camera so I can't include a photo yet but I will when I pick him up. The picture on the front of the brochure is titled `Pensive Wombat' and is a pastel painting. This was in a beautiful blue frame which went so well with the colours in the picture and was only $60.00. Great value for an original piece of Art. I came very close to buying this one but I have so many pictures already so I thought twice and 3 times and then decided on the sculpture. I am pleased to say that someone did buy it though.

Pomegranates

This started with a photo I took of a bowl og pomegranates, and just went on from there.

Lest We Forget

ANZAC Day tomorrow. These images are of Alan's Grandfather William who enlisted as a volunteer in 1916. He left behind a young pregnant wife. Alan's mother Iris has recently turned 90, she was born in April 1917 and didn't get to meet her father until she was 4. William was wounded twice but was sent back to the trenches after he recovered in an English hospital after the first wound. These photos were among Iris's collection which we sorted through for her 90th Birthday Party. The photo of William in the trench was in a small plastic box. We believe that thinking he had little chance of surviving the war and the freezing winter, he passed this photo to a friend to send home for him. The words were on the back. I deliberately left the scratches on this very old photo as I believe they are symbolic. The other photo is a studio shot of Will in his formal uniform. The poppy is one of those paper ones you buy on November 11 and I have scanned this and duplicated it. To me the poppies are so symbolic of France in WW1, and of course they are also a metaphor for blood, so much of which was spilt there in such a short time.

Beadalicious

Today I decided to go to a beading class for an `Artist Date'. This turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought. The cost was $5.00 for the lesson and then you just paid for the materials you used. In my case this was about $15.00. I learned a lot of new to me `beading terminology' and then I made a bracelet with earrings to match it. Really good fun. First up you choose your beads from the hundreds available and then you arrange them in the pattern you want and then start threading and crimping etc. I will definitely be going back as I want to make a coiled bracelet with `memory wire'.

Happy Birthday Sam

Our Grandson Sam was 10 yesterday - double digits - he is really growing up. So yesterday we drove down to the coast to take him shopping for his presents. Joel came too and we went out for lunch and then Alan took Sam and Joel to the movies while I shopped. We stayed for dinner which was Pizza followed by a Mud Caramel Birthday Cake with 10 candles. There was Bubbly for the adults and lots of toasting. Then this morning Alan and I took Bella and Gypsy for a long walk on the beach. It was a perfect morning. Sue and Brian are lucky enough to be able to walk to this beach. Then after that we had morning tea by the pool and then made our way home. Sam had a really great Birthday and we enjoyed it too.

My New Old Car

Reading about Paull's Daihatsu Rocky on his Blog has motivated me to post a picture of my new old car, or is that old new car - a 1992 Daihatsu Feroza aka `the shopping trolley'. We found it on Ebay, it was located in Bundaberg so we drove up there and knew it was `the one'. It has an awesome sound system, added by a previous owner's boyfriend, so there is a CD player and it even has sheepskin seat covers. I love the colour and the decals and the vroom vroom noise it makes driving around town. It also has roof racks and a sunroof and in fact the whole roof lifts off if you want to drive on the beach with the wind in your hair (possible to do very close to here). So all that was needed to finish it off was a Billabong sticker with pink frangipanis for the back window (given to me by wonderful Son IL Jeff) that is the sticker not the back window LOL. So it's just perfect and also very fuel efficient. We use it pretty much every day as `town' is about 5k from home and we are there every day, sometimes twice a day.