Tate turns 3

Our little Grandson Tate turned 3 yesterday so he started partying early on Sunday and I think he is still going. We stayed overnight on Sunday and we all had Pizza. Monday morning he had more presents to open and we had a much quieter day. His `big present' was a Trampoline but he received loads of great presents and had a ton of fun. So did we :) Abbey is now 6 months old and as you can see is just totally cute and adorable.

Spring has arrived

Spring has arrived here in South East Queensland and I know this because:

* Today I wore flip flops all day and bare feet around the house on our tiled floors
* We had to use our sun windowscreens on the car windscreen today to keep the heat out
* We have taken our comforter off our bed and I am putting our throw rugs away
* And finally the definitive indicator is that the first Jasmine flowers are in bloom

So now it is time to clean out our fireplace and fill it with pine cones for a summer display, I'm not looking forward to the heat of summer but I am loving the change of season. I took this photo of some wattle yesterday at Noosa where we went for a picnic by the river

Lazy Sunday

Yesterday Alan's sister Margie and her husband Ross came to visit. The weather was perfect so a ride was first on the agenda.

Max was on his best behaviour.
Alan helped groom Max and Ross watched from the sidelines, I took photos :)

Margie and Max enjoyed the ride.

After the riding we had lunch - a Leg of lamb which had been roasting in the Weber, Ratatouille
and bread with cordial. This was followed by an apple tea cake with Greek Yoghurt for Dessert and later a cup of tea. Before they left Alan took Margie out to harvest some fruit to take home - all in all a perfect day was had by all!

Being Tourists

Last week we had family visiting from overseas and we all went to stay at beautiful Noosa. It is hard to believe this stunning place is only 45 minutes drive from our home. Last Friday was a perfect sub tropical mid winter's day and we decided to take the 4k round walk through the Noosa National Park. Thank God for National Parks which have saved all this beauty from the dreaded Developers and even campers in this case. All you are able to do here is walk, watch nature, swim and picnic and all you can take are photos :) And all of this is only a few minutes walk from one of the most crowded and expensive resort towns in Queensland.

Here I am looking back at Noosa Main Beach. It has been a little decimated by recent high tides but is still beautiful and on this day there were quite a few people swimming. The building right on the beach is the re furbished Surf Club which is a great place for brunch or lunch on a day like this.

I love this photo which I think I may get printed on canvas. I took this from the pathway, not even a footprint on the beach let alone a human being. This got me thinking about what it must have been like before the white settlers arrived in this part of the world. Truly a paradise.

A visit to an Art Exhibition

Last Wednesday we went to Brisbane with my Art Group to visit the Queensland Art Gallery. This is a beautiful Art Gallery in an Arts precinct on the South Bank of the river. Here there is also the Gallery of Modern Art, the State Library, The Performing Arts complex and the
Conservatorium. We went to see an exhibition of American Impressionism and Realism. Works from the Met in New York City were juxtaposed with works from the same era (around 1900) by some Australian Artists. We were lucky enough to receive a guided tour and it was a wonderful experience and a special day.

Here you can see some of the beautiful landscaping at the Gallery.

And here is a photo of the City of Brisbane taken from outside the Gallery.

A Great Weekend

Last weekend a team from our Gympie RDA Centre went down to the Gold Coast for the Annual State `Riding for Disabled' Championships. A large group of us camped and Alan and I slept in the back of our Ute. It was a huge weekend with Mounted Games on Saturday morning, Carriage Driving on Saturday Afternoon, a big Dinner with a pig on a spit and lots of other great food on Saturday night and Dressage on Sunday. Our team performed brilliantly and we all had a lot of fun. In these photos you can see our `camp' and Alan with Darren who is receiving a first prize ribbon from the judge. Notice Bobby's beautifully plaited tail and his hair ribbons :)

Here come the Judge

Alan and I were up at 4.00 am this morning as we were heading out to be Judge and Penciller at one of the obstacle/challenges at a Competitive Trail Ride for horses and riders. There were over 40 riders competing. The challenge Alan was judging was all about mounting and dismounting from the `off side'. The riders had to dismount from their horse onto this log, lead their horse around the log and then remount. It was very interesting and a lot of fun. For non riders reading this - a horse is always mounted from the same side and it is quite difficult for both horse and rider to do it in reverse. We were home at lunchtime and now we have lit our log fire for the first time this year as it is a very overcast and cool day. So nice and cosy to have a fire going :)