Surrey's Birthday Picnic

Consider yourself invited to Surrey's Birthday Picnic at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney next to the tree planted in his honour.

Please click here for more details.

Shingles!

Today I was diagnosed with shingles. Click here and here for all the facts. I am on medication and it has been caught early due to a whole string of things that just happened to come together.

This means I have cancelled my trip to Adelaide for Easter. I am disappointed because Dianne probably needs someone there to help her at the moment. However, it does mean I have no excuse not to have a lazy long weekend. I must remember to "... just sit" rather than find something really energetic to do. I thought a few movies (thanks Leonie) and a bit of patchwork (thanks Surrey) could work a treat. I will also be working with Dianne (long distance) to design a blog for her to display all her weaving on. You'll be able to click to it from my blog when it is done.

I've just found out that the cost of my flight is now in credit for me and I can rebook it anytime before March 2011. So I'll get there eventually Dianne.

I have found another site with more information on shingles. It looks as though this could last a week or two.

Swimming Lessons

Last week I was lucky enough to take Alex and Luke to swimming lessons while Mummy went to a meeting.

Here is Alex doing very high arm swimming. He is getting very good.

And in the distance you can see Luke being a very good boy in one of the little enclosures where the younger students wait for their turn. There were actually about 10 kids in the pool and three teachers. There are about 8 little enclosures where they sit and wait.

It was a lot of fun to see how well they are going.

We had to walk home and went to a park on the way and searched for all the numbers on the houses and letter boxes.

In memory of Surrey

This weekend I have spent relaxing and doing just what I wanted to in an attempt to shake off what might be a cold or perhaps just some sinus focused allergy.

At last I have taken a photo of the artwork I had done of the grass Bryan named after Surrey.

It has been named Eragrostis jacobsiana. It will go beautifully with the painting of Agrostis bettyae named by Surrey after me.

I have also spent a bit of time finishing the patchwork top for a picnic rug made from some of Surrey's shirts.

This is just the top. My decision now is how to quilt it??? I thought I would probably do navy blue just in a few diagonals, not through every block though. Maybe diagonals both ways or perhaps just one way, but which way???

Underhill March visit

Joy and I visited Underhill last weekend after stopping at Marulan for chook food. Our job this time was to sort out the mess of furniture in the dining area. We now have a much more usable space.

I forgot to take my camera but luckily Joy had her phone camera with her. The bricks on the floor have successfully flattened out the permanent wrinkle in the carpet. This means we might be able to avoid tripping up so much.

Music, Music, Music

I've now started singing in a few choirs and have some concerts coming up that you might be interested in:

Sunday, May 23 at 2:30 pm - Sutherland Shire Choral Society The concert is a repertoire of Mozart's Requiem, Charpenter's Te Deum and Rutter's Gloria

Sunday, June 13 at about 6:00 pm at the Opera House - Chorus Oz (a Sydney Philharmonia Choir). We are doing Elgar's 'Dream of Gerontius' this year.

Let me know if you would like to come to either of these concerts and I'll find out how to get tickets if the websites do not give the details. These ones are quite heavy weight but should both be good.

I've also joined the UTS Blue Stockings Choir again. This is a women's a capella group but no dates for concerts yet.

Award for Betty

Yesterday I was presented with an award I won at the end of last year for my Engineering Links program at UTS.

Church Houseparty

Last weekend I went to Rathane in the Royal National Park south of Sydney for our Church Houseparty. An absolutely beautiful setting for an active social weekend. Lots of time to catch up with friends, reflect, sing and eat.

 

The view

  

The house

  

My bedroom was on the far right

  

The lounge

  

More view

  

A four-legged friend

  

Activities were varied

  

Space for lots of littlies

  

This ended in a mud slide

  

Great to have live music

  

And even songs to help us in our reflections and studies.

Boys, cars and dominos

Last week I had fun babysitting for two days.

 

Here's a trick for getting two very active boys to lie still. Note the speeding car on the yellow track. 

It puts a whole new meaning to 'getting run over'.

Underhill February Visit

Another day visit to Underhill after a month with 135mm of rain!

 

Geoff and Jen came down with me and we were met there by Terry and Ellie. It was nice to see the grass starting to grow a little and some of the fruit trees still alive. Unfortunately we have lost the Granny Smith (one of our earliest plantings) and one I have listed as a Court A. Plat apple (perhaps Court Pendu Plat) (planted in 1987).

  

In some places the grass was quite lush and green.

 

The big job of the day was to remove the metal pile for recycling. Terry and Ellie brought their trailer and Cal from nearby brought his front end loader. Between us we loaded the trailer and front bucket of Cal's tractor a few times and drove to a nearby block to add it to the stockpile ready for the recycling man to call. There was all the metal in this photo and an old fridge.

  

before 

  

after

Geoff and Jen went for a walk to the far dam which has at last come above the rectangular hole again. Perhaps something will now grow back around its edges?

  

Our total crop of fruit this year was one very small peach - it actually tasted beautiful but was tiny - and one quince which I forgot to pick before we left. Perhaps it will still be there next time. We don't usually pick them until March anyway.

 

My next visit is in March. Feel free to contact me and let me know if you'd like to come down any time.