I have reached the stage now where luxury is not in fine possessions but in carefree possessions, and the greatest luxury of all would be the completely expendable.
Nan Fairbrother, The House in the Country
The holidays are over. How quickly they went. I am retired now so it doesn't make such a difference as it once did, but it means back to the old routines.
P:-) and I volunteer every Thursday evening at Manna House where people come in off the street for a free meal. People come for all sorts of reasons. For some of them it is a meal they would otherwise not get. Others come for the company.
It has been lovely to have a break from Manna House since Christmas. This is our last week off and we will start again on the 5th February, so this is our last free week.
P:-) and I spent a few days last week helping P:-)'s daughter M paint her new classroom. She will be teaching kindergarten two days a week and wanted to spruce the room up.
Don't the new colours look great!
Here are some pictures of it complete.
M is a super keen teacher and we are very proud of her.
I must confess I spent more time playing with M's little daughter S, than I did painting.
On Friday P:-) and I took a short trip to Davistown on the Central Coast of NSW. P:-)'s family has had a holiday house here for years. It has just been sold but as yet is still vacant and the new owners kindly gave us permission to camp in the back yard as we have done many times before.
We have a caravan that pops up and out, affording us two comfortable double beds - plenty of room to spread out at night and have a good sleep.The caravan is a 1981 model - vintage. We bought it sight unseen from eBay 4 years ago for a cheap price. It is very basic but we have great fun in it.
The reason for our short holiday was a reunion of P:-)'s family in the park opposite the old house. P:-) has cousins who live next door so it was just across the road for them. Others came from various areas of Sydney and Wollongong.
P:-) has very nice relatives and I really enjoyed the day as I think did all involved. We were lucky to have good weather.
While were were there some ducks set out in formation down Cockle Creek.
The next day, Sunday 25th, was quite hot. The early morning view across the lake was very still and peaceful.
Later, during the heat of the day,I couldn't resist this shot of the sky through the awning.
We spent most of the day under the awning, trying to keep cool.
A mother duck wandered around the yard with her ducklings. We had seen them when they first hatched in October.
Then there had been 14 of them. Now there were only 5 left, but they had tripled in size.
Apparently kookaburras and other birds prey on the ducklings when they are young. They were much harder to photograph this time. Perhaps the mother was more wary after losing so many of her little ones.
I had thought these ducks were native but have been told this is not the case. I would love to know the breed.
On Monday26th, Australia Day, the rain set in.
We drove home in rain.
We came home to more rain. But I will never tire of the view from my back window.
My daughter J has an exhibition on in Gallery 9 at Darlinghurst. Here is the link for the advert.
Advert for Jade's exhibition
Just a final note. I grew up by Towradgi Beach in Wollongong. My father, James Edwards, was one of the initial surf club members in 1947 and captain. This is a link with a little about it.
Interesting sites
1.
Tiny eco home in Romania
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| Photo source |
2.
Harry Potter in Lego
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| Photo source |
This project features architecturally accurate recreations of the Harry Potter sets such as the Great Hall, the Quidditch Courtyard, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and the bridge over the Clock Tower. About 10,000 LEGO bricks were used for the L-shaped, nearly 4 meters long structure of the school’s central staircase alone.
Click here to see more.
3.
Cabinet from disused pallets
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| Photo source |
Click here to see the tutorial.
