Waiting for summer

With November half over we're all waiting for some really warm sunny weather to arrive, but its been rainy and cool most of the time. The girl has had some horse riding sessions washed out by rain and storms - but she found a backyard diversion when Jody's beautiful, original 1980's era skateboard arrived on the scene! Abi loves its vintage origins and has spent ages cleaning and polishing all its wheel bearings to get it to peak performance.

We're working up to party season now too. Jody had an unaccustomed night out with her girlfriends last Friday - dress up theme, early 2000's style - although we could all see Sandy from Grease with that head of curls, the biker outfit and that SMILE!

And then it was the Auto Torque Christmas party the next day - a lovely meal out at a country winery and followed by a classy bar visit in the centre of town. The girls had a sleepover with us while the adults did the bar visit. I barely managed to get this quick shot of Joshy and the girls looking very glamourous on their return to the city after their long lunch. They all hate posing for pics!

Rob and I are spending 4 nights in Coogee this week. Its a nice change for us in the big smoke, but also gives us time to do a bit more research into our planned renovations. The new (vintage) chairs are now installed in the kitchen - with many thanks to Josh and Jody!

We've already done over the fabulous Lunatique at Mascot, and lined up a few possibilities for a vintage cupboard to finish off our brand new kitchen design and checked out the many bathroom possibilities at the Caroma showroom in Mascot too.

 

It's peak Jacaranda blooming time in Sydney now. We got out early this morning for a walk and admired this beauty, before the lighting and thunder and rainstorms started (again) this afternoon.

 

Harry etc

Harry the Brumby pony continues  to fill Abi's heart. He is all hers for three days a week, but school, wet weather and parental commitments can sometimes get in the way of that. But last Sunday was sunny and clear - a perfect day out at Redlands with Harry.

Abi loves every part of the pony maintenance process too ... lucky Harry.

But the weather on Monday (and Tuesday) last week turned B-A-D, a deluge of rain both days and strong winds on Monday night. There was no time for Harry at Redlands those days, and so many beautiful big trees around Canberra came to grief in the storms. We were amazed to see several large oaks in beautiful Glebe Park down for the count in the aftermath (as well as quite a few trees in the NGA Sculpture Garden).

We see quite a lot of horses and ponies these days. This is how we spend Saturday afternoons now, with Abi at Forest Park for one of her weekly riding lessons. She scored Caspar the Fleabitten Grey for this class, her current fave pony at Forest Park. Did I mention that this girl loves horses?