Another two weeks

We continue to pack in some busy days as October is progressing. We've heard some wonderful news today - that Rod's house has sold without any glitches, settlement has gone through (as of an hour or so ago) and we are no longer responsible for looking after the empty property, and all the hours of work involved in getting it sale ready and all packed up are OVER!! It really is something to celebrate after the past 10 months of uncertainty.

Apart from all the pre sale house and garden activity in the last two weeks we've also enjoyed some lovely times here in Canberra, and a few more days in Coogee (again).

We always enjoy our regular National Gallery visits. This time we admired one of the Gallery's most recent acquisitions - Man With Horse by Edvard Munch (1918), thanks to the generosity of the philanthropist Geoff Ainsworth AM (no one has revealed how much it cost!). It's a major work by Munch and we are looking forward to telling Abi all about Munch's love of horses and showing her this painting in due course.
 

Canberra continues to give so much Spring joy. This was taken in Glebe Park on Monday 12 October on our walk home from the Canberra Centre.

We were back in Coogee for a few days last week. We wanted to be there in person for our Strata AGM - and just enjoy some more time there. The conditions were just superlative on our morning walk on Wednesday.

Probably one of the best breakfast spots you'd find anywhere on a sunny morning (Barzura @Coogee Beach).

It's that time of the year in Sydney - Jacaranda trees in bloom and HSC (and Uni) exams underway.

We had our dear friend David (from the Daintree in FNQ) visit us for a few days late last week, which is always lovely, and he's coming back next week, again

Abi competed in a show at Cowra with Sammy over the weekend. It's a 5 hour return trip to Cowra - a real test for Sammy in the horse float. But it all went well, except that Sammy wasn't as keen on jumping that day as he usually is.

Abi is continuing with her campaign to train us to handle Sammy with confidence and expertise - ready for the role we're taking on over Christmas-New Year while they're away on holidays.

She is so patient and encouraging with us - and she says we are improving a lot. She is an amazing teacher!! We always love our time with Sammy and Abi - its been a great new interest for us, alongside being a key passion of Abi's.

Yesterday, David's lovely young son Rhys came with us to visit Rod at Arcare Aranda. Rhys used to play chess with Rod before the accident so he brought along a chess set with him in case Rod wanted to play. We loved seeing Rod remember so much about the game. Rhys ended up winning but Rod played well - only making an error at the end, maybe because his concentration wavered. Rod had started playing some games on his device in the last few weeks and he remarked that he found it harder using the board - maybe because his sight and space perception have been impacted by the accident. Anyway it was just wonderful to see him able to enjoy a game of chess again! It's hard to believe how well he's doing especially granted the severity of his injuries at the start of the year.