March highlights

March brings on our favourite season in Canberra - the light softens (as does the temperature), the blue of the sky is brighter, birds are feasting on an abundance of seeds and the mood is celebratory in amongst all this beauty - in a very local kinda way - given how awful the news is around the rest of the world.

We all had a rude awakening about the effect of the rest of the world when our fave local live music venue (The Dissent Bar & Cafe) was closed down one recent Friday night because of the allegation of "hate speech" in its political poster display on the walls inside. There was a huge police presence and a comprehensive investigation (!!) before the police eventually decided the posters were (harmless) examples of political satire (anti-Trump) and not racist at all (!!). An alarming example of how free speech, artistic expression (and common sense) are all under attack in the current climate.

A week or so after the police closed it down (on its busiest night of the week) we were there to see Angus perform with Body Shirt.... an awesome high energy gig - and no police in sight!

The French Film Festival is another March highlight for us. We've signed up for a 6 film program and so far we've loved the films we've seen. Living where we do we can walk to the Palace at New Acton to see the films and even catch the tail end of the lakeside Enlighten Festival (also in March) on the way home.

Abi, Josh and Jody have been busy most weekends this month with pony events. A big one involved a trip to Goulburn where Abi and Sammy competed in two events. They're a beautiful jumping team, especially on those days when Sammy is feeling calm about the venue. For some reason he wasn't feeling as calm about the event in Goulburn. It may have had something to do with how crowded and noisy it was, with helicopters landing near by and all sorts of other distractions. All good experience though for horse and rider.

We spent some time on the Canberra Day public holiday, in a lovely calm way, with Abi, Owen and Sammy doing some strolling around the beautiful Freshford property together.

Afterwards we enjoyed a family dinner, hosted by Josh and Jody, to celebrate Canberra's 103rd birthday (that was the excuse anyway!). 

This little interlude with Abi and a random (wild) magpie reminded us of the days when she knew every bird and insect in their garden and had names for them all!

We came across this gang of cockatoos on our walk into Braddon the other morning stripping a Chinese Pistachio bare of of its early Autumn seed growth.

We (inadvertently) chose to visit Koto (near old Parliament House) for a fabulous meal on the night of  Canberra's lakeside Skyfire celebration on the 14th March. While we were enjoying delicious Japanese food and the thrill of seeing Rod out and about with his loved ones, outside there were thousands and thousands of people settling around the lake ready to enjoy the birthday fireworks spectacular.

It made for a very memorable night, not only for the sense of occasion and the beautiful food, but also how difficult it was to navigate our way out of that place once the night was over, due to the huge crowds and traffic jams (Rob and I walked home!).

March has also seen Ella settling into Uni student life. We've been lucky to have extended lunches with her occasionally over the past month too and its been lovely to hear all about the huge new (sometimes overwhelming) world opening up to her.

Today was the last day of Canberra's Balloon Spectacular. Rob and I made the effort to get going early so we could see the balloons rising as the sun came up in the East. It's a pretty spectacular sight!

How lucky are we to live here in this beautiful city!