Our thoughts have been with Aljazeera Joel this week and the survivors of typhoon Haiyan whose hellish plight he's been covering in the Philippines.
But for us, our past week in Canberra has been reassuringly normal:
Lunch and playtime with (Demolition Derby) Abi on Thursday......
Some progress AT LAST on the paving job we did the prep for over two months ago! Lucky Brett the paver is worth waiting for!........
Spending up big at Ella's school's very successful Twilight Fair on Friday evening....face painted, nails done, games and rides partaken of......
Ella and I entered the Cake Off/Bake Off with a batch of carrot, pineapple and pecan cupcakes (with orange cream frosting) and an orange cake (which we made together on Thursday after school). Ella and I thought her cupcakes were the best ever, in the style of the retro, restrained aesthetic of London's Primrose Bakery. However the winning cupcakes were very tiny and very impressively decorated - very good to look at but maybe not to eat (?)
We bought all Ella's beautiful cupcakes back from the cake stall. She thought they tasted heavenly, especially eaten with one hand while swinging on the monkey bars.
On Saturday night we headed out to Murrumbateman for a post India trip get together, having some fun in the process getting dressed for the occasion! On the night I voted Jennie's best female outfit and Jurgen's, best male (despite strong competition from Wayne's turban).
I took pictures of Sophie like this in India - but on this occasion the food she's eating is a lot more familiar (while still being Indian inspired)!
Our sixth sisters and spouses reunion started right on schedule at
Coogee Beach last Thursday afternoon (7th November). With everyone
safely arrived (from Sandy Beach and Jerrabomberra - Rob and I were
already in Sydney for my work) we set off in high spirits, in brilliant
sunshine, to Bondi, via the headland walk for our yearly dose of
Sculpture by the Sea.
Over the past five years Sculpture by the
Sea has looked less and less ambitious each year as funding has been
restricted - but that does not diminish the sense of excitement we feel
approaching Tamarama Beach and our first sight of the works on the
beach.
As always the walk is crowded, and lots of young kids about. I always love hearing their comments on the works - especially about this reflective snow dome. None of us could work out how the reflections "worked" but it was fun making up theories.
There are always works that look familiar to us from previous years too.
It's after 6.00pm by the time we finish the walk to Bondi and we're really looking forward to our Israeli beers at Sabbaba in Hall Street and later their wonderful, filled pita breads and mezze plates. Afterwards we catch the first of many buses this weekend, back to Coogee.
Friday was our traditional sisters' shopping day in the CBD. Rod chose to join the girls for the morning up until lunch which we enjoyed together at the wonderful (and scenic) Cloudy Bay Fish Co. in Westfield. He bailed after that while we wandered somwhat aimlessly for a few more hours. Our shopping lacked the focus of last year when we had a wedding to plan for. Anyway, time was spent, many things were discussed and some were bought. Rob and Pete did the manly thing and caught a train to Vietnam for the day (Cabramatta) enjoying a wonderful lunch at Thanh Binh on John Street and making sure they returned to Coogee afterwards with the requisite number of glutinous rice cakes.
Saturday dawned sunny and warm, perfect for a day in the Eastern suburbs. First stop was the Paddington Markets and a long session with our favorite jeweler Melanie from Ant Haus Designs. With the three of us on a buying frenzy (mild) we seemed to attract a crowd, so Melanie ended up having a good morning I'd say.
It was just a short walk then to Queen Street Woollahra- one of Sydney's ultimate addresses. We enjoyed a stroll through the very genteel and plush Woollahra Village, then on to Ocean Street and New South Head Road to Rushcutters Bay, site of Sydney's largest marina and only a stone's throw, around another bay, to the Opera House and Circular Quay.
We were unsuccessful finding a pub with a water view where we could enjoy a drink at Rushcutters Bay/Darling Point so we eventually ended up making our way back to Circular Quay where there were plenty of options (we chose the old Paragon Hotel on Loftus Street). Afterwards we paid our respects to the Sydney Opera House. It's been much in the news lately because of the 40th birthday celebrations.
Another bus ride then back to The Spot at Randwick in plenty of time for excellent pizzas at Arthur's before another drink at Bar Ritz and then a movie in Cinema 4 at the charming old Randwick Ritz.
We saw Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks in a familiar (but well acted) role as the "everyman" caught in extraordinary circumstances. We all found the film very riveting which was probably just as well after a day in the sunshine and a few too many drinks between us.
The weather turned pretty wild on Sunday - windy and raining- pity really as we had a boat trip planned. Rob had us all booked into a 4 hour Blues Cruise on Sydney Harbour from 12.00-4.00 pm. The King Brothers of the Foreday Riders (Sydney Blues royalty) and Shane Pacey and Al Britten from the Bondi Cigars (the heirs apparent) and Ali Penney (on keyboards) kept things rocking as the boat slowly made its way around the inner harbour and lower reaches of the Paramatta River. We all loved the music (don't tell the kids and grand kids we even had a dance or two) and enjoyed the experience. Rob was incredibly relieved there weren't any grey haired, ponytailed men in stonewash jeans at this event, like I'd been warning him. Even the weather was relatively kind to us.
We ended off a wonderful day (and our previous three days) with a walk through Chinatown (more glutinous rice cakes -yum) and then bus to Surrey Hills where we introduced everyone to the fragrant Stone and Wood beer at the lovely old Trinity Bar and their gourmet pub menu. We loved our final meal together here and vowed to include a visit in next year's itinerary too.
The hardest part was saying goodbye lovely sisters (and our boys)! These reunions every year are very special.
Both of the girls have picked up a variation of my Indian bug - but luckily, nowhere near as debilitating as mine was. They have runny noses and bad coughs, but no fevers and obviously their energy levels are a lot higher than mine were. And, unlike me when I was in the midst of my misery, they both still look the picture of good health.
Abi, Jody and Ella had a lovely long lunch with us on Friday - giving Ella a day away from school to give her sore throat a rest.
Abi is a bit of a Grandpa's girl at the moment. She keeps him very busy - and on quite a tight lead! She helped him liberate an enormous Huntsman spider from our hallway into the bush over the road.........fascinating!
Into the third week back from India, I started part time work again and we went out socializing this weekend (a friend's birthday party), and we even squeezed in a few hours gardening too. The garden's gone Spring time crazy, but starting to suffer too from all the dry winds over the last few weeks.
While Rob and I fought off a return flight BAD BUG the rest of the family did what they could to cheer us up. Ros and Pete were visiting for a few days - excellent timing to help Granny K celebrate her discharge from Canberra Hospital (after her marathon 9 week stay there while her fractured leg was mending). Maxie and Rod hosted a very happy and delicious dinner last night at their house.
The kids were delighted to see each other. They played very co-operatively all evening with minimal watching from any adults and Angus and Ella were sweet enough to co-operate for this shot to mark the occasion (thanks for this Ros!).
......but you have to be quick!.....
Check out the stack of meringues on the glass stand on the dining table (Ros is keeping guard)!
Abi was her usual happy self especially when she had so many adults around to lift her to food selecting height when the urge struck her.
Angus introduced us all to Albert Einstein - his beloved new pet guinea pig. I think Abi was the most excited to see it (much to A's consternation). In the shot below she was "telling" us all about his tiny little ears. It is amazing what Abi is able to communicate with all her gestures and head shakes and nods. The five words I hear her use most at the moment: Mumma, Dadda, Gampa, dodow (dog) and babow (her word for everything else) are really all that a girls needs when everyone can understand what you want to tell them anyway!
Even Eddie put in an appearance last night, all the way from Hackney London via Skype. Abi was very entranced with him, finding his singing abilities very advanced and his Big Ben toy very interesting! Just imagine how impressed she'd be if she met him face to face!
