Saturday, January 28, 2012

No trip to Sydney would be complete for me without...

..a ride on the Manly Ferry to Circular Quay.  Mum and I caught the bus into Manly and then visited Adriano Zumbo's shop before we got the ferry--lots of yummy things there (and I bought his book recently).  On the way the rain pelted down so we caught the train up to the Town Hall and from there walked through the Queen Victoria building,  I never tire of admiring its architecture and it is so good to see it in its restored form...what a loss it would have been if some people had got their way in the past and had it demolished....
We were able to stay under cover by using the under road access and the above the road walkways that connect the buildings...I had a good look around to see what had changed since my last trip...and it was lots!  But some things never change....
 By the time we were on our way home in the afternoon, the rain had cleared, Circular Quay was busy as always with boats coming and going...

 The bridge is something still to be admired...
 As is Fort Dennison, so near and yet so far from the shore...
 The week has zoomed by since we made this little trip down "memory lane"

Friday, January 27, 2012

I'm back...

..and there is a chilly wind outside today.  I enjoyed the rather moderate (for January that is) but very enjoyable temperatures in the mid 20's in Sydney.  There were many comments over there about waiting for summer to arrive..   Spare a thought for us here...Heavy rain in town for us last night but just south of us there was snow on the top of the hills this morning.  With the breeze blowing from the south today it is a little on the cold side with temperatures expected to be from 6- 14 degrees according to the paper. 
The sun is shining, though, so it is lovely sitting inside which will be perfect for the first get together for the year of my craft group this afternoon.  I'm back at work next week so I will enjoy being able to spend the whole afternoon catching up on what everyone has been doing since the middle of December.
It's funny how my suitcase was only half of the allowed baggage weight on the way over to Sydney and just 0.3 of a kilo under on the way back and that was after I'd taken out the things I had for Mum in Sydney and carried hand luggage on the way back...
I had a lovely time...just Mum and I...and too soon it was time to return home...part of my handluggage had to include (of course) 2 favourites for the family...

these didn't last long!!!
and neither will this!!


Sunday, January 15, 2012

No Blogging because I'm away...

..visiting my Mum in Sydney.....when I was growing up we spent a lot of time over the summer at either Dee Why beach or Long Reef...it wasn't that far to walk to .....it all seems like so long ago.....Mum still lives there  and so I am away to spend some time with her ..... (not much time for blogging of late as I have have been busy finishing her quilt before I left)
Back next week to catch up on what I have been doing...

Thursday, January 5, 2012

A new year begins...

and time to plan what I want to achieve this year...after having a tidy up of my sewing bits and pieces I realised that perhaps this year could be a year of working on what I already have......I was surprised and somewhat embarrassed at what I had accumulated for projects that I just couldn't resist when I saw them....bits and pieces that I had put in one cupboard or another and have yet to make a start on ...but hold on,  I think that was my aim for 2011!!  so will see how successful I am this year in lightening my stash of projects...
We've had a busy start to the year with family visiting from the North Island, so no time for stitching of late..but the weather was good while they were here...just warm, sunny days in contrast to what was happening up north where they are from....Reading the paper this morning there was also the news that we have had the driest December on record here...just 9mm of rain...no wonder the lawns are looking rather sad at the moment...The cricket is on the TV and Mike Hussey has just reached his century...good for him after the disappointment of Melbourne... Clarke is on 293...and off they go for lunch...
Oops...I've missed the first deadline for the Some Kind of Wonderful Stitch-a-Long so will need to get going and catch up by the end of January (I think I can, I hope I can...)