Berrima

Bindi and Simon where heading off to Gosford to catch up with her family after the temple on Saturday, so I drove back to Canberra. I enjoyed listening to my podcasts and driving by myself. Called in at Berrima and decided to check out the shops- being by myself it meant I could go into whatever shop I liked and look at what I wanted to! Got some potato and leek soup from the Gumnut Patisserie and some chocolate caramel slice to bring home! Had a most enjoyable 24 hours away. Below are some of the lovely old buildings in Berrima and a couple of shots of Lake George on the way home when I stopped to stretch my legs.

 House next to the Women's Prison

 Berrima Prison

 Old Courthouse

 Lake George

Wind Turbines on Lake George

Unexpected Trip to Vivid

 Went up to Sydney Friday night to go to the Temple, Simon and Bindi where coming up with kids and suggested we go into the city and have a look at the lights as part of the Vivid Festival- which we did and had a lovely time. Here is Charlie- " pole dancing" as he said on the train into Circular Quay.

 There were crowds of people, and the lights were lovely. My camera is not good enough for night shots, managed a couple that turned out reasonable.

 One of the light installments

 One of the arches under the bridge had different BBC animal scenes playing- was pretty good!

One of the cruise boats going past

A Month Ago This Would Have Been Impossible!

This is a photo of all three dogs on the bed, nothing unusual, but up in the corner on the pillow near Amy is Lyra her Eclectus parrot. Luna is just lying there not wanting to eat her or attack her! She has learnt that Lyra is a protected species!  She is not fully trusted like Jack and Benji but she certainly has come a long way!

Visit to the Zoo

We caught up with my brother Gary and his family at the Zoo- weather was lovely- didn't take many photos- but the lemurs and the meerkats seem to be the best at posing for shots- it was like they were trained to pose!

                                   The meerkats were very cute!

 The giraffes move in slow motion and seem so graceful.

 Red tailed black cockatoo

 This lemur just sat in the sun and posed for everyone, wasn't at all fazed by all the people.

Trip to Melbourne

Amy and I had a trip to Melbourne on the weekend to catch up with my mum. We spent Friday night with her then spent Saturday night in the city. Had a lovely weekend. Friday afternoon we went shopping at Fountain Gate. Saturday morning we drove to Rippon Lea at Elsternwick and saw the exhibition of costumes from Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries- the series on the ABC- the costumes were lovely and Rippon Lea is a lovely setting. We enjoyed morning tea there and wandering around the gardens before heading into the city, where Amy and I stayed Saturday night.

  Beautiful old house

 Some of the lovely costumes from the different series

 Not a very good shot but the only one we had of us dressing up!

 Enjoying some morning tea in the cafe- lovely tea cups!

Mother's Day

Had a lovely Mother's Day. Got chocolates from San Churros and a massage voucher- what more could a mum ask for! Amy and Lachlan below hard at work cooking dinner- Lachlan did main course and Amy desert! Lyra is on Amy's shoulder supervising.

Bach the Alexandrine Having a Bath in his Drinking Bowl

 It is a bit hard to get a proper shot but I sat and watched Bach this morning having a bird bath in his drinking bowl. He was having a great time and it was a delight to watch. I couldn't get too close as he would stop, he spent about 3 or 4 minutes playing in the water!

Sister Missionaries to the Rescue

  This big branch came down in the stormy weather last week. The missionaries from church are always asking if they can help in any way so I took them up on their offer. They came over on Saturday morning and helped Amy and I chop up the big branch. I got some new pruning saws from Bunnings and in about an hour we had it all chopped up into reasonable size bits apart from the main branch we just left in the garden.

 It is true- many hands make light work! Dogs always like to know what is going on!

 Yay- the back yard is finally back to normal.

Took two loads of green waste out to the Mugga Lane Tip- I reckon I have taken about 10 loads out in the last 6 weeks or so. I reckon there is probably another 10 loads of stuff to trim- it is never ending!