Day 228 - On the cusp of Spring

Spring does not wait for the 1st September and the new sedum growth and blooming daffodils in my garden testify to that.

Day 227 - Painted glass doors for the Yert

Neil has painted this tree design on these doors which will eventually be hung on the doorframe for the yert. It's special paint for glass and it looks great - much easier and cheaper than stained glass and lead lighting.

Day 226 - local bird life

I spied a rosella outside this morning - up on the pergola and then eating the geraniums - the price we pay for living with beautiful fauna

Day 225 - Ten Pin Bowling!

Last night we went bowling - haven't been for about 40 years. It was very popular when I was a teenager and it is clearly back on the entertainment scene. We went with Penelope and Isaac and some lovely friends of theirs and had lots of fun. Nick got loads of strikes. I didn't get any but managed to direct the ball down the centre fairly consistently. Pen improved as the night wore on.

Day 224 - Wind

It's so persistently windy at the moment, it's not worth picking up all the bark and sticks that get blown around our property. I've done it a few times now and realise what a futile exercise it is. But one good thing is that, so far, we haven't lost any trees (touch wood). I think what helps us is that we have so many trees that they support each other and are less likely to topple than the isolated tree.

Day 223 - Keynote movie

I've been playing with Keynote presentations on Penelope's Apple Mac using Stefanie's Arnhem Land pics. I loaded it on to DotSub but lost the original soundtrack. All you can hear is the audio from the video of the children singing in the minibus.

Day 222 - Back in the staffroom

A busy day today - I lost a free period to an "Extra" - so it was nice to retreat to the staffroom when I could.

Day 221 - Monday morning

I had to brace myself to go to school this morning - it was cold and wet and windy - this photo shows the view from the carport - I think I was suffering from "Mondayitis". I survived though and now am preparing for Tuesday.

Day 220 - a new generation

Baby Selvi (my brother Don's child) and Declan (my nephew Shane's child) get to know each other.Don and Shane, really uncle and nephew, are only 7 months apart in age and grew up like brothers. I was 17years old when Don was born. So, it's really lovely to see these boys become dads and raising the next generation of children.

Day 219 at Warburton

We visited my daughter who lives in Warburton today. She is expecting her third baby in December. These pics show the view from their dining area into the backyard and the baskets she brought home from her recent trip to Arnhem Land - she made the bigger one herself,

Day 218 - Tiger airways

We took Penelope to Melbourne airport to catch her tiger flight to the Gold coast for her weekend holiday with her old friend, Ivy.

Day 217 -Getting to know Apple Macs

I am very inexperienced in using Apples but attended the eMug group meeting today - Eastern Mac Users Group, just having a look. I took my daughter's Apple Mac and tried to pick up a few pointers. Heard that Apple run free workshops which I might look into.

Day 216 - Holiday memories

These are momentoes of a long ago holiday in Venice that hang on my bedroom wall. One is a painting my mother copied from one of our photos of the Grand Canal.The black and white pen sketch of the the Rialto Bridge is by a local Venetian artist we purchased at the time.

Day 215 - luscious lavender

The lavender plant is looking luscious at the moment

Day 214 - up the back, looking across

This is the back of our house looking across the other side of the valley, late in the afternoon.

Day212 - Practice essays

Ploughing through Yr 12 essays - and they're only practice essays - their assessment essay is this week so I wanted to be able to say something meaningful on these practice attempts. Some of them were very ordinary which fills me with despair somewhat. the text is George Orwell's 1984 and this is the first time I have taught this novel. Of course it's marvellous and still so relevant but some of my yr12 students don't get it. Or more likely they haven't really read it properly - if at all.Anyway I agonized over my comments all day today so this is an appropriate pic for Day 212

Day 211 - at the footy!

I haven't been to an AFL football match for about 40 years but I went to the revamped MCG today because my grand daughter asked me to go with her. It was a spectacle - a slightly surreal feeling of looking at so many people roaring at young men running around after a ball! Ishaa enjoyed her icecream but found the game boring - I think we were too high up.

Day210 -an old painting of a Greek scene.

This is an old painting that Nick did when he was about 16yrs. Used to hang on the wall in his parents' home. Now it hangs on the wall in our family room and my mother and I were admiring it tonight.

Day 209 - overseas audition

My younger daughter finished her degree a couple of years ago and majored in performing arts. Last year she had a job in a theatre restaurant but that closed down and now she is really struggling to find work in this area. At the moment she is applying for a theatre job in Singapore and had to submit a video online - which her staid school teacher mum has put together and posted up for her on dotSUB - must be something exciting about being a school teacher.

Day 208 - Young thespians

Our year 7's do not do any drama I just realised. Year 7 used to have at least one term of drama, I know, I used to teach it! It was rather exhausting I remember. Anyway, my yr7 English class have just finished acting out selected scenes from Hating Allison Ashley and I filmed them. I am now using Ulead to blend the separate clips into a video presentation which I will show them next week.

Day 207 - Selvi visit

Selvi and her parents came last night for dinner - she is a bonny babe.

Day 206 - The Matriarch and her cat

My mother reading her latest novel with Smudge the cat ensconsed cosily on her lap.

Old friends meet for lunch

We all got married around the same time, had babies around the same time, saw a lot of each other and then drifted apart. But every now and again we have a get together and today we met at Earthly Pleasures in Belgrave - in the old bluestone building that used to belong to Dr Jorgenson.We started off sitting in a mixed gender arrangement but by sweets the divide had become apparent.

Day 204 - Saturday

Despite the pic it did not start off as a quiet Saturday - began with a swim then yoga. Once home had to rush back to pharmacist to collect medication for mum who was really suffering from her osteoarthritis in her neck. The afternoon was more peaceful and I had a walk around the garden to investigate more flowering activity.

Day 203 - sketching pastime

My mother is really missing her pastels and water colour equipment but I found her some good pencils and paper and she's been amusing her self with some sketching.

Day 202 - Camelias

Lots of camelias are now appearing in the garden.

Day 201 - Eggs

Our 3 baby chickens have grown up and have been producing eggs for the last couple of weeks - one or two a day, which is very exciting.

Day 200!

Mum's staying with us at the moment and made cauliflower cream for tea tonight - the sort of dish I don't make much - but it was very yummy. The other pic is the view from our verandah down to the lights on the highway.

Day 199 - Moonshine

Locking the chickens away tonight I noticed the very dramatic moon peaking out from behind the gum trees so I went back to fetch the camera. Doesn't look too bad (not a good as Dawn's though)

Day 197 - two girls

Cheated again - this is from last night, Shelly being entertained by Ishaa - had to include it!

Day 196 - Michael's album launch

<

Michael launched an album last night with his group, The Jed Rowe Band, at the Upper Yarra Arts Centre, Warburton - a great night.Needless to say, I did not take this pic- but I did scan it from the CD cover.