RAINY DAY DISTRACTIONS

Hello to all the pretty lorikeets who decided to take

food and shelter today at the

Red Cardinal Centre for Free-Spirited Birdie Pets.   

I think they are over the ongoing drizzling rain too!

Everyone knows I love a bird motif,

so it is no surprise that I grabbed these heavily reduced items

 at the Bed, Bath and Table sale.

Melamine picnic wear, for the day when the sun returns.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Check out these cute little teaspoons-

Christmas pressie from the children,

who know what Mum loves: pretty, pink, tea, flowers ....

This was part of our Annual Agapanthus display, in late November.

Yesterday I dead-headed about 50 of these old soldiers.

Thank you and well done; off and have your 10 month rest now!

I am getting back into the sewing these days.

Hope to have another dress to show this week...

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY

Mr Cardinal's Australia Day offering -

sums up late summer Australian days pretty well, I think.

I sang with my choir at a Citizenship Ceremony,

taking my patriotic fan to cope with the humidity.

It was inspirational, and heart-warming,

to see the happiness of the new citizens as they took the Oath of Alliegance.

We ended with a rousing chorus of Advance Australia Fair .... as you do!

We had a barbeque street party with all the neighbours -

about 50 people turned up!

It is such a great way to catch up with each other every New Year.

The rain has started again -

which is wonderful for the garden!



IT'S FLOODING AGAIN!

After a heart-stopping few days when the computer monitor died in a puff of foul smoke,

Red Cardinal is back in business.  Phew!

The Monsoons have arrived in our town, and not wanting to be a slow starter,

our creek responded by immediately breaking its banks, flooding the road,

and making a lot of noise during the night.

The local wild duck population will be beside themselves with the

excitement of it all!

Little Aussie came to visit last weekend.

He got into the newly fixed pool and demonstrated his superior 2-year-old

underwater swimming technique.

We were absolutely charmed by this brilliant display!

We adjourned to a park for a climbing demo ..

And gave wild applause to his galloping horsemanship!

We shared these at a local cafe.

He didn't know Grandma was not supposed to be seen eating chippies....EVER!

 

SYDNEY PART 2

I always enjoy a good Antique Market, and can spend hours browsing for the interesting and unique.

In Alexandria we found this huge centre, full of bargain goodies.

Only the prospect of trying to get it on to the plane to come home restrained me from grabbing some of the big items.

I bought some old silver to play with.  Two silver trays for $25!!

I've been cleaning them on and off for two days.

The one I really love is rectangular and very heavy.

Still more cleaning needed, but it is looking Much Better already.

Found some art in my Sydney wanderings. 

At Bondi, a mosaic of Edwardian Bathing Belles,

cavorting in the surf.

And this statue of a surf lifesaver.  He reminded me of that classic statue from antiquity The Winged Victory of Samothrace:

Except that the"wings" are a little low!

In a Mexican restaurant, a large jar and a tiny Mexican...

Mexicans love a lot of skull art!

A trio of flying ducks - these were stick-on decals in a friend's place.

How cute are they?

and, after three days of merriment, the Cardinals flew home for a good rest!

SYDNEY SOJOURN PART 1

Two Red Cardinals flew to Sydney to hang out with our son for a few days.

This was Bondi.  I love the smell of the salt air and those rugged headlands poking out into the sea all along the Sydney coast.

We enjoyed fish and chips at the beach...

We played my favourite board game Settlers of Catan.

Smart Son won twice.  

Which seems only fitting as he was an excellent host, and gave up his fantastically comfy King Size Bed for his aged parents.

We wandered through the weekend Markets of Glebe...

 and visited the Shrine of San Churro.

A churro, sometimes referred to as a Spanish doughnut, is a fried-dough pastry-based snack.

(Source: Wikipedia) 

 

Their chocolate display was spectacular!

We didn't really notice that it was raining most of the weekend!

Such a relief after last week's heatwave.

Part 2, coming later... Bye for now ..

COOL AND POOL

The great pool refill begins;

a baby water dragon waits impatiently for the water to reach him!

36 hours later and it is full.  A bit too green, but looking much better.

A couple of likely lads arrived to add vast quantities of salt and a bit of other stuff,

and we'll be good to go in no time.

Fingers crossed the repair will last A Very Long Time (ie Forever!)

because the water bill for the refill will be Horrendous!

Welcome back to little pink and white rose.

I have missed you.

(Some plants are very coy about strutting their stuff too frequently.)

Thank Goodness the heat wave has abated.

I do love a south-easterly wind change. 

You can almost smell the salt air from the sea..if you wish hard enough.

Lots of roses perished from heat over the past three days, some of them while still buds.

This one is a little survivor.

Not much water in our local creek these days.

It is said that platypus live here, but I've never seen one.

It is a cool experience to just stare at the water trickling along.

I love a rugged Australian bush stream.

Have you been to the Qld Art Gallery to see the Eugene von Guerard Exhibition?

He was a great colonial painter of the Australian bush.



Source: Google images



This is his painting of Ferntree Gully in the Dandenongs, Victoria.

Look at the little lyrebird in the front.

I might actually cook something tonight.
Stay Cool!