JULY: THE NEW VERSION

Happy weekend dear Readers.

It has been a while since I updated you on my special Canadian grandsons...

Summer has arrived over there, and here is the boy formerly known as the Little Bebe....

Learning to feed chipmunks at the Lake..

with his Big Brother - who teaches him Everything (good and bad)...

Classic Canadian lake cruising...

This one will be off to French Kinder in September...

Meantime over in Merrie Olde England, another cute kid had a birthday:

I made a sponge cake for my brothers and sisters when they came to visit last week.

We did the final sorting of my father's possessions, collected hastily from his Care Facility after his passing...

There were many books, photos, and other mementos, and everyone had a few things to take home.

It is a bittersweet exercise, and one I have now done several times over.

Henceforth, I need to start concentrating on our trip to Ireland for the Wedding of the Year - wedding of our Sydneysider son to his Irish Lass.
Above please see my little blush pink sparkle clutch.
So tiny, I don't think the iPhone will fit in.
But it should look good in the photos...

But first, we have a little holiday in London..

On our last visit, quite a few years ago, London was cold and bleak in January.

My inferior camera made it look worse...

But we had fun - visited the Queen's Pictures at her Buckingham Palace Gallery...

This time?  Perhaps the exhibition of the Queen's royal outfits?

Has anyone seen it?

Liberty is always excellent...

This year it will be September, and we will have more time.
I have been looking online at the theatre offerings...

Last night of the Proms on 10th September - Yes please....
But no tickets now available. 

Moving on - perhaps a West End Show?
There are so many of them - which to choose.
I see Breakfast at Tiffany's has burst into song -
Is it popular?  Are the reviews good?

I found that The Barber of Seville will be playing...
but coincidentally, I saw it in Brisbane this week.

Opera Queensland's production is brilliant...lots of fun, and the costumes are fantastic.  It takes red to a new level...

Norma will be on at the Royal Opera House...that would be lovely...

On the list for London are Windsor, Hampton Court, the Wallace Collection, British Museum and Library, the V&A, Sissinghurst, and meeting friends.

Will they all happen?
Of course not, but it is fun to plan.

Any suggestions would be very welcome, and carefully considered.
Also any warnings...you never know...

It's the middle of Winter, and Summer has suddenly returned.
Yesterday it was 29 degrees, a record-breaking high for July.

I consider this quite unfair - our Winter is only about 10 weeks long as it is, and now even that is being intruded on by Mr Hot Sun/Climate Change...

Cool change forecast during the week, thankfully.

Have a beautiful weekend my friends.

XXXXX

YELLOW

I was greeted by this beautiful pearly sunrise this morning, 

precursor to a dull cold day.

Some birds were up early...

taking over the little lorikeet bird feeder.

Note, lorikeet in the background trying to scare large cockatoo...

Ah, that's better.  Lorikeets 1, Cockatoos nil.

Defeated. 

One of them then went and decapitated one of my rose buds.

Grrrrrrr....

Runaway nasturtium is having flowers..

This bit wanders over a chair..

Funny, cheerful plants.

My father loved butterflies, which made this patio set irresistible...

So did you see what Kate wore to Wimbledon?

Yes, the happy yellow dress from her Australian tour, 2014.

The one I shamelessly copied in navy and white linen...

My Sewing Sisters were here last week.

It was like Biscuit Day on The Great British Bake-off..

I worked on beading my dress for the upcoming wedding.

It is looking good and received the tick of approval from the Sisters...

and today I visited my father's last home before he went into residential care.

The old avocado tree was laden with fruit.

He loved that tree!

So many memories....

Take care

XXXXX

RAIN, A VISIT AND STRANGE TIMES

Hello

See the raindrops, dancing on the pool?

It's been raining again, and the garden is loving it..

When it is not raining, it is freezing cold.  

Good.

Time for new scarves..

and new boots..

and break out my warm Mondrian dress, c 2013.

Little Aussie and his Dad came to visit for a few days over the school holidays..

We made sausage rolls..

and played Mousetrap..

No, I'm not sure if that was Darth Vader either...

Lego still rules.

I liked this dress Kate wore for the Battle of the Somme commemoration.

Subtle mourning, beautiful beige lace over black.  

Elegant.

Shirley Macnamara, Qld. b. 1949 'Skullcap' 2013

I thought you might like to see this art installation, part of the Exhibition 'Line and Form : Paintings and Sculpture from the Indigenous Australian Collection',

currently on show at GoMA.

In 'Skullcap' Queensland artist Shirley Macnamara recalls customary funerary practices for some Indigenous women, where heads were plastered with white clay or gypsum to form a cap.  This was worn for some time after a bereavement, successive coatings being added making it very heavy and uncomfortable.  

Macnamara does not copy the caps found in museum collections, rather she adds emu feathers to her red ochre form, recalling the emu-plumed hats of Australian soldiers in the two World Wars.  In particular, she wishes to ensure the Aboriginal soldiers who went to war and never returned to their loved ones, are no longer forgotten.

We had a Federal election in Australia last weekend.

So close was it, that we still have no result, and no Prime Minister.

We live in strange times.

Be good.

XXXX