CATCHING UP WITH MYSELF

Time flies by, and before I know it May is nearly over, and Winter begins on the 1st June...

On Mother's Day, all our children were in other cities or overseas...

We decided to visit The Mountain, where we took my father for so many excursions in his final years.

The Palm Grove is still lovely in the dappled sunlight:

and guess what I saw, climbing a tree as we entered the park:

Yes, a good old scrub python, about three metres long, sliding its way up into the tree canopy...

As a more genteel adventure, we moved along to my favourite plant nursery.

Loved the swans, but resisted purchase (they were awfully expensive)..

Our Peace rose has been prettily performing..

and Australia had a Federal Election.

Living on the edge of the city, we go to vote at a small country school nearby..

Not queues or crowds, and always the traditional fund-raising Sausage Sizzle, which has now become known colloquially as the Democracy Sausage.

It seemed wrong not to indulge...

In other news, I have spent a lot of time at the hardware store buying knobs and fittings, and Mr Handyman has been here for a 10 hour marathon of restoring, mending, replacing, and generally refreshing the Cardinal Nest.

It feels so satisfying to smarten things up again...

With the cooler weather, I am growing violas and pansies like the flower tragic I remain..

Winter heralds the season of the Country Shows, and we took Little Aussie to our local event..  

He loved it, and went on three turbulent show rides in succession -

before lunch!

Horseshoe sculpture, and the Show Bag stand

After much consideration, a Show Bag was bought for the lad to take home..

On to inspect the work of local artists:

Lorikeet Art!!

The gardening competitions..

and the Cooking:

Watching the Axe-men..

and the riding..

Loved the well-dressed judges in the Ring...

Meanwhile, over in Canada, our grandsons have been visiting the Tulip Festival:

Boy draws tulip..

and the National Gallery of Canada, being watched by Maman, 1999(Louise Bourgeois).  I like to visit the giant spider every time we go to Ottawa..

This is me on our last visit in December, 2017.  It was sooooo cold, about -23C.

We are looking forward to another visit later this year....

and hope to see some excellent Autumnal action:

Gatineau National Park, 2011 (Red Cardinal)

And as the first snows fall in the Australian Southern states, the Snow Bush has burst into bloom in the Red Cardinal garden:

Be good and take care

XXXX