GRANDPARENTS DAY 2020

Oh my, so long without a blog and now Blogger looks all different!!

(Pause, while I figure out the new menu above, and why it is acting weird)..

It is Grandparents Day in Australia today, the last Sunday in October....

so let us look at a few snaps of the Red Cardinal grandchildren:

The twins are doing beautifully, and went home on their 39th day of life - here they are posing outside the family home.

They have each gained over 1kg and continue meeting new goals and milestones.  This week would have been their actual birth week if they had not had to come two months early.

The smaller twin continues to weigh 500g less than his bigger brother, but otherwise they are as identical as they could possibly be.  

I have been busy making them a large quilt for 'tummy time'...

Here's a glimpse or two:

The twins' big brother, Little Aussie, (seen here in shadow on a camel ride during his recent trip to Uluru, Central Australia), is delighted with his baby twin brothers.

And like us, is unable to visit them in person because of Covid border restrictions.

We all hope the rules will change soon, and we can fly to Sydney for a personal meeting and lots of baby cuddles!

Over in Canada, our two Canadian grandsons have learned to wear compulsory face masks at all times.  It helps that our daughter has arranged masks bearing Star Wars, Minecraft, and other images of interest to young boys.

On a recent outing to the Pumpkin Patch...

We visited here with them in October 2019, a whole year ago, and what a year it has been.

It seems ages, and yet sometimes it seems just like yesterday when you factor out the weird Covid year we are still working through...

I never tire of the beautiful Canadian Autumn, and will always long to visit.

Our daughter lives in this pretty town outside Ottawa - her house is in there among all those Autumn tones...

Summer is here, and the Red Cardinal Garden of Neglect has managed to give us some little self-sewn tomatoes - laughing at our failed attempts to cultivate them in some pots nearby :)

This unexpected bloom also arrived outside our back door; perhaps thanks to the many birds who visit us, every day...

Jacaranda trees spread over Brisbane, as always, in October.

We love them, and the purple carpet which spreads beheath..

We are enjoying a return to the theatre, albeit under very different circumstances.

Concerts are shorter, there is no interval, and we have spaced seating, with the venue operating at 50% capacity.

'Encore', the return of Opera Queensland to the concert stage, was a thrilling chance to enjoy some of the great arias in live performance.

Particular favourites were the duet from Samson et Dalila, and arias from Carmen, La boheme, and Lucia di Lammermoor.

You may remember, we began the year 2020 with a plan to celebrate Beethoven's 250th anniversary by attending live performances of all nine of his Symphonies.  We saw the first three back in February, and then one by one our reserved concerts were cancelled (including one interstate).  At last, we have now be able to attend the Qld Symphony's performance of Beethoven's Fifth, and the audience and the players enjoyed it all immensely.  

The lorikeets continue to visit every day, and bring joy to our mornings.

These days, I have to make a conscious effort to notice and appreciate the pleasure of our surroundings.  

Be safe, and take care.

XXXXX