Learn something new every day!

Some time back I saw a beautiful Chinese film set in a boarding kindergarten.  The children all had split pants and when they wanted to go to the toilet, they squatted over a drain.  I'd never heard of such a thing, so of course googled it and came up with lots of photos.  Here is one:

Tell me, did YOU know about this?

Ordinary life

Ordinary life, is, of course, exactly what I want.  Even so, it's always busy, and just getting through a day is taxing enough.  I recently dragged out all my sewing gear to make this hat for Emma:

She loves pink and flowers, so this fabric was the obvious choice and the reversible side is different coloured stripes (leftover from the summer dress I made her last year).


Frank and Winifred, it's always good to find your comments.


I spoke to the Finnish lass and her grandmother this morning and am looking forward to meeting them both soon.


Am off to HeartMoves (exercise class) shortly, after which I'll take Emma and her hat to the  park over the road.

From the sublime to the ridiculous...

Yesterday I drove two friends from Hornsby to Palm Beach, as far east as you can go.  I loved the fact that ducks wander round freely, drinking from a cut-off milk bottle some thoughtful person has put there for them, at the foot of high hills sprinkled with million-dollar houses.  Check it out for yourself on this website, where you'll get lots of views as well:  
http://www.realestate.com.au/buy/property-house-in-palm+beach%2c+nsw+2108%3b+/list-1

The foundations of this round house amaze me - they look just like matchsticks!


There's no doubt about the ingenuity of mankind.

Spring brings out the best in us all

Had a beautiful weekend - Hugo's birthday on Sat, then lunch chez a friend who lives in a magnificent home overlooking the ocean.  We sat down at table at 1pm and were still there at almost 7pm.  There were 10 of us and we had to shout to be heard, the conversation was so animated!  Here's the view from the balcony of their three-level home::

It was a hazy day, so you can't see the ocean very well, but it's there!  This is where the Hawkesbury River, that begins near our house, runs into the sea.

Here's another pic by a professional:

Where does time go?

While I've been busy doing other things, this blog site has been updated, which probably means I'll get lost.  Anyway, here goes!

So far, so good.  This lovely pic of indoor geraniums belongs to Olga's aunt, who lives in a village in Russia.  I had never seen geraniums indoors before.  I'm planning something colourful for my place, but with little sun till late afternoon it's going to be difficult.


Olga was so impressed with my last blog, she came down by train to visit David Jones to see for herself, and I was more than pleased to go again.  Here are a few more pics:

Winifred and Frank, you've both won prizes for your flowers, but I doubt you have the thousands of dollars of DJs at your disposal!  I don't think anybody could beat this annual show.  I can't even begin to imagine how they do it!  The flowers were just as fresh on Day 10 as they were on Day 1.

Sydney in spring

Every year David Jones puts on a flower show.  No words needed.