My Muse

When I saw today's prompt I kept thinking how the heck am I going to do this one as I couldn't think who or what my muse was. However it was when I thought of photography I know instinctively that it is Edward Hopper who is my muse.

This is a photograph of downloaded images and a book I own :)

Hopper derived his subject matter from two primary sources:  one, the common features of American life (gas stations, motels, restaurants, theaters, railroads, and street scenes) and its inhabitants; and two, seascapes and rural landscapes. Regarding his style, Hopper defined himself as "an amalgam of many races" and not a member of any school, particularly the "Ashcan School".[67] Once Hopper achieved his mature style, his art remained consistent and self-contained, in spite of the numerous art trends that came and went during his long career.

It is the urban-scapes that I "channel" from his work. His slice of life through windows....

Urban architecture and cityscapes also were major subjects for Hopper. He was fascinated with the American urban scene, "our native architecture with its hideous beauty, its fantastic roofs, pseudo-gothic, French Mansard, Colonial, mongrel or what not, with eye-searing color or delicate harmonies of faded paint, shouldering one another along interminable streets that taper off into swamps or dump heaps.

Most of Hopper's figure paintings focus on the subtle interaction of human beings with their environment—carried out with solo figures, couples, or groups. His primary emotional themes are solitude, loneliness, regret, boredom, and resignation. He expresses the emotions in various environments, including the office, in public places, in apartments, on the road, or on vacation.[74] As if he were creating stills for a movie or tableaux in a play, Hopper positioned his characters as if they were captured just before or just after the climax of a scene.

Together with Hopper it is also Henri Cartier-Bresson's work that feature in my mind as I'm trying to capture some aspect of urban and city life. 

A bit of inspiration

Inspiration can be found in lots of places and my creed for the year of LIVE is proving to be one that has me looking and finding inspriation in many different places and in many different ways.
Dr Seuss's book is a great inspiration to the inner artist and thinker. I'm thinking perhaps some art journaling and selecting a colour to describe a day and ponder around that would be a good idea.

Look at everything as though seeing it for the first TIME then your TIME on earth will be filled with glory.

Betty Smith

Does it make me a visual learner or a kinsthetic learner?

 I was heading to somewhere I have never been before in the Bronx.
I did the usual triple check of where it was and where I needed to go- the usual being looked the address up on line, tried to place it on a map using map quest; checked it out on my phone map and the subway map; checked it out on hopstop and planned to leave with plenty of time to get lost!

I can guarantee if I come out of the subway and decide that left is the way to turn then I should turn right. Even when the hopstop directions tell me to turn left I should know to turn right as i have probably come out of a different entrance from the one they think I have.

Al my map research had a big green patch in the middle that is Yankee Stadium. I had to go somewhere on the other side.

 I have yet to go to a game at the new Yankee Stadium- I know shock horror! But one would think I would have pictured in my mind when looking at the map that Yankee Stadium would be right where I came out of the subway especially as i was getting off the subway at Yankee Stadium (the name of the stop!).
But no I was busy trying to figure out which direction to go looking at and searching for street names close up and in the distance.
For goodness sakes Celia look to your right! There is Yankee Stadium, looming up into the sky, the  great Colosseum of baseball filling the vista!

All I had to do was walk around the stadium, a very pleasant, short walk past the homages to Babe Ruth and along clean and broad pathways, to the other side of the stadium.

Then I crossed a road ensuring that I wasn't run over by traffic- always tricky when cars drive on the wrong side of the road.  It is easier to cross the road in midtown because of all the one way streets and avenues. The old "look to the right look to the left look to the right again", traffic safety mantra is all wrong here and bound to get me killed.
Then there was a walk up a steep Bronx hill and huffing and puffing I arrived at the school.
It is an easy and pleasant walk despite the need for oxygen at the school entrance.
So why couldn't I see that that was what I needed to do when I  looked at the maps? I now have no trouble picturing where I need to go.
What type of learner does that make me?

One needs to look very closely at this picture.
The road does indeed drop away and one has a very pleasant view into the distance.
The hill is a good one!

Getting into this creative stuff!

There are "signs" everywhere telling me that the direction I have set in my goals for the year are the right ones. 

Phoebe my Fairy Art Mother

Our elevators/lifts often have uplifting quotes posted in them by the Health Club- another one of my resolutions that needs attending to! However.... this quote seemed like it was placed there for me....

 “They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
-Andy Warhol

Gosh Andy Warhol and Stephen Covey must have been chatting!

 

December Daze #16

A little more serious and not quite so fattening on this day (compared with day #15)!

Who inspired you in 2012? And why?

What gifts did they give you? And how will you carry these forward in to 2013?


Sources of inspiration are fascinating! I really have to think about this one ...

• Michele inspires- her loving gifts to me throughout the year- the house painting, the company, the birthday photo book, the constancy and loving support;

• My niece Bridie is an inspiration- she is such a wonderful mother to Dylan, partner to Sean and such a hard worker. Her capacity to share her life with me is a wonderful gift;
• My niece Kathy who has worked her way through health issues, is working through the issues of the loss of her father and has planned and will commence in January the big family trip around Australia home schooling the kids and living and learning about our great southern land;
• My close circle of friends have inspired and given me the gift of self assurance, independence and nurturing support. These have been physical support and the knowledge that I can call on them any time and they are there for me- I did and they were- thank you;
• My scrapbooking buddies who craft and laugh and inspire me to try new things and expand my creative endeavours;
• The people of Botswana- who live a simpler life to the full.

The thinking needs to continue!

December Daze Reverb12 #3

Lanes of Nyons France

Trying to catch up with this fast closing month and reflections is really like chasing my tail. I'm using these posts to also catch up on posting the photos of the birthdays holiday in Spain and France.
Then this day's prompt made me stop... and stop feeling I have had a difficult time... as it says...

 Today's #reverb12 prompt and image come from my lovely friend Cam aka Curlypops. Many of you may know Cam as blog button designer extraordinaire. What you may not know is that she is also making the most of a life lived on hold:

Living life on a transplant waiting list gives you lots of reasons to reflect on what you've achieved in your life, and what you wish for the future.

Imagine a scenario where you only had one year left to live. What is one thing that you really wish to do that you just haven't had the chance to accomplish yet?

I would like to add: what steps could you take (however small) to ensure that you accomplish this thing in 2013?

River in Nyons France

Makes ones life fall into perspective really. What do I wish for in the future? What thing haven't I had the chance to do? My life is pretty fantastic really- I can do all the things I really want to do and have been doing them this past year.


Traveled to USVI 10 times, celebrated my 60th birthday on two different continents, developed more creatively and in different ways, had family visit and share with me on two different continents along with friends who have shown how much they appreciate my friendship so in all there ain't much more I need.



However I have chosen my "through word" for 2013- it is LIVE!

Reflect via reverb12

Chatting with Michele and she prompted me to get back to blogging as it helps people keep up to date with what I am doing. How do I know that any of you are reading this when only about two people comment! However dear friend and reader I have decided to continue talking to the ether and pretend that you are both interested and listening :).
I am going back in time and using reverb12 to help me out with all this and over the month(?) think about the year it has been in preparation for 2013! Whoo hoo!

On her website the process of looking back at the year was one i tried- some I found a tad too introspective however I'm going to give it a go in an effort to get my head in the best place for 2013.

How are you starting this last month of 2012?

Take a moment, close your eyes, take a deep breath and ask yourself the question: how do you feel...

... in your body? in your mind? in your day job? in your creative life? in your heart?

Oooh eee this is meant to be a gentle starter? How do I feel?

• Body- hmmm well there's the thing it is a weak thing so the plan is to try and strengthen it- exercise!
• Mind- haven't lost it yet but turning 60 may have put a bit of a dent on the mental processing- I am beginning to have those blank brain patches that Mary said would happen when I turned 60
• Day job- that is all very tricky, wonder if she thinks I have a night job- with the two things above in mind I wouldn't stand much chance of making much money as Mrs Brown said in Mrs Brown's Boys- sex? I can't remember who gets tied up. As to the consultancy work it has become a bit harder to find and some are much more picky than they had been in the past.
• Creative life- that's been a bit of a focus during the year with art journaling and scrapbooking although it has been a focus not a great deal of product!
• Heart- what a year eh?! But I am in a good place now.

Blogtoberfest #22 Empowered

How appropriate is this? When I head back into my blog to try to catch up and I looked back at the prompts from the Blogtoberfest blog and happened upon this one

One of Maddy's little birds

Did you choose a word for 2012? By that I mean, at the end of last year, did you alight on a word that would guide you through the new year? Perhaps the word would be something that you wanted to achieve, explore or invite more of into your life. Or perhaps it would be something to guide, inspire or fortify you. Or maybe it would just be a pleasant travelling companion, benign and reassuring that you're generally on the right track.

I did indeed choose a word for this year and it was/is "empowered" although I didn't really act on thinking it through as much as i did with my word in 2010 (which was "Spirit"). However even though I didn't review and think it out i have been living and feeling it. And have done some really empowering things during the year and have taken steps myself to become the new and ever evolving me in the year that I turn 60.

How appropriate is it to being blogging on 22nd of the month about my empowerment and things achieved thus far given that 22/11 is not that far away!

The main feeling of empowerment i have had during the year is that I can and have made decisions for myself and my life that I feel truly content with and others that I feel I have made the decision and taken action.

Blgotoberfest #15 Autumnal resolve

What do you want more or less of in your life, so that you can love the life you're leading? It could be as simple as seeing friends more often, setting aside time to have adventures with your children while they still want your companionship, calling a solitary hour a day your own, or just taking more walks in the dazzling sunshine.
The beauty of autumnal resolutions is that no one else knows we're making them. Autumnal resolutions don't require horns, confetti, and champagne. September resolutions ask only that we be open to positive change.

Well that is indeed a challenge! In making up for my lack of blogging and getting to my goal this truly is timely for me or at least relevant given that I am doing it way after it was suggested :)

I have so many resolutions for the year which Michele and I drew up together and in some cases I am doing relatively well. But now gives me a few months to pull some of them out of the scrap list, put a little surge in and get them done. Or perhaps blow on them a little to get that spark burning a bit more brightly.  Hmmm and surprise surprise I know which resolutions have actually gone up in smoke! Time now to find a way to get them sorted.

They've moved into the 21st century!

I know it is a really bad photo but finally some airlines have moved into the 21st century with their signs on aircraft. We all know you're not allowed to smoke and that smoke detectors are in the bathrooms so we don't really need the reminder about no smoking (not that anyone should be smoking at all).
On the aircraft on this particular flight they have signs for turning off electronic devices!

A bit of John Cleese is a "lightening" thing

ALERTS TO THREATS IN 2012 EUROPE : BY JOHN CLEESE

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Libya,
Egypt and Syria and have therefore raised their security level from
"Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet
again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross."

The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea
supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from
"Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a
"Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the
Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get
the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they
have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300
years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror
alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France
are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent
fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing
the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to
"Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective
Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance"
to "Dress in Uniforms and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two
higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only
threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy.
These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish
navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia ,meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to
"She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I
think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is
cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final
escalation level.
-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person

A final thought: Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting
aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC.  

Fancied myself as a thinker...

but after tonight? Give that idea up!

Have I just been "titling at windmills?"

A discussion I was sitting on the edge of, when I should have been in the thick of it, has left me feeling as though I have been really kidding myself in recent years.

I thought that I could think but really had that knocked out of me when I couldn't understand what we were being asked to do in a discussion tonight let alone doing it. Linguistics isn't my thing I guess but even so I should have been able to understand what everyone else seemed to understand and were all terribly excited about to boot.

Time to take stock.

Great Friends

Thank you Shirl for posting the following  on my facebook page.

"It has been said that everlasting friends go for long periods of time without speaking and never question their friendship. These friends pick up phones like they just spoke yesterday, regardless of how long it has been or how far away they live and they don't hold grudges. They understand that life is busy and you will ALWAYS love them."

The added instructions was to share this if you have at least one of these friends. They will know who they are.

I am lucky to have more than one of these friends- you do know who you are and I treasure our great friendship.

You are so right Shirl we are like this... we only chat once or twice a year and it is like there is no gap in time or friendship.

Blog-tober Sixteenth

I decided to take advantage of the early waking and the pleasant weather and took  a stroll through the city as has been my wont in the past.
In my serendipitous walk along 51st St I hadn't noticed or known of this building or organization.

 Perhaps it was the lack of parked cars that enabled me to notice it and then the decorative building was interesting. A little research ....
The present building was planned in the early 1930's designed by noted architect, Frederick Rhinelander King, and built at 3 West 51st Street on the site of the former home of Andrew Carnegie. The cornerstone was laid amid much fanfare and press attention on May 22, 1933, and the new clubhouse was formally opened on March 26, 1934, at ceremonies attended by national, state and local Republican dignitaries.

Then further along in the environs of the Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall my own architecture tour or at least building decoration tour.

By the time I got to 5th Avenue I was on a roll and went into St Thomas'- walked past many a time but never been in.

I continued to be on the lookout for the things I hadn't noticed before and there on a pillar at the front of the Plaza Hotel was....

The Plaza Hotel Barometer- is it social change it records?

One can't be so close to the park and not go in...

Blog-tober Eighth

Today is three years on since Maddy (my step mother) died. I have flicked through some of my photos and want to share those aspects of her that are  in me or why i do and notice certain things...

She introduced me to an appreciation of art and galleries especially on our trip to the Guggenheim exhibition in Sydney  years and years ago.

Getty Museum in California

 The times we sat and waited to go into an exhibition or made use of the facilities in the gallery or knew that you could get a good soup and lunch in the gallery.

Getty Museum

 The love of theatre- she got me started through subscribing to MTC and taking me to the theatre to see ballet and drama and the occasional light opera. Art House movies were things I'd accompany her to.

Kevin Spacy often does the kind of films and plays she and I would attend. This bad photo was at the TONYs a red carpet

 When traveling in Ireland she told me I should start acquiring "nice things". The patchwork rug is a result of that conversation albeit two years later.

My rug from Rhodes

 A gardener and birdwatcher. I take photos of flowers because they are lovely but she is always there looking too.

 She taught me how to remember the street order of the Melbourne grid and we'd meet under the clocks at Flinders Street.

Flinders Street Station Melbourne

Always on the hunt for a bird picture

 She loved succulent plants- but only in her "later years". She once told me she couldn't understand why her aunts used to love them s and that she found she too had begun to love collecting them.

Her love of succulents is why I took this photo

And this one too

 She was a teacher librarian and I became one too... loving kids books is her gift to me

Shaun Tan at the PEN writers festival

 She helped Michele and I buy our first home..

This has changed since the renovation

 

 Her garden as it was but is no longer.

Saturday in the sun

A walk up 8th Avenue to Columbus Circle- brief stop in Duane Reade (drug store) to check out if they had Bonine travel sickness pills- yep they do so will try them out on our cruise in two weeks.
The sun shining, the daffs in the garden beds at the base of Columbus statue, nodding in the breeze. A breakfast meeting talking about work things and catching up on news.
Home via Duane Reade, again, the time to buy some socks for the "Socks for Japan" charity and then lunch with Mary.
The afternoon and evening spent creating some pages using my photos of Brugge- in short a lovely day!

It's IWD!

So happy International Women's Day to you- it is tempting to try to write this all in purple green and white (the colours of the suffragette's and IWD but it would make it even harder to read I think.
I found nothing in my day to mark the day so resorted to Google who provided a visual for me.

This is very unlike my experiences in other years of IWD although not necessarily here. In schools at home things were often planned with people dressing in appropriate colours. One year when I was at Mackellar PS (a school named after a female Australian poet who wrote the iconic poem "I love a sunburnt country") we the staff decided to have a morning tea to celebrate International Women's Day and asked the men on the staff of which there were a few to bring the morning tea, which they duly did- not a lavish one of great cakes and delicious hot samplings but a substantial one that all could enjoy. George (the principal) had brought a special gift for Rhonda and myself which he had in a brown paper bag and which he said summed us up- he knew we could take a joke- it was a prickly pear because we were a prickly pair. Surprisingly enough I did find it amusing and was not at all offended.

On another occasion on IWD a group of us went to a fund raiser which was a literary one with Sara Paretsky. The quiz was about her books and the prize was ten (?) copies (that's how many were on each team) of her book. We thought it a great night as we won and then had the books signed by her.

And then this year I found out far too late that there were events to celebrate the centenary  of International Women's Day. The bridge walks sounded great but apart from anything else I was working so couldn't participate anyway but such a shame.
And so a little history or should I say herstory...

1911
Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events. 1911 also saw women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign.

A bit of a revelation

I guess I have never really understood the Rock-Paper-Scissors game as a strategy game. It was a bit of a revelation to me that one actually thinks in strategic terms to try and win in this game. Not that I play the game all that much it is such a "boy' thing as far as i am concerned.
This morning I am starting my day in a leisurely manner browsing my emails- not many of them to browse at this stage of the morning as most people in Australia who may communicate have already done so and gone out for their Saturday evening or gone to bed. Gone to bed early? On a Saturday night? I do have an aging group of friends given that I am also ... aging ... and getting past going out late or even needing to go out on a Saturday night. Actually I have never really been in the mode of having to go out on Saturday night... you know the response you'd get "You're not going out on Saturday night?" asked in that shocked tone people use when you are contemplating an evening spent pottering around , watching TV, playing scrabble and generally lolling about in a slothful manner.
In amongst my emails was the New York Times "Today's Headlines"- just scrolled done through them- the  mayhem and the disaster and things going on in the world which in the case of the NY Times is far wider than that of television news who have stories so US centric that when they talk of "And now to the world news" we hear stories of what's happening on the east coast as opposed to what is happening here on the west coast.
In my scrolling through the paper's headlines I came across a headline just after the quote from David Chang, " a New York chef and restaurateur, one of a growing breed of food purists who scorn substitutions, special requests and other accommodations to patrons' tastes".

"The customer is not always right."

The quote itself had me thinking about all manner of things including that that must have been what the flight attendant on my return trip to LAX was thinking last Saturday. She was particularly unpleasant and unsympathetic and was not into empathic listening. Although she was very attentive to the needs of the two blokes sitting to my right in the same exit row I was sitting. I certainly didn't appreciate her snarling at me and telling me that she was "serious about safety" in the tone of a self righteous prison guard as opposed to what would have worked better in my case. It would have helped if she noticed my qualms about being able to fit me feet, let alone my legs, in the space by the wall. Even seat guru doesn't prepare you for the first view of 33A "how the heck am I going to fit into that space for 16 hours?".
I also kinda agree with David Chang (without having read he article mind you) it is sometimes annoying when fellow patrons dissect the menu completely and rearrange the items on it taking forever to decide and then asking interminable questions of the waiter and then not wanting anything or asking for "toasted snow" as a side order.
I did however get over all these thoughts and to the article itself Rock Scissors Paper: You VS the computer. "Test your strategy against the computer in this rock-paper-scissors game illustrating basic artificial intelligence." It wasn't that it was an interactive game that caught my eye it was the use of the word strategy. I never use a strategy in playing this game- probably why I always lose. I didn't even know it was a strategy game, I just thought it was a game where I'd always get my knuckles thumped by one of my brothers- Damian in particular. I headed to the website and played a bit with the computer. We tied more than beat each other, mainly because I played in novice mode- perhaps that was a strategy on my part , thinking that I'd have more of a chance.  Reading what the computer was "thinking" made interesting reading... poor lamb was looking for a pattern in my thinking- trying to find something predictable about it- good luck computer! And so I have had an early Saturday morning lesson in strategy games and have seen how this game I thought was a punishment is in fact a strategic game. Thinking about it all I hope it wasn't trying to prove that I have artificial intelligence.

A day indoors

It has been cooler- cool enough to have the heater on to take the chill off the air. It is Melbourne after all and I think it (Melbourne) lived up to its reputation of four seasons in one day.
 I needed a day that was a little more solitary.
Photojojo had some links to people's photo pages that really require setting up Kids dreams and
Cats dreams

Time spent filtering junk doesn't make necessarily for a good blog post so a trip to the list blog and today's questions...

1. Any vacations you are looking forward to this summer?
The summer means that I come back for the break to Australia. This summer/winter apart from the work I have to do and getting my documentation in order (visa etc) I am going I hope on a trip to the Kimberley.

It is the north western "corner" of Australia

Michele and I are in the process of planning it now- when I say planning Michele is doing sterling work juggling dates and tour companies and I am being supportive and saying what is possible time wise for me.

Hopefully my photos will be almost as good as this

2. What is your favorite article of summer clothing (shoes are included)?
What is this with favourite personal items and these lists- in trying to catch up I reflected on this penchant for favourites- so selecting a favourite item of summer clothing would have to be sandals because they are the closest thing to bare feet and love walking around barefoot. I only put on shoes inside when I get cold- now if they had asked favourite winter item then I might have been able to say my purple cowgirl slippers.
The selection of a favourite something reminds of that scene in Miss Congeniality ...
Stan Fields: Miss Rhode Island, please describe your idea of a perfect date.
Cheryl "Rhode Island": That's a tough one. I'd have to say April 25th. Because it's not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket. 
 
3. What is your favorite summer drink (alcoholic or non)?
Still on the favourites thing... hmmm... a summer drink that I really enjoy is Matcha- I asked the resident Japanese expert (Michele) as she walked past to make sure I have the name right. According to another of my great sources (google) high quality matcha green tea differs from low quality powder in two ways.
First, it tastes sweet and smooth with just a hint of astringency. This is because it contains higher concentrations of theanine. Green tea powder tends to lack theanine, and so tastes more flat and abrasive.
Second, it is ground into fine powder using slow-turning granite grinding wheels. Friction is minimized and tea leaves are not “burned” in the process, allowing the leaves to retain chlorophyll.
In contrast, regular green tea powder is often pulverized using air pressure. The friction caused by this process “over-cooks” the leaves, rendering them yellow-brown.
 It makes up into a  thickish green sweet drink which is very refreshing. I'm not sure that Stabucks has it right.


4. Do you tan or burn?
I should try neither as with my fair Irish skin I burn as quick as look at the sun. Skin cancer is a high risk for all Australians- Michele has had more burnt off and cut out of her than anyone I know fortunately they have been discovered in time and removed.  A trip to the demratologists will be on the cards when I come back in July.


5. Any goals you are working toward this summer?
Goals? I always have goals I am working towards and this summer/winter will be no exception. By the summer I will have started my "60 Things in 600 Days" but I have yet to finalize all that so perhaps that is the goal I can say I am working towards. Intrigued? I hope so.


6. What is your favorite summertime food?
I think of avocado and summer for some reason- perhaps that is when they are supposed to be ripe and available. One never knows now what is a summer food and what isn't. Although stone fruit always seem to be able to keep themselves pretty much to the summer. It wasn't until I couldn't get cherries for Christmas in NYC that I realized how exclusively summer they are.
We always had cherries on the Christmas dinner table (remember that is summer in Australia)- I guess because they are red- they look so red and shiny and inviting especially against the white table cloth. A danger, that is... the white table cloth ... the red cherry juice. We would "pick at the cherries" between and during the courses. One was already stuffed to the gills with lollies (candy) from the presents, stocking or tree- the only time you were allowed to eat lollies all day then at Easter the only time you were allowed to eat chocolate before or for breakfast.


7. What song most says “summer” to you?
Only one? I'm going for two- one is "Summer Holiday" which ends up being my summer  fallback internal sound track all summer long just as "Winter Wonderland" ends up being my winter fallback internal sound track- the one I am singing in my head when I am not singing something else. Do you always have a sound track running in your head? I believe other people do and some others have different things like mathematics equations or pictures they will paint/draw/create.
The second song that reminds me of  summer is Band on the Run. I can still feel the heat of the day and the scorching footpath and the location of the place where I was working.


8. Any home improvement goals planned for this summer?
We really are looking forward to summer aren't we! I have been doing those improvement things while home this time- cleaning out the junk in the bungalow- the skip is yet to be removed and I have managed to weed the old photo album collection in preparation for the development of new photo albums this time scrapped to within an inch of their lives.


9. What is one thing you hate to see at the beach?
"Budgie smugglers"- What am I talking about? Went to the source (google) and selected two explanations
1. Australian slang term for men's tight-fitting Speedo-style swimwear. The 'lump in the front' apparently resembles a budgie when it is stuffed down the front of someone's shorts. Ah, those crazy Aussies!!
2. Any item of male bathing costume or underwear that encloses the wearer's genitalia in a manner that resembles the concealment of a budgerigar.

Perhaps the more intellectual response to this would be my objection to people smoking on the beach- we know where the cigarette butts are going to end up don't we!


10. Did you ever go to a summer camp?
I used to go as a leader on holiday camps. It was a week out of my holiday and it meant that kids to get away from the city and have some time where they had three decent meals a day and were cared for as well as having fun. The camp I did this at  what was then called "Lions Village Licola" and is now called Licola Wilderness Village- don't know that it is much of a wilderness but it does take a very long time to get there. This question has brought a whole range of memories back of going as  a "leader" on the camp and caring for groups 6 girls getting them to and from activities and keeping them entertained and comforted throughout their week long stay. For a while there I was going every school holidays which meant at least three or four weeks out of the year. Really rewarding and exhausting.

Got one!

A photo card reader that is so now I can upload my photos of the gorgeous Dylan.

This one was from last night - waiting for his dinner

Happy to play and chomp on his toes.

 We decided to take Dylan for a walk to the nearby strip of shops in Mont Albert. What a great little stretch of shops- It was a very short walk to the end of the street and across a main road there are the Mont Albert shops. Everything one could need practically. A choice of coffee shops and bakeries. 

A local having a coffee and reading the paper

A couple of second hand clothing/ goods stores so the opportunity for bargain shopping abounds.

Through the window of the op shop- great-uncle Tony and great-nephew Dylan

 A butcher, green grocer and supermarket- with bottle shop. The butcher is an old style butcher- I kept thinking of all those butchers we had access to in Beaumaris and Hathorne and other places. When I say old style- he was youngish but had the typical patter of butchers of old- "What can i do for you young ladies..?"
Reminded me of the joke about the woman going in to the butcher's shop...
Woman: Excuse me but do you have a sheep's head?
Butcher: No madam I always part my hair this way.

The butcher's shop was in fact quite up-market with not only great cuts of meat but fish and also gourmet cheeses and deli produce. As you can see I was quite taken by the butcher's shop.

The station provided opportunities for some interesting shots

 We walked to the end of the row of shops and had a look at the railway station.

Waiting!

 We crossed the road and looked in all the shops on the other side of the street and then purchased so fresh bread and bits like avocado, salmon pate and cucumber and made our way back home.

The view back down the way we came

 Dylan managed to entertain everyone we came across from the young man in the fruiterers to the elderly woman on the walking frame and the old Asian guy who was quite taken with the way Dylan nonchalantly rests his feet on the bar of his pusher (stroller).

Charming all and sundry!

We had a lovely day with him- he did what he does well- eat, sleep, smile and be placid.