No good deed goes unpunished

After our morning helping with the recruitment campaign a small group of us gathered around the fire at the venue. We circled some chairs in front of the fire and rearranged some tables so we could sit comfortably and cozily and eat some lunch.
A lovely tapas meal and a good chat we headed off and being Maddy's daughter i was clearing up the space we'd created and dragging the chair back to where we'd taken it from and the back leg of the chair snapped off.
As i said... no good deed goes unpunished! The hotel were very understanding but they did acknowledge that it had neer happened before.



Or one could say in retrospect "if the shoe fits" one should recognize that one (read Celia) likes to have things organized.

The photo for the GIS challenge is Michele's slipper- we have to accept that Spencer our dog who is not allowed up on the furniture actually takes advantage of our absence and does indeed get up on the furniture.
he has a slipper fetish- he doesn't eat them just takes them to his cushion (one of which he has in every room in the house) and rests his nose in them or takes them near the front door or takes them to places unknown. We still have one missing I think. He also takes them up onto the couch which he doesn't climb on !

A delightful evening

it's not the best photo of the fireworks at Docklands however it was a great display. We watched them from Anne-Marie's balcony on the 16th floor so they were right at eye level.
It marked the start of a lovely evening of lamb roast and catching up with friends.
Such lovely hospitality and good conversation- it's great to here with family and friends.

Day Two of the challenge "On cloud nine"

Some of the clouds seen over the past couple of days

Cronulla Beach

Merimbula

Great aunts

What better way to start the month than by spending time with the great nephew Dylan. A lovely boy.

Doris Sander at Get it Scrapped said.. i thought we should do a photo a day challenge in august.  i know there are several out there we could do, but how fun would it be to do our own.  leave your ideas for daily topics on this thread over the next few days and i will organize them and post the list early next week.  the over-arching theme is quirky.  i like quirky.  for example, christy just made an excellent blog post about scrapbooking the weather.  on our photo a day list, instead of having the weather be a topic, it could be "clouds."  fun!  who's in?
This all started before i had read about it so  I am updating my blog (back three days) and will post my photos to match the photo challenge.

Day one- August!
It began with a bang for me- fireworks at Anne-Marie's well at least at the Docklands Stadium.

Puzzled

When one waits for the local train to come it is puzzling when it passes by on the express track.


It had many of us peering down the track. The announcement that there was local train "one station away" was not reassuring.
And if course it was not true it at least not thus lines train. Two express trains have gone through so what should one do? Have faith in the MTA or go out and get a cab?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Using time

I have not been good about getting my blog up to date so now I'm going to try posting a little something from my phone and perhaps get things up there.


Spring seemed to have arrived yesterday but now it's back to the chill with the rain and the dull skies.
People are complaining if how cold the are. I think we were unprepared for how cool it is without the sun and with the breeze blowing over the rain. Nature's own air con.

A sunny day in Kyoto

 Started out on a walk to Nijo Castle- our taxi ride back at the end of that part of our day showed how far we had walked to the castle.
We walked around the gardens first and then did the unorthodox thing of going back to look through the palace.
Nijo - jo Castle was constructed in 1603 as the residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ninomaru Palace (a National Treasure), built in the shoin-zukuri (library-style) of samurai of the Momoyama Period, contains gorgeous paintings on the walls and sliding doors. It was here that the last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, restored the emperor to his ancient seat of power in 1867. Located at the site of the former Honmaru Palace, destroyed by fire in the 18th century, is the actual Honmaru Palace (an Important Cultural Property), which was moved from the former Katsura-no-Miya Palace of the Imperial Palace, preserving the dignity of the original detached palace.

 It has "nightingale floors. The Nightingale floor was laid in Nijo Castle for added security.  To guard against intrusion into the Castle by suspicious and dangerous persons like ninja, the floor was designed to sing like a nightingale.  The sound is different from that heard in older houses, because of the different way the floor was laid.  By suspending the floor above the frame using special iron clamps, the floor can move up and down over the fixing nails when walked upon.  This causes the nails to rub against the wood and create a sound similar to the cheeping of a nightingale.  All the floors in the castle, from the entrance to Ohiroma, are this type of floor.  Nick said he could walk on it without it making a squeak or chirp- brought out his inner Ninja.

 We caught a taxi to Kinkakuji. Known as ...the Golden Pavilion ... Rokuon - ji Temple was originally built as a villa by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who had taken possession of a mountain villa of Saionji Temple in 1397. It was converted into a temple after Yoshimitsu's death. Officially named Rokuonji Temple, this temple is famous both in Japan and abroad as a symbol of Kitayama culture. 



The Kinkaku, or "Golden Pavilion," was built as the Shariden. Covered with gold, the image of the pavilion, which stands at the edge of Kyokochi pond, is reflected in the water. Major repair work performed in 1987 has further enhanced its brilliance.

Walking back through the grounds past the tea room people were taking advantage of the golden sunlight- such a change from yesterday. And these charming young women helped enhance the atmosphere of the experience.

  A walk to find lunch (soba noodles) and a bit more of a walk to Ryoanji Temple and rock garden. My favourite.
The Rinzai Zen temple Ryoanji -- Temple of the Peaceful Dragon -- was built in Kyoto in the late 1400s, and the garden may be nearly as old. Its fifteen moss-covered boulders are placed so that, viewed from any point, only fourteen of the boulders are visible. Tradition says only the enlightened see all fifteen boulders.
The garden invites us to contemplate imperfection and limitation. We may know there are fifteen stones, yet in the imperfect world we do not see them all.

Home now for an LLD- little lie down before a final shop for the day/trip...at least until we get to the airport tomorrow.

Raining in Kyoto

 Taking photos in the rain continues to be problematic... adjusting the lens, adjusting the f-stop, clutching an umbrella and keeping the rain off the camera... all too difficult. It wasn't until in the evening that i thought perhaps set it on auto during the rain!
The umbrella in the shot adds to the concept of shooting in the rain.
I brought Broadway to Kyoto!

We took a walk to Kiyomizu Temple. It is located halfway up Otowa Mountain in the eastern part of Kyoto City.
Kiyomizu-dera is an historic temple that was established in 778, even before Kyoto became the capital of Japan.

 To get there we past plain and interesting modern architecture. It may look dull and grey in this shot but the shape of the building we found quite interesting.

We started our walk through the Gion district

Love the packaging and presentation of things.

 And eventually arrived at the temple

 We met Sakurako and her son Takumi for lunch at the Kyoto Station complex. In the middle of the department store there was a tea house. We had green tea noodles and green tea ice cream. Delicious.

Masako (Sakurako's mother), Testuya (her dad) and Sakurako prepared a delicious te maki sushi meal for us. We sat and chatted and were entertained by Takumi.