November roundup - late, as usual

So another month has come and gone. I was quite convinced that December was another six weeks away at least but no, here it is with all the attendant festive hoo-ha.

There has been knitting in November - another Damson, Feast for your Feet socks finished and sundry other projects started and, in some cases, finished. I can't show you because I still haven't replaced the lost camera. There has also been quite a lot of yarn acquisition. Well, if I'm going on a strict yarn diet next year then I need to be prepared. I can't show the yarn in because I still haven't replaced etc. etc. But there has been Wollmeise and some Knitabulous yarn.

I though you might like to see my brother's house. He lives not very many miles outside of London. This was the scene he woke to last week.

The cars are indeed Porsches. He lives next door to a Porsche dealer

How to get a flight to run on time

Earlier this month I took six flights in six days. Every flight - bar one - had problems including flight and baggage delays. One flight departure was delayed two hours! However, the last flight was problem free. We left on time with a minimum of hassle and arrived at the Sydney terminal over five minutes early!

I'm sure that it was purely coincidental that the airline CEO was on board.....

October Roundup

It's been a bit of an up and down month. Healthwise - definitely down. After an episode of excruciating tummy spasms it seems I have diverticulitis. I also managed to sprain my ankle which has been a nuisance and interfered with the physio I was having for my knee (same leg). I am now seeing a dietitian, and have a referral to a gastroenterologist. I am a bit grumpy about the diet I will now have to follow even though I am grateful that it is a very manageable condition and it could have been a whole lot worse!

Work has been challenging. We are very busy preparing to move offices and three of my team were terminated for breaching just about every policy you can think of. Great timing!

Last weekend we flew to Adelaide for a wedding. The wedding was held at Currency Creek. It was a very pretty venue, the bride looked lovely and everyone had a great time but there was just a bit too much Celine Dion for my liking. I can't show you photos because the next day I lost my camera.

On the knitting front there have been some finished objects (photos on the aforementioned lost camera) and some yarn acquisition. So not a lot out and quite lot in. I will update when I either get a new camera or resuscitate my old camera.

Busted!

In the interests of complete disclosure, there was actually more yarn purchased than admitted to earlier. I have owned up to them on my stash page in Ravelry but here is more from last month:

And whilst I am thinking about designating 2011 knit from stash year, this obviously excludes any purchases that might be anticipated on an overseas trip and any yarn that might be required to knit things for my grandson-in-the-making.

Ins and outs

So - last month there were two finished projects - Damson in Knitabulous Fifty - fifty.

And Los Monos Locos (Crazy Monkeys) in Fyberspates Dream sock yarn:

There was some yarn purchased. This from Posh yarns - a silk wool blend for a summer top:

And a final shipment from the very excellent Needlefood:

Sadly, Michelle is taking a break from dyeing yarn so I had to grab some before she shut up shop. There may have been other yarn purchased. I have been updating my stash on Ravelry with a view to (possibly) declaring 2011 knit from stash year.

In the meantime, I am of the view that it would be criminal not to take advantage of the strong Aussie dollar - we'll never have it so good again!

Knitting Foibles

I will admit to having a few little foibles - but there is usually a reason for them. I prefer to sit on the left side of a bus, for example. But that is because I usually knit on the bus and prefer not to have my right arm hard up against the side of the bus. And I don't like buying shoes that have been on display in the shop but this is because so few shops insist that people wear those sock things to try on shoes. Call me fussy but I don't fancy buying shoes that have been worn - however briefly - by someone else's bare feet. Particularly in summer.

I'm not sure that my knitting foibles are based on any sort of reason, though. I get quite stressed if I have to put a project down having just completed a right side row. Why is this? I don't know - I just prefer to finish on a wrong side row.

I don't like knitting projects that don't use up a complete skein. Now this is clearly ridiculous but I find myself avoiding knitting items that use less than one skein.

I have a not inconsiderable stash of yarn but am reluctant to use some of it. Again, why? Why am I saving any yarn? Am I waiting for the perfect project to appear? It's all getting a little out of hand so I am going to make a concerted effort to knit from my stash and to base my project selection on the suitability of the yarn, rather than the amount of it.

A Disorganised Knitter

My working life occasionally involves developing and putting in place information management taxonomies. So you would think that I would be good at organising, sorting and classifying. Somehow, when it comes to my home life, all these skills depart and I seem to live in a perpetual muddle. I can't even describe it as organised chaos!



My stash is a good example. Although I do try to store similar yarns together, I don't really have a firm idea of what I have or where it is. So I have decided to really use the organisational tools available in Ravelry and to document my stash. This is a somewhat scary and daunting proposition. It will mean that I will have to confront the size of the stash (or yarn collection according to Randomknits ). I am working through my stashes - the home one and the office one - and photographing, uploading and sorting. I may surface eventually!

Pipe down

Some of our knitting group have recently moved house. Last week, we were talking about the trials and tribulations of moving and how we inevitably lose stuff in the process. I have moved house many times and have lost things that were dear to me. However, one thing seems to survive. And this is it:

It's a boatswain's pipe sometimes called a bosun's whistle or call. These pipes can be traced as far back as the Crusades and were used to pass commands to a ship's crew as they could be heard over the sound of the sea. Nowadays, they are generally used on ceremonial occasions.

I found this one almost 50 years ago on Eastbourne beach. Many of you will know how stony English beaches are so it is miraculous to find anything. This has stayed with me through house moves across four countries, three continents and two hemispheres. I haven't consciously treated it any differently to any other possesion but it is the one thing that has remained with me through all that time and the only remnant of my childhood.

It might seem fanciful but I wonder if this little artifact has had a deeper influence on my life. I was married for almost forty years to a master mariner and my present partner is ex-RAN. As the songs says - all the nice girls love a sailor!

Things knitterly

Last Saturday Liz Gemmell was the guest speaker at the Inner City Guild meeting. In the afternoon she conducted a workshop for us. It was an amazing day and Liz was incredibly generous with sharing her knowledge. I think we all felt inspired!

I shall certainly be more diligent about swatching and will try charting out patterns before I start knitting. I realise that this is why so few - well, none really - of my knitted garments work out the way I would like. It absolutely makes more sense to spend time doing the maths rather than waste many hours knitting a garment that I am not happy with and will never wear!

Two items that have turned out well are

the Vintage Lady scarf. This is the Lacy Kerchief Scarf in my favourite yarn - Knitabulous Fifty Fifty.

And

Many Yards of Heaven. This is 195 Yards of Heaven in Rowan Silky Wool. I bought four skeins in John Lewis in London but needed a fifth to get the size shawl I wanted. To cut a long story short I eventually got the yarn from Webs and amazingly it was the same dye lot!

From my office window

This is what I see.

It's very distracting.

The weekend just gone:

I didn't
- do the City to Surf, my knee was too sore
- buy any yarn

I did
- start and finish another swatch for the Guild workshop next weekend
- do some ironing
- make some lentil soup (yum)
- go to the movies (A Special Relationship which was excellent! Brilliant performances.)

On balance, a good weekend!

Remembering Bessie

I am over in Perth for a few days for work. It was an eventful flight with a mid-air medical emergency necessitating a faster trip than normal and paramedics to greet the plane. Hopefully the young woman involved is OK and that all is well with her pregnancy.

From the office I am using I have an amazing view.

My camera (and my photographic skills) don't do it justice. From the office window, I can clearly see the War Memorial and grounds of Kings Park. My grandmother (Bessie Rosina) was a very practical, sensible woman not given to displays of emotion. She was the eldest of twelve children and had a hard life in her early years growing up in the East End of London. She and my grandfather came to Perth on a cruise following his retirement. Bessie was so impressed by the view from Kings Park that it moved her to tears.

So I always think of her when I see this place. I won't get time to make a trip to the park but for some reason, I always feel a bit closer to her here.

Back from Bendi

So last weekend was the Australian Wool and Sheep Show at Bendigo. Bells, DrK and Randomknits have already blogged about the weekend and about their travels in country Victoria.

I flew to Melbourne on Friday afternoon and drove out to Bendigo to the house I was sharing with DrK, Bells, Jody and her mum and aunt. Friday evening we went to the Ravelry event at the Bendigo Bowling Club. So many knitters and so many amazing knitting garments! It was great fun pattern spotting and quite made up for inadequate catering.

On Saturday, I headed off to the Bendigo Showgrounds in some fear and trepidation that there would be nothing left after the hordes had descended the previous day. Of course there was plenty to look at, pore over and eventually purchase. So much lovely yarn but I was fairly restrained. Despite the cool day everyone was in great spirits and the general atmosphere was upbeat and cheerful.

I have never actually seen a sheep sheared before so I greatly enjoyed the sheep shearing competition. I love watching sheepdog trials and spent some time watching the dogs put through their paces. By that time I was really cold - despite the Cranford mitts etc - so made my way back to the house to warm up and catch up with the election news. I cast on the Lacy Kerchief Scarf as a reward for not buying too much at the show.

On Sunday I packed my bags and got ready to head back to Melbourne and home to Sydney. I had a bit of spare time so set off for Bendigo Pottery. I bought a teapot and a plain but lovely salad bowl for me and a vase which is a Christmas present.

Here is the yarn I bought at the Show in the salad bowl

It was a good weekend but I feel that I missed out on a lot by not spending more time there. I've been to Daylesford a couple of time before and know that there is so much else to discover in this part of the world. Sadly, I didn't get to the Bendigo Mills as I ran out of time on Saturday so the famous backroom is still a mystery to me.

And I think that I would have enjoyed it all a lot more had I had a travelling companion. Next time I'll be better organised and plan to stay for longer.

Dreaming of Bendigo

Thanks everyone who left comments about my last post. I think I was probably being a bit precious about it so your words helped me put it into context.

I slept well last night - apart from a bad dream where I arrived at Bendigo with an empty suitcase as I had forgotten my knitting! My suitcase is now packed - possibly overpacked as I am worried about being cold. And this is the knitting that's going with me:

Lacy Kerchief Scarf

The yarn is Knitabulous Fifty-fifty - one of my favourite yarns. I wound the skein last night and I just love the colour. It's called Vintage Lady.

Swirled scrolls scarf

It's Lush Yarn Cashmere in Lava. This the yarn used for the hat fail - here:

Quincy

Was intended to keep my head warm in Bendigo but unlikely to be finished in time.

Crazy Monkey Socks

One down - one to go! The Fyberspates yarn is lovely to work with.

That should keep me busy! Am off to the airport shortly.

There's a theme here...

You know how you have those days (or weeks, or months) when nothing goes right? I think I had one of them last week.

Months ago, I volunteered (along with some others) to do the morning tea for the Inner City Guild meeting. We were all fired up and rashly promised a Christmas in July theme. Well, life got in the way and people had other things to do and as the day grew closer it didn't seem such a good idea.

My cooking plans were somewhat interrupted by a work trip to Canberra but I was still determined to stick to the theme. The sausage rolls worked out well. Then I realised that most of my kitchen equipment still resides in the now-vacated (by me, that is) marital home so I didn't have the necessary pans and pastry cutters to make mince pies. Fail # 1. So I made Christmas Cookies. The star shape was vaguely festive but the icing was exceedingly dodgy. Fail #2. (They tasted great though).

It was now late Friday evening and I had to get to the dentist for 9 am the next morning. My dentist is the other side of Sydney so it wasn't going to be a quick trip. Raced over there, tried to find some festive decorations and then raced back to make the mulled wine. Smelled great but I forgot to take the slow cooker to keep it warm. Fail # 3.

The Guild meeting was brilliant - the new location is fabulous and it was the usual lively and informative meeting. I happily knitted away at a hat in softest cashmere to keep me warm in Bendigo. I finished it later that day. Fail # 4. It's far too small. Kind of ironic that the Guild topic was tension squares.......

A most excellent weekend!

On Friday evening we went to the Drama Theatre at the Sydney Opera House to see Waiting for Godot . It is a great production with an excellent cast.

Saturday we were up early for the drive to Coffs Harbour. Great knitting time for me with the occasional stop for food and comfort breaks. We stayed at an amazing B & B just outside Coffs - Santa Fe has (unsurprisingly) a Mexican theme. We had a lovely, very comfortable room with a deck and spa. As we were the only guests that weekend we had the run of the guest lounge. Our host, Sharon, provided us with a wonderful breakfast each morning - lovely!

Breakfast was the culinary highlight of each day. A very ordinary soup in Dorrigo for lunch on Sunday - the hail drove us to take shelter in the nearest cafe we could find. And dinner that evening was an experience! Being winter and a Sunday evening, not much was open. We tried to eat here but were turned away by the surly owner despite the many empty tables because he and his wife were the only staff on duty. We later found out that he has reputation for being extremely unpleasant and that the food is equally as bad. The Indian restaurant that we ended up at was not much better. I do object to paying for curry consisting of the meat being tossed into a not very nice sauce and gluggy rice.

After inspecting R's property on Monday morning we headed back to Sydney. Again, I got a lot of knitting done and finished the 10 in 2010 shawlette (dreadful name) I had been working on. Just needs to be blocked.

Also on the knitting front the final shipment from the Knitabulous Black Japan club arrived. A stunning grey fifty- fifty called Samurai Sword.

And another piece of good news - I finally located the pattern for the cardigan I almost completed last year and also found the piece that I was working on. Hurrah!

Crafty capers (and some yarn acquisition)

So there have been a number of crafty events over the last few weeks. First up was the Guild meeting and an excellent talk on blocking by the very talented Randomknits. I know Donna was nervous but she did a brilliant job. After that we adjourned to the Abraham Mott Hall in the Rocks for WWKIP. A lovely afternoon of knitting, socialising and perhaps a bottle or two of bubbles. Sally did a fantastic job of organising the event despite being laid up in hospital with a broken hip. It was great to see her up and about (albeit still on crutches) and I know that all 92 of us had a great afternoon.

The following week the Craft show rolled into town. We went on Saturday so that R's mum (visiting from Adelaide) could see the quilts - some of which were amazing! I was fairly restrained in the yarn acquisition department as I only bought a couple of balls from Bendigo Woollen Mills.

The next day I was back at the Craft show helping out on the Guild stand. We weren't very busy so it was a relaxed few hours knitting.

A couple of ideas for projects had been percolating overnight so two cones of Habu and some more Bendigo yarn (which was reduced even further!) fell into my basket.

And yes - for once I do have projects in mind for this yarn!

Have you noticed?

How young emergency service workers are these days? I was pondering this last week as I was standing in the street in my nightie in Darwin at 4 a.m. As I evacuated the hotel with the other guests I was thinking that were my daughter there she would have been excited that there would be firies to look at once we got outside. And there were - but they were all so young a couple of them looked as though they might have been on work experience.

The week in Darwin went downhill after that as I succumbed to the stomach bug that is going round. So no nice snaps of the bay or Mindil beach market as I spent the time in the office or in the hotel room. Or more specifically in the bathroom in each of those places.

Oh well - at least I lost 2.5 kilos!

At last - some finished objects!

I didn't think that May had been any more productive than any other month but I do seem to have found time to finish some projects.

First up was the Green Leaves socks. The pattern was great but I stumbled over sewing up the toes. I don't find Kitchener stitch very intuitive - perhaps I need more practice?

Next was Clothilde. A very satisfying knit and - even better - used stashed yarn. Lush yarns merino / silk which is a lovely yarn to knit with.

Also finished - and blocked - is Alix's prayer shawl. Another satisfying knit and one which I think I would like to do again in a larger size and in heavier weight yarn. This also used some stashed yarn (Knitabulous merino sock) which had been knitted and frogged a couple of times.

There has been some stash acquisition. Some has been owned up to but there might have been a skein or two in addition to that acquired in Canberra. I start out with all good intentions of confessing my yarn acquisitions and even go so far as to photograph them but somehow never quite get around to publicly admitting to them. Yes - I am clearly in denial!

Canberra Capers

I flew down to Canberra on Friday evening to spend the weekend with R and, of course, to go to the very excellent Old Bus Depot Markets. This weekend was the Celebration of Wool.



We met up with some of the Sydney contingent on Saturday evening for dinner in Kingston. I wish I had got a photo of the sign in the restaurant forbidding us from standing on the tables, but I would have had to stand on a table to get it.....






Sunday was crisp and clear (at least in Kingston).

We had arranged to meet at 9.30 and here we are -

well, Margarita, Gemma, Catherine and me at any rate:





Randomknits had already tweeted that she and Knitabulous were by the mulled wine so we followed our noses

Pretty, pretty yarn! The stall looked great - very professional and really stood out amongst the others. I can't resist Ailsa's Fifty Fifty and so the aptly named "Vintage Lady" - a delicate pink -was purchased.




On the upper level, I came across another fantastic looking stall - Buttontree Lane and Fibrewebs.







I fell in love with the elephant print sack bags so one came home with me.

And some buttons from the button stall

There was so much lovely yarn and I looked, and fondled

but actually didn't buy much else.


I got a skein of Polwarth wool and
another of Polwarth wool & Silk from Tarndwarncoort . And some silk from Glenora which I forgot to photograph.

I trailed around after Margarita for a while and ran into a good friend which was an unexpected bonus. I caught up with Margarita and Tia before heading out to Lambert Vineyards for lunch and then the flight home to Sydney.

So I am feeling pretty good about the amount of yarn acquisition - I certainly came in well under budget. It was great to be amongst so many knitters and fibre enthusiasts. It was an inspiring morning seeing so many lovely projects on display on the stalls and on people at the markets. One advantage of the cooler Canberra climate is that it is perfect for shawls, scarves, cowls, mittens and hats!

A big weekend

It's been a great weekend but I am shattered!

Friday was a blur of activity as I repacked my suitcase after three days in Brisbane, fitted in a gym session, got my hair cut and headed off to the airport to fly to Melbourne. R flew down from Canberra and we met up for the trip to St Kilda. Friday evening we had dinner with his eldest son and his partner. Although we've been together for a while now, I hadn't met any of his children before now so this was fairly momentous and a little daunting for me. We had a lovely evening at Cicciolina. which was their choice but, serendipitously, one of my favourite restaurants.

On Saturday we had breakfast in St Kilda then caught the tram into the City for some shopping. In the evening it was the reason for our visit - the 60th birthday party of an ex-Navy colleague of R's. Several of his class mates and their partners were there and it was the first time I'd met any of them so again, a little daunting!

On Sunday we drove out to Croydon North to visit more long term friends of R. They have just moved there from Canberra and have taken on an enormous project to restore a beautiful but somewhat dilapidated early 1900's house and the Edna_Walling designed garden. I half expected to see Kevin_McCloud shaking his head over the folly of trying to restore such a property!

I've started so I'll finish.......one day

I haven't really felt very inspired by my knitting recently. I know that I am a resistant completer but I really do have too many projects sitting around waiting to be finished and perhaps this is impacting my ability to get excited and inspired by new projects. I seem to have the attention span of a gnat and am suffering from an inability to commit to a new project.



Skulking in the pending basket are:

• The Falling Leaves socks which are finished apart from one toe that needs to be Kitchener stitched.



• The two halves of All a Flutter need to be grafted together - but where are they?



• A Saroyan needing to be blocked and;



• Alix's Prayer Shawl - also needing blocking.

On the positive side, I did complete Lucy's Jacket - another Phazelia's Mitred Jacket.

I know that I just need to be disciplined and get on with it but instead I dither and delay and spent far too much time and money acquiring yet more yarn. Yarn that I hope will inspire me.....

Surely not!

I'm not sure when or how it happened but at some point in the last few months I seem to have crossed an invisible line. At first I thought it was a random happening but it now occurs on a regular basis. Somehow, I have become a person for whom people relinguish their seats on buses.

Now I don't wish to sound ungrateful and I am very pleased that there are so many well brought up people around but it is a little unnerving. How can the energetic, youthful person that I am inside look as though I need to sit down?

Postcard from New Zealand

We had a wonderful time in New Zealand, although it seems a long time ago now. But with limited access to the internet and limited time, I didn't manage to blog about the trip. So here is the potted version.

We flew into Wellington at the start of the trip. After picking up the car and grabbing a late lunch we headed for Karori. Just as we got there, a massive storm blew up and the temperature plummeted. Welcome to Windy Wellington indeed! My cousin's three children were pleased to see me and we had a lovely evening catching up on all the news. Actually - not sure whether the children were more interested in me or my iPhone but I was happy to see them again. The next day we visited Te_Papa , found a yarn shop for me and a tackle shop for R. And the weather improved although it was a still a little chilly. The youngest asked me to teach him to knit. I don't think he quite grasped it but he smiled his devastating smile at me and said that he was "finding it very relaxing"!

We then headed off to Martinborough. What a great little town - we loved it.

Fabulous wineries, good food and very friendly people. We visited a couple of wineries and Olivo where we bought some amazing olive oil. A wander through the Wairarapa and on to my aunt in Taupo.

My aunt is my mother's youngest sister and we were always very close when I was growing up. This visit there were no shocking family revelations and we had a good time catching up. I really like Taupo althought I'm not sure I would want to live there. We went to the Orakei Korako geothermal park and then for a spin (literally) on the Huka_Falls Jetboat.

After a detour via Tauranga we headed up to Whangapareo, just north of Auckland. Here we were looked after in fine style by an ex-Navy colleague of R's. They went fishing early Saturday morning and caught a few snapper which we had for supper. Our hosts prepared them in lemon juice with chopped onion, tomato and coconut milk - delicious!

On Sunday it was back to Auckland to have coffee with my other kiwi cousin, then on to the airport and home. And yes - there was some yarn acquisition!

Knitters in knots

Last Saturday saw us (as the erstwhile self-styled magic president would say) at the AGM of the NSW Knitters Guild. Now you wouldn't think that something as genteel as knitting would generate such heated debate and engender such deeply felt emotions. I guess that when you get a group of people together for whatever purpose, then divudes can open and the original common purpose get forgotten.

We were told not to talk about the AGM so I can't tell you about the grossly improper behaviours that occurred. Nor can I comment on the travesty of the "election" of the office bearers. I have since heard that there were even more improprieties during the nomination process than we understood. It seems that the President herself opened the nomination papers and, upon seeing who had nomonated for what position, then persuaded other people to also nominate for those positions. The Returning Officer was not allowed to fulfil her role of impartially overseeing the process and the Executive Committee later voted on the validity of the nominations despite the fact that there was a clear conflict of interest.

At the end of this debacle, we have a new committee and a new president who is committed to ensuring fair, equitable and accountable governance. It is a shame that they weren't permitted to go through the proper election process as I know that they would have got massive support from the ordinary members. The people who, after all, supposed to be what the Guild is all about.

The young ones

When I was chronologically a young one, I wanted to be like my aunt, Carol. Carol was (and still is) ten years older than me and was more like an older sister to me. So when she became a fan of Cliff Richard, so did I. I suspect that due to the fickleness of teenagers, Carol moved on but I didn't. Whilst I am not a dyed in the wool, avid Cliff groupie, I have remained a constant fan (much to the amusement and indulgence of my family). So when it was announced that Sir Cliff AND the Shadows were going to perform at the Hunter Valley, I knew I had to get tickets.

So last Friday afternoon we headed north to the Hunter Valley. The place where we stayed was nothing special but this was the view from the verandah.

On Friday night we had excellent tapas at Tatler. After a lazy start to Saturday we hit the wineries! I like to go to the smaller wineries - the ones that only sell from the cellar door rather than the big conglomerates. It seemed from our guidebook that Audrey_Wilkinson had won a lot of prizes so we decided to start there. As we drove up to the cellar door a magnificent view unfolded before us:

The wine was pretty good, too. Next up was an old favouite Tamburlaine where we got some bargain red, some Framboise and some white. After lunch we headed to Capercaille which I felt was a little disappointing.

After getting changed, it was time to head off to the concert at Hope Estate. It was a great night. Cliff always puts on a good show and this was no different. I had forgotten what a great musician Hank Marvin was and it was wonderful to hear some of the Shadows old hits. And for somewhat aged young ones - they looked and sounded pretty good!

Ups and downs

It's been an eventful and somewhat stressful few weeks. I was going to blog about the debacle of the Knitters_Guild elections but I think that all that should be said has been. I know that the incoming Executive will be much more open, visible and accountable and that the harassment and bullying that has characterised the organisation will become a thing of the past.

Workwise we had a tumultuous week last week with fourteen partners resigning from the firm on the same day. Again, much has been written about this and whilst it does not affect me directly, it has unsettled everyone.

Healthwise I have had an unpleasant gum infection which my dentist attributes to stress. The medication was strong and knocked me around a bit last week.

Thank goodness for my knitting! The Green Leaves socks are progressing nicely,

Cherry_Basket is finished

and I have started a Featherweight Cardigan.

There has been some yarn acquisition - the last instalments of the Lush yarn Sock Club and the wonderful Knitabulous yarn club. Oh - and a skein of Lush 50/50 silk and merino happened to fall into my virtual shopping basket.

A Capital Weekend

Last Thursday evening, instead of going to the M&S knitting group, I flew to Canberra. It was wonderful to get away from the packing boxes for the weekend.







Friday was the man's birthday and we went to the excellent Ottoman for dinner. The restaurant is somewhat curiously located in Barton, surrounded by office buildings. We had a lovely evening and the service and food were of the usual high standard. We had a selection of Turkish dishes - all delicious - and left feeling well and truly sated.









On Saturday morning we headed to the National Gallery for the Masterpieces_from_Paris exhibition. This comprises 112 masterpieces from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris which, I believe, is undergoing extensive renovation. The highlight for me, rather predictably, was Van Gogh's Starry Night. I've seen it before but was again enthralled by the depth of colour and luminescence of the painting.









After that, we headed for the Canberra Centre and a bit of shopping before going to see Bran Nue Dae. I enjoyed the movie but can see that it might have been better as a stage show.

Later we walked around the lake before heading out to dinner in Manuka.






On Sunday we had a leisurely but not very nice breakfast- in Manuka again - before spending an hour or so at the Bus_Depot_Markets in Kingston. Then on to the Pialligo_Estate for lunch - an excellent Duck breast salad for me - and a glass or two of Pinot Grigio. The weather was perfect - warm but with none of the Sydney humidity.

And then it was time to get on the plane back to Sydney. After the stresses of the last few weeks it was the perfect weekend - no humidity, warm days, good food and wine and a some relaxing diversions.

Stash relocation

So Saturday (hottest day for 6 or 7 years) was the day of the move. The removalists were great and nearly everything got relocated without too much drama. The new place has more living space but the bedrooms are smaller with fewer cupboards. This necessitated a trip to Ikea to buy a wardrobe. (Note to self: do not go to Ikea on a drizzly Sunday. Everybody has the same idea. It is not much fun for you or the hundreds of wailing infants!)

The knitting books are in here somewhere:

And part of the stash is in here........

.....somewhere!