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!

Trials and tribulations

I'm generally fairly sanguine about my lot in life. I think that I have had a blessed life so far and regularly thank whichever force has decreed that I should be so fortunate (apart from the bunions, of course). However, the last few months has severely tested my (possibly) complacent view of the world.

Having spent most weekends looking for somewhere to live and submitting to quite intrusive examination to determine whether we were fit to live in some overpriced hovel, we finally had an application accepted and were all set to move out to the 'burbs. Although this meant an extended commute to work I was prepared to do it in order to live in a nice, new townhouse with plenty of space. The day before we were due to sign the lease it all fell through because the potential landlord hadn't settled the purchase. And settlement was going to be delayed at least four weeks and we have to be out of our current place at the end of the month. So the trawling of the websites, fruitless attempts to contact real estate agents and turning up with dozens of other hopefuls at the few places that were halfway decent began again. In desperation.

Fortunately the application we submitted on Saturday was approved and this weekend we move into a townhouse in the same suburb. Not as large as the other one but much closer to the City and easier to get home to after Thursday evening knitting group.

In with the new....

It's taken me a while to get around to tallying up the knitting output for 2009. This was partly due to me feeling hat my productivity was pathetic in comparison to others. We were talking about this at knitting group and I came to realise that it doesn't matter. I enjoyed most of the projects I embarked on during the year. Those that were less than satisfactory have been frogged and will become new, more enjoyable ones this year. So here it is - what I finished last year.

As for New Year's Resolutions - I never keep them so would be setting myself up for failure if I made any. And goals are far too specific for me. I have decided that I will have aspirations this year. I shall aspire to knit from my stash (packing up for the house move made me realise how much I had accumulated), to finish more projects this year and to not buy yarn unless I have a specific project in mind. My other aspirations include getting fit, losing weight (10 kilos in 2010) and staying in contact with friends and family.

Bobb's Christmas

I'm sure you've all been wondering about Bobb's Christmas presents. I took three packages out to him on Boxing Day.



He loves opening presents...




And was feeling very pleased with himself!