words fail me (I can't think of a name for this post) but there are a lot of words...

Blog World has been  quiet.  I think blogs have had their day but I shall continue because I enjoy the reflection required and I find it very useful to look back over the years and see what my garden was doing.  I'm not sure why I missed 3 weeks of posting!  Last week was busy with driving - 3 trips to the city!!!  Lunch with Cynthia in Bellerive on Monday, ultrasound at Rosny Park on Wednesday, concert on Friday night.  I have no photos of these events.  Presumably there are some ultrasound images around somewhere but the medical practice hasn't summoned me so I assume there is nothing urgent - just an overzealous doctor or one with shares in the pathology company.  Hopefully these words will not come back to bite me.

The TSO concert was at the Federation Concert Hall.  Locals have a name for this copper clad, bullet shaped building but I can't remember what it is.  I was lured to do the long drive by Slava Gregorian.  I think of him as a friend because he once performed on a small boat going up the Darling River as part of the Mildura Arts Festival.  It was a blissful experience until a former headmaster told us to stop looking at the scenery and pay attention to the guitarist.  Slava looked a little embarrassed.  

I got to last Friday's concert very early.  I gave myself plenty of time to drive from Triabunna, and had the cunning plan of parking at Rosny Park and catching the bus into Hobart.  This was a very good plan because the bus trip is only 10 minutes and requires no hunting for parking spaces on the waterfront on a Friday night.  It all went so well that I had an hour and a half to while away.  Hobart shops are closed at 6 pm so there was only window shopping.  I then explored the new (to me) waterfront eateries.  There are so many of them, all looking very austere and not able to draw me in.  In fact, by and large, they looked devoid of customers though it was, of course, very early.  With 30 minutes to go, I gave in and traipsed to the concert hall which I then had to circumnavigate because I couldn't find the entrance.  It is quite well hidden beside the Grand Chancellor hotel.  Very confusing for a Provincial.  I whipped out my printed ticket and presented it but it wouldn't scan.  Oh just go in, said the young chappy, so I did.  I presented my ticket to the usher who also couldn't scan it.  I peered at it, without my glasses, and realised it was the wrong ticket.  It was for the Brian Ritchie concert I had attended the week or so before.  I pointed this out to the usher and managed to produce the correct ticket.  Scanning and scamming crossed my mind.

I had booked a seat in the middle of the first row so I could gaze admiringly at my mate Slava.  Naturally I had the concert hall to myself for a while but people began to trickle in.  I discovered that there is a group of people who always sit in the front row.  They don't know each other otherwise but greet each other and exchange news of their doings since the last concert.  The world is an endlessly fascinating place!

I drove home carefully in the inky dark and, to the best of my knowledge, did not kill or maim any animal.

With the exception of one heaven-sent perfect day, the weather has not been clement - strong winds and squally rain.  Most of my gardening plans are on hold but I have caught up with some reading.

I re-familiarised myself with the Hmong people courtesy of Margaret Eldridge.  I was familiar with part of the story from my days at Foreign Affairs and Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, but there was much more to learn.  I felt it necessary to know all this because the Hmong vegetable growers now come to our monthly Triabunna Village Market.  The range and freshness of their vegetable displays have stunned the locals, with a number of people cursing and swearing because they forgot the market was on last Sunday and now haven't got their veggie fix.  It is a wonderful development and I hope the Hmong keep coming.

Sadly I have finished my affair with Monty Don.  I had hoped the book would continue into infinity but, after the maximum number of renewals, I had to return him to the library.

I have also finished People of the River.  It has taken me months to read because it is so enjoyable, educative and challenging to my previous knowledge.  I emailed Emeritus Professor Karskens to thank her for writing such an amazing book.  She wrote back, simply signing herself 'Grace'.

Last night Georgia and I attended a soiree at The Barracks, newly converted to top end accommodation and not yet open to the public.  Georgia arrived early to quality test the bath.

I left at 5 pm, just as it got going, to catch a uni webinar in which I'd enrolled some time ago about the art of the Black Wars, eg https://nga.gov.au/nationalpicture/.  The webinar was not particularly well put together technically but very interesting, making me realise yet again how much I don't know about a period of history I've studied.  Glover and Duterrau were the main artists discussed, but Wainewright also got a mention, which made me remember a book I'd bought at PUBS but so far have not read.

So, another book to read.  It can wait until I've read the Birdman's Wife still on loan from Rob.

For fun, nostalgia and a hit of Corfu weather, I've been re-reading Gerald Durrell's family saga, borrowed from Her Majesty.  This has been pure indulgence as the wind, sleet and showers have buffeted the house most days.