Easter is very late this year

You may recall that I left my camera in Adelaide so these photos are all from Bron.  Here's some Easter Eggs she prepared earlier... but fortunately she brought us all one, after distributing the others to people she has only known for a tiny fraction of her life.  I drove from Wentworth to Heth's house in Adelaide on Good Friday.  We rendezvoused chez Heths and she drove us all in her big car to Goola Wa Tu in Goolwa - at the Murray Mouth.

A leisurely start to Saturday

but then we were off into town to buy provisions

though the car had groaned with them on the way down.

Here's our first glimpse of the Oscar W which plies this part of the river for tourists like us.

 

As we posed for the above above photo, a man rushed over to have his photo taken with us.  Understandable perhaps but bemusing for his wife who stood wanly by.  He may, of course, be the embodiment of Oscar W.

Easter Sunday dawned as it should.

We breakfasted on the deck (the east facing deck - we had 4).

Heths was keen to walk through the dunes.

I had to go down to the sea again...

So, of course, we did.

Behold.

A distant plane

 and a highway of 4WDs heading for the Murray Mouth.

Fortunately it's a very long beach.

And we are not easily deterred.

Shades of Ursula Andress, I like to think.

Others have suggested Miss Piggy.

I'm not sure what these are, but they're very photogenic...

After all that nature, we had to go home

and do what we do best.

Bron had made gingerbreads and the makings for us to decorate them, each to her own.

Miss Piggy indeed!!!

(to be continued)

Where have I been??

Before I blog Easter, I must explain my absence.  Firstly my laptop was stolen, and I'm still grieving.  Secondly, I spent some of the week before last in Albury for work.  Above is my hotel room - very spooky after that week's Jonathon Creek...  I drove home on the Saturday following the Murray and had lunch at Oscar W in Echuca.

Oscar W may resonate with those who spent Easter at Goolwa.  In the case of this restaurant, it pays homage not just to the paddleboat but also Oscar Wilde and has quotes on the wall such as:  People who live within their means obviously lack imagination (or words to that effect).

Other writing on a wall in a public loo

which also amused me.

Arriving home, I checked the olive crop.

and made sure masterpieces were still being created.

including god's.

While Sissy cornered the bone market.

Easter is next - after a bit of crochet.

Easter Dumb Bunny

Hmmmmm.  I left my camera / phone in my car at Heather's house so did not have it over Easter.  Bron, having considerably more presence of mind, had her camera and is sending copies of her photos.  Until then, above is Dymphna all packed up and ready to go.  This was a few days before we left Wentworth for Adelaide.  Dymph was a little bereft at waving goodbye to the HMAS Platypus and crew which were continuing their journey to the Murray Mouth.

Harvest Festival

That's the 2010/11 olive crop.

The Mirror Crack'd...

Been a long time between posts. I drove to Portland on my birthday to spend the weekend with Southern Belle.  Here's the view from my bedroom window on my first day of being 58.

Breakfast on a misty morning with Southern Belle on the ocean-facing deck.

We decided on a picnic lunch at national park where no cycling was allowed - to find a race in progress.

So, of course, we had to look out.

The next day we visited a lavender farm.  Jill and Steve have their own lavender fields so really it was a case of industrial espionage.

All too soon it was Monday and I had the long drive home, happily bearing apples from the orchard and fresh laid eggs from the Isa Browns.  Mum had sent me some money to have a birthday meal on the way to Portland but there wasn't time, so I indulged in Hamilton on the way back.  I had a look at the Art Gallery and took a photo of a dragon pot for Georgia.

I love Regional Galleries - they are just the right size for me.  I don't get overwhelmed.

This visit was amazing.  Art Deco in the foyer (where I wasn't game to take a photo).  Then a ginger pot in their Asian Collection.  Jill and I had been talking about ginger, loss of sense of taste with aging, and having a pot of crystallized ginger on the mantle-piece.

And then a display including lots of Morocco, where Jill and Steve will be traveling soonish, including this Tom Roberts that I thought (my) Steve might like.

I had lunch at the Dariwell Farm cafe - heaps of smoked salmon and other goodies with a glass of wine.  Then detoured to Nigretta Falls.  I figured this may be my last chance to see them flowing for a while.

Here's the river at the bottom of the falls.  Next year it will probably be in drought and dry again.

I got home in time for tea, then had to work four days straight to make up for my Monday off.  Sadly I was then fluey over the weekend.  Then we had computer / internet problems.  Now we seem to be back on track.

Exhibition Opening 12 March 2011

We now have some photos of the big night.

Sam and I pondering something before the big event - I was just home from my hospital job.

Sam's daughters on our newly upholstered couch.  Exhibition behind them.

Another part of the exhibition.

Local Arts identity looking at works (which weren't technically part of exhibition) in dining room.

Cuppla uni students doing likewise.

Happy Accidents

Sometimes you become aware of the beauty that surrounds you.  It's easy to notice the nature stuff and things that you have contrived to make beautiful but this week I've noticed these.

I'd hurriedly emptied the 2 big blue bowls one night, tipping the contents into the Mermaid plate that Georgia made.  Now I've noticed that the mermaid and seal are playing together in a petal strewn sea.

Someone, presumably Steve, has left our old kindling bucket up on the deck.

Returning to nature.  Remember the photos of Lake Benanee on the way to Balranald that I posted during the drought?  Well the lake is full again.

The lakeside trees must be in shock!