Country road

After the ANZAC Day March, after the Gallery had closed on Wednesday we went for a drive along the Anabranch Road.  'Anabranch Road' is a little misleading because you see very little of the Anabranch.  The road is the mail route so it passes the back of the pastoral properties which have their fronts on the Anabranch.  About halfway between the old Renmark Road and the Silver City Highway is this turnoff to the Anabranch Hall.  This hall used to be the meeting and entertainment centre for the pastoral families.  I think the annual picnic is still held.

I love these shelters.  They remind me of emus.  Steve thinks they are used to shade cars but I like to imagine rows of tables with red gingham table cloths and families watching the tennis.  I rather like the idea of using an emu for shade in the bush - a Marg Whyte sort of a picture.

A pomegranate conveniently situated at the front door.

And a very well appointed loo.

Historic ANZAC Day

I like to observe ANZAC Day.  It reminds me not to get caught up in the mood of the times, to think twice before obeying orders, to marvel at our capacity to act courageously, and that today's theatres of war are tomorrow's tourist hotspots.  This year Aboriginal soldiers were represented in the Wentworth march for the first time.

Here's my friend Raels standing up and being counted.

Dumb Bunny

Remember that I got a camera for my birthday?  Well, I forgot to take it with me at Easter...  However, there are ways and means.  We stayed at Stoneleigh Cottages in Angaston, South Australia.  This is a photo of them taken after a few Jantzs...

And here's our gathering place after a cuppla Js.

(These photos are, truth be known, purloined from a website - see later.)

Bron is always a little more focussed than I.  Here I am taking in some culture with Heths and CK Beagle at the wonderful sculpture park near Angaston and overlooking the Eden Valley.

In the back streets of Angaston, Bron captured a little of Givenchy.  If we hadn't had to peer through a hole in a locked gate to see this, we could have stood on that bridge - though I don't recall Monet ever having anyone standing on his bridge.
If you like the look of Angaston, you can buy Stoneleigh Cottages here.  We'd be ever so grateful.

An Inconvenient Artist

 You may have seen Steve's artwork from this morning on his blog.  After he'd set out, it occurred to me that I would be able to see him from the deck.  And I could.  Except that he had thoughtlessly parked where he was very hard to see.  It wasn't until he was leaving that I managed to get a clearer, though still infinitesimally small, picture.

 

Here's the Darling from the deck.  Flowing beautifully at the moment.

And here's the Murray last Sunday.  We had a small afternoon picnic...

 

Happy Birthday

 

 Rosie gave me a camera for my birthday.  Apparently Steve had complained that my blog was boring, so my faithful girl got me a lovely red camera.  She would have preferred pink but knew that could cause confusion with Bronnie's over Easter.  Sissy gave me a lovely yellow reading lamp.
The day before, we went to a wedding in Mildura - I think it was the first one I've been to since my own.  John and Lynda's is a lovely story.  We had to take these photos on Steve's mobile phone.

 

 

The chocolate mudcake wedding cake apparently was finished 10 minutes before the wedding.  I, of course, was gnashing and wailing that it wasn't fruitcake with marzipan.

Walking to the car on our way home we discovered where the kids had put the candles - and a not so glamorous cinderella had left a shoe.

This staged shot is to show you what a fashionista I've become since reading InStyle magazine.  The pink shoes and bag accessorised the dress I wore to Georgia and Matt's wedding some time ago...

Cuppla birthday shots with  new camera for those who will recognise their significance. 

A glass of bubbly at the Autumn Table in the late afternoon.
A very good birthday.

The reason is

The reason I've been a little quiet for a while is that I have a new job.  This means I no longer work in NSW and no longer have a work phone - so no more spontaneous snapping of photos.  As some of you know, my personal phone has no camera capability.  I keep it because it looks like a Chanel design to me, and possibly was...  Above is one of the last photos I took with the work phone.  The naked ladies / Madonna lilies are also Easter lilies, and so provided a brief reminder that Easter is on its way and with it 4 days of pure indulgence.
The new job is project work for the Mildura Base Hospital Mental Health Service.  I already work at the hospital as a Carer Consultant, but now I also have the project job which is situated in the heart of Mildura, so I am a City Girl again for a while.  So far it's all good.
The downside of taking the new job is that I now work 4.5 days / week which is still pretty luxurious, but meant I couldn't take my annual February sojourn in Portland.  I think of Easter lilies when I think of February in Portland, they are so abundant in the fields.  Then on Saturday, Steve and I went for a little jaunt up the Darling and saw these.

Darling Lilies.  I had heard of them.  Marg Whyte has a lovely card of a fairy sitting beneath a clump of lilies and knitting socks.  The card is titled Consider the lilies...  They also have an exquisite perfume which is hard to capture in a blog.

But try.

Happy St Davids Day

Cymru am byth.

Welsh flag knitted cushion by Georgia Mars.