Bad news

Bad news.

My mother-in-law's leg is too sore and she will have to stay longer.

I'll leave it to you to work out the bad news part.

A poor way to end a day

Today wasn't as good as we hoped it would be. We took a trip to Bega.

Why go to a little hamlet on the far South Coast of NSW? Because of its racecourse. Our horse was running there, so we felt obliged to make the 3 hour trip. That's 3 hours each way. In a car for 6 hours. Locked in car with my mother-in-law. But of course I'm only joking, she's not too bad.

We had to leave at around 8am so that we could get there early enough to get a table in the Members area. So I had to get up at around 6:30 so I could spend half an hour on the treadmill first.

We picked up Penny, and after about 2 hours we stopped for coffee at Maccas in Cooma, where it was foggy and the temperature was a pleasant 6 degrees. By the time we got down to sea-level, the temperature had climbed to a mild 14 degrees and the sun was out.

Karyn went to say hello to Diamond Jay, and got bitten again. It happens every time. I guess one day she'll learn to stay away from the part with teeth.

It was a great race meeting at the Sapphire Coast track. Unfortuntely we came 6th. The jockey blamed the horse for not performing, but we prefer to blame him. So no trophy this time.

To make the day worse, Karyn put on a trifecta bet (picking first, second, and third) but the girl at the TAB put it on wrong. When Karyn realised this, she broke the cardinal rule of betting, and had the bet changed. If she'd left it alone, we'd have walked away with a 490:1 payout. But she broke the rule of never changing a mistaken bet, so we walked away with nothing.

So, back in the car for another 3 hour drive. With the mother-in-law next to me all the way. I had to drive, because the girls had consumed at least a bottle each.

By the time we reached Cooma we felt like a nice steak dinner, so we stopped off at the local RSL, and as luck would have it, the restaurant didn't open for another half an hour. We didn't feel like waiting, so back to McDonalds we went.

The girls pigged out on fat-burgers, while I had a wrap from their healthy-choice menu. Strange, but this menu has shrinked to almost nothing these days.

On the way back to the car, Fay tripped over and hurt herself. I'm sure the bottle of wine had nothing to do with it. She already had an injured ankle, so now she has an injured wrist and hip go with it. When we got home she realised the disadvange of our split-level home: stairs. It took ages for her to get upstairs and into bed.

Boy am I not looking forward to the morning when she tries to get up and finds out that her muscles have locked-up. Maybe I can go out somewhere before she wakes up.

I got into the spa for a relaxing float-around. And, of course, it started to rain. You know, I find it hard to relax in the spa when it's raining on my head.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Art Show time

It's strange that when I'm doing lots I don't seem to blog much. Now it's been so long that I can hardly remember all the things that I've done over the past few weeks.

It's certainly been a busy day today, and I've just been relaxing in the spa for an hour or so. Everybody has gone to bed and Matthew's out sampling some of the bars around town now that he's 18 and it's all legal. He left his car at home, so that's one thing I don't have to worry about. Donna, who lives a few doors up the street, was in an accident during the week and wrote off her car. She came to dinner tonight on crutches; fortunately a banged-up ankle is her only injury.

Karyn's friend Jessica came down for the weekend (she couldn't make it for Matthew's birthday). She and I went to the Radford College Art Show today, and we really enjoyed the paintings. I'm on the organising committee, helping out with the IT-related tasks like the art catalog and sales recording system. There were so many great paintings that next year I need to agree a budget with Karyn and buy something on the spot if I like it. This year I dithered so much on opening night that all the good ones got bought within a few minutes.

Some fabulous student art. It's amazing what some people can do with an HB pencil.

I'm glad I got out of the job of setting up the display stands. I did it last year and it took us until midnight.

We had great art that sold well. When one artist found that all his paintings sold on the first day, he turned up with 3 more in his car for us to sell.

Once the show started we could relax a bit. No disasters (yet).

I've worked out a better method for printing off the artist sales statements, so I'll have to be there at the end for a few hours to upgrade the system and install the new reports before all the artists turn up for their money.

The spa's back in action

Karyn's been away this weekend, so I had a good chance to have a relax.

Fortunately the spa pump has been replaced, so I could kick back surrounded by bubbles and enjoy the night sky.

I wonder if the people I met in Mumbai last year could comprehend the world outside India.

Big Win at Bega

On Sunday we drove to Bega on the southern coast of NSW to see our new horse "Diamond Jay"  race.

Whilst being optimistic about her, we weren't sure about her real competitiveness.  In her last race, despite coming 3rd, she was also 11 lengths behind the leader.  You always hope that there was a reason for this, not just a lack of speed.

Anyway, we made the 3 hour drive there with some friends, stopping at Cooma on the way for coffee and then a lookout over the Bega valley.

Here's the view from the lookout.

Canberra is in the Southern Highlands of NSW, so we're about 600m above sea level.  So, being Autumn, it was about 8 degrees C.   As we descended to sea level, the temperature rose to about 21 degrees, so we had a relatively warm day ahead, windy though it was.

Karyn gave her usual pep-talk to the horse.  He must be getting used to her now.  Last time he bit her 3 times.

And of course the best horse won on the day....

Here's Penny and Karyn holding the trophy in the Committee Room.  There, we watched the race replay about a dozen times.

Notice how tightly Penny is holding the trophy.  She kept it hugged to her chest for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  We're wondering if we'll ever see it again.

Anzac Day Dawn Service

For the first time, I went to the Anzac Day dawn service here in Canberra.

Although it's a relatively simple memorial service, each year the attendance grows. I think that this morning there was a crowd of 20,000 people standing there in the cold and dark pre-dawn service. That's not bad for a small city.

I arranged to go with Di, my neighbour 2-doors up the street. To be there on time we had to leave by 4:15am. Even the dogs didn't stir. It poured with rain off and on all night, with gale-force winds. We considered cancelling, but at 4am there was only a light drizzle, so we decided to go.

We were able to park in a nearby suburb and walk to the War Memorial. All the seating was taken so we stood just in front of the dais. It was strangely quiet given the number of people there, with most noise coming from the flagpoles and the cockatoos.

The service was short but good. And best of all the rain held off until 60 seconds after the service finished.

Despite the rain, we availed ourselves of the free coffee and Anzac biscuits, mainly to show appreciation to the volunteers who were manning the tables in the rain and wind.

We then walked through the War Memorial's gallery of names on the Roll of Honour, and then through the Hall of Remembrance.

By the time we got out it was about 6:30am and we could see that we were in for a cold, windy day.

We then went for breakfast in Civic. I called Karyn to invite her to breakfast, but she was still in bed and not in the mood. It was before 10am after all.

Standing in front of the stage.

Not enough light for a good shot.

The tradition of putting poppies in the Wall.

A bleak morning afterwards.  The seating you can see arranged extends right around the courtyard.  We were standing right where the truck now is.

 

Me, rugged up for the cold.

Easter at Port Stephens

At Easter we visited Karyn's mother at Port Stephens.

It's about a 6hr drive from Canberra. What's amazing is what a difference a 6hr drive can make to the temperature. Here it's getting to be tracksuit weather, while up there you can only wear shorts and t-shirts.

It's funny how things change. In the past, most of the conflict/organisation revolved around who got to watch what on the TV. Now, it's whose got the laptop charger. We took two laptops but only one charger with us, so the big issue was who had to run on battery and who got to connect up and recharge while playing. I took a wireless keyboard we me so when it was my turn to use a laptop I could plug it in to the 50" TV and use it from across the room. Amazing how these things can just plug into one another and just work.

Matt and I took the chance to do some things that we don't usually do.

Like putt-putt.  (I won)

And practicing our driving.

One evening we also went bowling.  (I won there as well).

For lunch on Sunday we went to a seafood restaurant overlooking Nelson Bay marina.  The food was terrific.  The view was pretty good as well.

Karyn and me.

Here's a random photo at the marina.