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.

At last I'm overweight

I had some good news today.

Now I'm officially overweight. "Why is this a cause of celebration?", I hear you ask.

The reason stems back to about September last year when Karyn bought a Wii Fit for Matt's Nintendo Wii. The Wii Fit has a Body Test mode where it weighs you as part of an overall fitness test. I was rather horrified to see that according to the BMI scale, I was in the Obese category. I consoled myself with the fact that muscle is heavier than fat and the Wii couldn't see my superb physique.

Well, 6 months later, I've now dropped into the Overweight category. All I had to do was lose 16kg.

I actually set myself a target of losing 20kg, so I've only got 4kg to go.

For those of you who are wondering how I did it, I'll tell you the secret:

EAT LESS, EXERCISE MORE

Balloon Flight

I had a wonderful day today.  Karyn bought me a balloon flight for Christmas, so it seemed a good idea to use it during the Canberra balloon festival.

The only downside was that we had to be down at the lake in front of Old Parliament House by 5:45AM.  It was still dark.   After signing the usual disclaimers that said it would be our own fault if we landed in the lake and drowned or hit powerlines and electrocuted ourselves, we helped inflate the balloon.

After laying out the balloon, two big fans were used to partially inflate the balloon while lying on its side.  They they turned on the gas burners that heated the air and caused the balloon to lift.

We had to get onboard quickly to stop it drifting away.  The ladder is for some old folks who couldn't climb in.  I had no problem. The basket held 12 people.

Surprisingly, as we lifted off and drifted West, there was no sound and no wind.  The basket didn't sway at all, so I reckon and even nervous fliers would be OK with it.  Until they had to land, of course ....

When I say no sound, I mean that there was no sound other then the occasional roar of the gas burners going off....

It gets quite hot when the flame is on,  which is why they recommended that we wear a cap to minimise the heat on our heads.  Maybe to stop your hair catching fire, I reckon.

There were panoramic views in all directions.  It was a pity that there were clouds above us - it would have been spectacular if the sun had been shining.  But then you can't been picky - last year Matt and I went to see the massed balloon launch and it was cancelled because there was no wind, and then the next day is was cancelled again because there was too much wind.

After a while we drifted out over the countryside.  It was unbelievable how dry everything was - once you moved away from the roads into the fields, all the grass disappeared until all you could see was bare dirt and dried up water holes.  I took the pictures below, they seem unreal, but that's exactly what the landscape looked like.  Lots of dead trees, a few greeen ones, and everything else a light brown clay.  It's probably been about 6 weeks since we had any substantial rain.

While our pilot kept us high in the sky, a few like to take a more risky path.  Apparently the daredevils like to try and skim over the water.  Some seem to like bouncing into other balloons.

Eventually we had to land.  The only problem were the power-lines that needed to be avoided. We landed in a paddock filled with thistles and waited until the ground crew arrived.  The pilot then  put some more head into the balloon so that the ground crew could walk us out of the thistles.

The reason for this is that we had to collapse and repack the balloon ready for tomorrow's flight and the thistles could cause problems.  We had thought that they moved us out of the thistles for the convenience of the passengers !