Goodbye winter

You could not imagine two more differing days if you tried.  Yesterday (Sunday) was a perfect late winter's day; cloudless skies, temperate weather.

Which was just as well, as we gathered for a family lunch to celebrate my brother's birthday.  

The boys amused themselves reading and drawing, waiting patiently for their favourite food ...

Dessert!

In contrast, Saturday began for us at two in the morning when loud hammering invaded our bedroom.  It transpired that our apartment neighbours had a wee problem with their plumbing which necessitated the emergency services of a plumber. With a big hammer.  You can imagine how thrilled we were to discover a few hours later that we were the recipients of their excess water.  

At least it prepared us well for the day ahead, which included joining our granddaughter's cheer squad for very soggy netball semifinals.  Thank goodness for the pop-up coffee vendors who kept us warm on the inside at least.  I felt so sorry for the poor little pets playing their hearts out in such atrocious conditions. 

Available here

 However, it was perfect weather for sewing.

And here

Spring will be arriving in a week (doing the traditional End of Winter Dance of Joy) and I will be busy between now and Christmas with new stock for the summer months ahead and for the Christmas season.

Image: Sara Sprague

Bring it on!

Ah, Spring

I had forgotten the joys of Spring in Sydney - warm one day, freezing, windy and wet the next.

Yesterday proved to be the latter.  However, in the city the crowds gravitated to the new Westfield Centre for comfort.  

One of the joys of returning to the city of our birth is re-discovering what had once been familiar ground.  My, how some things have changed.  Mr Fudge usually has the direction sense of a homing pigeon, but even he was defeated in this incredible maze with escalators shooting off in all directions.

So many shops to inspect.

So many eating places to sit and forget about the weather outside.

Our neighbourhood King Parrot would have felt right at home.

Mr Fudge's navigation system switched on after a delicious lunch and he steered us towards one of our favourite window shopping spots; David Jones Food Hall.  It's three months to Christmas, so we should have been prepared.

We decided to give the figs a miss.

Our main purpose for being in the city on such a miserable day was to take in a live show.  In the Mood was in town and it was a sell-out season.  Our daughter and son-in-law had bought tickets months back, but due to commitments they couldn't attend.  Would we be interested?  Oooo ... yes please!

It was a knock-out show, full of the music of our childhood, performed by a brilliant band and six incredible singers and dancers.  It was something of a novelty to look around and discover we were among the youngest in the audience.  And that's quite an achievement for us these days!

The day was not finished for us yet, as our son-in-law was celebrating his fortieth birthday at  the iconic Watson's Bay Hotel.  It was the perfect ending to the day, with both sides of the family there to help ease him into the new decade.  We discovered that his parents were also at the In the Mood matinee session - they have great taste.

February, the month of birthdays

We have three birthdays in the family within four days of each other this month, which was pretty bad planning, don't you think?  First cab off the rank is our grandson in Sydney who turns three tomorrow.  Sadly, we won't be there to help in the celebrations - if only we could move our cities a little closer together.

Next comes our eldest grandchild, who turns seven on Wednesday and he is within driving distance, so we had a family celebration lunch today.

He did a mammoth job blowing out the candles, as there were 13 cupcakes, spelling out Happy Birthday on the candles.  A couple of hours earlier the cakes I had baked the night before looked pretty ordinary.

But a little bit of magic was about to take place. The very talented Bel of Enticing Icing had made some fabulous icing toppings to dress the cupcakes.  This is the second time Bel has created fondant adorableness to make my humble cupcakes sing, and it won't be the last time.

They came beautifully protected and in perfect condition.
 

Once they were introduced to the cupcakes, it was love at first sight.

Light the candles and the show was ready to roll.

And the third birthday?  Mine.  I never regret my birthdays, in fact, I am quite grateful to be around to celebrate them!

There was a BrisStyle committee meeting yesterday and I was delightfully surprised to receive gifts from two of the lovely committee members, Helen and Ali. I was also a little embarrassed, as I never seem to remember anyone’s birthday (apart from family and my best friend) unless I have it written down in front of me.

The first gift was an eco-envelope which can be put to many uses, such as fun gift wrapping to be sent in the post, but I will be keeping this little number firmly in my own bag.  You can see that I have already unbuttoned it for closer inspection!  The second gift was from Helen - a Moleskine style notebook with a cover featuring a map of the border towns of New South Wales and Victoria, as Helen reasoned that as I've been travelling a fair bit over the past few months, it would be ideal to jot down my travel notes.

You can't buy these, because they are exclusively mine, but you can find similar wares at Ali's Etsy shop here.  Thank you so much girls and apologies for all the birthdays I have missed.

The BrisStyle committee meeting was pretty full on, with the BiDM being a matter of only three weeks away (eek!), and there was so much to discuss ...

... and decisions to be made.

Like what to eat for lunch.

I was going to make Vegemite sandwiches, until word got around that Bel was going to make a batch of macaroons.  That lifted the bar a little, so I changed the menu to fresh asparagus and fetta tart.  I am here to report that the macaroons were absolutely heavenly, unlike those seen in a certain TV kitchen competition show last week!

Of course, we needed all this fuel to give us the much needed stamina to finalise details for not only the 6 March BiDM, but  plans for an exciting year for BrisStyle.  Stay tuned.

Got to love February.