Family

Quinquennial pictures

Which means every five years, so here I am --starting at nought year, up to 40! The final three include a 35 that is actually 33 and 2 of 40-- one a joint 40/80 party with my mother.

Home, Garden and Sydney

Harbour Bridge 1933+

My father was ship's writer with P & O lines on the SS Stratheden, for many years. I still have his log book of journeys. He was a brilliant amateur photographer and was allowed a darkroom in the hold of the ship, where he developed many photos of

Kayaking

First kayak this season

The weather has gone from being cold and unpredictable, to  a searing 33 Deg C, in one day. So we dusted off the kayaks and set forth, in a casual way,  for Swallow Rock. We encountered a large sailing creaft coming the other way --it was high tide. We found

Home, Garden and Sydney

Another beached boat at Cronulla

Late afternoon at Shelley beach, a small fishing vessel beached on the rocks. By the time we returned from our walk on the promenade, in the dusk,  a surf rescue 4WD was hitched up and with a few rough jerks on the tow rope, it bounced up the rocky hill

Home, Garden and Sydney

Tree felling

Some of the local trees have become so large over the last 70 years that they have to be felled. Gum trees also drop large branches when stressed by drought, so become a danger. This one was felled today, near our house  and required an 'abseiler' with a

Home, Garden and Sydney

Cronulla Spring Fair

The Saturday was wet but Sunday was a fantastic day for weather. A huge variety of stalls, buskers and entertainers were all there for the crowds, in the pedestrian mall of Cronulla, Kirrawee High School band and singers were excellent. There was a reptile display, including a snake that found

Music

A scout barbeque and a concert!

Today a small number our Scout Group held a fund-raising barbeque outside REPCO, and in the afternoon our Sutherland Shire Band met the Camden Community Band for a concert at the school--bad weather prevented use of an outside venue. The band in Blue are the Camden band The

Music

Mary's Choir performance

Tonight the Sutherland Shire Choral Society presented a medley of songs from popular musicals--to a packed house and to great acclaim. Other pics include son-in-law Will planting a fruit tree --a present to Mary, a heron near the sea-front and an amusing but accurate T-shirt

Family

Leaving Sydenham for London

A hectic dash in rush hour to return the Vauxhall Astra car to Croyden (thank heaven for satnav!), return by (new) tram to Croyden overground station,  to Sydenham. Thence to Heathrow by overground and tube where we went by Cathay to Hong Kong and Sydney. Mary is at Jacqui and

Cliff

The North Downs way--Shere

After meeting at Guildford station, Clifford and I walked along part of the North Downs way, to the delightful village of  Shere on the small river Bourne. We had a drink in the White Horse pub there and I encourage you to read the chalk board message. Cliff obligingly put

Family

A day in Kent with Michael

We drove, in rain,  to the enormous  Knole Manor, built for the Arch Bish of Canterbury and later 'possessed' by Henry VIII--then later the seat of the Sackville family for hundreds of years. Of the 350 rooms, 83 are still occupied by the Sackville family matriarch. The

Family

Whitstable

A visit to some of Tom's relatives at Whitstable today, reminded me of when,as a student,  I crewed  in a firefly class yacht from nearby Tankerton, in the National Championship series --50 years ago! The yacht owner won the comp the year before but sadly not with