Vital organ

For several years hubby had talked about the old pedal organ from the late 1800s that he used to 'play' on as a child in his grandparents' house.  When his grandparents passed on, this organ came to his parents' house, then on to a second cousin, a good friend of hubby, when his parents moved into a retirement village with limited space.  Recently, when the second cousin and his partner considered downsizing, the organ needed a new home.  Needless to say, hubby was keen, and several hundred dollars later the organ was tenderly transported professionally from Melbourne to Sydney.

Hubby was overjoyed of course, since the organ brought back many happy memories of his grandparents and their home.  Then he had the bright idea of 'googling' this make of organ to see how much it was worth.  Big mistake!  It turns out that Mason & Hamlin reed organs were produced at the rate of 200 a week in the late 1800s. Consequently there are oodles about, and the resale value down-under, even for a specimen over 130 years old in fine condition, is not that great, and certainly much less than it cost to transport it from Melbourne to Sydney.  But, hey?  What price can you place on sentiment?  And, it is a nice, if somewhat heavy, piece of furniture.

The family jewel

I will, however, hold hubby to his promise to learn to play the &*!* thing in retirement.

Yeah, Monday morning!!

Monday morning used to be a pest when I was working. It was always a big rush to find something to wear and realizing that what you absolutely needed to wear was in the wash and you had forgotten to photocopy stuff for your class etc. Plus the butterflies in your stomach when you were supposed to start a new class. Sometimes being a teacher starting a new class is like being a stand-up comedian, you have to get their attention with an ice breaker from the start.  I was often grateful that my students were adults. I would have problems with discipline in a class of kids, especially teenagers. If they were mean to me I would probably burst out crying and that wouldn't do, would it? It would be all over Fb and Twitter and YouTube in minutes.

So thankfully I was teaching English to French adult students, which was very rewarding and much less scary.  French students often have an excellent knowledge of  grammar but are intimidated about speaking, so it is a question of getting them to speak and forget the grammar and the "correct way" of saying something and just chat. I quite miss that part, but not the Monday morning panic part.

These are some of my adult students and I must admit that fluency improves with a glass of wine!

Now in my other life Monday morning is great, a new week and new exciting things to do (or not). It helps that it is almost always sunny too. I think I am going to make Monday my blog day.

Yesterday we had a barbecue and it went very well, we were about 15 adults and some children and a gorgeous baby in a cute pink blanket with skulls on it!! Very funky!

I was so busy I almost forgot to take photos but here is one of my Swedish friend L and her boyfriend and a Chinese couple and another one of hubby at the other table.

So this Monday morning means tidying up and doing dishes but I keep thinking of how much fun it was yesterday so it is OK. Also hubby is coming home for lunch since we have so many left-overs to finish off.  Why can I not be reasonable when I have people over?  I always cook for double as many as are actually coming from sheer panic of not having enough. So our son was sent home with enough to eat for a week and we certainly will have enough for a week too. Too bad you can't freeze salads!

Oh, the postman just came, got to go and see if there is anything for us. So bye for now!

Sista April and Mother's Day

Greetings all.

I was very late getting up this morning, or rather leaving the bedroom. It is the only room that can be heated by the combined a/c and heater. The temperatures drops to around 11 or 12 °C at night and the bedroom is the only place to be. We are thinking of moving the TV in here, like the tenants before us. First we thought it seemed a bit decadent when we saw it, but now it seems like the only way to go.

Last week I went to the SIS dinner to celebrate the last day of April - Sista April which is possibly linked to Walpurgis Night. It is very Swedish and if you have been a student at one of the big universities, it is a must. A fire is lit and songs are sung and hats are thrown in the air to celebrate the arrival of Spring. 

In our case it was also a wonderful sit down dinner catered by Two Swedes Cooking and it was very nice. I was very grateful that it was a sit down affair because I had been running around Sydney on foot and on busses all day together with L, a new girl friend who had spent the night at my place since she lives quite far away. One of the places we went to was the Archibald exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. As usual I didn't quite agree with the jury's choice, there being a few others that I liked better.  Anyway I was glad it was a sit down dinner since I don't think I could have managed standing up all night!

Oops, a bit blurred. Maybe this was taken after the
delicious schnaps made of Turkish pepper candy
was served.

The interiour of this warehouse was gorgeous, here
is the link.

Oh, I almost forget that there was also Mother's Day. We went out for lunch with our son. It was cleverly combined with doing laundry since his washing machine is on the blink. It was quite hard to find a place to eat since we had not booked but we found a place in Thirroul, down the coast. We actually looked for houses down that way and we really liked it, but then we found the one we have just moved to and decided on that. It has a pool and wooden floors, which were my main criteria when we were looking.

This coming weekend we are organizing a little housewarming BBQ, and hoping for nice weather. Come along, if you feel like it. We would love to see you!!

Elvers have left the building

In his never-ending quest to keep me amused at week-ends (and to have some fun himself) hubby took me on another mystery tour last week-end, this time westwards towards the Blue Mountains. Not the Blue Mountains that you see in tourist brochures, with the Three Sisters, Leura, and cosy little cafes, but to ...

Warragamba Dam

... a dam!  Yes, after an hour or so of driving through seemingly endless suburbs, then stud farms and orchards, we arrived at Warragamba Dam, the main source of Sydney's water supply, and with Lake Burragorang behind it being four times the size of Sydney Harbour, the reason why a sizeable part of the Blue Mountains is inaccessible.

Eels on a mission

Not only that, I have since learnt that the name of Parramatta, the oldest inland European settlement in Australia, now part of Greater Sydney and not so far far from the dam, is an anglicisation from the Aboriginal dialect 'Barramattagal' meaning 'place where the eels dwell'.

Big boys' toys

Lunch at the Wallacia Hotel.

Did Henry foresee this?

We rounded off the day with a visit to the Campbelltown Arts Centre. The setting was very nice, with a Japanese garden, and not-so-coy Koi. The art by a New Zealand artist was quite thought provoking, but the pieces by another artist depicting various aspects of humiliation of women were fairly challenging.

I'm back, and I'm mad!

Well, dear reader, I couldn't resist.  I'm back, and I'm mad!

By and large, the house move went pretty smoothly seven weeks ago.  Two men and a van, plus ineffectual hubby and me, got the move done in one day, one long day though, nearly 12 hours of grunt, sweat and tears.  On the up-side, hubby lost four kilos, and he hasn't eaten them back yet. I, however,  have not lost a gram.  I just know I would even gain weight in a famine.

What did not go well at all was the move of the telephone and internet connection!  Our previous provider, 'T', promised that the telephone would be switched over the same day, and internet ten days later.  Ha!  Ten days later nothing had happened, although we could ring out and in using the number of the previous occupants.  'T' said that the problem was that the previous occupants had not closed the line, and that it would take another week.  I 'spat the dummy', to use a local expression, and told 'T' that we would not continue with them, but choose a new provider.  Big mistake!

The new provider, 'O', said that they could handle terminate the contract with 'T' and we would have internet within two weeks.  Six weeks later we are still waiting, despite the best efforts of Kevin, Sean, Jason, and Caroline in Mumbai, and many hours on hold before you need to go through the whole story yet again. Our phone doesn't have speaker phone so you have to actually sit and have the phone pressed to your ear. I am sure I have done myself an injury.

At least we now have mobile internet, which if 'T' had been thinking, they would have proposed right from the start, and kept a customer.  Am I happy with having taken a stand? Yes, but hubby just continues to roll his eyes.

At least there is the pool, but that is not just straight forward either; more about that another time.

Bye for now

I realize that this blog caper has been only for me really, a way to keep track of what I have been doing since coming to Australia, but other people cannot possibly be that interested.

Therefore I am saying farewell, but not doing anything stupid or anything, just bye for now.  I have enjoyed sharing with you, and who knows I might get back, but right now I feel a bit despondent and I will try to get on to doing other things.

Cheerio from a discouraged blogger.

Found a house!

As you know my whole life has evolved around trying to find a house, i.e. reading the ads, surfing the web, and visiting houses, and at the same time being here for people coming to visit this house. I make a point of coming to the door with my big ear muffs on so they understand what it is like to live here.
The noise level these days is beyond anything.  I am very glad to get away from here.

The house we have found is not so far away. It is a little less expensive and has a pool and polished floorboards. These were my main criteria when I was searching.

I have been going to the beach for a couple of hours each day to get away from the noise and every time I am kicking myself for not having brought the camera. There is this person who is so-o-o tattooed you would not believe it. The whole chest is covered from neck to stomach with a very colourful tattoo. The one arm and one leg as well, maybe the back too, but I haven't seen.  It's just that yesterday the person sat up and it was a woman. First of all, it is not that common here in Australia to sun bathe topless, so that in itself was something, but the tattoos ... it must have hurt!  If I have the camera tomorrow I am going to ask her if she would mind if I take a photo. First I was just going to sneak off one of the beach and accidentally she would be in it but this way maybe she will show it all!

The week end was peaceful. I went to my old art school Hazelhurst for a sort of happening in their gardens. It was called Artexpress, and they had young artists painting together and later on there was live music.

This was on of the big murals.

Even the trees were decorated with  crocheted scarves

Don't you wish you had hair like that?

Next time you hear from me might be from the new place. By the way the address is Cuthbert Place. Here is why it is so suitable:

Saint Cuthbert (c. 634 – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Northumbria. After his death he became one of the most important medieval saints of England, with a cult centred at Durham Cathedral.

If you know us, and especially if you know hubby, you know that he often goes to Durham University so I thought very appropriate to move to this address.