The week that was

Last week was busy because my sister in law was here. We had hoped to do so many things but only did half of them. I hope she can make it over to Sweden this summer for more fun and craft and painting.

We managed to get ourselves organized to have a barbecue with some distant family members and  hubby's friend who is leaving to go to Sweden for work. Also a childhood friend of our youngest daughter came. She is here for a post doc at the university. It was very nice to catch up with everybody.

The next day we were invited to a Greek Orthodox Christening and that was very interesting. The church was very ornate and the ceremony was also very different to what we had previously experienced. It seems the god parents play a very serious roll in the child's life. They supplied the clothes that the baby was dressed in after the full dip baptism. The child is not to be washed for three days after the ceremony?! I hope it doesn't include the bottom!
After that there was a reception in a place called Waterview in Bicentennial park. It was not just nibbles and wine but a full blown sit down  dinner. It was amazing and not at all what we had expected.

The main person being hoisted up in the air by hubby

Oh, and of course there was also greek dancing which looks so beautiful. I filmed a lot but I think it is too big to put on here, so you just have to trust me when I say that it was brilliant.

What we didn't do this week end was to go to the Mardi Gras Parade after our barbeque on Saturday. We were too tired and we have already been once. It is very hard to get a good spot so you can actually see the floats.
It always starts with Dykes on Bikes, opening the parade, most of them riding Harleys but some little scooters etc.

If you ever want to eat great vegetarian food I recommend the Nan Tien Temple near Wollongong. it is a very beautiful place and you feel like you are in another world, very peaceful.

Time to do some chores now. So until next time, here is a little wisdom from Nan Tien.

As you can see my photo skills have not improved much.

Apples

Apples are my least favorite fruit, way down the list after citrus fruit of all kinds, peaches, apricots, grapes, and melons. They are even further down than bananas which I am not particularly fond of either. You might have started reading here and wondering if this is just going to be a little story about my favorite food, but no, not so.  This is how it came about that I have six apples in my fruit basket now.

I had finished shopping and sat down on a bench in my local shopping center to check my receipt which I do sometimes when it seems that the sum I paid was a bit hefty. However, it is always correct, that hefty sum is usually  because I added a few extra goodies. Anyway, next to me were two ladies my age and they looked very much alike so I gathered they must be sisters. I overheard them talking about an uncle who was being difficult and other problems, weight, cleaning products, grand children etc. It got very interesting. I didn't want to seem like I was eaves dropping so I stared straight ahead.  I was not really aware that straight ahead meant that I was looking very intently at the green grocer who was arranging apples outside his shop. I wasn't even aware of him but  he obviously felt uncomfortable, having a lady staring at him like that. He probably thought it was in a critical way.

Suddenly he felt he needed to explain whet he was doing, so he told me that every day he polishes some apples and puts them on top of the others to make the whole pile look pretty and fresh. He said it was good for business to do that. It wasn't like he was cheating anybody etc Then he asked me if I like apples. I could have told him the truth (see first paragraph) but instead I wanted to be nice and said "Yes, I love them", so he gave me some, and this is the reason I now have six apples in the house.
It is hard to be true to oneself when a little white lie is so much easier.

I have just finished a wonderful little book called l' Elegance du Herisson, written by Muriel Barbery. It was given to me in the Swedish Cafe in Manly where tourists leave books and also, like in my case, pick up books for free. I loved it and when I googled it I saw that there had also been a movie made. So now I have to try to get a hold of that.

 Since we are on the topic of shopping,
I like this idea of making it possible
for parents to choose a check- out
where no candy is displayed.