Our temporary home

We are sleeping in the trailer, which is under the trees in Susie's yard. She has a gardening business so our surroundings are very colourful. Now that spring is well advanced here, we hear the sound of lawn mowers all day. The days are long; the birds start crooning to each other at 4.50 am.There are huge fat bees covered in pollen, slowly buzzing around seeking out their workplaces. And Susie's new lawn mower man has new braces!

Michael had a birthday

The service was fine, the decor was fine, the food was very mediocre, but the company was great!

Goings on

What we're up to in Schuylerville!
Susie found a Morel mushroom in her garden which is pretty significant as they are not in great abundance. In face 3 of us went hunting for them on Saturday, but could not find a single one . Here is Susie's (before we ate it, sauteed in butter & pepper)
we also ate a dishe which included fiddleheads. They are the unfurled fronds of the Ostrich fern, prepared for us is a tasy cream & garlic sauce with gnocchi, by the wonderful chef, Kathy.
The other photos include the family after dinner, from left, Susie, Emm, Campbell (Susie's youngest son), Sarah,(Susie's daughter),& Dick-Sarah's husband. John (Susie's husband)is in the other photo. Plus some other scenes in our area, a pretty house at the end of our street, & the Monument. It is Memorial Day on Monday so the monument should be open.Sorry about the order of the photos, i need some more traing from my friend Karen, they don't always upload in the correct order!

A little about Schuylerville

Pronounced "skylervill".
Some basic information can be found here.
Property values have increased hugely over the past few years as people discover this as the perfect place for a rural retreat from New York or Boston. It truly is a very pretty location. Even in the rain!
Has been quite cool, weather watch tells all!

More in Canada

Our last day in Vancouver, we went to the Museum of Anthropology.
Have a look at the link & read the article within Discover Diversity on the return of the Haisla pole from the Ethnography Museum in Sweden.This pole will soon be repatriated with its traditional owners. The bird one is of the birth of humans- the crow found the babies in a clam
This museum represented the beliefs and art of the First Nations people in an inspiring manner. It was an intellectual and spiritual experience.

Vancouver

One of the things I liked about this town were the long days. Daylight begins at around 5am. and I was alerted to it by the cries of the seagulls. It does not get really dark until 9.30 pm and the twilight is long, drawn out. I guess the locals get used to sleeping beyond 5 am, but one day I got up & took a photo of the setting moon, a distant globe in the sky. In the photo it looks like one of the street lamps suspended in mid-air!
The city is compact, and there are many, many very tall buildings. Contrary to my expectation that they are office buildings, most of them in fact seem to be apartments. I wondered how the city planners had managed this, because, like Aussies, Canadians seem fond of the outdoors ("oatdoars")so the suburban spread seems to have been deferred somewhat. Indeed, our friend Jenn lives on the 24th story of her block. (With fantastic views). When I commented on this development, she replied that many town planners from far & wide come to see how it is done.
When visiting a new city, we often try to catch one of the buses that drive around & give commentary, pointing out places & things of historical or other interest.they are good value, especially if you only have a limited time in a town.We had a ticket that lasted 72 hours, caught 3 of the buses on the Friday and one on Sunday.
Before that we had eatenlunch at a drive in burger bar, White Spot. It was good!

A few shots to start with

We had a great time in Vancouver. Thank you to those of you who sent comments, had trouble getting access to a computer to put photos up . It's nice to know you're interested!
We are now in cool & rainy Schuylerville, having spent yesterday getting to Montreal (by air) & the best part of today getting here by Greyhound from Montreal. A big hold up at the customs. A charming young Puerto Rican man did not make it back to the bus, apparently he was lead away hancuffed. Did not have the right paperwork I guess. I thought about him a lot as we had chatted to him at the station, I felt concerned for him at first, but his demeanour was such that I wondered if he was not hoping that the US government would return him home at no cost to himself! I hope that is the case.
Anyway here are a few photos
Michael found the only steam clock in the world. Well it is for the time being but I feel there may be one in Leichhardt soon! I found bananas.( don't know why I can't flip it around though!) You need them to fuel a person who might build a steam clock!

We made it to the airport

Well despite some minor difficulties, we made it in good time for the plane ,but right now I cannot put in the photographic evidence just yet. A long flight in an aluminium tube, and now we are in Vancouver . I can see now why it is one of the most livable cities in the world. Very Beautiful. And the lovely Jenn is being a perfect hostess.

Trivia Night

A large number of people gathered at Annandale Community centre & raised a large number of dollars for a community project in East Timor. To our amazement , our table won! (See Karen's Blog)
Here are some of the beautiful minds in action. Michael seems a bit blurred, is he praying very hard?

Katja is in Sydney

Katja is visiting from Berlin. Despite it being a windy day, we all went to Captain Cook's landing spot on Botany Bay.

Sally came for Dinner

On her way to Fiji, Sally popped in for the left-over lamb from Easter Sunday. What you can't see in this photo, is Michael's outfit. Shorts & bedroom slipper. Gotta love him!


Michael demonstrates his marvellous domestic skill, by constructing the peg basket for me. Now he is a Roman Guard. But he did fix the washing machine the other day, for $10! That's domestic enough for me!

Frances came to town

And danced under the tibouchina!
We had a fun time...

The Olympus Odyssey

I probably told some of you about the Olympus camera that is travelling the world. It came to our house and Michael took 3 rolls of film. Check some of them here on the camera's webpage.

Weekend in Perth

Last weekend we spent in Perth with family and friends. It was very hot, and even going to the beach was not pleasant as the waves were dumpers. But everyone is healthy and beautiful!

My talented nephew painted this picture

Michael fixed Felix the cat & gave him a second hand

We stay at Astrid's house. She's more coy than Felix in having her photo taken.

A Fun Night with Ken from Perth

We dined at the Spanish club. Ate a lot of meat, drank a lot of wine!
Hmm... all those chins & only 3 people....

More snaps on the harbour

I think if the NSW government made it compulsory for every Sydney sider to have one day a year on the harbour, they would halve the crime rate... (Or something)

Cockatoo Island

Today we went to Cockatoo Island. Great day, despite the temperature, it was not to bad on the water. Lovely & interesting spot. Can't wait to go again.

Saturday Morning at the beach

Ingrid & I went to the women's pool at Coogee beach this morning. A cool breeze was busy, and because we went mid-morning it was a bit crowded with people relaxing & talking, so no chance of doing laps.
But hey! going to Coogee, even for an hour or so, is like a holiday at the seaside. A miniature one! So those of you who live in the northern hemisphere, & I know that most of you are experiencing very cold weather, really ought to click on the link, just to remember that summer will return to you soon. And with global warming the way it is now, it could be this good!

Holiday in Perth

Moon Jelly fish at AQWA




We spent 10 days in Perth for Christmas. Great to catch up with family and
friends. Mild weather.