I got a 7 for english now watch me travel theworld

Home cooked dinner.

When your gown-up son, invites you dinner, sets a table and cooks a two course meal, it makes every one of those 500000 meals you've dished up over the years all worthwhile!!

Canberra Zoo - 13/11/2016

Well, you are ever too old to enjoy the animals at the zoo!! We had a fun morning at Canberra Zoo - thank you everyone for the birthday voucher!!. The red Panda was the special highlight, and it was a was an extra treat to feed the lion! .. by feed , I mean poke a piece of meat on the end of a pair of long tongs through the wires.

Her name is Ailish ( sounds very Irish to me, not sure how she came by that - originating from the southern China and the Himalayas, but she was the sweetest thing!! She's very gentle and friendly - she quite happily sat on our laps and was happy to be fed grapes. She takes them from your hand, one by one, very delicately like a lady. She has soft fur ( which moulted all over us!!)

Canberra zoo was a surprise- quite compact, without feeling too enclosed for the animals. Very good value for small children - you can see a lot of animals in much less time and seemingly cover a lot less distance than at Taronga. I can't wait for Bean to be old enough to bring here!!

We saw, lions, cheetahs, sun bears,red pandas, giraffes, meerkats, and the usual Aussie animal contingent-but we skipped past them. When you can see echidnas and wallabies 100metres from your front door, you get very blasé about native fauna.

If you want to see the red Pandas, here is a tip for you!- they really dislike heat, so you won't see them in summer- they'll be hiding at the top of a tree to keep cool. Make sure you go in winter!! They're much more likely to be running around and feeding then .

Look at that little face!!!

And here I am feeding the lion. - he was a bit of a pussy cat!! He was more in a grassy enclosure, than a meadow.

Labels: Canberra, Lion, Red Panda, zoo

John Lewis Christmas Ads

Just in case anyone is reading this- apart from a machine in Mountain View California, I loooove the John Lewis Christmas ads - thought I would share:-)

Enjoy!!

Christmas 20102

and 2011 -Awww!!!

Easter break

Some pics from our walk around Narrabeen lake. The council has installed a lovely new board walk starting next to the Sports Centre.
The weather over Easter was just perfect and we had a lovely afternoon here.

General lake views.. boys fishing,

girls hanging out

and a pelican party complete with cheezels:-)

Easter Party

Although Easter happened weeks before Anzac day, the blogging has been slack, so not strictly chronological, but here it is!

It was a very fun little Easter party - no hats this time, but party games instead..a treasure hunt in the garden, an easter hunt and a fabulous lamb roast!

After the lamb roast, we ventured to the garden for the party games. Megan was the winner of the treasure hunt, but graciously shared her booty (with the rest of the family and fun was had:-)
"Oooh Millie, Look what I found":-)

Everyone got a turn:

After they'd finished with the games and collected the eggs, we retreated for dessert

and conversation was forsaken , in favour of our latest app craze #drawsomething! The only conversation to be had went something like this: "What do you mean, it doesn't look like a lava lamp??...Of course it's a lava lamp."
"But where is the electrical cord?"
"....Electrical cord? I drew you a volcano...that was a clue!!"

Happy Easter everyone!! I loved having you all for dinner, the games were fun and drawsomething was hysterical!:-)

Anzac Day - Part 3

Just to finish off the day - fresh from the oven , some Anzac biscuits:-)

Anzac Day Parade

A few shots from the Parade:

Starting with the Police bikie gang , ( and if you look closely, a sousaphone)

Next came the regular taxis each carrying a digger - the crowd loves them and they love the crowd - they're mostly sozzled by now (9.00am) - sitting in the front seats of their cabs with their stubbies - I know -I chatted to some of them while they were waiting for the parade to start.

And it wouldn't be a parade without the pipes and drums..ooooh yes, I'm loving this!!:-)

Then a bit of Navy bandness:

Then some jeeps carrying the brave:

Some cadets carrying the banners of the First World War - obviously no WW1 diggers are left, and soon there will be no ww2 vets left either:

Next some Navy brass file past the cenotaph:

Then ...drumroll drumroll drumroll... The Millenium Marching Band.. Here we are falling about laughing. WTF are they wearing? Who do they think they are? HP?... Megs is dead glad she's not with them now!!

Lots more bands come and go, lots more sailors come ..and go

At this stage ( about 11.00 and still not sign of the army or airforce, we decided to call it a day -rather tired having not been to bed, so started making our way up George St to Town hall station. .. - a few random things seen along the way:

Cute kids with their rosemary and medals, more interested in play than parades.

A Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel: ( big big cheers for him)

lots more bands, but
I'll leave with these guys.- Anzac Day is all about them, and I salute them with kisses and thanks

Anzac Day

We decided to go to the Dawn Service in Martin Place. The Dawn Service has nothing to do with dawn - that doesn't happen til about 6.30 on April 25th. The service is apparently held then, because that was the time the boats first landed on the shores of Gallipoli on April 25th, 1915. So we set off in the cold at 2.30 am to drive to St Leonards to catch the train into town. (hardly as epic as landing on the war torn shores of Gallipoli in small boats in the freezing cold waters, I know). Here's the documentary evidence - Martin Place @3.50am:-)

There was a crowd of 20,000 standing there in the darkness listening to to the lone Bugler playing "The Last Post" -tears were shed. This pic was snapped on my phone while we waited for the service to start. The sailor is from HMAS Kuttabull - my father was serving on the HMAS Kuttabull when it was sunk in Sydney Harbour on 1/6/1942 by a Japanese submarine. He was on shore at the time, but spent the next day diving , looking for his mates who never returned. So the Kuttabul has a sentimental place in our family history and hearts:-). The man is reading The Order of Service for Anzac Day 2012 and the lady is holding flowers she will lay at the cenotaph.

Later, we just happened to see the bugler repeat The Last Post for the television cameras. Here it is..never fails to stir the emotions.

After the service, we had brekkie - the BEST bacon and egg rolls - and hung around the cenotaph looking at the wreaths and absorbing the atmosphere while we waited for the Parade to start. One side of the Cenotaph reads "Lest We Forget" , the other "To Our Glorious Dead".