YouTube Really Is Fun
One of my students showed me this one today.
Love it.

And another Star Wars inspired film. And another help desk parody.

This one is for my mother...

who has been learning many new skills using technology over the past 3 years.

Sylvia's Kitchen Windowsill

Whenever I visit my mother-in-law, she has pears lined up along her sill. Yesterday she had tomatoes too.

EP launch
I went to Panzer Queen's EP launch on Thursday night: Hunting the White Stag
Look how pretty the lights looked...

The music was fantastic too.

You can access their MySpace page here.

Tourists in our own city
With the wind in our hair, we caught a rivercat into Circular Quay.

And ate lunch in the Winter sunshine.

Our food was shared by some very pushy ibis.

Our first cultural stop was the Hyde Park Barracks.

As many as 50,000 convicts transported to New South Wales from around the old
British Empire spent some time at the Barracks. Based at the Barracks, they
provided the labour and skills that built the colony. Later the old building was
a temporary home for thousands of female immigrants and infirm or destitute women.
By the turn of the 20th century its rooms and corridors echoed to the
sound of lawyers, clerks and a range of public servants working at a variety of
jobs from providing law courts to public services like the vaccine institute and
government printer.

The kids spent a lot of time looking at this image, shocked at the brutality of the punishments the convicts received.

Basil the bear made the excursion into town with us - apparently it was his birthday, and therefore the outing was a treat for him.

Our next stop was the Australian Museum.

We learnt some more facts about our wildlife.

And met a rather large, but extinct, Australian.

The dinosaurs are always a favourite, and reminded me of Night at the Museum.

The bird and insect hall was a peaceful way to end our museum experience.

I didn't realise that the state of New South Wales had so many butterflies unique to it. So pretty.

I took lots and lots of photos. Too many to share in a single post. The fun of a new camera!

Heather and Linda, I have posted them here.

Thanks Linda for suggesting such a great day! It was fun.

His music makes me so happy
These holidays I have been trying to walk a bit more. (The body in its 40s needs a lot more attention and exercise!!)
I have been listening to Sufjan Stevens whilst striding around the district.
It leaves me feeling euphoric.
It is impossible to find an official music video for Sufjan (maybe there aren't any), but I found some videos posted on YouTube featuring an interview and set he did for a radio station.

Nostalgic Nest

There is a quiz here.

I think the results are me.

Happy 50th Ann

Tracey, Ann and Vicki

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Janelle, Tracey, Ann and Cath

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Andrew and I

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Kevin and Meg

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We ate at Epoque, a Belgium beer cafe in Sydney.

There was an amazing range of beers (obviously!!).

Sorry Tristan - there were no photos of you.

Introducing Benni
Benni lives on our back deck.

He is the sweetest creature - I never thought a rabbit would have so much to offer.

He doesn't mind a cuddle, and is quite well trained now.

Madeleine bought Benni at Christmas time. She saved her pocket money and rescued him from the RSPCA.