A lazy weekend.

Recently we have been frantically busy.  Partly as we are just about to undertake a fairly major renovation,  (plans approved, builder engaged, organising storage and rearranging bedrooms right now!) and partly due to the Captain starting school and R's business expanding.  So it was a lovely change to have a relatively quiet weekend with only a few comittments to attend... and for the first time in ages we actually managed to capture all four of us behind the lens.  This is such an unusual event that I have posted the photo!  Here we all are, admittedly not the best photo of all of us, but as Jane would say... we're keeping it real people!

Saturday night we went to Hugos Manly for dinner. A truly great local restaurant.  It is in a fantastic location on Manly Wharf and has an amazing colonial/plantation style ambience.  It also manages to simultaneously be both intimate and romantic and yet family friendly!  We have had dinner there on date nights and also pizza early in the evening with kids and it is perfect for both.  Not many restaurants can accomplish this!  Can you tell I love it? 

The view from our table.  Note the bicycle leaning against the railing outside.  Every time I looked at it I thought of Julia and her fantasy bike collection.

This is the dish that we go there for... not the little one's pizza, although the pizza is fantastic, proper crispy thin crust! No, we get cravings for the... Wagyu beef carpaccio with roasted baby beetroot, whipped goat’s curd & balsamic  glaze!!! Delicious! I also recommend the Pimm's cocktail.  As a Pimm's aficionado I often find it undrinkable unless I have mixed it myself.  Hugos gets it right everytime, half ginger ale, half lemonade and just the right amount of fruit to cucumber!  Refreshing, delicious and perfect for a late afternoon or early evening cocktail.

The boys like it there as well. He is spotting fish!

Project Organise: The Car (plus some photos of the wall mounted TV for Rachael)

                As the back seat of our car always seemed to look like this:

I decided that some Project Organise was necessary.  A quick trip to Kmart and I purchased this little canvas storage unit to put in between the boys car seats.  I measured the space first as there is not much room between them.  I know this as I had to squash myself in the back the other day when we were dropping my MIL home... to the other side of Sydney!  Anyway, inside I put all the various items that the boys use to entertain themselves on car trips.  Books, colouring-in items, a couple of puzzle toys and a few small matchbox cars and planes. 

Fits perfectly!  At the back is a Crayola Travel Turtle.  I am really hoping to avoid going down the DVD player in the car path, so this is my way of trying to keep the boys entertained on long car trips! Audio books on CD have been fantastic as well.

For Rachael:

Photo of the TV, it is wall mounted above the sideboard.  The bracket for the TV is not centered above the unit as it needed to be attached to a load bearing stud.  Something to think about if you are wall mounting!  The TV moves around on the bracket though so we can position it at different angles.  In the above photo it is pushed back to the right against the wall.

My paternal grandparents were anthropologists. I inherited many of the artefacts that they collected in the 1930s/40s.  These pieces are Aboriginal and Samoan and are hiding a speaker. The DVD player and Foxtel are also here, but when we renovate next month and this wall gets ripped out we will relocate these items into the sideboard itself.

At the other end of the sideboard, is the amp, another speaker, one of my WW1 ashtrays, an aboriginal knife and a painting by June Bird. 

Bling on Love!

  Happy Valentine's Day to all and in the spirit of Maxabella and Felicity's "Bling on Love" here is my story:

I met my husband when I was 25 years old.  He was dressed in head to toe lycra the day that I met him, which is definitely worthy of a blog entry at some point!  Tonight though I will share the story of our engagement.  So, several years after our first fortuitous meeting we were now living together and enjoying our hedonistic youth! I had been away on a trip and walked in the door at about 10 o'clock at night, exhausted and filthy, this was after all in my glamourous flying days.  Husband-to-be was lovely and welcoming, offering me a glass of wine as I walked through the door, but all I wanted to do was have a shower and crawl into bed.  Ignoring his requests to come and sit down with him I went and had a shower.  Afterwards feeling a bit more refreshed and a touch guilty I sat down with him on the couch where he kept trying to engage me in conversation.  Getting increasingly irritated with him, I growled at him what do you want?

To marry you was his response. As you can guess I had not been expecting that answer! Looking at him in confusion he suddenly whipped a little black velvet ring box out of his pocket and flicked it open.  Inside I saw the most spectacular diamond!


Sliding off the couch into an awkward kneeling position, squashed between the couch and the coffee table, he then asked me to marry him. Yes, I jubilantly replied and promptly burst into tears! He hadn't actually been planning to ask me that night but the diamond had apparently been burning a hole in his pocket the whole day and he simply couldn't wait for excitement. Although my crankiness had not been part of his grand plan naturally!

I am not really a jewellery person and rarely wear it so he wasn't confident to select a ring for me, but as he wanted to present me with something when he proposed he decided to go ahead and just buy a diamond. Opening the ring box and seeing the diamond sparkling inside was an unforgettable moment and although not exactly a well planned or executed proposal it was actually suprisingly romantic and special!

Happy Valentine's Day R!

The Joys of Boys, Part 2....

               A few snapshots highlighting some of the pleasures of life in a male dominated household...

Emptying the pool skimmer basket you find various random objects (I could actually devote a whole blog post to this subject):

Be prepared for the suprise gifts:

And you will be on a first name basis with the local hospital Emergency staff (That would be the remains of a black eye, a scab on his nose and you can just see the stitches in his chin... there are four of them!):

Ah, my rambunctious little rascals, I love you both so much! xx

The Pirates make some Bontings

If you are unfamiliar with award winning childrens author Shirley Hughes, I highly recommend her wonderful books.  Written and illustrated by her they capture the everyday magic of childhood.  Timeless stories, illustrations with a minutiae of detail and charming characters.  Indeed, they are so brilliant that I actually don't mind reading them countless times. 

The Alfie Out of Doors storybook is a gorgeous collection of stories and poems about children playing outside.  One story tells the tale of Alfie's beloved stone Bonting.  Both Pirates have long adored this tale and have often asked if we could make some Bontings.  Finally, we got around to it:

Supplies were sourced from the garden!  And the craft box.

They were busy for nearly two hours!  (An excellent activity...)

These lovely stones are the little one's work.

The Captain made this gorgeous ladybird as a birthday present for his father.  R loved it and is going to use it as a paperweight.

The Captain starts School

Last Friday my darling Captain started school.  We spent a great deal of time preparing him for this new adventure.  For instance,  I let him accompany me on many outings dressed like this: 

Yes, that would be an old silk tie from the mid 1970s that belonged to his grandfather, his new school shoes and a hat from his old pre-school.  I know, he looks so handsome! 

The school was very specific about hair.  Short back and sides apparently.  This was harder for me than him.

We read an awful lot of these and that is exactly what they were, awful.  Can anyone recommend a good book about starting school?  Luckily, the school had made a fabulous book that included photos of his teacher, photos of the school itself and many details about the school's daily routine.  We read it many times in preparation for this momentous event.

So proud to be wearing his new uniform!

Not a tear either.  From him or me!

My darling boy, I am so proud of you and wish you all the best on this new and great adventure.

Carmen at Sydney Opera House

Last night, for the first time ever, I went to the Opera... at the Sydney Opera House! 

And... I went with my dearest and oldest friend, (her lovely Ma has a subscription), 

and...

we saw Carmen!

Here we are having a quick champagne beforehand.  That is me on the right and Veronica on the left.

The entire experience was amazing.   Highlights included; listening to the orchestra.  A lovely reminder that music doesn't just come out of a little rectangle.  Hearing Habanera sung so exquisitely, although as a child of the 1970s this image popped into my head during the performance! And in the tavern scene in Act 2, the cast performed a dance similar to the Pasodoble (my only knowledge of which comes from Strictly Ballroom though so I could be wrong) with tambourines that was a visual and orchestral feast for the senses.

Thank you Veronica for a truly wonderful experience.

The Wind in the Willows

For the past few years, every January we have taken the boys to see the brilliant Australian Shakespeare Company's production of the Wind in the Willows.  Performed in the Botanic Gardens, located on Sydney's spectacular harbour, it is a truly magical evening.  Although it is possible to attend a daytime performance,  I have found attending the evening show the most fun.  It is a lovely opportunity to sit on the grass and have a picnic dinner with the kids before the show actually starts and the Botanic Gardens are stunning, with bamboo groves, ponds and sweeping lawns by the harbour for the kids to explore. Then as the glare of the sun fades and the sea-breeze picks up, you can relax on the picnic blanket with a glass of wine, as the kids watch the entire show in wide-eyed enchantment!

The boys simply adore it as audience participation is encouraged and the location outdoors is well utilised.  About halfway through the performance the entire show moves from the Main Pond to a nearby location (about 150 metres away) which is the site for Toad Hall.  From here Ratty and Mole then take the older children to the Wild Wood to search for Portly.  This year for the first time Nicholas raced off with all the other kids to join in the hunt! 

Allowing the children to participate and have a run around during the preformance ensures that they stay focused on the production and thoroughly enjoy it. 

Anyone unfamiliar with the Wind in the Willows, I highly recommend the book.  Written by Kenneth Grahame for his son, it is an unforgettable tale of adventure and friendship and most certainly a childhood classic!  Reading it aloud to Nicholas recently I have found it as enchanting as I did as a child.

I so love having flight attendant friends!

This just in from London:

A lovely new cover to go with my new phone!

New bed linen for the little one, he has just moved into his big boy bed!

Thanks Eva!!!! 

"On the Loose" Lego Exhibition and Sydney Aquarium

As I am currently CEO (Chief Entertainment Officer) of the School Holidays, I have been busy trying to keep the Pirates occupied and out of mischief.  Lots of excursions have taken place and one of the best was a trip into the city to see On the Loose, a Lego exhibition at Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World.

The pirates (and friends) examining one of the lego murals up close.  These were absolutely spectacular, even for a non-lego person.  Created from one dot lego pieces, up close they resembled a pixelated image on a screen:

But with some perspective became a remarkable mural:

The lego murals and figures, life size models of sharks, mermaids, scuba divers and so on were dotted amongst the exhibits in both the Aquarium and Wildlife World, making the experience of attending the exhibition twice as exciting. 

I adored these dainty little glow-in-the-dark Jelly Fish:

The boys favourite?

Yes, the sharks were a highlight (especially the feeding of them) but it must be said that they spent most of their time in here:

The lego play room at Wildlife World.  Luckily, there were chairs and a Cafe in this room!

Danks Street, Waterloo

On the weekend I had a brief break from the massive de-cluttering that is taking place Chez Pirate to head East as Ross was craving Wagyu Burgers from Cafe Wah Wah.  I love Dank St as many of my favourite shops are located in the area but I had never been to the Bromley Arcade, clearly an oversight as he is one of my most loved artists.  I have one of his paintings, which I treasure and I am also obsessed with Mark Tuckey.  Tuckey and Bromley established the Bromley Arcade as a joint venture and for me it was a heavenly combination....

The boys recognised Pirate Boy immediately!

This would be divine in the little one's room!

Love!

My pond yacht obsessed pirates adored this little boy as well.

After exploring the wonders of the Arcade (if in Sydney you must visit!) we popped into Eco Outdoor.  The shop where we sourced the stone for our retaining walls around the pool and I noticed that they had the same vintage wine baskets as I do.  Only I had never had the brilliant idea of using them as hanging baskets for plants.  They literally had them hanging en masse at the entrance of the shop and they looked stunning. 

Watch this space to see my interpretation of this brilliant idea!

They also had very interesting lighting, I guess for any room but especially fantastic for outdoor rooms.  These ones reminded me of Mark Tuckeys work and also conjured up images in my head of paddocks and barbed wire fences (I went to boarding school in the country!).

These lights are made from Tumbleweeds and were very impressive in real life, unfortunately the photo does not do them justice. A visit to the shop is well worth it!

Project Organise is in full swing!

This is what I have been up to for the past 24 hours.  Organising.  De-cluttering... (is that actually a word?) and Donating (8 garbage bags so far! )

As much as I loathe plastic, today I have admitted to myself that it has it's good points and just quietly it is fantastic for storing things in the garage and the laundry.  Never in my life would I have thought that I would say that aloud, let alone write it down, but it actually suits my slightly OCD personality.  I am loving that the plastic boxes are clear and I can see what is in them, although I have been wielding the label maker as you can all see (more OCD issues), and that the boxes are watertight and stackable.  Genius really! 

Am currently cullling items according to the if I don't absolutely love it, need it or use it rule.  Anyone have any further suggestions?