My week in pictures: Lovely Bonkers' First Born

Monday, April 3, 2023

Autumn Sunshine and Busy Bees

If I have to return to the office, I might as well pop out to lunch at decent places like Stand by Me in Lyons.

Okonomiyaki

A sunny autumn day makes glorious photo shoot weather for the cats, as Penelope poses among the leaves, and Melantho clambers among the hop vines.

This weekend's trig was Mt Majura (and there's a second one up there too). We went up the steep way - of course we did. There is an easier slope, by which we descended.

Amazing camouflage on this fellow

At the bottom of the hill/ mountain is Majura Pines, an excellent location for mountain-biking with heaps of purpose-built trails. Him Outdoors was particularly impressed with this bike mechanic station with its pump and spanners.

As recommended by Design Diva, we went to the Sunflower Maze in Majura Valley while we were in the area. The sunflower maze is made up of hundreds of the big yellow blooms, and it is actually less of a maze than a connection of corridors, down which people wander. It's kind of cute with couples being romantic, kids rushing around in excitement, influencers taking photos, and friends enjoying the sunshine and something just a little different. There's also a section where you pick your own to take home (separate from the 'maze' itself), although we are at the latter end of the flowering cycle and the remaining plants were a little ragged, so we left them where they were. The bees were happy.

This is also the home of the Majura Valley Farmgate where fresh local produce is available through an honesty pay system. We picked up some free-range eggs and some lemon curd.

As it is the first of the month, it is clearly time for an update on the bedside book pile (which has got two additions and three completions. I'm never actually sure whether this means any progress is being made, but I am at least reading and learning things.

On Sunday, I was part of an 'Edwardian Gothic Wedding Decoration Bee'. The Lovely Bonkers' First Born is getting wed, and Calamity Sue was having a shindig to prepare for another shindig closer to the time. Now, I am not known for my sewing prowess, but apparently I can wield a pair of scissors and make a decent cutter-upperer. This is the result of some of my work (there were people with sewing machines and textile creativity who made most of it happen, but I helped - honest!)

We were rewarded with cheese on this delightful board, of which I now finally know the purpose.

Monday, March 18, 2019

Wagga Wagga and a Shave

I had a work trip to Wagga Wagga - scoff all you like, but the food at Carlo's Cafe was excellent.

Calamity Sue with chicken & waffles

I came across this Sandakan Memorial on my morning run. I have been to Sandakan and Ranau, and I have been touched by the story of the prisoners of war, and those who tried to help them ever since. If you read the inscription below, you will be too. It was quite a shock to see this on a sleepy back street among the municipal bins.

The sculpture illustrates the route of the death marches, indicated by a bronze ribbon slashing through a topographical representation of the terrain, and is in memory of the men who enlisted from the Southern region of NSW. We will remember them.

The opposite of that sobering moment was at the conclusion of the day's work when we went to The Thirsty Crow for some beer tasting. I encouraged Calamity Sue to try the Vanilla Milk Stout, one of my favourite Aussie beers. I think she liked it...

Obviously, I did not take the below picture, but I saw it on the internet and I wanted to save it because I think it is adorable.

When we returned to Canberra, Calamity Sue was participating in the World's Greatest Shave charity event to raise funds for the Leukaemia Foundation. Lovely Bonkers' First Born and Emma Cake wielded the scissors and the clippers - they partitioned the hair into segments so that it can be made into wigs for those with cancer. Calamity Sue is brave and beautiful, and she looks amazing with long or short locks.

Emma Cake also made a cake (fairly unsurprisingly), which was one of the prizes in the raffle. There was also plenty of food and drink and music - on the way back from Wagga Wagga, we had compiled a play list of several hours' worth of tunes that mention hair, no matter how obliquely (F*ckin Perfect by Pink; I'm looking at you).