A day to relax

We are taking it easy today. After having slept for almost 10 hours, we had some breakfast on the porch and then I organized some cupboards with Cynthia.
This afternoon we visited Wegmans, a great grocery store here on the east coast. We encountered this store for the first time in Ithaca, NY, a few years ago when we attended Aariel's graduation from Cornell.
We needed to go shopping; as usual, Patrica has taken charge of the kitchen.

Patricia is doing her thing.

I got a chance to go for a bit of a walk and inspect the surroundings a bit closer.
Winnie and Cynthia own a new home in a new development about 40 minutes drive from Philadelphia.

Nice, quiet and lots of area for walks.

I also found a bird watching area for Patricia to spend some time.

Homer's adventures

I am Homer, top dog, and everybody loves me. For 6 weeks,
Patricia and Michael spent time with me.
It was quit pleasant, if not sometimes a bit hectic.

I do have to do everything myself, do I now?

So I have earned my rest.

But then I am ready for my walk at the dog park.

 I did have to contend with some other dogs, like Banjo & Sasha at times
and am not at all interested.

Then there was the pool party @ Peter and Ashley's. You
won't get me into that water.

 There are all these nice people.

Then there are the days I need to work in the Archive.

Or at GENI's World Resource Simulation Center (WRSC)

Sometimes I have to entertain Patricia, Sparta & Marley.

Makes a dog just want to hide somewhere.

I got to check out the smells of downtown Encinitas,

and pick up Patricia & Glen from the train.

Well, after all that in 6 weeks, I am ready to relax; I am all tuckered out.

Time is flying

We are now in Sydney for a week hanging out with my cousin, Neal, and Pam. It was to be for two days, and the time flew by just like that.

We came down with Malcolm on Monday, in the rain, and the weather has been very mixed and cold and rainy most of the time - and it's summertime!

Most of the time we are down here, it's a time to relax and go for walks.
On Thursday, we went into Sydney proper by train and had a look around and visited a State Library of NSW and the NSW Art Gallery,

Waiting for the train to take us to Sydney

Enjoying the works of old and contemporary painters

Yesterday, Neal and I switched his Mini's in the carport, so he could work on one of them and drive the other. It was not a question of just pushing one out and it is done. We had to winch one up the hill and then do the switch. It was great fun.

This was quite an engineering feat.

Now we are getting somewhere, with a lot of smoke.

And after this adventure, we went to the movies to see Mission Impossible 4.  I think they could not do most of the stunts in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Week eight

Today, Sunday, I am back at Hannam Vale and working in the Café.

There is an antique auction going on next door at the Community Hall, and we are sitting here waiting for customers to come in.

Patricia has her first pictures up in the gallery, and they look great.

Is this straight Michael? I can't see your head is in the way

The introductory part of the Gallery is up for everyone to see.

Most of this past week I spent in Sydney, not doing very much. It was raining and miserable, so I stayed at Malcolm’s place and cleaned up a bit.

On Thursday night, we took the engine that Ian had brought down from Queensland off the trailer. That was an adventure in itself.

One side came loose, and Mal was just about to catch it.

Greg and Mal are pleased with themselves; they got the motor safely on the ground.

My main reason for going to Sydney came on Friday.  I took a bus into Sydney from Narrabeen where we I meet up with some of the old Opera House crew; some of them I had not seen for over 25 years.

We had a great time catching up and reminiscing about the good old days.

We all got a few years older and not necessarily wiser.

Mind you, some of us think we have not changed at all. Olga & Werner

Saturday was another boat day. One of Malcolm’s two boats is stored at the farm in Hannam Valle on blocks, and it needed to go onto a trailer to be moved again. The problem was that when it went in there two years ago, there was more room.  Now more things have accumulated around it, and there is not that much. It took quit an effort to get the trailer under the boat; this thing is heavy.

Lots of calculating going on, I stay well out of it.

In the meantime, Malcolm found one of the boat residents.

We think the reason for it being there were the other residents, the Rats.

In the meantime, Roy and Luke cleaned some of the yard around the kitchen at the Café and made more picnic style table & benches, and we made the courtyard look more like a German Biergarten. I just can’t get away from it.

Ein Prosit der Gemuetlichkeit

Already 3 days

Wow as time fly's we have been here for three days, and it feels like weeks. That's a good thing.
We arrived here on Tuesday local time and made our way to where we staying by train, ferry & bus, an easy ride even with all our bags.
We took it easy for the rest of the day and went to sleep at about 6:30PM and got up at 7 the next morning.
It was Patricia's birthday here in Australia and we celebrated by visiting the Opera or better said a play at the Opera House.

Funny play we went to see

It was great to go over old territory and I even meet Ann & Ivan, both of whom have been working there since 1973.

Nice place to relax

We found a perfect way to loosing a few pounds quickly 

After the play we spend the next few hours checking out the town and waiting for to go back and see the Opera Mac Beath. You could call us cultured now.

Jon & Linda, and how about my handbag

Yesterday then was a day to see friends, Jon and Linda took us for lunch at Bondi Junction and after that we went to see Liana & Steve and the QVB in town.

Patricia had a great time taking photos at the QVB

The evening Mal went to get some Tai food and we spend the time sitting and talking.

Patricia had two days of Birthday celebrations, one for Australia and yesterday for the US.

Today is easy, we rest and work on the computer, writing blog etc., the weather is not very inviting to go out much.

Tomorrow Malcolm will drive us to Johns River where we will be spending the next few weeks.