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If I had a laptop I'd have posted last week! At 4.45am Wednesday morning my alarm woke me to get up and get ready to catch the early plane to Sydney. I went up for a three day seminar at the State Library - how difficult is the life of a public librarian..... After a late and turbulent flight I dropped my suitcase at the motel in Philip Street then walked a few minutes further to the State Library. I spent the day learning about leadership styles and the Enneagram in the atmospheric Mitchell wing.
Feeling no weariness, I finished checking in to the motel and set out for Newtown. I confess that I felt a little impressed with myself for working out which bus to take. I had considered walking but I was in heels.....what a shame. The bus dropped me off right across the road from Janice and Dave's house and I had a lovely time catching up with the whole family. The children have all grown and I was especially thrilled to see Sarah as babies change so much when you don't see them for a very long time.
Dave very graciously looked after the children while Janice and I went out for dinner. Imagine living within spitting distance of 70 restaurants and cafes! We chose Japanese, of course, and I'm sorry I didn't pay attention to the name of the restaurant as it was fabulously quick as well as tasty so I would definitely recommend it. We could have stopped there, but that would have been out of character and a shameful waste of opportunity so we walked a little further and chose a delightful restaurant for dessert.
Janice and I have a long history with creme brulees and we could easily have chosen to eat one each but there was the option of a tasting plate so we branched out. Let's see if I can remember... a cherry semifreddo with Persian fairy floss, warm ginger cake, vanilla panna cotta, Chocolate pot with honeycomb and white chocolate and raspberry creme brulee in the middle. Janice had to remind me to take the photo. Enough said.
Reluctantly, I started to fade and Janice drove me back to my motel where I slept peacefully until 8am! I didn't give myself enough time to get to Mecca II at Circular Quay for coffee before I was due at the library so I had an insipid coffee and a leaden snail underneath the Deutsch Bank - won't be doing that again. I probably ought to have contacted more Sydneysiders and done some more catching up. Instead I had a quiet Thursday evening shopping followed by sushi, Grand Designs and an early night (oh for a laptop!). The Strand Arcade is so beautiful. Especially the shop at the end.... Haighs.
I got up one whole hour earlier on Friday in order to have plenty of time for the walk to Circular Quay. I checked out of the motel and walked outside into pouring rain. The sort of rain where it makes little difference if you have an umbrella. Thankfully, the motel of choice for librarians is two doors up from the Lindt Cafe. A skim mocha and croissant did very nicely. Note how I remembered to take the photo just before I started eating.
The seminar was very good and I spent the hours before my plane left sharing work ideas with a librarian from Coffs Harbour. I got home around nine on Friday night, Jossie and Toby were still awake to greet me but even though I went into her room and kissed her face repeatedly, Bethany wouldn't wake up. She did come running out on Saturday morning with a hug that made up for it.
Back to earth with a jolt....the first week back at cricket. It is so hard to believe that just one week ago cricket was cancelled because of the heat, only a week since Victoria burned. On Saturday it was so cool that at times I pulled the picnic rug over my knees. This is the view from under the tree where I sat reading and watching.
It was so nice to have evenings with Andrew again that instead of posting on my blog I watched the 1998 BBC Vanity Fair. We've seen it before, I have even posted about it before. We had to watch it again because I brought the Reese Witherspoon movie version home during the week and it was such a sad and sorry affair that we had to get the proper one again. So funny, such fabulous costumes and how amazing to see the Gene Genie as Major Dobbin - what an actor. (That is a reference to Philip Glenister and Life on Mars if you are unfortunate enough not to have seen it).
Now, I have done what I ought to have done at the beginning. I have created a 'how to' page on the Beyond Borders Book Club. Now it tells you how to join and how to add your thoughts about the books you read. There are six members already! Come and join us, it doesn't matter what you read, it costs nothing and there are no commitments. Just let us know what you are reading, what you think of the book and we can talk about books to our hearts' content and at our convenience. It isn't just for girls either.
Feeling no weariness, I finished checking in to the motel and set out for Newtown. I confess that I felt a little impressed with myself for working out which bus to take. I had considered walking but I was in heels.....what a shame. The bus dropped me off right across the road from Janice and Dave's house and I had a lovely time catching up with the whole family. The children have all grown and I was especially thrilled to see Sarah as babies change so much when you don't see them for a very long time.
Dave very graciously looked after the children while Janice and I went out for dinner. Imagine living within spitting distance of 70 restaurants and cafes! We chose Japanese, of course, and I'm sorry I didn't pay attention to the name of the restaurant as it was fabulously quick as well as tasty so I would definitely recommend it. We could have stopped there, but that would have been out of character and a shameful waste of opportunity so we walked a little further and chose a delightful restaurant for dessert.
Janice and I have a long history with creme brulees and we could easily have chosen to eat one each but there was the option of a tasting plate so we branched out. Let's see if I can remember... a cherry semifreddo with Persian fairy floss, warm ginger cake, vanilla panna cotta, Chocolate pot with honeycomb and white chocolate and raspberry creme brulee in the middle. Janice had to remind me to take the photo. Enough said.
Reluctantly, I started to fade and Janice drove me back to my motel where I slept peacefully until 8am! I didn't give myself enough time to get to Mecca II at Circular Quay for coffee before I was due at the library so I had an insipid coffee and a leaden snail underneath the Deutsch Bank - won't be doing that again. I probably ought to have contacted more Sydneysiders and done some more catching up. Instead I had a quiet Thursday evening shopping followed by sushi, Grand Designs and an early night (oh for a laptop!). The Strand Arcade is so beautiful. Especially the shop at the end.... Haighs.
I got up one whole hour earlier on Friday in order to have plenty of time for the walk to Circular Quay. I checked out of the motel and walked outside into pouring rain. The sort of rain where it makes little difference if you have an umbrella. Thankfully, the motel of choice for librarians is two doors up from the Lindt Cafe. A skim mocha and croissant did very nicely. Note how I remembered to take the photo just before I started eating.
The seminar was very good and I spent the hours before my plane left sharing work ideas with a librarian from Coffs Harbour. I got home around nine on Friday night, Jossie and Toby were still awake to greet me but even though I went into her room and kissed her face repeatedly, Bethany wouldn't wake up. She did come running out on Saturday morning with a hug that made up for it.
Back to earth with a jolt....the first week back at cricket. It is so hard to believe that just one week ago cricket was cancelled because of the heat, only a week since Victoria burned. On Saturday it was so cool that at times I pulled the picnic rug over my knees. This is the view from under the tree where I sat reading and watching.
It was so nice to have evenings with Andrew again that instead of posting on my blog I watched the 1998 BBC Vanity Fair. We've seen it before, I have even posted about it before. We had to watch it again because I brought the Reese Witherspoon movie version home during the week and it was such a sad and sorry affair that we had to get the proper one again. So funny, such fabulous costumes and how amazing to see the Gene Genie as Major Dobbin - what an actor. (That is a reference to Philip Glenister and Life on Mars if you are unfortunate enough not to have seen it).Now, I have done what I ought to have done at the beginning. I have created a 'how to' page on the Beyond Borders Book Club. Now it tells you how to join and how to add your thoughts about the books you read. There are six members already! Come and join us, it doesn't matter what you read, it costs nothing and there are no commitments. Just let us know what you are reading, what you think of the book and we can talk about books to our hearts' content and at our convenience. It isn't just for girls either.
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