A LADY BY THE SEA

A LADY BY THE SEA

Saturday 25 December 2010

Merry Christmas, Everyone.

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Outside Nativity,
St Marys Cathedral,
Sydney, Australia.

Thursday 23 December 2010

Sunday 19 December 2010

This morning I caught the train up to Newcastle Showground at Broadmeadow to go to the Newcastle Farmers Markets. The train journey was more relaxing than driving and battling the Christmas shoppers traffic.
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I had a lovely time and came home with
a 6-fruit loaf, a blueberry and banana loaf
and some home made soaps.
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Photos courtesy of http://newcastlecityfarmersmarket.com.au/

Early tomorrow morning I will be driving up to Coffs Harbour to spend a couple of days with my sister, Cathy and B-i-L, Greg.


Christmas Pic of the Day.
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Christmas Tree in Martins Place,
Sydney

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Highlights of the Oprah Show in Australia today.

Christmas Pic of the Day.
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St Marys Cathedral, Sydney, Australia.

Monday 13 December 2010

This is a nice video of my local area
- Central Coast, New South Wales,
Australia.



Christmas Pic of the Day

.Australia Pictures, Images and Photos

Saturday 11 December 2010

This site is very funny - http://nycsantacon.com/

Santa's Survival Guide:

What to expect
Santacon is an annual convention for Santa and his holiday brethren.
Expect holiday cheer, unconventional gifts, naughty carols and general mayhem.
Do not expect to be entertained: Santa IS the entertainment!

How to be Santa
Santa doesn’t just wear a cool suit and invade your dad’s liquor cabinet: he also brings gifts!
A gift can be a reindeer game, a song, a dance or a joke to entertain Santa and tourists alike.

How NOT to be Santa
Santa never endangers his reindeer with violence, vandalism, inappropriate groping or theft.
Santa never gets SO jolly he needs babysitting.
Santa never expects to get away with behavior that an ordinary citizen wouldn’t.

It’s not a bar crawl
Every time you call Santacon a bar crawl, a sugarplum fairy dies.

Pic of the Day
Season's Greetings Pictures, Images and Photos

Wednesday 8 December 2010

My new guest room
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otherwise known as the second bedroom.

My sister, Cathy and brother-in-law, Greg were on their way down the coast to see The Eagles at Acer Arena at Olympic Park, Sydney. They stayed for a couple of days and the room got a tick for comfy.

Thursday 2 December 2010

I was up early today to put a second coat of white paint on the wardrobe in the second bedroom which previously been stained and then spent this afternoon vacumning, putting the handles back on the wardrobes, changing the doona cover, sheets and pillowcases and hanging curtains. Photos tomorrow.

The Second day of December
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Wednesday 1 December 2010

Monday 29 November 2010

I have been 9 days without the internet, finally was able to get my modem to work. The only good thing about it was I was able to finish painting the second bedroom and caught up with my reading.
Now I will catch up with some blogs.

Thursday 11 November 2010

I may not have got the mowing done today
but at least I have made a start on painting the second bedroom
-classic cream-
I'll also be getting rid of the carpet at last.
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Saturday 30 October 2010

Thursday 28 October 2010

and so it goes ...
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the last of these cuties
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it was sad
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that the storm clouds rolled in and ruined a perfect day.

Tuesday 26 October 2010

More Photos from Saturday's Chromefest.
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There were also stalls selling Rock & Roll Merchandise
*Shoes and Clothing*
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Here Tis'

Sunday 24 October 2010

Enjoying a day at The Entrance on Saturday.
A coastal town at the entrance to Tuggerah Lakes

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Coffee and cake, anyone.

Chromefest.
A Tribute to Classic American Autos, Hot Rods and Rock & Roll.
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A gathering of Classic American Autos were in town for the weekend.

Tuesday 12 October 2010

10.10pm Tuesday.

Update: Steve Hooker (Aussie) won the Gold in Pole Vault.
Its 12.20am Tuesday morning and I'm up late watching the Commonwealth Games presently being held in Delhi, India.
commonwealth games Pictures, Images and Photos
Photo - photobucket
I should have gone to bed an hour ago but now watching the Women's Water Diving Final, the Aussie girls are going quite well but a Malaysian girl has had a great final dive and just won the Gold medal
.. sorry .. too tired to take note of her name.

Sally Pearson, an Aussie, won the Hurdles Final
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not sure how far she had to race but she had to hurdle 13 hurdles
... so do the math ...
or was it 13 steps between each hurdle.
Oh well, Sally cleared without coming a cropper
... so all's good.

Now the Men's 3000m SteepleChase Final is on, not sure if I will see the end of this as I am falling asleep ... Aussie didn't win ( Awwww) but those wonderful Athletes from Kenya came 1st 2nd and 3rd. Well done, Kenya.

Oh! Great! the Pole Vault is on also the Aussie guy, Steve Hooker, is World Champ from the Olympics, World Cup etc etc etc.

Its now 1am.
Too tired off to bed and will record this session and watch tomorrow.
Stay tuned ...

Sunday 3 October 2010

To Commemorate Banned Books Week in America.
The Internet Archive opens access to 74 free banned books.
>> http://is.gd/fGY7d

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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum.

Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence - Audio Book
read by Jan McLaughlin

Also
  • HG Wells,
  • DH Lawrence,
  • William Shakespeare
  • Henry James
  • F Scott Fitzgerald
  • Oscar Wilde
Besides downloading to Kindle, these books can also be read online.

Tuesday 28 September 2010

Law Order:Criminal Intent Season 5 is out tomorrow.
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The last season for Jamey Sheridan and Courtney B Vance
and the first season for Chris Noth.

Season 10 with 8 Episodes and the return of Vincent D'Onofrio
will go to air in 2011. No news yet whether Kathryn Erbe will return.

Thursday 23 September 2010

I can't get on Twitter tonight. I blame the Grand Final of The New Inventors on Channel 2 (ABC Aust.), an hour show tonight. Must be lots of Twits twittering.

Saturday 18 September 2010

I like this

Chad Vader identifies as many costumes as he can at Dragon Con 2010.

Monday 13 September 2010

Mila spending time with her Grandma
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on a lazy Saturday morning.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Julia Gillard - Prime Minister
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First Australian Female Prime Minister.

Nail biting result.

76 ----Labor and Greens Parties
74 - Liberal and National Parties

Watching press conference now. Gillard will form Government with support of Tony Windsor, Independent and Rob Oakeshott, Independent.

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Central Coast Labor MPs
welcome return of Gillard Government.

Twitter Chatter
infoholic 17 days of negotiation. No violence. No deaths. No injuries. No civil war. A new parliament decided. Not a bad system really. #ausvotes

Tuesday 31 August 2010

Update:

Blood tests etc, came back negative -Phew- but Doctor still wants me to still go to Gastrologist, I mentioned I was not able to get in before mid-November so he has given me a list of others in the area to phone around and see if I can get in sooner also gave me a repeat prescription for stomach upset and pain killers among other options to try to lessen the constipation caused of the stomach spasms.

Monday 30 August 2010

Wow! Its been a while since I last posted. I'm presently sitting up watching a delayed telecast of the 2010 Emmys, loving all the lovely dresses worn by the ladies and Jon Stewart doing a great job of presenting, its moving along at quick pace.

Tomorrow afternoon, I head off to the doctors to find out the results of blood tests etc , hopefully I'll find out why I'm getting stomach spasms this has been happening since the beginning of the year and am fully over it. Doctor said the good news is if it was stomach cancer I would be dead by now. WTF.

He gave me a referral to a gastrologist !! but wanted to get the results back before I book a appointment. I booked an appointment anyway and can not get in until November. :+[

Friday 20 August 2010

How to Disable Facebook Places.
If you don't change this setting in Facebook than people can locate you, your home or where you currently are situated. Not very safe, especially if you have young children/teens in the house.

Sunday 15 August 2010

I can't help myself
... here's another,
For Val, according to the conductor,
The Pirate King (JE) takes a size 13 1/2 boots. lol.

ABC-Talking Heads transcript-Jon English

Friday 13 August 2010

Pirates of Penzance: With Cat Like Tread

The Pirates of Penzance - Australian production
with Jon English and Simon Gallaher.

In 1984, I took my two eldest children to see this Gilbert and Sullivan musical
at the State Theatre, Sydney with Jon English and Simon Gallaher
playing the leads.

The children absolutely loved it,

Years later, 1994, when my youngest son was old enough to sit through the play, we again went to see the show and also The Mikado and HMS Pinafore by the same production company.

Saturday 7 August 2010

I went down to Sydney to have lunch
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with Natalie and Mila, today,
on the Newcastle to Sydney train
passing through Broken Bay.

Monday 2 August 2010

It was lovely and sunny winter day, Sunday,
so it was into the garden I ventured.

Two hours later, I had tidied, raked, pruned, weeded and crammed the last lot of greenery into the garden re-cycling bin ... then the cold weather rolled in with a rain chaser.

Inside to shower and change into warm clothes, the kettle on and the Tim Tams found, I settled in front of the heater and my LO:Criminal Intent DVDs for a bit of Bobby watching while the storm rolled over the house.

A scratching on the front door and Darcy rushed in,
demanding an early dinner
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and a place on the lounge.

Thursday 29 July 2010

Watching Letterman on TV and Michael Keaton is on.
Checking IMDB and Michael plays Ken in Toy Story 3, he does quite a few 'voice' roles in animation movies. He is funny telling a story using different voices. I had a crush on him when he was younger.

Another week has gone by, the weeks are going so fast. June is the end of our financial year and the time has come to do my tax .This weekend I will be tracking down the bits and pieces I need for my tax agent to do my tax return. I use to do my own tax but I find it too stressful - pick up the form and my mind goes blank. lol. I walk in with my receipts and group certificate and half an hour later its done.

Big smile on face after being informed of tax refund due. Yay.

Friday 23 July 2010

2009 MasterChef Australia winner Julie Goodwin’s new show Home Cooked! With Julie Goodwin, will premiere Saturday, August 7th at 5.30pm on Nine.

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The show will include celebrity guests with actor Gyton Grantley the first to appear.

“We’re all so busy these days that people don’t feel they have the time to cook. So I really want to show the audience how quick and easy meals can be fun to make and delicious to eat,” Julie said.

http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2010/07/airdate-home-cooked-with-julie-goodwin.html

Sunday 18 July 2010

In answer to - Drifting throught Life blog post.

Each payday I put $20 away into a 'Treat' account,
so far it has paid for me to
  • fly to Melbourne ($98 return) from Sydney for a couple of days vacation,
  • to go see The Eagles in concert at the Acer Arena in Sydney this December
  • and also paid for my little netbook.

At the moment I am saving for cheap air fares to Brisbane.

Saturday 17 July 2010

I have had a lot of problems signing into Blogger and Goggle today but where there is a will there is a way. Hopped into another blogger site and brought up their com ments page on a post, signed in there , and hey presto I'm in.

Clothes are out on the clothesline enjoying the winter sun
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Friday 16 July 2010

Its 11.30pm on Friday night and I am doing my washing. The heat in the house from the floor heaters will dry my clothes overnight, at the moment the first load is on hangers strung across the room.
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  • 5 pairs of navy blue pants
  • 4 navy blue blouses
  • 1 light blue blouse
  • 2 work jackets.
  • 1 navy blue thermal vest.
  • 5 pairs of navy blue socks in dryer.
The usual Friday work wash.

Tomorrow I'll get up early and wash sheets and towels. They will be put on the rotary clothesline to dry in the sun. Once the sun warms up I will take the work clothes out to get a bit of sun and breeze on them.

Tuesday 13 July 2010


An unwelcome encounter with some kangaroos has meant an expensive delay for ambulances responding to a call near Stawell, in western Victoria.

An ambulance was called to pick up a patient at Halls Gap, but was damaged after hitting a kangaroo, about 15 kilometres from Stawell.

A second ambulance was dispatched to the scene.

But it too, hit a kangaroo, only about half a kilometre from the first ambulance.

A third ambulance was called and the patient, who was in a stable condition, was taken to hospital without further incident.

It is expected to cost $10,000 to repair the damage to the two ambulances.

Monday 5 July 2010

I had the day off today
... didn't get much done
..cold, wet and miserable day.

I think I may need to make one of those dreaded lists of things to do this winter. Otherwise it will be summer and I will be overwhelmed by jobs to do in the garden.

Monday 28 June 2010

I created my new background when I was on my netbook, the screen being smaller, not sure yet if I like the surfer theme. I wish I could figure out how to put my own background graphic on here.

Sunday 27 June 2010

Julia Gillard
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On the 24th June, 2010 at 1pm
Julia Gillard
became our 27th Prime Minister of Australia.
An incredible day in Australian politics.

Sunday 20 June 2010

Our Mate Tony Martin

Watching cup fever on SBS.
This has to be the funniest video I seen in a long time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4br61DnJ_vw
Tony Martin legendary goalie!!

I love Ed Kavalee's shoulders, I'm sure they have their own postcode.

Friday 18 June 2010

Last Thursday I headed up the Pacific Highway to Emerald Beach
and stayed a couple of days with my sister,
Cathy and brother-in-law, Greg.
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It was a quick trip as I was due back to work on Tuesday
after the long weekend.

Friday, we bought some fish 'n chips and had them
on an outside table overlooking the yachts
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Cathy and I
then onto Coffs Harbour Yacht club for a quiet drink
before heading back to Emerald to get in
out of the wind. Brrr.
Coffs Jetty June'10

Wednesday 9 June 2010

Life During Wartime Premiere
Sydney Film Festival 2010
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Festival Director Clare Stewart, producer Christine K. Walker,
actress Shirley Henderson,
Jury President Jan Chapman and Jury member Yonfan.
Photographer Don Arnold (c) 2010

Some of Shirley Henderson's movies
  • Harry Potter series - Moaning Myrtle
  • Bridget Jones 1 & 2 - Jude
  • Marple - Murder Is Easy - Honoria Wanflete
  • Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - Edythe DuBarry
  • Doctor Who - Ursula Blake
  • Hamish Macbeth - Isabel Sutherland
  • Salt On Our Skin (Desire)- Mary
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0376602/

-------------
Hey Val, Shirley looks a lot like Kathryn Erbe
and both are wonderful actresses.

2 Degrees of Separation -
Shirley was in Salt on Our Skin with Vincent D'Onofrio
Kathryn Erbe was in Law & Order: Criminal Intent with VDO

Tuesday 8 June 2010

I think I have got over my disappointment on missing out on going to the Sydney Film Festival on Sunday, woke up not feeling the best, headache and aches and pains, I ended up sleeping the afternoon away. The festival is on for another 5 days so will see how I go.

Today, I received a call from youngest son, Michael to say he had the day off and thought he would drop in for a visit. 3 hours later his old room was finally cleared of his clutter, the paper shredder running at full bore getting rid of old papers, receipts etc. and then he hopped up onto the roof and cleared the gutters for me. He left taking the last of his stuff from his room and and will be back to collect what was left in the garage. Yay.

Saturday 5 June 2010

traveled down to Sydney today to have morning tea
at Pancakes on the Rocks, in The Rocks district
with son, daughter and son-in-law.
It was Nicholas' birthday
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Here he is with his new camera. Very swish.

We walked along the water's edge at Circular Quay
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and I couldn't resist taking this photo
of the Sydney Opera House.

Later after Nicholas had left to meet up with friends,
we stopped by for coffee and croissant at Baroque's.
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Across the road was The Rocks' Farmer's Market
in George Street.
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Plenty of tourists around.

Before I left to go home I checked out the
Dendy Opera Quay's cinema
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where tomorrow I will return to attend to see
the film "The Last Train Home".

Wednesday 2 June 2010

The Sydney Film Festival starts today.
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I'm looking forward to going to see 3 films on Sunday
including The New Tenants short.
The other film 'Just Like Us'
with comedian Ahmed Ahmed ,
made his debut on Aussie TV with his appearance on
TV's Hey! Hey! Its Saturday
(shown on Wednesday nights .lol)
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.
and just for something different -

The Kate Ceberano, John Farnham, Jon Stevens
and cast of Jesus Christ Superstar
perform 'Everything's Alright'
on 'Hey Hey It's Saturday' 1992

Saturday 29 May 2010

A chance meeting of
Vincent D'Onofrio and Hugh Jackman
on the streets of New York
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Saturday 22 May 2010

Original Trailer for The Empire Strikes Back.
Thirty Years Ago.
Cool Voice-Over

Wednesday 19 May 2010

I have a great weekend planned for the weekend
5th-6th June.
First, I will be in Sydney on Saturday 5th June to attend my son, Nicholas, birthday get-together at The Rocks. I will be only staying for the morning tea session as he and his friends plan to make it an all-dayer, as they all work different shifts, it makes it easier to organise.
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I love The Rocks area its a great tourist spot
and there is always something happening there.
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=========================

Sydney Film Festival 2010

I will be attending 3 films
at the Sydney Film Festival.

The first film, 'The Last Train Home'
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will be shown at the Dendy Opera Quays cinema
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(The Opera Quays cinema is situated bottom right of picture.)

I have passed by the cinema countless times on my way
to the Sydney Opera House so when I was looking at the
program of films to see I thought what a great time to go.
====

My next 2 films will be shown at the
Event Cinema 9 in George Street.
The first session will be The New Tenants,
Winner of Best Live Action Short at the 2010 Academy Awards®,
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to be followed by the documentary 'Just Like Us'.

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Director, Ahmed Ahmed sets out to break down barriers
with comedy,
by taking a group of US stand-up comics
(from a variety of backgrounds) on a tour of the Middle East.

Monday 17 May 2010

One of the most exciting and sometimes scary ferry rides is the Manly to Circular Quay, Sydney commuter runs. The ferry has to pass by North and South Heads at the entrance to Sydney Harbour. Below is a video filmed on a wet and stormy day on run past the Heads in 2007.
The Manly ferry looks like it is surfing the waves.

Years ago when I was a teenager my parents took my sisters and I by train journey to Cairns to visit my fathers family. My aunt and uncle thought a ferry trip out to Green Island would be a nice day trip, it was until it was time to return back to the mainland. A storm came up as we were heading back to the wharf. Auntie was getting worried when my sisters and I went out on deck but my mother assured her we were ok as living in a harbour city we were quite use to riding ferries and especially the Manly ferry.

Saturday 15 May 2010

Jessica Watson
Congratulations
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16 year old Jessica completed her 210 days, 23,000 nautical miles journey, becoming the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world.