Oh, What A Night!

Wednesday 31st October, 2012

Yes, it's Halloween but the title of this post has nothing to do with that.  Tony, Robyn, Bob and I went to the Festival Theatre tonight to see "Jersey Boys".  It is the musical stage show of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

After meeting up with Tony in town we decided to go to the Casino for dinner.  We were lucky enough to get a table in the Pullman Restaurant for their buffet.  We stuffed ourselves with soup, prawns, mussels, jambalaya, sweet and sour pork, battered fish, roast beef , roast pork, curry beef, curry chicken, rice, salads and vegetables and then dessert, chocolate mousse, cheeesecakes, lemon meringue, fruit salad, pavlova, apple crumble and a to die for banana cake pudding and custard.  We could have had cheese and nuts to finish but opted not to.  (BTW we didn't eat all of that, it was just some of the selection from the buffet)

After eating we "waddled" off to the theatre.  Much has been written and said about this show and so we were all a little bit excited to be finally going to see it.  It DID NOT disappoint.....it was AMAZING!!!

The show was fast paced, very slick and much more singing than I imagined it would have.  Songs like Sherry, Walk like a Man, Big Girls Don't Cry, Opus 17, Dawn, My Eyes Adored You, Let's Hang On, Working My Way Back To You, Rag Doll,   Big Man In Town and the list goes on and on and on.........

The guy who played Frankie Valli was unbelievable.......how does he sing in the falsetto voice?  At times you would've sworn it was Frankie Valli himself on stage.  The other actor that was a standout was the guy who played Bob Gaudio.

It's not really fair just to mention these two characters......the whole cast was OUTSTANDING!!  We didn't want the show to finish and when it did, I wanted it to start all over again.  Going by the cheers and applause at the end I think the whole theatre (which was packed) felt the same.

Four Seasons * Four voices * Four decades * What more can you say!

Icecream, Pizza And A Golden Sunset

Sunday 28th October, 2012

Another week has passed uneventfully.  This weekends arrangements were thrown out the window.  We were going to have Katie again as Kahra and Darrin were going to go motor bike riding on Sunday.  Seeing it was the Australian Moto GP they decided not to go riding, instead deciding to stay home and watch the motor bike racing on TV.

So, Tony and I had a free weekend.  What did we get up to......not much.  Tony had to go into work for a few hours on Saturday morning.  I started to catch up on some housework and washing.  This morning Tony scrubbed the shower for me and helped clean the windows.  

The weather out was beautiful and so mid afternoon we decided to go out for a drive.  We headed off to the beach and an icecream.  Lots of people were also out and about and some had even ventured into the water.  I didn't think it was that warm for that.  The windsurfers were out again but not having much success......the breeze was very light.

From Largs we drove along the coast and ended up down at Seacliff.  We didn't realise Brighton was such a bustling little seaside suburb, nearly as busy as Semaphore or Glenelg.  Have bookmarked it to go back and explore it a little more.

We ended up back at West Beach and got pizza for tea.  Took it to the beach and ate it and seeing it was getting close to sunset we decided to drive back to Largs and watch the sun go down.  It cast a beautiful golden glow.

Birthday Celebrations!

Monday 22nd October, 2012

Life has been plodding on as normal.  The weather has been at sixes and sevens, warm for a couple of days and then it cools down again.  At the moment we are in a warm spell but towards the end of the week the temps will be back down in the teens again with rain.

On Saturday we went out for lunch at the Watermark Hotel, Glenelg to celebrate Tanecia's 15th and Dianne's 60th birthdays. We picked Katie up earlier in the morning.  During lunch, the girls, Katie and Taylor, schemed to have Taylor come over and spend Saturday night.   I wasn't too keen after the last time Taylor came over, but I weakened.

Happy 15th birthday Tanecia!

This time they weren't too bad.....they just had a little tiff but thankfully soon got over it.  On Sunday morning we took them to the park to have some photos taken.  I had bought Katie a witches costume and wanted some photos of her in it.  Taylor wore an old outfit I had here.  

They decided to paint their faces......

We called into Ingle Farm shopping centre to have some lunch.  This is where I had arranged to meet Jodi to drop Taylor off as they were going to another birthday party in the afternoon.  After we left them Katie and Tony decided to go go-kart racing again.  She also wanted to go into Laser zone.

It was a great afternoon, Katie can't wait until she turns 12 so that she drive the go-karts by herself.  Still, she said that Poppa drove them really fast and she loved that.  Tony didn't do the Laser thing with her, she went off and did it by herself, the first game she won , the second game she came third. 

On the way to drop Katie off we drove along the beach.  It was windy and cool and we watched the windsurfers for awhile.  "Oooo Nanna that looks like fun", she said.  "What are those flying things called?" she asked.  "Seagulls," I replied.  (Well, we were also watching the seagulls fighting over food that had been given to them) 

Tony and her looked at each other and burst out laughing.  "Nanna I know what seagulls are, I was talking about those things in the water".  

Now she wants to try wind surfing.  There were plenty of windsurfers and sail boarders out on the water.

OMG is there anything that this girl doesn't want to do!!!!

Enjoying The Quiet Life

Sunday 14th October, 2012

Thankfully the cold blast that came up from Antarctica was short lived.  Friday was quite a pleasant day, yesterday was even warmer and we have hit the high of 27C that was forecast for today.

So far the weekend has been a very quiet one.  Yesterday Tony had to go into work and reset their internet connection.  While out and about we called into the hardware stores, Bunnings, Stratco and Mitre 10 looking for an extendable handle and broom so that Tony can give the solar panels a clean.

How hard would it be to buy one?  Practically impossible it seems.  We ended up at Gawler's Mitre 10 only because we knew that Bob had been able to purchase one from there.  They did have one that would have been suitable but as we weren't sure we ended up going to see Robyn and Bob and checking theirs out.  Yep, the same as what we saw at Mitre 10.

Today we haven't been doing much.  As we still have to do the tax return for this year and we only have until the 31st of this month in which to do it, we have spent most of the day going through the paperwork.  After dinner we will lodge it on the internet.

I don't know why we are so slow doing the tax.   It's not so hard and a refund is always nice to get.   

A Blast From Antarctica

Wednesday 10th October, 2012

Bloody hell!!!  Winter has returned with a vengeance.  It is wet, windy and freezing cold.  At 2:00pm the temperature was just 8 degrees C.  The weather man says that tonight we may, (the emphasis is on MAY), get some snow on the ranges.  This is colder than what we get in the middle of Winter.

"SNOW could hit the Mt Lofty Ranges tonight or early tomorrow as wintry weather continues to grip Adelaide."

According to the weather bureau, if it does snow, it will be the first time since 1910 for the month of October.

We have had some lovely weather over the last few days.  They are saying that on Sunday the temperatures will again get to 27 degrees C.   

Is it Sunday yet?..................

Update: Thursday 11th October

"SNOW has fallen on Mt Lofty as rain, hail and winds again buffet South Australia - and expect more wild weather this morning".

snow at Mt Lofty                                                      

                                                        Taken from Adelaide Now website

This morning and afternoon there have been numerous reports of snow falling in the Adelaide Hills and also in the Mid North and southern Flinders Ranges.

Snow on Mt Bryan, Mid North

                                                        Taken from Adelaide Now website

    

A Look Back At 80 Years of The Christmas Pageant

Monday 8th October, 2012

Yesterday Tony and I went into the city to check out the Pageant display.  This year on November 10th,  it will be the Christmas Pageants 80th Anniversary.  

Back in 1933 it was known as the Children's Christmas Pageant.  Then it became known as John Martin's Christmas Pageant for over 50 years. In 1996 the combined Credit Unions began their sponsorship of the Pageant and still do to this day.  There were no Pageants during WWII (1941 - 1944).

Nimble was in the original Pageant of 1933

More than 300,000 people line the streets of Adelaide as the Pageant makes it way along the 3.3 kilometre route to the Magic Cave where Father Christmas takes up residence until Christmas Eve.

To celebrate 80 years the Pageant organisers brought some of the floats and characters into the city so that the public could get up close to have a look at them.  One thing I liked was talking to sculptor David Blight.  He sculpts, out of polystyrene foam, the characters and animals that are on the floats.  These are then painted or have fur attached,  and some are made into moving parts.  He has been doing this job since 1977 and previously was employed by John Martins in the Design Department.

It was a great afternoon and we learnt things that we never knew before about the Pageant.  We were sorry that Katie wasn't with us, she would have loved it I'm sure.

Today I went out for lunch with Dianne.  We also started our Christmas shopping.  This year I don't have many to buy for.  Seeing the girls are so much older all they want is money so that they can go off and buy whatever they want.  Easy for me!

Murray Bridge Is The Only Place To Go For Chinese!

Friday 5th October, 2012

Not really knowing what we wanted for dinner tonight we again decided on Chinese.  After having met Tony, done some shopping and going to have a coffee it was too late to head to Murray Bridge.

Many people had asked us whether we had tried the Red Dragon Chinese Restaurant at Munno Para, and so here was our opportunity to give it a go.  When we got there the place was crowded, both eating in and for take away.  That must be a good sign!   

They showed us to a table.  We ordered Braised King Prawn and Cashew Nuts, Curried Chicken,. Crispy Beef and a Special Fried Rice.

Sorry to say, the food was not as nice as what we have at Murray Bridge.  It just didn't have that nice Chinese flavour.  The rice was cold and lumpy and the curry was way too hot (flavour wise).  They said that what we couldn't eat we could take home, but we didn't even bother doing that.  Comparitively the price was about the same.

Looks like it's still a trip to Murray Bridge for Chinese!

Monarto's New Babies

Thursday 4th October, 2012

It looks like we'll have to take another trip to Monarto in the next few weeks.  Earlier this week 2 new babies were born there.  One is a baby female white rhinoceros which was born on Tuesday.............

When we were at Monarto a couple of weeks ago we saw the pregnant Zebra mum.  On Monday her little baby was born, a female...........

                                                                  Photos taken from Adelaide Now website

These Feathered Friends Were So Friendly

Wednesday 3rd October, 2012

On Sunday afternoon as we were walking through the parklands on our way to the Moon Lantern Festival we came across these birdies.  Obviously they are used to people walking past and getting up close and personal as they didn't fly away when I got rather close to them.

I think they are known as grass parrots.  I just love the beautiful colours in the feathers.  Apparently they can be kept as pets.

We often see them feeding on the side of country roads but whenever we stop to try and get a photo they fly away.  

Now that we know where to find some tame ones I must go back and get some more photos.

Festivals And Footy

Monday 1st October, 2012

Crikey, October already!  Three more months and we'll be in 2013.  Time is flying by and even when children comment about how fast the year is going, then it must be passing us by at a rapid rate.

This past weekend was a long weekend here.  We were due to have Katie come and stay but when I rang on Friday to make arrangements to pick her up she said that she wasn't going to come as they were going to a bar-b-que at her friends Maddis' place on Saturday afternoon and she would be sleeping over.

That was OK with me.  Many times I have told her if ever she gets the chance to go to friends places, to do that instead of hanging with us oldies.

Saturday ended up being a quiet day for Tony and I.  We went out for dinner with Robyn and Bob.  On Sunday was the Moon Lantern Festival as part of the Oz Asia Festival.  The weather was looking ominous. Cloudy, overcast and cool.  Later in the afternoon the sun came out and so we decided that we would go.

It wasn't too bad, the weather that is.  We got a couple of sprinkles of rain and once the sun went down it got cool but not real cold.  At least there was no wind.  

The pre-parade entertainment was entertaining.  Lots of dancers and this year the focus country was India and so there was lots of Bollywood.

The parade of lanterns was great, but being school holidays and a long weekend not too many schools were represented.
They still estimated the crowd to be somewhere around 20,000.

Fireworks ended the night.

This morning Tony and I were having a lovely sleep in and the phone rang.  It was Katie.  She was just letting us know that the Slowdown was on today and did we remember.  Seeing it was 9.30 am I thought that maybe it was too late to go but she didn't think it was.

So we quickly got up, showered and dressed and left.  We left the car at work and caught the tram down to Glenelg.  This year the Slowdown was being played at the Glenelg Oval.  We met Katie and Kahra at the Oval.  

The Slowdown is a football game made up of past players from the Adelaide Crows and usually is played against past players from Port Power.  This year they were playing the past players from Collingwood (a team from Victoria).  There is also a few celebrities in the teams and this year the Crows had Sam Willoughby, silver medallist BMX rider from the Olympic games, and Matthew Cowdrey, a Paralympian Swimmer and also Australia's all time highest gold medal winner.   

Between these two players they kicked 9 goals and played really well.  All monies raised from this football game go to the Little Heroes Foundation, an organisation that helps sick kids with terminal illnesses. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, lots of sunshine and around 18C.

Pre-match entertainment was sporting clinics for the kids, acrobatic teams, dancers and sky jumpers.

Tony and Katie enjoyed the half time and full time 'kick the footy' on the oval.  Kahra met us to pick Katie up and Tony and I caught the tram back into the city, got the car and came home.  For a day that was planned as doing nothing turned out to be a good day.