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.

Footy Grand Final

Saturday 29th September, 2012

Today is footballs' day of days.  It is Grand Final day in the AFL.  The two teams to play off this year are Hawthorn and the Sydney Swans. The Adelaide Crows just missed out.  Last week they were beaten by Hawthorn by just 5 points.

We are barracking for Sydney though we are not true footy fans.  I go for any team that's not Victorian.

It's half time....Sydney 46 points, Hawthorn 30 points.  Let's hope Sydney can continue with their dominance in the next half.  Carn the Swannies!!!!

                                               Photos from Adelaide Now website

Now I know why I don't watch footy much......I can't sit still.  When the game gets exciting I pace.  I pace up and down, go listen to it on the radio for a while, come back and watch a bit more on the telly.

This is how this game got me today.  The last few minutes were excruciating to watch.  The Hawks were in front by a goal, the Swans tied the game up and then led by a goal.  Hawthorn came back and kicked a couple of points so the Swans were ahead by 4 points.

With 1 minute 20 seconds on the clock the Swans kicked another goal giving them a 10 point buffer.  Phew! it would be hard for Hawthorn to come back from there.

Finally the siren sounded and the Sydney Swans were AFL premiers for 2012.   Congratulations go to all the players and the coaches of both teams.  It was a fantastic game of footy!  Sorry there had to be a loser.

                                                                      Photo from Adelaide Now website

We went out for dinner with Robyn and Bob again tonight.  This time we went to the Empire Hotel on Prospect Road.  The food wasn't as good as what we had last week, this week we all had steak.  

Bob's steak was overcooked (he likes medium rare), mine was undercooked (I like mine to be well done and it had pink in it).  Bob and I changed steaks but to his liking mine was still overcooked for him. It wouldn't be a place I would go to again in a hurry.

By having these "Split the Bill" vouchers it gives you an opportunity to try out these various hotels and restaurants that you wouldn't normally get to try.  

Robyn and Bob have been to far more than what we have and have found some of the places to be hit and miss.  Tonight was the last night to use the vouchers.

Inside the dining room it takes you on a tour of the world.........United States, England and home

The meal may have not been much but at least we didn't starve.  We got all these choccies out of the chocolate machine!!!

The Sunny Days Are Very Welcome!

Sunday 23rd September, 2012

The weather here has been perfect.  Temperatures have been in the low-mid 20's, even the evenings haven't been too cold.  It's been great not to have the heater on.

On Friday night we went to Murray Bridge for a Chinese meal.  Yesterday I attended another scrapbooking class and then last night we met up with Robyn and Bob at the Exeter Hotel on Semaphore Road for dinner. We all enjoyed our meals there.  I had Spare Ribs, Robyn had Chicken Skewers and Bob and Tony had Steak.

Today has been a rather lazy day.  Even though the sun is shining it's quite cool outside and very windy.  We had a light shower of rain this morning.

From what I hear Katie has still been enjoying her birthday celebrations.  The weekend has been a busy one for her and her friend Maddi.  Apparently they have been ice skating, 10 pin bowling, went to Laserzone and shopping.  I think her mum is glad she only has her birthday once a year.

It is also school holidays here for the next 2 weeks.  Boy this year has flown by, only one more term of school left for this school year.  It appears they no sooner go back to school and it is holidays again.

The school year here is made up of 4 terms.  Each term is around 10 weeks long.  The longest break is December/January where they have 6 weeks off.  Between each term is a 2 week break.  They would have another 2 weeks off during school counting the public holidays, pupil free days, a day off for the show, sports day and other days the schools want to take off.

When I went to school we had 3 term school years.  Our terms went for around 14 weeks with the same amount of holidays.  I don't ever remember having pupil free days or days off for the show.  Instead, we had half days for when it was Arbor Day (that's the only one I can remember) but I think there were a couple more.

No wonder so many kids are struggling with their education.  They have to learn the same amount of knowledge in a shorter period of time.  Actually we learnt more because in my day (now I'm sounding old), we had to learn the 11 and 12 times tables as we were taught the old imperial measures and our currency was still the pound, shillings and pence. 

Maybe that's why I still like to measure things in feet and inches and I convert the oven temperature back to Fahrenheit instead of Celsius.   I still get confused when cooking with the grams and ounces. 

How did I get onto this subject?  Talking of cooking it's time to go and get dinner started.  Tonight I may do a spaghetti bake.

Katie Celebrates

Friday 21st September, 2012

Last night I met up with Katie, Kahra and Darrin.  We had decided to meet at Ikea and to have some dinner to celebrate Katie's birthday.  As Tony was also flying back from Sydney last night it meant that we would be able to walk over to the Terminal to meet him.

I was rather surprised at the meals on offer and it was much better value than going to McDonalds or Hungry Jacks.  For $5.95 I had Chicken Parmigiana chips and salad.  Katie had the Swedish Meatballs as a kids meal for $2.95, Kahra had a Quiche and Darrin also had a Parmigiana.

Katie didn't care where we went for her birthday as long as we were all together she said.  She was a bit sad that Poppa couldn't join us.

After we finished eating we went across to the Terminal.  Tony's flight was due to land at 7.55pm but when we checked the arrivals board his flight had been delayed and wouldn't be landing until 8.45pm.  We went and had coffee while waiting.

The Arrivals/Departure lounge was crowded.  By this flight being delayed, it also meant passengers who were due to fly to Brisbane were also delayed.  Plus, as we found out later, a group of school students were on Tony's flight and so with their parents there to meet them it made the waiting area quite congested.

Katie was the first one to spot Tony as he came up the aerobridge.  To say she was more than excited would be an understatement.  I'll admit it was nice to see him again.

He rang me several times while he was away keeping me informed about what was going on but it's not as good as him being here in person.  He said that he had a great time even if it was full-on.  By the sounds of it they had little time to themselves and so they didn't get out to sight see.

The only photos he took was from the plane and his room and a short walk he took after breakfast on Wednesday.  He said the rest of the time was spent in the conference room, or when they walked to a local restaurant for dinner on the Wednesday night.

He got to meet some great people and can now put a face to the name he speaks to on the phone.  The only downside was that he had to go to work this morning....... hehehehehe.  

A Special Birthday

Thursday 20th September, 2012

Happy 11th Birthday to our gorgeous Katie.  She has gone from this.....

To this......

Where have the last 11 years gone?  I know it's an old cliche but the years have really flown by.  You have grown into a beautiful young girl showing lots of love for your family.  You are kind, caring, compassionate and love having fun.

You have been a real joy to have around and have given Nanna and Poppa a lot of fun times and adventures that we may never have experienced if you weren't in our lives.   We treasure these memories.

We look forward to the next 11 years and to watching you grow and develop even further.  You have the ability to become whatever you want to be.

Love you Always!!!!   

Home Alone

Tuesday 18th September, 2012

Around lunchtime I went into the city and met Tony.  He was flying out to Sydney this afternoon at 3.30pm and he asked whether I would come in and get him and one of his co-workers, Richard, and take them to the airport.  They are going there for a 2 day conference.

They were being flown to Sydney by Colonial, (they own the building that he looks after).  They are staying at the Park Royal Hotel in Darling Harbour until Thursday when he flies home.  He will get back around 8.00pm.

His plane had lifted off and was overhead before I could get a decent photo

People from all around the country are being flown to Sydney by Colonial.  They also allow partners to go (at our expense though) but I said I might go next year.  I told him to go and see what it's all about. 

He rang to say that they had arrived safely and rang me later on this evening after they had been out to dinner.  He said that they had met up with some of the other people that were also attending the conference.

He's only been gone a few hours and I'm already missing him.  Looks like I'll have to make my own coffee tonight!