The grandchildren climb on old kangaroo and play round the garden.  The light post was originally from Newcastle bus depot. A favourite garden gnome was stolen despite it being very heavy to move.
Here I was brought face to face with the seven ages of humanity on hearing from the elderly homeowner how she can no longer do the gardening or even leave the house much, nowdays. Years of gardening experience is held to mull over.  One new rose plant will bloom in about three years time and is waited with anticipation.

The old suburbs are renewed. For instance, in the suburb of Merewether Beach the traditional home, lawn and garden is often replaced by new two story homes often built to the boundary and lined up tall along the streets and the nature of the suburb has change quite a lot, afterall, 1.5 kids need space to live.. and how. 

Photos taken some time ago in Sydney. Computer problems led to old photos coming to light. Anyway, IMAX looks different right now due to construction work.
Only this year have I been to see a show at Imax. Well, the prospects sounded simply glorious: outer space through the eyes of Hubble as well as ultimate surfing in Tahiti, all on the largest screen in the world in 3D. Well, the vision was technically awesome, the content: very average.
Spelling and Macquarie Dictionary. Thanks goodness a big dictionary provides all the inflections. How is it that an adult like me is too lazy to get to know the rules about plurals and so on - is it 'es' or  's' 'ly' 'ely'. Why not use spell check? Simply writing a label on a blog site photo is a minefield!  What about brackets and full stops, the correct dash, direct and indirect speech?  What's worse, I went to school in the days of reading, 'riting and 'rifmatic.

The Arts with the bard in drapes and Queen Victoria is wrapt.

This is not Newcastle.

Shocking irreverence in the empire! Dressing-up Queen Victoria and Albert-the-good-prince-consort. All from the outlandish folk in Sydney who also produced weekend reading which left me flabbergast and included:
...inspired as the work of architect Joern Utzon (Opera House) is...turban of scampi - melting shellfish in a corduroy-like wrapping of spaghettine with an irresistible lemon and sterling caviar sauce.

Waiters, runners and sommeliers slide, glide and pirouette in a ... performance that would do the Australian Ballet proud.

Among ingredients for salad. 32 small French breakfast radishes. 32 small cherry bell redishes. Pink Turnips. Ligurian olives. Red marble or red eschallot onions. Creme fraiche. Goat's curd. Mugolio Italian pine bud extract. 32 sweet violets. Punnet each of blood vein sorrel; red garnet; bulls blood or beetroot leaves. Served with tiny crisp goat's curd cigars. 
From Good Food Guide. The Sydney Moring Herald. 25 Sep 2010. On celebrity chefs.

Top that with a nation-wide church reading this Sunday!...from prophet Amos...
Woe to those ensconced so snugly in Zion
and to those who feel so safe on the mountain of Samaria,
Lying on ivory beds 
and sprawling on their divans,
they dine on lambs from the flock, and stall-fattened veal;
they bawl to the sound of the harp, they invent new instruments of music like David,
they drink wine by the bowlful, and use the finest oil for themselves,
but about the ruin of Joseph they do not care at all.
That is why they will be the first to be exiled;
the sprawlers' revelry is over.

My gross weight: remains on 81.5kg. After a month of weighing etc at least it has not increased.

Returning to Wickham and hilly it is not. Above: Not many homes around here, if any, are in this very same style. 

And the same can be said about the next photo

.

Returning to Tighes Hill and School of Arts Gallery in Elizabeth Street. 

New collaborative work by Eric & Robyn Werkhoven till 29 September 2010  Studio la primitive - Caprice 11

The new stadium at Broadmeadow is 'moving forward' slowly and steadily even if it does not look exactly like a stadium.

Mega events like the Commonwealth Games usually have very important officials representing the organization swaning around on location. These chaps will simply have to lift their game and take responsibility for the finishing touches and get the facilities in New Delhi in order.
For guidance on this task don't take a look at a fun TV series where mythical Sydney Olympic CEOs bungled their way through to the great day just ten years ago.
In real life, the ex-Fairfax newspaper building in Ultimo became the early stronghold of the Sydney Olympic organizing committee. Later-on the building went to the University after a classy make-over in glass.

Anglican Church  Islington/Wickham, has original features.








In Wickham







In Wickham/Islington with new street trees from City Council. 

In Wickham, yesterday.

The suburb of Wickham is 'moving ahead' and changing its 'image' yet without too much change to the alternative small scale features.
The building of this church must have been a hugh challenge for a less than affulent, diminutive parish of Wickham, but now, about 40 years on, the church has become a residence and the parish, as a formal entity, no longer exists. The building makes an interesting home. Bamboo is an outstanding plant.

The end of an era. No doubt some churchy people still remain in Wickham, no change, but the centre of their community has been shut down, if that matters. Institutions are always reactive.

My gross weight: 81.5kg, no increase.... eat less, exercise more - the mantra struggles to get a hearing.

 

Mornings are getting warmer.

Below: North Americans going feral, Cairns or bust, setting out after a car service at K Mart. Surf boards in tow. I guess that surfers get well informed about the best surfing destinations for while classic waves are found all along the north coast, I don't know about the far north tropics and Cairns, but there, the Barrier Reef islands and the lifestyle is sweet. Summer is the rainy season. 

This is a simple photo largely of the art work on the van- probably one of the oldest these kids have ever driven. I hope they keep the oil and water well topped up even when Toyota is very reliable. Total milage is most telling. 

Add engine oil? On the early models this means clearing the passenger seats and the space behind, some feat, undoing the locks on the seat, raising and tilting it back, finding a handy little strap with a certain clasp that holds the seat suspended while you peer down to find the dip stick and so on. Easy enough for a truckie.

Motor homes: a location that looks perfect also needs to be level parking, an incline makes quite a difference. Small and lower vehicles have far more options when it comes to city parking stations or any overhangs.

Hunter Street Newcastle where the biggest KFC in Australia is under construction. This is handy to the health facilities on the other corner! KFC is expanding in Mayfield.  The Palais was once on the Hunter street site.

Here is one solution to the city's old fig tree problem!  (From the garden of a south coast non-conformist).

If a so-called unsophisticated tourist goes hiking in Europe or roams in a camper-van do they risk expulsion, mistaken for a gypsy?  At least safe on one score while ever we don't cover up in middle eastern clothing.
All the same, motor homes have difficulty finding legal yet casual parking on most of our vast coast line. Regulations rule the day.
My gross weight: 81.5kg -still the same!

Celestial figures, cosmology, IMAX, 3D - it's out of this world, it's a knock-out! Space ship - yes, but the footage of deep outer space is somewhat limited.

The second coming - Oprah in Australia. The things we do for the tourist dollar.
Better still, as well, bring us Colbert or Stewart for their (un)balanced insighful vision!  Or on ABC 2.

Newcastle to Sydney service.
Defence Force Air Show is on Saturday and Sunday 18 and 19 Sep 2010 at Williamtown.

Area Health management has changed the work rosters for nurses who are not entirely happy according to media. Nurses who need to look after family at home need concessions, shift work must be very difficult.  From my observation continunity of care is an important consideration. Helps save 'reinventing the wheel' each and every shift. The actual art of care is aided by continunity, old fashioned redundant as it is. It means we are treated with more comfortable predictable targeted care. Old folk and young folk have an unwritten medical history from as long ago as the day before which provides a background and a context and details for the very work at hand. Rostering could aid familarity. Failing that the documented history is available for reference!
Professionals take the good with the bad. Health care staff : a lot should be done for them but without it being a case of the 'tail wagging the dog'.

My gross weight: 81.5kg, (minus .5kg. is this drop real?)

Admire native and exotic orchids on 18th - 19th September 2010 at Hunter Wetlands Centre - a haven for wildlife and people.

Native orchid

Good milk shakes are found at some cafes. Not the thick shake variety in luminous colour. The Ritz Cafe, Adamstown is one source. Another is Jim's Dairy Delight and Milk Bar, Hamilton, years old, where the array of chocolates and sweets is much much smaller now and some unusual incidents involved the owner in the past. 

As an occasional drink, the milk shake is rather good, even better malted, but the quality varies. Sometimes they are lastly topped up with additional milk which defeats the purpose and ends up with a massive amount of drink. According to one cafe it is best to use day-old milk because it whips-up better. Skim milk is an option! And maybe malt is a wholesome addition.

Oak Milk Bar Restaurant at Freeman's Waterholes just out of town had a very popular past.

Several Oak Milk bars operated in the region possibly before the advent of other fast foods and Oak rivalled them in every way.

Perhaps the trade routes change. Passing trade changes. An outdoor picnic area, under the trees is overgown and the miner's memorial has been relocated. 



Oak Flavoured Milk originated in the Hunter. Companys change. The brand is now owned by Parmalat - a mulitnational Italian dairy and food corporation. UHT milk is a specialization of theirs as well as the production of all dairy products in all the continents.  The company survived a colourful period of financial goings-on involving fraud and hugh losses (surrounding the CEOs in Italy). Sponsorship of Formular One was another hughly appropriate interest of theirs. Well, milk is wonderful value for money and is full of protein, calcium and....and fat (as well as other vital stuff).

A name like Freeman's Waterholes  must date back to the days of early settlement.

Along side the cafe - 'milk bar'

Forging ahead on the country road. New government yesterday and already broadband connectivity has picked up speed! Not quite - my telco has just gone freaky.
When is an  Independent MP not an independent? Do they retain options and know how to use them? I think so.They havn't exactly 'gone over' as accused.

Imagine an MP having a safe seat like Newcastle and your future largely assured. That sure is something to bestow only on a very worthy individual. 

The years roll on. Just imagine, women have the last laugh once male chauvinists find themselves in the 'health' care settings. But women simply (n)ever think of exploiting this! What has to be taken into account is that some old males would have never heard an assertive women in their lives, nor rarely been advised what to do.  Some other women perpetuate chauvinist ways. My cynical coda to Fathers day.

My gross weight: 82kg (-5kg)  It is clear that in order to lose weight one has to be much more obsessive about limiting food. Social times with food and eating out play on my weaknesses.

Knights Rugby League team leaving Newcastle Airport for Melbourne for the last match of the season and into the Storm in more ways than one.

Bike of the week at the airport, of all places, from Victory Motorcycles - the new American Motorcycle, Hammar model, $AU31,300.00 on road or $156.36 per week from Brisan motorcycles, not only for BMW.

      
 F4 MV Agusta. Year:2000. F4 Series ORO. From Italy. Design Masimio Tamburini. Has DOHC 4 cylinder Fuel Injected 16 Valve. Number 206 of limited production of 300 units.
Powerhouse collection, Tamworth.

Open road? my telco does not even provide dial-up speed connectivity while in the 'shaped' phrase. Something is fast using up the hi-speed allocation.

Australia Post moment.

broken glass and view

(My gross weight: 82.5kg, -1.5kg)