Lunch at the Sydney rowers club followed by a visit to Balmain a couple of weeks ago

the view from our table where we were celebrating a family birthday

 Balmain court house and an old workmans cottage now gentrified

scenes from Ballast Point which i dont recall visiting before.

My sister walked around and  took these while i sat and watched the scenery aimlessly

\

looking toward the lower North Shore thro the Harbour Bridge

the ferry Freshwater at Mort Bay

huge interesting bit of sandstone

a building in which i once worked in another life....and the waterfront at Double Bay

i had to grab these shots of Queen st, Woollahra as i drove past and there is light 

right in the centre of the lens . 

It was not mid day so not sure why the artefact of light.

i took the colour out of one and softened it to try and  mitigate

 the light blob...... but i am not clever 

enough to disguise such flaws

There continues to be no parking in Queen St. 

some things dont change even 38 years later.

i love this building as it was years ago without so much outside decoration 

and without the cafe.

 its plain facade was very beautiful  and i couldnt get a shot of the front of the building today.

 the price paid in around 1972 was, as i recall it......$120,000 for the house and back stables and side shop.

dont know what it is worth now.......but that was the days of terrace houses being worth

$26,000

. how times have changed :-)

a couple of gifts from the very very south of China and a few spring flowers

My sister visited with a pile of wonderful textiles and goodies she bought down near the Burma border where the handcrafts are still handcrafted and the colours are  colourful.

these are my presents from the collection......some of which collection  is worthy of gallery wall space IMO.

i am sure the market sellers were sad to see her return to her own city

A carry bag that is highly decorated with minute stitches and decorative silver

and beads

i have a black embroided version of this lower bag that came from Vietnam.

i needed a lighter coloured one or summer . I keep my mobile/cell phone in it

hanging around my neck. Not sure what they were designed for but they suit me well !!

detail of the elephant stitching

detail of the little dangly thing on the side of the phone bag.

i just love all the colours

these photos are of embroidered inner soles for shoes.

i just love the colour combo and the pretty sort of flower pattern.

i  will never use them in my shoes !!

the Macro gift seems to have left me with these pics.......but the drift is there .

random photos from the last couple of weeks

a cockatoo in flight when  i didnt have the right settings

 on the camera to even hope to catch it

Lighthouse at Vaucluse

the top floor of a shop at Wollahra

local house i really like

school grounds

Hornsby Park

Some of the local shops looking old and shabby in the main

  South Head Cemetry at Vaucluse

a dog called Shadow

yesterdays soaps

Sago on Mango

a bit of mango is good.... so i added more and made it darker.

then i again added some  coloured sago on top..... because i can.

Man vanilla is made with vanilla, orange and a secret ingredient.
It is coloured with blue in one part and the other part is left to go to a
deepening warm chocolate colour  from the vanilla fragrance oil

Rose and Lavender.......a classic in pink and violet

Castile on Goatsmilk

decided to use some shreds of Castle on some GM soap.
it is a lovely warm beige with a clear white top in real life

Dog on a cold and windy night trying to snuggle in my grandmothers ancient patchwork quilt.......which is illegal for her to do