It’s official

A few days before the deadline, the finance was confirmed; relief. Now we can finish packing up the household and ticking off our to do lists.

In around five weeks we will have moved into our new single storey three bedroom home on a 686 m2 sized block of land. Sporting forty solar panels, we can easily add a rainwater harvesting system.

There is space enough and northwest facing back/side garden for growing veggies, herbs, and fruit plus a covered outdoor area and room for a pool.

Liking resort style living, this property has the potential for us to make adjustments to suit our inside/outside lifestyle.

It differs from the Palm Springs mid-century modern I had in mind we were looking for.

I find it amusing to think we will be ninety when the mortgage is due to be paid off.

Old friends

We never grow tired of seeing the Sydney Opera House. It is synonymous with living in this Antipodean city. We are thrilled when friends visit and we get to experience the moment when they see it for the first time.

A couple of weeks ago our next door neighbour from Worcester, England came to visit. She is working in Brisbane for six months. Even though we had not caught up for 22 plus years, the conversations were like it was yesterday.

Tracey saw the Opera House as we arrived at Circular Quay train station. This picture was taken from the ferry. We were on our way to Manly for lunch.

Jewel in the Harbour

These days I usually take pictures with an iPhone 6. The results are good enough for the finger swipe world we live in. The evening I took the above was a special occasion. We had just finished celebrating our friend’s 50th birthday over dinner in the Dining Room, Park Hyatt Sydney. Nestled near the south pylon of the Harbour Bridge, this hotel has one of the best views of the Sydney Opera House. 

Thankfully I took the trouble of fishing out my Sony Nex-5N digital SLR camera, ensuring the battery was charged. The clear Winter’s evening and water on top of a wall yielded the jewel of Sydney Harbour and it’s reflection. I used Snapseed app for iPad to sharpen and enhance the structure of the image. 

SOH, a bit more


The Opera House sits on a piece of land called Bennelong Point. Looking left to right there is a reasonable gap between the Opera House and the first building in the colonnade on the western Broadwalk. The entrance to the concert hall and the opera theatre is under the multitude of steps seen in the picture above. The Opera Bar is  a popular vantage point to sip a drink while watching the ferries coming and going in Circular Quay. 


The Opera House is just as impressive from the other side. Many people go to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair to take pictures of the Opera House with the Harbour Bridge in the background. This picture was taken from the back of the ferry to Manly. 

The other SOH post. 

Backache, headache; tomorrow is the day

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Moving house is an opportunity to lift some of the weight of possessions from our shoulders. I knew this before we started packing 70 crates, why wasn’t I more ruthless? We have so many items that we have trailed with us from place to place.

Today we gave away three pieces of furniture to a man that restores things, in the hope that they can find a new home.

My mother’s 1950s Singer treadle sewing machine that she could never use because of the callipers she wore. During my childhood it sat under the window of the spare bedroom in my grand parents house. Topped by a potted aspidistra; years of water damage led to the slow degradation of the veneer beneath. I inherited the sewing machine in 1972, using it to alter clothes and make soft furnishings.

Our bed for the first ten years together; an early 20th century slatted oak head and foot boards. It had lain in the loft wrapped in polythene for the last three years.

A momento of one of our happy excursions to the southern highlands of New South Wales. A small Art Deco side table with a diagonal grain veneer top.

This represents the start of releasing the pretty things from our nest; a new chapter.

Ideal for the DIY enthusiast

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A typical example of a turn of the 20th century Sydney suburban house; single storey, double fronted with a tin roof. What is unusual is its neglected appearance.

The setting sun’s rays catching the ridge tiles on the roof and the watery looking clouds caught my eye.