We started the month with the very last of the summer weather - exactly the right weekend for our 'Low Green Gathering'!
Even the children enjoyed the sunshine.
Kicking off the evening with a game of rounders. No one likes to be the last one picked for teams so we decided teams based on what people called Lyons Golden Syrup. Up North, many of us call it treacle. However others, I believe, call it syrup. Treacle won the game! Yeah!!!!
Walking back up to the house - Kerry & her daughter Beau.
We had a proper Bar-B-Que.
Plenty of merriment late into the night.
Very late into the night - the remaining few sat around the fire.
On the Sunday we had the most competitive game of Cranium I have ever had.
Especially from the girls team! Blind
Pictionary.
The weekend ended with a walk down the fields.
The following weekend was Graham (my brother-in-law's) birthday. A fabulous Sunday lunch prepared by his girlfriend Lottie.
Just one big puff, Graham!
Graham & Lottie live in York. How could we possibly go there without going to Betty's (a very famous North Yorkshire Teashop).
No I have not jumped to someone
else's holiday snaps. Mid October my Mum & I flew down to Oz for one of my best friend's wedding. Yours
truly was a bridesmaid. Here, Mum enjoys the view from the War Memorial in Melbourne.
Yeah - back in my shorts!
Always time to stop for a glass of wine - the botanical gardens.
The gardens are beautiful.
Classic Melbourne shot.
Having dinner in the famous cafe street.
That night we were lucky to get last minute front row Dress Circle tickets to see......
.......... It was amazing! The staging is incredible.
The day of the wedding. Starting how we did indeed go on - champagne in hand! Me, Deanne (in red, bridesmaid), Michelle - the bride!
Make up............
.............. hair.
All we need now is a few dresses and a church.
The photographer was fantastic and got some very impressive photos of the extremely beautiful bride. There was no risk of anyone upstaging her!
The nerves kick in. A single girl - for the last time.
A married woman - for the first time!
Deanne - left
holding the flowers!
Me - left holding on to the best man!
(By this point I had drunk the best part of a bottle of Champagne - seems to be a running theme for me at my best friends weddings - Kerry? Adele? Indie?)
We chased the rain away for a few bridal photos in the park.
Moments before the
evening do. - More champagne!
It was a fabulous wedding, I was so grateful to able to be a part of Michelle & Al's special day.
Time left in Melbourne for a walk by the river.
One cannot go to Melbourne without wine tasting in the
Yarra Valley!
The Rosella birds seemed to think I was food?
(He's not dead. He's just resting... - K)That's better, back to wine tasting.
When Kenny & I finished our world trip I swore to myself that I
would never go on another
nightbus. 3 months later I found myself travelling on a bus from Melbourne to Sydney, during the night!
The bats in the botanical gardens.
We only had 2 days in Sydney but, boy, we made the most of it.
The hog outside the hospital. Apparently it is lucky to rub his nose, there are also some who believe it is also lucky rub his .......
When Kenny & I were in Sydney earlier this year we had no money for the tourist attractions so this time we did then all!
The Sydney Opera House.
Amazing structure.
So this is October, our Autumn, their Spring - what is with all the rain????
Mum was not impressed.
The harbour at night.
I love Sydney, it is such a beautiful city.
How could we not do the bus tour? Especially as it is raining..........again.
To Bondi Beach!
So not going in - not even a toe.
We were such tourists - a sail boat trip.
The best view of Sydney.
It really was an incredible trip - I would reccommend it.
Even better now I'm stocked up.
All 2 big sights in one.
It was a real sail boat. They had rescued it from somewhere and done a full re-furb.
Mum helped with the rigging.
(I think that's called a sheet - K)As did I (Help - in the loosest possiible sense)
Under the bridge.
An incredible afternoon.
Our last tourist guilty pleasure - the wildlife & sealife centres.
So lazy
Ooooooo
Ahhhhh.
My Uncle's family live in Australia (Kenny & I stayed with them in Febuary earlier this year). My Mum had not seen her brother for 10 years! While I was helping Michelle get ready from her wedding My Mum flew over to Griffith to see him and his family. Sadly 2 days after she left he died. Whoever says things do not happen for a reason! (Had Michelle got married a week later and all.....). The funeral was the day before our flight home so we were able to be there to represent his family (4 sisters & family) from the UK.
With my Auntie and her sister.
The Aussie side of our family was so wonderfully welcoming to us and made us truely feel we have a home in Australia too.
Back home - to the cold! This little fella is our farm cat Bagpuss. She is such a funny cat and prowls the farm in true cat fashion every day. We come across her all over the place. Kenny has been profiling her adventures so watch out for more Bagpuss excapades.
Shot 1: The Adventures of BagPuss - Stalking Minstrel.
(Minstrel distracted by grass. Doesn't take much, really! - K)
