Centennial Park

DSCN3211 — This is the bench on and around which were placed the eighteen members of our family who had come to clebrate our 50th. An additional person took photos!
This was in 2006.

Peter is approaching the outside area of the cafe

The glass-doors to the cafe

Look through the glass-doors

DIGITAL CAMERA — This is the bench on and around which were placed the eighteen members of our family who had come to clebrate our 50th. An additional person took photos!
This was in 2006.

Peter is approaching the outside area of the cafe

The glass-doors to the cafe

Look through the glass-doors

http://www.centennialparklands.com.au

Three different parks belong to the Centennial Parklands:
Centennial Park, Moore Park and Queens Park.

After a very satisfying breakfast at our daughter’s place we drove to Centennial Park not far from where the daughter lives. We wanted to see what the place looked like where in 2006 we were celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary.

We found the place without difficulty. We knew they had done some alterations a few years ago. So when we arrived there we noticed that to the original cafe a Kiosk had been added plus a lot of outside sitting area. On this mild sunny morning quite a few people were out already enjoying sitting outside with their refreshments from the kiosk.

The cafe looked inside still very much as it looked at the time of our Anniversary when we had lunch there with the whole family. The cafe was closed because it was still early in the morning but we could have a look through the glass-doors. So we took a photo looking inside from outside.

In some parts of the parks horse riding is allowed. On the way into the park we saw a few very beautiful horses with their riders. Unfortunately I did not think of taking picture and later on we didn’t see any horses anymore.

Here are some details from the Map Guide of the Parklands. There’s
Rollerblade Hire
Cycle Hire
Horse Hire
Dog Wash
Underground Reservoirs
and Bubblers

Distances around Grand Drive, Centennial Park:
Road 3.8 km
Walking Path 3.7 km
Horse Track 3.6 km

Distances from the Parklands:
To the CBD of Sydney it is 5 km
To the Airport 7 km
To Bondi Beach 5 km

DSCN3196 — Bikes for hire

View to the CBD of Sydney

Inside Centennial Park

Diary, 9th of May 2012

A SEPARATION

A Persian Film with English Subtitles

‘A married couple are faced with a difficult decision – to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer’s disease . . .’

The movie length is 2hrs. The talk is extremely fast most of the time. Towards the end of the movie my eyes started feeling a bit sore. But it was a gripping movie. The marriage difficulties ring so true. It was filmed like a documentary. The setting could have been in any other country where there’s an established middle class. Caring for an aging parent suffering from Alzheimer’s disease would bring problems to any family.

Anyhow Peter and I watched this movie in the Gala Cinema in Warrawong while Peter’s car was being serviced. Now the car is ready for re-registration which is always due in the month of Peter’s birthday.

Our free standing home is called a ‘villa’. There are ten identical villas in our complex, eight of them owner occupied. One widow in the complex recently sold her house to move to a retirement village. Another widow in the complex gave her yesterday a farewell afternoon tea. We were all invited to this. One of the widows in the complex was prevented from coming, all the other residents could make it, meaning we were four couples plus three single women. A. had everything wonderfully prepared for the afternoon tea. There were seats for all eleven of us around the living-room. The hostess presented our departing friend with a beautiful set of flowers which you can see in the following picture.

I was in a bit of pain during the course of the afternoon. But I still had a good time. The women, who’s departing, has arthritis in both knees! And this for years. So I cannot say yet that I’m a really bad case. Anyhow hopefully I am going to get better again. Peter had knee-trouble some time ago and he got better and is walking/running again quite regularly. Someone in the group took yesterday a picture of Peter and me which shows how awfully crooked my leg looks. I should really be a bit more aware of my posture. I put this picture into the blog to keep reminding myself to become more aware about the way I’m sitting.

I am holding my right knee, which is the one that’s hurting. My left knee is totally all right so far.

Sydney, December 2007

Peter and I had our fifty-first Wedding Anniversary in 2007. We stayed at Darling Harbour in Sydney. The beautiful Chincese Gardens were close by. As you can see, we took lots of pictures there

Our hotel was the NOVOTEL at Darling Harbour. We did get a room there for the weekend at a very much reduced price. It had been a special offer on the internet. So for one weekend we had five star luxury!

BILD0356 — The Novotel at ‘Darling Harbour

We bought this bag at Darling Harbour and kept it as a gift to take to Germany

Sometimes we had a bit of rain

It was getting close to Christmas

The entrance to the Chinese Gardens on a beautiful sunny morning

BILD0358 — The Novotel at ‘Darling Harbour

We bought this bag at Darling Harbour and kept it as a gift to take to Germany

Sometimes we had a bit of rain

It was getting close to Christmas

The entrance to the Chinese Gardens on a beautiful sunny morning

What does God want me to do?

Last Sunday at Mass I was confronted with the above question. As it happened it was a day when I was in quite a bit of physical pain. The pain didn’t start out to be really bad. I would be all right walking to church, so I thought. But far from it. After walking the distance, which took about twenty-five minutes, the pain was getting quite considerable. I arrived at the church at the last minute. But Father was still standing there shaking hands. He shook my hand too.

I happened to find a seat beside Sister Kevin. I greeted her and sat down. I told myself if I could just rest my knee and concentrate on my breathing, the pain would be bearable. I started reflecting on how God probably wanted to tell me something. Maybe God wanted me to make changes to my life as to correspond better with my aging body. What changes to my life should I make? What sort of changes did God actually want me to do?

I was very moved by the beautiful singing in the church. Both Fr Francis Tran and the Seminarian, Mr Stephen Varney, were singing Mass. Both have such beautiful voices! The church choir sang very well too. Stephen was given the homily that morning. He pointed out that for some people the Priesthood can offer a fulfilling way of life. They may think that it might be too hard to stick to being a priest. Even though for most people it is right to get married, you may think about it that it is also often not easy to stick to being husband and wife. It all depends on what God wants you to do, doesn’t it?

Monday has come and gone, so has Tuesday. Today is Wednesday and the pain is still there. I can cope with it as long as I don’t do too much! I cancelled the walks with my neighbour, Irene. I didn’t even go to the pool on Monday or to the Thai Yoga class on Tuesday. Peter could have driven me to the pool. But I declined.

When Peter suggested on Tuesday, the first of May, we could drive to Berry and then further on to Hampden Bridge, I joyfully agreed to this. We had a lovely day out. The weather was perfect for an outing. The good thing was, I didn’t have to walk much. Peter took lots of pictures. I took quite a few pictures too, some of them out of the window from the car.

This leads to Peter’s blog about our outing and another blog about his thoughts to the 1st of May:

https://berlioz1935.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/the-old-and-the-new-australia/

At the moment I do not want to think about seeing the doctor or the dentist or the optometrist. Within the next couple of months I ought to see all these people. Just now I only want to rest and get better.

From there we drove on to Berry where we had some pies for lunch. We also bought some cake at the Milkwood Bakery. This is a newly opened bakery in Queen Street. They are a branch of the Berry Sourdough Cafe in Prince Alfred Street, which is famous for very good breakfasts.

These are some autumn leaves in Berry and the following picture shows a tree with autumn leaves in this particular street in Berry

This is where we turned off from Berry taking the Tourist Drive to Hampden Bridge

We saw some unusual cloud formations on the way. This was one of them.

This is part of the Kangaroo Valley Road

Further along the Tourist Road

A gate to a property along the Road

Towards the End of April 2012

Last Thursday we saw Gaby in Merrylands. She waited for us near Merrylands Station. Honey, her dog, was with her. Honey had been bitten by a big dog a bit over a week ago. She had needed some stitches which cost Gaby a lot of money. On Thursday these stitches were due to come out. We didn’t have to go far from the station to the vet’s surgery. Honey had her stitches out in no time. She seems to be all right now.

The following Friday we were busy around the house. We were lucky for it was a sunny day again. We needed to air a big mattress. This mattress is seventeen years old. But it has been keeping well. We got it for our youngest daughter when she was nearly seventeen. The son of her partner is seventeen now. They want the mattress and the bed for their seventeen year old son. So apart from airing the mattress, Peter disassembled the bed. Taking pictures of everything I got into the mood of taken also some pictures through the different windows at the side and back of our house. I can’t get over it how much everything has grown outside. I thought taking photos of it would look quite impressive!

Here now are some photos taken from the bedrrom (facing the back), also the laundry door and the kitchen window towards the back. There is another view from the dining-room facing to the right side of the house.
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Ages ago we had planted some Gerbera bulbs. From time to time one or the other new flower makes a surprise appearance.

One of our grandsons, who owns a van, offered to take bed and mattress to the daughter’s place. This morning he came as promised to collect the things. We have a bit more room now in the spare bedroom. It’s going to be our ‘quiet’ sitting-room, meaning there won’t be any electronical gadgets in this room, not even a TV set.

April is coming to an end. The month of May with a very full program is approaching!

I decided I try to add the window pictures again in a larger size to make them look more impressive.

Berlioz wrote a different blog with some of my pictures. You find it here.

Bulli Beach April 2012

From Sunday to Sunday

Two weeks ago we were still in Melbourne for the Easter holidays. Last Sunday we were in Summer Hill (Sydney) for Siobhan’s Fundraising Concert. Siobhan Patrick is a friend of our daughter Caroline. She holds a Graduate Diploma of Music (Opera) from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. In December 2011 she made her oratorio debut as soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah at Wollongong Town Hall. Caroline, Matthew, Peter and I loved this performance. I mentioned it in one of my blogs in December. Concert Pictures

‘Next month Siobhan will travel to London and Berlin for operatic couching and professional development, thanks to a grant from the Australia Council. Following this, she will spend a month in Italy and a month and a half in Austria, attending two prestigious opera summer schools. At these programs, Siobhan will work extensively on her languages, rehearse with top European opera coaches and directors and meet with international opera agents.’

This is what it said in the program of the fundraising concert. The program included French, German and American songs. In the second half of the program Siobhan was supported by two excellent guest artists singing songs from La Traviata, Rusalka, Die Fledermaus and La Boheme.

Associate Artist Sharolyn Kimmorley was accompanying on the piano throughout the program. Siobhan has a beautiful voice and we wish her all the best for her stay in Europe!

When I wrote about all our activities over Easter in Melbourne I did not mention that I actually did not make it to church over Easter. Last Sunday the concert was in the afternoon. We travelled to Summer Hill by train. Because of this, again I did not make it to Sunday Mass.

Well, I made up for it yesterday. It was a warm, sunny Sunday again. I walked to church for the 9,30 Mass. Father Francis, the new priest, is young and enthusiastic. Yesterday he talked about it that if some-one says he loves God but does not love his neighbour, then he is lying: For you cannot love God if you do not love your neighbour! I like it that what he says is always accompanied by a bit of humour.

Here in Australia it is supposed to be autumn now. However since it was rather warm and sunny yesterday, it felt once more like a late summer day. Walking home from church and meeting Peter on the way ( he always loves to meet me after church half way to walk home with me) I suggested we could go to Bulli Beach: Enjoy the beach for a while and then have lunch at the Bulli Beach Cafe!

Unfortunately by the time we arrived at the beach, the skys had clouded over again. But we still had a lovely couple of hours at the beach. At first I took a few pictures. Then Peter started taking pictures also. After we had been in the water we did not feel like taking any more pictures. There should have been some photos of our fish of the day lunch (grilled salmon with chips and salad as well as fruit salad and a glass of water). On the way home we bought some cake for afternoon coffee. Sorry, no pictures of the cake either. We had a yummy piece of leamington cake each and added to this some delicious cherry jam and custard. Later on we played a few games of Rummikcub. We play this with tiles. It is a very relaxing game.

Another Sunday gone. This coming Wednesday is a public holiday in Australia, namely ANZAC DAY.

I think I’m going to publish the pictures we made yesterday in another blog, so that I can publish this writing straight away.

Diary

For years I’ve been walking with my neighbour Irene, usually for about half an hour early in the morning. I am 77. Irene is only one year younger. However she seems to be a great deal fitter than I am. I struggle all the time to keep up with her pace of walking.

Before my operation on the tongue last year I had to visit a pre-operation clinic. I was seen by three different women doctors who were all extremely friendly. During the interview with one of the doctors I mentioned that I had often trouble walking fast. She asked me then whether I liked swimming. I said I liked it very much. Her advice was then to go more often swimming rather than walking. I very much welcomed this advice and have often thought about it. Indeed I frequently went swimming in winter time last year. This was soon after the operation. I loved it.

Yet strangely enough, during last summer I didn’t make it to the pool very often. I decided now I am going to change this. Just a few minutes ago I thought of a plan which I want to write down now.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Walking and swimming in the morning

Tuesday: Thai Yoga from about 9am to 11 am

Thursday: 12 to 1 pm Gentle Heartmove Exercises

Saturday: Walking to buy the newspaper

Sunday: Walking to church

It’s not a great change in my schedule. The only significant change is the inclusion of swimming on a regular basis. Because of this I am going to cut short the walk with Irene and go to the swimming pool instead. I feel good to have made this decision. Please, wish me all the best that I am going to stick to it!

Merrylands

After we stopped at Sublime Point Lookout last Thursday we drove on to Merrylands, a Western suburb of Sydney. Gaby had been visiting David, who’s in Westmead Hospital again.

Gaby took a bus from Westmead and arrived in Merrylands at about the same time we arrived there. We had some lunch in the Stockland Shopping Centre. After lunch it was time for Gaby to withdraw some money so she could do some shopping. Peter helped her with the withdrawal. The pictures show Gaby in her wheelchair. Her dog ‘Honey’ is being attached to the wheelchair. Peter is busy sorting out what bills Gaby needs to pay. Gaby decides then how much money Peter ought to withdraw with her card from the ATM.

As soon as Gaby has been loaded with the required amount of money, she heads off to pay her bills. Then it is time to do her fortnightly shopping in one of the supermarkets where ‘Honey’ is not allowed in. So it is my task to take Honey out for a walk. Gaby usually takes one hour to do her shopping in the supermarket. She gets her stuff home delivered for six Dollars.

It was a beautiful sunny day last Thursday. I enjoyed taking Honey out for a walk. While walking around with Honey I occupied myself taking a few pictures. One picture is of Honey. The other pictures show the street around the shopping centre. This shopping centre has recently been extended. There are still some more extensions going on. You can see it by the huge crane which I tried to capture in the photo. I also took photos of one of my favourite outside cafes called ‘Heart to Heart’.

This area for the kids is inside the shopping centre. It had been provided for the kids during the Easter holidays for the entertainment of kids during certain hours of the day.

We just finished off the last bit of this Easter Cake. It had a lovely vanilla taste and was nice to eat with some unsalted butter and cherry confiture. It had a hard boiled red coloured chicken egg on top. We bought it last Thursday in a shop in Merrylands.