UTA’s DIARY, SATURDAY 15th November 2014

It turned out several family members could come to visit us on Saturday. Caroline had baked a cheese-cake after having gone shopping with Matthew for the ingredients. The cake had just come out of the oven when Ryan and Ebony arrived with Lucas and Baby Alexander. A bit later also Monika and Mark came for afternoon coffee.

Caroline and Matthew had come with us to Dapto on Friday night. Saturday night they went back home to their place in Sydney. Caroline’s Graduation Ceremony had been on Thursday. Wednesday afternoon Peter and I had been arriving in Sydney where we went with Caroline and Matthew to a performance at the Griffin Theatre. We saw EMERALD CITY, a play by David Williamson. On Saturday morning Matthew went for some exams at Wollongong University. Matthew is going to keep working at IKU. And he is going to do some more post graduate studies next year, whereas Caroline stopped working at IKU and started now her full time work at the Griffin Theatre.

Peter and I enjoyed spending a few days in Sydney and being guests at Caroline’s graduation ceremony. Later on that Thursday some of Caroline’s and Matthew’s friends came over. We then celebrated with sparkling wine and snacks.

At the University of New South Wales on Thursday, 13th Nov 2014

GRADUATION 2014, UNSW

The graduation ceremony was on Thursday, 13th November. The following day was a pleasantly warm day. We decided it was a good day to go to the beach. While Matthew was at work that day, Caroline drove us to Bronte Beach.

On the Way to the Swimming Pool

Looking back towards a pedestrian crossing at Fowlers Road.

. . . when I saw this truck on the road. — . . . when I saw this parked truck in the next street that I reached via the shortcut along the creek.

This map was shown on one side of the truck.

I saw this caravan FOR SALE in front of one house. — I saw this caravan FOR SALE in front of a house.

and noticed another caravan in front of another house.

At this corner I turn right to reach the swimming pool. — At this corner I turned right to reach the swimming pool.

The walk to here did not take long even though I stopped a few times for taking pics.

This is the bag I took along with all my stuff.

I had the change room all to myself. There were not many people at the pool this morning despite the beautiful weather. Maybe they all went to the beach instead? Then I thought, at half past nine some sleepy heads might still be in bed for it is Sunday after all.

I take a pic from one of the boards near the pool. — I took a pic from one of the boards near the pool.

Before I went for a swim I took some more pictures.

In the front is a lift for disabled people.

I do remember that they make some nice coffee at the Cafeteria. — I do remember that they make some nice coffee at the Kiosk.

For the children quite a large separate pool.

I did have a lovely swim, staying in the water only till 9,55. Ten minutes later I was outside waiting for Peter to pick me up.

I took this pictures while I was waiting for Peter. But I did not have to wait for very long. He came to pick me up right on time.

A Cup of Tea before leaving for Lakelands Park

This might grow into a big tree if nobody cuts it down.

I could not help myself, this morning I went in search of that little tree again. Did someone collect all the berries from it? Is this why I cannot recognize it any more? Anyhow, it was another glorious morning. I was happy to go for another walk in Lakelands Park while taking more pictures of big trees and the bush along the creek. I also made a bit of time to sit down on that special bench reading one chapter of The little Prince.

Over the distant mountains a bit of early morning fog.

The 'Bush' along the Creek — The ‘Bush’ along the Creek

Some beautiful Trees on the other Side of the Park.

These have a beautiful smell flowering now in spring (November).

Looks like this villa is still for sale.

Saturday morning. Sometimes all the cars are gone. Not today.

Peter just returned from his morning run. We’re soon going to make another cup of tea.

In Search for this little Tree

This morning Peter and I went in search for this little tree I took a picture of the other morning. We looked and looked and could not find it anymore. Peter could not believe how on earth I was not able to remember the exact spot where I took that picture.

Anyhow, it turned out, there were other trees like it around. Peter found a very old tree with big leaves and lots of fruit on it. And later on we found a baby tree that had very small leaves. But it definitely still was not the tree we had been looking for.

Peter dared to walk down a slope towards the creek to take a picture of this tree. The branches of it were hanging over and were near the top.

Peter soon found out that these berries are very tasty and gave me some too.

HALLOWEEN 2014

Early yesterday morning Peter and I went for a lovely walk. The above pictures are from that walk. Today is the last day of October – HALLOWEEN! Some years ago there would always some children come to the door to “trick or treat”. They do not come any more. Why? I suppose they did grow up over the years. But why have not any other children taken their place?

These Irises looked beautiful when they were fresh.

Two Years ago in Bowral

Peter took this picture on the 21st December 2012, our Wedding Anniversary. The Corbett Gardens are in Bowral. This day in 2012 was the last time we went to see the Gardens. Over the years we did go a few times to have a look at the tulips there in spring time during the tulip festival. This year we missed out again on seeing the tulips there.

Two years ago in December we quite liked to walk through Corbett Gardens on a summer day. There were no tulips there, but the gardens looked lovely none the less.

On the way to the Gardens we had stopped at the Bradman Museum.

Some refreshments were very welcome.

Some more Pictures from Saturday, 25th Oct 2014

A Reminder that Melbourne Cup Day is coming up soon.

We went to the DENDY just for a quick coffee.

Our Saturday, 25 Oct 2014

Maxim Gorki’s play “Children of the Sun” was shown at the Drama Theatre in Sydney’s Opera House. We saw this play last Saturday. There was a matinee performance at 2 pm which suited us for we prefer to be home at nighttime. Before we went to the theatre we met Caroline for lunch in the city.

Caroline had a salad and Peter and I had beer battered fish and chips.

We told Caroline that we had lunch at the same place on the last day of the year 2012. Later at home I looked up the post I published from that day. Sure enough I did find the lunch pictures and was able to republish them.

Uta’s October Diary continued

Over the weekend Peter and I talked and talked about two different movies that we saw a few days ago. The first movie was DAS WEISSE BAND (The White Ribbon). This one we watched online. The other movie was BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP. Both movies were very thought provoking. After we saw BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP on Saturday morning at the GALA Cinema in Warrawong we had lunch – (not just desert!) – in this Cafe which used to be a book shop previously.

DAS WEISSE BAND is set in a village in northern Germany before World War One. To me the way religion was regarded in this village looked very much like fundamentalism. Normal village life suffered because of this. Built up frustrations among adults as well as children resulted in evil deeds. Significantly nobody wanted the culprits to be found. Really strange behaviour! The Authority of the baron, the doctor, the pastor was accepted as a God given by the farmers and village workers. Nobody ever questioned the authority of these people.

The village teacher and the 17 year old nanny of the baron’s children were from the city, meaning they were outsiders and being treated as such. The midwife, who acted as housekeeper to the widowed doctor, suffered terrible abuse from him. The baroness was an altogether different person. She spent most of her time living in great style in Italy with her two children and a lot of servants, having a great time there. Once she returned to the baron’s manor with all her servants. This is when she employed the 17 year old nanny. However the baroness did not stay for very long. She asked the baron for a divorce for she had met someone in Italy and wanted to go back to Italy.

The pastor made his two eldest pubescent children wear a white band to remind them that they had to stay pure. The boy’s hands were tied to the bed at night so he would not be able to touch himself! All the poor families in the village (including the pastor) had too many children and were constantly in fear they would not be able to feed that many children.

Then World War One started.

See more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Ribbon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_I_Go_to_Sleep_(film)

Before I go to sleep: “This psychological thriller is based on the worldwide best-selling novel about a woman who wakes up every day remembering nothing – the result of a traumatic accident in her past – until one day, new terrifying truths emerge that force her to question everyone around her…”

As I said we watched this movie in the GALA Cinema. So many things in the plot we did not quite understand at first. I read up a bit now about it, also about the plot in the novel. In the movie the woman, Christine, speaks every day onto a camera as opposed to keeping a journal as in the novel. Christine is played by Nicole Kidman . Mark Strong plays Dr. Nash. Colin Firth plays Ben Lucas, the husband of Christine. Anne-Marie Duff plays Claire, a good friend of Christine’s. Can Christine trust her? She admits to having had a brief affair with Ben and that she then stayed away from Ben and his son for she did not want to upset her friend Christine.

Christine decides to trust Claire. She also wants to trust, Ben, her husband. Then it becomes doubtful that she can trust him. There were some scenes when Christine had reason not to completely trust Dr Nash. In the end she is very confused and does not know whom to trust.

Presumably, Christine was for a number of years in hospital after her traumatic accident. When the movie starts, she was at home with her husband Ben, but maybe only for about the last four months or so. Living with Christine becomes quite frustrating for Ben for every morning Christine has forgotten everything that went on the day before. After sleeping she does not know that Ben is her husband.

Dr. Nash gets in touch with her. He rings her every morning telling her where she has hidden her camera. Christine meets Dr. Nash but is not allowed to tell her husband about it. It is a suspense drama all right.

And how the story ends is really mind boggling. There are a lot of contradictory things that Ben tells Christine. What sort of accident has she actually been in and what or who caused it? I ask the question, why has this horrific “accident” not been conclusively investigated? Who is telling the truth? If Christine’s son is alive (according to Claire), why is she being told by her husband that he is dead?

Both movies had to do with human relationships and they raise for me the question why act people in a certain way? I tend to contemplate about what influences play a part in their lives? The photography, directing and acting in both movies was outstanding.