Puppy Love

 A man and his dog. 

A Lesson for Gummy

If we listen we can learn so much from the younger generations. BTW the Grandkids call me Gummy.

Last evening when we were hanging out with the grandkids we were given a lesson in the finer points of Taekwondo. This young master taught us all about the various belts and levels in this martial art.

Backseat Driver

We have driven up and back to Sydney on the M1 a few times recently. This evening we followed this ute that had an enthusiastic canine backseat driver.

High Tides

We are fortunate that the only damage we have sustained from the flood this week is inconvenience. Our hearts go out to our fellow Australians who have suffered loss and devastation.

As we face Lake Macquarie with its large surface area there is plenty of space for our excess water to go. The level of the water has temporarily risen with the result that we have had a permanent high tide for the past week which completely covered our neighbour's jetty and came close to hiding ours.

High tide

Mother nature made a fool of me

After days of  punk weather I showed off on Facebook with the following snap of this blue sky in our backyard at 12:27pm.  Several of my contacts remarked on our fortune in experiencing such calm conditions. I was thinking that the storms had finally disappeared.

Mother nature made a fool of me!  I later shared a further image of the same scene taken at 3:35pm from inside our home (it was too wet to go out on the balcony). Seems as though the rain is going to be around for a while yet.

20 Something Snaps - Welcome to the Country

On our recent break from home we were domiciled in Narrabri, NSW, where Robert was working. On the weekends we took the the roads and visited many of the surrounding areas.

We encountered many welcome signs as we travelled along the roads. I was particularly captivated by some of the place names that recognised the traditional aboriginal names of some areas. 

These images that haven't been doctored were taken from a moving car although, if there wasn't any traffic around, Robert would slow down for me to take my snaps.

Big Night Out

When some family members were unable to attend a local venue Lizottes they offered us their tickets for dinner and a show with The Whitlams. We accepted readily as I wanted to check out the venue and I'm always up for a night out.

One of our cheeky offspring asked if we had heard of  The Whitlams, and I said I'd heard of our former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and his wife Margaret but didn't know much about this rock band.

On Tuesday evening we donned our glad rags and headed to Lizotte's, which is set up in an old theatre in Lambton, a suburb of Newcastle, NSW. It was a good venue for a live gig as it's small and most tables would afford a good view of the act up on stage. A much better option for seeing the Whitlams than a huge entertainment centre. We did feel a trifle overdressed as most of our fellow audience members were casually attired. Shorts and a tshirt for a dinner and show - really?

Lizottes - A former theatre

Music themed decor at Lizottes

Apparently our included dinner could be taken between 6pm and 8pm with the show starting at 9pm. We opted for a 7pm dinner; next time we will go later as we didn't need two hours for dinner. I was expecting rather ordinary fare so was delighted with the quality and presentation of our included main course and our shared entree (purchased), the wine we had was a decent drop and wasn't drastically overpriced.

Calamari Entree

Scotch Fillet Main course

We enjoyed the two hour show although we weren't familiar with most of the music and we couldn't understand the words due to poor diction (or sound quality). I was most, impressed with the vocalist/keyboard chap who appeared to be le leader of the band, I loved the energy, enthusiasm and energy of the drummer who put his heart and soul into every number. 

Keyboard/Vocalist

Drummer

I wouldn't know if the guitarists were good or not but the long-haired one was totally engaged and appeared to be enjoying himself. The other chap was a physical presence who just stood and played; I got the impression that this was just a job to him, there was no evidence of any passion or feeling.

Guitarist

Guitarist

And the verdict. We will be following the offerings from Lizottes and look forward to returning for future events. While we enjoyed The Whitlams they are not high on our list for a return gig.