Melbourne Remembered Exhibition

This afternoon we spent some enjoyable hours at the Melbourne Museum. We spent the whole time exploring a current exhibition : Melbourne Remembered. It is an exhibition of items from the Museum collection all having a significant link with the history of Melbourne. Some of the interesting items that I enjoyed were: Phar Lap and asscociated items, a Cobb and Co carriage, items from Coles Book Arcade, some marionettes, items discovered during an archaeological dig at Little Lonsdale Street, a building from Little Lonsdale street area and some enlarged photos,taken over the years, of the main central city streets of Melbourne.

Sidney Nolan Exhibition

This morning we took a tram to the city to spend time at the Ian Potter Centre where there is a special exhibition of the work of Sidney Nolan. I thought that it was an excellent exhibition and I enjoyed seeing many works that I had not seen previously. It was revealing to see the works exhibited in series and to acquire interesting social and historical background to the paintings. I was struck by the diversity of techniques and styles that Nolan used in response to the times as well as the nature of the subject matter.

We visit cousins at Riddells Creek

Molly and Les Widger

Sharon and Steve

Debbie and Frank's house in progress.

Julie, Geoff, Thora, Noel, Debbie, Tristan

Julie, Geoff, Thora, Edward, Debbie, Tristan

View of Riddells Creek from Debbie and Franks house -in- progress.

We are in Melbourne for a week to celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary. We plan to visit friends and relatives as well as spend time at some special exhibitions and hopefully get to see a couple of movies. Today, our son, Zachary loaned us his car so that we could spend some time with cousins who live at Sunbury, Riddells Creek and Bacchus Marsh.

Cousin Julie Thorpe had prepared a delicious lunch. We had lots to talk about and as I am always interested in family history, Julie and her husband Geoff, found some photos that I was able to borrow to copy and add to my family album.

It was great to spend time with Julie's mother,Thora Fisher who was visitng from Sunbury as well as Les and Molly Widger from Bacchus Marsh (Les is Thora's brother). I had not seen Les for about 25 years.

Debbie and Sharon , Julie and Geoff's daughters were also there as well as Sharon's husband, Steve. Later, Debbie took us to the actual Riddells Creek where she and her husband Frank are building a beautiful house on a hillside overlooking the Creek and surrounding farm lands.

Lucky Miles Trailer

Charlie Wilson's War: a review by Moonville Productions

Visiting Toby, Nicole, Dorian and Edie

Noel, Dorian, Edward and Edie.

Dorian and Toby.

Edie having a swing!

Getting poised for a slide!

Fun on the train.

We visited Toby and Nicole in Hobart. We enjoyed spending time with our grandchildren, Dorian and Edie.

Painting our house

We are in the process of painting the exterior of our house. We are changing the colour from a dark green to teale blue. It is quite a dramatic change. It is a long process as, in places, our house is quite tall and there seems to be a lot of wall to repair and paint. Here are some photos of Noel up a ladder hard at work.

Half Nelson Trailer

A visit by Rosemary and Jon Goodsall

Today we had some special visitors from Cairns. Jon and Rosemary Goodsall joined us for a long lunch. They were in Tasmania for a family wedding and kindly took some time out to spend with us. We have been friends since the 1960s, when we all lived in Launceston. Rosemary and Noel were sharing a flat and teaching at Riverside High School when I first met Noel. At the time, Jon was an engineer working on the construction of the Batman Bridge that links the East and West Tamar districts. We had not seen each other for several years so there was a lot of catching up to accomplish.

Clare Stark's 21st Birthday

Clare with her grandmother.

Today we joined with Clare's family and friends to wish her a very happy 21st birthday. We have known Clare's parents, Ann and Kevin Stark since the mid 1970s so it was very special to be invited to share in the birthday celebrations. Although her actual birthday was on the 18th, the big celebration was held today.

Happy Anniversary number 10!

Today is happy 10th wedding anniversary for Toby and Nicole.

Baha'i Cluster reflection meeting at Westbury

Today I attended a reflection meeting of Baha'i friends who live in the northern part of Tasmania. We meet once every 3 months at Westbury which is a beautiful historic village about 25 minutes drive from Launceston. Today, for our meeting, we were joined with friends from Hobart and Melbourne.

Baby, It's Cold Outside ...

Well, it is getting cooler of an evening in this part of the world and I thought of this song. Although it is not Christmas time, I enjoyed the clips that have been selected from a wide range of familiar animated movies to produce this number.

Vale Ian Cox

We were saddened to learn of the sudden passing of a dear Baha'i friend, Ian Cox. We will miss his generous spirit and his wonderful sense of fun.

SHUT UP AND SING

I have just been to see this terrific movie. The movie follows The Dixie Chicks over a three year period and shows their struggle to ride out a storm that hinders their careers as a result of a remark made by one of the musicians at one of their concerts in 2003. It is an excellent documentary that also includes some exciting musical excerpts from concerts and recording sessions.

Horton Hears A Who

I have just been to see this movie. If you have not already read the book,' Horton Hears A Who' is about an imaginative elephant who hears a cry for help from a tiny speck of dust that floats through the air and lands on a clover flower. Suspecting that there may be life on that speck ... and despite a surrounding community which thinks he has lost his mind, Horton is determined to help. Go and see it ...

Vern Burns visiting from Las Vegas

Vern Burns, Ailsa Frost, Noel, Norman Frost

Vern and his sister Ailsa

This afternoon we visited Ailsa and Norman Frost - who are Noel's Aunt and Uncle. They live in Trevallyn just 5 minutes drive from our place.
Ailsa's brother, Vern Burns is currently visiting from Las Vegas - so that was a bonus as we had not met him before.

Saint Etienne - A Good Thing (From Almodovar Film Volver)

This video is a combination of one of my favourite groups (Saint Etienne) and a great director. This track featured in a movie by one of my favourite movie directors - Pedro Almodovar.

James Dean - Dream a little dream of me

When I was a teenager growing up in the 1950s, the life of James Dean was a big influence on my interests. Ballet, theatre, classical music - including the work of Berg and Bartok, movies, the visual arts and interesting novels, including the works of Carson McCullers - were all part of my world.

Very complex kung fu move from 'Cashback'.

This is a brief, amusing scene from another movie I saw this week - and enjoyed. 'Cashback' was directed by Sean Ellis. The main character, Ben Willis is an art student who has just undergone a traumatic breakup with his girlfriend. As a result of the emotional upset , Ben has developed insomnia. To pass the night hours and to earn some income, he decides to work at a supermarket.

Vantage Point

I had read reviews of this movie that gave it thumbs down ... but I had also read some by reviewers who quite liked it. Well, I enjoyed it very much. Maybe I am easy to please, but I liked the concept, the acting and I also laughed my way through the car chase at the conclusion of the movie

Welcome to April

Spiderwick Chronicles

I enjoyed this movie very much. The fantastic creatures and special effects were excellent and I appreciated the quality of the sets ... particularly those set inside the old house. The acting was very good too - by each member of the cast.

An Intensive weekend of study.

David Pepperell, Hassanah Wilkinson, Doug Wilkinson, Sandyha Keenoo, Jennifer Pepperell, Edward holding Albert
David Pepperell, Hassanah Wilkinson, Doug Wilkinson, Sandhya Keenoo, Jennifer Pepperell, Noel Broomhall


This weekend we joined with some Baha'i friends to participate in an intensive Study Circle of Book 5 in the Ruhi Institute series. The set of eight books is being studied in Baha'i communities all over the world.

This particular book focuses on strategies to assist in the spiritual and intellectual empowerment of junior youth (12- 15 year olds). The title of Book 5 is 'Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth'.

Thanks to our tutor, David Pepperell who travelled up from Hobart to lead us through the course over the weekend.

ABC3D

Visitors for dinner

This evening our son Raf and his friend Evie along with our grand daughter Caitlin and Evie's son Zeke joined with us for dinner. We had a most enjoyable evening as Toby, Nicole and Edie were staying the night with us too.

Edie playing with the Doll's House and Painting

The Soldiers Memorial in City Park.

My old postcard image of the Memorial.

Three details of the memorial that I photographed this afternoon.

Dahlias in City Park

Each year the City Park has one garden bed planted out with dahlias. Today, the blooms were perfect so I photographed the different colours and the most interesting blooms.

Edie visits Launceston City Park

Off they go for a ride in the City Park train!

Noel and Edie waiting for the train ride to begin.

Climbing an ancient pear tree.

Playing hide and seek around some of the beautiful old trees.

Admiring some beautiful indoor plants in the Conservatory.

Watching the monkeys having an afternoon rest.

It was a perfect day to spend some time in the City Park with Edie. We visited Monkey Island and the Conservatory before playing 'hide and seek', rolling down a grassy hill, climbing a pear tree and having a ride on the little train. It was a beautiful afternoon.