Mountain bike mishaps

I thought I'd share another gruesome picture, no this is not my knee and no I havent been trying to mountain bike with a broken wrist, but Justin however has, I think it may have been because i said dont hurt yourself otherwise we wont be able to drive anywhere!

This second photo is of himself retrieving a rocket from a very tall pine tree in Lennox Gardens!
He didnt hurt himself this time, which was good!

Floriade Nightfest

The strange thing about Canberra this time of the year is that the weather is fab during the day usually blue sky and sunshine and about 19-24 degrees, then as the sun goes down the temperature plummets, so with this in mind we took (and wore) many layers of clothing to the nightfest.

The flower beds were lit up with different colour lights, the night market stalls seemed to have an abundance of soaps on sale, the Felt Stall was full of lovely things (but I managed to resist, this time!). The main events of the evening was the screening of Australian Comedy short films, (hence the need for big coats and blankets) which were very enjoyable, followed by a performance by Strange Fruit which are best described as people balancing on high carbon poles inside giant lampshades! It was enjoyable and slightly hypnotic as they swayed on the poles! It was not everyones 'cup of tea' however having a few glasses of wine myself I liked it!

Cast off, feeble hand out!

Well Monday was the day that the backslab was taken off and the 7 stitches taken out, (yes the starry edges started to come in from the sides of my eyes! but I didnt faint!) Now I have a removeable wrist guard, which is very good, especially in the shower where having one arm covered up is not exactly conducive to washing! Besides from the fact my left hand was looking decidedly manky from not being washed for 2 and a bit weeks!
I have been given a number of excercises from the Physio, which although rather depressing to start with (Mon) I can already see better movement. I am determined to get back on with the sports I was doing before, I cant waste what's left of the time in Aus!
Anyho will post some pictures of all the gruesomeness soon!

weekend's activities

This weekend was lovely and sunny so we decided to go for a picnic and BBQ on Saturday, a group of us went and we decided on the Cotter dam picnic area by the Murrumbigee river, it was very quiet and sunny but rather windy (even too strong for the kite).
Of course we had 'Roo sausages from the organic butchers in Belconnen fresh food market.
After we had BBQ'ed and the boys had a crafty nap we went for a walk to the Caves, which are fenced in to prevent entry which is a shame as the act of fencing in the caves effectively killed off the resident bat population who were also unable to get in and out of the cave!
Health and Safety 1 Nature 0

On the Sunday we went to the Thai embassy which was open for the day, selling thai wares and food, I bought another traditional bag made from old wedding clothes and comes from the Chaing Mai region, (the area we had visited in July) although I paid a lot more than the ones I previously bought in Chaing mai itself, I kept the bags that were intended as presents for myself! Oops

Spring in Canberra

The days are warming up and Floriade is in town. It is still usually 2 or 3 degrees first thing in the morning but the days are kicking into action with about 17 degrees, today however a promised 23 is expected, excellent!

The balloons have started coming over our house again, so I thought I'd share a shot of them. At first we used to hear the roar of the burners going off and didn't realise for a while what it was (as it was usually before 0730!) so too tired at the weekend to get up and look out of the window. You also don't want to go out into the garden to look at them in your slippers and dressing gown as they can see you!!

I think I will start to put in some chillies and tomato plants into the very small veg bed so at least we may get some fruit from them before we leave.

The gum trees are flowering at the moment and it is these colours that are the inspiration for the colour scheme in Parliament house.

This is the Wattle in flower, many bees were all over it.

Both of these pictures were taken on the Black Moutain near the Telstra tower.

Cars

Looking at the blog it doesnt seem as though I have mentioned one of our cars - the 'Crownie'.

So here he is made in Aug 1977, the reliable runaround!

Activities halted!

Well, yes I thought ice skating would be fun, havent skated for ages but didnt used to be too shabby, so the friday before last (5th) my two pals went to Philip Ice skating rink, where we slid around an empty rink for 2 hours, Petrina really good (ex olympic champion- well something like that!) Erica 'Bambi like' at first then not needing the hand rail at all.

All was going well until 2hours 5 minutes when I just slipped backwards, dont really know why, wasn't even really doing anything remotely interesting, however my left arm thought it would twist around underneath and try to catch me!

So broke my arm/wrist - Ouch!

A plate and a 7 screws later, it is fixed! now however is 6 weeks in plaster and trying to function with one arm, quite difficult to manage and obviously not being able to drive! No tennis, biking, golf, shopping, gym - Oh woe is me!

DIY in Preuilly sur claise

Trimming the Hydrangers, that had grown to triffid like proportions! Taking down the rickety defunct door shelter, but saving the tiles!
Nothing to do with DIY but spinning and dangling in the air in the local park.

preuilly photos pt 2

Our initial stock pile of wood delivered by tractor and trailer by M.Claveau in Aug 06 was finally at an end, what seemed like an enormous amount of (chene) oak the first time (3 stere) that was dumped on the road outside the garage door (and cracked one of the drain covers). The wood shed looked a particularly sad sight.
However after some very confusing phone calls to the 'woodman' I managed to get him to deliver 4 stere of wood cut to 33cms, luckily help was on hand to ferry the wood from the road to the now cleaned and prepped wood shed, many thanks!
Arrival of 4 stere of wood!
Walking in Preuilly sur Claise's forest, the Pine/Ward clan.
Oh the glamourous sisters!

Preuilly sur Claise trip

Just a few photos of my trip back to Blighty and France, more to follow!