Lunar New Year

 

The city and restaurants are adorned with red lanterns. It's a great fortnight of festivities.

The year of the dragon is here!

These stickers are all over Haymarket.

Happy Lunar New Year, everyone!

Do you do anything to celebrate? 

Linking with #PictorialTuesday #WWOT #AwwMondays because the dragons are so cute and #Anything Goes

Rediscovering how to play could be the key to creating deep adult friendships. Rhaina Cohen

I have written a lot about friendship - about the ease of longtime friends, about friendship in marriage, about how speanding time with friends can be the panacea to all ills and how spending time with friends can be revitalising.

When the theme for Tell us about...came out, I was wondering what else I had left to say on friends and friendship? Then I thought about when your friends become friends. Through my Wednesday club I have become closer friends with some people I've known for both a long and shorter time, just from doing the activities together and suddenly seeing them more regularly for the fun events. This has then evolved to them saying yes to more non Wednesday club events when I post on FB asking who wants a ticket to a show or gig. I think becuase it centres around an activity, while we do 'catch up' conversations, there's more a 'sharing the now' aspect, and that is actually where the bonding lies. While you paint, blow glass or do pottery, you chat. Axe throwing lead to competitive banter, the adrenaline of running around playing laser tag led to exhilerated laughter at how bad we were. We've played pong on the boldering wall together, played each other in arcade games and worked together at Hijinx and so much more. There is an instant connection over the activity because the 'who' you are doesn't matter, it's simply important you are there. So when I saw the title quote, it really did hit home for me.

Another interesting aspect of this, is through the Wednesday Club, the most dedicated Yes crew have become friends with each other and now do things independantly. One was from work and the other from our children's primary school. They go to the same gym, they like the same music so go to gigs together - weirdly they even have the same birthday! I had said to my husband sometimes I'm surprised at who seems to like doing the Wednesday Club stuff but it's obviously what a lot of women need at this point in life, and I guess new friends that are keen to do something is another thing some of us need as people get stuck in their ways.

On the weekend, we were meant to go on a boat but it got cancelled on the day because of the weather. As it was the Lunar New Year, I asked if people wanted to go to lunch and I was surprised 13 of the 17 said yes. So I booked a restaurant and when I looked around the table at the people from all different parts of my life - work, 2 different kids schools, husband's uni friends, my friend's sister in law, a friend of a friend - I thought how lucky I was to have so many friends happy to move out of their cliques and most of them now know each other and were very comfortable independantly as they'd spent so much time together through the Wednesday Club and other events.

When we were walking to a bar after lunch, having broken off into a smaller group, one friend commented that she loved how inclusive the group is. She too had noted everyone came from a different connection but everyone felt like they were part of the gang. 

Very much like kids in the playground, these people turn up to the Wednesday club and think 'You're here, let's play together" and from that shared fun, bonds have built. Over the years, I've noticed they are being invited to each others birthday parties...they are viewed as friends indepenant of me. It's lovely to see. Good people deserve good people.

And of course, true to form, when the rest of us headed home, the two 'new' friends decided to kick on together for one more drink....

Linking with #WWWhimsy #SeniorSalonPitstop #TellUsAbout #TheRandom #Anythinggoes  #FriendshipFriday #HappyNow #HappyTuesday (because looking around the table at all my friends made me so very happy)

(The photos are from the Garden of Friendship, for those that didn't make the connection)

My favourite (Street) artist

 I saw this image on the internet and become obsessed with the work of the great talent, Adnate. I still think it's his best, and breathtakingly beautiful.

I was disappointed not to get to Melbourne for his gallery exhibition but I have been lucky enough to see a lot of his works around the place. Both in Sydney and in Melbourne.

Sydney has a large work celebrating Jenny Munro. It is one of a series commissioned by ANZ celebrating inspiring locals. I am usually only admiring it in the car, but this Sunday I swung by on my walk to get a proper photo.

I find it extraordinary how it looks like a photo when created with spray cans.

Linking with #PictorialTuesday #WWOAT #SundayBest #MuralMondays #TheRandom #WordlessWednesday

February Reading

In a Strange Room - I loved this book. It's an ode to travelling and travellers as well as a story of difficult friendships and mental illness. Damon Galgut is a masterful writer and has a brilliant turn of phrase at time.I really enjoyed this book and found it engrossing but also with beautiful phrasing.

Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray -  I found the book interesting but by the end, I really wanted it to finish. I did learnt a lot but I found it a bit heavy handed (not in the confronting or uncomfortable sense but in the clunky 'here, learn about this' sense). I really liked the way she made the white character, Louisa think she was doing the right things but really always holding onto her privilege and status to be whipped out when she wanted her way. I thought that was great characterisation (and very realistic). It's engaging enough though.

After Story - I really enjoyed this. So much too it. I felt the way it wove the Indigenious beliefs and history, the racism and Australian aspects of the story were much more seamless than in Blia Yindyamarra. I found the look at addiction, or why people drink really well done, and of course, the literary tour of England equally fascinating. I went on a google trail of Conan Doyle and Faries. I had somehow missed all that. Great book. Devoured it in two days.

Not a book but Audible has a free show by Alan Cummings. A variation of the show he brought out here. Fun listen if you like him or cabaret. Interesting look at immigration.

Linking with #WOYBS #FriendshipFriday #TrafficJamReboot #MonthlyBookWorms  #SeniorSalonPitstop #Bookdate and #AnythingGoes 

 



I have included one of the songs Alan Cummings loves to sing. It's so joyful when he does it...

February in Sydney

 I have always thought of January as the most festive in Sydney, due to the festival and all the banners and art that pop up around the city, but when talking to a soon to arrive visitor, I realise it's February.

All the shops dress their windows for Valentine's Day - a prelude pushing sales that begins a few weeks before hand. Many are also dressed for the Lunar New Year or Mardi Gras. 

Lunar New Year brings giant lanterns to the streets, as well as the traditional lion dance and lucky packets everywhere you go. 

Mardi Gras brings banners and sequins and shiny, glittery things to the shop windows and streets and sometimes the buildings are lit up in pink or rainbow.

It's actually a really colourful and fun time to be in Sydney as all three hit at once.

As I said in this old post - being single doesn't need to get you down on Valentine's day, as there's other celebrations to join in anyway!

Unfortunately, I haven't been into the city to see what's afoot yet, so these pics are Yokohama, Tokyo, and two local shops, a bakery and a gemstone shop which I suspect carry the flags all the time as decorations. 

Hopefully next week, I'll get the real seasonal photos!

Linking with #WordlessWednesday #MySundaySnapshot #FloralFridayFoto

Currawong - Share my snaps!

We were back at Currawong on the weekend, though this time out of nesting season so no reptile attacks on birds nests. We did at one point stand guard bashing a shovel on the ground to ward off three goannas (monitors) while cooking on the BBQ....but all part of the fun. 

Serene sunrises, floating around on the lilo, finska with friends - all those small things that make up a relaxing weekend.

Linking with #AwwMondays

It's hard to believe this is Sydney. But I guess that's what I love about this city. Without leaving town there is an abundance of bushland, and small islands or remote corners that feel a world away...

Because you access it by boat, it feels like an island, thought technically it isn't.

Over all too soon, now we just have to wait until the next visit rolls around..... 

Linking with #TravelTuesday

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust.

 I don't know if this mural has had a refresh or I was suddenly looking with new eyes but I suddenly noticed this mural. It seemed brighter or different somehow...though I don't think it was new...

Funny way your brain suddenly notices things that have always been there...

Reubszz does a lot of work in our area. There is lots of lovely work to see.

This work is now gone, replaced with this one.