Sunday 15 May 2016

Five Days in Sydney and A Festival.

Tomorrow morning I am off to Syydney, crossing the big ditch that separates Tasmania from the mainland. I am attending the Sydney Writer's Festival. I have left time though to visit my favourite second hand bookstores, see a play at the Opera House and work on my photography.

Since I lost my wonderful old dog Wally, I have been quite flat and teary. However after a couple of weeks we did adopt a small black cat from the Cat Centre. Tassie always has a glut of cats needing homes. We had a space available and Cousin Eddie, our tabby, needed a playmate to stop him harrassing our older cat, Uncle Buck.  Enter Griswald, or Grizzy for short. He is beautiful, sweet natured and cheeky. We love him.

Life is getting back to normal and I hope to talk to you a bit more as I find I miss your company when I don't write.

I have been reading. Right now it's Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I thought I would like it more than I do. The cover was promising and the title sounds old fashioned. However I do get annoyed with the characters. Our book club read is Cold Comfort Farm which I have read and loved. Rather than read it again I am listening to the play that I downloaded on Audible.com. I am thoroughly enjoying that.

I continue to study Photoshop tutorials and attended a great workshop by an Adobe rep at our Photographic club.

It's been too windy to do much scooter riding and has poured with rain which we really need as we have been having drought conditions here.

I finally saw the film, The Lady in the Van which I enjoyed, though I love Maggie Smith. I enjoyed the movie more than the book which is unusual for most book related films I see.

I have discovered Flow magazine from the Netherlands and I love the articles, paper, stationery and art work within its covers. It's a little pricey but I do devour it. It is one of those publications that has little surprises throughout and makes me happy.

I am looking forward to going into Tasmania's winter. The colours here in the winter are beautiful, not too much snow and quite a bit of sun makes this island state a fantasyland.

I hope to get online to tell you about what goes on in Sydney and include some pictures over the next few days. After all the Penguin is happiest when reading and travelling. Stay tuned and here is a picture of Grizzy I put together in Photoshop. Isn't he beautiful.


6 comments:

  1. wow! sensational looking kitty... did i see a bit of wild activity being planned in those feline eyes? Have fun in Sydney; look forward to post and pictures... walking in the woods today I came across a very young barred owl, about the size of a volley ball, just sitting on the ground next to the trail. talk about unblinking stares! and they make this funny clacking sound with their beaks, just as a warning. we meditated together for about 15 minutes, neither of us moving. i left when my knees got tired. talking to the local wildlife person later, i found out they often do that, just sit on the ground, thinking about something... there's more in heaven and earth, Horatio...

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    1. That was nice you left the owl in peace. He'll probably do fine and if his parents are still in his life they'll be nearby, also staring! Looking forward to the week. Thanks for dropping by.

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  2. Which events are you going to at the SWF. I'm booked in for a few talks too :-)

    Happy travels.

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    1. Off hand the woman who was linked to working with Nelson Mandela, the North Korean woman who escaped, the eccentric older woman of New York, I thimk the Art of Reading, Magda at the end of the week.The Opening Address on Tues night. Are you there?

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  3. What a beautiful cat! I always wanted a white cat, like the one in Peter Rabbit. I finally got one that was almost white, Echo, and I found a beautiful white Persian who was deaf. But I've never had a black cat.

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  4. Hope you have a wonderful time in Sydney! Grizzy is adorable :)

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