Royal Albert Hall.... What an Experience...

For those few people I haven't told, I sang 'The Armed Man' at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with my friends Maria and Jane - WoW! It feels good just saying that!  I first sang in the school choir with Maria when we were in Year 7 at High School.  I think another "WoW" is required there!  Jane and I sing in a choir together in Sydney.  Jane just 'happened' to be in London after doing a singing workshop in Iceland.  Are we jealous... YES! 

So we found ourselves singing one of the most emotional pieces of music in an iconic building with 2,600 other singers.  It certainly was an incredible life experience!

Add caption

And so to Spa town of Buxton

 Lots to do.  Three different festivals... Buxton Music,  Fringe and Food and Wine. Right up our alley actually!  Roger loved the sketching, everything so green, grand and colourful.

 Somehow thought we had booked into La Traviata at the Opera House.  Had actually booked into the English Chamber Orchestra  - Tchaikovsky and Mozart.  Verdi nowhere in sight (or sound!)

A touch of comedy does you good!

Food and wine festival was a delight.  Provided us with a delightful supper before we headed off super jet-lagged to bed!

Dreaming Spires and all that...

Arrived in London after a seamless trip with Emirates... picked up the car and drove straight to Oxford.   A bit eerie arriving at midnight and picking our way along the gravel walkways of the university.  Needless to say in spite of good efforts we still woke up at 5.00am.  Don't you just love jet lag!

Spent the day drifting.. organising phone cards and LOVING the buildings.

It didn't take us long to pick up the ambiance of Oxford. 

So its a town of historical buildings, tradition, graduates, pubs, black pudding and of course bicycles...

Watched the filming of Lewis...

Then off to Exeter College for a medieval music concert.... Bliss!  Loved the overheard tales of "When I was up at Oxford, I had a suite of rooms and two servants you know.  Portuguese... of course!"

Finished the night at Jamie's Italian.  Phew!  Great day.  And of course as you can see from the first photo Roger even got time to do a sketch or two!

Night, Night!

High in the sky for our 42nd Wedding Anniversary

Emirates know how to make you feel good..... a special cake to celebrate our 42nd Wedding Anniversary.  Fun sharing it withe everyone around us.  

We're off!

The world in turmoil, Caleb as usual is totally engaged and fascinated by what we are doing!  But we are off adventuring once more, leaving Caleb and Tom to enjoy the delights of Ivanhoe House!  See you in September guys!

Where in the world?

Oh my goodness I'll have to get going... so much to see!

Mosaic madness

Busy trying to finish my mosaics before I leave for UK!  Madness!

Also learning the Armed Man... ready for the "Noteworthies" performance at the Albert Hall.  Really looking forward to meeting up with Maria (Schoolfriend from UK and Jane a choir friend from Oz.)  We've called ourselves the Noteworthies as Jane and I used to edit a magazine of the same name.... tune up those voices!

Sunset, seals - A Whale of a Time!

Oh My goodness my blog is a bit like my life.... a bit out of order.  We visited Nelson Bay at the same time as Seal Rocks.... just before we left for UK...Being out of season it was really quiet and peaceful.  Sunsets were glorious.

But of course we were there for the whales.....

Of course most of my shots were of great splashes in the sea as I was so busy watching the whales breach.....4 pods of whales right in front of us!

Macquarie Lighthouse Volunteers Week

Had a great Volunteers' Week.... BBQ breakfast with the Meals on Wheels Team and then a visit to Macquarie Lighthouse.....Its only open three times a year and we were invited because we volunteer with National Parks and Wildlife.....Superb views, interesting tour and a time to catch up with friends.   Who could ask for anything more?

Food Glorious Food!

Love that Meals on Wheels Team.  They put on a great BBQ breakfast for us... See you all again in September.

Here comes the sun!

Hey! we are all dried out and enjoying the sun!  Back to doing our walk from Palm Beach to Wollongong.  Mona Vale beach today.While I do my music lessons, Roger goes sketching.......Pretty good eh?

Oh Yeah! Forgot to mention our house got flooded too!

In January when Roger was in the UK we had a problem with our roof.  I was awoken at 3.00am by a cold shower pouring over my head.  Tiles replaced and glued down.  All fixed we thought.  BUT NO!  Here we go again - another drenching.  Hopefully this time all fixed. 

Manly Dam one of our favourite spots for a BBQ breakfast fared no better than we did!  We were ready to host flooded families but luckily the houses along the lagoon were spared.

Seal Rocks........Beam out that light

So why is it that we love remote places?  I don't know but we do.  We stayed in the Assistant Lighthouse Keepers Cottage... incredible to look out at the long remote shoreline.  

Black sheep turns out OK!

In February we decided to visit Orange and booked into the Black Sheep Inn.... couldn't make it as Roger had to go to UK so booked in again in March and April and May.... but had to keep postponing until finally in June - the coldest time of year we finally got there AND it was beautiful.  Chilly (-5) but beautiful.

 Renovation is obviously the owners' forte as they took a decrepit shearing shed and created a living space full of ambiance and style while still maintaining the history of the building.  Given the cavernous size of the place and the freezing temperatures thanks to the huge stove it was still warm and cosy.  

We loved reading and sketching in front of the huge fire, listening to music.  Enough rooms so that I could practice singing "The Armed Man" ready for the concert in London next month!

Love how they have kept so many original features.... wool press, shearing runs, wool grading table.  .........Bliss!

Misty Mountains

Wild, wild weather..............only misty, rainswept views from our window.  Impossible to walk as all the tracks flooded!BUT........stunning fungi everywhere........Little did we know but the rain that was thundering down on us, was thundering down into our Verandah and dining Room!!!!!!!   EEK!

Whooo! Hooo! Caleb's home with wild stories of Japan!

New Ivanhoe Website Live

Yeehah!  We have a new website up and running.

Check it out and pass it along! 

http://www.manlybandb.com.au

Syzygy.. the stars align in Melbourne for a great weekend

Time to start travelling again and what better way to do it than to catch up with travelling buddies!  

We first met Anna and Ben on the Galapagos Islands.  Where we spent many an hour snorkelling, photographing exotic animals and watching sunset from the boat.

Since then we have visited their fantastic house in Yorkshire, walked  in Derbyshire and when they moved to Oz, shared champagne at Bradleys Head. Finally we get to visit them in their new home Melbourne.

Oh boy what a weekend - starting off with an amazing chicken restaurant in a warehouse restaurant.  

Of course Libby is now a part of the Scott family.  What a joy she was. Always dancing, singing, drawing, reading, walking, laughing, eating.....Love seeing her grow.

One of the things we love about visiting Anna and Ben is that they love doing the same things that we do... like meandering through Melbourne where we discovered the amazing State Library complete with its Ben Hall exhibition and wonderful sculptures.

I can't imagine life without books and reading!

Melbourne Museum of Natural History, the Children's Discovery Centre, The National Art Gallery...all part of our exploring.   As was the "Foodie Tour" which took us all through the laneways... to sample exquisite chocolate, coffee, vietnamese chicken, Polish Pierogi, delicious deserts!  

Here is an idea for the Writers Group.... write a poem for cash!

Theatre Sports!  

Haven't been to those since the Belvoir Days... Just loved it!  Incredible theatre in a laneway -  full of amazing furniture, bric a bac and people.

Brighton Artists

Roger and Libby draw in style

Heide Museum of Modern Art

What an amazing group of artists and what a hedonistic lifestyle.  Loved the old house, herb and vegetable gardens.... mmm and the art wasn't too bad either.

WoW!  What a weekend..... Look forward to meeting up again in September!