1-31-11

 Martin: Last day of the school holidays so took the boys for a drive to just past Richmond on the western edge of Sydney to where the Blue Mountains start. This shot is looking south. Hot day at 44 degrees.

Me: Who needs a GPS when you got Harley! Running errands with my girl.

1-30-11

Martin: Here is a pic from the city - Centrepoint tower, tallest building in Sydney at 1,000 feet.

Me: Palm trees and a pretty Arizona sunrise. Took this photo at the main entrance of The Pointe when Bob and I were leaving to meet some friends for a bike ride in Scottsdale.

1-29-11

Martin: I took four juniors to the beach - two friends of Adrian and Daniel came along. I then got them fish and chips for lunch. Someone left their shoes behind.

Me: Bob and I biked one of our favorite routes today. The 60 mile ride took us past Canyon Lake & Tortilla Flats. Enjoyed the beautiful sunny day with a few others from Team Vitesse.

1-28-11

Martin: Tree. :-)

Me: This is the gym where Bob and I spend many mornings (lifting weights, yoga class, swimming, steam room). It's also where I used to work for 15 years as Activities Coordinator. The gym is part of the Arizona Grand Resort (formerly known as The Pointe which is what we still call it). It's a 5 minute walk down the hill from our home so super duper convenient. We love that! It's also a very quiet gym now, never crowded, as the club membership decreased when the resort changed ownership. The new company removed the tennis courts, volleyball court and extra activity programs. :-(. This morning Wendy met me at the gym and we did a Pilates class.

1-27-11

 Martin: Pic from where I was working. The yellow is a type of lichen, I think.

Jane: Shopping at Crate & Barrel. I found a small colorful rug to put in front of the kitchen sink.

1-26-11

Martin: Today is a public holiday here - Australia Day. A bit like a version of your 4th of July but it really celebrates the day in 1788 when the First Fleet from Britain arrived in Sydney Cove to set up a permanent establishment in the form of a penal colony - a stones throw from the Harbour Bridge. Captain Cook discovered the East Australian coastline back in 1770 and landed about twenty minutes from our house at Kurnell (around the corner practically from where we go to the beach). He officially took possession of the land in the name of Britain - though the Portuguese may have turned up here around the time of Columbus. The dutch discovered Northern Australia in 1606. Australia Day is now more of a celebration of Australia's multi-culturalism. Large scale Citizenship ceremonies take place in the major cities and there are countless activities going on all over the place. The majority of Aboriginals see today as 'Invasion Day' and have nothing to celebrate... I can easily understand why.

Me: Harley patiently waiting for her breakfast. This must be her signature look as she's posing just like the pic above her dog dish. Funny girl. Harley also likes to show off her ribbons from the local dog show. She's got a few cute tricks up her sleeve. 

1-25-11

 Martin: As it was warm early, I took the boys and one of their friends to Wanda Beach this morning. The beach already had more people than I had seen before and there were a lot of groups set up for the day. However the weather conditions were very unusual due to the high humidity and the wind direction. The conditions created a low fog that kept on sweeping in from the sea and then clearing in minutes.The sun would be out and then disappear behind another bank of rolling fog.

Me: A new painting I bought of an Agave plant. I like it. It's hanging in the kitchen which also has our new wall paint. It's a cream color but looks more tan in the pic above. I'm also happy with the living room in the mustard color and the kitchen/dining area in the cream. Yay!

1-24-11

Martin: Flowers

Me: Family of Cacti overlooking Phoenix. You can see them from the Mormon Trail in South Mountain. It's one of our favorite morning routes to jog (Harley & I).

1-23-11

Martin: Here's a pic from today's painting job. It was hot outside but the humidity was up so the paint wasn't too difficult to apply. I am painting the underside of a pool deck so it is in the shade.

Me: Lemon hanging from our lemon tree outside our kitchen window. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Think I'll go sqeeze some now.

1-22-11

 Martin: Pic from the back garden this morning. Rainbow Lorikeets feeding on some bread.

Me: Bob and I competed in a mountain bike race today at McDowell Mountains. We did well. It was fun!

1-21-11

Martin: The council household rubbish piles have still not been picked up and the boys found a twin baby stroller after dinner this evening. They removed the top section and stuck a two seater lounge seat on it and proceeded to try it out on the grass slope. I got them to come inside just as they were throwing around the idea of trying it out on the road.

Me: Bob's new road bike. 16lbs. He's happy!

1-20-11

 Martin: Daniel has one strawberry on his plant that sits in a pot on a little table outside the back door. Not much of it to divide into four portions with cream! It's only a bit over half an inch across. Surprised the possums didn't discover it last night.

Me: Bob said don't post a pic of our messy table (but I did).

1-19-11

Martin: Daniel playing tennis at the synthetic grass courts at Miranda.

Me: Harley paws on our hiking trail this morning.

1-18-11

Martin: Me speaking to Jane.

Me: A pic of our TV as we were watching the Oprah Show. Oprah's doing a 4 day special on Australia. Yahoo! Gets us even more excited for our trip to visit the land down under.

1-17-11

Martin: At the beach. Adrian's the oldest one in the line-up. UV must have been very high today. I got singed in the sun this afternoon.

Me: We're in deep! I finally made a decison on the paint color. I wasn't wild about this color yesterday. Today I liked it. Tomorrow who knows. :-) But we're going to proceed with it anyway.  

1-16-11

 Martin: Gum trees in the neighbour's garden in the late afternoon sunshine.

Me: My friend, Wendy, and I did the Phoenix PF Chang's Rock-n-Roll 1/2 Marathon today. 30,000 runners between the 1/2 and full marathon distances. We finished and I'm really glad I was able to do it!

1-15-11

Martin: Adrian's new bike. Local council household rubbish clean-up this week and the boys found a broken motorized toy bike in one of the piles. Daniel repaired it and the both of them took turns riding it around the house.

Me: Went to watch my niece (she's the one serving) play in a highschool volleyball tourney.

1-14-11

 Martin: Shopping in the sink for a rinse.

Me: Bob cleaning up my bike after riding through the mud puddles.

1-13-11

Martin: Adrian and Daniel in the Queen Victoria Building today after visiting Hobbyco, the largest hobby store in Sydney.

Me: My distraction these days is redecorating & now I'm in deep. I bought six! different shades of mustard/tan paint and now need to decide on one. I'm being brave with color. Yikes. What's your vote?

1-12-11

Martin: A little China dog that is only around three inches tall and sits at the end of the windowsill overlooking the garden. Think he's looking for the sun hiding behind the clouds. Should have dusted his ears!

Me: Top of a barrel cactus from my morning walk with Harley.

1-11-11

Martin: No they're not little apples. I liked the look of these cherries that had been taken out of the fridge and had been sitting on the bench for a while.

Me: Doing a little redecorating. This is the colorful fabric of the pillow I just bought.

1-10-11

Martin: Took the boys to the beach today. Very overcast, no people but still warm in the mid twenties. Only problem was that the hide tide mark was littered with blue bottles (very painful stings) so the boys didn't risk going in the surf. Only a few surfers were about. Adrian and Daniel went for a run along the beach for about 2km instead.

Me: That's me swimming laps at our fitness center pool.

1-9-11

Martin: Pic of storm front.

Me: Grocery shopping. I love bananas (with peanut butter, of course).

1-8-11

 Martin: Adrian found this young gecko on the garden wall.

 Me: Mountain biking South Mountain. Bob tried this cool function on his phone where the camera stitches together consecutive shots.

1-7-11

 Martin: A pic of a Kookaburra on the clothesline. It flew down and ate something on the lawn and still has a blade of grass sticking out the other side of its beak.

Me: Tea time is my morning routine. Around 5:30am I put the kettle on the stove and then sip on my hot cup of Ginger Peach while I read e-mails & blogs.