Mum having a giggle 

Flying time

ANOTHER week has flown by. A highpoint was work-related: getting new software to work properly. I know it doesn't sound like much but it will enable us to integrate our book catalog with that of the Sydney library and it's been a long time coming. It marks the beginning of a large amount of tedious loading and checking but it will be worth it.

Last night was German class: I'm still having a lot of trouble getting my brain around prepositions and their related cases. It's a long hard slog getting anything to stick in my brain these days. But last night's session was made more interesting by an exercise about Berlin. Having visited somewhere makes the learning a little easier somehow. After class it was off to P&B's for delicious roast pork.

P has been adding to B's blog (see link at right): a twitcher's list of birds observed while they were in Newstead.

The new Rheingold (from the Liceu in Barcelona) arrived on Tuesday, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet - perhaps on the weekend.

The weather is finally looking more like April, although last night was very mild. There was a little rain overnight but at the moment not a great deal more predicted.

No surprises

STs FORTIETH birthday dinner on Saturday evening was lovely: good company, good food. What more can one ask for? Then off to Mum's for lunch on Sunday as normal.

The last few days have zoomed by - Gloriana rehearsal on Monday (still the only first tenor), B&P for dinner last night (making a sizable dent in the Irish stew) and then pottering a bit this morning. Did some German Hausaufgaben (that's homework to you) but still extremely confused by the prepositions and which case they take when...

The weather continues to surprise everyone, thought there is a change predicted for Friday. Oh, well, at least I'm saving on the heating bills.

No Newstead

NO, I haven't gone to Newstead. Instead I'm going tonight to The European to help ST celebrate his fortieth birthday. However P&B are going up to Newstead to keep DG company. I only wish I could be in two places at once, but alas the cloning machine is out on loan.

The weather is still amazing; beautiful clear days and cool nights (but not so cool: the other night I had to replace the doona with a blanket). And last night was a glorious full moon. Tomorrow there's a top of 29 forecast!

KP and I continue to explore the four-hand repertoire. Thursday was mostly French: some hilarious Satie, contrasted afterwards with glorious Ravel and Fauré. Great fun.

Getting back to normal

MONDAY'S rehearsal was fun - it was nice to be back singing again, and especially when the program is all Bach; hard, but enjoyable. We sang through half the motets. I was on my own on on tenor 1 as Phillip wasn't there. It was good to catch up with Tat - she seems to have had a great trip and spent time yesterday processing all her pictures. We sat eating dinner watching a Dr Who story written by Douglas Adams.

Last night I went to dinner at P&B's. Delicious sotto ayam followed by B's microwaved fruit spectacular with ice-cream. Special guest-star was EW, who was down to do some research for a story. It turns out that it was three years (almost to the day) since I met her. I thought it was two, but she was able to date her visit accurately by the progress on her book. It was a very enjoyable evening.

This morning I finally got around to getting my hair cut. It was long overdue - I was getting very fluffy around the neck. Then to work - working 1-9pm to help KJ out as her daughter is unwell.

DG rang tonight to see if I wanted to go to Newstead on the weekend. It's very tempting. I don't think I've got anything else on, apart from visiting Mum. We'll see.

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Just discovered that someone found this blog by searching for "rhonda burchmore tomatoes". Hmmm.

The weekend

ON FRIDAY evening, KP came around and we had a fun time playing through some more piano duets; we seem to work well together and have a certain rapport. Perhaps we'll have a soirée some time over the next few months.

On Saturday it was shopping as usual with B&P then later in the afternoon P and I went for a walk along the Boulevard; P left me at Nicholson Street and I came home and cooked dinner for them. Another Thai-style curry. This time I had lemongrass as well as the other ingredients; it tasted nice, but I think could have done with a bit more chilli.

Today to Mum's for lunch as normal. Then, on the way home, I realised I'd left my keys at her place and so had to track nearly all the way back to get them (I got to Burnley before I realised). No big deal, just annoying. I'd used the keys to get to her back porch and when I closed the door I forget to take the keys. It turned out that Mum didn't realise that my mobile number is coded into her phone; even Ian said he didn't know my number. So much for getting it listed in the White Pages.

The weekend

ON FRIDAY evening, KP came around and we had a fun time playing through some more piano duets; we seem to work well together and have a certain rapport. Perhaps we'll have a soirée some time over the next few months.

On Saturday it was shopping as usual with B&P then later in the afternoon P and I went for a walk along the Boulevard; P left me at Nicholson Street and I came home and cooked dinner for them. Another Thai-style curry. This time I had lemongrass as well as the other ingredients; it tasted nice, but I think could have done with a bit more chilli.

Today to Mum's for lunch as normal. Then, on the way home, I realised I'd left my keys at her place and so had to track nearly all the way back to get them (I got to Burnley before I realised). No big deal, just annoying. I'd used the keys to get to her back porch and when I closed the door I forget to take the keys. It turned out that Mum didn't realise that my mobile number is coded into her phone; even Ian said he didn't know my number. So much for getting it listed in the White Pages.

Hurrah!

A WONDERFUL surprise was waiting for me when I got home last night. The truck (or rather, ex-ambulance) which has been sitting outside my house for the last seven months or so, was being repaired. And, even better, about half an hour after I got home, it was started up and driven away. It has gone. I don't know where, and I don't care. It's been a complete nuisance, removing space that visiting friends could park in and making crossing the road in the morning an absolute nightmare.

So complaining to the council pays off -- even if it does take a month or so to get results.

Last night KP came around and we had a mad time playing through more four-hand piano music. I've got so much (and much of it is crap, but fun) we could probably spend six months playing through it and not see the end. I have a soirée in mind.

Working a bit late tonight as JdL rang in sick this morning. At lunchtime I went down town and dropped the Bach score in on JW who works at AMEB. Then I wandered around town a bit before having a spot of lunch at Australia on Collins; not posh, but cheap and cheerful.

When I got back I sat at the microfilm machine and worked my way through September 1915 looking for reports from Philip Schuler at Gallipoli -- it's tedious work, but MB seemed pleased with the articles I found last night from July and August. Will try and finish October off tomorrow.

It rained today; it started last night and has been going on and off all day. AH said he thought he'd fixed my leaky roof all those weeks ago - this is the first rain we've had since then and it turns out that he didn't. Instead of dripping onto the shower the water is trickling down the bathroom wall. I'll have to call him and tell him. It's probably the reason I haven't had a bill for the last visit; he was waiting to see what happened when it rained.

Celebrations

LAST NIGHT I joined P, B and LE for dinner at the Carringbush to celebrate P's birthday. I had a lovely evening with some tasty food, delicious wine and entertaining company. I gave him a special block of chocolate from Max Brenner's at Melbourne Central. Afterwards I walked L home; it was a very mild evening. The weather continues warm but I think it will all be over tonight; there's a change predicted with rain during tomorrow which will probably see the end of the wonderful Indian summer we've been experiencing.

This morning I caught up with Oz and Grumpy old men, which I quite enjoyed; at least it moves along at a nice pace. I walked into the city again along the river, probably the last time for a while I'll be able to.

On the singing front it turns out that Gloriana have a paying gig to sing the Victoria program for the Spanish Consulate so all the rest of the concerts for the year are being shuffled around - we do the Bach next. Goody!

Cancellation

BAD NEWS last night: a had a call informing me that Sunday's performance of the St Matthew Passion has been cancelled as Marco is unwell (and it sounded quite serious). What a shame - about Marco of course, but I think we were all looking forward to singing it again in a proper acoustic. I hope Marco is OK.

On the other hand I have been asked to sing in Gombert concert 3 (Music for Charles V, including works by Gombert, Lassus, Morales and others) as well as in Spem for the next concert. Add to that a program of Victoria for Gloriana and I've got a busy few months ahead (though thankfully not as busy as pre-Easter).

The weather is still glorious - it's sunny again today - though there is a change predicted for Thursday. At least I'm saving money on gas for the heater.

Busy weekend

IT STARTED on Friday evening when I met DR after work at the Nova where we saw Broadway: the golden age, a fascinating film with interviews with an enormous range of actors from the last 50 or 60 years. Perhaps a little too much for anyone without the nit-picking interest in trivia which I seem to specialise in, but still enjoyable.

On Saturday BN came for dinner and DVDs, and whatever else I could find. It was lovely to catch up with her; her renovations are nearly complete. She has moved out while the floors are being sanded and sealed - she moved into the Duxton hotel for the weekend and is to spend the week in Apollo Bay.

The weather has been truly amazing; hot like the summer we didn't have. Sunday was also hot, at least in the morning when I went to Mum's. Around 2pm it started getting very dark, so I left early in order to miss the rain. Well, of course it started coming down when I was half-way to the station.

I got home in time for a message from B asking whether I was interested in another film. We went to see The hidden history of homosexual Australia at the Lumiere. Parts of it were excellent, but it didn't really add up to a very satisfying whole. It was fun to see some of the old footage, but I don't think I'll be recommending it to many people.

Then P&B came back and helped me eat some of the leftovers from Saturday night while we watched The Normans on SBS, followed by the glacial Krakatoa on the ABC. An action-packed weekend.

No, I was wrong

IT'S ACTUALLY gone back to summer. The weather has been amazingly warm; well, hot, really. Including the nights. It was in the thirties today (I think) with a change in the afternoon; it rained a bit but now seems to be clearing again. Odd.

A lovely way to start the working day 

Glorious Autumn weather 

Autumn in Abbotsford 

German class on Thursday was the last for three weeks. We got some homework to do, but first I'll have to do some serious revision. Afterwards had dinner at Dr D's -- the Lotus Master very kindly put together a list of possible digital cameras I might buy.

Yesterday was shopping as usual -- it seemed ages since I had seen B&P. We brought lunch back to my place, sushi boxes for P and me, a seafood box for B. Last night I spent watching The Bill and the Firefly DVDs I borrowed from DG at work. It's not actually bad; Weedon's sense of humour comes through loud and clear, as does his ability to surprise. I wonder why I persist with The Bill -- I think it's fascination with wanting to see how much worse it can get.

To Mum's for lunch today, the first for a few weeks. Unfortunately I had to leave early as work rang around midday to ask for some help with research, with the Pope's death and the helicopter crash. I got there around a quarter to two and stayed until M and D arrived. Then I went into town where I bought myself a Canon A95 digital camera (one of the models on the Lotus Master's list). Now I have to learn how to drive it.