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I went up to Sydney and Gosford on the weekend. B-I-L's flat is gorgeous. Just a few doors down from the Hyde Park Inn where we usually stay, but it's free. At least most weekends when B-I-L returns home to Canberra.
Bit of panic when we collected the key and set off. Halfway to Goulburn when I realised that I'd left my Day-Timer behind. I'd taken it out to jot down the carpark number and had been so concerned about retrieving my Washington Journal to show Mum that I'd forgotten my D-T left on the breakfast bar.
We discovered when we got to Sydney that Kerri had left her cards at home. All eyes turned to DD, who has an auxiliary card. We had to walk back to the flat to collect it and find an autoteller, but we had enough money for meals and petrol. I usually rely on plastic for most purchases. I always keep twenty dollars or so in my D-T for small stuff, but groceries, petrol, books and whatever are all plastic nowadays. At least I had coins in my pocket to pay for the toll.
Before we left I raided the YMCA Garage Sale at Yarralumla. Or tried to. Must have been fifty trestle tables full of books, but they'd been thoroughly picked over. Judy in Fyshwick has an "in" with the YMCA, and I don't begrudge her a few books, but it's a bit of a pain to spend an hour or two sorting through books and only come up with a box of mediocre stuff, mostly for Bookcrossing. Like so many other local book sources this has gone right down over the years.
Also checked out the YHA in Sydney. Found half a dozen books, including a copy of Wild Animus which I released immediately, just to show that I'd been there. Everywhere Internet near Hyde Park is awesome. $2 an hour. And they let you plug in laptops.
Mum, sister and nephews all looking good. Well, Mum's using a walker nowadays because her hip is fragile, pending another operation, but she's cheerful. Two little boys are sweet and bright. D has enormous eyes - he looks like a caricature of a baby. K is still obsessed with trains. He must have every engine in the Thomas Tank Engine collection - all well-used.
Drove home via Cumberland Highway from Gosford. I don't mind paying $3.30 for the toll to avoid Parramatta Road and all the rest into the central city, but paying that plus the bridge toll when the Cumberland Highway is available isn't much of a bargain. We listened to Pagan's Vows, which was about novices in a monastery c1188. The Australian accents jarred a bit, especially as it was set in France, and the protagonist's "Christ in a cream cheese sauce!" exclamations were irritating.
Bit of panic when we collected the key and set off. Halfway to Goulburn when I realised that I'd left my Day-Timer behind. I'd taken it out to jot down the carpark number and had been so concerned about retrieving my Washington Journal to show Mum that I'd forgotten my D-T left on the breakfast bar.
We discovered when we got to Sydney that Kerri had left her cards at home. All eyes turned to DD, who has an auxiliary card. We had to walk back to the flat to collect it and find an autoteller, but we had enough money for meals and petrol. I usually rely on plastic for most purchases. I always keep twenty dollars or so in my D-T for small stuff, but groceries, petrol, books and whatever are all plastic nowadays. At least I had coins in my pocket to pay for the toll.
Before we left I raided the YMCA Garage Sale at Yarralumla. Or tried to. Must have been fifty trestle tables full of books, but they'd been thoroughly picked over. Judy in Fyshwick has an "in" with the YMCA, and I don't begrudge her a few books, but it's a bit of a pain to spend an hour or two sorting through books and only come up with a box of mediocre stuff, mostly for Bookcrossing. Like so many other local book sources this has gone right down over the years.
Also checked out the YHA in Sydney. Found half a dozen books, including a copy of Wild Animus which I released immediately, just to show that I'd been there. Everywhere Internet near Hyde Park is awesome. $2 an hour. And they let you plug in laptops.
Mum, sister and nephews all looking good. Well, Mum's using a walker nowadays because her hip is fragile, pending another operation, but she's cheerful. Two little boys are sweet and bright. D has enormous eyes - he looks like a caricature of a baby. K is still obsessed with trains. He must have every engine in the Thomas Tank Engine collection - all well-used.
Drove home via Cumberland Highway from Gosford. I don't mind paying $3.30 for the toll to avoid Parramatta Road and all the rest into the central city, but paying that plus the bridge toll when the Cumberland Highway is available isn't much of a bargain. We listened to Pagan's Vows, which was about novices in a monastery c1188. The Australian accents jarred a bit, especially as it was set in France, and the protagonist's "Christ in a cream cheese sauce!" exclamations were irritating.
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