We had a weekend of hanging out at home with Pops embracing all the contents of her dress-up box, including her Tea Set, Ladybird Hat, her Grandparent’s Butterfly Wings and a Tutu! Such a dag. Xx
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Sneaky Peek : Alaska – 20 years on
I have been reflecting on an amazing journey I did exactly 20 years ago! In 1993 I went to Canada with a friend called Lindy and we ventured to the northern frontier of Alaska.
Apologies for the quality of these photos (I don’t have a scanner) but they certainly depict the fashion of the era – apparently happy pants; purple fleece; shell necklaces, John Lennon glasses and a little bit of chubbiness were du jour of the day!
The highlights of our trip included meeting a couple from North Carolina – Greg and Jackie LaBarbera in a Juneau Youth Hostel. They were travelling from the ‘Lower 48’ in their jeep and asked us to join them on their journey through Alaska! How could two Aussie girls refuse such a kind offer?
We travelled up the Inside Passage via the Alaska Marine Highway ferries which was such an amazing experience and arrived late into Skagway the gateway to the Klondike gold-rush. We found a ‘clearing’ out of town to camp for the night, only to realise at dawn the ‘clearing’ happened to be the end of an airport runway and a light aircraft was taking off over our tents!
For two weeks we continued our travels through the Yukon, Fairbanks, Denali National Park, Anchorage, Valdez and saw the wonders of Mt. McKinley, wild moose, grizzly bears, went whale watching in the Kenai Peninsula and marvelled at icebergs on lakes.
Greg & Jackie dropped us back off at Whitehorse in the Yukon (Canada) where we hitched (sorry Mum, I probably didn’t tell you that at the time) back into Alaska and returned to Vancouver.
It is one of those trips that I always think fondly of and would dearly love to return with my family one day. I am still in contact with Greg & Jackie after all these years and they are even coming to visit me in Tasmania next February. So I am sure we will reminisce about our adventures all those years ago, and I dare say – the fashion too. Xxx
Frosty the Snowman
On Saturday morning we took the obligatory Hobart pilgrimage to the summit of Mt Wellington for a bit of snow play.
Poppy and Nick built a little snow man we nicknamed ‘Frosty’!
The Troops
Poppy has been ‘Hangin’ with her Homies‘ this morning at the park – a beautiful morning for a bit of scooting and playground action. Luka, Poppy and Lexie all met in our Mother’s group and love hanging out together – as do their Mums. Xx
Poppy and Luka also hung out yesterday afternoon and she insisted on dressing up in his glasses, hat, gloves and pack! She looks like she should be on the set of Moonrise Kingdom!
Winter Woolly Weekend
Bring on more winter festivals in Hobart I say! The city turned on the winter weather for the Opening Night of the Festival of Voices – First Light. Like the Dark MOFO Opening Night we rugged up, grabbed the brollie and braved the teeming rain. It was lovely standing by the fire but after an hour of that rain Nick and I looked at each other and agreed to call it quits. It was such a shame as it would have been lovely standing under the twinkling lights of Salamanca and the stars, but it wasn’t to be.
The rest of our weekend was very quiet with a visit to the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery for a spot of culture on a wet Saturday morning.
Sunday morning was a different story altogether. Hobart was bathed in spectacular sunshine with a blanket of snow on Mt Wellington.
Baby ♥
Today I am loving this photo of Poppy as a wee baby.
I have also sorted through all Poppy’s Size 000 grow suits and have washed them ready to pack that hospital bag. They are so tiny.
Sorry for the late posting today. No sleep again for me last night so caught up today when Poppy had her nap. Oh the simple pleasures of a ‘Nanna Nap’! Xxx
Ice Baby
Brrr … winter is here with the temperature plummeting over the weekend. We experienced a couple of very frosty mornings whilst staying at Mum & Dad’s, and Poppy and her cousin Jessie were very intrigued with the ice that formed over Mum’s fish pond!
This is my last week of work before I start my maternity leave. I am looking forward to ‘handing over’ my tasks to my colleague Mark, and then being able to fully nest at home! xx
Farm Girl
Our little ‘city slicker’ is spending four days with me on our family farm at Hagley!
Poppy donned her gumboots, gloves and hat this morning for a lovely wander around the sheds, orchard and old buildings. Xx
Dark MOFO Opening Night
On Friday Annabelle & I rugged up our tribe and went to the Dark MOFO Winter Festival Opening Night at the Queens Domain. It was a cold, drizzly evening but it was so fun to be out and about with Poppy, Lilly & Ollie to see the amazing Spectra:
RYOJI IKEDA
SPECTRA
Let there be light.
-Genesis 1:3.Imagine a tower of pure, white light, reaching fifteen kilometres into the Hobart sky above the Domain. At the base of the tower, forty-nine custom-made Xenon searchlights are set into the ground in a seven-by-seven grid; combined, they point a fleshless finger at our town straight down, it seems, from some sort of imagined, omniscient seat in the sky.
Sine waves – the purest kind of sound wave – form invisible sonic patterns at the base; your movement alters their composition in a way that only you can specify. Indeed, your experience is unlike your friends’, or anyone else’s at all. Now, stop imagining, and wait until nightfall.
Poppy was quite enamoured with the ‘rainbow’ in the sky!
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