A room with a view! MBW found the big yellow light to help add some colour to the arrangement.

April 25th is ANZAC Day in Australia, which in America would be referred to as Veterans Day. ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, and the name originates around 1914 when these two nations played a part in World War 1. In particular, they had a rather unfortunate engagement at Gallipoli, in an attempt to enter the Ottoman Empire and capture Constantinople. The Turks were allies of Germany. By 1915 there were about 8,000 casualties, and the first engagement on 25 April is observed every year as what is probably Australia’s most important national holiday. I went down to the war memorial in Manly for a 4:30 AM service–the dawn ceremony has become a tradition in this country. the Gallipoli landing occurred at dawn, so they commemorate this event in the early morning hours all over Australia, and events are heavily attended.

Was nice to stop and ponder this piece of Australian history.

The more modern trains running around Sydney don’t look too much different from the ones that I used to take to Dallas back in 2001. There are some, however, that look like the ones that run in Chicago and are pretty beaten up and NOISY! But the car in this picture was quite nice!

For her 13th birthday, we decided to give her something to allow her to enjoy seeing the sights and sounds of Australia on the many riding paths in the area.  Now each of us has a bike!  MBD and I took a ride this morning and it was a beautiful day outside.  Always nice to ride along Manly Beach with the wonderful breezes blowing to keep you nice and cool.

I’m not planning to turn this blog into a cooking forum, but this recipe has turned out to be my favourite among all my attempts since buying my cookbook down in Tassie last February.  This one is “Marinated Kale Salad”, and it’s pretty good!  I think you can see the recipe in the photo if you click on it.  It’s a nice departure from the traditional iceberg lettuce salad and the sunflower seeds and apple chunks give it a nice bit of crunch.  Thinking about making it again tomorrow.  Try it!

This is kinda cool. This museum is right on Circular Quay so we see it every time the ferry lands. A piece of art they have outside is a large circular disc that is angled up toward the sky. When the sky is cloudless, it’s a blank canvas:

But when there are clouds in the sky, things look a lot different! Every day the disc will look different, depending on the sky. But no art on rainy days!

Can’t remember if I ever posted a picture of where we live. So here goes. Look directly in the center of this photo and count the balconies from the ground up. The 3rd balcony is ours.

You’ve already seen the views looking out. This one is looking back–just for a change!

Phase one of my return to health occurred in February in Tasmania.  Brought back a new attitude about what kind of / how much food I ate, and have maintained the 10 lbs of weight loss I achieved there.  But…further weight loss and better health will occur now only with some good exercise.

Welcome to Phase two!  Brand new, today!  It has been so long since I rode a bike regularly so riding one of these new ones is an amazing experience.  Did you know that they now make bikes with DISC BRAKES?  How cool!  I have never been comfortable with those little pad brakes that rub up against the tires to stop you.  And the shifting mechanism is so darn smooth!  Manly is very much a bike/skateboard/surfboard kind of town and I am looking forward to seeing more of what is called the Northern Beaches.  Yes, it now is autumn in Australia but the weather’s still great outside.  Will check back when I’ve lost another 10 lbs!