G'day, all.
Lizzie, school doesn't go back for us until the end of January. I'm happy to share our summer with you. Today was warm again, tomorrow will be very hot and we plan to go to the beach.
Today was our monthly artists open studio around the village, but it was also the only day we could organise, for the special lunch mother in law wanted us to have together "on the mainland". So after they got home from church I got the nieces and sister in law into the car to quickly visit the artists I felt would most interest them. We had an hour to pack in what we can never fit into an entire day, so it was brief. But enjoyable. Then it was time to leave for lunch. mother in law, sister in law & nieces caught the boat while husband, difficult child 3 & I drove the long way round. Of course they got there first and were waiting on a park bench in the shade, chatting to passers-by (a common thing in Australia, especially when people are in holiday mode - we're a friendly lot). The traffic was bad everywhere, with the economic downturn, many people these holidays have become "stay-cationers". We finally dropped everyone else off at the restaurant on Cronulla Beach while husband & I parked the car. As husband & I walked back I took my sandals off because I always walk faster with bare feet. I commented to husband how we were in exactly the same area made infamous by riots three years ago. I should have taken note - there are still signs of unrest, such as the broken glass I stepped on leaving a sliver in the sole of my foot. I put my sandals back on and gingerly made my way, I stopped and took out my tools and tried to remove the splinter but it was too deep.
So we had lunch, a lovely meal, and I was careful to walk carefully for the rest of the day. We were joined by difficult child 1 & daughter in law who really enjoyed sharing the meal with us. We could see across Cronulla Beach and feel the ocean breeze taking the sting out of the hot day. Outside the sky was electric blue, intensely bright, with the dark bottle-green of the tuckeroo trees and palms visible over the balcony.
After lunch we strolled back outside as the wind whipped up. daughter in law had planned to go for a swim but the cooler wind changed her mind. The sea was whipped up into "white horses" and there was no longer a need to swim to cool off. It was almost 4 pm anyway, so we decided to go to the mall to see easy child 2/difficult child 2 at work, since she had been unable to have lunch with us. We waved goodbye to difficult child 1 & daughter in law (they're coming out to see us tomorrow afternoon to stay overnight) and headed to the mall.
On the way home we realised just how much we'd got done today. A relaxing day today despite getting so much done. Tonight we had no room for more food, so we snacked while we watched some short films and a short student film easy child 2/difficult child 2 was in a few years ago, that sister in law hadn't seen before. it was interesting; easy child 2/difficult child 2 had the lead rold in this short film and had hoped to use it as part of her showreel in order to get more professional work, but when the copy finally arrived it was so poorly made we felt it waas worthless. Now we've finally discovered that the copy was not made properly, but it seems our new computer can finally read the disk properly, so we'll be able to tidy up the file and burn some decent copies. At last! And it can be a showreel after all, along with some other film work she's done since.
Tomorrow I need to chauffeur the nieces to the boat, so they can spend the day in the heart of Sydney, just the two of them. sister in law & I meanwhile will relax on the beach, I'll hopefully get some cooking done and we'll make a dinner tomorrow night on leftovers. It's summer, so we'll eat a lot of salad and make sure we have plenty of iced water to keep cool.
We're hoping for an early night tonight. Or at least, not so late as we have had. husband is back to work tomorrow, he needs his sleep.
Enjoy your Sunday, everyone.
Marg