CHRISTMAS IN JULY

Photos from Fountaindale, Robertson

Christmas In July

We all went to Christmas in July up at Fountaindale Lodge in Robertson.
The red and purple clothing was commented on quite a few times, along with the hats and we were asked if we were in the Red Hats. Positive all the way !!
The fog set in, the rain came down and the mud came up but that didnt upset our happy group with the usual laughter and a fair amount of chatter........as usual also. 
The food with the High Tea looked fabulous and was very tasty. Very filling but well worth the drive. Not much left on the plates to feed the local cat, "Mouse" who decided to come into the dining room for a nap next to the heater. At 22 yrs young she looks like a teenager and is Fountaindale's mascot I would think.
Fountaindale was beautifully decorated for Christmas with something in every room to see as well as lovely gifts, jams and clothing of all sorts to buy. From the minute you stepped on the grounds you could see lights and baubles.
The staff were very nice, attentive including a beautifully dressed  girl (in the Fountaindale era clothing) who sang christmas carols during the High Tea. Gorgeous voice !!
All in all, a wonderful day out with our girls.
Looking forward to the next instalment in the lives of the CHUMs.
Cheryle.

Pippin

This was a small Red Hat Theatre Event with only two of the CHUMs in attendance,  Delia & I  in our new red hats.  The event was Pippin, a Musical.  It is about a young Prince’s quest to find personal significance and it is narrated by a magician.  The audience follows Pippin through the trials of war, love and politics until he finds himself alone and far away from the wealth and privilege of his royal life. 

A widow, Catherine, finds him and takes him in.  She uses all her charms on him and Pippin falls in love with the widow.  However he finds that this is not enough and Pippin leaves to continue his quest for fulfillment and to find a reason for “being”. 

In the end the Magician tries to convince Pippin to commit suicide but Pippin resists and decides to spend the rest of his life with Catherin and her young son.  However there is a twist, as at the end of the last scene we are left with the impression that Catherine’s young son is drawn into the Magician's power and the whole quest for “being” starts again.

The actors were enthusiastic and put their heart and soul into the performance which made the whole evening a very enjoyable and funny experience.  There were some technical problems at the start of the evening but they soldiered on and made the best of it when the sound system let them down.

All in all it was a great evening filled with humour and lots of belly laughs at the antics of some of the men in very tight tights..  If Delia had her way she would have taken one of the young men home with her.  Or to put it another way; “He can share some toast with me in the morning.”  And this lad did not have camel eyes but at the risk of sound sexist, he did have a lovely body along with very sexy eyes.   The evening left these two CHUMs very animated and excited about seeing future events at this theatre.

A Great Evening Out!

Tonight Mary and I went to the Phoenix theatre in Coniston to see the show PIPPIN. It was SO GOOD!!!Excellent show, excellent company. Lots of little men in (very tight) tights prancing around....I wanted to bring one of them home with me, I would've looked after him....but Mary wouldn't let me.Oh well, maybe next time, lol. It was a great night out, thank you Mary for your company.  xxx

Botanic Gardens

Hi CHUMs

Does anyone fancy a day out to The Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens, Mount Tomah as the following events are on together until the 12^th August.

First of all there is:

Mel Jones final exhibition:- “Tomah in Pochoir” – Entry Free

The last 12 months of Mel Jones artist in residency at the Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens culminates with this Pochoir exhibition.  View Mel’s unique vibrant landscapes, characterised by crisp lines and brilliant colours using the old world technique of hand cut stencilling.

Further information: follow Mel's her blog atwww.journeymoonart.com/meljonesartblogmttomah.html

Next we have:

Daffodil Day from 9:00am to 5pm – Entry Free

Here we support the Cancer Council on Daffodil Day.  With optimum growing conditions, the gardens are transformed by a sea of golden hues as additional plantings of daffodils erupt in bloom. 

Then to top it all:

The World Heritage Exhibition Centre has opened.  Entry Fee Unknown at this time

And I quote, “ The awe inspiring vista from the Centre creates a transcendental aura transporting the visitor into another realm where the area’s history, flora, rare plants, geography and animals rule”.

On display at the Centre

• An Aussie icon - the outstanding diversity of the eucalypts
• History in the markings - markings on eucalypts tell us about life in the past
• Home sweet hollow - eucalypts provide hollows for wildlife
• Sugar glider - the 'short headed ropedancer'
• Fire - friend or foe? - bushfires in the World Heritage Area
• The plant hunter - George Caley's botanical discoveries
• 'Got by Dan' - George Caley's Aboriginal guide
• Rare plants - the Area protects a significant amount of Australia’s plant biodiversity
• Animal habitats - the Area provides habitats for a wide variety of animals
• Forest protectors - an area worth protecting
• People power - saving the Blue Gum forest
• The Wollemi Pine - a living dinosaur
• Ensuring the Pine's survival - managing threats to the wild population
• Experience a slot canyon - these abound in the Area
• Mt Yengo's story - from the mountain top
• Rock legend - basalt capped mountain tops
• Mt Tomah - remnant of an ancient lava sheet
• Jenolan Caves - striking example of a 'karst' landscape
• Cage age? - a question that is difficult to answer
• Nature's art in sandstone - Gardens of Stone National Park
• Aging slowly - Thirlmere Lakes National Park
• Valley of shining waterfalls - the Jamison valley

We could make a day out of it with a picnic etc and I was going to suggest we car share as I believe that the gardens is a fair bit away from the nearest railway station.  I will be more than happy to pinch Adam’s car for the day – which means I can take four passengers (at a push), three would be more comfortable. 

It will mean an early start but I think it would make a great day out.  Suggested dates:  I would prefer going during the week, as I believe that it would be quieter (less school children).  So would like to put the following dates forward for your consideration:

Thursday 26^th July (maybe a bit too soon?)

Tuesday 31^st July

Thursday 2^nd Aug

Tuesday 7^th Aug to Friday 10^th Aug

And finally we have Sunday 12^th August.

If we want to go after the 12^th we can still see the daffodils and the heritage centre.

Low Cost/Free Things to See & Do

Just a quick note to let you know that I have added a new page to the blog.  It is titled "Talks Sydney".  Now I know you are all wondering why oh why Sydney - why not something nearer?  Honest I have tried to find something like these at local venues but so far I have had no such luck.  Maybe I am looking in the wrong places.  So if you know where I should look then please let me know.

But I digress, I thought that some of the talks sounded interesting and dare I say they may even be educational.  But the biggest thing I noticed was that they were mostly free.  And then I got to thinking that maybe we could make a day out of it -  should we decide to attend any of the talks.

The ones held in the city would require us to use public transport - which is not so bad as I believe that most of my CHUMs have a concession card or the much coveted "rail pass".  I get neither and covet them both!!!  Anyway as I was saying; a day in the city with a talk either during the day or early evening, followed by a train ride home discussing the issues raised during the talk or just having a "wet my pants" laughing trip home. Either of these sounds great to me.

Please let me know if I am on the right track with these talks and I am more than happy to undertake any research into anything else that you can think we could do.

Photoshop Course

My fellow CHUMs, I just had to write to tell you all about the two day Photoshop Course that Cheryle and I have undertaken.  It has left us more than a little stunned, but hopefully a little less confused about Photoshop.

Christine, our tutor, certainly earned her money and the number of times she uttered, "Look at Me" in a very officious voice  - well it was too numerous to count.  It was not that we were a disruptive group but Cheryle and I were in consultation about the next step or trying to figure out where that command button was on the screen.  Our biggest problem was that we were both trying to apply what we were being taught onto a different version of CS and I was working with Elements, which I was once told was the same as CS.  Let me tell you it is not!!  Two days later and a headache confirm this.

However despite the confusion with the difference in software; Cheryle and I have left the course with a thirst to learn more and to put into practice some of the things we have been taught.  So we are now armed with our notes, which we are no doubt made sense when we wrote them, but we expect they will cause serious head scratching when we come to do the exercises on our own or with some of our own material.

Christine did give us her phone number and told us to call her at any time should we have a problem - boy I bet she doesn't know what she is letting herself in for!

I know this course may not be everyone's cup of tea but believe me you are all going to see the benefits of it when we start to post some of our work on this blog.

As I was saying you will start to see some of our work.  I did not take the photo; it was supplied by the tutor and we had to improve it.  I have altered the colour of the buildings using Gradient Map and added Clouds to the previously washed out sky.