Thomas the tank engine day

 
We had a kiddie day last week for Finn and Oliver, they are both 2 eyars old and are totally into trains so we had a thomas the tank engine themed event complete with a whole bunch of trains, a colouring competition, thomas cakes (which the kids helped to make), theme music and other songs from the show and champagne for the grown-ups

 
Here we see the two lads playing with the track and all was good for about a minute until....
 
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh. They didnt like having to share, but we convinced them it was ok to play with the same toys and the Finn proceeded to give Oliver EVERYTHING that was on the table, he kept loading him up with trains and cars, it was hilarious.

 

Gig Season officially opens

 
Yup, its gig season again, havent had a classical gig for what seems like months. Here we are doing a duet last weekend in the hills.
 

The Zone

 
In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint we have established a 5km ‘no drive zone’ radius around the house, so all trips to the shops and work etc. are all to be walked or cycled to. Our favourite pub is RIGHT on the 5km limit, lucky us.

A close shave

 
You all know i am pretty beardy and not really into shaving on the principle that less time shaving equals more time in bet in the mornings which is also why i am a strong advocate of slip on shoes (less time tying laces). But occasionally i need to tidy up my soup-catcher and the ol electric razors i have don’t really cut it close enough so a few days ago, for the first time in nearly 4 years I went out and bought a razor. The last time i bought one it was a Mach 3, with 3 blades, it looks like i missed an evolutionary jump because the next model up has FIVE blades AND another small blade around the side for those delicate spots such as under the nose etc. So i guess the rationale is the following theory which I have titled “Gillette Logic”. The hairs see the razor coming and hide, then when three blades have passed they stand up, as per usual, then get mowed down by the additional two ‘stealth’ blades. Makes sense I guess…..

Feens who are engaged

 
Clearing up teh hard drive on the ol PC here and came across a few old photos. Here is one of a whole bunch of feeens, 60% of which are currently engaged.

 
And heres one of Boston correspondants, Al de Pal and the lovely Caroline. I had a great phonecall with Al the other day/night over skype and promised I would find the most embarrising picture I could of him. This isnt it...............

Video time.....

This is what homebrew looks like in progress..

Giggery

 
I did a 3 hours solo violin gig to a private party of 16 people last night in a pure fancy hotel in the heart of perth city. Abba, mozart, ACDC, A.L. Webber, irish folk, gypsy airs, i played it all. My biggest shock was when the host stood up and announced that I would play his favourite song "Dark eyes", I excused myself to the loo upon which i promptly googled the song on my nokia n95 8gig, found a recording by the red army choir on youtube and returned 5 mins later with the song memorised and performed it al gusto at the head of the table. I was straight out of a film, people were requesting everything, so to keep them entertained at one stage I medley'd them all together as they called them, old man river- the adams family (complete with the click click) - nessun dorma - danny boy - and finished with the simpsons theme. I wish i recorded it!

Margaret River 7

 
I had to fix my fiddle (not the violin, the fiddle) the other day, I walked off the stage at a break last week and caught the lead with my foot and pulled the fiddle right off the stand, it hit the floor, luckily the only damage was the fingerboard which came right off.
 
Dont tell my violin making teacher that I used superglue. My rationale for the superglue is because the fiddle only cost me a few bucks to start with, and pretty much paid for itself after its first gig, a good repair would have cost in the region of 200 bucks (about twice the value of the thing), it cost me $3 and 10 mins.
 
What trip to margaret river is complete without a novelty wine-glass shot
 
We ate at Amberly estate again. It was soooooooooooo good i forgot to take a picture of my dinner until it was nearly finished...

Margaret River 6

Sort of breaking the fourth wall here, but you get the idea.
 
Here is ann taking a photo of Fionn trying to steal a stick out of my hand
 
 And here is Fionn after a long walk in the forrest, what a cool dog.
 
Just so Rielly doesn't feel left out.......

margaret river 5

ok, more dog shots

Here they are playing in a brook we found on the forrest walk

 
 
 
 

Margaret River 4

 
Here is the exact spot where Margaret River meets the sea
 
Hereis my portable homebrew setup, 18 litres of the finest brew in all of australia on tap.
 
Winos, a pretty famous wine bar in Mgt River
 
And here is a picture on the wall of Winos, have a look at it for a while before scrolling down and see can you figure out what it is




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Scroll back up again, are you certain you know what it is?

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Yup, its a repeated image of a dogs back-side.

Margaret River 3

 
Here is a shot from one of our forrest walks, looks just like roads from home that I have driven string quartets to weddings on.
 
Keeping it real...

Margaret river 2

 
Here is a picture from a walk in the forrest I took with the hounds, have a close look, you can see that the centre tree has caught the trunk of another tree destroyed in string winds.
 
the place we stayed in was right in the centre of town, just off the main street and it had all sorts of fancy facilities. Here are janes folks enjoying a few hours soaking in the spa
 
As you can see, i have been working out. Those pyjama pants are Finn's favourite, every time he sees them he goes mad shouting "duck duck duck". He stayed with us for the first few days of the holiday and had a great time.
 
And here I am with Fionn having a rest.

Margaret River holiday 1

 
We all went to margaret river for a few days, its a country town about famous for wine and surfing about 4 hours south of perth, here is the car prepared for the hounds.
 
And here I am half way, right after a picnic whis was interrupted by rain (thus explaining the pint in the car...) on the way there.

Treasure from Ireland

 
That same guy (see whiskye post below) also gave us these, a book of slang and a 6 pack of chipsticks, a rare commodity here.