it’s pauli’s birthday todaaay he’s a wonderful artist and educator who lives in Halifaxi with his lovely belle Fiona and their amazing Sasha, hope you have a wonderful day magnificent paul lots of love plus hugs michael

(picture of fountain near Salamanca, Hobart)

You may have heard the rumours – so here is the proof. I went surfing with my new pal chris AGAIN [who does know how to surf – see bottom picture], who had his new mini waterproof digital camera. So here is a few photos of me floundering in near freezing water – around 4 degrees C. It was actually very pleasant except for the ice cream headache from ploughing headfirst into an Atlantic wave….. very cold!! needless to say! WINTER SURFING in CANADA

As you can see though it was a very sunny, but really windy day in January – see the foam sailing off into the air in the back left …. enough information you say…

yes true,

but isn’t it ironic in part that the boy from oz goes surfing in near freezing water, in the Atlantic Ocean, in the middle of winter whilst managing to avoid it for thirtysomething years back home????

C’est trois frois…..

Goodness golly and gosh. Its already freezing me balls in the buckets of ice. and the wind it just howls through you like your flesh and bone have no substance. Is it particularly cold for the locale… no. Unfortunately I am just whingeing about low plus temperatures like 5 or 7 degrees Celcius!!!!!

The soles of the leaves are leaving in droves and are off to florida. They of course leave their mortal remains to clump and rot in the damp cool earth. We had Fiona’s friend Fanny stay ffor the weekend which was really nice. We had a night on the town with food and drinks and running between shelters in the blistering rain. Good god! who really invented this climate called…winter [of course it is still officially just Autumn].

Our stuff finally came on friday…. it was soo weird to see it all. The last time was at Ryan street… and you guys were all round for dinner and drinks. Getting our stuff I think made me a bit more aware that we have really moved. But it was also great to see it again – it also means that I can get more info to NSCAD and so on….

Anyways apart from the weather and our stuff coming things do seem a little more manageable…mostly.

Soo bloddy cheery. You feasting on the goodie of culture and we on a family excursion to the Annapolis Valley, NS, to go apple picking. Us with Sasha, his cousins Elie, Phoebe and Callum and Fiona’s Sister Sarah and her hubby Phil – all packed into two cars and head North by North west in a glorious Autumn day for ‘sum good’ apples. [nova scotian expression – sum good]

Where is the grump in this. A beautiful day was had by all. All up about 100 lbs (50kilos??) of apples collected for distribution around the family…. but still I guess lots of pies, crumbles, slices, chutneys and sauces to be made for the winter ahead. The leaves are still grumley holding on for dear life to the trees and are al glorious Reds, Oranges and vivid yellows.

Fall is really a treat – kinda cold but nice, soft air and really beautiful soft colours… I can understand why Canadians rave about it. The other night was a real ‘pea sooper’ [English? expression] but an apt oneeverything felt like silk outisde. oooohhhh!.

The cold is not all that Canada is… to my relief at this stage. Although outside it is 5 degrees.
Hope the feast continues in spring for youse,,

erudite grumpy

Well, Well its the end of season blues..

how soon will the spring blossoms come with their delightful pollen and distract you away from this glum mood with their playful sneezes. Too Bad that the Bulldogs and the Saints suck – almost as much but actually nowhere as near my fallen from grace team that shall remain nameless.

Everything here seems a hurdle even good things emerge later as a hurdle in disguise. The latest thing is that the ATO has LOST my tax return!! Good luck hey!

Leaves are changing colour and there is a snap to the air, but there are still sunny days. We are moving into our house in two weeks and with some luck our stuff will be here by december so moving in this time will be easy as there will actually be nothing to move or unpack, or even sleep on!!

Anyway back to the weather….

Paul