May Day

Now that it is May already the Great Race is fast approaching. Our team is called "Keep Calm until 50" and red. I had an inspired moment and decided to print t-shirts but that turned out disastrously (lucky I had a practice run on the inside of the back of mine). After some googling and hurried emails I spent Thursday morning at Queenstown where I had them digitally printed. Much cheaper than the old screen printing method and very fast. This is the front. Those of you who have visited should be able to do it.

The solution is on the back of the shirt. Everyone on the team is very happy with the print result and I have learnt what I did wrong. Don't try to print with a transparent background. So now I have plenty of iron-on tshirt transfer paper for my next inspiration......

I got to Bishan just in time to have a quick lunch with Eric before the scheduled pd session and then went straight to work so I was pretty weary by the time I got home after leaving at 9:30am. 

Friday was May Day so I could have recovered with a sleep-in but instead chose to walk with Eric and Heather around Sungai Buloh. At Kranji we were surprised by the huge snaking queue of people waiting patiently for the causeway bus to take them to Johor Bahru to spend the public holiday. There were also plenty of visitors at the wetlands park close to the Visitor Centre but as we walked further and further away the numbers dwindled. It was staggering to see the number of huge lenses the keen photographers were sporting, it is one of those occasions when you realise just how many wealthy people there are here. For us, the best sighting was of the copper-throated sunbird, considered rare here. Sungei Buloh is said to be one of the few places where there is good chance of seeing this bird and it was the first time for us. They eat insects but are best known for sipping on nectar. We were so close that we were able to observe one of them flicking their tongue in and out. Like other Sunbirds, the male is more colourful than the female.

We were away for about 5n hrs altogether and in the afternoon Skyped with both Adrian and later Luke. Adrian is finding the mornings cool (that day it had been 2 deg C when he got up). He'd spent the week out at Yuendamu again so was happy with his pay cheque. He is starting to have a bit of a social life with others from work and quite happy being the master of his house now that he has his own digs. Luke and Tahlia enjoyed their recent trip to Vic where they stayed with her family first at Philip Is and then near Leongatha. 

In the evening we were joined by Peter and Heather and walked out our back gate to a new bar called the Saturday House Bar and Grill on Paya Lebar Rd. The area is pretty industrial at the moment but a huge new condo and a new shopping centre are nearing completion close by so it will be a good location quite soon. The menu was well priced for both food and drinks and I'm tempted to go back and try the offerings for brunch. 

The weekend was long and difficult, particularly for Punggol who had to manage with 2 staff away on sick leave. We had early nights and it was probably a good thing the Monday walk was from Labrador Park to VivoCity, a relatively short one. We didn't take binoculars and what a pity because we saw our first purple-throated sunbird on the boardwalk through the mangroves at Labrador. This is the breeding season for sunbirds which might explain why we are seeing them so regularly at the moment. This one is a google image, borrowed because we were unable to photograph the flitting little critters.

In the afternoon we had another Skype session, this time with Sandy in Darwin. She is having to cope long distance with her family as they try to support a sister bedridden in a Sydney hospital. It is a very challenging situation for her and we send her our love and support from afar.  

Speaking of sending love and support, we are still hearing of the climbing death toll from the Nepal earthquake. What we still don't know is any news directly from Gudel itself, so we can only hope that that is a good sign. 

Monday night I had a date with William (McInnes that is) since we have discovered his 'Hello Birdie' program, the 'Boofhead's Guide To Birdwatching' is on AustraliaPlus TV. I enjoy his silly antics as much as just seeing the different Australian landscapes. Eric cooked up a lovely lamb casserole and we shared a bottle of wine he won in a recent work raffle. Unfortunately he woke up Tuesday feeling unwell with Gastric Flu again so we don't know what to blame, the food or the wine, but I'm fine. Maybe it was his lunch at VivoCity.

Tuesday was low key since he was unwell and I got the sewing machine out again. Mending is now done and a remake is underway. Parent Teacher interviews will keep us busy over the next 2 weeks.