July 2006
This month: Snooker > HAPPY BIRTHDAY PA!! > Christmas in July > Ferry Ride >
Rubbing Shoulders with the Rich & Famous
Sunday 23 - Snooker
I'm sure you are all anxious to know what we do on days when the weather is wilder than a sack of angry cats and we are forced to remain inside - which has been the case for most of the week. We play snooker!! Considering that Pa's "eyes are dim" (his words) and he has a crook neck and a dicky back and only a patchy recollection of the rules... he does great! Considering I don't have any of the above excuses, I do not do so great...
Here's Pa in action
The sun was actually shining this morning and I felt inspired to make a panarama shot of Pa's lovely view. Click on this small version to see it bigger...
Plus you'll see lots of new pics on the corkboard if you click here
Monday 17 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY PA!!!!
On this very day, in 1913, our intrepid Pa was born in South Africa to Lilian and Thomas Hopkins. Here is the earliest photo of Pa I could find (I think the lips are the confirming factor):
Looks quite ready to conquer the world don't you think? It's the belt that does it.
Well, it's been an 'all go' birthday for Pa so far. We started the day with my grand rendition of 'happy birthday to you' in C-major, closely followed by a pressie frenzie...
followed by long distance birthday wishes...
followed by lunch with friends...
Just as we finished our lunch with nana at Abbotsford Rowing Club, a chocolate mud-cake with sparkler sparkling was brought to our table (pre-arranged by nana), and in all the excitement I forgot to take a picture. You'll just have to imagine the momentary terror on Pa's face which was quickly replaced by joy and wonder. Phew!! No wonder we needed a big nap when we got home. It's not easy being so popular and 93 all on the same day.
Have a look at the new pics on Pa's corkboard here
Wednesday 12 - Christmas in July
I went to the Blue Mountains on the weekend for a Christmas in July celebration with some people from church. It was a bit chilly but I had my trusty parka, and beanie, and gloves, and scarf and thermals... One must be prepared. We had a wonderful roast turkey dinner on the Saturday night complete with Christmas pudding and an open fire.
The weather was perfect and the views weren't bad either
Here are some panaramas I put together to give you an idea of the outlook. Click on each pic to see it enlarged.
Plus check out the latest on the Original Artworks page...
Wednesday 5 - Ferry Ride
It was such a lovely winters day today we decided to take the ferry over to Circular Quay for lunch despite the prospect of contending with the school holiday masses. Not much to report really. We had lunch at City Extra which can be highly recommended for their 10-inch-thick padded booth seats (great for bony you-know-whats). I had a very delicious pumpkin frittata with salad and Pa had the salmon steak with veges (reported to be "very good") and then we had a wee stroll whilst negotiating multitudes of families with prams... and that was that really. I was trying to take my usual go-go-gadget-arm self-portrait-with-Pa shot, when a helpful lady came past with a whopping-big-lensed camera hanging around her neck and offered to take the picture for us. Very nice of her. Here's the pic of us in Manly and another of Pa with A-Well-Known-Sydney-Landmark in the background.
And we also have the latest entries for the original artworks page if you care to click here
Sunday 2 - Rubbing Shoulders with the Rich & Famous
We had such an overwhelming response of oohs and aahs from the last posting of 'The Teens' with The Allen Bros that we decided to employ a researcher to see what else could be dug up from the dazzling past of certain members of the extended Hopkins clan. Low and behold! Karen unearthed these treasures:
It's a very slim-waisted Judy off to her year 12 formal with her partner Elvis and good mate Frank. Rumour has it that Judy grabbed this photo opportunity while Vicki was in the bathroom powdering her nose. Sadly, none of Vicki's friends believe that Frank Sinatra took her to the year 12 formal of '63.
Talk about friends in high places. Most people don't know that the queen came to visit Pa recently. Apparently they are great friends from way back and she makes secret visits to Manly every 5 and 1/2 years just to see him. Lizzie (as Pa affectionately calls her) usually hires a water taxi which drops her off at the boat shed. She's always impressed with the ship-shape condition she finds it in each time she visits. And not only the boat shed but Pa himself. She's really looking forward to writing him a letter of congratulations on his 100th birthday. Pa and Lizzie have always gone to a little cafe in Harbord which opened in 1936. Only recently it was bought out by Michelle's, so they now go there, although it's not quite the same.
A couple more things: click here to see the first ever drawing by Annabelle and click here to see the new pics at Pa's Corkboard.
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