Thursday, December 16 - AHHHHHHHH!

I was hanging around in my house the other day, painting a bit here and there, de-cluttering - getting the house ready to sell. I was also preparing for a meeting later in the afternoon which was fated not to occur. My sister, Sandy, was coming to Socorro to have lunch and celebrate her UNM graduation - 55 years in coming was certainly deserving of celebration. Tim saw a vehicle drive in and told me that Sandy had people with her. People? Here? With Sandy? What the......? Sandy arrived first at the door and before I could offer a hug, one more person came around the corner, then another, and then another. Who were these attractive strangers? Stranger no. 1 was my sister, Nancy, 2nd was my sister, Karen, and 3rd was my sister, Wendy. A breeze could have knocked me against the wall. Surprise? That is the understatement of the century - it's been TEN years at least since I've seen these three characters. Unlike Sandy who lives in nearby Albuquerque, Nancy, Karen and Wendy were visiting from New England, USA!



Apparently, the scheming threesome had been planning their surprise since last summer: to attend Sandy's graduation and then to visit Tim and I prior to our expatriation to Oz. Long story short, five of us women talking and complaining about our weight, new wrinkles, etc. became too much for Tim and Gavin. Both quietly escaped after our EXTENSIVE photo taking session. Please view this slideshow to catch some of the excitement (and five beautiful women!).

A house we like

More R.E.M.

No, it's not the sixties in London, it's 2004 in Albuquerque

Our toilet is now so clean that....

The Explorers

Books can really bring a place alive. Following a six month self-indugence in Patrick O'Brien's wonderful Aubrey-Maturin books, some of which are set in the South Pacific, I read Caroline Alexander's account of the mutiny on "The Bounty". That brought especial interest to our visit to Fiji. On his magnificent voyage back from the mutiny, Bligh sailed through the "Cannibal Islands", as Fiji was then known, but did not dare to stop. There was also a certain Conradian aspect to sitting on the veranda of our hotel just north of Nadi. See what you think:

Just now, I'm reading a collection of excerpts from the diaries of early explorers of Australia: The Explorers by Tim Flannery. It starts with Jansz in 1606 and Carstensz in 1623 exploring the northern most tip of Australia, continues with Cook and Banks in 1770, Flinders circumnavigation in 1802, and ends (I'm not there yet...) in 1977 with Peasley (I have no idea!).

Someone mentions black swans with the same sense of wonder that we had when we saw them:

The droppings of "Whom-batts" form a topic of some discussion. Here's a picture of Judi finding wombat droppings in the woods:

I guess the point is that you can still find the unexpected.

Tim