Who are these people?

These were cool sculptures that were on one of the best vantage points in Vancouver, well before the trees from the botanic gardens grew huge. Ashwin has some balloons we bought from some dude in the street & they brightened up the cold, grey day.

Peanut Butter Ash

Breakfast was fun for Ashwin too - his favourite was the little peanut butter packets that he scooped out & got into his mouth & all over his face. This day he had a milk moustache as well, as he had a drink of remaining milk from the milk jug.

Poached Eggs & Canadian Bacon

For a slacko vegetarian like me I couldn't resist the temptation of Canadian bacon on the menu with eggs and yummy little hash browns. At our hotel there were about 4 different treats to choose from every day & this prepared us for our touristy activities!

In amongst the totems

Having finished our walk on the Treetops Adventure & experiencing the thrill of Capilano Bridge - we were starving. So a hot chocolate & chips was enjoyed & then some last minute tourist pics before we left to catch the bus to the ferry.

Capilano Suspension Bridge

There's my sister taking a picture on the hairy scary suspension bridge! It was a freaky feeling once you walked on as it felt you had 'sea legs' & once you made it to the centre of the bridge it felt much more stable. Then you have to look down & it certainly is a long way down to the river below - including a stunning view of the valley as well. What a great experience, if ever in Vancouver - check this out!

All rugged up & ready to hike

Here we are at Capilano Bridge in amongst the tree walk which was just amazing! I loved being up on the platforms with the tall trees & little lakes below. If this is a taste of the forest in Canada I certainly will be up to see some more.

Just for Ashwin

A great sign for our own little 'Nudie' Ashwin who loves to wander around after a bath in the nude no matter what the temperature! I am sure he wouldn't be so keen in Canada - this was near a waterslide on Granville Island, which has the best market for food & crafts.

Cheap macs anyone...

Here they are for only 99 cents - what a bargain! Yep only a Macintosh fan would love a picture of the Macintosh Apple itself - anyway there is my confession and my love of the Mac here online!

Hi there!

Another highlight at the Vancouver Aquarium was the beluga whales who look so ethereal swimming through the waters. We enjoyed watching them so much, they hypnotise you with their presence.

My favourite cuties - sea otters!

Here is the posse of sea otters hanging out at the aquarium in Vancouver. Later on that day we experienced a couple holding hands and going for a swim together - I have it on video to upload sometime! The blonde otter was rescued from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 - what a lucky & beautiful otter she is!

Stanley Park, Vancouver

Here is my sister all rugged up on a freezing cold morning in Vancouver. We had planned to go for a wander around the park but instead opted to go to the aquarium for some inside time till it warmed up in the arvo.

Oh Canada!

Here we are leaving the USA for our first holiday in ages - a few days in Vancouver, Canada with my sister. We stayed in this great hotel on the 27th floor & had free breakfast every day - yum! Needed the food to deal with the cold weather of Vancouver every morning, it was refreshing to feel such cold :)

Flower boy...

Here is a favourite pic of Ashwin in the flowers hanging out with some dandelions in the grass at Shoreline. Our camera is excellent for capturing quick moments unlike the ol' Olympus compact which has a delay & you miss the moment!

Auntie visits from Queensland

Next in our line of visitors was my sister visiting from sunny Queensland. We had a fantastic couple of weeks together before heading back to Australia for the Xmas holidays. Here we are chilling out at Shoreline park on a sunny afternoon.

Sailing in Sunnyvale

As Xmas was around the corner James had a brilliant idea of buying us a digital camera for our combined prezzo. That was a wonderful gift and we both love our Canon Rebel XTi - I had lenses from my previous SLR so we settled with a Canon body & it is just fantastic! Here's Ashwin on one of our first photo shoots in downtown Sunnyvale.

Melbourne Cup celebration!

Thanks to our Aussie mates Kath & Andy for organising a fun party in celebration of Melbourne Cup day - held on the first Tuesday in November. Here are the ladies at the party looking lovely - it is always a great excuse to dress up & of course wear a hat & some feathers!

Our visitor from Melbourne...

Here is Ange - a good friend from Melbourne who came to stay with us for a couple of days before she went over to New York for a holiday! It was so good to hang out, this is pic from when we went for a wander through the Mission in SF - there's some great shopping to be had but alas we were there way too early to get any done - could have seen a sexy film though! Still we had a fun time & visited my favourite yarn store artfibers in downtown SF.

Pinata birthday cake!

Here is Ashwins sugar cake surprise for his birthday back in October. Yep it has been a long time between posts but I have to finish this lot of pics then get on with the last 3 months of missing in action holiday postings... It was a Ghiradelli outer shell with Hersheys stuck all over and then you smash the shell & inside was a rich chocolate cake covered in more lollies - whew sugar overload!

Stamper extraordinaire!

Ashwin is in action with one of his favourite birthday prezzos his stamper kit. As you can see he likes stamping everything in sight including himself! He was playing stamps with James and next thing I saw he was covered in red ink, I am sure Skippyjon Jones inspired him.

Ashwins 2nd birthday!

Happy birthday to you little one - Ashwin was 2 years old on the 11th October. Here he is opening one of his many gifts that was sent from Australia - we had to space the gifts out as he had so many. He had a fun time ripping open the paper and discovering what he scored. Overall he had a good time with his pressos and he got some goodies that he really enjoyed! He had a great day as well hanging out with the family :)

The train driver on his birthday...

For Ashwins 2nd birthday we were in Los Gatos on a venture so we thought we would take him on a train ride at the park. Unfortunately it was closed due to the weather - too much sunshine = beach time! So Ashwin had to settle for a stationary vehicle instead, that he really enjoyed! We will have to take him on a day that the wildcat railroad is opened, hopefully soon!!

The truckeater!

Ashwin must have been a bit hungry on our way back from SF the other day as he was munching on his truck before he fell asleep with the truck in his mouth. Maybe he was just entertaining himself along the boring trip on the freeway.

The glorious Golden Gate

As we were checking out the sites with the relatives from Australia we stopped by to check out the Golden Gate on a clear morning. Here we are, just the two of us - as Ashwin was asleep in the car taking a morning nap. We enjoyed the sights of the city from the Marin side of the bridge as you could see the panorama from the Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge with the city in between.

A afternoon break at North Beach

On our way back through the Fleet Week crowds we stopped by to take a break at Washington Park. They had a collection of Ferraris on show that I had to keep Ashwin away from and we hung out till we felt we could face the crowds again! Man we were tired as we thought we could tram it back but no chance, so we had to walk for miles/kilometres back to the car - exhausted!

There go the Blue Angels!!

As we had guests to entertain we saw in the paper that it was Fleet Week in SF and you can go on board navy vessels and the air acrobatic team the Blue Angels were on show. Man it was crazy busy, still we experienced the sights & sounds of America in it's glory!

Get that suit off me!

For a Halloween costume we thought we would get Ashwin a frog suit to wear but there is a problem - he hates it! So it looks like it will be given back to the Goodwill store. So much for making an effort to celebrate a great American tradition, think if anything Ashwin will be a pirate but the problem is keeping the bandana on his head! It's next week so we'll see how we go and if we can trick or treat around the 'hood??!!

Our guests arrive...

As the year has flown by the day came for our first lot of guest visits arrived. All the way from Adelaide, Australia via Spain, France and the United Kingdom - whew! So I think it was good that they came to California to chill out and relax before a trip back to Australia.

Day out to Hakone Gardens

We are out on this beautiful sunny day to Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, touring with our guests Jane & Lloyd. It was a relaxing time for all - having ice cream for morning tea in Saratoga and checking out Knitting Arts for some yarn and then to the gardens for some zen time!

I am the firestarter!

Amazing what you can do with baby blueberry shampoo these days - even use it as a temporary hair product! Don't know if anyone remembers the band The Prodigy from the early 90's?? Here Ashwin has hair like the lead singer except it isn't bright orange. It would be cool if it stayed this way for a bit longer but maybe we need gelatin to transform Ashwin into a punk!

Surprise news!!

Well I think I had better make the announcement that James and I are having another baby and lucky Ashwin will be getting a sibling to play with! I am now 15 weeks and counting, so all of you in Australia get ready to see a belly when we visit in December.

Look out Hitchcock!

This could have been a scene from 'The Birds', Alfred Hitchcocks legendary film - think these birds were on a break at the time of this shot! Ashwin was having a great time chasing the birds and watching them fly away.

For all the 'Cafe Del Mar' fans...

Wow here is 'Rio of the Sea' where is Duran Duran - I didn't see anyone in their speedos falling off the pier!! We are still in California and this reminded me of all the Cafe Del Mar Ibiza CDs friends of mine used to listen to - so this pic is for you!

Not another Brighton Beach!

Here we are on New Brighton State Beach, just to be different from the Brightons in the UK and Australia (I am sure there are more but they are the only two I know!) on a Sunday drive on a beautiful day. Our beloved picnic blanket that accompanys us in the car and Ashwins sand toys are the essentials for the sand and cold water. Ashwin is eating sandy lunch in this pic.

Some felting action!

I had this scarf ready knit from my machine and ready to be felted - shibori stylee! Well that is what the ladies at Stitches told us the technique was anyhow... This is a beautiful alchemy yarn 40% silk and 60% mohair it is so fine and soft.

Art and da boys!

We caught up with some friends at "stinky duck pond" in Palo Alto one weekend recently & found these poles in the ground - we were discussing whether it was an art installation of someone got drunk while putting up a fence.

A bit of cross dressing...

Is this our son dressed in girls clothes - he even looks like a girl! I can explain this whole episode... you see I was at the pool with the mums group hanging out by the spa and Ashwin decided to go into the spa fully clothed!! Lucky another mum there had some backup clothes in Ashwins size but they were for her daughter. He ended up just wearing the top and nothing else - the life of a baby!

Hey punk!

On one of our chill out days together Ashwin and I go down to our favourite spot for a bit of wildlife viewing. Here we found a baby crane?? Well it was hanging around a beautiful looking mature crane at the lake. I just loved it's head dress!

Last day of childcare

This is Ashwins childcare centre that he enjoyed so much, Daddy was here to drop him off for his last day. He had a party and the carers were saying that he loves to wear fairy wings. Now that is an idea for a Halloween outfit - he can go as a boy fairy??

Mr Scamp

This is the scamp Ashwin in amongst the marigolds on a morning out to Los Gatos. He just loved his time in childcare when I was working full time then part time. Now Ashwin gets to hang out with Mum all the time! Think he has been enjoying himself and his days out doing stuff around the place. Think the best thing is doing the groceries and scoring free food, mmmmm!

Ever seen an Artichoke flower?

As I haven't blogged for months (it seems like forever!) as I have been busy with work, looking after Ashwin & for the last 3 weeks two lots of different guests from Australia - here's opening with something flowery. We found this at the Farmers Market in Sunnyvale & it smells like honey, when we first saw it I said to James - it's an artichoke flower & sure enough it was!!

Ashwins first real haircut

Due to a lice in his hair from childcare, Ashwin had to go & get his hippy hair chopped off. Here he is in the salon & after with his new haircut - what a cutie!

Haircut time for the boyz...

James thought he'd get his chopped off as well as Ashwin due to nits. Here he is before and after! Cost a mere $10 - what a bargain!

Surprise 6 pack!

While we were doing the weekly shop down at the local Whole Foods (Pay) James found a surprise 6 pack of beer. There is an interesting range of beers here & if you enjoy beer there are tons of microbrews to choose from - who needs to drink yank beer?? NB. James went back for more & they weren't to be found - think they were getting rid of their ol' stash & putting in some new samples.

A cat fertiliser

Here is Mr Scrap in our herb planter box, then he used it as a litter box. He's looking quite comfy in here with his tongue hanging out!

Two of my fave things in the one ad!

How's this for a find - as I was looking though the Visit Victoria website for some inspiration images for a work presentation - I found this ad with their new promo campaign 'the red thread'. This is a great shot of Melbourne city (my home!!) and a massive ball of yarn! Watch the vid, it is excellent... well it made me homesick :)

Spare the air...

...ride the train as an alternate means of transport. Speaking of resources there were free rides on the Caltrain the other day to encourage folk to catch public transit... mmmmm think they'll have to improve it first.

For the truck lovers

Look closely at this plate & what do u see - what word was that, ohhhh trucker. When I walked past I had to look twice to see whether it said the F word?? It just says 'Ice Cold Mother Trucker'. It is a quite huge truck & there are many more that are even bigger than this one that people use as their car to get around the place - we got oil, so let's use it is their theory.

A how to of parking

If lines & signs aren't enough to assist you to park here is a diagram of how to park - you put your bumper here. 90 degress is this angle. On the way to work I found this sign & thank goodness for this the parking looked fine.

Gelati for me, mmmmmm!

As a treat for the end of a yummy lunch of a sushi roll (handroll wrapped in rice paper - delicious!) at the Ferry Building I found a gelati store, this was amaretto & butter pecan gelati I enjoyed in the sunshine of a bright summers day.

Not the last train ride!

Here is the platform where I wait for the limited express train - downtown Mtn View. The sign says to San Francisco, it is a journey of 1 hour every morning to da city. Now, I'm working 2 days a week for the next month of so, then countdown to Xmas in Oz!

Full time work is over...

Whew it has been 5 very long weeks (ending on the 31 Aug) but the time has flown by when you are back working. This is shadow of the word coffee on the building I work in in SF. Anyhow, the days were long & yes I did get a lot of knitting done on the Caltrain - I made this fab shoulder bag out of Noro yarn from Japan. Will blog it when it is finished, still have to sew it together!