Basketball Begins

 Lachlan and Cooper had their first games of the new season with their new or slightly modified teams yesterday.  Lachlan had a loss and Cooper had a win but team grading is yet to take place.

That's a Wrap

 To finalise the Blog each year I get it printed as a book.  This becomes the journal of our activity for the year.  Apparently the US publisher I previously used has gone belly up so this year we used a publisher in Holland.  The service was very efficient and the book arrived early.

Normal Services Resume For Alfie

 Now that Adam, Kate and family are back from Europe, Alfie is happy again.  In celebration, he killed a fox in the back yard to present to them.

The Lost Has Been Found

 My mother's cousins, Hilda and Hazel Reid were the daughters of the Dr Reid who founded the Sale Hospital.  We had his microscope but could not locate it, however it has now been found and the Sale Historical Museum is very interested.  So when the opportunity arises, we will pass it on to them so it can be viewed in its historical context.

Australia Day 26

 John B was coming down from Canberra so the early plan for the long weekend had been to visit the Lake House.  With the area still suffering the effects of the Ruffy/Longford bushfires and more extreme heat forecast, we all stayed home.

We had a beautiful meal with games to follow.  Neither Claire nor I proved to be particularly proficient at the card game or the music time line game. 

Cathy's Birthday

We had our (late) celebration for Cathy's birthday last night at a very interesting, local, Korean Barbeque Restaurant in Mitcham.  Beautiful salads and sauces were provided along with a range of meats.  All the meat was amazingly tender and all cooked for you at your table.

The menu was almost incomprehensible but a banquet order solved this problem.  The meal was sensational.

Florence and Siena

 From Venice the Donvalians headed south to Florence and then to spend a few days in Siena.

Of course the Tuscan scenery is magnificent.

Siena is a beautiful and historic old town with it's central Piazza del Campo that hosts the twice annual Palio de Siena bareback horse race where surrounding districts compete for the honour of their towns.

The tower overlooking the Piazza can be climbed and gives a wonderful view of the town and surrounds.

The journeying gentlemen undertook a pasta making class!  We will await the culinary delights that will inevitably flow with their newly acquired skills.

Venice

 Our travelers spent a few days in Venice and surrounds bringing the good weather with them.

They included a trip to the island of Burano for a little shopping and feasting.

Nice and Surrounds

 Our travelers spent a few days in Nice.

They took a trip to Monaco to see Monte Carlo and visit Eze overlooking the Mediterranean.

From Nice, the next stop was Venice where they arrived after an evening flight.

In Search of the Small

 Lachlan gave Lisa a microscope for Christmas and now he is developing his own microscopy skills.  He was able to produce these photos with a new camera adapter for the microscope.

Lung tissue above and blood vessel below.

The "head" of an intestinal tapeworm that embeds it's hooks into the intestinal wall to hold position in the gut.

And a cross section of the root of a (dicotyledonous) plant.