A picture paints a thousand words...

Well, it's been a while. Thank you to all our dear followers who emailed, texted or tweeted to find out what we've been up to and why we have not posted anything for a month now. Do not fear, all is OK, but it's been a busy time at work and at WBP, moving things a long. 

I have just come back from a few days at home this week. Last weekend was Peter's farewell from the cathedral and they put on a series of leaving dos. His last official day is tomorrow before he 'retires' to manage WBP full time, and we have come up with a list as long as his arm of things he has to do before spring arrives. We managed to make a good start of things last weekend (photos to follow).

The weekend before last I was down in Sydney for the first time since I moved to Australia (I had been down twice for rushed daytime business meetings, but not socially). So I decided, given I had a rare 2 days off in a row, to go to visit my aunt Pam and uncle David.

They had arranged a lovely time for me. I got to see my cousin play for Manly United Football Club (at the height of the hype of the world cup); and I also got to do some shopping. 

Pam and I took a drive around the inner suburbs visiting plenty of antique shops. The one I fell in love with was called Austiques in Glebe. It was run by an expat Julie, from Lancashire, and her husband Ron. They were absolutely lovely and I ended up buying 5 oil paintings for Willowbrook, the tallest one over 7 feet tall (seen behind me in the photo below).

Above: the lovely Julie and me, at Austiques in Glebe. Behind us are a couple of the paintings I bought.

Below: Some of Julie's other lovely wares...

She had an amazing array of clocks, French porcelain, continental furniture and art. Here are the paintings we purchased. Below: Unsigned English oil painting of Galleons, 19th C.

Above and Below: Unsigned Italian Landscapes (modern), but in the style of 17th C landscape artists such as Claude Lorrain. I think they will look lovely in the Blenheim suite and will fit the bill for decorating a Georgian period house as if recherchéd on a grand tour.

Below: The tall 18th C styled oil of a classical scene, likely Rome, showing a bishop and courtiers amongst an architectural capricio...

Above and Below: Details from the painting.

Below: A pair of Nubian candelabrae. I almost bought them, but it is going to be difficult enough getting the paintings to NZ let alone these.

Above: The final painting we bought, a copy of Melchior de Hondecoeter's 17th century painting "Peacock and a Peahen on a Plinth, with Ducks and Other Birds in a Park". There have been many variations on this painting since the original. This one most closely resembles our painting...

other variations include...

a version with the monkeys and fruit on the lower right hand corner...

others have more birds, architectural capricios and farmyard animals...

There was also a collection of bear themed furniture, which on the whole I didn't fancy, but I somehow thought this bench with a carved back including a bear showing his belly was quite amusing...

It would go well in a hunting lodge with a large black forest cuckoo clock and perhaps this other hunting themed furniture there...

After a day of antique shopping, suburb cruising and a few drinks we had the most amazing 7 course degustation meal at an asian fusion restaurant in Pott's Point called Jimmy Lik's...

Above: David and Pam, at Jimmy Lik's.

We then went to a bar in Darlinghurst Rd called Eau de Vie and had a few more interesting cocktails before clambering into the back of a cab and hightailing back to bed.