Guess where ...

Dark wooden furniture, Erdinger beer on tap and comfort food from the 1950s. Middle Europe somewhere?

No not middle Europe but lower north shore Sydney. Photo taken yesterday at the Bazaar Beer Cafe in St Leonards to be exact (and those are sliced dumplings on the plate).

Wooden seats

What happened to all the wooden seats?

If they still exist they are often like this one. Mostly they have been replaced by aluminium seats which might look like wood but which seep cold into you as soon as you sit down. Give me a wooden seat any day - even an old one.

Woy Woy in Winter

Calm clear day at the Woy Woy wharf. A bird sits at the end of a pier with its belly to the warm winter sun.

View north from the Woy Woy wharf over Brisbane Waters

On the end of the wharf sits a bird ...

...open winged in the morning sun.

The bird sat there still as a statue and was still sitting, wings extended, when I left.

Simon Tedeschi plays piano

Simon Tedeschi played piano at the Pearl Beach Festival with Ian Cooper on violin. They were charasmatic and fun. The chairs were in a semi-circle and from my viewpoint far left I could see Tedeschi face-on as he looked across to Cooper. He seemed to be all eyes as they communicated. Great show - thanks guys!
(More here)

Tedeschi plays piano

Jane Rutter plays flute

Among performers at the Pearl Beach Festival last weekend were the Enigma Quartet, Simon Tedeschi (piano) with Ian Cooper (violinist),  Jane Rutter (flute) with singer Peter Cousens.
Jane Rutter was difficult to draw as she moved all the time, walking from one and of the stage to the other and swaying back and forth as well. But occasionally I caught a brief glimpse of her face as she played.

Jane Rutter plays flute

You can see the sketches of most of the performers here.

www.artsmitten.com

Flowers at Rubys Cafe

White lillies and large red flowers with floppy petals. These are the flowers that sit in the vase at Ruby's Cafe in Umina.

Flowers at Ruby's Cafe

They never wilt
They are made of silk.

Rain Rain Sun Rain Rain

Rain rain rain. Then out comes the sun for five seconds, shining brightly before it is blotted out by the clouds again. Rain rain rain.

Banksia in June

In June the flowering Banksia shine like lights in the bush.

Banksia (Watercolour on Arches Paper)

Great North Walk

The bush track between Patonga and Pearl Beach is part of the Great North Walk which goes all the way from Sydney to Newcastle. The bush path is beautiful, with trees pushing their way between great boulders between which the path occasionally passes.

Steps cut between boulders

Trees push their way between rocks

Att the top of the hill above Patonga you can see all the way back up the Hawkesbury River.

Rubys Cafe and Books

Not only coffee and edibles but books, old collectors items and mannequins, you find them all in Ruby's Cafe and Bookshop in Umina Beach on the NSW Central Coast. They have a loyal clientelle that includes a scrabble club on Wednesday mornings. Last Saturday when the place was full to overflowing I painted members of a local yoga group who sat at the table near the window.

Ruby's Cafe and Books in Umina Beach, NSW

Bryan Hymel

I just discovered the tenor Bryan Hymel through the mostly opera blog.  A voice like honey ... have a listen: