Paint and Repeat

A few months ago I spent the afternoon painting some pottery at the Clayground . I wanted to make a plate to commemorate the birth of my niece, Madelynn. My mother-in-law, Barb, was making a birthday present for her husband, Dave.

These types of places have a huge selection of pottery to choose from. Plates, mugs, bowls, vases, platters, pet dishes, piggy banks-- pretty much anything you could want, they have it. After you select your piece of pottery, the staff washes it off and you select your bottles of glaze.

You can squeeze your glazes into a little painting tray, and then you get to work!

The table gets a little crowded with all the bottles, paint brushes and pottery laying around.

The most tedious part is putting on the multiple coats of glaze. To get a solid coloured plate, you need to put at least three coats of paint on it. This takes quite a while because you have to wait for each layer to dry as you go. I didn't get a good shot of Ashley's plate. But it was a lovely green with a pretty little dragonfly on the front.

Barb's "Morning Joe" mugs turned out quite well and made an excellent birthday present. She made two matching mugs and wrote "Barb" and "Dave" on the handles to personalize them.

I was happy with Madelynn's plate when I left for the day. But I'm always a little worried about how my pieces will turn out after going through the kiln.

But it turned out just as I'd hoped! Perfect for a beautiful baby girl.

Madelynn-- approximately 4 months old.

Swing, Batter, Batter!

The first week of July has been nothing but non-stop beautiful weather. Because of all the sun, we were able to get outside to celebrate Jeff and Ashley's 27th Birthdays. Slathered in sunscreen, we did what all 20-something-year-olds do... We hit the mini golf course. Oh yes, we took it by storm.

The guys observe Ashley's putting technique.

It has been quite a few years since I've played a good round of mini golf. Back in High School I played quite often with friends, but the course we frequented was torn down to make way for a new extension of the C-Train. And really... There aren't that many mini golf courses left in the city-- we had to go all the way out to COP!

Billy, Steve and Tom survey the game. This isn't even a staged photo-- they were really standing like this!

Jeff, Andy and I celebrate our hole-in-ones.

The game was intense and fraught with cheating. But good times were had by all.

Ashley and I show off our neon balls.

After a couple hours of mini golf we convoyed our group to the batting cages in Shouldice Park. Here we spent about 45 minutes taking turns batting at soft balls. I don't think I've held a baseball bat since my days in 10th grade gym (i.e. 12 years ago), and it was the first time for many of us in batting cages.

Kim proves herself to be not only a mini golf shark (she had the top golf score), but also a top-notch batter!

Steve knocks one out of the park! Sort of.

Jeff attempts to warn an unsuspecting Tom of his impending doom.

This was followed by me complaining about the bat being too heavy and my arms hurting.

Seriously! The bat was too heavy, and my arms still hurt! Also, I have a little bunch of muscles in my back that are all pinched together on the right side (my batting side). It makes me feel old to have these aches an pains! Luckily I can console myself that Ashley and Jeff are older. Heh heh heh...

We followed up the batting cages with a Luau themed meal at Jeff and Billy's place. Jeff made some Hawaiian coleslaw and pulled pork sandwiches, along with salsa, and chicken wings. Ashley made a delicious yin yang cake-- angel food cake with pineapple and raspberry layers. At the end of the night, I was stuffed, and very, very content.

Jeff, Ashley, hope you guys had a great birthday!

The Land Down Under (Part III)

By this time four years ago, I was home from Australia. I have such good memories when I go through pictures. Here are some of the last stops on our trip...

When I last left off, we had just enjoyed Katie and Wylie's wedding. Our next experience was one of the greatest on the trip, snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. This was my first experience snorkeling, and it gave me very high expectations for all future snorkeling expeditions!

A giant sea turtle attempting to escape us tourists.

A grumpy sting ray.

Myself, Steve, Ashley and Jeff-- we paid a ridiculous amount of money for this photo.

Our next stop was Brisbane. Many people who have travelled to Australia tell me that Brisbane was their favourite city in the country. For me... It was not. This was because the hostel we stayed in was a complete hole. There was garbage under the beds, the shower door fell off its hinges while Steve was showering, and we had to walk through a questionable red-light district when we were going in and coming out. My memories of Brisbane are unpleasant, except for our trip to the Steve Irwin Australia Zoo.

Actually, my memories of the Australia Zoo are not all rainbows and sunshine. I don't think I was ever colder than the day we were at this zoo! It was freezing out!

The welcome sign.

A crocodile in a show at the "Crocoseum."

Ashley's beautiful shot of a tiger.

From Brisbane we bused it to Surfers Paradise-- perhaps best described as the Las Vegas of Australia. The city is full of glass skyscrapers and hotels all lined up on the beach.

Here we enjoyed some time on the beach.

We also had a fantastic time at Warner Brothers Movie Land. Steve and I managed to score front seats on the Superman Rollercoaster (SO AWESOME), and I'm pretty sure I came close to getting a concussion on the Lethal Weapon Rollercoaster from having my head bang back forth on the "protective" headrest.

Our next stop was Byron Bay-- not exactly the most lively little town.

Byron Bay is, however, the site of the most easterly point of the Australia Mainland. We were there. Jealous?

Fortunately Byron Bay was home to some excellent snorkeling.

Our last big stop in the trip was a surf camp on the east coast of Australia. We spent a day in the camp taking a beginners lesson in surfing. The instructor worked with us until each of us had managed to stand. It took some of us longer than others... Heh... Mainly me.

I can't take credit for this photo, the professional photographer took this one.

Ashley and I dragging our boards to the beach.

Steve was up on his feet in no time!

Sunset. Also taken by a professional photographer!

And finally... We were back in Sydney again. Ashley and Jeff left to jet-set off to Thailand, and Steve and I stayed for an extra four days. We took a day trip out to the Blue Mountains, and we did some last minute shopping, but otherwise, we spent a good couple days lounging in the hostel watching movies. After nearly two months of being on the go every day, we were happy to have a break.

The Blue Mountains were disappointing as far as mountains go. They were really more of a weathered plateau than actual mountains.

I can't believe it's already been four years! Have I sold you on Australia yet? It was a great place to have my first big travel experience. I highly recommend it.

Australia: Two Thumbs Up.