With friends from New York in town, you can’t pass up showing off a Sydney sunset from the Opera House. Then an energetic, contemporary performance by an Aboriginal dance-theatre company from Broome, complete with a real water downpour on the stage and a haunting Nick Cave rendition of ‘The Weeping song’. A brilliant collaboration.

It’s always dangerous going to dinner at a chef’s house …. these dinners have been known to go until 3am in the past, and it didn’t bode well when he announced he had prepared three entrees. A generous and gracious host, with spectacular food and a cellar of wines that were older then some of the guests.

Used the Sydney Festival as a catalyst for heading into the city for a dose of culture. Saw the magnificent and intricate pencil drawings of Sydney made during the 1930’s from Lloyd Rees. Then changed genres and saw an exhibition of Tony Mott’s work as a rock’n’roll photographer over the last few decades, covering concerts for the Rolling Stones, Bowie and a few thousand others.

Finished the night at the State Theatre with a concert by the Dirty Three … accurately reviewed as “improvised lava eruptions of over-amped fiddle, guitar and train-wreck percussion”. A diverse day indeed.

With temperatures reaching 39 degrees Celsius today, the best option was to ride it out underwater and wait for the southerly buster to come through this afternoon.

I remember when my children were toddlers and I was always trying to find ways to exhaust them so they would have a long nap and I could sit down with a hot cup of tea. I think it must be the same for dog owners. The owner of two young staffies in the park this morning still had a long way to go before they exhausted all their boundless energy.

A combination of the raucous early morning birds outside my window and my husband being a keen surfer, I managed to get this photo before 6am. Have you found that it does make you feel a little pious if you are up and about at that time? You certainly fit a lot more into your day.

Summer afternoons + garden hose + backyard + kids = endless hours of fun. No need for the compulsory Sunday evening bath tonight for our English neighbours.

This guy busting a few yoga moves while surfing out on Dee Why Point this morning.

Date night. Summer. Manly Wharf. Life’s good.

Photo credit to my husband with the iPhone panorama.

Delightful to catch up for lunch with a girlfriend I had not seen for a few years because we have both been living in different countries. She has always been articulate, witty and has such a positive outlook on life.

Now she is absolutely smitten. That crazy, want to kiss you all over, eat you all up, mother love. So intense and beautiful to witness. As a mother of 2 month old twin girls, there is a lot of love going down in the house.

Think I will need to keep visiting because I must admit to becoming a little smitten myself.

Third day of torrential rain and flooding …. nothing for it but to go and get wet.

With a second day of continual rain, there is not much incentive to head outdoors. My children have loved being housebound, resorting to making (and quickly consuming) cupcakes before breakfast.