Beneficial exercise or physical torture?

Tonight I attended my first exercise session at a local fitness centre (they don't call them "gymnasiums" these days).
I was taken through the 1-hour program by a very nice bloke, a few years younger than I.
Tony had a quadruple-bypass about 4 years ago, took up regular exercise after the operation and became an instructor at the centre. Because of his age and personal background he is the ideal person to set and oversee the program.

It was a fun regime, involving about six different pieces of equipment, with an emphasis on increasing bone density, burning fat and improving overall muscle tone.
A tiring, but enjoyable hour that I found to be very satisfying. I didn't realise how much I had missed regular physical exercise.

Of course, tomorrow morning, I may well reverse my opinion when I find my muscles refuse to work without creating enormous amounts of pain all over my body.

Another day in paradise.

This evening I received this photo from my sister in Yamba.
Amy & Ashley are stating their marriage vows before the celebrant, with the three bride's-maids in attendance.
In the background, the late-afternoon sky is dappled with clouds and the blue Pacific Ocean rolls in to break upon the rocky headland.
I don't think that I have ever seen a more beautiful location for a wedding.

Beach Babe!

September 1982 and daughter Lauren - nearly 2 year's old in this photo - is enjoying the sun and sand at Lake Cathie (pronounced "Cat-eye" by the locals for over a thousand years), just south of Port Macquarie.
(Image scanned from a 35 mm Kodachrome slide. Camera was a Nikon EM)

Klang! Tinkle! Bong! Ka-Pling!

Schroeder from "Peanuts"? Elton John? Mozart?
None of these, but rather my 1-year old son belting out an unfinished piano concerto on the kitchen floor. But he did grow up to be a rather musical (guitar) and artistically-creative person, so maybe there was something stirring back in 1984.
(Image scanned from a 35mm Kodachrome slide. Camera Nikon EM)

Shaken, not stirred.

Still in a musical frame of mind, here is a link to a group that I only very recently discovered."Pink Martini" is the name and here's a taste of their style.......... Eugene

A Fine Frenzy, indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I heard a track from this CD a couple of weeks ago (thanks, Tom) and enjoyed it so much that I was prompted to buy the album.
It is not available in Australia over-the-counter, so it had to be ordered in for me from the US of A.

If your music tastes include Dido then you will most likely enjoy the words and music of Alison Sudol, the young lady of the striking red hair and beautiful voice. Great arrangements, backings and accompaniments. Certainly a very Fine Frenzy.

Grandma & grand-daughter on a sunny Saturday

On Saturday 14th. March our daughter and son-in-law moved into their castle - their own home after 8 years of renting.


So while the move was on, our grandchildren spent the day with my wife and I - grandma pictured here with 2-year old Matilda, sharing the front entry porch in the dappled autumn sunlight.

Speaking of blue horizons.....

This photo - a panorama made by stitching two pix together - was taken from Mount Stromlo in June of 2008. A crisp, clear winter's day in Canberra.
Before the bushfires of 2003, this view would not have been possible, being obscured by the pine forest.

Congratulations, Amy & Ashley

The younger daughter of my younger sister - i.e., my niece, Amy - was married today in Yamba (officially the one location in Oz where everyone wants to be).
She was wed to Ashley, and young men the length and breadth of the land must now be crying in their beer, gnashing teeth and wearing looks of utter desolation. Tough cheddar, lads!

I really wanted to be there but, unfortunately, it was not to be. It's a long way from Canberra to Yamba and I wasn't able to make it.
So from afar I wish Amy and Ashley all the very best that the future can bring them.

Beyond the Wha-a-at?!

How does one choose a name for a blog?
In considering this important question this morning I ran through several obvious titles, discarding them all.
I thought "Bruce's Place" probably the dullest of the lot and when on my second cuppa coffee, it came to me....

TAAAH-DAAAAH!

"Beyond the Blue Horizon"!

Why?
Two reasons...

• The lyrics from the song embody the very essence of the intent behind this blog....

"Beyond the blue horizon
Waits a beautiful day
Goodbye to things that bore me
Joy is waiting for me".

• The book of the same title, by Alexander Frater, is a marvellous tale of the author, using modern airlines, retracing the route taken in the pre-war years by the Short S.23 flying-boats of Imperial Airways along the "Empire Route" between England and Australia/New Zealand. It was an adventure, a journey of discovery, a wonderful, spirit-enhancing, uplifting experience. Just like this blog.
  

So there you have it - the thinking that went behind the choice of blog-title.
(That should give you some idea of what you might come across here as time passes.)
Incidentally, I took the heading photo in August 2008. Angourie Beach - a world-famous surfing beach - is just south of Yamba, on the NSW north coast. Yamba is one of the most beautiful locations on the Australian coast. I want to be there.
EDIT:
In May of 2014, some five years after this initial entry, we arrived in Yamba, our new hometown.