Christmas Cocktail Party

This year we had a Christmas Cocktail Party at Sue's house in Yarralumla.  We all thought she was very brave to host a party of 100 people.

The theme was "black and salmon" in honour of the famous galloper Black Caviar (those are his colours).  It was great to see the number of people who rose to the challenge of finding something in salmon.  The smart ones headed straight for the Black Caviar website to order merchandise. Some claimed to be wearing salmon-coloured underwear but I wasn't about to try and confirm it.

Attendees were greeted at the gate by a welcoming line of men that ended in a bar and an aperitif.  From there we were directed the back of the house where we could enjoy the last of the sun and chat with others to the music of a live band.  The weather was absolutely perfect (for a change).

After the sun went down and we'd been plied with drinks and yummy finger food by the waiters, we went into the house to see Cilla Black who turned up to sing a few numbers.  Even Santa turned up to help with the singing.  (PS.  It really wasn't Cilla, but Catherine put on a great performance).  One of the highlights of the show was Lyn who decided to dance to the song "You're my world" holding a globe of the world that she accidentally destroyed when the lyrics got to the part about " .. your the end of my world.."   I hope Sue gets another globe for Christmas.

Following the show we sat down for some pasta with a bolognese sauce.  I'm sure that some of those that partook heavily of the finger food turned green at the thought of eating more, but most of us valiantly battled on and managed a bowl of two.

After dinner, the crowd progressively reduced until we left about midnight.  I sure hope Sue didn't have to do too much cleaning up the next day.





Click here if you're having a problem viewing the slideshow.  Remember to click on the "slideshow" button.

Cooma Cup

We had great trip to the Cooma Cup this year.  The weather was great, and we seemed to be in Cooma in no time at all.   We had to stop there so that the girls to all rush off to check out the shoe shops or something.  So after a 30 minute sojourn we headed off for the 10 minute trip to the racecourse, where we were allowed to sneak in a back entrance.   I wouldn't have minded a bit of a walk to the main entrance, but I didn't realise at the time that some of the women's shoes were so stylish as to make it painful to walk over 20 metres.

We had a nice lunch in one of the large marquees, and we could pop out regularly to watch the races and the Fashions in the Field competitions.  The standard of elegance certainly put Canberra to shame compared to what we saw there last week.

After the races, we drove back to Breadbo for a great barbeque dinner before getting home around 9pm.

Here is a selection of photos from the day.  For those using an iPad, you'll have to use this link instead. Just click on the "Slideshow" button near the top left hand side of the page.  There seems to be a problem with the Google-generated slideshow at the moment, so if you have any problems, just use the above link.





One problem in taking people's photos is that often I don't know or can't remember someone's name to add to the photo caption.  I generally forget people's names about 15 seconds after being introduced.  So Karyn had the idea that I should take photos of everyone and she could write down their names.  Sounds good, eh?    Here's part of the name list that I found the next day.

 Next time we should do this at the start of the trip and not the end, or maybe before the margaritas rather than after.

Christmas Cocktail Party

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As of 29/11/11 a waiting list exists

Fundraising Lunch for Retina Australia

Last Sunday was a fund-raising lunch for Retina Australia. It was held in the recently-refurbished Silks Restaurant at Thoroughbred Park in Canberra.

Prior to lunch, the noted Paralympian Sue-Ellen Lovett gave a demonstration of dressage in the saddling enclosure. The demonstration was notable because Sue-Ellen is blind, with only 2% vision remaining as a result of retinitus pigmentosa.  Volunteers stood around the sides of the enclosure with bright lights that Sue-Ellen was just able to see, and she controlled the performance by counting strides.   After lunch, she gave a stirring talk about her Olympic experiences and and the even greater Olympian challenges of raising money to fund the Paralympic teams.

Women in Racing honoured her by making her and her support team honorary members of Women in Racing.

Below are some photos from the day.

Harden Picnic Races

We had a fabulous time at Harden.  We left Canberra around 9am and were in Harden by about 12:30 after stopping for an excellent morning tea and a tour of Harden itself.  We even had a Bridal seat for Susan and Brian who are getting married in a few weeks.

The weather was perfect, with sun and some high cloud.  And not too hot either.




On the way back we stopped for great dinner in Binalong before getting back to Canberra at 9pm.

Bus trip to Warwick Farm

About 30 people went on the day trip to Warwick Farm.

The weather was perfect, maybe a little warm towards noon and then getting cooler as the day went on.  We got there early so that we could claim the best outdoor tables in the Members area, but for some it was too hot and they took over the nearby air-conditioned bar.

 Sue was her usual self ten minutes after her first drink.

 Did I really bet that much?

 

Les was sporting the latest in man-bags.  He figured that he was the trendiest man on the course - we thought he was just the bravest.

"I'm not saying that your dress makes you look fat - it's more like  .... huge"

At one point in the afternoon we were invited by the racecourse manager to watch the horses jump from the starter's position.  It wasn't until we got onto the track that we realised how rough it was.  Sue blamed the potholes for her staggering walk.

Here is a slideshow of the day.  If you use an Apple computer, there is a chance that you won't be able to see this slideshow.  Sue had no problem seeing it on her Mac, but it didn't work on an iPad that I tried in JB HiFi.

 

While we had "trolley dollies" serving food and drinks on the way up, on the return trip we were privileged to be served by one of our "troll dolls" who looked comfortable displaying his feminine side.