Bushfires and Jacarandas

At assembly this week at school, the boys were asked to raise their hands if they knew someone affected by the bushfires - pretty much 80% of them did. Tycho's family orchard was, I think, right on the edge of the huge fire in the Blue Mountains around Bilpin; there were some pretty hairy photos on facebook of the back-burn the night before the most dangerous day last week, metres from the house. Sarah and Michael's house, on the edge of the Mountains in Glenbrook, was a few kms away, although I understand Michael's family home was right on the edge of the fires.

The threat appears to have passed for now, but this weekend we are pretty much stuck inside with the windows closed due to controlled fires/back-burning; smoke coming down from the Hawkesbury area to the north of Sydney has descended on the city, creating a thick, smokey haze. 

Here's a few photos from the last couple of weeks....

Mum's amazing chocolate cake (I think the secret ingredient may be cocaine)

Dave - who played at our wedding reception, in lieu of not making the ceremony as he got the wrong day(!) outside my office a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, someone - I don't know who - went up to him after his impromtu set during the canapes, and said "Mate that was awesome! But did you hear about the d*ckhead who didn't show up at the ceremony?!". Definitely a highlight of the day!

 My 'new' throne (cushions courtesy of Sally)

Spring means jacaranda season in Sydney; they've bloomed early this year due to the very warm weather we've had. Here's a few shots from our street and around Abbotsford from last week.....