Artjammin'

I had a lovely evening recently at the Art Jam in HK.
I took along some sketches I did on a recent School Camp and came up with my Buddha.
What do you think?
We all drank a little wine, ate some nibbles and painted........time flew, and it was midnight before we knew it.

Long time, no see

Hello again,
it's getting cold in HK. Can you handle the heat in aus?
No snow, there's never any, but the rain seems to be getting colder!
Thought I'd just paste this link;
Puzzle Pirates


Anyway, there's nothing much else to write; so I guess I'll be signing off.

Bye all!

Change of Weather

This time of year in Hong Kong is always delightful.
After a long very humid hot and stormy summer the weather changes to cool nights, dry sunny days and clearer skies.
Walking up the hill to the bus is no longer a sweaty chore, sitting on the balcony in the afternoon is pleasantly breezy and warm, and hiking becomes the pastime of the week.
I have just returned from attending Year 5 and 6 Camps. Week One - Year 5- was spent up in a National Park where we hiked around the island of Tap Mun (Grass Island). We were rewarded with this stunning view looking out towards the east coast of the USA.
Week Two- Year 6 was spent on the island of Lantau, where we visited the Big Buddha. I loved this sign, displayed in the gardens around the Monastry, and will enlarge the photo to stick on my fridge at home.

Photo Update!

* - MY POST - MY POST - MY POST - *



KOH SAMUI
top: katherine, katie, maddie
bottom: julia, fiona, luke, yoyo, jackie


AUSTRALIA
alec on the beach in his $17 wetsuit :]


AUSTRALIA
all of us on the beach, alec, helen, mum, catie, julia


AUSTRALIA
auntie cate's house before we left... julia, catie, alec, eliza, helen


MANILA
at 'intramuros' the walled city (with our historic hotel in the background...)
alec, mum, helen, catie, julia, dad


CEBU
mum on her wedding anniversary... <3 <3 <3 AWWWW


CEBU
there was a massive typhoon so we were indoors A LOT
this is my creation: alec in my jumper HAHAHAHA doesnt he look happy


CEBU
dinner! catie, dad & julia


CEBU
dinner with the whole family!
mum, helen, alec, catie, dad, julia


* - THE END - *

Anon Comments!

Now anyone can comment on our blog. I helped Mum sort it out, so you will all be pleased to know that.

Hong Kong's Next Top Model

This is our favorite photo of Isaac (the GR we rescued a few years ago from HKDR). He had his first 'photo shoot' yesterday as part of the HK Dog Rescue's Tribute Book to raise money for the current and future rescue dogs.
Family can all expect a copy for Xmas or you can order one through the blog. P&P free!!

My Sailing!

Just last week, I went sailing at the ABC. There was a lot of wind, but it rained most of the time. That was o.k. because it's the monsoon! Anyway, mostly we sailed around bouys and did '8' and ∆. We learnt alot about beating, running, reaching, leward, windward, tacks, jibes, no-go-zone, port, starboard, ect, ect.


That's us playing 'sink the boat'- testing how many people can get into an optimist before it sinks.


That's me and the rest of the course participants sailing like ducklings in a pond.


And that's me, far, far ahead while the rest of the participants got towed by the speedboat back tto the slipway.

(Edited and written by Alec. Photos taked by Anne)

More Australian beaches

Helen's first appearance on the blog- this is Warriewood Beach on Sydney's Northern Beaches. It was sunny but a stiff, cold Westerly wind was battering us. This was one of the most sheltered of all the beaches we visited that day.
The empty beach is Boomerang, up near Smith Lake on the coast of NSW. Much better weather up there.
It's all about beachcombing, reading newspapers, soaking up the sun, sketching, sandcastle building, picnics, fish and chips, Chumby Ball (a game invented by the kids- ask them for the rules....)

Beaches are for the Mind

We have just come back from a wonderful relaxing holiday in Thailand and Australia.
My favourite parts of it all were the moments with family and friends, and spending some valuable relaxing hours on the beaches of Sydney and Pacific Palms (near Forster.) Those beaches are so beautiful- I have loved them for years- and clean and fresh. They figure heavily in my meditation and relaxation moments (like lying in the dentists chair- I close my eyes and go straight to the beach).
Anyway, here is a sketch of a seashell found on Boomerang which will have to do until Catie and I put some holiday snaps onto the blog.
And for Kate: here are seven things about me- guess the untruth...
1. I have helped birth over 100 babies (only four of them mine)
2. I have helped several people die
3. I love thunderstorms
4. I am a whizz at parallel parking
5. I love playing golf (but not in a thunderstorm)
6. I sing off-key but insist on doing so in the car which scares my teenagers
7. I have an unhealthy (and expensive in HK) addiction to interior design magazines

View from my bedroom window

This was taken one afternoon this week. We cut the picture to get rid of container ships and it could have been taken 100 years ago. This junk is available for dinner cruises- one day we'll be able to afford an evening on it.

Beautiful Hong Kong

Hong Kong is in the middle of the wet season but inbetween storms and downpours we get some fabulous days. It is as if the rain has washed us clean of the usual pollution and gives us a glimpse of what we might look like without all the particulates in the air from nearby factories and power stations.
Catie took this last Sunday in Kowloon looking over to Hong Kong island.

The beautiful Fleur...

As promised here is a picture of Fleur. We had to give her a bone to chew in order to keep her still enough to snap this picture.
She is elegant and intelligent, shares her kennel happily with any dog. I hope she is adopted soon.
My last favorite, Flicka, was adopted by a chef who had done some fundraising things for us. He came to see the kennels and left with Flicka. She had been there for nearly 12 months with no interested people. As Sally Andersen (our founder) says, there is a home for every dog if we wait long enough!

Rescue me!

This is Catie holding Rumble, a very cute B&W pup. He is the kennel mate of Fleur, who was too busy following Candice to sit and pose for photos! (We took a few but too blurred...)
Rumble will be adopted quickly as the B&W pups look so very sweet with their markings. They always have great personalities/good genes.

Hong Kong Monsoon

This is the weather forecast for HK for the next week.
The monsoon has arrived!

My 'real' job....

Every Friday evening from 4pm I head down to the Hong Kong Dog Rescue kennels.
As usual I am met by several dogs, all waiting for adoption, all gorgeous.
As one of the kennel supervisors I have to check if all the volunteers have arrived. These kids are aged between 14 and 18, and come to us regularly after a long school day. They spend two or three hours walking dogs, feeding, medicating, cleaning up, bathing, tick removing, training and visiting the vet. Dedicated dogs lovers they certainly are.
At any one time we have over 30 dogs with us, all saved from the local dog pound.
One of my long term favorites is Fleur, a mongrel, sort of Chinese Shepherd, with a brown coat and the big ears of a GSD.
She is the remaining puppy from a beautiful litter we rescued a few months ago. Very smart (she can get into any room by marvellous means) and gentle, she would make the perfect family dog. We know her Mum so her temperament is assured.
However, for whatever reason she is still with us. She is a friend of every dog, loves people and shadows Candice, one of our regular volunteers, everywhere.
Tomorrow night I'll take a photo for you.
In the meantime visit my favorite website- just google Hong Kong Dog Rescue.
Click on the video link for Rosemary's film of the kennels taken for a recent fundraiser.

It's a hard life...........

Last week, sitting marking Year Six Science books by the side of the pool while they swam for an hour, thinking, 'Isn't life hard?'
Actually it looks a lot better than it was- midday, 33 degrees, 95% humidity, forgot my water bottle..................

Catie's Formal

L-R- Nattie, Catie, Grace, Greta, Ellie.

Alec's Sailing

That is Alec sailing with his friend Jack. ABC sailing optimist really is fun!!

Published by Alec.

Family photo

This photo was taken a Christmas, as that was the last time anybody was at the house to take a picture of us all. (Without one of us having to take it ourselves). L-R: Helen, Anne, Alec, Richard, Julia and Catie.

Published by Alec.

Julia Graduates :)

Graduation

Sharon, Julia, Nikita, Maddie



Class of 2007!



Formal

Juliiaaaaaa



Alec, Julz and Catie



Scottish twins :) Alan, Julz, Mark



Football team; Dorcas, Julz, Sharon (my date!), Mr Taylor (my tutor), Jackie, Debbie, Yoyo



Rugby team; Yoyo, Laura, Carla, Maddie (in red), Julz, Dani



Published by Julz

Shop House

This is a Chinese shophouse in Singapore.

Published by Anne.

Flip Flops

Flip flops are symbolic of our house, with flip flops everywhere! I drew this last summer sitting at Big Wave Bay in Hong Kong, outlined it in black pen and scanned it onto the computer where Catie manipulated it for me until it looked like this. :)

Published by Anne

Sydney 2007

Published by No-one in Particular.

About Us:
Annie's Lane is a family, a home, a lifestyle that is all ours.
Our family has six members, six pets and many friends.
Anne and Richard are the parents of four great kids-
Alec who is 9 and likes guitar, rugby, computers and fishing.
Helen is 14 and loves ballet, music, netball and friends.
Catie is 16 and has an affinity with animals, is good at creative writing and enjoys rugby, swimming, athletics and netball.
Julia is 18 and enjoys sport (hockey, rugby, netball, swimming and soccer) is academically brilliant and is off to university soon.

Pet parade: Lucy, our senior member, is a 14 year old collie, sensible and sweet natured.
Isaac (Newton) is 4, a goofy and cuddly Golden Retriever.
Spud (Einstein) is our foster dog, a curly coated mongrel with patchwork colours of brown, black, tan and white. He's about 1 year old.
Mozart is our slim grey tabby with jade green eyes. He has feline AIDS and is always nearby.
Gobbolino is large, chocolate brown and hungry. Very cuddly and likes to lie on your feet.
Tabby is, well, tabby and our 'spinster' cat- female, grumpy and tetchy, but loves to sit poised on Mum's knee hanging on with all claws.

Published by Anne