Spring

The season for magnolias just over was an amazing one. It might be the rain we had earlier or perhaps the unusually long and cold winter.

We waited eagerly for the spring flowers, and so far they have not disappointed us.

Flowering Peach

Striking Competition at All Saints Parramatta

Six ringers from Christ Church St Laurence took part in the 6-bell striking competition held at All Saints Anglican Church, Parramatta on 29 August. Up against many very good and experienced ringers from other churches, we were very pleased to finish fourth.

All Saints Anglican Church, Parramatta

Ringers waiting for their turns.

The team from Christ Church St Laurence, after the peal.

Vivid Sydney

In June this year, buildings in Sydney CBD turned on splashes of colours at night for Vivid Sydney.

Sydney Town Hall looked frosty.

The Opera House was quite unrecognisable.

The Sydney skyline was like Disneyland (though I've never been there).

And in the same spirit in Chatswood,

On the mall.

At the Concourse.

At the Chatswood Station.

And the most popular of all was the display on the facade of the Customs House in the CBD -

Vivid Sydney 2015a (1) from Kin-Mun Kan on Vimeo.(Click to play)

Imperial Hotel grand piano, Mt Victoria

We were at Mt Victoria in the Blue Mountains and went to the classic Imperial Hotel for dinner. Right near the front door of the pub was this very impressive old grand piano.

Then we found this note placed above the keyboard -

So, that's was that. Good to look at. I was actually thinking of playing even though I could not actually play. I was actually impressed.

Revere Bell and other Bells of St Andrews Cathedral

Kay and I spent last Christmas with Dad and sister in Singapore. I found time to investigate the bells of St Andrews Cathedral (the main cathedral for the Anglican Diocese of Singapore) now that I'm well and truly into campanology.

The original church built in 1835 had a bell donated by Mrs Maria Revere Balestier, wife of Joseph Balestier, the first American consul to Singapore and daughter of the anti-British patriot Paul Revere (the legendary hero who rode through towns to warn of British troops movements). The church was struck several times by lightning and was considered unsafe and was replaced by the present structure in 1861 that also incorporated the “Revere Bell”.   

The “Revere Bell” remained until 1889 when it was replaced by a peal of eight bells cast by Taylors of Loughborough. Unfortunately after installation, “it was found that the foundation of the tower would not stand the strain of ringing and the bells were then permanently fixed, their clappers tied, and they were struck with hammers instead, so they still chimed.”  The old Revere Bell ended up in the National Museum.

Photo taken by Beo Lan (July 2015)

In a recent visit (just a couple of months ago) I called in at St Andrews again and asked for permission to visit the bells, "just to have a look" as I have done in many places, including the Bath Cathedral in England.  Very disappointingly, all I got in answer was a "No".  No reasons given, just No.

 

There is an interesting virtual tour of the bells at http://www.singaporevr.com/vrs/st_andrews_cathedral/st_andrews_bell_tower.html

St Andrews, Singapore

Two planets in alignment

Those of you who have been looking into the western sky after sunset over the past week or more would have noticed two bright objects getting progressively closer, Jupiter and Venus getting into a rare alignment. I don't know if they will get closer tomorrow. Here's the shot I took tonight (July 1) from our backyard.

A better one reproduced here is from Business Insider (http://www.businessinsider.com.au/how-to-watch-the-venus-jupiter-conjunction-of-june-30-2015-6)  obviously taken through a telescope with the moons of Jupiter clearly visible.

Anne's visit

Kay's niece Anne visited us and we had a lovely weekend dominated by culinary excesses. At the historic Vaucluse House we had high tea, which cost twice as much as the equally waistline-expanding Beijing Duck at Chatswood the night before (the duck went too quickly for a photo to be taken).