7 MONTHS! SUNSETS, BEAUTIFUL THINGS, SNAKE WARNING, SUMMER IS COMING SOON!

It is almost 6 AM. The sky is still dark but the world is alive with bird songs. I have opened the door so I can enjoy the many tones from so many birds. I wish I could see them and know which was singing which song. We heard the definite call of the kookaburra the other evening before we went for a walk. It was fun to hear.

The sun was beginning to set giving the temple and 
Moroni a golden glow.

We have been so busy and tend to just collapse and sit when we come home, but Saturday we decided we should go for a walk. Elder Jenkins' hip has been gradually improving so we went for it. Just being outside and seeing the beautiful sights as we literally just walked around the long block on which we live was delightful. These next few pictures are from our walk.

It was so nice to end up at the temple grounds. It is so peaceful there which is ironic since it faces Pennant Hills  Road, one of the busiest roads in Sydney.

We enjoyed the respite of just sitting, resting and seeing the flocks of birds flying back and forth. They seem to get busier as the sun begins to set. But I was not fast enough with my camera to capture them.

I was surprised to see to so many kookaburras on the temple grounds.  It was fun to see so many at the temple. 

A pair of kookaburras on a tree branch by the temple.

Kookaburra sentinels on the temple gate.

 These red ones are from Coles.

I know that grocery carts,  or trolleys as they are called here, are not the most common photo subjects. But they are such a common site in our neighborhood. 

Somedays we will see up to a dozen in front of our apartments. Some of the people feel that they are there for their  personal use and think nothing of pushing their groceries home and then just leaving the trolleys by the sidewalk. The block on which we live faces Pennant Hills Road.  Carlingford Court Mall is one the

other side of the road.

  The road has 6 BUSY lanes of traffic most of the time. There are several blocks of apartments and it is normal to see many grocery trolleys parked along the sidewalk where they have been left. Occasionally a small tractor with a trailer drives around and picks them up bringing them back to the mall.  Both Coles and Woolies, local grocery stores,  are in the mall. The grocery stores all seem to be in malls and are not stand alone businesses.

Although most of our  block has apartments there are a few homes and some beautiful landscaping.

This tree, which we had in our yard in South Texas, is very common here.
We see them along many streets and in the motorway mediums.

I liked that way the sun was shining on this decorative grass.

These red beauties are from someone's yard seen on our walk.

Another lovely yard!

Sun setting as we headed home.

Time is going so fast. We have now been here 7 months! How can that be? But the good news is that we are beginning to know what we are doing. We love this Self-Reliance Initiative and the many things we are learning! We love it when we see some one catch on and finally understand the scope of what is being offered to them.

Our English classes are going well. I love it when I see some of the missionaries really working hard to improve their English. It will be such a blessing to them in their future. We are giving tests the 4th Monday of the month which cuts down the craziness of our schedule.

Each Sunday we attend a different ward [congregation] and have some wonderful experiences. It is so nice to know that the same things are taught in each of the congregations around the world so we can come into any ward and be up to speed. I love that the Gospel is true and that it is the same Gospel all around the world.

And it is General Conference time! I love General Conference and the opportunity to hear from the Prophet, the Apostles and others. The first weekend of every October and every April we hear inspiring messages. It is strange that with the time change here in Australia we are not able to hear the messages live unless we stay up all night long. Right now we are 18 hours ahead. But because of the miracle of technology we can sit in our flat and watch it on our computers even if it is a recording. I am so grateful. 

If any of you would like to watch any of the conference messages you can go to this link  www.lds.org  then look for "general conference. Did you miss general conference? Watch here." There is a page that comes up showing which talks are on which days. If you click on the little dots in the upper right of each section you will find the options to hear the full conference with the music etc. Or you can just click on the talk you would like to hear.

Next Sunday, conference will be shown in the various congregations here in Australia but I do not want to wait that long to hear the messages. 😉

The weather has been teasing us. We had a couple of VERY HOT DAYS!! which made me nervous about summer. But then it calmed down and we have had lovely weather since.

But we were informed tonight that it is mating season for the snakes and to beware since they tend to be aggressive during this time. Oh WOW!! Not a happy thought. So, we stay out of grasses and watch where we walk on the sidewalks as well! Ugh!!!!

We took the train to Sydney for another eye appointment, Elder Jenkins' other eye had a "water logged" cornea so he is now on steroid drops 4X day to try to help his eye. And it seems to be working so his vision is slowly getting back to normal and he is beginning to see better again. His other eye has had an improvement in the pressure since he has stopped taking the generic drop instead of Xalatan. Amazing!!! But we are grateful things are going better.

There are always things to see and sometime I am lucky enough to capture then on camera. This day a judge and his entourage were heading to court.  I get a kick out of the wigs the judges wear!

An Ibis by the interesting tree roots in Hyde Park.

 I love to see the various flowers along our way. We have to park a few blocks away from the train station and get to walk a bit and see lovely flowers.

This was one of many on the tree. I don't even pretend to know the names.

I love this and yet, sadly, already the orange blooms are fading!
This is in front of the administration building on our campus.

Also on campus. Isn't this an amazing bush?!!!

And this one too!

We truly live in a beautiful place! We are so blessed to be within a 5 minute walk of the temple. We love to attend and try to get there every Friday evening.

The sunsets are still wonderful and the sky is ever changing. One day I took  4 pictures of the sunset over only 30 minutes! It amazed me how quickly the sky changed!

And then it just faded away and soon it was dark.

Another day, another random Ibis. I don't think they are very self-reliant
 since they love to eat the leftovers of someone's fast food.

The other day we the opportunity to drive to a part of Sydney we had not seen before. It was a nice neighborhood, older I think, and I loved the houses. It is hard to give the real flavor of the neighborhood thru these photos but I thought it was interesting..

We are grateful to be here. We love the Lord and love our mission. 

Thought this roof detail was cool.

Cool Chimneys!

Stopped at a red light and saw this cool building.
I thought the upper facade was very interesting 

Another red light and this beautiful building.