So jealous

I am so jealous of my sister. She has moved back to Newcastle, the city of my birth and the one that will always have my heart.

I went to visit her over the weekend and also to see my dad in respite care.

After touring her new digs, we headed to Alfie’s Italian, which is a gorgeous venue in the old New Lambton post office.

It’s so popular we had to make a booking for 5pm!

The food was divine.

We started with wood-fired pizza bread, served with a couple of antipasti: whipped cod roe and sweet onions and an eggplant and tomato something or other that tasted like heaven.

As our main, we had slow-cooked shoulder with polenta, corn and fetta, Fioretto with Alfredo sauce & wasabi and triple-cooked duck fat potatoes.

Every single mouthful was spectacular.

If you happen to be heading to Newie, Alfie’s get’s 20 out of 10 from me. Just remember to book early.

The next morning we drove to the beach for a sunrise promenade and coffee.

It was chilly but spectacularly beautiful at Dixon Park and packed with early birds who had the same idea as us. We meandered to Blue Door for a coffee and circled Merewether Baths before heading back along the coastline.

Visiting Dad in respite care was challenging. Parkinson’s disease is very cruel and he’s really struggling.

Afterwards, we collected our mum and took her to the pub for pizza. Then I headed back to Sydney and into the eye of a massive storm. As I turned off the motorway the sky was the most ominous shade of green and then the rain started pelting down.

It was hard to see the lines of the road and everyone was creeping along at 40km per hour. Every time the lightning cracked I worried about the dogs, who absolutely hate thunder.

I eventually made it home in one piece, tucked a dog under each arm, grabbed an umbrella and bolted up to shops to give them a walk under cover.

DD flew back to Sydney last night after commuting home via Hamburg, London and Kuala Lumper. The storm sent his plane circling around Canberra, making the journey even longer.

He was too tired to drop by and made his way home to go straight to his bed. We’re hoping to catch up later this week.

And now it’s Monday and I’m not ready for it.

I want to be back on Dixon Park Beach again.

I can’t wait to head up again soon. There’s a spare bedroom waiting for me and I can take the dogs, so I’ll be able to spend whole weekends there and finally see my neglected Newie friends.

How was your weekend?

Song of the day: The Beatles “Here comes the sun”