Sunny Saturday in Sydney

Started the day with a proposed development open house/council walk thru neighboring properties across the street from where I am staying (Lilyfield/Leichardt area). The proposed high density male boarding house (under affordable housing initiatives) in this residential community obviously had many up in arms.  The mayor and councillors made it clear that the opportunity to voice opposition or support would be at the next Monday meeting and March 8 development meeting. Interesting to see NIMBY - not in my back yard - is a universal concern when it comes to development of a community. From the large crowd and police on site it is a touchy subject...but it didn't stop the kids from continuing a cricket game in the middle of the road through the meeting.
We then headed over to the organic farmers' market held at the school a couple blocks away - lots of vendors selling everything from brooms to orchids, fabulous variety of baked breads, goodies and steamed muffins (hot blueberry very tasty), all kinds of ethnic foods - tasty dim sum snack enjoyed, along with fruits and veggies galore, clothing, books,...obviously a place that will require regular visits in the future.
From there we headed over to my son-in-laws office to help with a bit of  paperwork.  Australia has a reputation for having high levels of unpaid overtime and we figured lending a hand would allow for a family day free of stress on Sunday. At 29 degrees outside and no air conditioning inside a couple of hours was enough for everyone.
We headed to Balmain area - one of Sydney's oldest neighborhoods - beautiful old sandstone  buildings from the 1800's with terraces, wrought iron balconies - alot of character. It also has some great restaurants and shops. We stopped and shared an order of salt and pepper squid at a cafe/restaurant called  "fundamental" along with a cold beer, iced coffee and iced cocoa (the iced drinks are made with ice cream - very creamy)  - and the calamari was great.
While in the area we indulged in an Aussie favorite pasttime - "community recycling" more commonly known as scavenging (an equivalent to garage sales but FREE). People just put old furniture, household effects out on the sidewalk and anyone is welcome to take what they want.  We scored a like new pantry type white cupboard in excellent shape and a third wicker look chair for me to use on the balcony. It didn't even phase Jason as he dismantled the cupboard like a pro with his handi-dandi bike tool in order to fit it into the car.
We finished off the day with a drive down the hills to the waterfront in Balmain then back to Lilyfield to watch the sun set over Ironcove Bay.
Nothing earth shattering but a nice balance of work and play for a day well spent. Life is all about finding that balance that works for you.