MY PAINTINGS OF BIRDS 2- Chirasri Jayaweera Bandara

 MY PAINTINGS OF BIRDS  2- Chirasri Jayaweera Bandara

Chira is helping to keep the Blog alive by sending a fresh crop of paintings. As we have come to expect from her, they are true works of art. Like her first collection, these meticulous paintings of birds are vibrant and colourful as befits the wonderful avians they represent.

There is no accompanying text...just enjoy looking at them. If you are curious (as you should be!), all you have to do is google!

Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves, characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets -Wikipedia

Mahendra "Speedy" Gonsalkorale.

Just a reminder that you can click on a picture and you will see a bigger and clearer one. Mini-images of all appear at the bottom of the screen and you can click on any of them for a bigger view, When you finish, just click on the top-right little box with cross and you will revert to the post.

Mini Reunion with Anton Ambrose

 MINI REUNION WITH ANTON AMBROSE

Sunday 10^th July 2022. Satay House, Paddington, London.

Mahendra “Speedy” Gonsalkorale.

When Anton told me that he was visiting London in July and would love to meet Batchmates, it was an opportunity not to be missed. It was not the best time of the year for many colleagues who would have loved to come, and many apologies were received. Finally, I managed to have five Batch colleagues in the group of 10, which included Anton’s son Serjan
(not sure I got the spelling right) and daughter-in-law Manori, Anton’s fiancé Sharon, Indrani Antonypillai’s charming daughter Rose and Bora’s wife Harshi. The Batch members were Anton Ambrose, Mahendra Gonsalkorale, Douglas Mulkirigama, Harsha Boralessa and Indrani Antonypillai.

The venue, Satay House, famous for its authentic Malaysian cuisine, was easily accessible and, of course, well known to us as we have had many mini-reunions there in the past.

Nihal (ND) and Shanti had to withdraw because of illness, and Sakuntala Balakumar, Sunil Abeysuriya, and Susheila had other commitments. We missed all of them.

A welcome “surprise” was the brief Video appearance (on WhatsApp) of Zita, arranged with me by her son Rohan. The mobile phone was passed around so that Zita could be seen and heard. Zita would have loved to have come, but sadly her illness made travel impossible. We missed you Zita!

The meal was enjoyed by all, and Anton produced a bottle of superb Californian Cabernet Sauvignon and some lovely chocolates! His son and his wife sadly had to leave us early, but who could blame them – the lucky couple managed to get tickets for the Wimbledon Men’s Final!

I must thank Pram for introducing me to her contact Ayesha at Satay House, who was most helpful in planning the menu. The food was so tasty!

We spent many happy hours eating, drinking, reminiscing and of course, we had plenty of laughter! 

Our joy was somewhat tempered as we were all so concerned and worried by the unfolding drama in Sri Lanka- saddened, worried and anxious.

Prof Sanath Lamabadusuriya. Guest lecture at RCPCH UK. 2022

Prof Sanath Lamabadusuriya

Guest lecture at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Annual sessions in Liverpool. 2022.

Sanath Lamabadusuriya is in the UK at the moment. The main reason for his visit was to deliver a Guest Lecture last Wednesday the 29th of June, at the annual sessions of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, held in Liverpool.

I have included a YouTube link and embedded video of the talk,

While he was here, another Paediatrician in the UK, Dr Ruwan De Soysa, and his wife Lalani, invited him to stay with them for a few days and held a party in his honour at their residence near Chester last Sunday. There were about 30 guests and Ruwan conducted a Q&A with Sanath on his life and many noteworthy achievements. Guests were treated to a tasty meal and live music and also offered Covid, unintentionally of course, by a guest who unknown to her was harbouring the virus. I was one of the chosen ones

and fortunately, it wasn’t too bad and I am recovering well.

Ruwan treated Sanath with a tour of the Chester area known for its historic attractions. The photo shows Ruwan and Sanath enjoying an ice cream cone on a beautiful sunny day.

I believe that Sanath will be returning to Sri Lanka on the 8th of July 

Mahendra "Speedy"  Gonsalkorale