noo noo's friends

Noo Noo is a toy of Remi's who sleeps in his bed each night. These are some of his friends that I make. They are made from 4 and 5 ply pure wool with no bits that can be chewed off and swallowed. My idea was to make toys that can be held easily and feel soft for little hands of babies and children. No two toys are the same and they vary in size from 12 to 30 cm. This doll on the right is 27cm tall and wears a skirt embroidered with french knots. These others are just some of Noo Noo's many friends that I knit. Watch this blog for details on an Etsy site I am working on where you will be bale to see details of all these critters and more.
















I also make alphabet flags which can be strung together to form a child's name. These are all my own designs, and each letter stands for an attribute of the child depicted, such as c is for cuddly. These are the perfect gift for a new baby, or a child who is starting to recognise their name. Lovely in a window, doorway or on a wall.

of flu and rain

All last week I have been lying in bed listening to the rain on the roof, the only consolation for feeling so crappy with not swine flu, but kindy flu which Remi kindly brought home from kindergarten and shared with us. Only Charles escaped.

Meanwhile Brisbane was gurgling beneath a rising tide. The organic market at Northey St, as seen here, is also home to a wonderful 5 hectare community garden, all of which disappeared under 2 metres of water. When we arrived last Sunday I was immediately struck by the bad parking, which, on closer scrutiny, were cars settled where they will as the water receded. Apparently they spent a few days bobbing around bumping into each other while their owners, staff from the nearby hospital, were helpless to rescue them. Needless to say, it took a massive cleanup to get the place ready for market, and despite the veneer of mud on everything, they did an amazing job.

visitors from tas

Our 'old' friends, John & Caroline, have been here for 4 days on their way to Europe for their last fling holiday. Have drunk too much wine & eaten too much food, but done lots of walking with them. Great to catch up and share lots of laughs and memories. It's wonderful when friends of 40 years have followed a similar path and ended up with a familiar ethic. These are the people we traversed the world with in '71, and we still speak the same language.
Also caught up with Sarah G, her partner& their little boy on their way through to the Solomon's for a diving holiday. It was so lovely to see her, and meet her family.

the party of the year

This was the place to be last Sunday morning, down by the river with family and friends spanning 4 generations. Remi and his friend, Cisco, got together for their third birthdays, presents, balloons, and best of all, cake. Whilst Bec made Remi a wonderful pear and blueberry cake, Cisco got a huge red and brown chocolate cake - you can see which one Remi has his eyes on - he got both, plus some orange and almond cake his dad, Mitchy, made. Effects of the sugar overload lasted for two days, and saw Remi staying home from kindy. His parents celebrated the end of the party and another year with a resounding cheer.

Well, today is May 7 and it is Remi's 3rd birthday. Woken by the alarm at 6 to get us round to Bec and Helen's for birthday breakfast and presents. Mitchy was already there when we arrived, and we polished off berry pancakes with candles, before the unwrapping began. Here are some pics from today, hot off the press. The real party is on Sunday, so watch out for the next installment. No doubt Remi will be riding his new scooter.

It was fantastic being here, at long last, for his special day

Yesterday we made some macadamia and apple cakes for his birthday, Remi wearing Grandpa's Rakali Project apron, tucked up. Made all the difference. They were intended to take to kindy to share with his friends, but I forgot the rule about nuts, so we have to eat them all ourselves - or the kids will on Sunday.

Another visitor from Victoria was Denise who needed a good dose of leave after working on the fires over summer. She was here for a week and her visit included my nephew, Sam's, 30th birthday party, which was a night to remember. Mum is up here and looked her beautiful best for the occasion. Denise helped us explore more restaurants at the end of the street - Greek and Tibetan - as well as more of Brisbane, including a drive to the top of Mt Coo-Tha for a view across all of Brisbane, and then a walk through the bush. It was lovely to spend time with her.

Life in the slow lane.

Here are a few pics about life in Brisbane and what we've been up to. Of course they include The Divine Child.

Some of you will remember Rudi and Nuiska, who we caught up with a few weeks ago when we had a long coffee break in West End.Both their kids, Bec & Helen have work/study links with QUT, Alexander lives around the corner from us and Sarah around the corner from Bec and Helen. Amazing? R & N are to be grandparents later in the year when Sarah has her first child.

Over Easter we went down to Lismore and had one overcast but fine morning at Evans Head. Despite the fact that it rained for the rest of the time we enjoyed ourselves immensely, hunkered down with wonderful books at Helen's sister's where we were staying. Can you imagine my heart rate as these 3 precious ones perched on the rocks...we were watching some madmen surf, until a huge wave drove us back. Remi has on his helmet as we took down his run bike - no pedals, all leg work and balancing. Great.

Cheers for now, Penny