cultural delights

Shirley & Kevin are on the road home. Left this morning - very teary. Have not had a chance to rave about the Kev Carmody tribute concert, with people like Paul Kelly, Missy Higgens, John Butler, Tex Perkins, and many more who gave a a wonderful time on August 1. Simon, Lisa, Nick and Deb came up, and we trooped along with Claudia, Jasmine & Sam.

After the concert we went to dinner at the local Indonesian then back here. A fantastic night with family.

Then last Sat night Charles, Shirley and I saw a guy from the US out here on tour - David Rovics - at a Palestinian fundraiser in an intimate venue just down the road. Great voice and fantastic songs, mostly original.

And then, of course, the film festival. Last night Kevin, Shirley, Charles & I attended the closing night film, Balibo. Great film. The seventies was very convincingly portrayed, including the look of the film quality & colour. Well worth seeing, tho there were some parts I could just not watch.

Get along and see it if you can.

TDC (The Divine Child)

In response to a comment from Mat that I had not put any photos of Remi on the blog lately, here is one of the latest with his new haircut, which he did himself, well, mostly, with electric clippers. You forget how quickly kids grow and change, and a simple thing like a new haircut can make you look again in wonder. Having been through a series of infections (snot, earaches, coughs and so on) this winter, his first year of kindy, he has reincarnated from a grumpy, unwell state into a completely joyous and delightful little boy. His world is filled with imagination, play, putting on shows, singing, dressups (I made him a bear suit and he has a kangaroo and horse on order )riding his bike or scooter, feeding the chooks and now collecting the egg each day, and generally filling our lives with a great deal of love.

friends, films and good living

Shirley and Kevin are here, working their way through a vast array of films on offer at the Brisbane Film Festival. I have managed to catch a few, with Kevin setting a cracking pace, and Shirley coming a close second. Tomorrow he is attempting 6 films in one day. They arrived with 3 days to spare before the marathon began, so we have had time to experience the high life, really wonderful spending time with them. We start the day slowly, with Kevin going through the program, whilst Shirley prepares herself for the day ahead.The weather has been nothing short of superb, and we have been making the most of it, walking along the river, as well as a morning at the Mt Cootha Botanic Gardens where the highlight was the dry garden, with strange, wonderful and amazing plants.

We all had lunch at GOMA today after a film and Shirly & I are going in for a 9.10pm start tonight. Highlight so far for has been a NZ film, The Strength of Water. Will be released so you can see it.

Three more days to go. We are all going to Balibo on closing night. Should be good.

outdoor living and the new deck

Charles , Helen and Bec have been working for the last few weeks on building a deck at the back of their house, which will make a new living space outside, an essential part of living in a climate like Brisbane's. Helen offered to do some dental work for Charles at the same time, but he declined. The decking is actually on now, and the steps complete, but I have no pics yet. Remi kept a close eye on all that was going on and had many questions.

gillian, bike riding and master chef

Gillian's 2 week visit has ended and she has returned to chilly south-western Victoria to begin preparing to move up here. Two weeks of sunshine, with some rain, has her convinced. "This is winter?!", she kept exclaiming. We did lots of walking, rode the ferry, communed with pelicans, sampled coffee from a wide range of outlets, ate out, ate in, and walked some more. On one foray we ran into Rudi & Niuska, who had driven in from The Gap for a coffee at West End, so we wiled away an hour before heading off for Southbank.

A few days after Gillian left, Remi took off on a 2-wheeler, no wobbles or hesitation, just fierce concentration and determination as he manoeuvred the corners round and round Mitchy's back yard. A mighty effort for a 3 year and 2 month old (can you see me glowing with love?)


And on a different note, I wonder if anyone else I know is watching Master Chef with the same obsession that I have developed. My passion for cooking and food is ensuring the TV will be on this program every night of this final week, only it's Bec and Helen's, as Charles has no interest in it, so I scoot over to their place for an hour. I've got some great ideas for new food combinations. Go Po.

getting my etsy together

Ever since the Stitches Fair I have been working on and off to get my Etsy online shop up and running. What I really need is someone who has done it to run a workshop for people like me who manage to get the photos the wrong size and shape, and bad quality and spend for ever trying to get through the shipping details without losing the whole thing and having to start all over again, at which stage the lid goes down and stays down until I have summoned the courage to try again, some days later.

In the meantime, I am practising by putting pics here with some of the latest creations, but I am not happy with them. I need some props, so will go and raid Remi's toy box. I will publish more when I have it right, and in the meantime will try not to grind my teeth down too far.

visit from charles' mum

Yesterday we put Edna, who will be 92 in Sept, on the plane after a stay of 10 days, having successfully managed the steps and the bath, the two things I had been dreading as accidents waiting to happen. Her visit coincided with Charles working on a deck at the back of Bec & Helen's house, so when he left in the morning we had breakfast, then an assisted shower, and got ready to face the day. Most days we ended up at Bec and Helen's either for or after lunch, so Edna could spend as much time as possible with them. She took us all out to brunch last Sunday, which was great fun. Also along for the event were my sisters, Claudia & Gillian, so it was a great family occasion.
She also went on a ride up the river with Charles on the CityCat which she loved, and managed it all very well.
Gillian is up here for 2 weeks holiday, and I spent today with them ... knitting! We decided we were all turning into mum in our own ways which, I think, is inevitable.