Sorting

Right ! Prepared to be deluged. I am sorting old family slides and it's a lot of hard work but fun too when you find ones like this. This one is of my mother at the local butcher shop in Edinburgh in the 60s.

Now this is what I call a proper shop. The butcher has really sorted his wares hasn't he ? And displayed it so that customers can see at a glance what he's got. Bless him. Woolies is just not a patch on this is it?

And isn't my father clever for taking this photo too? It really captures the essence of the time don't you think? What is your favourite shopping experience? Have you taken a photo like this?

Three weeks left of long service leave so lots of sorting still to do. Will I finish A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book? Will I read Wolf Hall as well? Will I go blind?

I have started a family history course on-line through Pharos Tutors. It's great! I'm learning so much and it's only week one.

Vision

William Robinson
Goats and Chickens 1980


Hmmm...bliss....yesterday I had the pleasure of inspecting the recently restored Old Government House and the fantastic new William Robinson Gallery.

Please go and see this exhibition. We are so lucky to have it in Brisbane. It's open Sundays to Fridays 10am-5pm or, to put it another way, it's closed on Saturdays!

Go to QUT's Garden's Point campus. The Gallery is on the top floor of Old Government House and it's free! Catch the lift up just for fun (it's a very special kind of lift and worth seeing) or, if you want to keep fit, go up the grand staircase.

Robinson's work is so diverse, so rich and full of great humour, it is balm to the soul. Allow at least an hour because you will want to go back and look at his works again and again.

There is a tea-room in the courtyard offering ribbon sandwiches or traditional high teas with the menu highlight being lamingtons. I think lamingtons can really only do damage to one's waistline but I'm happy to be convinced otherwise. Perhaps it really is a weapon of mass destruction!

Late

The Daws are renowned for being late - late to parties, gatherings, whatever. Some would say that they would be late for their own funeral. Well, today, I officially became a Daw. Miss Pat and Kath and I turned up for Decoration Day at Tingalpa Cemetery armed with buckets, scrubbing brushes, borax, sugar soap, fake flowers, a plate of food to share, stout shoes, hats, cameras, a thermos, mugs, sugar etc etc. and we were ..... A DAY LATE!!! Oh well - the cemetery looked lovely and thank you to whoever cleaned our grave....we owe you one...or two...perhaps at the Edinburgh Castle. The Friends of Tingalpa Cemetery Heritage Group Inc. are to be commended for their fine work in restoring the Pioneers' Chapel and Cemetery. It looks absolutely beautiful and there are some very fine people buried here. I just would have liked to meet the living ones too! Perhaps next year - when I'm not so relaxed on Long Service Leave!!!! :)

Thirstywork

Why do I always go grave hunting on hot days? I was sort of prepared - stout walking shoes, bottle of water, camera, hat and most importantly, companion - to keep one motivated. Miss Pat accompanied me to the Lutwyche Cemetery today in search of her ancestors. Foolishly I forgot to bring details of the portion and plot number. But really this was the universe moving in mysterious ways to test whether my records were kept in a retrievable fashion and if my daughter could easily find them when I phoned her in sheer desperation !! They were in good order and she was a good egg and provided us with a portion, a section and an allotment number....only we still couldn't track it down. Lutwyche Cemetery has a number of portions - Church of England, General, Catholic etc.

Refreshments were called for. And the Edinburgh Castle Hotel on Gympie Road was happy to supply them. Miss Pat dined on steak whilst I partook of fish and chips. Oh alright and some light beer was consumed too. We rang Great Aunt Alice who used to visit the grave regularly. She gave us a good description and refreshed we returned to the scene of the dead people.

We looked and looked and finally settled on a glum plot as being at least in the right row. We then went looking for a groundsman who very helpfully confirmed our suspicions and taught us to count grave-ly.

And look! If I'd done my homework first Brisbane City Council have made it SO easy for us all!!! Check out their Grave Location Service.

Waltzing

My favourite tea cosy at the Crazy Cozy Competition at Exeter - Waltzing Matilda Wreaths of Hope by Lynette Meek of Vancouver Island Canada.

Perfick

Here I am enjoying myself in....New South Wales......Thelma and I had a lovely holiday last week. We've been patting each other on the back and congratulating each other on the planning and executing of said holiday. I reckon the secret to a good holiday is making it not too long and not too short; only staying somewhere for a maximum of two days; never driving more than a couple of hours to get somewhere. Suitcase packing is an art and Thelma takes the prize out for that one - years of practice at boarding school. She taught me how to knit a fabulous tea cosy and I got to make new friends on the first couple of days in the workshop. We stayed at this lovely cottage.

We checked out some fabulous shops - one called Peppergreen Antiques which was a bit like a Tardis and went on for ever and ever. She who dies with the most fabric definitely left it to Peppergreen - check this out!!

We then went to beautiful Kiama where our hosts spoiled us rotten with fine wine and fine dining. I have since tried to replicate the fantastic pomegranate salad to no avail - all recipes gratefully accepted.

On to the lovely Blue Mountains where we found a great bookshop at Wentworth Falls.

But of course the walk was the best - Leura Cascades and round to Gordon Falls - heaven .... bliss.