Queenslanders with heritage.

No Dougall on this one. A special walk with a good friend and excellent historian through a very old (by Oz standards) suburb of Brisbane, New Farm. One of the early ones to be populated and built - there were lots of Italians and Greeks here, a fair few industries and enterprises, some murky criminal activity, and oh so many beautiful houses. We had the pleasure and the privilege to visit a couple on this walk and here are some photos of one of the houses which was truly magnificent in the way the owner had carefully restored it. 

The stained glass windows all done by the owner herself who took it upon herself to learn the trade so as to make the house perfect. She has catered to every detail and aspect of its careful and thoughtful renovation and while we could just as easily find it in the pages of Home and Garden, it has a wonderful functionality and homeliness to it too. 

The front of the house and garden complete with fountain and blossoming trees. 

The dining room which was of course my favourite - each chair had a bird on it. 

More stained glass windows made my the owner for the bathrooms. 

A bedroom with an internal garden and hanging baskets. 

The back garden 

There is nothing more beautiful then a Queenslander which has been lovingly restored. 

Discoveries with Dougall 28 Crochets in Nature and sunshine blossoms

Gorgeous day to set out on a midday walk. Our first stop a stone by the creek where someone had left this delicate and lovely crochet for us to admire. 

Onto the creek where we saw a little water snake about a foot long, a beige colour, slick and sleek it disappeared into the creek's undergrowth silently. Then onto the Moreton Bay Chestnut or Black Bean flowering at this time with delicate yellow orange flowers coming out straight from the branches.  

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And finally for today a droop of glorious weed - cats claw- here today and gone tomorrow. 

Got back in time for a cooling dip and some cooking fun. Happy weekend everyone. 

Making history in Queensland

Last night Queensland made History. It held the world's biggest live sports event and I was THERE. There were 50,000 people at Suncorp Stadium to watch the third Game of State of Origin. The series is normally played in the winter here but as the country was in lockdown this did not happen.

The teams however went into bubbles and trained away and this Queensland team of newbies was said to be "the worst ever". Well they turned out to be the BEST - a game pulsating with energy, full of pace, tactics and fan support. Hubby is hoarse today from shouting Queenslander. It was just so wonderful watching this young team playing a great game. The whole stadium was behind them, (sorry NSW) it really was too good. It was one piece each and this was the decider. Queensland won the series ! 

The Buzz of Byron Bay

Our first weekend away across the magical QLD - NSW border and all went well. Boys came from Sydney and we travelled south to Byron Bay and we met on those magnificent beaches which I never tire of, especially when they prepare us and excite us for the season ahead. Isn't it just postcard perfect ?

He must have been a bit hot but he absolutely looked the part and of course it felt as if Xmas had come early. We were seeing our beloved boys and meeting their partners and it was joyous and relaxed. We walked along beautiful beaches and Belongil allows dogs on it as well so we were able to enjoy watching them all have fun. We took in a little of the shissy shops but not enough. Fabulous fashions and floaty frocks. We ate so very well. The place was heaving and full of beautiful people and the weather was  heavenly, warm but not boiling hot. Swims refreshed and the evenings were mellow. 

Even the brush Turkey was enjoying the sunset from the Lighthouse. 

Well Gordon Bennett if it isnt Gordon Bennett !

I bused into the city today to go to my fist exhibition (LIVE) at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. The city was sparkling - it's the only way I can describe it. Blue skies, uninterrupted, except for the high rises, set against the most sensational blossoming trees. I caught my first glimpse of a flowering Poinsiania and I cant wait for ours to flower. The Public Art spoke to me as did the cranes in the distance almost looking arty themselves!

An Illawara Flame tree about to combust with Beauty 

The first flowers of the Poinsiania appearing on this tree with the city as a backdrop. 

The exhibition is a major collection of the works of Gordon Bennett. If you want to see it go to: 

https://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/unfinished-business-the-art-of-gordon-bennett

Gordon's father was white and his mother Aboriginal. He was born in Monto in Queensland and spent much of his life here in Brisbane until his early death at the age of 58. 

He challenged racial stereotypes and national identities, creating alternative histories and ideas as he understood them, and he focused very strongly on Australian colonial and post colonial times and perceptions. It is a huge exhibition and in many ways quite confronting but I will only share with you some of his quotes and a couple of his works which speak amply. 

This is entitled Myth of the Western Man - White Man's Burden with dates from 1788 first landing to 1992 the Mabo case overturning the concept of Terra Nullius. Each date has a significance historically often as a massacre or injustice against indigenous people. 

His Father and Mother. 

We have so much we can learn and extrapolate on what has gone before. There is no better time then to consider how we relate to these events then the here and now. I start from Cyprus and Famagusta and the history of the city which we are in danger of losing for ever. I go to Africa and the many wars fought with countless lives lost (I have been reading Alexandra Fuller non stop and all her many accounts of growing up in Africa) and I end up in modern day Australia which is learning and growing and adapting to better images of how history may and indeed should be differently perceived and artists like Gordon open our eyes to it all. 

Discoveries with Dougall 28 and Seeing RED

In the spirit of fairness or even handedness today is all about the Reds - Dougall and I set off on a hot and sweaty Brisbane mid-morning, a little shell shocked at what the US was not delivering and almost unbelieving at the closeness of the election. So we walked on with some election blues, and found the reds to bring back the balance. There they both are, bright and bold and that wont change.The hope is that whichever colour prevails, and it will take a while, either side will be careful and kind to the other and share their space for the common good. It's the only way of building the bits back up that have been Trump torn and trashed. 

Motherhood and all that it entails

Following on from yesterday's delightful story about a chipmunk restaurant I give you motherhood and a mother's innate ability to offer their young a warm and safe place to nap during the day. No one was more surprised then me to see them there, resting, grooming, cuddling. I had gone to clean the BBQ from the previous nights cooking and they clearly were not at all perturbed by my scrapping and scrubbing.  So I tiptoed around them all day. At one point in the afternoon, one of the doors had been pushed open. Too stuffy perhaps? Had they gone? No they were still there but needed a little more air. Then I thought perhaps something is wrong with the baby so I watched carefully to see if it was breathing. It was. 

Later as the day ended and the night slowly enveloped this lovely corner of the city, I watched mum climb out with the baby on her back and into the lily pilly tree just by the deck. So I thought well now they are well rested and ready for a feed, it might not be chipmunk standard but something a little different if only for the pleasure they have given me to share these tender moments. 

And the proof is in the dinner shared.