Skip to main content

Smile like a Crocodile ...


Here I am in Townsville, in North Queensland. You may have heard the news that a large crocodile was spotted on the Strand ( the foreshores) in Townsville this week. How did I happen to be here still smiling with this huge reptile. Well .... We came up here on Wednesday morning, 4 March to surprise my mother on her 84th birthday. This is a special birthday as this is her year  in the Chinese calendar - the Year of the Ox.  My sister invited our mum  to lunch at a coffee shop near her home, and we "gatecrashed " their lunch. I think she is still getting over the shock, and can't believe that she didn't have any idea that we were coming. Her first words were "How did you get here?" The simple answer, " By plane, Mum."  Amazing that no one else in the family who were all in on the surprise didn't drop any hints whatsoever.  We have had a few lovely days up here - eating out, shopping and gathering more information to help Jim write our family history. Yesterday, we went to Ayr, a small town south of Townsville , where my grandfather used to own a shop.  Coincidentally we  met a woman in the Court House who remembered going to the shop as a child, and also picking potatoes from my grandfather's market garden.  This has been a great break, but  are hoping to return home after the weekend, if the cyclone warnings don't ground air traffic.  I also attended an International Women's Day function with my sister - Happy International Women's Day to the very special women and girls in my life  - friends, colleagues, and my family. 
Now back to the crocodile ... I can't claim to be the female version of Crocodile Dundee even though we are celebrating the achievements of women on this International Women's Day.  - This "concrete" monster was about to be placed in the lobby of a new hotel. Jim ( my husband) and I happened to be walking past as it was being unpacked on the street. Great photo to show the grandchildren, though . 
Labels:

Comments

  1. JudithMarch 8, 2009 at 8:15 AM

    you are having a wonderful time with your mother and family!
    Keen to know what you shopped for..beads?...fabric....he,he,he!!!
    Judith

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Designing with Grids

  Wilma Simmons: Magpie Grid, 2026  Straight lines - no not my style! However, here I am stitching grids to create net like structures.  In a recent Stitch Club   workshop by Eszter Bornemisza,  the brief was to create small, transparent textile samples consisting of airy, net-like structures made from a variety of leftover and recycled materials. Using machine straight stitch, small scraps of material including transparent fabrics, lace, cotton and paper were secured  onto water-soluble stabiliser or a layer of paper napkin tissue, or mulberry paper. In the sample pictured above, I used cotton fabric scraps and some roughly cut out motifs secured to a paper napkin with stitching. I washed away the paper napkin , leaving a net like composition, inspired by magpies strutting about in the garden.   Eszter Bornemisza's s innovative technique has been developed over many years, and her gird designed map like installations are world renowned.  Esz...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...
3 comments
Read more

Non-Committal Collage Anything Goes

Have you heard of non-committal collage?   I hadn't until one of the other participants of the 100 Day Project started doing this each day and showing the results....  Here are  Peggy's  rules :  1. S elect 9 scraps of paper from  collage  box/stash  2. Make three  different compositions using each scrap at least once.  (some pieces can be used more than once)  3. Do not alter the scraps of paper in any way.  4.Do not use glue.  5.Take photo, disassemble and return scraps to box.   I thought this would be a fun and quick exercise to do for Tag Tuesday's theme , Anything Goes... so here are my "non-committal collage" tags....  Did you spot the nine pieces? Would  you like to suggest some titles?   And I repeated the exercise before putting back the 9 scraps of paper, so these are different items.  Hope you will try this exercise -  it is lots of...
1 comment
Read more