The People You Meet....

It's been a week since we returned from our holidays in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos and most of our holiday stories are about the people we met... Memories are about the people first, the experiecnes, second and the places after that? My photo of our holiday is this one taken in a small Vietnamese village, where a baby was totally fascinated with Jim's "white" beard, and just wanted to touch it and play with it.

The family , outside their village home.

A moment of craziness - a group of young Japanese tourists having a "fish massage" in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Nara, recollecting his own incarceration, and the tragedy of family deaths during the Pol Pot regime, the Killing Fields, Phonm Penh, Cambodia

"Snow" explaining what was edible, Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

Our boat man , Mekong River, Vietnam

Family welcoming us to Vientiane, Laos in a "baci" ceremony.

Buddhist monks at dawn alms giving in Luang Prabang, Laos.

Jim's interst in trees, timber and sawmills always makes him new holiday friends who are here enjoying their lunch break at a sawmill near Kuang Si Falls, Laos.

I didn't mind being beaten in a petanque game by the locals in Luang Prabang, Laos. It was a surprise to learn how popular petanque (boules) is in Laos.

Dancers in the Palace, Luang Prabang Laos.

Vietnamese boy soprano, who sang for us while we drank ginger tea for morning tea.

In a tiny village along the Mekong River, this young woman was cross stitching these beautiful cloths. I couldn't buy one because I didn't have enough cash, and there were no credit card facilities, but I gave her some money to buy more threads if she allowed her work to be photographed.

As grandparents, we could not resist chatting with these little children and their family at One Pillar Pagoda . Hanoi, Vietnam

Even the young visit the home of the revered Ho Chi Minh.

Patting each of the stone turtles' heads means good luck in your exams in Hanoi.

I must also include some really great people we met from England, Scotland and Wales .... and Sydney - at "Lara Croft's " temple, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Coming soon in this space - some of the more exotic food sensations of the trip- watch this blog, please! There are only 940 of Jim's photos and 480 of mine but don't fear, I have been carefully selecting some of the more interesting.

Christmas Countdown 15 : Christmas Tree #11 - Disposable

Plastic cups https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/christmas-stem-ideas-kids/ Advent Blog : Day 11 - Disposable We are all so much more conscious about ridding our landfills and oceans of plastic waste. For Christmas, here is a way to use up some of those disposable items which seem to multiply at holiday parties and celebrations, or perhaps you have just been saving them up for a creative use.... Who would have thought coffee pods would make such stylish Christmas trees ? ... Add caption If you don't have one of those machines, then perhaps you have coffee on the run - Starbucks or Nescafe ? from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/369858188126737920/ Nescafe cups https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/72761350208620530/ The disposable cups don' t have to be brand names to work well as materials for Christmas trees. Taking an engineering approach to plastic cup trees seems to be the answer for a more ornate result. from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary. Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers). This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach. Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that work up

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 wrapping str

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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