March 18. Day 78. Animal attraction

I don't do cats. If the world is divided into cat people and dog people I am 100% in the dog camp.
Try telling the cat which this morning jumped off a fence, walked across the footpath to where I stood and starting rubbing itself up against my leg.
It clearly didn't know that I don't like cats (actually it probably did know. It just didn't care. That's part of the cat thing. Dogs will do anything they can to please you. Cats will do whatever it takes to please themselves).
And then, having tired of my leg, the cat walked off again. Okay then.

February 7. Day 38. Thanks for the heads up

I shall not draw any connections with the faceless men in this installation outside Southbank TAFE with the fact that today I had my first meeting of the year with faculty hierarchy.
I will not be drawn on whether staff members were asking each other for a heads up before their one-on-one. The picture will stand on its own as a sculpture I liked the look of when I was on my walk this morning. That is all.

January 27. Day 27. Good friends. I'll drink to that

I love going out with school friends. To clarify, when I say school friends I don't mean those I went to school with (although I love catching up with them too) I mean the Mums I have met through my son's schooling.
My mother is still great friends with parents she met at the school gate and I hope 20 or 30 years from now I still have these bonds.
We generally get together a few times a year but always the week school goes back for the year. The gathering involves much talk, much laughter and normally at least one drink featuring an umbrella or a piece of fruit.
Tonight we ended up at a Turkish restaurant where the food was great, the belly dancing impressive and the service, well, best not spoken about. Today's pic is a light fitting at the restaurant I just loved. I'm not sure if it was true love or the kind of love you have after a drink with an umbrella, a rather excellent Western Australian sauv blanc and a belly full of Turkish banquet.
If tomorrow's blog offering seems a little out of focus you will know why. Cheers

January 20. Day 20. Jumping for joy

Today is the last official day of six weeks school holidays so you might as well make the most of it. I know conventional wisdom is that parents can't wait for the kids to get back to school but I love holidays (and not just because it means I don't have to pack lunches and supervise homework although that absolutely works for me).
Miss Cleo, my delightful 10-year-old niece, isn't exactly leaping for joy at the prospect of Year 6 but was happy to pose for the camera.

*yes, Iphone fans that's the Photoburst app again - I love it

January 18. Day 18. Airing your clean laundry in public

One of the very first things I did when we moved home at the beginning of last year was to install a clothes line at the rear of the house replacing the existing one which could be clearly seen from the street.
Superheros may wear their undies on the outside for the world to see but I prefer mine out of sight, thank-you very much.
Some friends thought I was mad - not for moving the clothes line but for hanging out the smalls at all. Their husbands' underwear might be okay outside in the big bad world but their delicates were too delicate for such exposure and were dried in the safety of the home.
My daily walk would suggest that not everyone shares my distaste for letting it all hang out. Today, after a couple of days of heavy rain, clothes lines along the walking route were heaving with the weight of washing, smalls and all.
I couldn't resist taking a pic of this one because of the angle you get from the pedestrian overpass above and because there is something really Australian about the old Hills Hoist in the back yard.

January 13. Day 13. He must have been a beautiful baby....

My baby is 14 today. He's taller than I am and his foot is about two sizes bigger than mine. But he's still my baby. It was a special day for him as he was exactly where he loves to be - performing on stage with Mum, Dad and Grandma in the audience. After the show the cast all gathered and sang happy birthday and shared in a gluten free cake baked by one of them just for him. Nice. The celebrations will continue on Sunday when friends come over for a sleepover and next month when we go to Sydney to see Love Never Dies and the Harry Potter Exhibition

January 12. Day 12. Suits me to a Tea

By rights I should be a tea drinker. My mother is a tea-aholic and Charles, my husband, is English and therefore treats tea as something like a religion.
But I don't drink tea, or coffee for that matter. I do love a hot chocolate and get very annoyed if it is served tepid ("If I'd wanted a luke warm chocolate that's what I would have ordered"). I also like a herbal brew. Peppermint, chamomile, lemon and today green tea with jasmine. I liked the way it was presented. Also, signs around the Patisserie prohibiting photography inside and outside the premises could only be interpreted as a challenge rather than a deterrent.

January 11. Day 11. Going. ..going,... gone

In summer our lives revolve around the pool and today when the mercury hit 36 degrees - the hottest day in Brisbane in two years - there was no getting the kids out of there.
Today was a real family day. My sister and her husband and kids returned home to Brisbane after a six-week world tour in the early hours of the morning and tomorrow morning my brother's wife and kids head back to Sydney after a two-week Brisbane stay. That meant today was our one big chance for a family get-together.
The pool action also gave me the opportunity to try out my new Iphone app Photoburst - it's a winner