January 7. Day 7. Read all about it

There  are a few things about which my "neighbour" Margaret is uncompromising about.

One is her birds. 

She's like Mary Poppins when it comes to feeding the birds.

 She loves it. 

It's an occupation. But she also loves reading the newspaper and she's especially keen on the Sunday paper. 

Unfortunately because of weekend staff at the aged care facility the Sunday paper is often late in making it to her room.

It drives her crazy. Today it didn't turn up at all. 

This is a problem because not only does that mean no news but it means no TV guide.

Margaret sees the TV guide as like a bible. 

She highlights the good bits and refers to it often.

So I received a call. 

The birds were there. 

The paper wasn't. 

A quick drive solved that and she was most grateful and the birds posed so we all got something.

January 6. Day 6. Oh what a night

 New year. Same old us, spending the night at the theatre.
It's a bloody awesome way to spend time and the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons is just magic.
As jukebox musicals go, Jersey Boys is right up there. It had strong source material and a red hot song list so it hit the ground running.
I admit that I didn't love it as much as I did the first time I saw it but let's be honest it's hard to recreate the magic of your first time, right?
But a night at the theatre is still a whole lot better than a night washing up or watching that Netflix thing about cleaning your house everyone seems to be talking about at the moment. I seek entertainment to escape cleaning my house.
I certainly do not see house cleaning as entertainment - ever. There are some people who find musicals as a confusing art form and some of those people will right now be watching a small Japanese woman asking strangers to decide if their old clothes spark love or something. Please music is the food of love. Remember that

January 5. Day 5. Colourful characters

West End, Brisbane. 

It's walking distance from my place but another world. 

When I journey down there, which is often but not often enough, I am always overwhelmed by its unique combination of yuppie and bohemian. 

It's untouched meets urban renewal. 

It's fringe and mainstream all at the same time.

But most of all it's full of really colourful characters.

I had very boring business in West End today. 

I was simple collecting a package from the post office. But it doesn't matter what takes you to West End there is no escaping it's character(s).

I like that.

It's true there are some I'd like to meet over a drink and others I'd cross the road to avoid - some possibly both depending on the time of day but that's what makes it so interesting.

January 4. Day 4. Wet, wet, wet

Brisbane kind of sucks at this time of year, especially if you happened to have spent most of December at the beach.

The only thing a sensible person would do is find air-conditioning or water.

Air-conditioning is bloody good and functional ... but it's not actually "fun".

Water is fun. It really doesn't matter if it's a pool or a hose, water is fun.

(Dishwashing water is not fun but I digress). Playing in water is fun.

It used to be about all we had in Brisbane. We loved the sprinkler and the hose. And then water restrictions came and killed all that. And now we have become really good at conserving water and collecting water and charging for water. So the sprinkler is back and the hose is back ... but like everything else in moderation. 

Today we played in the sprinkler and with the hose and it was cool (literally and metaphorically). 

Because sometimes it's the simple things.

January 3. Day 3. The very hungry caterpillar

 If I was a farmer or a gardener I would detest caterpillars. But I'm not and I don't.
I'm a person who never grew out of a childhood fascination with grubs and bugs. Truthfully I didn't grow out of a lot of things including bugs and grubs but let's keep it simple - a bit like my bug fascination.
Today my little mate Elliott  showed me a caterpillar he'd caught. He said it was the only one. A little later I saw a butcher bird. It had also caught a caterpillar. It also seemed pleased. Seems like there was a lot of it going around. Only fair.

January 2. Day 2. I can see clearly now

 Yesterday the dogs could barely see. Rumple, in particular, was basically blinded by hair.
They were due to have their regular stylists appointment on Christmas Eve. While I often put off my own haircuts the dogs are groomed every six weeks. But we were away and in any event grooming them in the middle of a beach holiday is like throwing another bucket of sand on the beach - pretty much useless. So I rescheduled the appointment to the first day the salon opened after the new year. Had I left it any longer they may have called the RSPCA - had they been able to see the numbers on the phone to dial . Anyway, a few hours and a fist full of dollars later and look what we have. Gloriously groomed creatures. They were pretty as a picture - and then they rolled in the dirt and played catch the rubber chicken with Elliott and Owen.
It's hard to know who was more excited - the boys or the dogs ... certainly it wasn't the squeaky rubber chicken which got a thorough going over. Regardless a great time was had by all.

January 1. Day 1. In with the new

I would be extremely grateful if 2019 could continue how it began: In excitement, in bright colours and in wonderful opportunities. I saw in the new year on the rooftop of QPAC. The post that ended 2018 contained the 8.30pm fireworks. These are from midnight. I changed the camera angle for a slightly different view of the world. This is what I want the new year to bring, new things. And I shall remind myself that I know a lot of really special people who will do things to help me should I ask. And this is how I ended up with the single best fireworks vantage point in Brisbane. I asked my friends Damo and Sparky if I could join them while they broadcast live. In return I said I'd manage social media, post pics etc. In other words I'd do what I do most new years ... tweet and take photos only this time with a purpose and a bloody nice view. So thank you gents. It was a blast, as were the fireworks and hopefully so too the rest of the year.