July already!

Just where is the year going? Happy 4th for my American friends.

Rene and I are just back from the Redcliffe Peninsula where we went for a drive, a walk around, and of course Sunday lunch. It has been a lovely day, a bit overcast as the afternoon wore on, but nevertheless a lovely day.

Yesterday I went to a BBQ put on by my god daughter Amy and her partner Alex (he's Welsh you know). She's giving birth next month and is looking delightfully pregnant. Alex has done up the nursery and it looks stunning. Sorry I didn't take a picture, but I'll get one soon. It's a credit to him. Rene and I are having a quilt made for the baby (a boy) and it is nearly finished. It features a combination of Australian and Welsh themes, probably a dragon having fricasseed kangaroo. I had a lovely afternoon at their place with loads of friends there and food, food, food. Oh, drink, drink, drink too! Rene had to stay and look after the gallery. I got a lift back to Eagle Junction Station and then just walked across the park to home. A delightful day.

Last Monday Rene and I drove up through the Samford Valley up to Mt Glorious for lunch. It's terrific us both being on holidays because we can do these things on the days the gallery is closed. It was a superb winter's day, if anything a bit too hot sitting in the sun, but we weren't complaining. A delicious lunch under our belts and we were off to Mt Nebo and back into Brisbane through The Gap and Ashgrove. Brisbane is never going to be on the world's top 20 places to visit because we are too small and missing a major natural landmark or man made edifice, but just where on this planet can you enjoy warm winter days, visit the mountains and the bay, all within 40 minutes drive of your home in inner Brisbane? Plus 50 minutes away you can be on the best island in the world - Straddie! Is this guy biased? Sure, but seriously though, not many places have so much to offer for ordinary folk like us.

I'm a bit into this tourism thing now because I started working as a volunteer this week at the airport. I did two shifts of 4 hours each, both starting at 7am. I get the 6:39 Air Train at Eagle Junction Station and in 10 minutes I'm getting off at Domestic. I go straight down the escalator into the middle terminal area used by Jet Star. We have a booth there staffed up to 2:45 every day by volunteers. Last Wednesday on my first shift I also did 'Qantas Roaming' which is where you hover around the domestic departures and offer assistance when requested. We are not allowed to touch the e ticket machines but we can guide very carefully to ensure those travellers unsure of the machines successfully get their boarding passes. Of course the seasoned travellers are never a worry, but the locals and visitors alike who are not familiar with the terminals often appreciate the help. Next Thursday I have my first shift at Level 2 International. This is the arrivals hall. For now I won't go into the types of things we do each shift, but suffice to say it is very varied and the time flies. I leave the airport at 10:55 and get my train, and I'm walking in the front door at 11:25.

Oh, I nearly forgot - Mollie Sugden, Mrs Slocombe in "Are You Being Served", died on the 1st of July aged 86. We used to be in a trivia team each week called 'Mrs Slocombe's Pussy'. It folded at the end of last year and we morphed into 'No Replies'. She had been quite unwell for some time, so she's at peace now. My mother used to have hair that matched many of the shades Mrs Slocombe had in her hey day. Blue, purple/blue yes, pink - never!