SPRINGTIME CARNIVALE AND TWIN UPDATE

 

Who loves the Carnival of Flowers?
Held annually in the regional city of Toowoomba, the Carnival this year is different - just like everything else in this strangest of strange years!




We enjoyed the Public Garden displays at three venues, as well as a special exhibition at St. Luke's Church.

Sadly, there is no home garden competition, let alone the opportunity to view the beautiful private gardens.

Of course, this was due to Covid19 restrictions, but in fact, the crowds were so dense at the public places, not to mention the difficulty of finding a parking spot, I could only think it might be safer to have the thousands of visitors dispersed across the city in smaller numbers as per usual.
Surely a requirement could be simply a one-way path marked around the garden, as is required everywhere we go these days.

At Picnic Point, we enjoyed a special Carnival treat:

a Violet and Wattle seed ice cream sundae:

Yes, there really is violet ice cream under that fluffy cream!

This is fun...seen in a kids' playground...

Last week I returned to my volunteer guiding role at our GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art).   It was a real joy to be back, meeting my guide friends again, catching up on the news and the exhibitions.

The gallery was closed for months during lockdown, and of course, everything is very different.  Social distancing is absolutely essential.

Our tours are reduced to a maximum of six people, and for only 30 minutes.

Brian Dunlop, Australia, 1938-2009 'Room With a Visitor' 1979

Prominently displayed as you enter Goma is Brian Dunlop's 'Room With a Visitor', 1979.  Doesn't it look like our new 'social distancing' world?

Dunlop studied in Europe as a young artist, and was inspired by Renaissance art.

He himself commented that when he finished this work, he thought it looked like an Annunciation painting, and indeed it does.  

Dunlop was known for his interiors, usually bathed in beautiful light, and offers no explanation for the mysterious scenario.  We make of it what we will, and what a good example of how interpretation of a good art work can change over the years.

It is school holiday time in Queensland, and as the border to the Northern Territory is now open, lucky Little Aussie (our eldest grandson) has been on a trip to Uluru - what fun..

And our beautiful new twin grandsons are doing wonderfully well.

They learnt to breathe unaided in the first week, and have moved from ICU to Special care, visited daily by their parents.

They have regained their birth weights, and moved on to other goals: learning to suckle, enjoying a bath or massage, and the maintenance of body warmth.  

Also, wearing clothes :)

At the moment, I really don't have any photos suitable for publication - but eventually we will.  

Taking photos is difficult because of infection control, and their phones have to be zip-locked when they enter the hospital.  We have seen a few tiny videos taken by kindly staff.  It was wonderful to hear a little voice murmuring....

Be safe and take care

XXXXX