And have a wonderful weekend!
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Noosa and Eumundi
We had a weekend away at Noosa to coincide with one of the mister's biking events.
Noosa is on the Sunshine Coast, about 130kms north of Brisbane.
It's a super popular tourist spot for anyone who loves the beach, eating out and shopping.
The Noosa River meets the ocean here so you get both beach front and river front businesses and homes.
Eumundi is in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, about 20kms inland, southwest of Noosa.
We arrived early (7am, how's that for early) and had no troubles at all with parking or crowds.
By 8am we were a little peckish and sat down for a yummy cooked breakfast without having to wait for a table.
The markets are very popular with good reason - plenty of original and quality handmade items with a dash of fresh produce and cooked food stalls.
Despite having breakfast less than an hour before, we caved in and had some teeny dutch pancakes:
Amongst the all the lovely, tasteful wares there has to be some crassness, or it's just not Australian.
Case One:
I know hate is a strong word, but Queenslanders hate cane toads. Introduced in 1935 from South/Central America to eat a beetle that destroyed sugarcane crops, the species bred like Catholics* and badly affected some of our native fauna. Not to mention poisoned our cats and dogs (their skin is toxic). To add insult to injury, the bloody things didn't even eat the beetles. Way to go, Australian scientists!
Case Two:
Firstly, are you eating? If you're eating: stop eating.
But it's made from a kangaroo scrotum. I bet he sure misses his scrotum.
Lordy, did I have fun typing kangaroo scrotum in the flickr tag box. And look, I've just typed it a few more times.
Alright, enough silliness from me. Just go and visit Noosa and Eumundi and don't forget to pick up your very own kangaroo scrotum. I bet they're really soft.
Enjoy the end of your week!
*I am allowed to say this because I am Catholic. I also have 4 children which proves the point.
Noosa is on the Sunshine Coast, about 130kms north of Brisbane.
It's a super popular tourist spot for anyone who loves the beach, eating out and shopping.
What is this stuff?
You know you're in Queensland when you find beer stashed in the palm trees.
The Noosa River meets the ocean here so you get both beach front and river front businesses and homes.
Sweeeet.
Spotted in the river mangroves
Saturday morning I tagged along with Marg and her daughter on a trip to the Eumundi markets.
Eumundi is in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, about 20kms inland, southwest of Noosa.
We arrived early (7am, how's that for early) and had no troubles at all with parking or crowds.
By 8am we were a little peckish and sat down for a yummy cooked breakfast without having to wait for a table.
The markets are very popular with good reason - plenty of original and quality handmade items with a dash of fresh produce and cooked food stalls.
Despite having breakfast less than an hour before, we caved in and had some teeny dutch pancakes:
Amongst the all the lovely, tasteful wares there has to be some crassness, or it's just not Australian.
Case One:
Keyrings and coin purses made from cane toads.
I know hate is a strong word, but Queenslanders hate cane toads. Introduced in 1935 from South/Central America to eat a beetle that destroyed sugarcane crops, the species bred like Catholics* and badly affected some of our native fauna. Not to mention poisoned our cats and dogs (their skin is toxic). To add insult to injury, the bloody things didn't even eat the beetles. Way to go, Australian scientists!
Case Two:
Firstly, are you eating? If you're eating: stop eating.
I don't actually even know what sort of functioning device this is supposed to be.
But it's made from a kangaroo scrotum. I bet he sure misses his scrotum.
Lordy, did I have fun typing kangaroo scrotum in the flickr tag box. And look, I've just typed it a few more times.
Alright, enough silliness from me. Just go and visit Noosa and Eumundi and don't forget to pick up your very own kangaroo scrotum. I bet they're really soft.
View from a lookout in the Eumundi area. I had house envy.
Enjoy the end of your week!
*I am allowed to say this because I am Catholic. I also have 4 children which proves the point.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Bonjour Quilts
Today it's all about the admin.
Firstly: I changed my name to www.bonjourquilts.com. Well, my URL. You know what I mean.
I've been meaning to change for a while and the demise of Google Reader was the push I needed. So please do update any links that you need to.
Secondly: no more Google Reader come 1st of July. If you're an aggregating type you'll need to find yourself a new platform.
Replacement options are out there - most folks in the crafty sphere are changing to Bloglovin' or Feedly. If you are with Bloglovin' and want to continue following me, click below:
If you're with Feedly, just add www.bonjourquilts.com to your feed.
It's been a bit boring around here, just a whole lot of this since our shipping container arrived from France a few weeks ago:
At least someone enjoys unpacking boxes:
The rest of us, not so much. So I've given myself a very nice incentive to get it done:
This is my NEW MACHINE!! *hyperventilates, pokes self in eye with seam ripper*
I've jumped ship from Bernette to Janome; I hope she lives up to my high expectations. I'll be sure to let you know once I get her out of the box.
A few lovely commenters on my Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show post reminded me that I didn't show you my purchases, so let me correct that.
For some reason Marg and I found ourselves very drawn to the Japanese themed booths - I picked up these various cuts with the idea of making some new lounge room cushion covers.
I am also pulling bits and pieces together to make a low value quilt of some sort - these will go towards that collection. (For the non-quilters, by low value I mean low colour value, not that I'm making a cheap and nasty blanket.)
Continuing on with fabric news - I've just ordered some vinyl from the US to re-cover our dining room chairs (see tartan in first photo). Cats, children and fabric-upholstered seating don't play well together.
I found some pictures from last year and realised I hadn't shown you the Christmas gift I made for a lovely French friend who was very good to our family while we were there. She really loved this quilt:
And this one:
So I combined the fabrics from the first with the design of the later, et voilà:
The backing is a print from Dear Stella's Ikebana called Medallion in White (with a thin border of Tiles in Charcoal from the same line). Quilting was a simple grid down the centre of all the sashing lengths.
It's lap sized and my friend seemed quite happy with it.
Hopefully I'll have some more sewing, Janome sewing, to show you in the near future. Until then, have a great weekend!
Firstly: I changed my name to www.bonjourquilts.com. Well, my URL. You know what I mean.
I've been meaning to change for a while and the demise of Google Reader was the push I needed. So please do update any links that you need to.
Secondly: no more Google Reader come 1st of July. If you're an aggregating type you'll need to find yourself a new platform.
Replacement options are out there - most folks in the crafty sphere are changing to Bloglovin' or Feedly. If you are with Bloglovin' and want to continue following me, click below:
If you're with Feedly, just add www.bonjourquilts.com to your feed.
It's been a bit boring around here, just a whole lot of this since our shipping container arrived from France a few weeks ago:
At least someone enjoys unpacking boxes:
The rest of us, not so much. So I've given myself a very nice incentive to get it done:
This is my NEW MACHINE!! *hyperventilates, pokes self in eye with seam ripper*
I've jumped ship from Bernette to Janome; I hope she lives up to my high expectations. I'll be sure to let you know once I get her out of the box.
A few lovely commenters on my Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show post reminded me that I didn't show you my purchases, so let me correct that.
For some reason Marg and I found ourselves very drawn to the Japanese themed booths - I picked up these various cuts with the idea of making some new lounge room cushion covers.
Happy colours!
I am also pulling bits and pieces together to make a low value quilt of some sort - these will go towards that collection. (For the non-quilters, by low value I mean low colour value, not that I'm making a cheap and nasty blanket.)
Continuing on with fabric news - I've just ordered some vinyl from the US to re-cover our dining room chairs (see tartan in first photo). Cats, children and fabric-upholstered seating don't play well together.
I found some pictures from last year and realised I hadn't shown you the Christmas gift I made for a lovely French friend who was very good to our family while we were there. She really loved this quilt:
And this one:
So I combined the fabrics from the first with the design of the later, et voilà:
The backing is a print from Dear Stella's Ikebana called Medallion in White (with a thin border of Tiles in Charcoal from the same line). Quilting was a simple grid down the centre of all the sashing lengths.
It's lap sized and my friend seemed quite happy with it.
Hopefully I'll have some more sewing, Janome sewing, to show you in the near future. Until then, have a great weekend!
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Things to do in Hong Kong: Yum Cha, Markets and Trams, Oh My.
We stopped off in Hong Kong for a week on our way back from France to Australia.
We thought it might help us adjust to the new time zone and the warmer weather, and we were right on both accounts.
January is a great time to visit Hong Kong - the weather was perfect, the crowds were minimal. We even managed to time our trip to coincide with the locals going back to school, which was fantastic when we went to Hong Kong Disney (more on that in a later post).
I have lots of Hong Kong Awesomeness to share, but before I do I'd like to say a big thank you to Jo over at The Ghost Who Shops. She was kind enough to email me with some great advice on enjoying her city-state. Thanks Jo!
High on my agenda was partaking in Yum Cha - traditionally a morning/lunch/afternoon tea experience that consists of lots of small portions (called dim sum) to share:
You can either order from a menu, as we did at Lei Bistro:
Or choose from the carts circling the restaurant floor, as we did at the Metropol:
The fun part is making sure you don't end up with chicken feet. Unless you like chicken feet.
For getting around, you can't beat public transport in Hong Kong. Buy an Octopus card and you'll be able to travel (bus, train, ferry, cable car) everywhere without having to look for change. A bonus when sightseeing with kids and extra hands are hard to come by.
The tram system is excellent. Jump on at the back and exit at the front - remember to duck if you have a little one in a baby backpack.
Trams are a great way to get a feel for the city as well:
We took the tram/metro to Kowloon one afternoon to visit the Temple Street Night Markets:
Loved the gates:
You probably won't find anything life-changing at the markets but it's a good place to pick up some cheap and cheerful souvenirs.
If you're over at Kowloon at night you might as well stick around for the Symphony of Lights which lights up the skyline every night at 8pm.
The kids will enjoy it; the adults will be probably just be amused. It's greatly improved by having an ice cream in your hand.
If you're short of evenings in Hong Kong I would recommend you visit Victoria Peak over the light show.
You catch a tram up to the top of the Peak:
You'll be rewarded with a spectacular 360 degree view over Hong Kong.
Well, that's probably enough for one post - I'll be back with more later. There is so much to do in Hong Kong.
P.S Congratulations Eva and J on your new baby girl!!
*This is only fair given the Hugh video last week:
We thought it might help us adjust to the new time zone and the warmer weather, and we were right on both accounts.
January is a great time to visit Hong Kong - the weather was perfect, the crowds were minimal. We even managed to time our trip to coincide with the locals going back to school, which was fantastic when we went to Hong Kong Disney (more on that in a later post).
Advert for an anti-aging serum. Love the name.
I have lots of Hong Kong Awesomeness to share, but before I do I'd like to say a big thank you to Jo over at The Ghost Who Shops. She was kind enough to email me with some great advice on enjoying her city-state. Thanks Jo!
High on my agenda was partaking in Yum Cha - traditionally a morning/lunch/afternoon tea experience that consists of lots of small portions (called dim sum) to share:
Yum Cha: Hong Kong's answer to tapas
You can either order from a menu, as we did at Lei Bistro:
Or choose from the carts circling the restaurant floor, as we did at the Metropol:
The fun part is making sure you don't end up with chicken feet. Unless you like chicken feet.
For getting around, you can't beat public transport in Hong Kong. Buy an Octopus card and you'll be able to travel (bus, train, ferry, cable car) everywhere without having to look for change. A bonus when sightseeing with kids and extra hands are hard to come by.
The tram system is excellent. Jump on at the back and exit at the front - remember to duck if you have a little one in a baby backpack.
What George Clooney* rides when he comes to town
Trams are a great way to get a feel for the city as well:
Why, hello there.
We took the tram/metro to Kowloon one afternoon to visit the Temple Street Night Markets:
Loved the gates:
You probably won't find anything life-changing at the markets but it's a good place to pick up some cheap and cheerful souvenirs.
If you're over at Kowloon at night you might as well stick around for the Symphony of Lights which lights up the skyline every night at 8pm.
The kids will enjoy it; the adults will be probably just be amused. It's greatly improved by having an ice cream in your hand.
Frick'n Lasers
We caught the ferry home
If you're short of evenings in Hong Kong I would recommend you visit Victoria Peak over the light show.
You catch a tram up to the top of the Peak:
Steep incline makes for wacky pictures
You'll be rewarded with a spectacular 360 degree view over Hong Kong.
A peek from The Peak.
Make sure you check the weather forecast for the days you're there so you can pick the clearest time to visit. I would've loved to go back during the day, too.
Hope you're all having a great weekend!
P.S Congratulations Eva and J on your new baby girl!!
*This is only fair given the Hugh video last week:
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