Spot the Difference

I reframed a picture of my mum that I keep on my duchess and rather like the new result. The frame was thrifted the other week and I used pink cardboard as a backing. It makes such a difference to the look of all the things living together on my duchess. These pictures remind me though that the little frame is still without an inhabitant and must be feeling lonely. The photo of my mum was taken at Bulcock Beach, which is here in Caloundra, when she and the family were here one summer on holidays. I don't know how old she is in the photo but I guess four or five. I like the photo even more because in the background you can see the diving boards that use to be down at the beach. Mum fell off one of them one summer and cut her chin. She still has the scar. I think it's lovely that my mum and her mum and dad and brother and sisters use to holiday here, then they moved here when Grandma and Poppy came to manage the Pearl Hotel. There are lots of stories still told about Poppy working behind the bar at the Pearl and the fights there and how all the regulars would step in to defend Poppy, and one time where I think someone was thrown off a balcony. I remember the house that was behind the Pearl, where they lived. I mainly remember images of the front cement stairs and the pool being surrounded by white lattice. I was tiny then so I don't remember much more.

I went to the doctor's this morning and as usual I'm probably fine. I say probably because I'm not sure I believe her, though I see two doctors and both have said nothing is wrong. Apparently stress is causing all of my ailments, the latest being pain where my ribs meet my breast bone and that is because of stress changing my breathing and the cartlidge there is moving differently. Anyway, I walked to Mum's work after this and told her I was fine and then went to the thrift store next to her shop. I just wanted fabric but ended up picking up stuff all over the place and had to make myself leave. I really love the fabric I found, which I picked because it has a little birdy in it and it only cost $1. Then I found old party hats which I needed to buy anyway for Simba's birthday on Friday (he will be 5). I might decorate them a little more and put his name on one. They cost 10c, and the flanellette pillow case cost 60c. The books were each 50c - Charles and Diana in Australia and Materiallly Yours: A handbook on dressmaking, textiles and related topics, for secondary schools, which also includes topics on grooming and etitquette (hehe). There was also a book on James Dean which they had just got in but they'd put $30 on it and I ain't paying that much, even for Jimmy Dean.

Ooh, yesterday was lots of fun. I went to Grandma's to finish my aprons, which are all done now, because my machine still won't work properly and I'm afraid will have to go back. Anyway, when Grandma picked me up we went down to KMart to get Aunty Vicki a maternity top for her birthday, and ended up having lunch at the Coffee Club. A Queensland Tropical open grill and chips went down very well. Grandma and I are creature of habit, and I obvioulsy get that from her, as we always order the same thing. We went home to her place and sewed and watched cable. I love and adore television and cable is just too much fun for me to bear. First was Without A Trace, then Touched By An Angel, Dr Phil, Little House on the Prairie, then Ursula came to do Grandma's hair and I realised that Martha was on, but only the last two minutes of it. In my new life as a crafter and design-obsessed person I have a new respect for Martha Stewart. All I got to see though were her tips on how to discard olive pits and tooth picks at a party (leave an empty bowl out, dah!) and her explain that she is creating a craft room in her new house in Bedford that is in the attic and runs the length of the house. Jealous! Then though, World Movies was showing One Day in September. While I'm already in love with television, couple this with documentaries and history and I am in heaven. It was so well done and interesting and moving, and I ended up feeling for both the Israeli athletes and the Palestinian terrorists. I don't think I can speak highly enough of it. Then I realised I had it on tape at home, after it must have been on TV some other time and I'd never got around to watching it. So while I love spending the day with Grandma, I also love her cable TV.