Down by the River- Part 1

Sunday we went to find the red Rapunzel tower that had been spotted and gazed at from my room in the hospital. Sunday marked the start of the good week (out of the three) so I determined to make it so. I had been feeling a bit like Rapunzel, without the hair, stuck in my suburban tower for the last two weeks.

                                                  

The  tower was easy to find as was the good riverside bike track...and some tiny, silver, dead fish being hoarded by a crane.

So we sat and looked at the fish and contemplated what else might live in the great, grey, greasy waters of the lazy Brisbane River. It reads better when you say "lazy Limpopo" and you are Jack Nicholson.

Of course we had to hold and examine the dead fish.

Then we studied the mangroves and contemplated what might be living in the mud...

and held and examined the mangrove fruit. Look at that grubby hand! We like to get dirty on a field trip.

There was free wheeling for all while I sauntered along with tag- along Tess on her tiny trike.

If there are Morton Bay Figs trees this lot will be up them in a trice. You have to love those fig trees. 

This B2 boy has been most loving and  gentle to me of late. He stood beside me in the setting sun and we took photos of our long shadows together then he made this one. I think I love this photo.

As the sun set in the western suburbs over the Wesley hospital and the 'good' room we mooched home and it felt good. The five chillun and I went out for a picnic with wheels and survived- even enjoyed ourselves! It felt like me again even if it is one week in three. It is something to look forward to!

Oh, and I got the last haircut yesterday just in time because last night my hair hurt. Seriously, hurty hair follicles! Who knew? So I had a shower at midnight and towelled it dry and went back to bed. I had forgotten how easy short hair is. Imagine how easy bald will be!

Cultural Capital

You know how sometimes a truly special day will just drop into your lap like a small gem? Today we went to the Redcliffe gallery to see an exhibition by an old friend of mine from waaaay back- before kids, before Big Fella, before Uni. We were both working in jobs we had no personal interest in but discovered a common interest in art. She was dabbling in clay figures and lizards and doing funny things like putting glad wrapped wet sculptures in the fridge to stop them drying out. You've come a long way, baby!This touching installation was all about the edge where the sea and land meet. She had set up interactive activities where viewers could participate. We could leave notes in bottles and create our own sand gardens in her sand tray cornucopia.
Everybody from 2 to twelve and beyond was mesmerised into blissful silence for a good thirty minutes.

If you've ever fossicked, you know how this works.

Playing in the sand in an art gallery...
with some beautiful sensory and eclectic found objects...
delicious. These marching, crablike mangrove things also tickled me....
but this bit of loveliness won my heart. It referred to a local aboriginal midden, the arrival of foreign boats to these shores and their profound effect on the 700 aboriginal nations in Australia.
Thus there were 700 pippi shells in the sand which I eventually realised were individually hand made clay pieces, exquisite to touch and hold.
Speaking of shellfish- we headed down to the famous Morgan's fish markets for some lunch.
I do love the noise and smell of a good fish market. These green tiger prawns were as big as croissants I tell you!
The girls were all "eeeyew!", B1 was fascinated by the cleaver carnage out the back and I needed to sit down. We got a bag of these tiger prawns for $11 a kg!
I do love the sea in grizzly weather. It's almost like the Scottish fishing village where the Big Fella originated.
Then a tree swallowed my children but that, my friends, is a whole post on its own!