Thursday, October 30, 2014

Good but not as intended

two hanky holders

Years ago I made a yellow and pink striped felted *thing* which was intended to be an interestingly shaped purse/pouch for a friend's birthday but turned out to be something else entirely.

The shape reminded me of a tissue box cover, if a bit flattened. I didn't know what to do with it. It was some time later that the tissue box association lead me to stuffing it with handkerchiefs to keep handy downstairs. I know the more normal practice would be to keep your hankies somewhere in the vicinity of your underwear drawer. (Though tissue boxes tend to be kept in various household spots.) I try to avoid using tissues and at times I find it much more convenient to have a fresh supply of hankies kept somewhere more handy.

And no, I don't iron my snot-rags nor much else!) though we did learn to iron as kids by ironing all the family's hankies into neat folded rectangles.  

purple.

I never thought of the hanky holder as something that anyone else would want. But when my sister spotted it she loved the idea and wanted one for her household. Luckily I had taken notes back when I thought I was inventing that cool new purse shape, so it was good to have a use for those (though I probably could have figured out the shape and size without too much trouble).

Monday, October 06, 2014

Flower appreciation, nighttime

Last year I was a little bit jaded about Canberra's annual flower festival, Floriade - though I did, for various reasons, go back three times! This year I tried Nightfest for the first time. For this you have to buy a ticket (except for a brief experiment years ago, Floride - during the day - is always free) and it seemed less crowded than the times I went last year, which was a big plus.

It might seem strange to go to see flowers in the dark, and for a garden lover I wouldn't recommend it as an alternative to a daytime visit, but gosh they do some beautiful things with lighting and sound and performances.

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This pair, the Walks of Art, were costumed as Monet's "Field of poppies," and Van Gogh's "Starry night" and "Sunflowers." My photos don't capture all the details, they were amazing.

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Strings on Fire - a circus / fire tricks / sorta cabaret act.

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This display/act was the highlight of the night and I don't know what it was called. It was a light show set to music and quite magical. Lots of people in a tree-lined dark space with these amazing inflatable lamps overhead. The music varied from dance to classical. Of course every person was trying to take photos with phones and cameras. I actually went back a second time just to experience it without trying to get any more photos.

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