'A big win for the little people'...

Remember way back in June this year, I wrote a post about DH and I going on a protest march through our suburb's streets to the local high school ? The state government had published a list of schools which it planned to close at the end of the year. This incensed me as the school is also a community resource used by a number of community groups, as well as being a smaller school that cares for its student population. So I felt that I had a duty to support the local community's efforts to save our school.
We gathered at the shops on South Pine Rd...

The balloons that I was given to carry seemed to want to take off! lol

This lady who worked at our local Coles and who is on maternity leave with her first child was there...and she made her feelings known about the proposed school closure

Wayne Swan, the Federal Member for this area came along to lend his support...

pretty soon the march will start...

 The crowd crossed the main road and started heading up Stafford Rd...

We are nearly level with the school's front gate which is on the other side of the road. The group then crossed  Stafford Road, while some brave volunteers held up the traffic...

 The school's entrance...

The media was there inside the school grounds interviewing a number of people...

Here's Joel from Channel 9 News...

Some of the signs which people had carried on the march were then propped at the front of the stage in the Effie Reid Assembly Hall...

Some of the crowd... note the disparate age groups...a real cross section of the local community...

Now that was in June. During June and July a group of parents, community members and school staff worked together on a submission to save the school. In the early stages the government moved the date forward for submissions to be finalised...it seemed like a ploy to make it more difficult for school groups to collect all the data and have it ready on time. DH felt that such an effort was doomed, but I just kept hoping. I knew how hard that group had worked. 

Well the community got the government's decision a few weeks back...The school is saved from closure!! Such wonderful news. The school's submissions were accepted and the trade off is opening up the school to even more community groups out of school hours and a smallish parcel of land from the school's 25 acres will be taken back by the government for whatever they plan for it...probably sell it to private enterprise. I think it has been a real win win situation and for once 'People Power' has won!

The man in the photo is the President of the school's Parents and Citizens' Association and he deserves a 

'pat on the back' for the way he galvanised the community into action. Way to go!!

Coffee time...

Occasionally DH and I treat ourselves to a coffee in a coffee shop. Today I'm going to post some photos that I took at 2 local 'haunts'.

One day recently, we went to a small shop in the neighbouring suburb of Mitchelton, in particular in Blackwood St. It has the rather interesting name of Geronimo Jerky and it is right next door to where DH and I worked last year on the state election. I didn't take a photo of this cafe though...I took photos of the examples of 'yarn-bombing' in the street.

I noticed this one first...

Then looked down the footpath towards the railway crossing and saw this one...

Close up of the 'nurse'...

This one was outside the building where DH and I had worked... when we worked there, the building had been put up for sale and Ben, the chemist from across the road had said he'd love to buy it as his shop was so cramped...

Ta dah!!

The pharmacy has moved to the old bank building :-)

The week before last we tried out a fairly new cafe that had opened at nearby Gaythorne. 

I'd read a review of this cafe in the Sunday Mail which had been rather flattering.

We chose a table on the footpath...the cafe is on a small service road just off busy Samford Rd...

This new eatery is owned by someone with the surname, Hansell.

Looking towards Samford Rd...

Our coffees came in quaint 70s mugs...

The cafe wasn't far from the railway bridge just after/before Gaythorne Station...I had my phone ready to take a photo when the next train came through...

We parked our car at the back of the block of shops. On the strip of railway land beside the shops, there were lots of morning glory vines in flower...

The next time we visit Hansell and Gretel we might try one of the breakfast dishes...they sure looked good!

Taking small steps...

A little while ago I wrote a post about the strain of having a  relative who was struggling with mental health issues. The strain wasn't just this person's behaviours but also from the pressure of other family members who felt that 'it was up to me to solve the problem'. Since then, I have found a wonderful organisation called Arafmi which offers support for carers/friends/relatives of those who suffer from a variety of mental illnesses. 

I now attend a support group meeting in New Farm most months and have found it so helpful to understand the illness affecting the life of our relative. It was so empowering to share 'my story' and see other people nodding their heads as they also had a loved one who had similar behaviours; no judgemental reactions, just empathy. 

As well as the support group meetings, I have attended an Arafmi workshop on coping which I found most informative and this, plus what I have learned in the support group, has made it so much easier for me to work out strategies of dealing with issues when they arise. I understand our relative's behaviours better and, in turn, I have been gradually helping others in the family be more informed. 

I know that if there should be a crisis, there is a 24/7 counselling hotline provided by Arafmi, and, as well, appointments with  counsellors are available in New Farm 2 mornings a week. There is also a small library and already I have borrowed a recommended book which I have found very helpful. 

The problem for our family will not go away, but at least we know we are not alone. 

Not Quite 50 Shades with Grey...

Way back in early July, I wrote about the knitted throw that I donated to our Parish Art and Craft Show this year. The weekend of the art show coincided with the camel race day that DH and I attended in Wandoan, so we were unable to be there. My friend Carmen sent me a text to say that my thow had been sold but she didn't have any details about who had bought it.

A month or so later I found out that a lovely lady called Marge had bought this year's throw; Marge had bought another one of my donated throws 2 years ago as well! I gently teased her about this one Sunday, saying she was my best customer.
 At the beginning of this month Marge suffered an aneurysm, underwent surgery and was pronounced to be 'on the mend', albeit an expected long recovery period.  But this wasn't to be...Marge passed away unexpectedly on September 6. This is going to sound strange...but her funeral was actually a joyous occasion with all her favourite hymns and some wonderful tributes from her children and grandchildren.

One of Marge's best friends Gwen, gave me a photo (below) of Marge that she took at the Art Show...how special is this?

I already  know what I will make for the art Show next year...
Another  throw in blues, greens, mauves and purples (mohair yarns again) and it will be called 'Memories of Marge'...or 'Marge-ma' as her grandchildren called her.

'You're in an out of bounds area, laddie!'

Yesterday morning I walked down the side of our house towards where my car was parked under the house. This is what I saw...

That's my geranium plant so that equipment is on my side of the fence! (mind you some of our property is still inside the temporary fencing too!)
There was a young man who was still in my yard and dropping more equipment ...
" I don't remember giving you permission to come on to my property, let alone dumping equipment in my yard'...was my tart comment to said young man.
I loaded up my car for the Zillmere Knit and Natter, while still speaking my mind...words to the effect that I expected all the equipment to be removed as soon as possible...and 'Where's Brad'??? (the building site manager) Young man didn't know where Brad was apparently, and fled back to his vehicle parked at the kerb. Before he fled he said, 'Sorry Miss'!!
Ha ha! In my mind, I was back doing Playground Duty...once a teacher, always a teacher, lol!
I went back to the car and got out my camera and in a very deliberate manner took the set of photos used in this post.

 I even took a photo of the sprawl over the footpath.

I then got in my car, backed it out, drove around the corner into the back street and found a park. Then walked in our back gate and went inside to get Brad's business card. I rang his mobile but got messagebank; so I left a message detailing what had happened. Then I went off to knitting.

By the time I arrived home, Brad had left a message stating that none of the workers on the site had any need/reason to go on to our property. So I rang him back and we talked it through. He was going to ring the scaffolding company to put in a complaint. But the story doesn't end there...

This morning while I was watering the veggie patch at the back, I heard someone calling out. Thought it was someone in my neighbour Tom's place but soon realised it was someone in my front yard. I walked around and it was 'that young man'! he asked if he could come onto my property to pass up the scaffolding needed today, as it was easier to do it from the side...hello????
I simply repeated what Brad had said to me yesterday...'No worker needs to access my property'...and I added, 'that's what the boss of the site says so let's just do what he says'...said young man visibly 'deflated'...he knew he was beaten as he slunk off to do the job 'the hard way'! Oh, and in true teacher fashion I said, 'Thank you. I appreciate your coming in to ask if you could have access on my land'!  I was a well trained teacher too!!! :-)  (I bet he went and said to his workmates, 'there's an old witch living next door', though. lol

'Dress ups' at work...

A little while ago I wrote a post about how I dressed up as a clown (Mr Biffy from Richard Tulloch's picture book) for Book Week in 2000.

Well throughout my long career in the classroom, there were a number of dress up days. Not all have been recorded in photos but a few have.
Now the following photo will show just how long I was a teacher...here I am in my classroom with the Principal Headmaster talking to the class...

Now observant readers will notice that there are some things in this photo that just 'don't add up'! lol
Clothes reminiscent of those worn in the early 1900s  but desks with laminate tops and plastic tidybox drawers...???  This photo was actually taken on July 4, 1979, when this school celebrated its 75th anniversary. Since then, DH and I have been back for the 100th Anniversary as we were both pupils there a long time ago...but not foundation students though! lol

On that day in 1979, after a year of planning, the school celebrated from July 4 (a Wednesday that year), right through to the following Sunday. The staff and many of the students got dressed up in clothes reminiscent of 1904.
The photo below shows the staff who dressed up...

And the last photo shows the pupils at the school who dressed up. (not the whole school though)

The youngest of these students would be in their mid 40s now...so that dates me a bit! lol

A teacher at the school in 2004 told me that the staff in that year, used these old photos of mine to help them organise their costumes. I didn't think to take photos of the 2004 staff and DH and I didn't get dressed up that time. Just didn't occur to us! lol

Another update on the building site next door...

In the last week there has been quite a variety of tradesmen working on the site...
At the beginning of the week I heard a strange sound coming from next door. When I looked out a window I saw that Brad and a young tradesman were dragging sliding glass doors along the flooring of one of the new houses, and taking the doors around to the front of the complex... That was also the day that we had some rain showers...

Every day of last week, the site was a 'hive of industry' and today I did a walk around the perimeter of the property taking photos of the results of all that busy busy week.
Quite a number of  windows have now been installed

One of the 2 houses close to our fence now has a very smart back door...

 If you look closely at the photo above, you can see electrical cabling that has been installed...and as well as electricians, the plumbers have also been back working on the site. In the next photo we can see the pipes from the bathrooms upstairs on the third level...

And more electrical cabling as well...

Now I have walked around to the front of the property, and we can see the sliding door to the little front balcony...

Another front view...

And another photo taken further along the front footpath...

Most of the houses are 3 levels but 2 have only 2 levels and look incredibly small; next time I will try to get a photo showing all the elevations...

Towards the end of the block, 2 of the houses have rather swish front doors...

This is at the end of the block and the largest house in the complex at 161 square metres...

The block of land is a triangular shape and this is the view as you drive/walk up the hill...

Something that I'm not too happy about is the fact that the footpath is still blocked by materials from the site. After speaking to elderly residents who find it a bit tricky I'm tempted to speak to the local councillor about this. 

 And our kerbing has taken a battering from the trucks driving into the street as well.

Chatting with the neighbours across the street after I took these photos, they predict that this week the roofs will go on. If so, we will have the mobile crane here for just about a whole day and it will be very interesting to watch!! lol