Been MIA for a while…Life in Colour

 I haven’t blogged in quite a while…planned a lot of posts in my head…but never actually got around to writing them. For ages I had been getting regular emails from Google alerting me to the fact that my blog had ‘readability issues’ and I was urged to do something about it. I couldn’t see what the problem was as when I googled my posts, they looked fine. But I followed Google’s directions but still the emails came. A few years ago, the Blogger app became very unstable ( well for me anyway) so I bought an app which seemed to work okay but must have caused ‘readability issues’. Today I’m once again trying out Blogger 🤞🤞. 

But I thought I’d try something relatively easy…a Life in Colour post to finish off August. The colour for August is red. So here we go with some reds…

First photos are the Wiggles car which was on display in the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney in 2018 ( I think) 

Lovely old letterbox in Albany Western Australia…imagine, Queen Victoria was the monarch! 

Next is the little red stool from IKEA that we bought GD #1 for her first Christmas…my theory that it would be very useful turned out to be ‘spot on’! 

For many years, I’ve donated lollipops to the Christmas Stocking project that my knitting group does each year…here’s my trolley with my donations on a rare visit to Costco. 

A red tram coming into Glenelg in South Australia. 

Next photo is of the red netting and red canvas seats in an old air force plane at the museum situated at the Amberley Airforce Base here in Queensland.

Quite a few splashes of red on the wharf on Rottnest Island in Western Australia. DH and I didn’t hire one of those bikes…we caught the little train there on the island.

Santas crocheted by one of the members in my knitting group…these went to needy people in the community as gifts.

Some of the Christmas packages GD Anthea helped me do up for K4BN’s Christmas Stocking Project.

DH in his red shirt standing at a red tram stop in a tramway museum we visited.

The next picture is of a page of my Cliff Richard scrapbook that I made in my teens…somehow this book survived culls and declutters 😜. Without a doubt this book would be at least 51 years old! 

The last photo is a little block with an EPP heart made with a Liberty fabric. 

So joining in with Jude from Travel Words Here

The Wiggles! Lol

Most weeks, at least once per week, DH picks up Miss A ( eldest granddaughter) early from Daycare and brings her home to our place. The routine is usually some afternoon tea, playing with the toys in Grandma's toy box (😉😆), reading stories, helping getting the washing off the line, a little trike riding, even running under the garden sprinkler but when 'us oldies ' start to flag, it's time to watch a Wiggles show on Netflix!

Lots of dancing required!

I always joke with Miss A that I want a red car just like the Wiggles car!  😉😂
So out come the photos that were taken on our trip to the Powerhouse Museum last year and in particular the Wiggles Exhibition...


The exhibition also featured the Cockroaches which was the pop band that the original Wiggles' members  formed long before they became the Wiggles...

Ah hah! There's that car!!!

I just couldn't resist climbing into it!

But hang on...I urged DH to take the photo again...

That's better...the classic index finger waggling was needed! Lol

Recollect: Health and Medicine. More from our Powerhouse Museum Visit.

Through a doorway, I saw what looked like a very interesting exhibit...and I was right; it was fascinating! I've copied the blurb from the museum's website.

'Explore the history and innovation of public health and medicine in this exhibition showcasing more than 1,000 objects from our extensive collection.

See beautifully realised anatomical models, surgical instruments from the 19th century to present day, taboos and strange historic medicine, and cutting-edge prosthetics and other examples of body enhancement. Be fascinated and intrigued by the Museum’s broad range of contraceptives, one of the most comprehensive collections in the world.'

The first cabinets featured numerous contraceptive devices...



And those information booklets from yesteryear...😉




Remember these?



Who knew there were so many varieties?



A teaching tool?



Some 'gynaecologicall/obstetrics items...



With DH being fitted with a pacemaker last December, I was particularly interested in this display of these devices over the last 40 plus years...



I took a closeup of the first one on that display board...it was quite large!



There were lots of shelves with pills and potions from years ago...





Soaps...



I remember the radio ads for these two items when I was growing up. That was before these over the counter powders were link with kidney disease/failure...horrid stuff! 😕



This urn like vessel was really an interesting piece. It's a container for the storage of leeches which would be used for medical purposes. The urn would be filled with water and leeches up to a few inches below the lid. The lid had to be extremely heavy as apparently leeches are 'escape artists'...eek!



Some old dentist tools...



An iron lung...



X-ray machines...



And an old NSW ambulance...



I'm sure that there were many more photos I could have taken in this exhibit...it was fascinating and what memories the items brought back. But I think I prefer modern day medical items. 😉

More of our Powerhouse Museum Visit.

As it's name suggests, this Sydney museum is in a repurposed Powerhouse. The building is large and on several levels. I imagine that many of these floors have been added into what was once a huge cavernous space. The wedding dress exhibition was on Level 4 and DH and I then walked down the ramp to Level 3 and that's what this post is all about. 
There is a huge space that soars up to the roof line...Lawrence Hargrave with his invention; a box kite is in this vast space.

At floor level is an old steam train engine with a few carriages.

I joked with DH that if we had have lived in the era of this train, we probably would have only afforded to travel in the 3rd class carriage...😉not very salubrious that's for sure! Lol

Behind the train was another very old vehicle...quite cute really! Lol

The theatrette at the museum was modelled on the Art Deco style of the Kings Theatre Chain. There was a meeting of some sort going on inside the theatrette so we couldn't explore inside, so just a photo of DH in the foyer.

Still on level 3, we walked through some more of the exhibits...they were quite an eclectic lot! I'm just posting a few of the many items.
A car...

Some clothing...
A crocheted dress that was worn by actor, Cate Blanchett, which she called her 'Cate Blanket'!

Aussie pop singer Johnny O'Keefe's suit...

A Jenny Kee ( an Aussie knitwear designer! sweater similar to the one that Princess Di wore...

Furniture...very avant-garde at that!

The sofa nicknamed 'The Marilyn'...
Another lounge...

There was a little display cabinet of Smurfs.

There was an example of an Enigma cipher machine which had been developed by the Germans after their codes were constantly being deciphered in WW1. During the Second World War the Allies actually were able to again break Axis codes...remember Bletchley Park!

Throughout the museum there were iPads which provided information about the exhibits...

It was scrolling through this iPad that I saw that there was an Enigma machine on display. When I found this machine, I saw something beside it that made me go, 'Wow!'

Yes, one of the first Apple computers; what a contrast with those iPads being used in the museum! 😳
Something quirky? A parade float called Granny Smith, which featured an old Hills Hoist clothes line and lots of green apples.

In another exhibition hall there was a display based on old style shops...

A lady standing beside me commented on the gun cartridges on display in the middle of old haberdashery items!

The next photo prompted old memories of our school days...pen nibs to use with the ink in the inkwells in our old school desks...

A very elegant old cash register...

A ad poster...my mum used to use 'blue bags' to whiten whites on washing day but I think she used Reckitts brand.

Then it was time to move to the next level down. And I've already written about the Annette Kellerman exhibition which was just one of the displays on that level. It was certainly a busy morning/early afternoon for us!