An award....

Today I went to the city with DH, to attend a 'Recognition of Donors Function' held by the Red Cross Bloodbank. DH was getting his 'recognition' because he has donated blood 150 times. That's such an achievement by him and we are all very proud . The donors at this ceremony were referred to as 'milestone donors' and it ranged from 50 donations upwards, generally in increments of 50 or 100.

We went to the city by train and arrived quite early. So we wandered around King George Square which was not far from the function venue, the Sofitel (the old Crest Hotel). King George Square was refurbished a few years ago now and Brisbane's residents were not really happy with it. It was originally a place dotted with shady trees and pleasant spots to sit, especially in the hot weather. The new square seemed to be a clone of Melbourne's federation square with a wide expanse of rock pavers and very little shade. Eventually, and reluctantly the Brisbane City Council has made some changes especially with shade areas. A fellow Brisbane blogger, Foto fantastic, has a great post about this square here as he examines the history as well as the present day of this city feature.

City Hall which overlooks King George Square

Looking across the square towards Adelaide st

A little bit of shade here; note the big screen TV tuned into the swimming at the Olympics

Looking north of the square towards the beautiful Albert St Uniting Church 

A statue to honour the Petrie family who were early pioneers and explorers of the settlement that became Brisbane 

These kangaroos are part of the Petrie sculpture piece

King George v, after whom the square is named

Finally I'll share some photos taken in the function room. We sat for close to 2 hours during which we watched audio visual presentations about the work of the Red Cross Blood Bank, we also heard from guest speakers, including people who were alive because of blood products provided by the Blood Bank using donations. Throughout the ceremony recipients of the awards came up  in their groups; starting with those who had made 50 donations. Then 100, 150, etc right up to one man called Max, who had donated 500 times! He started in 1965 and DH started in 1967. Max has been donating platelets which can be taken every 2 weeks unlike other blood products' donations which have about 12 weeks between donations. Having said that, 500  is still a brilliant achievement! I should mention here that people don't get paid in Australia for being blood donors; donors get a cuppa and some cheese and crackers...and sometimes a chocolate bar.

DH is just about to receive the award :-)

As well as the certificate, 'milestone donors' received a cute little clock

Now am I a donor? Sadly I was knocked back in my 20s because I took medication for hypertension. Then about 7 years ago I heard that they had relaxed the criteria. I rang and discussed it and found that I could be a donor...so I did...just the once :-(  Not long after it was discovered that I had developed unexplained anemia which is treated by iron infusions; and my doctor requested that I don't donate blood. Who knows though...with technology advancing it may be possible for me to donate some part of my blood... 

An award... me?

This is how it all started... Lea over at http://livinglifenowinkiwiland.blogspot.com/, got a Liebster Award from another blogger. The idea is that if you get an award, you too must select 5 blogs from your reading list and hand on the Liebster award. The blogs that you choose have to have less than 200 followers. It's a tough one... You see I now have that task of selecting just 5 blogs, as Lea very kindly selected my blog as one of her five. She wrote, 'I love her trips down memory lane. I love her photos.'

I love all the blogs that I follow plus a number that I just read occasionally. One blog I was going to select for an award was Maria at Life on the Block...but she has 209 followers.  Polly's Porch had hundreds of followers too. So after much deliberation here are my Liebster Awards

1. Becky for her lovely photography of her area of the world and  her gorgeous pets. Becky also does the most amazing sewing and jewellery to mention just a few of her crafting skills. I've googled lots of places that she has mentioned in her blogs...so I'm learning about SC even though I'm half a world away.
2. Tanya has a blog that was one of the first that I became a follower. Tanya is someone who is sharing her knowledge of living in a more simpler way with her community. Her recipes are legendary! She wrote to me privately last year giving such comforting and wonderful advice when my DD2 was causing me a bit of worry . I really appreciated that.
3. Linn is another amazing woman. Her blog is all about family life and Linn's family includes foster children. Linn cooks her own bread and makes cheese and pasta to mention just a few items. Her and Mr Linn's vegie garden is thriving.
4. Jan has 2 blogs. The link goes to Sew Many Quilts-Too little time and the other blog is Oz Comfort Quilts. Jan has been able to donate almost 600 quilts to various appeals during 2011. People donate QAYG quilt blocks to Jan and she turns them into full-size quilts, so that's a lot of bindings to do. She also accepts unfinished/unwanted quilt tops and then finishes them. As well, Jan knits and crochets for charities,including beanies, rugs, scarves etc.
5. TGL 's work takes her travelling a bit so I enjoy her photos and posts of other countries and places. Her nature photos are very impressive. TGL takes a lot of care with the text in her posts whereas I often just dash something off. She is also Jewish and I'm enjoying learning about the customs and traditions that TGL and her husband follow.
6. Now I'm putting in a 6th blog as I believe that Jan's travelling in China may make it difficult for her to choose 5 of her favourite blogs and write a post on it. So maybe there is a tie! lol Claudia's blog (and her former one) has been a favourite of mine for ages. I learn so much about life in the US from Claudia and I've even learned about Claudia's homeland El Salvador. Claudia writes in a delightfully witty way and her pictures are always great...especially ones of her darling cat CC and her garden.
And now that's my five/six. I follow loads of other great blogs and I would recommend them all!
Now those people that I've chosen, link back to me and nominate five others with under 200 followers.