Another BCC Library...

I recently wrote a post about my visit to the Grange City Council Library. There is another Northside library which has been a favourite of mine for quite a few years and not just for borrowing books! And that is Chermside Library.

There were even parking spots for seniors near the library steps...and seniors in this case meant 55+!

It was one of the first libraries to open on a Sunday and I have spent many a Sunday afternoon there, browsing the shelves or sitting in a comfortable chair looking through quilting mags while I sip a cappuccino. Yes, this library had a coffee shop!
After I retired I started going to Sisters of Stitch; a group who meet fortnightly in a meeting room in this library.

I once wrote a post about a visitor who came to Sisters of Stitch. Bob had taken up tapestry when he retired and he stitched his own designs.

This 90 year old charmed us,and we all loved his work especially his Tewkesbury Cathedral tapestry which had won a first prize in show.
I've been to an author talk in this library as well.

William McInnes

Then early this year I found out that the library was going to be demolished and a new 'you beaut' multi level building would replace it. There would be 2 levels of car parking, the library and also Council Offices/Business centre. This is all predicted to take 18 months. The library closed on July 19. Until the new library and Business Centre is built, there is a temporary Chermside library in some council offices on Gympie Rd,just past Chermside Shopping Centre. 

The temporary Chermside Library is inside this council offices building

Luckily Sisters of Stitch were allocated a meeting room in this temporary library accommodation. I've only made it to 1 SoS afternoon so far, and the new meeting room was fine, but I've heard that finding a park has become a bit of a problem. 

Yesterday I went to check out what was happening at the redevelopment site on Hamilton Rd...

The library building is well and truly gone now...and there is a huge hole. 

 While I was there, trucks kept leaving the site filled with dirt.

Very dusty!

The Chermside Pool Complex is still operating so the roadway is there for patrons to access the car park. 

Here is an artist's impression of what the finished Library/Business centre will look like by the end of 2016.

Just hope the cafe comes back! :-)

More donations from generous people...

Each fortnight on a Wednesday afternoon,a group of ladies gather in a meeting room in Chermside Library, for an afternoon of crafting, chit chat and sharing of projects. This group is Sisters of Stitch and people bring in whatever craft project that they wish, so there is a lot of variety; crocheting, knitting, patchwork, hand quilting, embroidery, smocking, hand sewing/finishing of dressmaking projects, tapestry, tatting, drawn thread work are just some the projects that can be seen at SoS! And many of these ladies often hand over donations for me to pass on to K4BN.

One Wednesday recently I received a large bag of items from Margaret...

Some children's tote bags...

Several pairs of children's shorts in lovely bright fabrics...

Some cute little girl's outfits...

A closer look at that one on the left...

And lots of little dresses!

Some dresses for older girls...

And some little pouches that can be used in a number of ways...

These lovely items from Margaret will be much appreciated by the recipients. 

In the cooler months over the last few years, another lady at SoS, regularly hands me a bulging plastic bag. 

Glenda makes crocheted squares for K4BN...and I join the squares into rugs...we're a good team! :-)

So on the same afternoon that I received the donations from Margaret, Glenda gave me a bag of squares; which became this blanket.

And just this last Wednesday, Glenda gave me another bag of squares!

Thank you to both Margaret and Glenda!

The year is winding down...

The end of year celebrations have revved up a notch in the last few weeks...

Wednesday of last week was particularly busy. In the morning the Albany Creek Knit and Natter group celebrated at the last meet up for 2014...

Barbara brought along her beautifully knitted Santa...

And the sweetest little bunny...

Helen had been busy joining squares...a never ending job! Lol

Then it was time to head off to my next stop

Sisters of Stitch, the fortnightly craft group at Chermside Library were celebrating with a Christmas party on Wednesday afternoon...the buffet table had quite a sumptuous spread...

 Saturday was the next busy day for celebrating...

Grovely Knit and Natter in the morning...

Always lots of fun at Grovely...Lorelle keeps us all in order though...lol

I 'annoy' her by always taking lots of photos...

Then my friend ( from my school days) picked me up and we both drove to Shornecliffe a beach suburb of Brisbane. Our destination was this place...

But it's not a Masonic Hall any more...it's a lovely restaurant called Matthew Thomas. There were four of us school mates meeting for a Christmas lunch. From our table we could see the sea...

We may be ladies in our 60s but we do what a lot of young people do...take photos of restaurant and cafe food! Lol.

And here's my delicious lunch...Noosa Whiting and salad...it was beautifully cooked.

Valerie gave each of us a beautiful wooden reindeer ornament...we lined them up for a photo...of course! 

Lastly, more photos before we headed for home.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. DH and I will host a Christmas dinner for 2 of our girls with husband and partner. On Christmas Day DH and I will celebrate with his brother and his family. On Boxing Day we will celebrate with my brother and any of his family who are around...phew...but there's more! On Boxing Day DH's eldest and her partner will arrive to stay with us until Jan 2. Because they will be so busy catching up with her Brisbane friends and her mum,  Christmas dinner with them and a few other rellies, won't be until Dec 29. 

Merry Christmas everyone! 

Some signs I've seen...

 Firstly a couple of signs that caught my interest in New Zealand last year...
The first one was truly amazing for someone who comes from a country where you are not supposed to take shopping trolleys out of the supermarket carpark. Of course people do and we see trolleys abandoned around the streets waiting to be collected. I guess you could say that this NZ supermarket takes a proactive stance and good on them!

 Since coming home I've seen that we have these here in good old Brisbane...but such a concept was new to me last May! lol

Talking of dogs...look at the signs at the front of the Albany Creek Library...

 And a 'little dog height' water bowl...

And talking of libraries...last year in the BCC Chermside Library car park these designated spaces were provided right next to the ramp and near the front steps...and apparently 'senior' in this case is defined as over 55!

Next is an old photo taken 2 years ago. This is the sign on the back of the door of a public loo in Warwick (Qld not UK). The local council is obviously concerned with a person's modesty and dignity...love it!

And now another 2 older photos; these signs annoy me .
Outside the local post office...I can accept that AP vehicles can park there because they are excepted or are an exception to the rule.

The next sign was in a local department store. Friends whom I showed the photo to were quick to point out that 'Blaq' is a brand name...but I wasn't concerned with that...so I then asked them about the word 'buisness'...they hadn't seen that. I wonder if every Myer store in Australia had the same sign?

The last sign photo is not one of my photos but is one that was circulated on Facebook a few years ago...

Over my almost 40 years in the classroom, I saw children making the same mistake as the sign maker did in this poster...cringe...hope this wasn't made by one of my former students. Your eyes are drawn to the 'you save' part so maybe many didn't notice the mistake in the subtraction. :-/ 

William McInnes..

Last Thursday night DH and I were lucky enough to attend a Book Talk at a local library. The author was William McInnes, who as well as being a successful author, is also a well known Australian actor. Although he lives and works interstate, William has a soft spot for Queensland as he grew up in Redcliffe. 

The evening started with drinks and savouries in the foyer of the library. Then we moved to the meeting room which was set up with chairs and a lectern. It's the same meeting room where Sisters of Stitch meet each fortnight.
We managed to get a seat near the front and to one side near the door...

Waiting for William to arrive...

 And here he is...just 60cm from me!

Here he is being introduced to the audience...

 As soon as he took over the microphone, he enthralled us with his stories of life when he was a boy; especially his early memories of Chermside and also of Redcliffe.  He told us funny anecdotes about his parents who sounded like they were 'real characters'.  He talked of the sadness when his parents died and also the all consuming sadness when his wife Sarah died in 2011.

 He told us that the new book was the result of his 'trying to make sense' of his wife's passing...

He had us in stitches as he told us what it was like being a single father of a teenage daughter. (he also has a 20 year old son) 

 William told us how he came up with the characters in his latest book. Writers really store store little bits of information away ready for a time they can incorporate it into a book. Every now and then he would do an impersonation of people ranging from John Howard to his parents, especially when his mother was fed up with his behaviour in his teenage years. Young william was certainly a larrikin and still is, I suspect! lol

William read some excerpts from the book every now and then but most of the evening was taken up with his telling funny anecdotes, singing ads from the 1960s 1970s word perfectly  or imitating a public figure.

Most author talks are just half an hour; William talked for over a hour! lol

But we did have time for a few questions from the audience...DH tried to ask the question ' Will there be another series of "The Time of our Lives" ' but question time was over.

DH and I usually borrow books for the library, occasionally buy books as gifts and sometimes buy eBooks. But last Thursday, I bought a copy of William's latest book, 'The Bird Watcher'. 

While the book was being signed DH asked his question. And the answer was, 'Yes! Filming of the 2nd series starts in January and William said that he has to lose weight for the role'. lol

There are lots of photos of William McInnis in this post. That's because I took lots as he's sort of my 'pin up boy'!