Suzie and me

ellen and suzie
Originally uploaded by muppinstuff

Having fun on The Great Ocean Road! Photo taken by Sooz and posted by Janet.

A flash back to Kyoto

I love furoshiki.  I do seriously believe it is one of the best inventions/ideas to come from Japan.

Each visit, I buy a few more for my stash.  I use them to carry objects, wrap things up and of course, as bags.

Before my most recent visit I found a shop called Kakefuda where they make and print their own furoshiki.  They are stunning.  Each one is very large and costs about 5000 yen... With the currnet exchange rate, that is about $90aud.

I found a map to Kakefuda via their website.  I also located them using Google maps (as seen above).  I committed this map to memory.  I guess I am pretty good at directions and I know Kyoto pretty well.  Even so, I was very proud of myself when we arrived at the store with no problems.  My Japanese friend Tomoko was so surprised (she knows the low level of my Japanese!)
Here is the bike that marks the shop.  It is always parked out front.  We chatted to the owner and I had to buy one (even though it was sooooo expensive!).  No regrets.  I am so proud that I found the store.  I LOVE my furoshiki!

A special moment amongst so much sadness and loss

As Victoria has burnt, so many tears have been shed.  I am so lucky that friends and family are safe and well.  I find myself watching the news, listening to the radio and reading the paper or internet to find out the latest news.  It is like you have to know but don't want to know.  You ask yourself if this is really happening!!!  I gets tears over the happy stories and the sad (of course).  The front of the paper is plastered each day with some smiling child who has lost parents or even their own lives.

I find that I am continually waiting for the wonderful stories amongst this mess.  This one is amazing.  A wild creature finding help from a human.  You really should read this story and take a moment to watch the video stream.  Makes me cry in the better way!

A personal wonderful moment comes all the way from Honduras.  Many years ago we had an exchange student from Central America.  She stayed a year and then went home... We basically lost touch for so many years.  Mum and Dad got a call out of the blue the other morning from her.  She was worried about us after seeing the fires plastered all over Honduran news!  She now has our email addresses and I hope this means we'll keep in touch more.  The family grows...