More Care Packages!

So lucky this week - two gifts arriving on separate days. This one bringing back memories from a few months ago when I went to the Auchentellar exhibition at the Leopold Museum in Vienna. The gift - a poster advertising the event. Looking forward to ironing it out and putting it on my wall.

Since starting this post on Friday Botswana has been struck by thunderstorms which have put both home and work internet out of action. Currently I'm quickly posting at the local Italian restaurant. Because...

I am an aunty again!

Welcome to the world Otto Murray!

It's the eve of Independence Day celebrations in Botswana. I'm taking the rest of the week off and heading to Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa. See you next week!

We Heart Books Giveaway

Just a quick post and plug for We Heart Books, who are giving away this book by Wilkins Farago on their site this week. All you have to do is visit Wilkins Farago Website, choose the book that you like the most and leave a comment on We Heart Books blog saying which book you like the best. Easy huh?

We Heart Books is an awesome blog for people looking for books for the small people in their lives. Katie (my sister) and Lou do an amazing job and I am more than happy to plug their site. I especially love the When We Were Little posts on Sundays, which review books from their, and guest bloggers, childhoods. It is so lovely to re-discover books that you loved - all the memories come flooding back and it is as if you were sitting, snuggled up in bed reading them for the first time again.

Go on - check them out!

Now

• From the Merriam-webster Online Dictionary
• 
  
• Now:
• Pronunciation: \ˈnau\
• Function: adverb
• Etymology: Middle English, from Old English nū; akin to Old High German nū now, Latin nunc, Greek nyn
• Date: before 12th century

1 a : at the present time or moment b : in the time immediately before the present "thought of them just now" c : in the time immediately to follow : "come in now"

In Botswana:

Now: \nau\

1. at sometime in the future, perhaps.

Just Now: \jus nau\

1. soon

Now Now: \nau nau\

1. Very soon, it may be urgent

Now-Now Now-Now Now-Now: \nau-nau nau-nau nau-nau\

1. Probably I should have told you five minutes ago and we should have done something about it then

Advanced Style

Advanced Style is fast becoming one of my favourite blogs. The blog is based in New York, but does receive submissions from around the world. I love the concept - celebrating fashion and style at all ages. You can see how much joy and excitement these men and women get from having their pictures taken and being recognised by 'someone'.

Dash of Class

One of my favourite blogs to date is the one below.

An Advanced Friendship:

Mary, who I met on the street the other day looking sharp in Nanette Lepore, came to visit me at The New Museum with her friend Doris. I asked them about how they met, and the two let me in on a little of their history.

Mary: We've been friends for about 30 years.
Doris: We worked together at the Whitney Art Museum.
Mary: I was fired for insubordination.
Doris: I offered to help her fight for her job--
Mary: And she had a very high position there! But I didn't want her to have to fight for it, because of my boss. He was nicknamed "Lobotomy."

As Mary and Doris have advanced in age, they've maintained an appreciation for each other's fashion sense, and still firmly believe in looking their best every day.

Granny Squares

Is this is sign that crochet is truly making a come-back onto the fashion scene?

Cate Blanchett stepped out at the 'Screen Worlds' red-carpet opening in Melbourne last week wearing a Granny Square inspired dress by designer 'Romance was Born'. To be honest, I don't really like it. But in general I like Cate Blanchett's original style and how she chooses to actively promote up-and-coming Australian designers. And it did get me to visit the 'Romance was Born' website, where I found that they also have designed a granny square bag, which I think I like much more.

Friday Night

Flickr: Mamabaig

Last night I helped a girl walk away from a car crash that should have "sent her to heaven", as the policeman said. It was a Friday night and she had been drinking. She sped around a corner, over corrected on a turn and sent her car, at unknown speed, rolling into an open drain 1 metre deep.

She was lucky for so many reasons.

She was lucky there was no one else driving in the opposite direction.

Lucky she was the only one in the car.

Lucky that she had friends 5 minutes away who hadn't been drinking

Lucky that the police took an hour to come, by which stage she had left for the hospital.

Lucky that no one breathalysed her.

Lucky that the doctor didn't ask her how much she'd been drinking.

Lucky she was in a new car with dual air bags.

Lucky that the only reminder of last night will be a scar just above her eye. A scar caused by airbags that stopped her from cracking her head on the windscreen.

She is lucky to have her life.

Lots of expats drink drive in Botswana and last night I couldn't help thinking, what is it about living away from 'home' that makes people think it is okay to drink and drive? Most expats come from countries where there is such stigma attached to drink driving that people will take away your keys and threaten to call the police if you even consider getting in a car after drinking. And yet, here, away from home there is an attitude of immortality; being Cowboys above and beyond both the laws of nature and country laws.

I was so cross with this girl. I am glad that she is okay. I am glad that my medical training allowed me to briefly compartmentalise my emotions and get on with what was required - treating her shock, assessing her injuries (none), and getting her to hospital for stitches. But for the first time I really realised that if you drink and drive you are not only endangering those on the road around you, but you jeopardise relationships with friends and family. The girl, K, walked away with her life, but she damaged friendships last night. Many, I think, won't recover.

And friends aren't that easy to come by in Gabs.

Glimpses of Knitting

As promised a little glimpse of what I've been up to. Most of my knitting is destined for presents so I'm reluctant to show full shots. But this shot captures some of my first attempts at crochet. I have a few pieces of yarn leftover from bigger projects and I'm having fun experimenting with different designs with the thought of perhaps turning them into brooches - perhaps with some old funky buttons in the middle. Perfect for a hat, bag or jacket.