Carnival 2012

This weekend just gone has seen the end of the annual Carnival of Flowers.  The gardens around town are just blooming with flowers this year - more so than previous years if that's at all possible and the fireworks have been amazing (as viewed from my back steps).

The carnival kicked off last weekend with the parade.

The biggest one I've seen, it went for a good two hours.  Apparently, back in the day, two hours was a short parade.

The best part again this year, I think, were the storm troopers.  I had to wait so long I was starting to think there was a space battle somewhere that was keeping them from participating.  But it was all good 45 minutes in.  Even Vader put in an appearance this year.

 I'm thinking about joining this club so I can put my beetle-bug in the parade next year.... LOL

I also ran into my friend Kel and her walking artwork too.  Kel is an artist (among other things) and has a talent for body art.  I keep meaning to do a post on her work - amazing! - until then, here is a taste....

What a great parade!  Next year's has very big shoes to fill, very big shoes!

IMBY: Faith, family and food

IMBY: In My BackYard.  Sharing the positive things going on in my neck of the woods (as opposed to NIMBY - Not In My BackYard).

Our local history museum is a popular place to visit.  Showcasing our local history and regularly running workshops on 'old school' arts (ie leather-goods making, woodworking, blacksmithing), it also hosts a lot of different displays relative to the local area.

Last month saw the opening of a new display celebrating the history of Lebanese settlement in Toowoomba.

Most likely considered by capital-city-visitors as quaint and not that impressive, this celebration of one (very small) part of the cultural diversity that exists in this region is none-the-less heartwarming to see and experience.  

This weekend just gone, the LOML and I got a chance to pop down and see it.

The highlight for me, and I'm sure for the LOML, was seeing his father's village listed on the Lebanese map on the wall.  We had the hardest time in the world finding it two years ago when we were in Lebanon searching for his relatives and yet here it is, in nice bold print, for all to see.  I wish we had this map then....

Warmed the cockles of my heart, it did.  And made us both want to hurry up and be back there. :)

Driving

I love driving trips.  

Actually, I love driving trips when I'm not the driver.

I love peering out the window and watching the world pass by in a flurry.  Seeing how other people live, what their houses and yards are like, how their lounge rooms are set out (when driving at night and people don't shut their curtains - what can I say, I'm a voyeur!), what shops are in their town, who is walking the streets on dusk....that sort of thing.

The LOML and I do a lot of driving trips.  A whole heap of little ones - one or two days here and there - and a few big ones to date.  We are long overdue now for a big trip and it is on the cards for the near future.

We don't know where we'll go, which direction we'll head off in, or how far we'll travel but we do know that it's going to be great.  

The car will be packed with good tunes, a picnic rug and a fold-up chair or two, an esky with some bubbles on chill, some comfy shoes and a hat (the LOML refuses to wear a hat so that one's mine).  

If we see something we like along the way we'll pull over and explore a little more.  A no-longer-in-use railway bridge, a BBQ by a stream, a bushwalking sign pointing thatta-way out of sight.....

And when we get where we were going, we'll have a look around, maybe stay a night or two, and then hop back in the car and head on home, taking a different route than the one that got us there.

We truly do live in an area with some spectacular scenery.

IMBY: Carnival of Flowers Pt 2

I forgot to post these pics....the BEST part of the whole parade on Saturday.....

They would have been so hot, marching over a kilometre in the abnormally-hot-for-this-time-of-year day.  That's committment for you!

IMBY: Carnival of Flowers

We tend to hear a lot about the negative stuff going on in communities, the NIMBY - Not In My BackYard - stuff.  Not so much about the positive.  So I've decided to be contrary and share IMBY - In My BackYard - the good stuff, the positive things, going on in my neck of the woods.


***

This weekend signalled the start of our town's Carnival of Flowers.  A week-long celebration of spring - food, wine, entertainment and of course, flowers.  We aren't known as the garden city without reason - this town truly is a sight to see with it's tree-lined streets and gorgeous gardens in front of heritage houses, all in full bloom this time of year. 

Given that in the four years I've lived here and never been to the carnival nor seen the parade, this year I thought I'd best give it a crack.

On Saturday the festival officially kicked off with a parade down the main street.  

waiting....waiting....

There were cars and trailers and bikes and marching bands and people all dressed up in their finest with flowers being the mainstay, proudly supported by facepaint, bubbles and plenty of balloons. 

Nothing says country like a tractor!

There was music, lots of waving carnival queens and princesses, and plenty of tarmac art care of kids armed with chalk.  

The streets were lined with people and there wasn't a carpark to be found anywhere in the CBD for hours.  What a blast!

It's not a parade without a pipe band or four or five!

Because the carnival brings so many people to town (truly some people come from interstate just for the event) I thought I'd be clever and went and saw the garden displays early, before the crowds arrived.  Turns out I wasn't the only one with this line of thinking - there were certainly plenty of people doing the same thing!

Anyway, it was beautiful. 

I can't believe I waited so long to go along and see this.

I can't wait until the Carnival rolls around again next year!