CBD by Miranda Spary
Grandchildren can be bad for your health, as I just discovered - don’t mention it to any of the safety morons of our country or they might ban contact with grandchildren or insist on us wearing hard hats and steelcapped boots and hiring orange vested security people to keep us SAFE ( I do hate that word these days). I did a bit of poor handling with our delicious two year old, and ended up having to go to the acupuncturist to get prickled back into a painless, upright position. Greg Dorn is not just a whizz with the needles but is also a pretty sharp actor, performing soon in the Pintsized plays - look up Remarkable Theatre for the sessions in early May. The plays sound really fun - they’re designed to be performed in pubs. Almost glad I hurt myself so I could find about them. And our tiniest, newest granddaughter has given my elderly husband a snivelly, coughy and achey cold. I asked him if I should call the undertaker, and he thought that was very unsympathetic. Luckily I have my new love - my Aga oven- Agas never argue, they don’t disappear when there’s a job to be done, they’re always warm and comforting, extremely goodlooking, cook like a dream and safer to lean against than a fireplace.
A propos of fireplaces, I’ve had two people ask me if I know what the one that’s been built right on SH6 at Lake Hayes is for - does anyone know? It looks very strange and lonely just sitting there. Any information gratefully received.
And the wonderful Broker Art Gallery which used to be in Five Mile is now down in Shed 8 at Frankton Marina, only for a couple of months apparently. Next Wednesday, at 5.30 pm Impact100 is hosting an event there . If any women want to hear about what this terrific group does , just turn up. Two of the programmes that have received the $100,000 will be giving short talks about what it’s done for them AND you get to look at some very exciting art.
I’ve had a total art feast this week. A whirlwind 3 days in Sydney to see my sons AND some fabulous exhibitions. Art is all very well, but for me, a great gallery has to have a topnotch restaurant and shop. Oh, and clean loos. The new building at the art gallery of New South Wales is terrific and left this fussy and very shallow old lady totally satisfied (with the art as well as the other essential bits). Wandering around the city was fabulous - it’s a great city not to have a car in - excellent public transport and there’s exciting architecture all over the place. The refurb of the Bondi Pavilion is completed and is only making Bondi even sexier and more appealing than ever. I feel a bit disloyal saying it, given what wonderful walking and cycling trails there are here, but Sydney’s coastal trails are equally good. I watched two submarines sneak out to sea from one of them, and as I fumbled around with my phone to take a photo, they disappeared under the water - my photo only has a tiny speck of the top. I’ve shown it to friends and they are pretty underwhelmed with my skills.
For some very skilled local art, do whizz along to the Lakes District Museum. I lied to my husband and said I was just taking my mother along to the opening of the Autumn Art Festival and would be back in an hour. 2 1/2 hours later I finally managed to prise my mother out of the handy spot she’d found right by the bar, and took her home. All the naughtiest people I know were there and there was lots to chat about.
The queue to buy the artworks was satisfyingly long so with any luck the museum will earn lots of handy dosh to make it even more marvellous - is that even possible? We already have the best museum in the country! The exhibition is still on for a few more weeks, so do make the effort to get along and see what talented artists we have in our midst.
