Category: canberra

canberra, life, violetlebeaux

Violet Le Beaux visits Canberra!

christinahopgood

A couple of weeks ago, Violet LeBeaux and Jimmy America came to Canberra as part of the Human Brochure tourism campaign.  
Check out her blogs for day 1, day 2, and day 3.  We hung out on day 2, the Saturday.
Here’s her vlog for the day, Charles and I actually played her theme tune! 



So I have been reading Violet’s blog for a really long time.  Years!  I always really liked her style and how she likes to make things!  I also like to make things, so I felt we’d be good friends.  When she got a  puppy I emailed her something cute about doggies and we made friends over email.  So when Violet found out they would be coming to Canberra for the Human Brochure, she got in touch asking if we could finally meet!

On that Saturday, we picked James and Violet up from the NatLib where they’d spend the morning.  Then the 4 of us went to Braddon to get a cup of tea and look at the cool shops.

And she really does bring Bergamot Bunny everywhere with her! What a funny bunny.  We chatted about cameras and internet things and stuff! I can’t even remember, but I remember having a nice time.

We had a look at the new Lonsdale St Traders shops, which were very hipster, and then we went to our house for a cool drink and a little rest.

That’s when we did some music for them!  And they also had a go on our instruments 🙂 Violet and James are both accomplished musicians, THE MOAR YOU KNOW.

And she really is that gorgeous in person.

And look!  I’m taller than someone 🙂

After a while we took them back to the hotel so they could go on the next tour.  It sounded like an exhausting tour, so I was glad we gave them a chance to relax a bit.  I felt like the four of us got along really well! I was sad we didn’t bother getting photos of all of us together.  Next time!

Violet has lots more pictures from that day so you should check them out here!

boat, canberra, concert, event, gig, ragtime, sticks and tones, xylophone

Canberra Day concert – on a boat!

christinahopgood
On Monday the 11th it was Canberra Day, but not just any Canberra Day that happens every year.  It was the super-celebration centenary of Canberra! Charles and I (AKA Sticks and Tones) were able to do a super-rad gig on a boat!  All the celebrations and festivities were around the lake, which is at the centre of the city.  The organisers hired musicians to do little tours on boats, and there were boats leaving the jetty every 10 minutes for an hour-long cruise. Our boat left a jetty near the Museum and toured around the perimeter of the lake, under a bridge, and back again!  Here’s the website for the day: One Very Big Day.
Ready to go!

Here’s our boat: A huge 140-year-old paddle steamer called Enterprise!  It even has its own page on the Museum website, check it out! It’s quite the famous little boat.
Setting up when we got to the jetty.

We set up our instruments (xylo and marimba) at the front of the boat, so the people on the shore could see us easily!
It was pretty hot (28 degrees C) and we were playing in the very height of the sun. It did get pretty warm out there – there’s no shade on a lake!  We both wore our biggest hats and wore HEAPS of sunscreen.  We played around 15 songs and that took about an hour in total. By that time we were nearly back at the jetty!  The crew were all lovely museum people.  The best thing was that there was a guy inside behind Charles shovelling wood into the fire to keep the boat moving!


A photo my mum and dad took.

 We had a really amazing time going around the lake.  Everyone was really appreciative and we were applauded all the way around.  Finally, a gig where people showed up!  There were literally thousands of people! And everyone on the shore seemed to be having a really good time.  There were lots of activities going on.  Canberra’s lake has an enormous fountain that goes hundreds of metres into the air, and when we went past that it was quite distracting!  It was also distracting when we saw some friends on the shore!

Charles’ parents took a photo of us from the bridge!


After our gig, we were exhausted!  We went home for a little rest and some food, and then we went right back in to watch the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and the fireworks!


And a funny story to round out the day:

After we watched the fireworks on the grass, we walked back to the car. That’s when Charles realised his lens cap was not in his pocket NOR on his camera.  He thought we’d never ever find it and we might as well just go home 😦
But I was determined to find it! It was pretty much an impossible task, because the space was enormous and it was dark and there were still people everywhere. We searched for a while with no result! Then I had an idea of using my camera’s flash to light up the ground.  Charles said “That won’t work, it only lights up the ground for a fraction of a second!” and I said “Yes – but then I’ll have the photo!”
I took 5 photos of grass before finding something that looked a little like a lens cap – a little black dot on the ground.

Found it!
The black thing in the foreground is a drink bottle lid, in the back is the lens cap!  Chrissy’s brains FTW!  I enjoy proving to my husband that he made a good choice 🙂

canberra, craft

Canberra Handmade Market

christinahopgood
On Saturday the 9th, Charles and I went along to the Canberra Handmade Market!

It’s a great big market held by Shop Handmade, a beautiful boutique of locally made stuff.  This market is on every year around this time and this is my third time!

This year, there were a lot of Canberra-themed goods, as this year is Canberra’s 100th birthday (actually it’s today)! Lots of cute fridge magnets, posters, cards, and soft furnishings!  There were also the usual non-Canberra-themed things like clothing from indie designers, kids’ clothes, accessories and jewellery, furniture, paper goods, HEAPS of stuff.

Here’s what we bought!
First up, two gorgeous cushions by local maker Gatbi. We chose these two cushions because they are Canberra-themed! 

 Each pattern is made of a Canberra landmark.  The square one is Parliament House:

And the round one is Telstra Tower!  We thought they were just so special and clever.  Plus it turns out they match our couch, and are super comfy!


Next we bought some smoked garlic salt from the Salt and Spice Co.  The lady said they smoke the garlic whole and then make a salt mixture.  It’s the best garnish ever.

Lastly a hair accessory for me.   It was from a cute shop with lots of little handmade hair accessories, called Summerblossom. It cost me $12, which is quite pricey but it wa so gorgeous.  And I’m happy to be supporting indie designers!

 It has little gems in the middle.

Such a lovely day!  I just love our cushions 🙂