Jett

I just adore sleeping babies. They melt my heart.

Madison

Cute as a button! I think she should be in advertising.

Bailen

I'm nearly caught up on blogging all the bonny babies of '08. It might take a while for me to narrow down my favourites from the family portraits done over Christmas but I'll get there.

Stella

Stella wins the award for the wildest hairdo! I think she is way ahead of her time and starting new trends already.

Noodle Factory - Vietnam

My first job after leaving school was in a small goods factory in Toowoomba (KR Darling Downs) packing sausages and bacon etc. So when our guide said she was taking us to visit a noodle factory I wasn't very interested. Seen one factory, seen 'em all. I figured my 8 months at KR as a 15 year old was enough for a lifetime. Of course, this is Vietnam and factories ain't factories. Or at least this one wasn't.

Above: Pour the rice batter on to the steam cooker, spread it around to make a circle, put the lid on and start on the other cooker.

Above and Below: Lift off the cooker with technical piece of equipment.


Above: Roll onto stack of cane strecther type thingy's.
Below: Then place outside to dry.


Above: Keep the fire stoked (with rice husks, I think) that fuels the stoves.
Feed the dried noodles through the cutting machine.

Wrap 'em up.

And deliver 'em.

To be fair, apparently there are larger scale commercial noodle factories that even imprint the cane pattern of the drying racks onto the noodles to make them look like the traditionally made ones in small scale factories like the one above.

Flowers and other things I like

I have cute babies and happy families and stacks more of Vietnam and Cambodia to share on the blog but... that will all have to wait a while. In the mad rush before christmas, I've decided to simply share some of the personal happy snaps I've taken recently. Ones that make me smile when I look at them.

My Mum seems to have adopted my preferred style of gardening and has a beautiful cottage style front garden at her and Nev's place in Toowoomba. I was up there for a quick visit on the weekend and despite being in summer with water restrictions, they still manage to have the bestest garden. Penstemons, salvias, roses, lavender, geraniums, fuscias and so much more to make your heart sing with pleasure.


The Rose below is called 'Just Joey' and I was with my Granny when she bought it. With my boy Joey being her only great-grandson, and with his peculiarities I think the name, 'Just Joey' is very apt. I don't know if she got to see it flower before the cancer claimed her, but I'm glad that it lives on in my Mum's garden and that looking at a flower can bring back sweet memories.



Lavender is an all time favourite but the Fuscias below are another reminder of Granny. As a little girl I remember being fascinated with the 'pretty dancing ladies' that were growing in her yard.



I photographed my brother's veggie garden too, but I was there in the middle of the day when the light was absolute crap, so consequently, the photos are crap too. Also, my brother looked like crap because he is anemic so I don't have a decent photo of him either. Also, I don't really get excited about photos of veggies. I like eating them, I don't like looking at them. Hehe. Ok, enough with the excuses, here he is peaking around the corner of his house with a snippet of his ramshackle garden, which happens to have veggies seemingly randomly placed in amongst the flowers and stuff. Not your average veggie plot, but it works for him. Maybe it's all about companion planting? If you're into growing veggies, check out his blog by clicking on this link here.

It's incredibly hard to get a decent photo of Joey and I snapped this one at Mum's place on the weekend so I'm adding it to my list of favourites. He's happy with his iPod and he actually liked the new shirt I bought him this time. Still, what 20-year-old young man doesn't like a motorbike with a hot girl on it.

Daybed, not Dogbed!

Can you spot Rupert in the photo above? This is where I'll be spending my Christmas and any other other spare moment I can find. Rupert clearly approves of the new purchase. My Mum will have heart failure when she sees this photo because when she was visiting here she had all the cushions lined up looking so neat it looked like a display bed. I blame Rupert!
Oh, and I love my patch work cover and beaded cushions that I bought in Hoi An from a shop that employs people with disabilities. I just feel good everytime I see it.

Survive the silly season, folks. Find a quiet spot that makes you happy and reflect on how damn lucky we are to live in this country of abundance and freedom.

Cheerio
Deb

Life on the Mekong

Steven found it easy to strike up deals with the locals and after assuring me that my camera gear was not at risk of becoming a part of the river system, we met our guide, Ha, for breakfast on the footpath outside our hotel at 6am. The early start with a local guide meant we got a head-start on the tour companies and crowds of tourists.


A glimpse of life on the Mekong was fascinating and we cruised along the river and through canals and tributaries for 1/2 the day. The Floating Markets were a hub of activity and exciting to be a part of.



Ha haggled over the price of a pineapple for us and then proceeded to attack it with a meat cleaver to turn it into the grooviest way to eat a pineapple I've ever seen. Like a Popsicle!



There's plenty of options for dining on the river.






The little fella below gave us this look when we declined to buy a drink from him.

Washing your hair, washing your clothes, washing your kids (and yourself), washing your dishes and even the food, all happens at the back door, right in the river. Many of the houses get flooded on a regular basis.





There is a huge range of housing from the very primitive to the very fancy. Not much of the fancy though, except the occasional Pagoda.







And another sculptured garden on the way out of Can Tho.