BIRTHDAY BEAR WANTS TO GO TO NI.

It was my friend Helen's birthday last month but she was away having fun in Norfolk Island off the coast of NSW, Australia. I don't think Bear went with her but by the way Bear is dressed, I'm thinking she would love to go. Mary was the one who dressed Bear for this celebration.

Birthday Bear is ready for a holiday on Norfolk Is.
She even has a NI flag.

Helen liked Birthday Bear's little bear friend.

Mary dressed Bear and did a good job.
Helen bought her lovely top in Norfolk Island,
where there aren't any taxes added.

Our Birthday Bear group have been celebrating with Birthday Bear
for the last 10 years. This time we met at the Runcorn Tavern.

BIRTHDAY BEAR THE PHILATELIST

Our Birthday Bear Group have celebrated another birthday. We went to Baan Thai Restaurant, Springwood. The food is good, the price is normal and the service only just okay.

(L to R) Bob, Bill, George, Paul, Birthday Bear, Helen, Chris, Mary, Ann and I'm behind the camera.

Our group was complete this time because Bob and Chris were in town on a break from their nomadic travels. Bob had to have back surgery but as you can see he is making a good recovery.

 It was Paul's 79th birthday. We were all so happy for him to have seen this birthday arrive. Paul was diagnosed with mesothelioma (malignant cancer caused by exposure to asbestos) in 2010. There is no cure and the  average survival rate is twelve months. As you can see, Paul has survived for five years and he is the longest surviving patient in Queensland. He is such a stoic fighter and will not give in to this dreadful illness. He has had surgery, many, many chemo treatments and radiotherapy as well as a new trial treatment. He has been in hospital many times and he suffers a lot of pain. It has been a long hard road for both him and his wife Helen.

Because Paul can't do very much he enjoys doing jigsaw puzzles and stamp collecting. So Birthday Bear thought it would be nice to give Paul a hand at organising stamps. Luckily, Bear borrowed some stamp albums and equipment to bring along to dinner and surprise Paul.

For any new readers not familiar with our Birthday Bear Tradition click here.

BIRTHDAY BEAR, THE GREENHOUSE EXPERT.

Today we celebrated Mary's birthday at Michael's Oriental Restaurant. Mary has recently bought herself a green house and she has been working hard in it and around it. Birthday Bear came to share some of her expert knowledge on greenhouse gardening. She is dressed in her gardening outfit and brought her wheelbarrow of pebbles, tools and a super little greenhouse, with shelves of flowers and a wee door too, thanks to the clever hands of Ann and George.

 For those not familiar with our Birthday Bear tradition can read about it here.                                                                                  

Mary and her Birthday Bear

I love her new pink shoes and fancy watering can.
She has a succulent candle too.

We ordered a banquet and there were many different, delicious dishes (say that fast 6 times). The chicken and pumpkin curry was presented nicely in the shell of the pumpkin.

(l to r)  Bob, Bill, moi, Birthday Bear, George, Mary, Ann, Helen sans Paul, Chris.

We had a great time together especially as Chris and Bob our travelling buddies were near Brisbane so they could join us. Sadly, Paul wasn't able to be with us today as he had a large dose of Chemo therapy on Wednesday and he is toxic and should stay away from people for a while. Poor Paul is fighting Mesothelioma. 

BIRTHDAY BEAR'S CHRISTMAS PARTY

 Birthday Bear took his friends, Ann, George, Helen, Paul, Mary, Diane and Bill to the Lighthouse Restaurant at Cleveland Point for a Christmas lunch.  

The building was constructed in 1936 after the original built in 1879 burnt down. The restaurant got new owners and a renovation in 2006. Since then it has become a very popular seafood restaurant.

It is built on the water's edge and the view of Moreton Bay is very relaxing.

 Birthday Bear looked very Christmassy in his Santa's Helper suit. He had lots of presents to give out too.

 Ann dressed Bear and she is just adjusting his smart boots.

Bill and I shared a platter. It was delicious, fish, scallops, oysters, octopus, calamari, smoked salmon, prawns, and Moreton Bay Bugs.

 Bear enjoyed the prawns.

He also partook of some fruity, red wine.

BIRTHDAY BEAR GOES SWISS

We belong to a group of friends who celebrate their birthdays together with Birthday Bear. Next Sunday is Bill's Birthday but we celebrated a few days early because Chris and Bob who left our group to travel around Australia blew into town after cyclone Yasi drove them out of Townsville. They hitched up their caravan and headed south. They are here for a few days before moving on.

Birthday Bear is dressed in a Swiss outfit and playing the Alphorn, with two trumpets at his feet. Funny that. Bill is Swiss and has an Alphorn, and he played the trumpet.

Bill was happy to see his Swiss Bear especially with a bag of Swiss Chocolates, that he brought for all of us since it was Valentine's Day too.

We girls, who all worked at the same school for years, were pleased to see Chris again. (middle front)

The boys have all become good friends over the years too and they were pleased to see Bob again.(front left)

We all had dinner at Sunnybank Hotel. Where many others were celebrating Valentine's Day.

After dinner, bear gave me a nuzzle as I carried him to our car because Bill was too shy to be seen carrying a teddy bear. Thanks to Ann for dressing Birthday Bear this time.

Birthday Bear Goes Fishing

George's Birthday is today exactly one week after Bill's so we have two Birthday Bear parties within a week. (Who's complaining?) George has recently been to Far North Queensland to go fishing with his brother. He showed us photos of him holding a huge fish that he caught. So Birthday Bear came as a fisherman.

He is holding up a big shark, rod under his arm and a net at his feet. (It was our turn to dress bear)

George looks very happy with his present.

Then he showed us how big it was,"the one that got away."

We went to Sunnybank Hotel for lunch. Ann had collected "shopper dockets" for each couple so that we got the second meal for $7.00. It was a cheap meal but very tasty for pub grub. Much to Colin and Richard's (friends who don't like it) disgust I had Barramundi fish and it did not taste like plastic it was soft, juicy and delicious.

Bill loves sausages and I don't so he often has them when we go out.

Birthday boy, George had lamb shanks.(Richard thinks this is a strange meal for us to eat in the tropics in summer, but one can get sick of summer salads and the eateries are air conditioned so it gives us a better variety of meals.)

Ann had chicken wrapped in bacon , avocado and cheese sauce.

Mary had a similar dish.

Another Birthday Bear group outing. From the left: Bill, moi, George, Birthday Bear, Ann, Mary, Paul and Helen. To find out more about our Birthday Bear tradition click here

Birthday Bear's Christmas Party

Birthday Bear insisted on a Christmas get together with her wrinkly friends. After all it is Jesus' Birthday that we are celebrating.

This year she came dressed as a Christmas Tree with bauble earrings and a star on top.

Ann is the one who helped Birthday Bear get dressed for the party.

We had a buffet dinner at the Greenbank RSL Club. From the left Kathy, Paul, Bill, moi, Birthday Bear, Ann, George, Helen, and Mary.
Ann took this shot and named it, "The Three Wide Men". 

Birthday Bear Joins the Choir.

Birthday Bear sings for the CWA with Helen. 

Bear joins the CWA Choir with helen.

Bill helps bear with the lyrics. Mary was the clever person who dressed Bear in a beautiful outfit.

Mary, Bill, Paul, Bear, Helen, Ann and George.

Bill's favourite lunch. Sausage and Mash.

My favourite fish Snapper.

Helen is happy to have a companion to go to choir.

BIRTHDAY BEAR GETS SOME CULTURE

As I am working on my birthday on Wednesday, we celebrated yesterday. We had lunch at the Foyer Bistro in the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in the city. It is situated on the South Bank of the Brisbane River, together with the State Library, the Museum, the Art Gallery, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (opera house), the Conservatorium and Convention Centre. This area is one big Cultural Centre on the banks of the river. It was my turn to receive Birthday Bear and I was quite excited trying to anticipate how she would be dressed this time.

Here she is dressed as a gardener. That's me! She has on her overalls, garden gloves and garden shoes. Of course she has a visor and sunnies.

She even has a little wheelbarrow full of lemons. She also has a watering can and fork and shovel, with froggy handles. I love frogs.

Ann and George (in front) did a wonderful job of dressing bear and making the props. Thank you. From left to right...Ann, Mary, Bill, Birthday Bear, Paul, me , Helen, George. We even booked a place for Bear, which the waitress thought was funny.

I had Pork Belly with apple and rhubarb sauce and side vegetables.

BB had Salmon and schwabi sauce with fries on the side.

Then Bear wanted to check out the view from the deck. The GoMA building at the side overlooking the new pedestrian bridge and the city on the other side of the river.

The city cat glides under the partially constructed pedestrian bridge connecting the cultural Centre with the CBD. We had a lively discussion about the aesthetics and cost of the bridge. Some of us liked it and others didn't.

The very old William Jolly Bridge a few metres down stream.

After lunch we went to have a look around the modern art gallery, which was featuring Chinese artists but Bear wasn't allowed to come she had to wait in the cloak room and look after our umbrellas. Yes it has been raining for 2 days now, which is very unusual or this time of the year, but it is better than the drought we've had over the last 5 years.

We went up to the other floors and saw some really way out art. Some was interesting and some was rediculous.

This huge lady in bed was interesting

Up close her skin was almost translucent and very life like.