Week 9: Resolution

A simple and apt challenge for this week me thinks: you have to create a New Years resolution for the other person

Now, don't be mean.

Gem

x

Christmas Cheer and Do-It-Yourself Carols

OK so I may have taken this challenge a little loosely. After engorging ourselves on mum's legendary Christmas dinner, of which I cooked the turkey see evidence of me taking control below, we partook in a little Christmas carols concert of our own making. Each person was given a flute (of sorts), when mum pointed at you, you had to blow on your flute thus creating carols like no other. I think we played 'We wish you a merry Christmas' and 'Good King Wenceslas' before we gave up. Please note Mike's reactions to mum's continued devotion our musical genius.

Lots of Love and Merry Christmas,

Gemma

Week 8: Lord, save our souls

A flyer dropped into our letterbox a couple of weeks ago, promising a warm welcome at the annual carol service of the Belvoir Street Baptist Church just a few blocks away from our house. Our Christmas houseguests were as keen as I was to uphold this particular tradition (though Tom took a little more persuading), and off we went to enjoy the singsong. This we did, as the tuneless video attests. What we weren't able to capture for posterity was this church's version of the "Christmas message", a 20-minute sermon delivered by a dour man near the end of the service, which mentioned the word "love" only once, and instead focused on how sinful we are as human beings, sinners who deserve to be punished unless we repent. This man's God was a vengeful God. This was not the God I learned about at Sunday School.

However - despite the threat of eternal damnation looming over our sinful heads - a merry Christmas was had by all.

Love, ali x

Week 8: fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la

This week, sing your lungs out to the glory of Christmas, as you attend a Christmas carol service at a church you've never visited before.

Then enjoy Christmas with family and friends, and raise a few glases of mulled wine in honour of friends in other hemispheres who will be doing just the same for you.

Merry Christmas one and all!

Ali x

Just Ask For The Colonel

A scene that greeted us in the South East this morning. Come on in, the snow is fine!

Week 7: poster-tastic

"It is better to meet the challenge than to fail; to meet the challenge is the true essence of life."

As befits my occasional self-indulgence, I slightly tweaked the challenge to fit the undulations of my life this week. But, if an airport counts as a public space, and "welcome back to Sydney" counts as a valid message to communicate to arriving family, then I'm sure I've stuck to the spirit of things:

SATURDAY (Sophie's arrival)




SUNDAY (Barbara's arrival):




What the photos don't show is just how many people in the airport stared at my poster, their brows slightly furrowed as they tried to interpret my art, which has been described by my esteemed critic T.A-W. as "childlike". For the art-lovers amongst you, the poster depicts Sydney's famous sights, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, though they may not be immediately recognisable to the naive viewer as I have depicted them from unusual angles from which no-one has ever viewed them before.

Love, ali x

Week 7: Street Art

"It is better to create than to be learned, creating is the true essence of life."

This week, we are back to our adopted homes and thus the challenge should reflect our continued dedication to the cause. Seeing as you excelled at the colour challenge set only a few weeks ago I thought I would up the ante and create a challenge that will ignite your creative passion and get you discovering pockets of artistic freedom never before visited.

Challenge: You must create a poster which communicates a message and then exhibit it in a public space.

Enjoy, I know I am going to...

Ali strikes the right chord

It was the perfect end to the week and although we were a little shy to begin with we soon took to the stage equipped with tambourine and mic to rock the house out. And rock Ali did, her rendition of Beds are Burning shook the Lucky Voice in Islington and the political undertones which defined the song were explained to us in detail afterwards over a shot of Limoncello and a glass of Pinot Grigio, thus making it accessible to all: she's an inspiration I tell ya'.



Gem x

Gemma is a karaoke queen

Why is it that no matter how long one is in a karaoke booth for, it never feels long enough? We had a ball on Saturday night and Gem in particular gave a fantastic performance of an expertly altered version of "Tears dry on their own". The far-less-expert shoddy camera work is all MY own.



Love, ali x