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Ironing out a family mystery One Friday afternoon my wife noticed what appeared to be burns on the back of our daughter’s hand and fingers. There were no reports of any accidents when she was collected that afternoon from kindy. She was reluctant to say what had happened but eventually confessed. She explained in great detail that she had been riding on the back of Halle’s motorbike across a paddock and she had lent down to pick a flower, burning her fingers on the exhaust pipe in the process. This was her story and she stuck to it for a week. I ride a Vespa and thought maybe she had somehow burned her hand on its exhaust but after an inspection it was pretty clear that wasn’t possible. Having no other options, over the next few days we reiterated the dangers of doing acrobatic manoeuvres on the back of a moving vehicle, the importance of wearing a helmet, and instructed Halle to be more responsible. It wasn’t until a week later that in a moment of weakness she confessed that she had burned her hand on the
PAUL FAIRWEATHER When I was young, I didn’t have imaginary friends but I did have an alter ego. For a year when I was 7, I was Jeffery Burns, and Jeffery Burns always wore a green towelling hat, including to bed. I don’t recall where I got the name from or why I adopted it. From the recollection of my parents he wasn’t a scapegoat for my misdemeanors, I was just Jeffery Burns in a green towelling hat, and that was that. My daughter, on the other hand, has had imaginary friends from an early age. She has always been social and makes friends easily, so our family of four was quickly swelled to six with the constant addition of her friends Dee Dee and Halle. Dee Dee has always been and remains 3, and Halle has always been a teenager.
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Engagement lunch looks towards ‘better Valley’
back of the “thing that is used to iron the clothes”. It must really have hurt but she didn’t say anything, believing she had done something wrong (compared with riding pillion behind an unlicensed imaginary teenager). A twinge of guilt washed over me when I realised I was responsible, not Halle, for the injury because I had left the iron out. I like to iron the school uniforms and my shirt in the mornings. I find it therapeutic and it is one part of my life where it is so easy to straighten out the wrinkles, to quickly impose order.
I rarely iron a day in advance. Besides being a “just-in-time person”, it comes from an incident when someone broke into my car and stole loose change, and my beautifully ironed shirt. I felt very aggrieved that I had ironed a shirt that I never got to wear. I did take responsibility for the ironing accident but for a fleeting moment I was tempted to say it had been Jeffery Burns, not me. As for Halle and Dee Dee, they visit less and less frequently these days. But that is the way some friendships go, especially with a friend as mobile as Halle.
Purple Olive closes Much-loved James Street Italian restaurant The Purple Olive has closed for the last time. Husband and wife Malik and Tamsin Theresine owned the restaurant for more than 10 years after purchasing the already 10-year-old restaurant. Head chef and restaurant manager Malik said the pair had closed the business to spend more time with family. “My youngest would be waking up in the morning and asking if I was looking after her tonight, and six days a week I’d be saying sorry darling, not tonight,” Mr Theresine said. “That was heartbreaking – it’s extremely challenging raising a family and running a business,” he said. “Unfortunately we’ve upset a lot of people: there’re lots of teary eyes on Facebook.” Mr Theresine is spending his days between his family and putting together a series of cookbooks featuring The Purple Olive’s best dishes after getting plenty of emails and requests for his recipes.
The Valley Chamber of Commerce (VCC) drew 74 business leaders and politicians for its first local engagement lunch of the year, “A Creative and Liveable Valley”. The lunch and drinks event at Newstead venue The Triffid sparked conversation about the future of Fortitude Valley to create a more functional suburb for business. Tony Gleeson, local area engagement committee chair of the VCC, said the event ran very well. “Engagement lunches are a very successful concept that gives us a platform to discuss local issues together,” Mr Gleeson said. “It went very well and helps us add to our visioning process for the area which will be delivered at the end of the year,” he said. “We’re creating really positive ground-level communications between businesses, which helps us lobby for better outcomes for the Valley from all levels of government.” Triffid owner John Collins said it was great having the VCC, local
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Tyson Clarke + Nathan Wood
Whitney Griffiths + Bob Menzies
business leaders and politicians meet at the venue. “The Triffid is a big part of the VCC. It’s awesome to have people from the VCC down here and welcome them to the Triffid,” Mr Collins said. “It’s a great chance for us to showcase what we can do and we’re sharing some great ideas,” he said. “This is going to be a massive
suburb in the coming years, so it’s great to be on the radar of the VCC and Council being here is a great thing,” The event was attended by Federal MP for Brisbane Trevor Evans, Deputy Councillor Adrian Schrinner, infrastructure chair Cr Amanda Cooper and local Councillor Vicki Howard.
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French Film Festival draws crowd
Did you see this coming The Village News is giving two lucky people the chance to win a double pass to famous psychic-medium Deb Webber’s exhilarating and intimate live show at New Farm Bowls Club on Thursday March 23. Deb is best known from the TV show Sensing Murder and Australia’s Woman’s Day and will give spontaneous readings to audience members chosen by spirit, connecting and bringing messages to these people from their deceased loved ones. For a chance to win a double pass just email: editor@newfarmvillagenews.com.au with your name, address and contact number by March 16.
Renault presents the 28th Annual Alliance Française French Film festival 2017 ‘ The Dancer’
Jessica Rose, Jake Shavikin + Hayley Dettrick
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A FREE COFFEE* Claire Mathiew + Adam Loughlan
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