Sunday, December 25, 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

This was our Christmas Lunch Table today! Was absolutely fabulous that we had the family and friends here for a great lunch - much talking, eating, laughing, eating, slothing, eating, snoozing and of course eating was done! Thank you all for making it a great day.


Sunday, November 27, 2011

More than one post....

...in a week!!! Now don't get over excited there folks...might never happen again for a long time! No pics today though :( Forgot to take some :((( - That's what happens when the "frock age" and "blue rinse club" creeps up on you! LOL
Today had a fab day with Shay, Lorraine and her sister, and of course Claire - the weather was so nice we were able to sit outdoors, eat, chat and last but not least - stitch! And of course the world is put right again - as us quilters are able to do - in our minds at least! LOL

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Phew!

....what a wonderful day it has been! Tiring but good :)) A delayed birthday celebration was had. This wonderful cake was made as a gift from my friend Beth - who also did the catering. Beth managed to encompass a lot of things in my life - my cats, miniature houses, fairies, and quilting (the mat and the patchwork path) Thank you Beth xx I wont bore you all with all the pics that were taken (as there are quite a few) Most of you know Quilty Gal and saying she is my BBFF I thought she should definitely be on here.Bumblebee stroker aka my hubby - David also should get a pose on this post.Another of the gifts I received was the "Balladeers" coming to sing for a couple of hours. They were fantastic and the crowd enjoyed the late 50's and 60's songs.They certainly got some of the folk up and dancing and clapping to the beat.
So, just to finish off this quick post - thank you to all my family and friends for coming and sharing my day with me!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Only 4 weeks....

...to Christmas!!!! Some of our lovely Thursday Craft ladies have been busy getting there bits and pieces ready for that special day. Jean has got these door Santa's nearly ready.Many of the ladies have been making these cute Christmas trees - they are recycled Women's Weekly magazines (300+ pages ones) believe it or not!There is even an angel to go on top a tree - altho I think she would be rather large for these trees! LOLAnother of the Grandmothers Flower Garden friendship quilts is nearly finished. This one is Jeans.Lorraine has nearly completed hers too. She is very happy about it believe it or not!This one is Netty's - I think it is about one of her first quilt projects! Well done!
I attended the Lyell McEwin Hospital Volunteers Christmas B-B-Q at the weekend - guess who should turn up???And to end this short post with a note to say thank you to Nancy and Peter for the beautiful welcome home flowers!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

...the second part of this week....

....our Thursday Craft ladies have been busy this year doing a Grandmothers Flower Garden Friendship Quilt. Started off with a few and then when the others saw what we were doing, they all decided to have a go and get to it!

This is Norma's quilt completed. Well done Norma! Looking forward to seeing the others come to the finish line later this year.At the end of the week, I attended a Breast Cancer Network Association forum at the National Wine Centre, Adelaide. This was the first visit I have made to the centre and I must say I was rather impressed! The forum had a few speakers talking on breast cancer - one of which was the very inspirational Raelene Boyle AM MBE, Olympian and breast cancer survivor - managed to score a piccy as you can see! I was there partly as a representative for the YWCA Encore and partly as a guest. Great day - thanks BCNA!

Where did last week go?...

...oh yes! I remember....most of it was at Carrickalinga! LOL Fab time had by all. A very much needed R&R was definitely the order of the four days we spent down there. The weather was fab and then awful and then fab again. The shopping was kept to a strict minimum...????dum de do!

First night there was just right temperature wise and the sky was rather nice and clear.We settled in for the night...Lorraine was very busy working on her star quilt while Lynne was whittling the fingers away on a stitchery.Glenice had done some knitting so was rather occupied with her stuffing, while Claire looked on bemusedly!Sunset the second night was just beautiful.Just to prove that we ate good healthy food for the weekend - this was the lunch serving!More knitting....Oh! forgot to tell you that Lynne brought her portable wide screen TV phone to ring home on! LOL...some reading (or perving maybe eg centrefold???) was done...Lorraine made a good effort - she cut and sewed this lovely little Log Cabin topper - its not Christmas fabric but we all decided it could well be a nice table piece for that time of the year.Claire had nearly completed her Gail Pan Berries & Bluebirds quilt top - looking lovely!Almost finished! Lorraine completed (or so she thought) her Star Quilt, but once she had the binding on we all decided (as we do!) that she needed to echo her cable on the border. Good effort to Lorraine and what a gorgeous quilt!I will leave you on this post with the last sunset we saw for the weekend - just cant beat the colours that are natural can you?

Sunday, October 30, 2011

And finally....

...the jet lag has subsided!!! Thank goodness say I!!! Back to the grind of normal life now...quilting...stitching...friends...chocolate...(giving that one up tho :( )

Tis nearly time for the bi-annual Slobs & Snobs weekend away. However, this time there will only be one partial Snob and 4 Slobs as part of the clan are unable to get away for the weekend - they will be missed - never the same when the group are not together as it should be!

And I will leave you with the thought ---- there are less than 60 days to Christmas!!! LOL

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Local week...

.....as the trip comes to an end, we spent most of it saying farewell to family and friends - its quite funny really - you go away and spend the first half of your trip saying 'hello' and then the second half saying 'goodbye'!! Never the less, it is something you have to do! Pity we just cant 'beam me up Scotty' and be there whenever, where ever!!

Anyway...this is my cousin Peter and wife Margaret. My cousin Lillian, her hubby George and daughter Rachael.
Lisa - a long time family friend - and partner Paul.Davids cousins, Dorothy and Joan with their Johns and Dorothy's daughter, Janet.
A new member to Davids side of the family - Lacey.Some more long time friends of the family, David with Alan, Valerie, Joanne, Maureen, Lawrence, my dad.
David and his 4th cousin Alfie.
Dad, his brother John and his wife Yvonne, their daughter Alison with her brother Gary in the back and his partner Sarah and me!John is NOT a Newcastle supporter - hence the cake for his birthday! LOL - got him a matching card too - couldn't resist the stir.After a 24hour delay on leaving England, we finally arrived in Singapore. However, because of the delay most of the time was spent sleeping in the hotel and very little sightseeing. These orchids were in the main foyer, the colour was just stunning.
The Holiday Inn Atrium was our venue and this is the view of the lifts going up inside the hotel to the various floors. Magnificent hotel, worth the stay.
Back at Changi Airport and more orchids.
Well folks, 14 different beds have been slept in, 7509 kms in the hire car have been driven, one train journey to London and back along with several bus and train trips short distance, many miles done on the old feet, a reasonable amount of chocolate eaten (of course!), visited with lots of friends and several family members, had a great time but now we are back home to our own bed and shower (no matter how good the others are, you cant beat your own can you?!) So now its back to the grindstone.....

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

So 50 came and went....

...there was a small urge to have a blue rinse and perm done! Also the thought of purchasing a frock while I was in London...but thought I might leave that for my 60th!! LOL

Anyway, the birthday week was spent in London. Lots of sightseeing and walking and dodging lots of other sightseers in the process! Our first stop was the British Museum.Lots of things to look at here and lots of pics were taken, but will not bore you with too many! As in previous places we have visited, there were miniatures of buildings etc to be seen. Here is a miniature of the Parthenon as it would have been when completed in 432BC.Dad measuring up with one of the statues in the museum.
The Roman section had some fab mosaics on the walls.Night time fell and we strolled around London for a while, the Queens Theatre have this lovely rather large show on their roof advertising a long running show there.
Next day it was Madam Tussauds. Packed with visitors was an understatement. I have to say that I thought Morgan Freeman was one of the best on show.Then it was off to Ripleys Believe it or Not. Some very strange things here to be seen. Here is one of the shrunken heads that were on show....and yes it is real!A tiny, fully working camera.After lunch Dad and Dave went on the London Eye. However, due to my lack of interest in heights, I had this view! LOL The hot chocolate in the cafe near was delightful though :)We took a cruise up the River Thames. Very interesting commentary from our steward on board the boat. There is lots to look at along the Thames, including Dame Helen Mirrens house, Michael Crawfords house (they live opposite each other), David Bowies house, the 'boat' owned by the chap who owns Tottenham Hotspurs Footy team - it is said to be worth £1million per metre!!!! This next pic though is of the oldest pub in London, 'The Prospect of Whitby'. Quite quaint against all the high rise apartments and development that is going on along the Thames.This is the OXO building and is a very expensive place to dine out so I am told - cousin and wife went there and it cost them £170 for two for lunch!!!!
At the end of the cruise up, we got off at Greenwich and had a walk around the area. We stopped to watch the 12.55pm clock go off - this is where Greenwich Mean Time is marked. The ball on the 'T' spire is at the bottom of the pole and works it way up till it gets to the top which is then 1pm and then falls back down.We walked through the Queens House - and of course there was a miniature of that to be shown.
The staircase inside was magnificent. It houses art work on the walls and was quite interesting to walk around.
This picture was just fabulous!!!Birthday night!
The Imperial War Museum was on the agenda. Very good, but too much to see!! The Science Musuem was great too, but once again, way too much to look at. This clock was very different, don't know if I would like one in the lounge but was worth a picture.There are many sections to the Science Museum, and of course I took many pictures, but thought this one was one to share. It is a miniature room box of someone giving birth in the Victorian era ----I know, I am a sick puppy!!!
Harrods was next!!! Who could resist???? This is a resin model that was for sale of the Hogwarts Castle.The Christmas section in Harrods opens rather early in August and looked magnificent as always.The last morning in London we walked around the park near our hotel, and guess what??? There was this cute little grey squirrel waiting to have his pic taken! LOLOn the way to catch the train home we met up at Libertys with a friend for lunch. Very nice little store with heaps of atmosphere...and the lunch was great too! This is Tinks, David and Dad.
Well, back to the home town now! It was Davids Auntie Eleanors birthday while we were away so thought it would be nice to celebrate with her when we got back. Her choice of eating was one of the award winning fish and chip shops in South Shields - 'Colemans'. I have to say it was award winning food!
Well, here we are at the end of another posting. So till next time, happy reading!