Renewed faith.....

in humanity!! What a week it has been! I have been overwhelmed by the offerings of goods and money for my friend whose house burnt down 10 days ago. You know, one (or two in this instance) bad people make you soooo mad and upset.......but then comes along many, many good people and the balance set right again. So I would like to thank all the people out there in the world who have given to my friend to help her in a time of distress and heartache. I would like to say that most of the people who have helped do not know my friend but have had no compunction about helping and I think that is what has overwhelmed me. Needless to say, my friend is also extremely overwhelmed (must be the word of the week!!!) and would like to say a big thank you to you all too. She is getting her head back together and sorting what needs to be done to find somewhere to live and settle again.
Unfortunately there are no photos this posting :((( But it Snobs and Slobs day on Friday, so who knows what I will have to show?????
So till then, happy stitching xx

In memory of Winston....

If you read QuiltyGals blog you will already know about one of our fellow quilters losing her house to a mindless act of vandalism. Said quilters brush fence was set alight in the early hours of Thursday morning. The outcome of this act is that she has lost her house and the best part of all her belongings, all she was left with was the nightie she was wearing when she awoke. However, her life was saved by her little furry angel - Winston, a beautiful cat whom she had only had for about one year. He woke her and alerted her to the fire happening outside. Sadly, he didn't make it out and the fireman found his little body near the front door.

I would of thought that the bush fires that have destroyed so many lives and homes in Victoria in the last few weeks, would have made even the worst pyromaniac think twice....but apparently not!!! As QuiltyGal said, 10 mins alone.........hmmmmm

But life most go on, and upward and said friend is now looking to the future and planning what has to be done. Rebuilding her collection of quilts to start with!!! At least she is thinking right :)

Little Winston will always be remembered and will always be with her.

Finally, time to blog!

Hello Bloggers!! It has been a while since I have managed to blog. As most of you will know by now, we have had a terrible beginning to the year in Australia. Flooding in Queensland with many properties destroyed and then the terrible bush fires in Victoria. Unfortunately many lives have been lost in the fires and many animals gone also. The worst part is that it was not a natural disaster :((( Out of this devastation a picture of love has touched nearly all our hearts. It is of fireman Bob and a wild koala now named Sam (for Samantha). Sam was caught in the fire and has had parts of her body badly burnt. The pic (which I am sure most of you have seen now, as Sam has been shown round the world) is of Bob giving her a drink. Tis amazing to see that a completely wild animal knows when help is at hand is willing to accept the help. She was taken to a rescue home and is being cared for there and is just the cutest thing ever. Certainly pulled my heartstrings for sure!!

The summer for us in South Australia has also seen the hottest ever period since the powers that be started recording the weather here. So since 1887 we have had the hottest summer - over 45oC for several days. The nights weren't much better either which meant we had air conditioning on and then of course the electricity systems were overloaded and some of the areas had to endure blackouts for several hours. It is still rather warm now, but much more sustainable and livable temperatures! Thank goodness :)))

Some of you may know that I started a new career in December....am now training as a Dental Assistant (nurse) and have decided to go to school to get my certificate. So now I have 12 months of study ahead of me....goodness knows how that will go as the old brain hasn't had to work too hard for many years!!!!

Anyway, early in January I bought a pattern for a clown. QuiltyGal and I went to the Spotlight sale (I know, I know, we had vowed not to increase our stash!!) and bought some fabric for said item. Well, it has taken about 4 weeks to nearly finish as I decided to make 3 of them!!! Just got the faces and shoes to paint on them now.

They started off looking like aliens from another world.....but have morphed rather well

The pattern is County Keepsakes - "Bellatrix" by Annie Smith

Well, I guess that's about all for now people....till next time....

Merry Christmas...,.

...to all out there in Blogland, even tho I am a little late in wishing you all. But will be early and wish you all a Happy New Year and may it be a safe and prosperous one for you all.

Well saying that yesterday was Christmas Day, I was allowed to open my SSCS that Chookyblue has very successfully run this year again. So THANKS for that Chookyblue. Below is the pic of my SSCS. I received a lovely quilt of my two cats - goodness only knows how Helena managed that! Some Swedish chocolate, two oldie worldie postcards, two little reindeer and a Swedish Christmas Decoration. So a BIG THANKS to Helena for the lovely gift!!! Looking forward to eating the chocolate later tonight in front of the air conditioner!!!

SW surprised me this year (doesn't happen very often!) but I got a Christmas present!!!!!!!! For those that know SW, you know what I mean, and those that don't know him - he is not a great gift giver :( But.....I got a Giant Big Kid - he is about half my height and weighs a ton. Looks lovely on my bed :)) Along with Sleepy (that's the Giant Big Kid) I also received a gold anklet which is lovely.

The day was spent with family and some friends. We ate, drank and had a lovely relaxing day together. Played on our Wii, which was a good laugh. If you ever get to watch four people playing Wii tennis - sit back and get the tissues ready as its an absolute hysterical thing to watch.

Well, got to go for now - time to celebrate Quilty Gals 50th Birthday!!! She is officially an "Old Fart" now!!! LOL so see you all later.

Here we are....

at the end of another weekend! With not many days to go till Christmas! I thought I had better start pulling the old proverbial out....so I have bought my ham!!! wooohooo....nothing else tho, just the ham. Will have to think about the rest on Friday.

The weekend has been rather relaxing tho I must say. Yesterday it was the Snobs & Slobs Christmas lunch at our usual venue Monkey Nuts at Lyndoch. Lovely food and lovely hosts. We did our usual - had Chris Chringle - this time the criteria was "2 x fat quarters". Each put said into a single bag and then we all took a dip and made something out of the owners fat quarters to give back to them. We were allowed to add any embellishment and any bits of fabric. The main thing about it tho was not to buy anything at all to add. We all stuck pretty well to this idea and as you will see by the pics, we all ended up with a lovely item.
First to receive her CC was Lynne (holding said up) Angela made this little stitchery hanging.
My turn next to receive mine, Quilty Gal did this lovely stitchery and applique hanging.
Then it was Angela's turn, Glenice made two lovely little Santa's - Angela has been admiring this pattern all year!!!
Claire was the next to receive her hanging from Kay. So she has some stars to brighten her nights!!
Lynne had designed and made this lovely table runner for Glenice.
And last but certainly not least, Lorraine was given a Tilda doll by me!! We were all very happy with our items and it made us think inside the square this year!!!

This morning I had a wonderful surprise....first one was the postman at the front door!!! We NEVER get post in Australia on a Sunday!!!! and the second was the parcel he delivered. It was my PIF from Bev!!!!! Talk about a quick worker, I tell you! So Thank You Bev for my lovely parcel.... two reels of cotton, a pin cushion that looks like a bug, a needle case, a tea towel with my name on it and a little sewing bag. Talk about spoilt.

What a busy couple of weeks....

it has been. I have started my new job properly now, this is the first week of consecutive days as a dental assistant trainee. Tis quite a busy job, but am loving it. Have always brushed my teeth regularly, but have worn out several brushes this week already! hahahahaha
Going to my old job tomorrow for a rest!! LOL
My Secret Santa Swap arrived yesterday....and how good am I???? It is still sitting on the table unwrapped!!! I know I have to wait another 15 days before it is to be opened, which is very hard to do as the label says there is CHOCOLATE in the parcel!!! And those that know me, know how much I lovvvvvve chocolate.
Not much else to blog about tonight....so till later.....

Here we are....

c only 29 days till Christmas!!! The tree is finally up and decorated, bought a new one at the end of year sales last year. I wanted a big one and was only going to do the tree and put the dec's on it and around it, but didn't think about the girth of it did !?! So it wont fit where I wanted to put it, a bit of juggling the furniture around and I got it in place - not really the best spot but it will do this year. Looks better in the dark with the lights on too!!!Was visiting a couple of blogs tonight, mainly QuiltyGal and Bev's and decided to sign up for Pay It Forward :)

The rules are quite simple and easy. I will make something that I hope you will like, for the first three people who leave a comment, you must have a blog and you must be willing to pass it onto three more people. I will post anywhere in this wide world of ours. I have 365 days to make it and so do you - but lets not leave it that long to spread the kindness and love around.

An update on the dentistry :O Have done a few days of training so far - and its great to say the least, the days go quite quickly as there is sooooo much to learn and remember. Might have to make a quilt for the surgery!!! LOL can imagine the image of it now :)))

Snobs and Slobs are a happening thing this Friday - so no doubt the world will get sorted again for another two weeks at least. Christmas will be discussed, food will be eaten, coffee will be drunk and I am sure if it was possible we would all have a little siesta - but with so much to do I don't think that will happen.

So till later, take care and happy stitching...

Its been one of them months....

that seems to have come and gone in a flash almost! One wonders where time goes???? I think sometimes Stephen King's Langoliers are real!!?!?!?!?!?!

While I don't really have any pics to post today - I thought it would be nice to tell you all my latest news......I have a new job!!!!! Going to be training as a Dental Assistant!!!!!!!!!! Completely different to the job I do now, so really looking forward to the challenge. Guess not much quilting will get done for a little while :(

Well it is short and sweet tonight....start new job tomorrow..... will let you all know how it goes.....

A celebration was had...

..earlier this month. It was my Mum and Dads 50th Wedding Anniversary Yeh!!!! We went out for a family dinner to one of the local dinning places and had a lovely evening. Tis hard to imagine that you can spend half a lifetime together - there has been some thick parts and some thin parts - but they made it!!!

This was Ron and Florence on their wedding day - I printed the pic onto photo fabric and embroidered with gold threads and Sadi threads around to secure the fabric onto the background. Mum and Dad were very pleased with the final piece.

The rest of October was very unproductive in the sewing line to say the least so I don't have anything much to show here at all :((( Have to get on with some swapping gifts so will be busy the rest of the week.

Today we went out for tea to a friends place for tea. Very nice it was too - roast lamb - forget Tom Cruise!!! LOL Anyway, while I was there, I helped Greg set up his blog, so if you want to go over and take a look....there is a fantastic array of miniatures and houses here and if you have a day with nothing to do, go for a visit to Strathalbyn, have some lunch and pay Greg and Linda a visit. Even if you are not into miniatures, the houses on display are worth the trip to see. You never know, it might be a new hobby you might like!!!

Back home again.....

after a wonderfully relaxing weekend at Carrickalinga. Much food (mainly chocolate of course) was consumed, lots of chatter and quite a bit of Nana napping was done!!! Unfortunately two of the Snobs could not be with us for this trip - and I would like to say they were missed terribly by us all. So that will not be allowed to happen again girls!!!! Kay brought her Baltimore that she has just completed - fabulous job Kay!!! Looks beautiful as always.QuiltyGal made a new friend. And even Kermy enjoyed himself (he now belongs to Lynne, much to his delight)

So now its back to the humdrum of the normal week ahead.....

A quick moment in time...

to allow me to do a very quick post. Firstly I would like to thank all the people that followed my blog while SW and I were travelling in the UK. Secondly, I would like to apologise that I have not answered any emails personally. Unfortunately it took over a week to get over the jet lag this time :( I think the 10 hour stop and 21 hours of flying with no sleep did that! Then I had a mountain of work to do once I put my feet flat again. This weekend I am off with the Snobs & Slobs for a quilting girly weekend down to the beach front at Carrickalinga. Can hardly wait.....got the pj's ready already even!!!! LOL So I guess I will see you all soon after the fun of the weekend, so stay tuned for more pics next time....

Back at the ranch...

...after a very long journey across the world! What a journey it was, to say the least. We left Newcastle Airport at 1.45pm on Monday afternoon, arrived in Dubai at midnight, spent the next 10 hours wondering the airport back and forth (we were going to book into the Airport Hotel for a while but at US$100 an hour we changed our mind) and then 14 hours to Melbourne and the last leg of two hours in Melbourne Airport and one hour home to Adelaide!!! We soooo enjoyed going to sleep on Wednesday night. So now it is back to the grindstone and routine of South Australian life :)) The picture is of us coming in over the coast of Adelaide.

While I was in the UK, I started cousin in law off on a blog - she is called Gloria so if you have a moment go and take a peek at her site. She is not a quilter like most of us, but does enjoy doing some sewing and craft work. Besides that, she is a lovely lady and I know you will enjoy reading her blog.
If you read one of my earlier posts, you would of seen that I thought Wing Walking might be a good job for me to look into. Well, the plane trip from Dubai to Melbourne gave me my first hint of what to do if I take up this position. As you will see by the wording painted on the wing of our plane! LOL

Well, off the bed now to see if I can overcome the horrible jet lag I have this time round. So night night from me.

Last minutes...

thought I should add a little to the last post I made. I forgot to mention that the gentleman on the last post is my cousin in laws father - Bill :)
I would also like to say a big thank you to all our friends and family that we stayed with and visited with during our journey here in the UK. It has been great to see everyone, to have eaten some wonderful food and spent time in some lovely places. So will be blogging in Australia next time. See you all then

Well, here we are at the end of the trip.....

yes the time has come to pack the bags and head for home :( Very sadly we have to leave our wonderful family in England and head back to our family in Australia. So last night we had a few friends and family over to say Adios - a good night was had by all and apparently there was a few sore heads the next morning. So for now it is farewell to England....till the next time!!

By the way, there is a new blogger on line now - cousin in law Geordieglor so please go on over and say hello:)

And now for a little surprise....

Earlier this week we had a few people over for a coffee and chat. Two of those people are my cousins Ted and Pat. This is the first time we have EVER been together!!! It was a lovely afternoon and a good chance to have a nice chat.

Today we have all arrived back from a two night visit to see Whitney and My Little Pony (as named by his dad) (aka Nathan)! To say that Whitney was surprised is an understatement!!! Will fill you in later QuiltyGal :)))
While we were in Wales, we took a drive around and went to Aberaeron - tis a lovely little village by the west coast. All the houses are painted different colours and blend so well together it is uncanny - I guess that the owners of the homes work pretty well together to get it right. Bit like a large group quilt really!

We stayed in a lovely B&B once again - great breakfasts, lovely rooms and the view was fabulous!So we are back home for a day of veg out again time before we go for some days out here and there. And before we know it, the time for heading home will be upon us.

Back at the abode....

and time for a rest for a few days before we head off for a while again. SW, cousins and myself took a coach trip to the Yorkshire Dales "Last of the Summer Wine" trip. Countryside is beautiful and picturesque, was a pity it rained most of the journey :( So anyway, we had a wonder around Holmfirth, where they do the filming and had Gary and Eddie do the chatting about what goes on etc (Eddie is the dog :)) Along the street, I spotted the Last of the Summer Undies!!!Haworth - Bronte Sister country - and Hebdon Bridge we next on the agenda for a visit. Very pretty places and lovely little villages. Leeds market was the last visit on the list. And being a good overseas tourist, I did what you do when you go to Leeds, I bought a Sari!!

The trip home was via Skipton, which was nice - my mum used to go there as a young woman for holidays, so it was nice to see the place first hand. Just by chance, I found the surname of the people she used to stay with, but asked a few people in the town if they were still about, but didn't get much luck :( And then....I went on ANOTHER boat!!! This time it was a canal boat tho LOL
Time to go for now, till next time, you all take care now :))

Well its still raining....

so its a bit of a stay at home day today as it is a bit cold too. Good opportunity to do a bit of blogging. I got a bit of a surprise today - I have won my first award!!!

Kernowitch kindly gave me the award, so thank you Chrissy :)) Now picking another seven might be a bit hard to do!!! But here they are:-
http://ravelly1-quiltzblog.blogspot.com/
http://iwannabecrafty.blogspot.com/
http://fourwisemonkeys.blogspot.com/
http://quiltygal.blogspot.com
http://comfortdolls.blogspot.com/
http://grannyloz.blogspot.com/
http://jennybowker.blogspot.com/
They are not in any particular order or preference, I like them all for various reasons and interest.

While down in Eastleigh we were out and spotted some of these creatures wondering around the countryside! There was many different breeds in the area, but we chose these ones.

Once you have caught them, you cook them and eat them :))
Hastings was a short three night visit. Played on the 2p slot machines and came away with 15 little prizes! Wooo hooo Visited with SW's oldest living aunt - if she is still with us in December she will be 98 years old!! Not a bad innings. We visited and stayed with other relations there - great to catch up with them again. Went out to Icklesham for a lovely meal on the last night there, little country pub which served the most fabulous smoked haddock mornay. Jenny and Rob came with us to enjoy the food.
We then stopped off on the way back north to see another of SW's cousins and have a cuppa with her. Then on to a place called Wendy near Royston in Cambridge to visit a miniature shop called Maple Street. Of course I managed to buy a couple or three things there. We were then ready to head right back up north to our base point and take a breather for a day or two before the next leg of the trip starts.
While blogging I spotted a little PG Tips fellow sitting on the shelf next to Tipsy Jock (I bought him last time we were in the UK) So I thought he might like to get on the blog and have a look around the world!

>

Something I forgot to mention.....

For all you Christmas fans out there, whilst in previously said prominent shop in London, I came "stumbled" upon the Christmas section!!! Yes! Believe it or not, they open their Christmas section in the middle of August. So I have bought my first Christmas decoration for the year of 2008!!!!

This week SW and I visited a place called Pendon, near Abingdon. There is a fabulous miniature railway and village setup in the village. We spent a couple of hours chatting and looking at the display. The scale is 4mm in 1 foot - so to say its tiny an understatement.

An Army Air Museum was also on the unwritten agenda. Very interesting. Amongst the various military paraphernalia was a little display that a gentleman called H.E Hervey had done between WW1 and WW2 while living in Australia. The pictures are of seeds, dried ferns and grasses. This would be similar to doing stump work with nature I guess.

Then we headed off the Lymington and got way laid to the Isle of Wight!! Yes!!! Me on ANOTHER ferry - who would of thought??? Still haven't changed my mind about cruising though.

On the way to Lymington we had to pass through the New Forrest and Beaulieu Estate and came across a mother and her baby....sooooo cute! Was almost able to pat the baby donkey, but chose not to so as not to spook it. The horses and donkeys roam free in this area and there are plenty of them (horses that is - we only saw these two donkeys) and they have right of way around the place.

Have found a new calling, job-wise....Wing Walking :) After going to the Bournemouth Airshow and watching the spectacular flying and displays, we were entertained by the girls doing Wing Walking on the biplanes....only thing is that they might need a Hercules for me to do it as I have taking a liking for Tunnocks Tea Cakes.....yummmmmm....might end up the size of a bus by the time we finish our holiday here!!! Saw the last flying Spitfire from WW2 with a Lancaster bomber in a Battle of Britain Flypast, also some helicopters doing a display and a jet zooming around. SW spotted one of the funniest things we have seen while here on holiday. In the photo below you will see a little boat with a red flag on it...the other boats with people on board were watching the Airshow and this little fellow was going boat to boat selling ice-creams!!! We were in stitches!!!

This picture is the view we have from our new house :)) And the second is of the back of our new abode! No honestly!!! We have been staying with some fabulous friends and have been here for several days, that we feel like part of the furniture now.


Sadly tomorrow we must leave Karen and Keith and move on to the next port of call...Hastings.