Grumpy.....

No....not me......Mother Nature.

Last friday we had the tail end of cyclone Yasi, and boy did it rain.

My heart goes out to those who were lashed by it. Here in Victoria, those on Queensland and New South Wales. Not to mention the fires in Western Australia. What a country!!

In the words of Dorothea Mackeller from her poem "My Country", how true they are!!

I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges,  Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror - The wide brown land for me!

Thankfully we survived with no damage. Our wonderful new roof fixing the leaks and internal water features we used to have!!!

We had about 140mm(5 1/2inches) of water in 12 hours!!

Down at Mum and Dad's the creek overflowed, though not as bad as it could have been. I took this photo about an hour after it stopped raining.

 The creek at mum & dad's which is usually just a trickle or dry!!

 The Birdsland car park where only 2 years ago we had bushfires!!

The water logged streets the day after the rain.

I'll pop some of our R&R photos next time.

Till then

Live It, Love It, Enjoy It

Holidays are over.............

The summer holidays are over for yet another year, but oh the fun we had.

We went on our yearly camping trip to Inverloch, though the weather was not totally on our side this year, we did have a beautiful and relaxing time.
Speaking of weather, we've had the most unusual weather throughout January. Melbourne is renowned for its '3 seasons in one day', but this year the whole of Australia is copping it. Here we've had cold days as low 18C, very cool considering it is the middle of summer, today a scorcher at 40C, we've had humidity at 97% (that outdid Singapore), rain that flooded 1/4 of our state(Victoria), not to mention the devastation it has caused in Queensland. 
So, I think I can safely say we've had a very interesting start to 2011.
Back home for 3 days, had heaps of washing, Theo finished painting the new verandah, I set up the new study, and caught up on some other bits and pieces.
Then Theo and I went away for a few more days, we spent some time with  friends that we may as well call  family. Theo and Colin spent lots of time on the golf course and Hermy and I had 'quality' girl time (lots of talking!!).
That's all for now, I just wanted to say hello to you all, I'll post some photos next week.
 I'm off to bed, big day tomorrow.................back to work...hmpf :-(

Whatever your day brings
Enjoy, Live, Love

Happy New Year

Another year is upon us, and I would like to

Wish you all a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous, Safe,

Love Filled and Peaceful Year in 2011.

Take a little time for yourself to enjoy the things you love, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.

I'm going to start my first project for 2011 in my new room, (New room, new Project, there's plenty of time to finish things off later)it's not totally set up, not even close, but I figure if I start the year off in there, it can only be a good thing! ;-D

I bought this gorgeous range of fabric, plus a few extras last year, so I'm starting with this. I have a gorgeous pattern by my friend Gail called Winter Blooms which I think will suit it perfectly. 

Off to start now

Till next time

Enjoy it, Live it, Love it

Our Christmas (Long)

What fantastic festive fun we've had the last few days.

It all started on the18th Dec with Theo's family here for Christmas.

We managed to fit everyone into the new family room (it's so great to have room for everyone)so we could all sit together for Christmas dinner. It was lovely. I decided on a roast dinner and that was no small feat, but with all the family pitching in, it went very smoothly.

Laura came up with the idea that we should have real crockery and cutlery and she remembered that my SIL Helen and her family had made everyone a dinner plate that was uniquely theirs when they had Christmas at their house 4 years ago.So an email or a phone call went out to everyone to bring their plate. Our niece made mine and because I love patchwork, that was what she painted on my plate. I also made a little bauble name holders for everyone.

Gifts under the tree for the children (right) and one for the adults (left).

For the adults we buy one gift, we then play a game to swap the gifts.

There was plenty of room on the new verandah for everyone. We played a few fun games through the afternoon.

Sitting down together for dinner.

The finished Gingerbread house looked fantastic

The makers of the gingerbread house.

My DD Laura, niece Philippa and her BF Michael.

The girls didn't want the house 'smashed' so they carefully removed one side of the roof the reveal a surprise.

Some fingers got in very quickly.....

not much left after everyone has a piece!!!

 

The 24th of December sees my family get together for our Christmas festivities. Every year we sit the children in front of the tree and take a photo.

Below was 5 years ago, haven't they grown!!

We all sit together for dinner on Christmas Eve

Christmas day is a little more relaxed,with a simple lunch,

 we then help mum later in the afternoon to prepare for the next round of festivities on the 26th. Mum makes a traditional turkey,

here's my brother with the finished result. This one was about 7.5 kg (15.5lbs) plus stuffing!!! We have very close family friends come for lunch.

I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas with those you love.

Today sees me doing not much, pottering seems like a very good idea. I might venture into the sewing room later, but for now, pottering it is!  

Till next time

Christmas Wishes

With the next three days to be filled with Christmas festivities I'd like to wish you all a Loving, Peace filled, Exciting, Healthy, Dream filled

Merry Christmas

Enjoy every minute

Getting ready for our Family Christmas

Things have been happening here, and the excitement is building.

We have Theo's family Christmas here this saturday for a fun afternoon and Christmas dinner.

It's our turn this year, it only happens every 7 years!! We have heaps planned, and not a lot of time.

So far the trees have been trimmed (thanks to my family), we love to do some simple outdoor decorating too .



 

Laura has had a go at making a gingerbread house. Looking good....

And I've spent a little time in the sewing room turning this........

 

into these

Yes!! there are 45 in my DH's family. It's going to be a fun day, I'm really looking forward it.

I still have heaps and heaps to do. As a friend of mine always says,

"If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done!!" I'll be banking on 'that' minute!!!!

So whatever your week holds

Love it, Live it, Enjoy it

Exciting times

We have have had some exciting days here, the furniture has been moved back into the main rooms, and it's just wonderful. It feels fantastic to have this wonderful space. DH(Theo) & GtB(Graham the Builder) have just put so much 'everything' into it. I just love it!!!! I know there are still a few things that need to be done , but so much has been finished, I can't help but still be excited!  


 

New Family room



Renovated dining room







AND look at this...........its not much at the moment, but it's all mine!!!

My new sewing room.

I've put some essentials in, as I have things I want to sew up for Christmas.

We've had visitors from Queensland, our gorgeous niece Jenny, her DH Terry and their darling little daughter Paige, our great niece. They had the pleasure of being our first guests in our new and improved home.

  



Play with a peg is sooooo much fun



Open wide........

It was our 22nd wedding anniversary about a week ago, (I have been married 1/2 of my life!!!) and my gorgeous DH brought me this beautiful bunch of flowers. Aren't they just spectacular??

 Now the next round of activities, hype and fun begins, and I'm not even the tiniest bit organised. There are so many things I want do, but no where near enough time to do them all. I knew things were getting really serious, when the Advent calendar came out last week. I made it back in 1997 ( I think), when folk art was my hobby. The kids love it, and each each year it comes out, they bring it out. I can't believe that at 19 and 17 they still expect it to be filled. (It's these little things that make it special). I did mention to them something about  making a new different one, but they weren't impressed, so it stays! 

 

till next time

Whatever you are doing or will be doing

Enjoy it, Live it, Love it.