Out for the day with Sue

I had a lovely day out with Sue yesterday. Sue is over from New Zealand visiting her kids in Brisbane so it was the perfect opportunity to meet "in real" for the first time. Sue and I have been blog friends since she first started blogging. I helped her set her blog up and guide her along the way when all things were new to her.

We had a lovely day having coffee, lunch and shopping...of course you have to shop. We did a couple of quilt stores and also some other shopping at the shopping centre. I just had to have another

owl and I saw this cute bird sitting on a spool that I couldn't resist either...I then saw these kitchen canisters that I "had" to have. I have been wanting new ones for a while now and these were just perfect. Not too big either and the colour was red...so just "me". Then of course I saw an oil burner I "needed" to have...and don't forget the fragrant soy wax melts to burn in it.

I made this little mug mat for Sue and couldn't resist getting her this cute tea cup and saucer. Then of course I had to add some Lindt chocolate to sweeten it all up some more.

 Bonnie and Camilles Happy-Go-Luck to make another table topper

Mama Said Sew to finish off a Twister topper that I have partly completed last year.

Lisa's Tote Bag

 

The lovely Lisa from Hilltop House Creative Works has just finished making a tote bag using my free tote tutorial. I really love the fabrics she has chosen. She brought this great New York City fabric while she was visiting NYC and with the use of the spotty fabric on the handles I think she has come up with a winner. It really takes me back to our own wonderful trips to NYC when we visited the States and this fabric is just awesome.

What a lovely day...

Today was a lovely day getting to meet Marilyn for the first time. She took a leisurely hour and a half drive to Ipswich for a day of stitching, chatting and eating. We have been saying for over a year we would get together and meet and finally had the chance to do so. Not a lot of stitching got done though...but it was fantastic to finally meet in person and not just chat online. Thank you Marilyn for taking the time out to visit. It was terrific.

I also got a lovely surprise with a knock on the door and these lovely roses delivered from my husband. What a pleasant surprise and a truly lovely day all round. xxx

Hexing along...

I am still here and hexing along with my hexies I started on many years ago.....I am very happy with how it is coming along and happy that is such an easy thing to just pick up and put down.

ANZAC DAY

Just a short post to remember the ANZACS.

Hubby and his buddies went into Brisbane to march to remember the brave men in on ANZAC day.

ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.  

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they took in that name endures to this day.

They did the traditional thing and had a beer and played some 2-UP.

Six more houses...

I am a proud Aussie.....6 more houses added to the neighbourhood....lets hope they fit into the neighbourhoods they are moving to...I will have all those other girls talking with an Aussie accent any time now!!

A little wonky....

Trying for wonky house blocks for my online CRAFT group swap....can't seem to do really wonky but getting a little wonky....13 down....5 to go.

FRIENDS SWAP ANGEL

Yes I know it seems odd to be doing an update on the FRIENDS swap from last year but we had an issue with Meg and Shruti. The issue started that both couldn't seem to get emails from each other. We have no idea why they couldn't receive them from each other as they could both receive them from me and respond to me. I had no issues at all getting them from either of them. Meg uses her work email and had the IT department look into it but there was no trouble on their end as far as they could see.

Meg sent her parcel to Shruti who was advised that customs wanted her to pay Rs 3000 (Close to US$56) to get it. Even though it was a gift. Shruti advised she couldn't afford to pay it and that she wasn't picking it up. Shruti said she had sent Megs parcel but it was never received by Meg at all. What bothers me is that Shruti has never offered to put together another parcel which is what I would have done if somebody hadn't received my parcel. I think most of us would have sent another if we knew that we had definitely sent something out and the fact that she knew Meg had sent to her but she wasn't willing to pay to have it picked up from customs. I feel for Shruti but don't know what else to say to her regarding this issue. I feel that Meg did the right thing, so, "what does one do" when the other person won't pick theirs up from customs. Meg has not received the parcel back from the Indian Customs either.

In hind sight I think I would have told both of these ladies to call the swap off and not send anything to either because they couldn't communicate with either without me sending the emails to them. The other thing was that Meg said she left messages on Shruti's blog but she never responded to them either. It leaves me questioning a lot of things. I have had issues with some swappers not communicating with their partners and I have told them to call off the swap. I would rather them not send something out then be stiffed by not getting something in return. For some reason I felt that this swap wasn't going to be like that but I feel that it is more one sided that I realised it would be.

Thankfully.....we had a wonderful Swap Angel do up a parcel for Meg and Meg has just received it. I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to Naomi for offering to take this on and go out of her way to send a parcel of lovely goodies to Meg. I truly appreciated your generosity Naomi. I know we have all been stiffed in the past with swaps but it really is nice to know somebody else has the thoughtfulness to offer their time and resources to make somebody else feel special. Thanks my friend.

Swap goodies

Today I received a lovely box of goodies from Pam. We had a swap in my online CRAFT group and I was very spoiled by Pam with everything she sent me. We used letters of our name. Pam sent me way more than the four letters we had to use. She even found the cutest letters she used as tags. But take a look at the handbag, wallet, zipper bag and glasses case that she made....she also made two mug rugs and sent two mugs to go with them. I am truly privileged to have such a great swap partner....a big THANK YOU Pam.

 

Wedding Pics

Two gorgeous people in my life - My husband Glen and of course the beautiful bride Sophie.

The bride and groom with the 1956 FJ Holdens they used for the bridal party.

What a Special Day

Yesterday, Saturday the 2nd of March my eldest daughter Sophie May married her sweetheart Brenden.....what a gorgeous day it was. Even with the non stop rain, nothing could put a damper on this beautiful occasion. Our photographer Casey did a spectacular job in between umbrellas.

Just a few pics....

So what's been going on....

 
Other than helping my daughter Sophie organise her wedding not a lot....hair trials, makeup trials, dress shopping.....OMG who ever said dress shopping was fun needs their mind read.....I am sure it has been one of the most painful things I have had to do for a long time.....give me fabric shopping any day...for a quilt that is....lol.

Last week however, I got to go out and meet a lovely blog friend for the first time. Michelle Ridgeway and I got to have a cuppa and cake over a lot of chit chat.....we had a wander around the shops and brought a few things in the store for our grand babies. It was a really lovely day out and I am sure we will be catching up again sometime soon.

I have been having a play with house blocks for a swap on my CRAFT group. Trying to do wonky...it is actually harder than I thought it would be. This is what I have come up with so far.....that was a couple of weeks ago though.

The wedding is taking up most of my time. Just thought I would pop a few lines up on the blog so that you all knew I was still around.

Flooding in Ipswich again....

 The cause to our problem. The Bremer River is tidal and once flooded it floods the little creek behind us. Of course our little creek has nowhere to go but up into our yards.

It's been a crazy long weekend here in Ipswich. Floods all around Ipswich. Unfortunately the house we live in was one of the few houses in the street that was under water in the 2011 floods. The council had early warnings that these couple houses here should be on alert on Sunday. Our neighbours woke us at 6.30am Monday to let us know they were moving their things out of the house as the creek behind us was over up and over the gully.

We have had such wonderful support from people all around the neighbourhood. Our landlord was here as soon as he heard with a van, ute, and trailer. We are also lucky that my daughters fiance has a ute and could get a hold of a trailer. I am truly thankful for all the support we have had moving all our furniture and personal items out. Thank you also to my friend Amanda for coming over with things to put our stuff in and helping me pack/move things.

We decided to stay the night at the house sleeping on the floor, just in case the waters came up and we had left smaller things still in the house...we could easily grab them and throw them in the car if we needed.

THANKFULLY, we were saved the nightmare of a huge cleanup. The Bremer River that flows into the creek behind us peaked sometime before midnight and spared us the pain of a further mess by not coming up any further.

So, yesterday we hired a truck to bring all our furniture back home. Again, we have been thankful for good friends from Glens work (Air-force) in helping us move our things back home. I can tell you we are feeling pretty tired and buggered at the moment. Unfortunately Glen has had to go back to work today. I am just trying to get things back into place and try and get back to some normality.....ha ha...makes me laugh at the moment wondering what that is....lol

Unfortunately the rest of Queensland has not been so lucky. So much devastation...just heart breaking and so sad for so many people to have lost everything. I feel sad that I can't do much to help. The last flood in 2011, I along with friends in Adelaide made quilts and delivered them to people in Qld that we knew had lost their homes and possessions. Bundaberg, Gympie and other smaller towns have been hit hard this time. Bundaberg has never seen this kind of flooding before. This time life is hectic with all this going on as well as organising my daughters wedding. I only have five weeks for that and am hoping things will go smoothly.

AUSTRALIA DAY

I borrowed this from Facebook.

“AUSTRALIA’S BLOODY GREAT!

Today it is Australia Day and ain’t it bloody great,
to cook a chop and drink a beer because we celebrate.
We celebrate our heritage and those who came before,
we celebrate this wide brown land from centre to the shore.

We lift our heads and banner high for those who fought and died,
we raise our glasses to the ones who failed but really tried.
We sing the praise of winners in all their chosen sport,
we toast ol’ Mother Nature for the lessons we are taught.

We drink with Jock or Pat ‘cause they’re all Aussies now,
we doff our hat to those who mine or those who use the plough.
For we are all Australians and I’m telling you ol’ mate,
I’m proud to be an Aussie ‘cause Australia’s bloody great!!

We share our land for many to come and see,
we give them the Australian Courtesy.
We send them home with great Australian Memories.
Why because were Australian,
Australia’s bloody great!!

Home Sweet Home

Well friends, we made it home safe and sound thanks to Qantas. We are always happy flying with them even if its just cattle class (big grin).

My two daughters were very happy to see Mum and I know I was thrilled to get home to see them and my son, along with his little boy Isaac and Mummy Grace. I left here with Isaac only just pulling himself up on furniture and now he is walking, or should I say running....he is also doing the "Hokey Pokey"...you know how cute that is....he is just a beautiful little boy.

It won't be long and Madeline will be back in school....year 11....gosh how she has grown and I am so proud of who she is becoming. Sophie my eldest daughter gets married in six weeks. So, I am now organising the last of things for her wedding. This year will see a lot of changes I feel. You know how you just have that gut instinct!!

I do so hope all my friends in blogland who are still reading my very unattended blog are doing well and that 2013 is a wonderful year for them.

2013

Not long now until our twelve week trip to the States comes to an end. How quickly this time has gone. We have less than two weeks left before we fly home. We are ready to return to our home, kids, family and friends. We have done a lot of driving and flying this trip so we are happily chilling out in Chicago before we fly back across to Long Beach, CA to spend our last ten days with our good friend Marilyn.

I hope all my friends online who read this blog and haven't followed our travel blog have had a wonderful Christmas and that 2013 will be kind to them.