Easter Wishes

Firstly I want to let you know that I have seen the specialist and I am now on medication which seems to be helping me but I won't know for sure until I go back to see him at the beginning of May.
I do have to have a blood test and another MRI scan so that they can compare the before and afters.
Anyway if the way I feel after only a week is any indication then I should be ok.
Secondly Ebony will be 13 in Easter Sunday--my how time flies--I still think about all the funny little things she used to say and do when she was little and I have a chuckle to myself.
Lastly I would like to wish you all a happy Easter.
May you have a special time with your loved ones and remember what this time of the year is all about.

No More Curls

For ages now Ebony has been saying that she wanted to have her hair straightened--heaven forbid I would kill to have curls like she has-(had).
Before Christmas she got herself a fancy hair straightener and proceeded to do it herself, much to my annoyance but as she said it was her hair.
Anyway she has a birthday coming up at the end of this month so we all chipped in and let her have it done professionally at my hairdressers.
I could have supported 3 needy children is some war torn country for what it cost  but after all she is my grand daughter so what could I say.

I took this photo of her on Saturday morning when she woke up and like my DIL said "Tina Turner paid a fortune to get a style like that.
This is the first time she has ever had her hair cut in any style because before her hair had such tight curls, the hairdresser could not get a comb through it, but since she had been straightening it herself it was easier this time.
This is what she looks like now.

The style that the hairdresser cut had more of a wispy fringe over her face which I thought was beautiful but she likes it more this way..
Anyway she is the one who has to wear it and if she is happy then so am I.
They said if she looks after it the way that they instructed her to then it should last her six month--I do hope so otherwise we may have to hock the house to do it again,

I'm Feeling much Better

At last I am feeling a lot better health wise.
I have seen a specialist regarding my Pituarity gland and I will see an Endocronogist in two weeks who will let me know what the treatment will be and then things will be better hopefully.
To add to my woes of being unwell I have had a reaction to some medication that my doctor prescribed for me but since being taken off the medication I am feeling so much better.
And guess what I have made something.
We are having a small challenge at the guild arranged by me in conjunction with the Recycle Table.
Members have to buy something off the Recycle Table and create something with it.
The idea is that they will create something different-it doesn't matter what it is and it doesn't have to have embroidery on it.
At the annual exhibition these creations  will be on display and if the member wants to it can be sold to raise money for the guild.
Today I made a 3D  "thing" from a book to give people an idea as to what they can do.
The book is small-about A5 size.

The pages are folded in a certain way as indicated below----

And this is what I ended up with.
The white pages are the end covers of the book which has a hard cover that enables it to stand up easily.

I had seen something like this on a larger scale last year at an exhibition and I thought that it would be a very hard project-but it wasn't.

Yesterday a friend  gave me a pile of old paperarts magazines for the Recycle Table and what do you know one of them had the instructions on how to make this little gem.
It only took me about an hour and a half as well.
I think my Mojo is back--maybe.

Catching up

Almost a month has slipped by and I fanally have something to show.
It's not finished and heaven only knows when it will be but it is finally a piece of work with stitching on it.
Early in January I went to Melbourne for a few days with my daughter and I purchased several pieces of hand made felt-each were 25cm square.
I wanted to make some needle cases-so I had to cut them  in half but then I had three sides that were very organic shapes and one side that was straight.
I decided to spray the straight edge with warm water and added a few drops of dishwashing liquid and then proceeded to rub the edge between my hands--bingo I had the fourth edge felted just like the other three.
The first two photos show the qsuare cut in half and you can see the piece on the left has a straight edge and the other has the new felted edge

I have to finish the needlecase by putting the Doctor Flannel inside for the needles to slip into and also add the ties to close it (whatever that will be)
I also had a few covered buttons that I received (2 years ago) from my friend Kate who owns Buttonmania in Melbourne..
They were ones that were faulty and could not be used by her so she gave them to me.
I have been looking at them for ages and I finally decided to make them into a brooch.

This is the back of the buttons and as you can see there are no attachment bits which rendered them useless.

What I intend to do is attach the little red button onto the large button--but I will add some small green running stitches before that to look like the stem of the flower.

Don't hold your breath waiting to see these items finished as at the rate I have been performing lately it could be Christmas time before they are done.

I've done it again

For the second year in a row I have forgotten the anniversary of my first blog post.
It all began on January the 5th 2007. and I was terrified.
I only knew how to send and receive e-mails and I would read blogs and other stuff.
I didn't know much about computers-Ebony had to teach me how to cut and paste when she was only seven and she is still teaching me stuff even now.
I only started a blog because I wanted to be part of Sharon Boggan's "Take a Stitch Tuesday" challenge and like the song says "From little things big things grow" and it sure did.
In the beginning I would be posting about all the creative things I was making and there were lots of different things being produced,but I have been very naughty of late and I just can't seem to get started on anything.
I am going to try and slow down on a lot of the voluntary work that I do so that I can get back into stitching etc.
I  love the volunteer work that I do, but I really need some "me" time--time to stitch and create--time to stretch my wings again and see if I can still fly--so to speak.
Stephen and I have been going to the movies (once a fortnight) this year and have seen the movie "Quartet" which we both enjoyed and I loved Maggi Smith and Billy Connolly.
Next was "Gangster Squad"--good but a lot of load noise with guns etc.
Today we are off to see "The Guilt Trip" with Seth Rogen and Barbara Striesand.
We are slowly working down the list.
When we were on the cruise before Christmas we saw "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and we absolutely loved it.
Enough of this rambling on--I'm off to hang out some washing.

Storms in Canberra

Last night (Saturday 26th) we had the biggest storm that I can ever remember since we have lived here in the ACT

I had gone to pick up Ebony at around 5.30pm and as we were driving home we were confronted by a fierce electrical storm with lightning zapping down in forks all over the sky and then the rain started as well as the wind.
It was very scary to be out in it.
The rain was falling in sheets straight down-Ebony and I sat in the car under the carport for ages but eventually we had to make a run for it and ended up looking like two drowned rats.
There has been a lot of damage with trees being uprooted or split in half.
The creek near our place was flooded in a very short time.
When I went to Church this morning we discovered a lot of damage when the drain pipes and gutters couldn't cope with all the water causing it to overflow into the ceilings causing them to collapse and flood the carpets.
Our Op-Shop which is in part of the building also leaked causing damage to several racks of clothes.
We lost the power at about 6.30pm (hadn't had our dinner) but managed to rake up a good salad and we were able to find some candles which gave us some light as it got darker.
At around 11pm we heard the refridgerator click back on and we found everything that was connected to the powerpoints was working (fridge-freezer-oven-microwave-bedside lamps-TV) but we didn't have any lights.
We went to bed by torch light and I got up at around 4am to go to the loo (still in darkness.)
There I was sitting on the loo minding my own business when suddenly all the light came on---it scared the living daylights out of me.
Anyway we are all back to square one now but the weather gods tell us we are in for another one tonight.
I have enclosed a photo that was on the Canberra Times and the ABC websites which shows the rain dropping straight down from the clouds.
I think this was taken as the storm approached because as it hit the suburbs it became very dark.
You will notice the dry grass in the foreground caused by the lack of water.

Parts of Australia are experiencing bush fires-other parts are having cyclones and floods.
But it is still a great country to live in.

I'm still alive--just.

As most of you are aware we in Australia are having the summer from hell.
The eastern side of Australia is under seige from bushfires but we in Canberra are not in any danger so far.
It is hard to believe how much of our countryside has been ravaged by this fury that has taken over and the devestation that it has left behind.
In Tasmania (my home state where I was born) towns have been destroyed and my heart aches for them.
We in Canberra woke up this morning to the smell of bushfires and smoke haze all over the place and I think we will be smelling it for a while yet.
ALTHOUGH ---we are having some light rain tonight which has cooled thing down a lot-we are now only 14 degrees Celsius)
We have had continual temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius up as high as 38 (almost 100 F) and the overnight temperature one night was 23 degrees Celsius.
How is one supposed to sleep in that heat.
We do manage because we have an airconditioner in the lounge room(on during the day) and ceiling fans in each bedroom(for the night time) but is is still hot.
But the people whom I really feel sorry for are the ones who live in Birdsville which is in outback Queensland---today they reached 49 degrees Celsius (120 F).
The manager of the Birdsville Hotel said it was 50 degrees under her verandar today- now that's what I call hot.
I read somewhere tonight that there were only 120 people who live in Birdville.
I reckon they deserve a medal.
The town is famous for the "Birdsville Races"---"The Birdsville Hotel"--and "The Birdsville Track"--
If you click on the link it will take you to the races site--then click on the gallery and you will see something that is unbelieveable---no tuxedoes and top hats for these folks.
OK so that is all I have to tell you because I have not done any stitching--well it really is hard to stitch when you are stretched out on your back on the bed with the cieling fan circling above you trying to stay cool.
I'll be back soon--sometime-hopefully.
------------------------
Hmm-- I was going to digitally sign my name as I usually do but Blogger has decided not to let me so I will just type it in--I'll show him he can't mess with me.
Doreen

Happy New Year

Well here we are at the end of another year-one that I would rather forget to be honest with you.
What with my mojo going awol and a few health problems that have surfaced I just want to start anew and hopefully turn things around.
I am hoping to finish off a lot of my UFO's in 2013(I say that every year) but I really do mean it this time.
So until I finish some of them off I am not going to buy anything new (you've heard that one before haven't you).
I haven't counted just how many UFO's I have but I would think it is over 12--I will let you know when I have checked them later on today.
No this is not a new years resolution-this is common sense taking over.
Anyway I want to wish everyone a happy new year and I hope that you achieve all that you set out to do in 2013.

Merry Christmas

 I won't be posting again before Christmas so I would  like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who drops by a wonderful Christmas and I hope that all your wishes come true and that the true spirit of Christmas surrounds you all.
I will be back soon.

Craft Group Christmas Party

Most people get to sit on Santa's knee but I had Santa sit on mine--lucky me.
Last Wednesday we had our Christmas party at the craft group that I run at our church.
I asked Stephen if he would like to play Santa and hand out the gifts seeing as he has a Santa suit that belongs to the church.
After we had eaten our meal I phoned him to come down and surprise the ladies and they were absolutely thrilled to see him.
Everyone knew who it was but he just played along and sang carols to them and  handed out the small gifts that I had wrapped up for them.
.

Everyone had a great time and now we will be having a break until late January.

God's Talking

When I was a little girl my mother gave me a Bible that had a lot of pictures in it-and there were a lot of pictures that had the suns rays shining through the trees in the forest and clouds in the sky.
These pictures usually had words underneath them that started with "And God said"--------
As a child whenever I saw the suns rays breaking through the trees and clouds I would always say "God's Talking".
And I still do even now.
In fact many of my friends now say it because they have heard me say it.
While we were on our cruise I woke up early one morning and went out onto the balcony  and lo and behold God was talking-telling me it was going to be a glorious day.
What a way to start a day.

Napier --New Zealand

When we were on our cruise we stopped off at Napier which was destroyed in 1931 by a massive earthquake that leveled the city to the ground killing 162 people.
The city was rebuilt in 2 years and was built in the Art Deco style.
It is a beautiful city and the surrounding suburban areas are lovely and very clean.
If you want to read more about follow this link.
We went on a bus tour around the city and we had a very informative tour guide from the Art Deco Trust who really knew her job.
 On the way around the city I took some photos of some of the buildings-not because they were of any great interest-but mainly because I have a feature on my camera that will take the photo in what looks like a pencil drawing.

                                     -----------------------------------------------------------

                              --------------------------------------------------------------------

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

                         ------------------------------------------------------------------------
We also went to the old Napier Jail which was interesting to say the least--and again the tour guide knew her stuff.
Here is Stephen posing at several points around the jail.
Why they would need a detox centre is a bit amusing.

He has been going to the gym for the last 3 months but he doesn't do this sort of stuff there.

When we went to dinner that night we went to the Steakhouse.
Here is our lovely waiter posing with the pepper shaker over Stephens soup which was served in a Bread bowl that had a lid made from bread on it.

 And me ----I had finished my entree when Stephen took my photo

Akaroa New Zealand

On this trip around New Zealand we stopped at the port of Akaroa which is the port that has been replaced for Christchurch.
Since Christchurch had all their troubles with earthquakes the cruise ships now stop in the bay outside Akaroa and passengers are transported to shore by tender (small boats).
While this has been detrimental to Christchurch the small township of Akaroa is thriving on the tourist dollar.
We took a tour to a farm up in the hills which had amazing views and a history that was truly enthralling.
We were shuttled up in a couple of mini vans by people who were from surrounding properties and they told us about the land make-up and history of the area on the way.
The gentleman who owned the property and his wife (Murray and Sue) were the consummate hosts and Murray told us of the family history right back to his great great grandfather who was the first to settle on the land in his family.
We learned of the good times and the bad times and how they have survived to the point that not only Murray and Sue live on the property but their son and his family are there as well.
That makes seven generations in total.

                                              Murray and Sue in front of their house and garden

We saw a sheep shearing demonstration and it just so happened that one of our group had been a sheep shearer before when he had a property of his own(he was 77) so he gave us a demonstration.
It sure looked like hard work.

Then we went outside and were shown how the sheep dogs did their work and boy do they do their stuff well.
Murray gave his dog  a short quiet message and off he went like a rocket-down in the gully-up a very steep hill and rounded up the sheep and brought them back to where we were.
Truly amazing (well to me it was anyway)

We were then invited down to the house for morning tea.

                                          Isn't this a beautiful photo (I can see it as an embroidery

Scones with jam and cream--yummo.
That's Stephen's boof head in the top left hand corner.

I think this little shed was part of one of the earlier buildings--it now houses doves (I think that is what they were).

Thank you Murray and Sue for a most memorable morning that we will always remember with much fondness.

Our Lounge Room is all Decked Out

Princess Anorexia has been decked out in all her finest again.
This year it is purple and gold-my favourite colour scheme.
I haven't put any lights on the tree this year because last year we forgot to turn them on each night.
Unlike you people on the other side of the world from us it doesn't get dark here until around 9.30pm because we are in our summer and it is also daylight savings as well.

 So I thought I would just save myself the bother of taking them down after Christmas.

 Underneath the tree is our Nativity Scene-----------

I also thought that I would show you my collection of angels-some I have made the other were bought.
The white ceramic ones-----

The wire and silver ones

The two fluffy ones were a kit from the dollar shop about 7 years ago and the one in the middle was a gift from my daughter along time ago.

The one on the left was purchased in The Hague when my daughter was working there about 8 years ago.
I purchased the middle one at a craft market about 10 years ago and the green one is made from sequin waste and I got it around the same time.

And this trio were made by me probably 12-14 years ago.

They all surface every year and sit or hang around the lounge room.
I do have more but I didn't want to bore you to death.
So that's it for now------------