Stiching Completd on February MOSC.

 I completed the cross-stitching for this month's ornament challenge, last night. This morning I couldn't find it anywhere. After searching the washing load, the bins, pulling furniture out and lifting cushions, I was a tad stressed. Thinking about it after a few hours of frustration, I wondered if I had taken it into my sewing room to check on suitable Christmas themed fabric,  for the finishing. Yes. It was there, thankfully. Stitching another lacks the original appeal unless of course, one plans to do several the same from the outset. Here is the photo. It is stitched with DMC Varigations on cream linen. Now to finish into an ornament. Enjoy, K

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Finally a Photo of January Monthly Ornament.

 I remembered to take the photo today, of the January MOSC i.e. Monthly Ornament Smalls Challenge.

So here it is,  a patchwork effort for a Santa, I did make one of these ornaments once before, as a gift, in 2016 for a fellow stitcher, in one of my Stitching groups. The recipient was thrilled, so way back then I did promise myself one, for me. It has taken a wee while to have one of my own, all ready for next Christmas.  Enjoy.

February Update.

 I've managed to keep on track with my expectations for both January and February, although I haven't kept up with photographing all items. Below is my progress for the February, Monthly Ornament Smalls Challenge as at February 17th.  I still have a few days to get it completed, I just haven't been able to comfortably settle to stitch over the last few weeks. Hopefully, it will all resolve itself this week.

 We have been promised more rain over the last few weeks, although not a drop eventuated, until Thursday this week. Yesterday and overnight the heavens opened and it fell all day, today. The garden looks refreshed, lush and delighted, not quite so clear through the insect screens, however too wet to venture out to photograph.

Better luck tomorrow in between showers, perhaps.

Late this afternoon, my Very Dear Husband went out nearby on an errand. Along the way, a Koala was sitting in the middle of the roadway and it appeared to be confused.  He stopped the car and picked the little one up from the roadway, walked it over to the forest, with close by Eucalypts.  The Koala was content to be collected in his strong arms and when released, away from the road, ventured up a large gumtree. DH said the Koala appeared to be distressed, with two bite marks on its'  back. Maybe it had been attacked by a dog. Unfortunately, he could not place it in his vehicle as he had

nothing to restrain the Koala. They are such sweet little creatures, I love how they scamper up the correct tree trunks, when up far enough to feel safe, they stop and look back at you, before moving further up the tree. We are certainly blessed to live where many of these engaging animals dwell. Enjoy.

Happy Australia Day.

 We were up and away early today for Australia Day celebrations with company.

 We celebrated Australia Day by the beach with the surf behaving well on this special day. So many folk were at the beach and many people were at beaches along the way as we drove down the coast. At Lake Cathie, there were few parks left at 7am. On our return, four hours later, the parking was all along the roadside, beyond the designated car park. The beaches were packed, within restrictions and many families were enjoying playing in the shallow water between the surf and the bridge.

We returned to the beachfront cafe, we visited last Thursday for afternoon tea. We enjoyed Champagne and a delicious breakfast overlooking a calmer scene. However, this morning, the temperature rose to 34C. Even though it was very hot, we had a wonderful, cooling, sea breeze, blowing in over our very long tables. The restaurant was decorated appropriately with light blue balloons, featuring our beautiful flag, small toothpick flags, small flags in the table foliage pots and Australian decorated plates and napkins.

Today, the restaurant was closed for our private function with 51 of us commemorating and enjoying our National Day.

Afternoon Tea at the Beach.

 On Thursday after Quilting group, we drove down the coast a wee way to check out the location for our Australia Day Breakfast gathering. The restaurant had recently changed names and we were not sure of the exact address, not that we had been to visit under the previous name. It is an early start tomorrow, so now we can go there directly.

It looks like any beach however, there were marine warnings issued for large swells, for all of last week.

This is how it changed very quickly, as a new set arrived. The waves were breaking from well out to sea, to the edge of the car park road, at the shoreline. We haven't visited this area before, although on calm days, one can see the beach from the roadway south, from here right up to Lighthouse Beach, several miles to the north.

Just white froth all the way for this very long beach, approximately 8-10 Klms from Tacking Point Lighthouse. 

We sat on the balcony overlooking the seashore view, with a delightful afternoon tea of carrot cake and white chocolate pecan tart. K.

Two Birthday Gifts.

 Two stitching friends celebrated their birthdays in January.

They are members of my Quilting group and have been supportive friends during my time as a member. On the day I joined our group, one of these friends was also a new member. I have relished her quick,  dry wit, on quilting days, ever since. Amazingly it is very similar to my very dear husband's sense of humour, which I am blessed with, several times a day.

           Both friends were thrilled with their gifts.  Making such items gives me great joy, with a few more of these items to make as the year progresses. 

Welcome 2021, A New Year Beginning.

  

We ushered the New Year in with relish. A different celebratory meal from last week, although we did have the delicious pudding for sweets, for the second time. The pudding turned as superbly as the very first one. Extremely scrumptious and moist. It was served with Brandy Sauce and fresh pouring cream.

It is almost time to dismantle all the decorations, it makes the house look really bare for a day or so., then it all seems normal once more, till Christmas this year.

We are looking forward to a year ahead of much promise and joy. It has been rather wet so far and it is only the third of January. Our garden is loving all the rain and the plants are dancing.

I'm stitching Initials for birthday gifts for friends, two are needed by the end of this week. Then back to another piece half finished. A photo of the first two, later this week and the third, after it is received. I have been contemplating returning to a larger Sampler,  Long Dog's "Virtue," started mid last year. I lost interest because the pattern was so very difficult to read. Trust I'll be able to decipher the symbols when I pick it up next time, here's hoping. Until next time, enjoy.

                                                     Celebrating Christmas 2020.

In spite of the year we have had, our restrictions allowed us to have guests in our home so we made the most of that situation. We welcomed friends to celebrate Christmas lunch, enjoying their company, the festive food, along with much chatter, lots of laughter and beautiful gifts. I love Christmas time with all it denotes, the decorations, music and special food. It is usually hot in the southern hemisphere, thankfully we were very comfortable in air conditioning.  I also chose to limit hot food preparation apart from the Christmas pudding, steaming away for most of 4 hours from early morning and roasting turkey.. Considering it was the first Christmas pudding I have every made, it turned out superbly. So much so that I have another prepared, for our New Year's Eve celebratory dinner.  My Mother used to make me one every year, then my MIL and then SIL.  In subsequent years I made deserts that were delightful, looked spectacular for this special occasion, along with being more suitable to our hot climate

                                                 

                        A Prawn and Avacado salad above , a Beetroot and Citrus salad below.

 

                                 A mixed Tomato and Dill salad, below followed by Ham and Turkey. 

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Before Christmas I made several gifts for friends and family, those below I remembered to photograph.

I made 16 of these , which are phone rests and decorated the gift bags with Christmas themed fabric.

Soon it will be time to dismantle the Christmas tree, the lights and all the decorations. However, for me, not until after New Year and twelfth night.

I hope you have enjoyed reading a little about our Christmas Day lunch. With 2021 only a week

away,  I hope this coming New Year for us all,  will bring wonders and joyful times, once again to our lives.

Current Book Reading.

 I'm really enjoying this tale,  well researched and definitely captivating. I can't wait to read more from this author, who is an Australian. K.

TODAY'S ENCOUNTER.

 Wee turned out of our avenue today to find a line of traffic in both directions, We live in a very quiet area near a forest corridor along with a beautiful lagoon, sporting many blue water lilies, so we were somewhat baffled at a traffic holdup. My Dear Husband said there appeared to be a cat waddling across the road and everyone was waiting, so as not to startle the animal. We could see some small movement at the pedestrian crossing, of all places. As the small bundle of fur came closer toward our position, it was obviously not a cat. There,  walking, no waddling towards us, was a Mother Koala with baby on board her back.  How wonderful to see so many folk stopped to allow her and her babe, safe passage across the road and further up the rise of the road.

DH quickly parked our car into the verge, grabbed his camera and followed the Mother and babe up the rise. There were several trees, gums and others, along the opposite verge area.  My DH talked to the Mother very calmly, she allowed him to pat her, gently reassuringly guiding her away from the traffic on the road, before leaving. She paused after she climbed the correct variety  of Gum tree to watch him walk away. When he turned to see if she was content in the tree, she stopped to look him in the eye, so he took another photo of her and her precious cargo.   After watching the process of her and her babe along the road, what a thrill for me to see the photos. It was certainly very uplifting,  especially after this time last year, with so many of these amazing animals lost to the raging bush fires along Australia's east coast regions.

 A pause with eye contact, before she headed up the Gum tree to safety.

Well done Mum! Of all the different gums  in the area, she knew exactly which one was the correct one to choose.

An Evening at the Beach.

  It was a hot afternoon, when we met up with a group at the beach, for a picnic-barbecue.

When we arrived, we parked looking out to sea while waiting for other members of the group to arrive. While we watched,  there appeared much splashing and spraying  a wee way out in the deeper water. Sure enough, there were frolicking whales, probably on their way back down south. My camera shots were n't fast enough to capture any great photos, however it was fun to watch.      

About an hour later  my DH noticed smoke from the dashboard of  recently parked car. A young Mother was frantically trying to remove her children, belongings  and baby equipment.  Several folk ran to help, within less than a couple of minutes or so,  the car became a major fire

Many folk, ran to remove their vehicles which were parked nearby, ours included. There was an onshore wind so the black acrid smoke was billowing across the picnic area and up the face of the coastal  foliage  cliff to the  coastal road. Our car windows were covered in black soot when it was time to drive home. Such a small vehicle, burnt for a very long period of time. It was sporting an aero dynamic roof compartment when the car arrived. It just melted completely. there were many small explosions, probably airbags or electrical components. Several of us were watching from behind a massive trunk of a Norfolk Pine, using it as protection as we anticipated an explosion from the petrol tank. Thankfully, that did not occur. 

The fire brigade arrived about 15 minutes later, to extinguish the blaze that was still burning furiously. We also noticed the police, interviewing the young mother, at the other end of the picnic ground. The fire brigade said it appeared to have started from the air conditioning vent.

However, we did enjoy delightful company and delicious food  after such an alarming incident. We washed the windscreen of our car so we could see out and drive home safely.

K.

Ten Months of 2020

 It has taken many months to deliver this post. Shall we call it 2020 and remember how life has changed with all that has come with this year. Thankfully, we  have been very well throughout the preceding ten months, as always, even before. Our area has had very few problems, only those in the early stage as folk returned from a particular cruise. Our lockdown was very reasonable with most  doing social distancing, obeying the rules and wearing masks. We have plenty of sunshine and fresh air, for which, one is very grateful, with no resemblance to the air quality of this time last year.  We ventured out only for walking and food shopping, Being at home is never a problem. We are always creatively inclined, so have plenty on our "to do" lists. Life seems to be back to some normality, for many of us, living in this region. However in other parts of our wonderful country, life has been very cruel in many ways.  One can only feel sadness, for those who have lost family members and loved ones. It is concerning to think of the many folk who are no longer employed, who are homeless,  alone, or destitute because of the restrictions that have been enforced.

I hope these photos can lift your spirits.

  Other photos of completed stitched items in the next post,  for now, just a few photos of small stitching necessities that have been collected over the years.

Some of these have been hand made over time, others purchased, along with gifts and those handed down from family or friends. My collection keeps growing.  It is a constant source of joy and stitching inspiration.

Enjoy.

 

Overdue Post.

I didn't realize I hadn't posted since Christmas,  such a long time ago, well so it seems. I hope to rectify that over the next wee while.

Happy New Year, 2020..

It is hard to believe it is a week since we celebrated Christmas and today we celebrate a New Year and New Decade. In most instances time flies so fast, while other times it drags. Not too much of the dragging of late. Life has been so very busy, with fun and pleasurable experiences.  We were  invited to share the festivities with family and friends, however we declined this time because of the travelling,  opting to be at home.   

The celebratory season  in the southern  hemisphere, is summer time.  Warm days  and of course the end of the school year, so many folk enjoy a long holiday break.

I  love Christmas and this time of the year. One can usually feel the excitement in the air and for many,  it is normally contagious. This year has had a very different atmosphere.  Sadly our country continues to suffer further widespread, raging bush fires, loss of property,  also loss of lives. Both gallant fire fighters and some who have lost their lives, after choosing to stay, to try and protect their property.  No Joy for these folk, their loved ones,  their towns and communities. We were blessed with gentle rain on our way home on Christmas Eve, What a delight to see it caressing parched ground, gardens and lawns. It fell softly through the night with a very heavy downpour at 6am Christmas Day. Not a drop of rain since, with none forecast anytime soon. The drought continues.

We had a delicious Christmas Dinner of ham, roasted stuffed turkey breast,
roast pumpkin, potato, local fresh king prawn and mango salads and dressings.

 

Our climate does not bode well for traditional Christmas Pudding. This year  I chose to  make a cold treat for our Christmas fare.  

 

A White Chocolate Cheese cake with  raspberries and shards pf pistachio, and pepita 

praline.

                    Only 357 days till we celebrate this event once again. Let's hope our scorched and blackened land, will soon be rejuvenated with cool and refreshing rain, to enhance regrowth and greenery. I wish for you all a Happy New Year with many joyful blessings.

A Week Before Christmas and a Wee While Before.

Speaking of Christmas, how did it arrive so soon? I know I had a slow year accomplishing anything in needlework.  I was unable to concentrate on any stitching,  any counted cross stitch, or patchwork, without reverse stitching. By the end of September things had taken a turn for the better. It allowed me to  accomplished more than I thought, although not the major item I had in mind. It is what it is, onward from here.

 I managed to do some stitching for our quilt show 'Sale table"for next year. Tote bags, baby items Christmas decorations and such. There will be more to do before June next year, so I need to make progress with hand quilting on my king size quilt, before making more items to add to this project.

We established a rose garden earlier this year, in Springtime. The rose bushes are rewarding us with beautiful blooms, some of which are pictured below. The pink and white one, was a "ring in" in my order. I didn't much care for the look of it in the catalogue. I chose one listed near to it, the nursery folk must have decided it needed to come live at our home. In a bunch, in a Lalique bowl, it looks quite pretty.

We have had extreme and extensive bush fires around our country this year so far. Only 18 days into summer for us in the Southern Hemisphere, right now.  Our airport is located  in a peat area and a fire started there in late July. It has continued to burn, with flare ups,  still now.  There have been 55 days of smoke here, like the photo below, in the highly dangerous  category, equivalent to smoking a packet and a half of cigarettes a day. Thankfully we have been blessed with good lungs, hopefully they are not damaged


Years of unrelenting drought have taken our area to water restrictions at level 3, with the threat of moving, to level 4 early in the new year.  The view below is looking down the hill and across to the city, some 4-5klms away.

 

On November the 8th we had a very scary afternoon. the fires were only 3 klms from where we live. The smoke, combined with the red dust from the dry interior plains and the heat from the flames  caused such an arid atmosphere, leaves descended over all properties nearby. The leaves were black, although still very much intact.

Obviously all moisture from the stems had been evaporated, causing the trees to shed their foliage. The wind blew the leaves across the city, with green lawns covered with an odd looking black carpet.

  

These photos were taken at 2:30pm, from nearby, looking out to sea.  We needed the lights on indoors, the smoke and dust made everything very dark. Below are some of the leaves we collected from our front garden. They reeked of  burnt eucalyptus forests, even weeks later.

We have had a week clear of smoke. What a relief for us all to be able to breathe freely and not have stinging eyes.  Not so for those wonderful fire fighters, who have done their utmost to keep most of us from harm, although sadly, 750 homes and buildings have been lost so  far. We are very grateful for all their efforts and are indebted to their selfless service.


Once again I participated in the international Christmas Ornament Exchange

 I've done so for over 12 years.  Prior to this group was one, 5 years ago, when I started exchanging . Below is my Ornament for this year along with two gifts I included. Enjoy.