A lovely couple of days.......

I hope everyone enjoyed a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas as we did here at our home.
Our day started with yummy freshly baked croissants for breakfast, followed by opening of our family gifts.

Morning tea followed with delicious fruit cake, almond butter balls and almond and white chocolate shortbread.

Lunch with one side of the family and dinner with my Dad and Mum completed a lovely Christmas Day.
Today is another public holiday here in Australia - Boxing Day. We've been relaxing at home today and it was thoroughly enjoyable!
It's been a rainy and quite cool day today, perfect for stitching the binding on my quilt. I've been hoping to get to it now for quite a few weeks, but with all that's been going on I haven't had a hope or when I did have a few minutes it was too hot to be manouvering a quilt to try and stay out from under it. But today it was lovely!
My feet were even cool enough to try out my new little sockets!!

Isabella and Hamish........

Where do I begin to share with you the thoughts and emotions that engulfed my being today.

I grew up in a farming community and worked in the small town within that community until the birth of my first child. BJ and I have had our business in that same town for the past 14 years. If you have lived for a long time in a small country town you will somehow understand my writing tonight and if you haven't I hope that you will come to understand a little more.

This morning the news on the radio reported that two young children, a little boy of eight and his seven year old sister had been missing overnight. At first I didn't realise the impact this would have on the rest of the day.

They had been out walking late in the afternoon with their Mummy, had gone ahead of her on a quad bike and when she caught up, they were nowhere to be seen. The police searched most of the night and then resumed this morning. Their little bodies were pulled from the dam on the family farm this morning.

Our little town is in shock and the sadness on the faces of the people today was enough to say what we all were feeling. People were going about their business as usual, but there was a sad quietness, there seemed to be quiet all around and not much chatter going on.

I have known this family the whole of my life and although not close friends, we went to school with them and have known and respected all of the family all of my life.

This comes at the end of a year that has held so much tragedy for a small community, that one can hardly believe that we are once again trying to make sense of just another happening. We have mourned the death of a young women to cancer, the senseless murder of a young man by his brother, accidental deaths and sudden death of two teenage young people connected to our town. All this within a population of just 4000 people.

I just ask that you pray with me tonight for this family, for the parents, older brother and sister, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and their little friends. May they know the peace and comfort that only Jesus can bring to them in this time of grief and sadness.

The Christmas Cake......

Well, I feel as though I am at least another step closer to Christmas Day. This morning I have baked our Christmas Cake and boy does it smell good.
The process always starts the night before when I soak the fruit and nuts. I don't use alcohol, only orange juice. I really hate the bitter taste alcohol seems to give rich fruit cakes. I also prepared the tin with all the layers of brown paper, foil and greaseproof paper.
This morning I gathered the rest of the ingredients together, beat the cake mixture together and then added the yummy fruit. Into the oven and three hours later - delicious.

While the cake was baking BJ and I had time to clean the deck and all the outdoor furniture ready for my family Christmas together this coming Friday night.

Now I just have to be patient and wait. I think I had better get another made too. It's always nice to take a cake to the beach after Christmas. I am starting to dream about sitting on the balcony and enjoying the view, and of course some more cake!!!

Thank you........

I know, second post in one day. But I just had to!!

The postman just arrived and look what he brought for me today.

My set of patterns from Rosie and Melly. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The patterns look beautiful and look at the gorgeous little card that was enclosed. What a lovely parcel to receive today.

Enjoying December.....

We are well into the swing of the Christmas holidays here. Alexandra has had a lovely visit to the farm and enjoyed making Christmas bon bons with Grandma. The boys had a great weekend at the beach on their youth camp and BJ & I had the most enjoyable weekend at home- CHILD FREE!!!! We actually watched two movies, gardened, went out for a lovely lunch, had Chinese takeaway and did some Christmas shopping!! Boy did we enjoy it! Oh, and of course I cleaned and cleaned and tidied the house from front to back.

Everyone is home again today. The little ones have cooked and now the boys have gone for a walk to meet a friend. Hopefully the holidays will be a long and happy summer break for them. It seems that the 29th January is forever away, but I am sure that it will slip by all too quickly.

I plan to hopefully enjoy these holidays with the children. With Cameron already graduated, I realise how quickly time is just passing us by.

We have had another lot of beautiful rain, even though it is still so patchy. We are still all hoping that a huge amount of water will soon fill the dams to full and overflowing.

So with the rain, the garden is looking fresh and beautiful.

My first Hollyhocks......

Roses Blooming......

The vege patch looking promising.......

Herbs too......

A new Crabapple tree........

Last week Mitchell had made a delicious batch of white chocolate biscuits and I had decided to mix up a quick batch of blueberry muffins - afternoon tea was all planned. Then disaster struck - just as the last of the biscuits came out of the oven, it stopped. To start with I thought it was just the fan part, but after my delicious muffins sitting in the oven for forty minutes and looking very much a disastrous cooking adventure, I conceded that yes, the oven had died.

Now, this oven only being eighteen months old, I was one very cranky cook indeed. So, to cut a long story short - the oven is now fixed (well usable) until a part arrives. Given that Christmas is upon us and all those types of places somehow just shut down for weeks, I hope that it holds up and that I can get on with some baking.

I am so looking forward to making a delicious rich fruit cake to enjoy with many cups of tea.

Gardening and fruit cake with tea - two of my favourite things!!

Gremlins in the system?

Not sure what happened here - a mystery post. Hopefully a post tomorrow!

Christmas........

I just wanted to show you today the few bits and pieces that I have been putting together for Christmas at our home.

I have really enjoyed pulling out the boxes from the garage and finding all the little bits and pieces I have collected over the years.

I also love getting out the special things that I have made for Christmas too. It feels so long since I have made anything, especially anything special for Christmas - maybe next year.

The main big Christmas tree is mostly purple and very sparkly this year. I think I have put five sets of lights on it. So it certainly lights up at night!! I have a small blue and silver tree in the lounge and also a mid size tree in the entry decorated in red with an angel that I made a few years ago.

December Already

It is so hard to believe it is December already. The year has whirled past again. We have lived in this house for 18 months already, my how time flys when you are having fun!!!

I have started decorating for Christmas and still have a few things I would like to do. I will take some photos when I have it finished.

The garden is looking quite lovely at the moment. The roses have had another flush of growth and flowers and the vege patch is looking great. Of course the weeds are enjoying it too. Alexandra and I shared our first little snowpea this morning - it was delicious. The rain last week freshened everything up and made such a difference again.

The ballet concert was absolutely beautiful once again. The costuming and the presentation of the children was an absolute credit to the studio. Our little princess was still whirling when we got home. Today was quite a different story, I think it has all finally caught up with her.

We went to the local Christmas Carols in the city park tonight - it was really lovely to sing along with the songs. The boys were in the choir for the night and really enjoyed the experience - very up close and personal - whereas we were way up the back and saw some glimpses up on the big screen.

I am really looking forward to preparing for Christmas, just have to get organised this week and hopefully really get into the Christmas Spirit after that.

So Excited

Just a quick hello in amongst the madness of this very busy weekend. Our week ended with sitting through three separate Speech Day/Night sessions. At this very moment my sweet Alexandra is on stage performing in her ballet presentation of Snow White. We are going to see her tonight. I am so looking forward to next week when all the end of year things are over - just have to concentrate on our business then.

Last week I put my name into the draw for Rosies new set of patterns for her beautiful new quilt. My dear friend Barb sent me a little message this morning to ask if I had checked out the newest post over at Melly and Me.

Well I clicked over there as fast as my little fingers would take me and guess what! I am the very, very, very lucky winner of the patterns.

I am sooooooo excited - my first blog win, PLUS it's from Rosie - YAY. What a wonderful end to a very "bumpy" week!!!! Thank you Rosie and Melly for your kindness and generosity with your giveaways - I feel truly blessed.

Thankful......

Thankful tonight for my boy being home again safe and sound having had a wonderful trip away.

Thankful for the beautiful rain that fell during the last day and also for my parents farm also receiving rain.

Thankful for a great day with my family enjoying the shops in Brisbane!

Thankful for the end of another school year - busy as it has been and still is. Thankful that the children have made it through again!!

Thankful that a business deal is going ahead and that our life will hopefully take a slower pace next year.

Thankful to God for the many Blessings he bestows on us daily.

Just a quick hello.......

A quick hello tonight while the beautiful rain falls on my tin roof. I must get to bed quickly so I can listen to it - I just love falling asleep with the rain falling gently.

I have been without my camera all week as my big boy took it with him on his adventure to the islands!!

I thought you might enjoy this beautiful rosebud from Tosari Park last weekend. I am so glad I went with my dear friend and enjoyed the garden together. In amongst my busyness this week it has been quite refreshing to think about that lovely place and how I might utilise some of what I saw in our own garden - I just hope it all grows quickly so I at least don't have to keep looking into the next door yard!!

The year is quickly coming to an end particularly for school - only one week to go. So much to do. I really hope to start putting up some Christmas decorations up on Sunday. It will be our first free day with nowhere to be. For the past fifteen days, our calendar has been full, then for about the next ten days after that it is much more of the same, and then I hope we are free!!

Off to bed now to listen to the rain.........

One Down....... Two to Go!!

Well, what a week we have had here. We have made it through Graduation Week of our eldest child. So many places to be at in the last five days, I am totally exhausted. Cameron had a great week and it ended with a lovely Graduation ceremony on Friday morning followed by his formal evening. We are so blessed to call this young man our son. We drove him to the Brisbane airport today for him to travel with Scripture Union on a totally drug and alcohol free week to the beautiful Whitsundays.

The "ride" was just perfect for his outfit. My brother fully restored this vehicle for a man he was working for and it was kindly loaned to us for the afternoon. Cameron had a great time cruising around the streets with his Uncle.

In amongst all the busyness of the weekend I squeezed in a visit to the most beautiful Tosari Park which was open for the weekend as part of the Open Garden program. It is the most lovely place to wander around in - so huge.

Well, one down, two to go. Another in four years and then seven years to go for the baby of the family - boy will I be old and worn out by then!!!!

Open Garden Visit

What a lovely afternoon we had this afternoon when we went to visit our friends the owners of Jakob's Lodge garden which was open this weekend as part of the Open Garden Scheme.

It is a lovely garden and beautifully set out to wander through and enjoy the lovely plantings and shady spots . This garden was started during 1997, so is an absolute credit to the owners with it being only 10 years old.

I am so very glad to have taken the time out of a busy weekend to enjoy the beauty of this lovely garden.

Cath Kidston....... in Toowoomba!!

I was making a mad dash through Target last week and something caught my eye. Could it possibly be something Cath Kidston that I had just seen. About face..... I couldn't believe it and it was even new product from her latest catalogue.

At first I thought it was a take off of her name and product and wonder how on earth that would have happened, but sure enough it was for real!!!

Anyway, I was excited, Cath Kidston all round for all the lady teachers in our life!!!!!

Costumes.........

Need I say more. Any mother who starts their child in dancing must have rocks in their head. It's costumes here this week. Why do I get into this each year?

Rehearsals for the production of Snow White are rolling along and is only three weeks away. Thankfully Alexandra only does Ballet and Tap Dancing. I thought we had "easy" things to make this year - but boy was I wrong. The set of tales above is for tap dancing and what a nightmare they were. There is enough fabric left over, so given the fit and the disaster they were I think I will make them again!!!! The fairy costume was quite easy to do and thankfully is almost finished.

There are something like 700 costumes in the show this year. Glad I only made two!!!

A little progress........

The end of the year is going so quickly. Extra dance rehearsals, choir performances, end of year school functions, dance costume sewing, Christmas!!

Cameron only has 2 weeks and 2 days of school left - oh how old do I feel!!! It will be so good to have it all over and done with. We have his formal clothing all organised and just finalising his "sweet ride" as he puts it. Here, where we live, part of the very "important" parts of arriving to your school formal is the vehicle!!! Oh to be seventeen again!!

The costume sewing is going slowly, mostly because I couldn't find anything to wear to the formal so ended up with fabric and a pattern and my dear Mum came to the rescue.

Just one day at a time here I'm afraid.

The vege garden is slowly taking shape. We went and picked up one load of soil and have planted a few little things - corn, spinach, lettuce and a tomato. Better than nothing I guess. We have had some more rain, so the garden looks lovely and fresh again. I just rang to get 2 1/2 metres of soil delivered, it would take 3 or 4 trips back and forth with the trailer, so this way I just have to shovel!!! Joy !!!

I called into one of my favourite little shops hunting for treasure and found two lovely glass sandwich plates and a lovely little bowl and this dear little piece of embroidery all for $4.25. Bargain!!!

If you've been visiting here for awhile you might remember my lovely stitching day out in September. I started one of the projects that Rosalie Quinlan designed and had fun learning Needlepunch. I finished the needle punch part of it while we were away on our little holiday. I finally finished my cute little bag. I think it turned out quite well. I think I will try to make the little needlecase that goes with it.

I had better leave it there today and get on with some work in the office - hopefully it will be a little easier on my eyes now - gathered courage last week and had my eyes tested - you can guess the rest!!!! Old age I tell you!!!!

Memories........

I have been so blessed to have my dear old Grandma and Nana for so much of my life. I was also blessed to have a dear, dear Great Grandma for the first eight or so years of my life.

Daisy Elizabeth Whittle Whitehead (nee Cocks).

Granny was the mother of my dear Nana, Eleanor. She was the sweetest old lady and lived until she was around ninety three years old. She used to spend her time living between the homes of her three daughters, so for a third of each year she lived across the road from our home. I can remember being so excited when Granny came back to Nana's. She would sometimes bring us a little gift and I can remember getting a little box of lovely hankerchiefs once. I took one out and started to use it, but I must have decided I wanted it back in that lovely little box, because they are all still in there today!!

Granny always had a little bottle of sweets too! Usually pink musks - my favourite still today.

But, my favourite memory and one of my most treasured posessions is my Crochet blanket. Beautiful pure wool, in gorgeous colours. I have had it for as long as I remember. It was always folded neatly in a triangle on the end of my bed all of my growing up years. It now is in my sewing room on the day bed and in the cooler months, if I have time to spend , I snuggle under it and remember my dear Granny.

Cupcakes Anyone........

Just another little bit of photo fun this morning. I love my tiered cupcake stand and thought I would have a little bit of flower fun with it today. I bought the little cupcake containers and instead of baking in them I gathered some little flowers from the garden and filled them up.

I guess I had better get into the rest of my day now , of course with the change of season the childrens' clothing all needs attending to so while I have a free few spare minutes I had better get to it.

I hope you enjoyed the cupcakes.........