Happy Birthday... TROLL!

Yesterday, was L's birthday... And it was going to be a 'special' day. You see, last Thursday, I had a meeting with her specialist and it was arranged that she will be 'slotted in' where he can for a couple of investigations for recurrent miscarriages. Guess what, he got her in ON her birthday! What's more, she was first on the list and had to be there by 6.30am! But a call from the clinic the following day rescheduled it for today, Friday...
So how did we celebrate it??? Croissants and fresh brewed coffee in the morning with the delivery of her present, a Troll Bracelet.

Fish Lock

Birthday Troll

After a nice morning relaxing spa, we headed north for the morning taking BACK the bracelet, as it was a little long and I had fears of it falling off! The girls at M-Studio were fantastic and she swapped it over no worries. However, whilst we were in there, she Had to get another three beads now!!!
After all changes were made, we headed over to a new shop for some lunch, Fourth Village Providore (an Italian market/Café) in Mosman. This was FANTASTIC! We shared a pizza (Bufalo Cheese, Prosciutto, Basil and fresh Parmesan)! Dessert was a Chocolate Fig Tart with Mascarpone and chocolate sauce drizzled around the plate!!!! YUMM!
After lunch we headed home to finish getting the house ready for the family and friends gathering on Sunday, maybe. L has come up rather sore from the surgery, so it is on notice... It would be terrible if she could not get out of bed! The cake is ordered and I will be collecting it tomorrow morning... More on that over the weekend!

Man, have we been busy!!!

This is a bit of a 'catch-up', so apologies in advance!
Firstly, in news other than homely stuff, 'L' had another cycle, however, this time, it was a negative. Friday, she is going off to have some investigative surgery to have a look at the insides... More on that in another post!
So, what have we been doing? A lot! Tiling the back (and front) verandahs...
Before:

Side

Back

Back Wide

During...

Side During

Back During

Side Finished

Back Finished II

And finished & cleaned off...

Back Cleaned

Also, the second bedroom was still in the colours that were in it when we bought the house 3 1/2 years ago, so a change was in order...

2nd Bedroom

Clearly, the previous owner's little girl had influenced the colour choice...

2nd Bedroom Door

And, as tomorrow is 'L's' birthday and a party will be had on Sunday, we are doing a spot of cleaning!!!

Rug Cleaning

I promise, I will post a photo of the present I have got her tomorrow afternoon!!!

Softies...

These last few months have been somewhat, "crafty research" shall we say, and what's more, I am off to Canberra tomorrow bright and early in the aide of more ... research!
You see, it is the Canberra's Handmade Market, so we are making the 300klm trip to go and see if it is any good. I sure hope so!
Below is a little bit of what I have bought, what I have read or reading and what I have to make.
Of the books, the "Little Cat and the Big Red Bus" has some great illustrations, and both of the "Softies" books offer some real inspiration.
With a quilt to make and two dolls to do as well, I suspect that I am going to be more than a little busy, lets hope that I do not find to much tomorrow!

Softies

1. Needs a name, 2. Softie School Photo, 3. Grok, 4. Neville, 5. Little Stiches, 6. Books, 7. Stiched Book double spread, 8. Little cat & the big red bus, 9. Cat, 10. Cat on bus, 11. Red Bus Home, 12. Cat & Dog, 13. Doll kits, 14. 3 eyed fish, 15. Red Bus, 16. Quilt.

Oh what a ... day!

On Monday, we had an interesting morning...

We had to get to the clinic early on Monday for another transfer. This was to be our4th transfer since collecting the follicles a short time ago... So we left early as we had to drive in the morning peak. Trouble was, somebody forgot to tell the rest of the city, that they should also be driving and we got to our destination an HOUR early!

So, nearby, there is a hotel with a coffee shop attached so we parked the car and went there. I was no sooner inside, and thought I recognised some girls sitting there having their breakfast. And it wasn't long before I realised who they were... They were the girls from 'Make me a Supermodel' and here they were, stuffing their faces, being demanding for coffee in a take away cup and generally being a right royal "prima-donnas"!

Then it was time to go to the clinic for the transfer, which went as expected and I will not bore you with the details, and we headed home for a rest. There were a few 'sharp pains' in the lower abdo, and all, but all was going well. We then had to drive into the City, as L had to have an appoint to go to followed by a follow-up/debrief from the Pilot Program that the IVF Clinic had done. This was a weight loss program, that re-educated you on how your body works with food. Eating every three hours, a strict calorie total for the day and a 45 min walk at least 3 times a week. The program leader was sending tips on things to do as well through the 6 week program. All up, L had lost nearly 7kg, drop three sizes in her jeans and is enjoying her walks! All we have to do is get a positive that sticks!

That's all for now, but will keep you updated as we go... We are going to the Canberra Craft Markets this weekend, so lots of crafty goodness will be there!

Colourful time here in Sydney...

I simply love this time of year...

The days are getting longer, and warmer with a top of 35 C expected here today... There is also the colours of spring/summer happening everywhere. From some spots in Sydney, you look over the city and you can see the purples of the Jacaranda's, reds of the Brachychitons and the yellows of the Grevillias.

This morning, on my way into work, there must have been some back burning of the National Parks as there was a very distinct smell around and a smokey haze as well. Of, the summer is not far away now... Apparently, we have a very high to extreme fire risk with a lot of the National Parks have a large amount of leaf litter within the understorey of the bushland. Lets hope that it does not get away like it did back in 2003.

So here are a few of those lovely trees I mentioned. The Jacaranda mimosafolia:

Jacaranda

And the Brachyciton acerifolia:

Brachychiton

The garden is beginning look quite good at the moment, and the vege patch is especially so. I planted a few tomatoes and they are nearly 6 foot tall already! The Truss variety is doing the best, and has a few branch's of tomatoes on them already, so hopefully we will be having home grown tommies!

Farewell Pa; Gone but not forgotten

Pa's Memorial Booklet cover

Yesterday, we had Pa's funeral, and above is a photo of him from (I think) not to long ago... This photo just happened to be facing Nan, and some of his favourite things, were all placed on his coffin in the church (his hat, rosary beads, a diary (he had a diary in his pocket at ALL times!) and of course, some scratchies... no winners here either! The following poem was read out:

The Smile:

By Michael Leunig

I shot a smile into the air
It came to earth, I know not where
Perhaps on someone else's face
In some forgotten quiet place.

Perhaps somewhere a sleeping child
Has had a happy dream and smiled
Or some old soul about to die
Who smiled and made a little sigh.

Has sighed a simple final prayer
Which lifts up gently in the air
And flows into the world so wild
Perhaps to wake the sleeping child.

A much younger Pa

Vale Pa, 94 years young...

Over the last year, we have been lucky enough to have Pa for that time. You see, whilst at 93, he was becoming more and more frail as time went on, he insisted demanded that he stay at home! Now this may sound, well normal, but Nan & Pa live in a two storey townhouse. Stairs (both up and down) were becoming harder and harder to do. He spent some time in hospital over the year and we were fortunate enough to have him for Mothers Day, which was our last family photo. We also were luck to have him for Fathers Day in September.
But since then, he was becoming less mobile and came down with a chest infection and went to Hospital again. Finally, both he and Nan were convinced that some time in respite care would be needed and would offer a chance to re-charge batteries. Nan moved into the hospital whilst Pa's condition became better and was transferred to a different hospital, closer to where Nan is.
It was here though, he became very ill, and was transferred to palliative care last Thursday. We got to see him there and a decision was made that he be made comfortable. The doctor told us that he will become comfortable very quickly and pain free.
1.45am, 31 October, Pa left us. It was International Teachers Day (he was a teacher for his entire working life) so it seemed somewhat fitting...
This photo, was from his 90th Birthday party a couple of years ago.

Rest in peace Pa...

Nan-and-Pa

Thank goodness... Summer is coming!

Thank goodness is all I can say!

You see, I have had enough of the cold weather, and I really love it when it is warm... Take the last couple of weeks for example. We had a warm event, high 20's and then all of a sudden, we hit 36 and it is still in spring! We packed away the heaters, turned down the spa and planted out the spring/summer flowers and veges. And then, within a day (or two) we were shivering in the cold and rain! What is going on with this weather?

And just yesterday, we got to 35 at home, and after getting home from work and cooking dinner, enjoyed the spa before settling down and relaxing for the evening.

After going to bed, and falling into a DEEP sleep, we were awoken to the sounds of yelling, screaming and the most awful crashing noise... Thinking that the kids across the road had hit one of our cars, we were both up and out of bed in record time to see the second youngest boy (approx 13-14) standing out on the road. What he is doing up at this time of night, let alone driving is beyond me to say the least! After L going out to see what was going on under the cover of no lights coming on (we have a sensor light up the side path, and this was switched off...), and I gazed from our dining room window for a better look, there was no damage, and return to slumber. Or so we thought. L took a lot longer than I to fall back off to sleep, but either way, we had a broken nights sleep and are paying for it now!

Macc & Jasmine both had there annual visit to see Uncle Allen, the vet. Jasmine was a little hard to convince she had to go, I spent nearly half an hour trying to catch her and squeeze her into the carry case. She eventually eluded me and took off through the window and out onto the roof. After about 20 mins, she seemed to have forgotten all about it, and under the guise of bribery and corruption (food treats) she came down and went easily into the carry case. Macc on the other hand, went easily and enjoyed the trip but when it came to having his shot, he winced and cried before he even had the injection! He is a big wimp and for a couple of hours after, cried like a baby when he moved, whilst Jasmine retreated into the second bedroom and stayed there until the following evening...

WW #30: - Rock in a tree...!!!

Bronze Tree

Giuseppe Penone Label

Bronze Tree

wordless wednesday

remember me...

it has been too long for me to remember how long since I last posted. This is beginning to sound like confession, for which it has been even longer since I last attended. Goodness, where is this going.....
Let's start again. Look what came in the post last week. A Bride & Wolfe nesting bird from my most favourite shop in Melbourne, Douglas & Hope. Last year I did quite a few trips to Melbourne, this year I haven't had one, and with a gift voucher to spend it was a relief to come across this birdie and her eggs on the Douglas & Hope blog and that they do mail order. I love this birdie, she can be sitting on a nest or on a branch if you turn the bottom bit over. she can be all white or brown, or a combination. I love clever design.

Bride & Wolfe
In my break from the blog I have dug out some of those unfinished projects, including a Noah's Ark tapestry. It is an Ehrman pattern from 1989, I haven't been working on it for that long though. My Dad found it a couple of years ago in a vintage store, with some of the bottom section done, and knowing how much I like Noah's Ark and stitching bought it for me. It is very much a winter project though, the wool gets very warm in your hands when the weather starts to heat up. I did the last stitches today. Bring on summer.

Finished
The next project, aimed to be completed this week is a quilt I started a few years back. It is the first quilt I ever made, started whilst I was at home recouping from having my gall bladder removed. I didn't know what I was doing but I was bored, had a collection of fabrics I liked and didn't know what to do with, and there you have a quilt without binding. I recently discovered this unfinished project in a cupboard, and on a trip out with mum found some pink silky fabric I would like to attempt to use for the binding.

Underway
Then for something new, I will be embellishing this picture on linen that I purchased from the Stitches and Craft Show this year.

Next

And something else new. Well new to us...

New Car