Welcome to 2013

 Happy New Year to all my Friends.

Can you believe that another year has passed and it is 2013.

I have decided that this is My year.
My year to do the things that make Me happy.
My sewing room is screaming out for a little T.L.C. (or should I say a LOT of T.L.C.)
My garden is starting to come together, and I am really enjoying being out in it. Of course it is hydrangeas season, and it never fails to amaze me that I can have pink and blue blooms on the same bush.
At least I know that white will always be white.

I have planted English Lavender under my bedroom window, and for Christmas my darling husband gave me a gnome. I love Gnomes. Is that weird at my age?

I was also given the gift of herbs from some very special young friends.

So on the last day of 2012, I planted my herbs, made strawberry jam, and then enjoyed the company of some wonderful friends.

I love my home. It is so conducive to relaxing and having fun for both children and adults.

Both Matt and Hannah, and Jodie and Rachael have 2 Autistic boys each and they have spent the last 3 New Year's with us. As we always have Dane And Lydia at this time a year, the house is full happy and relaxed. What more could anyone ask for.

As I sit here writing this, Mark and Matt are dozing in comfy chairs, Hannah and Lydia are playing a board game and the boys are happily comparing game strategies in the TV room.

Welcome to the new year. Must be time for a cuppa.

Enjoy your day

Lynne

It's so Peaceful

The grandchildren are back at school and creche and I can hear the kitchen clock ticking. Oh, and the kookaburras laughing. Guess they are enjoying the serenity too.

So what did we do in the school holidays?

Well the first week I spent with Jordy. He had two private lessons with Paul, his martial arts teacher, and we generally spent some quality time together.

The second week was a different matter!!!!!

Dane and Lydia come for the last week, to spend time with their cousins. And Grandma and Grandpa of course.
It was a continual pattern of cleaning, cooking, feeding, washing, refereeing, feeding, cleaning, feeding... you get the picture.
We couldn't go any where during the week because I couldn't fit them all in the car.
Come the weekend, then we had to do the customary grandparents thing.
I took Dane, Jordan and Lydia to see the Lorax and this time, Tahlia joined us. Ebony didn't want to come so she had a lovely time with grandpa. A great time was had by all.

Sunday, we all went to Gumbya Park in Tynong, to meet up with Mark's parents. (Ga grandma, Wenda and Ga Grandpa, Nev. ) My amazing mother-in-law was a kinder teacher in her earlier life, which means that every Easter since I first met her, the Easter egg hunt is a grand production. And not just for the little ones. Age is no excuse where she is concerned.

There was food, there were eggs, there were native animals and there were rides.

Even the koalas were happily munching away

and as you can see, the weather was perfect

Perfect day, but after I drove Dane and Lydia home, this old girl was bushed. Still I wouldn't miss having them all for the school holidays for all the tea in China. They give us so much pleasure.

Next post I will catch you up on my crafting.
So until then, stay happy
Lynne

The School Hoidays are Over

The school holidays may have come to an end, but I haven't told you about what I got up to before they began.
My Friday night girls and I took a trip down to Crib Point, on the Mornington Peninsula, to see a small country quilt show. The atmosphere was so friendly and the scones, made by the local CWA were delicious. We all bought fabric because it was so cheap.
On the way home we stopped off at The Magic Patch in Tyabb. It's such a lovely shop to browse in but the little coffe shop next door was even better. Tilly's is owned by a lovely lady named Robyn, whom I met in the first week that she opened. All her food is homemade and her cafe has gone from strength to strength.

                                                         That's Robyn in the apron

We all had a wonderful day that was filled with lots of laughter. We are going back real soon to sample Robyn's High Tea. YUM.

In the first week of the school holidays, I took grandson Jordy to my Tuesday group. He loves to come with me because Annie's husband, John, has so many great "boys toys" to play with.

                               That's John joining in on the conversation and Annie in orange

Barb had made a really cute baby's quilt from left over blocks and some of the girls had made easter bags for their granddaughters. As you can see, I shared my latest copy of Mollie Makes (I love that magazine) with the girls and Annie supplied us with non fattening Easter eggs. Wel we can dream anyway!

Talking about Easter. My sisters and I had an Easter egg hunt for Mum and the little kids.
Mum is in the advanced stages of Dementia and generally can not tolerate young children. To my greatest  pleasure, she was in an amazing mood. she was kicking a soccer ball with the other kids and even went for a walk with Tahlia and Ebony. They know that great grandma is sick but they always try to give her a hug. Thank you Mum for this great memory of you and my grandchildren. It is something that I will always treasure.

  
                         Sharing the day with my younger sister also made it very special

I'll share my holiday adventures with my grand children tomorrow. It's been a VERY big day today and I'm bushed.
So until then, stay happy.
Lynne

Look what I've got!!!

O.K., Ok. I know l promised to blog more, but l have a good reason why l haven't.
My trusty computer died on me. May it rest in peace.
How did we ever get to the stage in life where we couldn't live without one?
How sad my life has become!!!
Never fear. I have a new toy. I decided that l probably could do without an expensive laptop for awhile, so l took advantage of the pre iPad 3 sales.
I'm now the proud owner of an iPad 2.
That is when l can get it away from the grandchildren!


It's not a very clear photo, but you get the gist.

I started to blog last week, but found out that I needed an app to do that.
It's a whole new world that I have to learn about.
I may not like this as much as I did when I used my computer. Time will tell.

Ok. Now what else has been happening.
The twins were invited to there first birthday party on Saturday.
You would have thought it was Christmas. I have never seen them that excited.


They had a wonderful time (and so did I ). It was at the local park and a perfect place for a treasure hunt. The prize for each child was a bubble wand.
It was absolutely magic seeing the park fill with bubbles. The parents were having as much fun as the kids.
Must have something to do with getting in touch with our inner child.



Tahlia really got into the spirit of it all.

Today is my day.
Each Tuesday I spend the day with my girlfriends. These are all girls that I have met through patchwork. There is nothing more relaxing than spending the day talking, sewing, eating (and blogging).

There are 9 of us, and all the girls want to blog what we are working on. I will spend this week trying to learn more about blogging on the iPad and then we will be ready to share with you all.
So until then
Stay happy
Lynne

How Time Flies

I can't believe that it was 2010 since I last blogged.
So much has happened in that time, that it is hard to know where to begin.
I suppose the biggest change in our lives is that we now have 3 of our grandchildren living with us permanently.

Aren't they cute.

Jordan,8 years old, and 4 year old twins, Tahlia and Ebony-Rose, moved in last March.

It's been a hard slog having to raise little ones again, especially with all the trauma that they had been through.
I have had a lot of help from Anglicare with their Kinship Program and Bev from Anchor. They kept me sane. (although I know some of my friends will say that I wasn't all that sane to start with.)
As you can see, the kids are now happy (most of the time) and the good times far out weigh the bad.

The other big change in my life is that my best friend, Ann-Maree, closed her patchwork shop, Primitive Patches. That means that I am no longer teaching for her and I have more time to finish off a room full of projects.
That being said, I guess I will have no excuse now not to blog about my crafts.
So, as I am sewing with my Tuesday Friendship group tomorrow, I will show you what I worked on tomorrow night.
Until then, stay happy
Lynne

It's Melbourne Cup Day!

It's Cup Day and the rain has not stopped. So much for spending the long week-end in the garden. My darling husband has turned over my veggie garden for me, (despite the fact that he is dying with a head cold) so at least when the rain stops for 5 minutes, I will be able to start planting.

It would have been just prefect if the weather had stayed like it was earlier in the week. It was true Spring weather.

The rhododendrons are starting to bloom.



The girls and their beau are loving scavenging in the garden.

As we have one of our grandsons living with us Monday to Friday, I thought it was time to start teaching him to cook.

We made salmon patties and Jordon had a wonderful time getting his hands into the egg whites and bread crumbs. I have to admit that they were delicious. Well done Jordy!

You won't believe it. The sun is trying to come out. I just went outside to check the veggie garden and took a couple of photos.

This is my veggie garden. With a quick rake over, it will be ready to plant up.

 And take a look at this rhody. This is the same one that I photographed earlier in the week.

It's in full bloom in under a week. It's amazing how a little bit of sunshine can transform the garden.

This is not my most spectacular specimen, but it is by far the biggest. At about 20 odd feet, it towers over some of the others.
Well the Melbourne Cup is about to run, so I am off to watch it. Will write again soon.
Until then, be happy!
Lynne

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