2009...Goodbye to a year and to a decade

10 years ago on this night everyone was concerned about the millennium bug. There were no blogs, Facebook was an album with your face on it and the only twittering that existed was done by birds. Some of my friends still did not have the internet and our own internet connection before we left Australia was dial up.

Mobile phones were used only for taking and receiving calls, instead of planning our lives, surfing the web and telling us where to go, or where we've been.  GPS was only available to the military, TomTom was a drum and everyone referenced their location by Melways and if you lived in either Brisbane or Canberra you just accepted you would get lost as the street layouts defied logic and couldn't be matched to a street directory (or Referdex for Queenslanders).

Digital cameras were still in the hundreds and hundreds of dollars so we all looked for the best "film developing" price and were prepared to wait a couple of days to get our pictures back. If one wanted to pay a bit more, you could get the pictures in an hour but for most of us, the term "instant gratification" was not on our horizon.  And within the previous two years we had only just started to replace our dot matrix printers, confining the messy task of re-inking ribbons to a soon to be forgotten memory, with a thing called a bubble jet.

DH and I and Indiana Cat were on the verge of the next stage of our lives. All our belongings were either in storage or on their way to Seattle. We were living out of suitcases in temporary accommodation in Brisbane and Indiana was boarding at a cattery in Melbourne. Poor little cat - he had no idea that he was soon to be put into an aluminium tube and hurtle through the sky to another country!

2009 has been a year of milestones and the saddest goodbyes. We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary in January and I reached a 'significant' birthday later in the year. In between those events, DH's father, Cliff, passed away. He was a wonderful kind hearted man and we miss him still. Today would have been his 84th birthday. He used to say," Everyone celebrates MY birthday!"

My own father also died this year and while we weren't close, his passing has not been without  impact.

2003 New Year's Eve, Issaquah, Washington State

This decade has seen Victoria face a long long drought. we have had a couple of New Years where the temperature has hovered at 40 deg.

Water restrictions are a way of life now and a water tank is the best accessory a house can have. We got our tank installed on Christmas Eve and tonight as the decade closes, we are enjoying a heavy downpour of life giving rain.
Wherever you are, our wish for you and us is for health, friendship and happiness that is found in the quiet moments as well as the BIG events. Happy New Year!

The Old and the New

This is the first computerised machine I ever owned....purchased from Myer in 1991.

It has been a very solid faithful friend...despite being put into storage for 2 years when we moved overseas. The only problem it has ever had is the mother board packed up and Janome tried to tell DH that a replacement was could not be found. DH told them to look harder and one appeared!

I got a 6500 for my birthday a few years ago and this old friend became a machine to take to classes. Which was good until I hurt my back and now I can no longer lift her. Those machines are solid!

So over the past little while, I have been casually looking around for a lighter basic machine and then on Christmas Day, I got this gift from Santa.

It's a Janome 19110. While it doesn't have as many features as my dear old friend, it does have needle up/down, a blanket stitch and 2 positions for straight stitches as well as a button hole and some other decorative stitches.

Santa was able to buy it a very good price from Costco. Already owning other Janomes eliminated the concern that it didn't have a walking foot or a quarter inch foot. Santa loovvess Costco! And I love him and my new machine!

But I still have a soft spot for my old machine!

Merry Christmas!

It's a cool overcast day at our side of the hill. Gordon bought himself a new road bike for Christmas..... I supplied all the "necessities" - pedals, shoes, helmet, gloves. Earlier, he took it out for its first ride and reappeared a short time later informing me it was fast but he was chilled from the wind. The poor man is used to riding in the warmer climes of Brisbane!

A glimpse of the 2009 Christmas Decorations at our house.

Christmas Eve.....a day of anticipation and magic

The day started warm and overcast and has turned slightly cooler with a few spots of rain. We got up early and did the local food shopping while there were car parks to be had.

A tradition of ours on Christmas Eve has been to go into Melbourne. Gordon often only finishes work December 23 so it is often his first chance to enjoy the atmosphere. Sometimes we browse the major shops or like last year visit the markets. Today we did have a particular mission of finding part of Gordon's present. So we've been to the shopping areas around High St and Chapel St, Prahan.

Chapel St ranges from all the well known "brands" to funky little shops mixed in with charity shops, young designers, coffee shops, delis, cake shops, restuarants and bars. It traverses through South Yarra, Prahan, Windsor and St Kilda. It is known for its style and fashion.

We strolled along taking in the mix of cultures and admiring the beautiful old architecture above many of the shop fronts.

From there we headed west over the Westgate Bridge into Williamstown and I was able to drop into Stitchery Blue, a lovely shop of fabric, wool and thread. Walked out of there with a little brown bag of purchases!

And now we are home to relax for the rest of the day and to enjoy each other's company and to give thanks for all that we have.

Wishing you all good health, peace and happiness.

A Neighbour Drops In

A few years ago, our local council planted a gum tree seedling on our nature strip. Here is a former entry with pics of said tree. That little tree grew and grew and each spring it has been home to a family of magpies. In our former house, we had a similar thing happen. In both cases, we have found them to be excellent neighbours with their lovely warbling voices. They also seem to recognise as part of their territory and we have never been swooped. This year, the family has been late in arriving but they are finally here! Usually, they tend to hang around at the front of the house. That is, until late yesterday, when this guy stopped by in the back yard. It appeared all his encounters with humans have been positive because as soon as he realised that Gordon had a treat for him, he came very close to us.

Although when the camera came out, he retreated to the fence.

Christmas in the City

Bourke St Mall, Melbourne, Australia

In the build up to Christmas, one of our favourite things has always been to go into the city of Melbourne and enjoy the festive atmosphere and decorations. And like many Melbournians, a trip to the city includes a stop at the Myer Christmas windows.

Melbourne is such a beautiful city with lots of wonderful architecture, history.There are lanes and arcades to wander through. One of the most gracious arcades is Block Arcade.

I loved the windows of this card and gift shop in the arcade. How clever is the Advent Countdown styled window!

Getting Ready for Christmas

School is almost over and holidays are almost here.......

WARM SUNNY DAYS

Finally some warm weather has come to Melbourne. And with the warmer days seems to come an increase in activity in the garden.

So this morning the Husband and I were off checking out the possibilities in a couple of garden centres.

I love the colour displays these places put on!

While we didn't buy any of these, the vegie garden has been stocked with tomatoes and spring onions.

Hallowe'ens Past

From our Seattle days....

When we moved to the USA, I was quite taken by decorating for the different seasons/holidays.

Not something we did so much in Australia (except for Christmas!)

Do you notice the basket that was in also in my previous post? Is this going to be a trend??

Back home here in Australia, I don't decorate for Hallowe'en although the pumpkins make an appearance in my kitchen during Autumn and Winter.

In my classroom, I currently have a witch on a noticeboard. We are doing Fairy Tales at present.

The kids love her and always come up with their own stories of how she came to be in our classroom. She was a post Hallowe'en mark down in Joann or Michaels and has been a much loved purchase.

The other photos are of another Aussie expat's decorating for the Spooky Night.

A FINISH !

This was a very old UFO that had waited and waited to be finished. All that needed doing was the binding. I really don't know why this wasn't finished a long time ago. The project is a few years old. But last month before we headed north, it got done and is now in use!

To Market, To Market

After the dust earlier in the week, Saturday Morning in Brisbane dawned fine and warm. It was going to be a lovely clear and hot day.

In an unending quest for the perfect physique DH set off very early on a bike ride along the some of the local bike paths. The forecast was for 32 deg and he wanted to be home well before that happened.

I decided to stock up on some food so walked down to here. It was a beautiful morning to be on or near the river.

From here I caught a Citycat two stops to New Farm Park and went to a market that is held twice a month at the old Powerhouse. One has to get there early to get the best choice.

DH and I met up there at the end of the shopping. I had purchased some yummy almond sticks to have with coffee at home from a French style patiessere. I heard a rustling in the bags and turned to find DH with hand in paper bag already sampling said sticks and pronouncing that I had indeed done good. Managed to retrieve bag from the munching husband and he was sent off home on his two wheeled steed while I waited for the Citycat.

A much better way to go food shopping than battling a trolley in a supermarket.

Ahhh Queensland

Beautiful One Day - Dusty the Next

This just might be taking Interstate Rivalry a little too far. Those Southerners had a dust storm. No sooner had it hit the news and we had to have one too! Or maybe they just wanted to share their top soil with us.

Here are some before and during shots taken from our apartment deck. The Before ones taken on those days when Queensland is perfect. The during shots taken as the top soil crept into town, and into everything else imaginable too.

A Familiar Shopping Experience Arrives in Australia

COSTCO opened its first Australian store in Melbourne recently.

DH and I were excited by this as we were very familiar with the COSTCO experience from our Seattle days. In fact, we used to live right near the COSTCO HQ and the nearest store was about a 5 minute drive away.

So it has been an impatient wait ever since COSTCO fisrt announced they were coming down under. DH just loves COSTCO and when they opened just before his recent birthday, it was only fitting that his birthday present included COSTCO membership.

His latest work assignment saw him just a very short drive from the Melbourne store so he has been able to stop by there on his way home.

And what did he buy?

Just the usual stuff one gets at a supermarket

a Pack of 48 toilet rolls

8 boxes of tissues

Oysters

216 freezer bags

2 bedside tables......

Yes...bedside tables... we have been looking for replacement bedside tables for about 12 months and finally found just the thing in COSTCO!

And the most recent acquistion has been new glasses for DH! Yep, one can buy almost everything at Costco.

From Cats to Dogs

We went to 'The Game' at the MCG on Friday night to watch the Western Bulldogs (AKA Footscray) play the Brisbane Lions in a sudden death elimination round of the second week of the finals. There we were, at the greatest sports stadium in the world. Nice seats, right on the boundary line. Several times, the action got up close and personal.

The scoreline at the final siren said it all. Dogs 107, Lions 51.

Next week - Watch out Saints. The Dogs are stalking you.

It would be nice to see the Dogs win a final, at least once in our lifetime.

A Quilt Much Travelled....

This quilt started life as a kit purchased in Newcastle in about 2005 when I accompanied DH on a business trip there. It spent its formative days in Brisbane and to help it to grow to a more useful size, I added some of my own scraps. And grow it did ...large enough to top our queen size bed.

Then it needed a border or two. After finding the perfect match in Brisbane, the top then travelled to Sunbury where the borders were applied.

It languished for a while after being finished and then was professionally quilted in Brisbane and then sat without binding for a very long time due mainly to an ongoing issue with my back and not being able to manage the weight of it under the machine.

Somehow, it came back to Sunbury and finally in January this year, it went on a road trip to Canberra to "visit" my kind friend Helen who made and attached the binding. Reunited with us once more in Canberra , it then had a little holiday through Western NSW, a few days in Sydney before finally checking it as hand luggage at the QANTAS Club counter to come home to Sunbury.

While it's certainly not a complex quilt, it is a favourite of mine for the fabrics and their memories. Mixed in with those pieces are the blocks of times and places it has been.

It's also popular with someone else!

Full Moon

We had a full moon in Bulimba this morning. There was probably a full moon everywhere else in Australia tooThese photos were taken out our back window

What has Indy's Attention?

There he sits, on the lounge, remote nearby, giving the television his undivided attention, much like the other male member of the family. He doesn't even flinch when the camera comes out. Well, every youngster likes watching TV, right? But what has Indy mesmeriesed? Animated cartoons.

So what is he giving his undivided attention to?

Ice Age!

A Little Shopping Trip

I had a little outing to the Quilters and Embroiderers Store to find some fabric for the borders of the previously shown UFO that is now a top. While I am keen to use up the older fabric in my stash, there was nothing that worked for the borders. Also, I do like to support the local shops where I can. There are already fewer and fewer quilt shops here in Brisbane.
Karen's store is a treasure trove of ideas. One has to stay focussed in there! She does have a great selection of stripes and dots which can be just the thing to bring disparate blocks together. I will have to go back there with another UFO which needs assistance in that way!

Of course, when the fabric came home, it had to pass with the ultimate quilt authority in this house.

Lunch

On a gorgeous Queensland Winter's Day
And then .........
a little snooze on the deck in the sun

Last day of School Vacation

Roll on September!

PROGRESS!

Started sometime approx April 2007 with the aim of using fabrics and a pattern from the stash, this project has been through 3 moves and is finally a quilt top. The original design didn't have borders but I am thinking I will add something to make it bigger and more usable.

The Next Project

So what's in this box, Mum?

Let's use up some of this.

I'll show you which ones are my favourites!

See Mum? You're overthinking it! Just get in amongst it, wriggle around and it's all good.