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.......