Tag Archives: family

Another Series Gone

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When I began the ‘Sew My Stash Sunday’ series I was really confident that I would do some sewing every week and always have something to share.  Unfortunately, that has not been the case and some weeks I just end up beating myself up (metaphorically speaking) because I have not met my goal.

So, I have decided to put this series to bed for the moment and I will post on a Sunday if I have done any sewing in the previous week and have something to share.

The last week has been a bit topsy turvy as I spent a couple of days in Brisbane.  My mother had a specialist medical appointment and Izz had a night in hospital to have her tonsils and adenoids removed.  I spent the time with Miss O and attended a school music concert in which she was singing in the Junior Choir.  Here is a photo I took of her in the obligatory black trousers and white shirt.

002And another with one of her friends before the concert.

005I did not manage to get a photo but they all had vests to wear as well which were provided by the school.  The back was plain black and the front was black with multi-coloured musical notes and symbols.  They all looked very smart in them.

The coming week is going to be similar as once again I will be away from home for a couple of days.

On Sundays I usually try to get myself organised for the week ahead and today it was even more imperative.  I have made sure that we both have enough clothes for work and underwear clean and ready.  Meals are planned for the week.  Lunches are semi-prepared.

Do you use some of your time on Sundays to prepare for the week ahead?

Away From Home

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I have been away for a couple of days as I have had some family commitments.  Luckily, I had prepared the ‘Wordless Wednesday’ post on the weekend so it was ready to go.

I don’t have anything particular to share but I have noticed recently that everywhere I turn there seems to be discussion about excess stuff and decluttering.  Is it just me or have you noticed the same?

2015-05-28 01For ‘Flashback Friday’ I will find one of my previous posts on decluttering and living with less.  In the meantime please share your thoughts.  Have you decluttered?  Do you wish you could?  Is there any particular aspect you would like me to write about and discuss?

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Some Random Stuff

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There is no real theme to this post – hence the title.

A couple of years ago I wrote this post about the highs and lows of social media.  One of the wonders of it is the ability to easily connect with family and friends.  Today I have spent some time setting up a group for my cousins and other extended family.  This will allow us to keep in touch across vast distances and generations.  The catalyst was a seed of an idea to organise a get-together on the centenary of our grandfather’s arrival at Gallipoli.  He was not with the first landing on April 25th 1915 but it was significant for our family as a sequence of events that followed this led to him spending time in England where he met his future wife (our grandmother).  I already have feedback from far and wide which simply would not have been possible without Facebook.

As I was taught at school – “new thought, new paragraph”………

The decluttering continues – I have a small bag of a few more things that will be leaving the sewing room.  I generally keep a plastic supermarket bag on the bag of the door in the sewing room and add anything that I find and then drop it off to the op shop when the bag is full.  I also have 2 small cartons of books which we sorted from the bookshelves last month.  They have been sitting on the floor next to the bookcases waiting for me to get organised and find a new home for them.  I have listed them on a couple of local buy/swap/sell sites as well as Freecycle but if I don’t get a taker by the end of the weekend I think they will be going to the op shop as well.  It is a difficult task to balance the desire to have things gone and not hanging around, against finding the perfect home for them.  How do you manage this conundrum when decluttering?

I have also set up a ‘Decluttering’ tab at the top of my blog.  Check it out if you are interested.

Finally, I just wanted to share these couple of photos with you today.  In my next life, I think I will be a dog………….

004or maybe, a cat!

003These photos were taken at about 4.30pm and the cat has been on that chair ALL DAY!

The weather is not looking fabulous here – in fact it is pouring with rain and blowing a gale so I am not sure what the weekend will bring.  I hope you have a fabulous weekend wherever you are.

End of an Era

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Last Friday marked a major milestone in the life of our younger grand-daughter.  Izz turned 5 in August and next year she will join her older sister at school.

She first attended daycare at the tender age of 4 months and has now completed 5 years (at 2 different facilities).  Last week we were privileged to witness the graduation ceremony for those children are moving on to the formal part of their education.

2014-12-20 01Yesterday was her last day at daycare and I imagine that there were some emotional farewells.  It certainly is the end of an era.

Sorting the Photos & Myself

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Some of you will remember this blog post from last year when I shared the awful realisation that I had deleted all the photos from my blog posts.  While I have put that experience behind me and moved on, I am aware that many of the older blog posts really do not make a lot of sense without the photos.

I am forever trying to sort out all of my digital photos and naturally my recent focus has been on getting all of the ones we took during our holiday into order.  However, I have been looking at many of the others and have found that most (if not all) of the ones that I deleted are still in various folders.  It will be a huge job but I am going to attempt to reinstate them in the relevant blog posts.

As with any big project it is best to do a little bit at a time so I have set myself the goal of fixing at least one blog post every day.  There will be no particular sequence but one day it will all be fixed, I hope.

It is now almost a week since we arrived home from overseas and I have worked 4 full days and am exhausted.  I am definitely looking forward to the weekend and the family coming to visit tomorrow.  We are looking forward to showing them the photos and giving them the small gifts we bought.

Celebration Central

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In the midst of our busy lives it is good to take time out to celebate.

Today is Mothers’ Day and I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with my mother, sister, one of my daughters and 2 granddaughters as well as my husband, brother and brother-in-law.  We gathered at a cafe and shared some morning tea before adjourning to a local park where we could sit in the sun and chat while the children played on the playground.  It was really special and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

A special thought for those whose mothers or children are not in their lives either through death, distance or estrangement.

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Meanwhile, I have been working on creating the invitations for The Duke’s milestone birthday celebration in a few months time.  Here is a photo from the ‘archives’ that I am using.

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Finally, there will be celebrating this month when two much awaited babies arrive to loving families that I know.

What is happening in your life and the lives of those around you that is worth celebrating?  Take time out and share the occasion.

Birthday Business

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Today is my birthday.  No particular milestone but time to reflect on the year that has passed and look forward to the year ahead.  I have been blessed with lots of lovely messages from family and friends.

Our wedding anniversary was a couple of weeks ago and we did not have a particular celebration for either event.  However, in the past fortnight we have had a picnic with family, been to the movies twice and eaten out at our local Italian restaurant.

Today we spent the time together working in the garden – re-arranging, planting and naturally planning the next project.  My brain works faster than my hands!

Lunch
I did stop and make lunch which was as good as any cafe offering and the view from the deck is pretty special, too.

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I hope you are having a relaxing Easter break.

 

6 Days Later

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It is hard to believe that it is 6 days since I last wrote a blog post.  I am still here but have been busy.

The day after my last post we went on a picnic with a group of my extended family.  I had intended to take some photos but that did not happen.  We had planned this outing a few weeks earlier but unfortunately a late-season cyclone put a bit of a dampener on the event.  We went ahead as planned at Suttons Beach on the Redcliffe Peninsula, north of Brisbane.

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It didn’t quite look like this last weekend but I would highly recommend it as a venue, especially if you have young children as there is plenty of grassed areas, fabulous playgrounds and a sheltered beach within easy reach.

Regardless of the weather, I am blessed to be able to share events like this with my extended family and see everyone enjoying each other’s company.  I have been reading a series of posts today on a popular forum about family relationships and particularly between children and their grandparents.  I am saddened to read of the bitterness and resentment that various family members hold against their parents and children.  The reasons are many and I am sure some are entirely valid, however, it reminds me to be thankful for my exceptional family who are very dear to me.

This weekend we finally have some glorious autumn weather and The Duke and I are making the most of it by getting some jobs done in the garden.  I hope to take some photos and wil share them with you tomorrow.

Do It On Your Day Off

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The title was once part of an advertising slogan when 9 day fortnights were being introduced in some workplaces.

Well, yesterday was a day off for me and I did all sorts of things.  Belle had asked if we could look after the children for an hour or so from 5pm as there was an information session for the Year 1 parents which she wanted to attend.  I originally planned to leave work early to go to her place but then decided that a day off seemed like a better option.

I left home early in the morning and dropped of some mangoes and frozen mango puree to Belle.  The next stop was Albion Glass & Mirror to pick up the new mirror for the restored dressing table.  We had originally planned to have it re-silvered but that is an obsolete process as they can replicate any glass or mirror.  We chose to spend the extra money and have the bevel just inside the frame rather than a perfectly flat piece.  This is authentic and maintains the integrity of the piece.  I will post a photo once we have re-assembled the mirror on the dressing table.

Then I headed off to see my mother for the day.  We did not do anything startling.  The time was spent chatting, looking at some old photos and seeing her latest craft work.  We shared a simple meal for lunch and went to the local shops to pick up a few groceries.  It was lovely to have the time to spend together.

Picking up and caring for my granddaughters was a complete change of pace but also very enjoyable.  I heard all about their respective days, cooked dinner for them and have started teaching Miss O, aged 6, how to tie a bow.  She does not have shoes with laces but what prompted the lesson was her shorts.  She changed out of her school uniform and came downstairs in shorts and a t-shirt but these new shorts have a drawstring as well as elastic so we spent some time learning how to tie a single knot which she mastered almost immediately and then a bow which she has grasped the general concept.

I had an enjoyable day and it was great to connect with family.

On another note, I wanted to share this post from Frugal Queen who hails from Cornwall.  Cornwall has been battered by the wild winter storms of the past few week but in her post she shares many of the wonders of Cornwall and why the tourists should visit.  Not only Cornwall but many areas both at home and overseas really struggle for visitors after a disaster.