Yes, you are on the right blog!

Still a work in progress

This spring cleaning has really gone to my head lol, it's even extended to the blog!  I felt like a complete change so I've been hunting around for a background that I really like.  I wanted spots on a blue background, with a lace edging down each side.  However, I found this wonderful header on www.PlumroseLane.com and bought it, along with a personalised signature and all her tutorials in PDF form..  Sharon is wonderful - so helpful and patient working out what font I wanted for the header and signature.  She sends samples and changes them if they are not quite what is wanted.  I am delighted with them both.

So - they obviously are not blue vbg, and I went on a hunt for a pink background instead of blue. I'm not totally happy with this one, I want smaller dots.  And I'd love to add some sort of edging down each side.

There are also matching tags for free on www.PlumroseLane.com - do go and have a look, there are heaps of free backgrounds and other bits to choose from, and Sharon is delightful to deal with if you want to have something custom made.

Not only that, but I asked in passing if Sharon happened to know why my avatar didn't show up on my blog when I posted comments now, and why it sometimes appeared on other people's blogs but not at other times.  Sharon didn't know off hand but worked it out for me.  How kind of her, when her schedule is very busy.

Do please have a look at her site, you will enjoy it.


I haven't mastered all the elements yet, obviously there are lots more bits to add and I'm not happy with the background.  But I'm pleased with the progress so far.

......visiting our daughter......
We ended being too late to leave on Thursday.  There was so much to do. But we were ready to leave at a reasonable time on Friday morning. The traffic was slow due to roadworks for quite a lot of the way over the Blue Mountains so it was quite a slow trip for the first few hours.  There have been bushfires in the mountains, but they are over now.


The first things I organised, as usual, were the minis I wanted to take with me.  Kylie suggested that I bring some with me for any time I had free to do them.  I chose a variety of things - after all, one wouldn't want to be limited for choice :).  And I don't know how long I will be there but it is likely to be an extended period at this stage, so I don't want to run out either.  I added some mini petitpoint, just for variety, as well as the materials for the swap I am working on and the birthday swap items


Then of course there are  the tools that go with all of the above, the glues, cutting mats, paints etc.  


Kylie and I want to do some scrapbooking together so that was the next thing I tackled: lots of scrapbooking supplies: papers, cardstock, stickers, cutter, cutting mat.......


There was something that I forgot.  Now what was it?  Hmmmmm.  Oh yes! Clothes!  So I chose a few basic things.  It is pretty hot in Sydney already - most days are reaching high 20's to 30 deg C, and it is the same here out west where my daughter lives.  So I packed mainly summer clothes and not many.  There is after all this wonderful invention called a washing machine :)  

Great relief at receiving wonderful news

Our younger daughter Kirsten has received confirmation from her specialist that although the lymph node that was removed from her neck a fortnight ago did contain abnormal cells, he feels that she is clear now!  Kirstie has a lump under her collar bone that the specialist says is connected to the same system as the lymph node but is nothing to worry about.  I don't understand that (and neither does she nor does my husband, who is a nurse).  She will keep a close eye on it and return for advice if she is worried about it.

At the moment however we all just feel enormous relief that she has received the 'all clear'!!  We praise God for His goodness and blessings.  What an answer to prayer this has been!  I would gladly have undergone the treatment for her, because I know that although the prognosis for Hodgkin's Lymphoma is good, the treatment is an unpleasant process to say the least.  And even with support from her husband and with me down there giving what support and practical help I could give, she has four young children and for them no-one can take the place of Mum.  Especially for the baby, who is only 20 months old.

So that great worry has been lifted.  The worry over my mother has also decreased though not entirely gone.  I spent several hours yesterday planning her funeral with her at her request, because she wants to arrange and pay for it now.  That is a depressing experience in one way but on the other hand I know that all will be done as she wants.  We haven't finished yet, I will go back tomorrow to do some more on it.  Her spirits have also lifted somewhat, which makes things a lot easier and she has finally accepted the adjustments that have been necessary to make.

All together it has been a week of ups and downs.  Not much in the way of minis I'm afraid!  I've tried to do some work on the bits for Birchwood but didn't get anything substantial done; I've painted a few things ready to give them a 'shabby chic' finish, but only got the first coat on; and I've spent stretches of time reading blogs and enjoying them very much.  But I don't seem to be able to settle to anything myself.

However it is wonderful to be able to share my wonderful news with you!

Visiting our family....

and the fluffball too....

We travelled to western NSW to visit our daughter Kylie and her family, and our younger daughter Kirsten and her family also visited later in the week.  We all wanted to have some time together before Kirstie had results of another aspiration biopsy of a lymph gland in her neck.  The tests have been going on for some time now and the Pathologist is fairly sure that she has Hodgkin's lymphoma. 

I knew that the fluffball would remember me, but I was surprised that she actually recognised the car - she ran out welcoming us, shivering with excitement and demanded attention before I even had time to greet my daughter and grandchildren vbg.  She is impossible to resist, jumping and barking and getting between you and the person you are trying to greet - I am sure she climbed to my waist while I was cuddling Kylie and the boys.  Once I picked her up she went straight to her usual place sitting in the crook of my left arm and putting her head near my shoulder, in between kissing me and wriggling lol.  This is a photo to the right of our farewell cuddle just before we left for home.

We had had an eventful trip, with another blown tyre on the caravan - again, one of the set of tyres we were given.  No fishtailing of the caravan or anything this time, just a soft clicking noise that I noticed but Peter couldn't hear.  I mentioned it, he stopped to investigate and this is the state of the tyre:

Isn't it beautiful?  But that's not the end of the story.  When Peter brought out his brand new, expensive jack - it would not work!  He hadn't tried it out when he bought it, and of course he has no idea where the receipt is.  So we had to ring Road Service, and once the new tyre was in place, it wouldn't move - the mechanic investigated and found that the rubber from the old tyre had wrapped itself around the axle and around the electric brake and we now had no electric brake on that wheel.  I am grateful that we had crossed over the mountains and also that our van has tandem axles!  We were a bit shattered by it all but now I give thanks to God for this incident.  Strange, you think?  Not at all - when Peter bought the new tyre and had it fitted, he had the other two tyres from the same source thoroughly checked.  They both still had plenty of tread on them but they both had tiny, tiny cracks in the wall!  If we had driven home on them they would have blown as well.

We had a great time with our family.  I would dearly love to put photos of my gorgeous grandchildren here but with things the way they are in this day and age I make it a policy that I don't do that.  There are six of them - four boys and two girls.  The most beautiful grandchildren in the world and I love them to bits.  The oldest, James, is 9, Cameron and his cousin Grace are 8, Luke and his cousin Chelsea are 4, and Michael is 20 months.  Our girls are both wonderful mothers.

We enjoyed a day by the river that runs through my son-in-law Ray sister's property.  You could see the damage from the floods earlier in the year and last year. The boys had been fishing the previous day and left lines in overnight.  They caught a catfish and  Cameron caught two Murray River cod, one about 15" long, one over 24" long.  He was so proud!  We had a big bonfire going, and a small fire of coals to barbecue our lunch.  And we had umbrellas for the intermittant rain lol!  We spent most of the day there until the rain decided to get a bit heavier and to set in.  Fluffy wasn't sure she liked the damp sand and decided my feet would be a good place to sit and keep warm and dry.  A sulphur-crested cockatoo was an interested spectator for part of the

time, along with other birdlife.  These are really commonplace for us but on my other blog you said to make sure to post photos of our birdlife Marlene in California, so I'm doing just that vbg.

Kylie, Kirsten and I spent some 'girl time' together doing craft shopping on Sunday while the grandchildren went on the ritual trip to the ten-pin bowling alley with Pa and son-in-law Jason (Kirstie's husband).  The girls and I enjoyed browsing through Spotlight to our hearts' content, then since Michael was asleep in the stoller I walked him around and around the large furniture shop next door while the girls browsed in peace - a rare treat for mothers of pre-schoolers. Tuesday was back-to-school after the winter school holidays so Kirsten's family returned home on Monday and we left on Tuesday. 

 Before we did though,  I was able to finish Kylie's

crochet rug that I started in September. I wanted to do a longer one for her than the previous one, so that it would cover her completely when she snuggled up on the lounge. And it's a good job that I did because the first one mysteriously disappeared. But Kylie loves this one too, and was delighted that I finished it in time to give it to her this visit.  That's her hiding behind the rug - isn't she photogenic lol?  Well, actually she is, very much so, but you cannot convince her of that!

The trip home was quite slow, raining or so foggy it was very limited visibility.  Temperatures ranged between 2-4 deg C all the way.  We were well on our way when we heard that the highway was closed just after Bathurst because of snow on the road.  That was the way we go, and we debated whether to keep going or detour and take the long route going down south and coming home via Cowra.  But there was no guarantee that it would not snow down there as well so we decided to keep going to Bathurst, stay overnight and consider options in the morning.  If necessary we could just stay at Bathurst until we could get through, though Nathan wasn't impressed that he wouldn't be able to go to work at the sheltered workshop where he has employment 3 days a week.  We assured him that they would understand and he rang them on the Wednesday to let them know what was happening. 

When we were settled in the caravan park, Peter went off for some milk and diesel.  The shop owner said it was only 2" of snow, but that people are stupid in the snow and don't drive sensibly.  The thing is of course, that unless we are visiting the snow country, or live where it does snow most of us don't have chains for our vehicles.  And unless you have the means of pumping up your tyres again, you can't deflate them either for safe driving.  We would have loved to have taken Nathan up the mountain to Oberon where snow was falling heavily, but after such a slow trip Peter was really tired and we weren't equipped for driving in the snow.  It is years since we have seen any, but now wasn't the time.

Next morning, after a lovely warm and cosy night's sleep, we heard that the roads had opened overnight so we set off.  Peter still drove with care - there were some residual patches of snow by the road under the trees, but nothing of significance and none in a position where we could stop and take a photo. We were thankful that we were tackling the slippery roads over the mountains with four good tyres and four working brakes on the caravan! 

And to finish here's another photo of my trusty lap-warmer, the very spoiled but  lovely Fluffy.  She really is a sweetie!  I am laughing here because every time I went to put her off my lap she clambered back on, kissing me and pawing at me and hanging on for dear life.  For sure she knew we were about to leave!

Cameron will be happy to have his dog back though!  She loves it when we are there because I let her sit on my lap and I don't hop up and down all the time - I indulge her seriously lol.

.

 

Lovely day out

First let me welcome Elga.  Thank you for taking the time to visit here Elga, and to sign on as a follower - I hope you enjoy sharing my mini ramblings, and that you visit often. Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions for improving things.

Today was a great day with friends and family.  We went to a local reserve, Nurragingy Reserve (it's named after an Aboriginal man, one of the Wianamattagal clan (South Creek Tribe) of the Dharug people who inhabited the area before European settlement in 1788.  Our friends Rick and Marilyn are the ones we went with to Kiama a few weeks ago.  We have been friends since Kylie was a baby.  She grew up with their son and their daughter Nicole.  Kylie and Nicole are still good friends and now their children are too.  So it's a three generation friendship, which is pretty special.

The three boys - our grandsons Cameron and Luke, and Nicole's son Daniel, had a ball riding their bike and scooters, exploring the paths and generally keeping their mothers and grandparents on their toes trying to keep track of them.

Marilyn, Peter and I went for a walk and Peter took this photo of the two of us at one of the waterfalls.  We ignored the 'do not climb on the waterfall' signs - but only a little bit vbg.

Apart from 4-year old Luke going down a hill too fast on his scooter and taking a tumble with nasty grazes resulting, then a couple of hours later getting his foot caught in the bridge and Cameron falling in the water trying to dislodge Luke's foot, it was an uneventful day.  We won't go into the matter of how Luke happened to be near enough to the spot he was to get his foot caught by slipping on the seaweed in the pond lol.......... 

We have all had a kiss of the sun - not enough to be sunburnt but enough to know we've been outdoors (forgot the suncream.  Oooops!).  The fresh air - well, we were still in the suburbs so it is still city air.  But Nurragingy is 40ha and it has some of the last remnant bushland in the area, so it feels as though it is fresh air.

Most of all there was a lot of laughter and good company - all in all a lovely day out.