Flooding

This is what I came home to on Monday after work.
A flooded back and front yard.


This is my water tank overflowing. It looked like a waterfall coming out of my tank.
I really wish I had another tank to collect all this water.


This is me surveying the back yard and trying to work out what could be done to prevent it flowing into the house and garage.


This is my driveway covered in water.


This is my flooded front garden. You couldn't get to my front door.


This is Treasure all prepared to save my house and my neighbour's house.
His quick thinking saved the day and prevented a disaster.


Treasure dug trenches from the backyards of both houses to the road.


This is the water escaping through one of the trenches and out onto the road.
It looked like a river running onto the road.
At least I didn't get any water into my house or garage but my neighbours weren't quite as lucky.


This is my neighbour's backyard with the water getting into their TV room.


This is their side yard.


This is their flooded garage. They didn't lose anything as they had already put everything up.
If Treasure hadn't built the trenches my neighbours would have had water in their house.
We are very lucky that our flooding was minor and the rain has now stopped in South East Qld.

My thoughts and prayers are with all the people in Northern and Central Qld who are living through the worst floods in over 100 years, especially the people in towns such as Theodore, Bundaberg, Emerald and Rockhampton who have been evacuated from their homes and have lost everything. Some of them have no idea when they will be allowed to return to their homes or what they will find when they get there.

6 Things Christmas Swap

In the 6 Things Christmas Swap organised by Maree I recieved my parcel from Marcia.

I was very good and only opened 2 presents before Christmas Day.

"Something to Eat" which was 2 Toblerone Chocolates and

"Something for Christmas" which was a beautiful Angel Wall hanging.

I left the other 4 presents until Christmas evening after I finished working.

"Something Smelly" was a Travel Pack with Frangipini items which smell great and I definitely take them to Nundle in March with me.

"Something to Read" is a book about the life of an Australian Olympian Werner Reiterer and his struggle with drugs. I love reading so am looking forward to reading this book.

"Something Handmade' is a great bag which will get lots of use when I go out on sewing days and also shopping.

"Something for the Craft Room" is a gorgeous Wall hanging with pockets for items such as tape measure, scissors etc.

I absolutely love everything and all the handmade items are just perfect for me.
Thank you so much Marcia for these wonderful presents.

What is Christmas Day?

What is Christmas Day?

To most people Christmas Day is spent celebrating with family and friends.

To some of us Christmas Day is spent working.

I will only be working for 8hrs. Others will be working for 12hrs and some will be working all night tonight and then all night tomorrow which means they will be sleeping all day on Christmas Day.

So while you are all celebrating please think of all of us Nurses, Doctors, Police, Emergency Personel, Chefs, Waiters, Small Shop Owners, Mining Personal and Cab Drivers (I hope I haven't missed anyone) who will be spending tomorrow at work ensuring that all the sick are looked after, everyone is safe and that everyone is well feed.

I hope it is good, quiet day for all of us that are working.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE THAT IS WORKING!!!

Back on the Farm Block 4

I have been very slack not updating you all on my "Back on the Farm" Quilt. I have been working on it (not as much as I should) but haven't been blogging it.

This is Block 4 called "Munch-a-Bunch". A perfect name for this block.

We thought this block would be very quick and easy to do. How wrong we were.
There are 4 large sunflowers and every single petal is a piece of fabric. After cutting out hundreds of petals I then had to put then together to form the flowers. It was a lot of work but really gives the flowers that 3D look.










The flowers then had to be put on their stems.


It was then time to make the goat. He was a real joy to make and looks so vey cheeky with the sunflower in his mouth.
I really love this block as the goat just looks so cute.
I just have to quilt the block.

Tuesday's Treasures

When we went to Nundle in October for my niece's wedding we decided to wander through the Antique Shop there.
On one of the tables I discovered a small butter dish similar to this one for $49. I couldn't believe my eyes that a small dish could cost that much and it wasn't even Royal Doulton or some other well known brand.
My mum gave me the dish and the other assorted pieces that she had a few years back.
Some of the pieces were given to her 60 years ago by my father before they were married. The other pieces were wedding presents by her younger brothers. None of them cost very much brand new so I was quite surprised when such a small piece cost so much today.
I wonder how much I would get for them if I sold them. I could never sell them as they hold such history.


I have always loved this cheese dish but hardly ever use it as I have always been to scared that I would break it.


When I was younger mum would use the sugar bowl and fruit bowl when we had visitors.


Go over and visit Melody's blog for more Tuesday's Treasures.

Charity Bags

The ladies that I go sewing with on a Thursday when I'm not working decided at the beginning of the year to each make something for a charity.
After much thought we decided to make 2 small bags each and fill them with ladies toiletries etc. Each bag was to be made out of 2 fat quarters.
We then decided to donate them to a Refuge for Abused Women for them to hand out to women when they arrive.
These women usually flee their home with nothing and most people donate goods for their children. We thought a pretty bag and goodies might help cheer these ladies up at such a terrible time in their lives.


These are the bags that we made all ready to be collected.
We won't be told exactly what refuge they will go to as they have to be very careful so the husbands that these women are fleeing don't find them.
We all understand this as we want these women to feel safe.
It just good to know that we have made a woman's life a little bit brighter by receiving a bag full of goodies.


These are the 2 bags that I made. I filled each one with a handmade chenille facewasher, a handtowel, lovely soap, shampoo, conditioner, hand cream etc.
I hope somebody enjoys using the toiletries and bag.


These are my 2 bags all packed ready for delivery.

Christmas Presents

On Tuesday I received a parcel in the mail. It was my Secret Santa Swap present from Marcia.

In the parcel was my 6 presents. I can't wait for Christmas to open them.

I might just sneak a peek and open my "something to eat" present as it might be chocolate so will melt if it's not in the fridge.

Do you think that's cheating?

THANK YOU Marcia so much for the parcels.

I had to send my parcel to Maree.
Maree organised the swap and it was a great swap as there had to be 6 presents in your parcel. As I am new to blogging and not been in any swaps before I thought this was good.
Maree lives near me so I decided to play postman and personally deliver her parcel today. I hope she enjoys her presents as much as I enjoyed buying and making them.
I had a lovely lunch with her and Jeni today.

Birthday Presents

I had a great birthday last week.
These are the fat quarters that I received from all the lovely ladies from our Fat Quarter Birthday Swap.
Thanks so much everyone, they are all gorgeous.



By the way, Lea the chocolates didn't last long enough for me to get these photos.


This is a beautiful crocheted "Granny Rug" that my sister has crocheted me.
I have wanted one for years but I can't crochet so I absolutely love this rug.
It even fits on the top of my bed.


This is the beautiful box of flowers that Treasure gave me. I only got them this week as Treasure was away working for my birthday.
We celebrated my birthday the weekend before, camping at Fingal Head near Tweed Heads. It was a great weekend relaxing, reading books and sunbaking. Treasure even caught 2 fish for dinner.


Treasure bought me this Fijian Black Pearl necklace for my birthday when we were in Fiji.


My son and I went out to dinner on my birthday. It's always good to have some quality time with him.
He bought me this great picnic bag for my birthday and Christmas. The bag is insulated to keep everything cold with a setting for 6 people included.
Treasure and I will test it out on Sunday when we go up to Mount Tamborine to the Markets and wineries for the day.

Tuesday's Treasures It's my Birthday

As it is my birthday today I decided to do a special Tuesday Treasures and share some very special photos of my childhood.
There aren't many photos of me taken as a baby because my parents couldn't afford to take photos, I was the 4th child and also a sick baby (I had whooping cough as a young baby).

This is a photo of my Mum and I on Kiama Beach NSW. My brother is in the background. I have always loved this photo so was really glad when my sister had it enlarged and framed for me a few years back.

This is a photo of me in the chicken coop. I don't remember ever having chickens as I was only 2yrs old when this photo was taken.
I love looking at all the old photos that I have as I love the memories that they bring back, especially the memories of my Nan and aunties who I loved very much.
I'm now sitting at home tonight after having dinner with my son being very sentimental thinking about all the good memories of my life. I've been going through my old photo albums (I love looking through them) and have found all my school photos (interesting looking at these) and even a photo that I took of the Aust singer Mark Holden when I saw him live on Countdown in the 1970's. Gee these albums certainly hold some memories.

Don't forget to go and visit Clare's blog to see all the other Tuesday's Treasures. Thanks so much Clare for hosting Tuesday's Treasures. I have really enjoyed playing.

I will now go back to opening my fat quarters from the Fat Quarter Swap that I am in. Thank you to all the lovely ladies for sending me such gorgeous fabrics. Will share a photo soon and also a photo of the gorgeous crocheted rug that my sister has made me for my birthday.

Tropical Tuesaday's Treasures

I thought I would continue with the theme of the tropics and Fiji for this week's Tuesday's Treasures.

I showed you all Savala, the small Fijian island where Treasure and I got engaged, in my last post.


Today it is the 2 pieces of coral and 2 shells that we bought back from Savala to remind us of that wonderful day.

When Treasure told me he wanted to bring back the coral and shells I didn't think we would get them, especially the coral, into Australia. We have very strict quarantine laws here and I was positive the coral wouldn't be allowed. How wrong was I.
We had no problems getting the coral through Quarantine, but if we had more than these 2 small pieces we may not have got them through Customs. As we only had 2 small pieces of coral we didn't have to declare them to Customs.


They now sit on my TV as a reminder of the wonderful week in Fiji.

Make sure you visit Clare's Blog to see all the other Tuesday's Treasures.

AN ANNOUNCEMENT and More on Fiji

While we were in Fiji we went on some tours. We went on day tour to 1 of the villages. This involved going on a long boat up a river past stunning waterfalls to the village. While we were there we were entertained with a traditional welcoming ceremony and dancing. It was a great day.
We also went on 2 cruises, a day cruse and a sunset dinner cruise.

On the day cruise we went with about 25 other people to this small private uninhabited island, called Savala, where we went snokelling and had a lovely lunch.
Savala was really gorgeous. I just wish I could have stayed there longer.


Now to the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!


While we were relaxing in our beanbags on our special part of Savala Treasure proposed to me so we are now engaged. How could I say no when he got down on both knees on a beautiful romantic secluded island.

It was such a romantic day and now Savala will be a very special island to us. We have been calling it Our Island.

Tuesday's Treasures

For Tuesday's Treasures, hosted by Clare, this week I thought I would show you the pond that Treasure made for me last year.


There was a dead area in my backyard just behind my Pergola.

I have always wanted a pond there but no one would build me one.

When I told Treasure this he decided to build it for me. He kept asking me what shape and size I wanted. My reply was "I want a pond there".

In the end he designed and built this beautiful pond.

The pond is outside my sewing room window so I get to look at this gorgeous view when I sit and sew. Maybe that's why I don't always get a lot of sewing done as I spend so much time watching the fish swimming.