A Day At The Races

I went to the races at The Gold Coast Turf Club on Saturday with some work collegues. I don't go to the races and don't even know how to place a bet but when you get given the tickets to the Member's Stand it gives you a good excuse to dress up. We had a great day and I even got a place in 6 out of 8 races and got 2 first places. Don't worry it won't turn be into a gambler as I only will bet small amounts so still spent $10 more than I won. I work too had to waste my hard earned money. 6 hours later and 6 bottles of champagene later (between 6 of us) and a few wins we went home. A great fun day was had by all.

As you can see I haven't done much sewing lately. I'm been spending too much time working and socialising. I have nearly finished a quilt top which I will show you when it's finished, hopefully this week.

Calender Girls

Last Wednesday night I went to Brisbane with some friends to see the play Calender Girls. It was a great play with some wonderful Australian actresses. I haven't laughed so much in such a long time. At the end of the play a poster was put up informing us that the original Calender Girls calender has raised over 2 million pounds for Cancer Research in the UK. It's amazing to think that a few ladies from a village could raise that amount of money and have a movie and play written about them. If you haven't seen the movie you should watch it as it's very funny but also has a very important message.

Books and More Books

I was inspired by the quilting books that some of the ladies had at GDITC, especially your's Chookyblue that I wanted to buy some. They are so expensive in Australia to buy so I haven't bought any in the past. Anyway, Bec has introduced me to this great English website The Book Depository so I just had to buy these quilting books.
I also found an Inspirational book "When You Lose Someone You Love" for a friend of mine whose husband died suddenly late last year. I bought it for my mum when my dad died last year and she has found it very helpful but I haven't found it in any shops since. I also bought 3 more books from the same author for mum.
I just had to have 2 novels by one of my favourite authors James Patterson.
It was great to get all these books for half of what you pay for them in Aust or even less.
Thanks Bec for introducing me to that website. It's great having a niece who is much more computer savvy than me and tells me about all these great websites.
I have been reading novels lately by Lesley Pearse, an English author. My sister bought me "Stolen" and I just couldn't put it down that I just had to borrow "Gypsy" from the library. I'm now hooked on reading the rest of her books. They are not murder mysteries that I normally read but are about brave women from different eras.

What books have you been reading lately or like to read?

Fun at the Beach

We went for a drive to the north coast of NSW last Monday. We stopped at Cabarta Beach for a lunch of Fish and Chips and a lovely gluten free Macadamia Nut Icecream for dessert. I don't like icecream but this one was just delicious.
After lunch we walked along the cliff and then walked back to the car on the beach. I just had to collect some shells and rocks for my garden. There were surfers surfing but it was a bit too windy for swimming so we didn't venture out. It was a great day just having fun at the beach.

Dinner and Nature

Last Thursday we went up to Brisbane to a great Belgian resturant for dinner. If you leave near Brisbane go to The Belgian Beer Cafe Brussels. The mussels are devine and the duck just melted in the mouth. I am told that the Belgian beer is great too but I don't drink beer.



After dinner we went for a walk in the nearby Botanic Gardens. There were lots of cute possums living in one area of the Gardens. We counted at least a dozen and they were very friendly, even posing for photos. It was great to see some native animals living in the heart of Brisbane.

New Computer

My darling boyfriend or Treasure as my niece's daughter calls him (she couldn't say his name) has just bought a new Laptop with a broadband aircard.
He works away in the mines so is going to leave his new laptop at my place and take his old one to work.
This means I now have faster internet access and NO MORE DIALUP INTERNET which is all you can get where I live unless you have an aircard.
I can now send emails, blog etc without the internet being so slow or cutting out every few minutes. With dialup it would take 20mins to put 1 photo on my blog and up to 1hr to send an email if it had photos attached.
I can't wait to play with the computer next week on my days off as I'm working all weekend. Just have to load my camera on so I can add photos to my blog.
I think my great niece has got it right when she called him Treasure as he certainly is.
Have a great day.

Craft Show

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Craftfest Craft Expo in Brisbane with my Thursday Sewing Group. There were lots of stores and the usual seminars which were informative.
I didn't spend much money as I spent too much while I was away.


I just had to have these 1800's Reproduction Fabrics. I love these rich colours and they will go with the fabrics that I bought at Nundle. I got them from Somerset Patchwork & Quilting


I have always wanted to make an Aboriginal wall hanging but have never seen any fabrics that I liked until now. I got these from Indigo Niche