Saturday, June 26, 2010

More news from Down Under !

I hope your post stirs a few more members to post Rosey. Too many of us think that our lives are of no interest to others, but that is clearly not the case. Thank you Fran for your "post". Good to hear news of your boys..

Another cold and wet day in NZ. I am sitting by the computer on a warm and cosy room and DH is outside, getting very smoky, playing with a garden rubbish fire ! The garden is looking very soggy but there are encouraging signs of life, the spring bulbs are coming through, the "Winter Sweet" is about to flower, and the reliable pansies are providing some welcome colour.. the camelias will be out soon and the whole place will be a riot of colour (I wish... !)

Last night we went out to dinner with some friends, to celebrate mid-winter. We all enjoyed a great meal and service that excelled. It helped that we are known to the manageress and that she wasn't busy !!! The other DH couldn't decide between the fish dish and a pork dish so he asked if he could have half of each (in jest !) He finally decided upon the fish dish. When he was half way through it, he was presented with a second dish containing a small helping of the pork (for which he was not charged !) Lots of laughs and a great night was had by all.

as for the DD's... well, one is on her way back to UK after a week in HK.(where she is supposed to be living.) Her youngest (who lives in HK.) is with her and they will return to their house in Scotland for the rest of the summer. The three other children are at school in Scotland and about to start their two months of school holidays. The husband and father will join them for a month of that time. Evidently it's too hot for them all in HK at this time of year, so they have made this choice... Confused ? So am I..... DD#2 is in Auckland and busy with family. She has had her in-laws staying for the last ten days , she works full time, has two teen-agers and an 11yr old and had an overseas visitor staying. .. Just reading her emails makes me feel tired ! They will be having two weeks of school holidays soon, some or all may come down here for part of it.

Haven't done much quilting (it's too cold in the room where I quilt !) I'm working on a wall hanging. An friend, who is a noted aviator, has many badges and T.shirt logos and thought I could put them together for her ... quite a task that's turning out to be . Her bday is in Sept so I aim to have it finished by then. I've done some spinning lately and am making a jersey, it's nice to be working with wool again.

Not a lot on this week. If the weather clears we may go up to the mountains for a day or two , it's so beautiful there .

Looking forward to hearing from others !

Marion.

Fran, that's wonderful

I feel as though I've had a slice of life from Australia. Give our best to Shannon. Wish him luck in his new endeavor and tell him that Jock is still gliding and loving it. Tomorrow he hopes to take the 84 year old father-in-law of my DSD, Katie before he heads home to England on Air Canada Monday. He's already had a balloon ride in his 80's and now, hopes to have flight in a glider as well.

Now, how about others posting as well.

Rosey

You may regret that, Rosie!

(BEE - great to see your post. Sorry the weather was so bad for your Quilt Show! Did you have anything on display?)

Scroll past if it doesn't look interesting.......... In my part of the world, as at today, Sunday:

# Winter has started here, as in NZ. (Well, actually, we count it from the beginning of June, so we're almost 1/3 of the way through!) We are getting rain but it's still a lot less than the average which makes a difference when you are on the edge of the desert, as we are.
# The wattle are in bloom already. The trees and bushes spread along the highway out of town in a blaze of yellow in July and August and are always a delight to drive past.
# We have a new Prime Minister. We've had women State Premiers and Governors but this is the first one in Canberra. She looks to be very capable and I hope she can stay on past the next elections.
# My DDIL is looking at apartments in Melbourne, whilst also looking for another hostel to stay in if nothing comes up, and about to begin her 2nd week at work in the State Library there.
# DS#3, her husband (Shannon) is on the far east coast of the country, out of Sydney, helping to erect a test wind turbine.
# They need to empty their current flat out (in Adelaide) as of Thursday.
# DH has promised to go down to help them move but has no idea when that will happen.
# No-one will let them take their 2 guinea-pigs with them so we and Kody might have to learn to adapt!
# DS#1 is on his way home from 5 months in Europe. He will spend 3 weeks in Asia first - somewhere - all over?
# His GF is on her way to meet him in Singapore. She walked the couple of km to the airport at 5 am this morning in the dark! I rang her yesterday to wish them well and ask her to get him to stay in touch if at all possible.
# When they get back to Adelaide THEY need to start looking for a place to stay. (What a bother - S & S's is in the wrong area for them!)
# DS#2 is waiting on edge to see if his branch of the travel agency he works for has won a trip to Las Vegas for 3-4 days. He wants to stay longer. His mother knows he hasn't really got the money to do that.
# Said mother has a full-blown sinus infection and that is probably why she is also suffering from worry-wortness.

On the bright side, S & S are obviously looking forward to living and working in a brand new city; T has had the time of his life in Europe and made a huge number of friends in his field of study; D is revelling in the success of his new job.........and I am exactly half way through my last year of teaching, with exactly 80 working days left, and looking forward to the start of a new era in my life - retirement! (Have I said that before?)

# I am on the verge of finishing my 3rd "I Spy" quilt. I was hoping for a 3" border but it will have to be 1 1/2" because the backing wasn't cut straight. Oh well, c'est la vie. No big deal.

And that's what's happening to me and mine in little old Whyalla. And I know that I am blessed with a family in good health.

Always thinking of and sending hugs to those who have suffered losses recently,
Fran

The list of contributors is great

The postings, not...I'm sure people, by now, know that "Saturday morning in the country" in my part of the world is Farmer's Market time and that the summertime grass is lovely and green and that we are having a wonderful weather despite the earthquake several days ago, here in Southern Ontario and the tornado that followed through in Midland, Ontario, our cottage area. Not much excitement, weather-wise, I'd say, in quiet old Ontario, Canada. So, it's good to see a posting from NZ overnight, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina but I'm missing many other contributors who may read but not post. The old saying: if you don't use it; you may loose it. We have many thanks to Eric for continuing this board into a more private forum; tell us what's happening in your part of the world.

Rosey, who is indeed off to help out at the soapmaker's booth at the Farmer's Market, this morning.

Brrrrrr

its cold and wet. Never mind the longest day has past it will get better now. Things here are slowing down now the quilt show is over. WE had an atrocious couple of days and as I was on the money end of things we froze, I took a quilt up on Sunday to keep my knees warm. As usual we were complimented on the amount of items we had on show and it seemed to be very well received. Two years till the next show yipppeee !! I will have to find something else to make. I now have 2 quilts in progress but the grand daughters are remarking their lap quilts are too small, they use them when they are studying. I think that was a hint, that gives me four before I start anything I want to do. I am in the process of moving my machine into the dining room where I can see the TV while I sew, I have to get it back from my DD first. She never used to like my Pfaff until hers was being repaired but now she seems to be forgetting to return Pfaffy. She has actually bought a second hand one but STILL prefers mine. She is not keeping her. I am going out to lunch again tomorrow(third time this week)and then plant shopping a bit early but when DS2 asks you one never says no. If they grow at the nursery they should grow at home. Hope you are all lazing in the sun and enjoying yourselves, my turn will come. Hugs for now Bee in NZ

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Dogs

Sara - We watched the U.S.Open on Sunday. It was one of the most exciting, because nobody knew who would win until the end. THAT was TV worth watching. ;o)

Our Shih Tzu, Alex, hated thunderstorms and July 4th fireworks. We would usually find him behind a toilet or in the closet. Drugs didn't help, either.

Speaking of dogs licking cream off our skin, copy & paste this into your browser in case the link I tried to post (below it) does not work. It was posted on a CKCS dog forum I read, and verrrrry interesting:

http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=15950



HOT hot HOT HoT hOt weather here. Ugh. I actually played golf in the stuff today, too. It was 94° F when we finished, but at least the humidity was 45% and not 65%. Our winter was so cold and for so long, we're all in shock over this early heat wave.

(((Hugs to all y'all)))

Tuesday with dog in lap

Don't know how well I can use the keyboard with dog#2 in lap, she keeps licking the hand cream off the back of my hands.
Yesterday about 4:00PM we had a doozie of a thunder storm. The power went on and off, and lots of lightning. Dog #1 started shaking so much, that nothing I did comforted her. I talked to her, put her on my lap, stroked her head, pulled the sm. quilt over her and put her by my side. She kept on. She acts like that on car trips, but this is the first I've seen her do it at home.
Finally gave up and gave her 1/2 of a doggy-Xanex. After 30 more min. she started calming down.
Hopefully there won't be a repeat today.
DH worked until midnight last night. The A/C work is going almost too well!
Trying to pick a week to go visit DD and family in N.D. I think the 2nd week of August should be OK. Their high temp. is about 70, sounds good! Now we just have to find a place to stay, as they don't have an extra bed. There is a flight on Allegiance Airline (anyone heard of it?) from Orlando Fl. to Fargo ND. twice a week. Then we will rent a van, as DSIL takes their's most days for work.
Got to clean out the wet, smelly bird seed out of the feeders, it seems like a hopeless task with storms every afternoon. Better than a drought, so I shouldn't complain.
Did anyone watch the US. Open in Pebble Beach on Sunday?
Sara in soggy Fla.