Saturday, December 31, 2011

All the best for 2012.

I suppose that most of you are still up and waiting for midnight ! It's 9.30am. here on New Years Day and I have only just surfaced. ! We saw the New Year in with about twenty friends last night, sitting outside, around a fire and enjoying the beautiful night sky. It was a lovely evening/night and we put the worries of 2011 behind us for awhile. None of us had traveled far,we were on a rural property, we had lot of neighbourly fun, lots of laughs, good wine and tasty nibbles. Only a ten minute drive from here and no other traffic on the road, perfect.

It's a fine day today too so we will be going on a picnic with friends shortly and then they will come back here for an easy meal tonight. Sounds good. Just hope that we have a day (year....lifetime...) without shakes. Yesterday we had a 4.8 jolt which was not at all nice..

Sara, I wish I could look forward to some quilting retreats, they don't seem to happen here. I hardly did any quilting last year, but I hope to this year. I've got a heap of fabric to use up !!

Here's wishing health and happiness to all and courage to face the challenges which will no doubt come ! Thank you to the regular "posters" . This page has become part of my life and I really enjoy hearing about your lives. All the best for your op. Grace. A friend in England ended her Christmas letter with " I"ve had hips replaced, teeth replaced and a hearing aid fitted this year, so I'm all set and ready to go for 2012 " !! Aren't we a lucky generation ? ! ?

Cheers.
Marion.

happy new year to all

WE are now past the new year and a wet one it was. Very humid and soggy, so glad the water runs off my section or we would be swimming. Very quiet here only the dog losing the plot when the fireworks went off. He has pills but they don't seem to work must need stronger. The news so far seems quite good not too much mayhem, the rain kept it down this year. David still has his garage open and the shed in front of it, he will probably have to undo all his hard work to move it.LOL LOL His partner and I kept our mouths shut yesterday ,with great difficulty, but we made it. We all hope this year will not as bad as last, so many different problems around the world, I think prayers for the whole world would be a good idea both for peace and also for Nature to keep on the straight and narrow.I hate seeing the news, all doom and gloom, not trying to be funny here it is too serious for that. Poor Christchurch is still having aftershocks and the children and elderly are so worried, I personally can't imagine the problem but my DS1 has a man working for him who has been away from the 'quakes since Feb,the big one,and his 5 year old is still having nightmares. He doesn't think he will ever be able to return to Christchurch not while his children are small any way.
My new year wishes to all , those who are having new knees, those with health problems, those whose loved ones are sick, and all I think of as my friends. Happy New Year, Bee in NZ

2012

Just wanted to come along and say Happy New Year to all.
Not doing anything special.We had some family members just leave yesterday morning and I am scheduled for my second knee replacement on Jan 6th.
Should be starting the New Year with a bang. Watch me go after this. LOL. Going to get some prepared meals in the freezer for recuperation days.
Wishing everyone all the best of health and enjoyment of life for the new year
Grace

Happy New Year

Is it only me, or are the years going by faster? Happy New Year. I guess the DUGS will be celebrating first. I hope ya'll have lots of quilty fun for the year 2012, go to lots of quilt shows, and retreats. As for me, I hope the good weather holds out for Jan. as I'm paid up to go to a retreat in Toccoa, GA. for the 13-15th of Jan. This is on the top of a mountain (for the east coast) so it could snow, etc. I'm praying for nothing under 45 degrees.
In the back of my mind I want to go to Jane's area in June for that retreat/show also.
This evening getting together at a friend's house for dinner at 6:00PM. A few people have head colds so will not attend, but should be about 10 there. Planing to be back home by 10:30 or so, the doggies hate the fireworks.
Sara in Fla.

Friday, December 30, 2011

A typical male !!!!

It ha been raining today really hard and David, my middle son, decided to put his shed up!!!! He found it somewhere and it was exactly what Janna wanted to keep her things in, it took him 3 hours to pull it down and today was the day to put it up. As the grass was so wet he decided to remake it outside on the concrete,he of course needed to leave the garage door up so he could use his (Fathers!)tools. After about 3 hours again, much harder to put together than take down, he had the long side together then realised it was VERY VERY heavy in fact he couldn't even move it. So he has been left with half a shed, an open garage and a very cross partner. His mother and brother are laughing heaps. Hugs Bee in a very funny and wet NZ This is why we have kidsLOL

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Safely home.

Sara, so sorry to hear of your sadness. It's always tragic when a young person dies, especially at this time of the year. How very sad for your daughter and for the adoptive parents. My heart goes out to you all.

Thank you for your concern re. the earthquakes in Christchurch on Dec 23rd. We watched the news unfolding on TV. from our daughters home in Auckland. We were in total disbelief. We thought it was an old news item running. The last few weeks had been comparatively quiet, we had really allowed ourselves to believe that they were over. We were wrong. The after shocks are continuing. We returned home today , we are not in the worst hit area here but the quakes have certainly left their mark. Lots of photos, ornaments and Christmas decorations down. Nothing broken and no real damage that we can see. Once again, we have been fortunate. There will be those who will be feeling very discouraged ,it's over a year since the first quake in Sept'10 and nearly a year since the one which took 189 lives in Feb'11. We'll be hoping for a more settled year in 2012.

Our time with the family was fun. The weather was great and we had two days out on their newly acquired boat. The grandsons enjoyed the fishing and we all enjoyed a BBQ on a remote and deserted beach. It's a boaties paradise up there. So much water to play on. Lots of boats out and about, but plenty of room for all. The next time we go up it will be to greet the Volvo Ocean Racers. They are due in March. The boat that my nephew is on (Telefonica) has just won the second leg. All very exciting. The Auckland family will be amazed when they see how small these boats are and how many men live on them for weeks at a time, in very difficult conditions ! Not my idea of fun. I just hope that they all get around the world safely. I also hope that my nephew will make this his last round the world race. I think this is the 4th or 5th time that he has done it...

The unpacking is done and the washing is out, so I think I'll take myself off for an early night. We've got the New Year to deal with next and then we can all settle back down to "normal life" again . I like January. It's usually a quiet, sunny month with time to spend with friends. Here's hoping !

Keep safe.

Marion.