Thank You for popping over... if I have gone AWL, again...
Please come a knocking over at this door... I am, no doubt, up to something, as per usual...



Thursday 28 January 2010

198

Welcome to My Place, here in Australia...

For Lisa's... One World One Heart Event for 2010...

Have you traveled far???...

Here have a cool drink...

Have a seat & rest awhile...
I'm Bethel & I have a crocheted giveaway
for this Global Event, to decorate your ArtSpace...

My giveaway is still a WIP but here it is being blocked...
It will be a Flag Banner & has the word 'Adore'...
I know how we all Adore our arts...

Here's a close-up & these shall hang from all peaks...
I hope you like it... if you do, please leave a comment...
Don't forget to make sure I can contact you...

Give my magic lamp a good rub...
All the best... I know...

You must away on your magic carpet...
You have many more places to visit...
Please come back & visit again...
This ride ends on the 15th Feb when I will pick
a winner with the random number generator...
If this is the first time you have seen anything
about the One World One Heart - OWOH -
Global Blogging Event Please visit Lisa Swifka
& learn more & maybe you would like to be in
the fun too...
Angel Messages...
'Life' means acknowledging the very moment.
'Love' means living in this very moment.

Tuesday 26 January 2010

197

Today is Australia Day... the celebration
of the First Landing... if you are an Ozzie
living outta Australia... here's to you...
Happy Australia Day, Mate...

For those of you just popping in to see what's
happening... here are a few things that makes
Australia unique for me...

You all know our adorable Koala...
Do you know our native dog... the Dingo
Our favourite footwear... the thongs...
For your feet... OK.
Most boys want to own a Ute, the
dirtier the better... great work horse,
great for bush bashing... see the mud...
Did you notice the flag on the Ute...
Australia the Home of Bundy Rum
[Bundaberg]... great drink anytime
but especially on a cool night but
that doesn't stop one from having
it with ice & coke... on a hot night...

You can't say Bundy Rum without it's
Mate, Bundy Bear...
makes for a cold one...

Our own working dog...
the Cattle dog-Blue Heeler...
if you gotta Ute... you need a dog...

Our famous Galahs... some people act a
'bit of a Galah' once they get too much
rum into them... lol

Where I live we have our own rum...
Beenleigh Rum Liqueur...
it's a bit of a favourite of mine...

Then there is our infamous Pumpkin Scone...
everybody has Flo's famous recipe...
Ohh... you have them hot with butter &
'Cockie's Joy'
What's cockies joy? Syrup...
the cockroaches just love it,
especially if someone leaves
the lid off the tin...

And I can't forget out beautiful long white
sandy beaches... where you can cool off
on a hot day...
Ohh did I forget to mention our
Great Weather...
This is my Australia...
I know we have Cricket, Rugby, Kangaroos,
Crocodiles but this is my take on Australia...
We have so much to be grateful for...
Happy Australia Day, Mate...
Angel Messages...
You have already been given all that you need.
As you begin to make proper & joyous use of this,
you will receive even more.

Friday 22 January 2010

196

Gosh another week has just flown by it's been
a great week we had visitors over the w/e...
with Border Girl staying a few nights but working
during the day... Plus we also had my Bridesmaid
& her man visiting too...
As you can imagine lots of talking, laughing &

pleasant memories revived & of course lots of
eating as well...
Look what we did a few weeks ago...
When the family came at Christmas they brought

lots of beautiful mangos, green, so once we had
recovered from their visits we got in & made
mango chutney...
yummm... but we had soo many mangos it was

one hellva big job... thank goodness My Man
helped me or I'd still be peeling & cutting up....
Peeling & cutting up green mangos puts a weird

feeling film over your hands... takes a fair bit of
scrubbing to get it all off...
bit like cutting up chockos...

Table ready, out on the verandah...

Suitable basket found...

Extra ingredients bought &

at the ready...

Now for the mangos... I said we had a lot... ha ha
a whole wheelbarrow full sitting in the cool of the shed...

Filled the basket... Darn too heavy for me to carry...

Never mind I used the roll-a-round stool
that sorted out that small problem...

Everything at the ready... cutting mat...
plastic table cloth for the mess... buckets
for peels & stones... big pot... sharp knife...
Opps... forgot an important item...

In this heat I need the old fan...

OK let's get started...

That basket doesn't seem to be going down much
so My Man he got in & peeled while I cut up...
took us several hours...

We ended up with a full pot of mangos alone...
I still had to add the other ingredients...
ummmm... so it took a long time to cook & we
were too tired to take photos but this was the
end result...

Our cupboard is full again of yummy mango chutney...
this should last us, which includes family & friends,
a couple of years...

Looks so yummy & it is...
We ended up with 19litres of chutney which went
into 55 different assorted collected bottles -
that My Man prepares for me - plus 3/4 of a 1 litre
yoghurt tub that we are eating now...
Job well done...
we were very pleased with our effort & should
you call around we could give you a bottle to try...
Now it's back to crocheting...
Angel Messages...
Your tenderness is the warmth of a spring sun.
Your tenderness is the fragrance of a flower
blooming in the desert.

Friday 15 January 2010

195

This is my latest crochet project... have other
projects on the go... you know how it is, somethings
you just need to do something different. I had been
making something with fine cotton & the idea of
using thicker yarn appealed, especially to the hands.
While I've been surfing the net I found where
someone had been using old CD or DvD disks as
drink coasters...
So I set about making some as, like most of us, I
have heaps of old CD's & crocheting covers for them
seemed like a fun thing to do...

I started off with the Royal Sisters Grandma
Round pattern - I didn't really need to scallop the edge.
So you can see I crocheted two rounds...
then I crochet them together, just over half-way...
with single crochet stitch...

When you get to this stage you pop the CD in &
continue to crochet around to join it all up...

I pulled the beginning thread through to the front
side & have done a few slip stitches through the hole
to keep it all in place...

Yaaa... Looks pretty cool, I thought...

so I had to try it out & it worked well...


When I gave it to My Man, we found it wasn't a
suitable pattern for his mug as his mug is one of
those that you use in your vehicle...
Back to the drawing board, so to speak...

I decided to just crochet a plain treble cover...
just the same sort of pattern you use to start
a beanie/cap... it worked well & his cup sits
firmly & safely on it now...

Thinking cap, back on, so now I've made a plain
treble base & Grandma Round for the top...

This will still not be suitable for My Man's cup...
It will be a more stable drink coaster all round,
for general use, I think.

"Thinking" again... I do a lot of that - Plus a lot of
pulling stitches out - 'frogging'? I think they call it...
now I thought... Why not do crab stitch around the
edge instead of the single crochet... ummm

Now I have five of them made so it's back to my
fine crochet again...
Angel Messages...
Instead if angrily doling out blame,
try to offer gentle encouragement.
Do this regardless of whether
you are dealing with yourself or others.

Thursday 14 January 2010

194

G'day we've been living at our Bethania home now for
7 years & in that time I've always wanted to put a chook
or two in the back garden...
'No' not real ones... as we go away now & again &
that could be a bother to our good neighbour... lol
Well I looked high & I looked low... I found some chooks
but not any that suited me & my garden...
Now that Border Girl has shifted, we have new shops
to look at & low & behold I found me a Rooster...
he was big & looked a tad heavy so we were going to
get him on the way back...
well I think you can imagine what happened...
the shop was shut.
But that Border Girl she knew so when we went down
their for a BBQ before Christmas who was there waiting
for me but 'Tin Rooster'...
waiting to go to his own garden home...
Do you see him down the back there...

watching my every move...

standing guard of the back garden...

standing so erect & very proud...

When I went down the other week to say
'G'day' to Tin Rooster, he confided in me
that he was a tad lonely in our big
back garden without another feathered
friend... he found the birds rather rude
to him as they all had their life-long mates.
Ummm... I could understand his
dilemma so I set about finding a solution...
I went & stayed with Border Girl the other
w/e & 'by chance' we did a 'bit of shopping'...
So look who I brought home for Tin
Rooster... Teanny...

His new wife... she was a bit shy at first...
but he soon won her over with his usual
charm & charisma...

they both love the freedom of our back garden...

What is that I see in the plants over there
Teanny???...

Ohhh myyy we have some eggs... But
Teanny soon let me know they weren't for
our breakfast...

Look who made a little sneaky appearance
today... I'd forgotten how cute chicks are...

Ohh Teanny how cute she is...
what's her name???...

Ohhh still some discussion between you &
Tin Rooster... that's OK... I can wait...

I think it best if we leave this little family to
get used to each other... Bye seeya later...
Treasure every precious encounter.
To treasure you relationship is to
treasure your life.