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Happy New Year
It’s 2009 here in Queensland, Australia.

I’d like to wish you all the very Best for 2009
Be Happy, Be Kind, Be Positive & Be Grateful
If We want a better Life, it is all up to us…
We are Responsible for our own Destiny
Go make your Destiny everything you would like it to be…
Think Big… Dream Big…
Thank You for coming on by Bethel’s Place & Thank You for all your lovely comments over the year – I love that you come on by but I’m over the moon when you say G’day & leave me a message…
I look forward to another year of blogging & I’ll do my very best to keep you interested enough to come on back.
I’m going to keep walking & taking photos along my walks to show you & I going to keep making ART & showing you what I’m doing as the year goes by …
now this can be taken two ways
either at a treat or a threat ... ha ha
it’s only the difference of a little ‘h’
which has to stand for Happy as in
Happy New Year & Happiness in my life & my ART…

Thankful... for a great year, a great year of new blogging friendships

EDIT: it turly is after 12.00 not sure what the blog clock is doing ... ha ha

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Vegging Out has been the name of the game this week ... visited the local Grandies [always love that], doing some sewing which makes me very happy & heaps of blog cruising ... I was visiting Jackie's blog Dogdaisychains and she mentioned this game & I thought I would join in the fun.
Apparently the game goes like this...
Open your photo file and choose the 6th folder.
Open it and find the 6th photo and upload it to the blog.
Jackie added to this by opening the 6th from the top & the 6th from the bottom ... sounds like fun so here we go... Gosh I had nearly forgotten this this is the collage I did for One World One Heart challenge we had for Feb 2008 - must pop on over to the website as that challenge must be playing again soon ... OK - I see Lisa has a new website for this challenge/event - it is a lot of fun, so do join in if you like what you read. Lisa has this event so well organised - this will be the third year of joining the blog world together.
OK now for the photo that is in the 6th folder from the bottom ... Wooh it's a photo of my Mum taken 1st this month at her Respite Christmas Party we attended & I really love this photo of her.
Well there you go ... maybe you can do this on your blog too...if you do let me know please, so I can come looksee too...
Thankfull... for time to be with myself, to listen to my inner thoughts...

131

Forgot to say that Kellie is doing a wonderful give-a-way at present or until New Year so well worth a look-see ...
Here are some of the things I have made for Christmas pressies ... they are repeats, as in, same design but with different fabrics ...
Remember I made the 'JOY' banner well I ended up making several - sorry forgot to take photos of them ... yet again, but one did end up with my nephew in Japan.
Here are some photos [part-there-of] banners I made for some girls in our family - their name banners ...
I must say I love the effect of putting the velvet letters on the cotton fabric...
Thankful ... for stamina & electricity as without either I'd have not of achieved anything this year

130

Ohhhh Christmas is over for another year here in Oz ... myyy this year has just flown & with only a few days left in 2008 I'm hoping that 2009 will slow up a bit but I'm guessing that it will fly by just as quickly as this year ... I know they say it is a sign of age but really even the young ones are saying the same thing...
I know some of you are still celebrating Christmas Day & I wish you all a lovely day full of wonderful memories & treasured company.
My girlfriend popped over for a few hours early then DH & I spent the rest of Christmas Day celebrating with my sister, her DH & our Mum - it's so sad to realise that we may not have Mum for many more Christmas Days as she be becoming frailer by the week but she did have a great day. My sister & I sat around, after lunch was all cleared up & the boys were doing their own thing [one sleeping, the other reading the paper] & Mum resting - it was just so nice to sit around talking, reminiscing. We see each other & talk to each other on the phone but it's always rushed, so spending time together is a very treasured thing.
This year I told my sister she was not to buy a Christmas pressie; if she wanted to give me something she was to make it - I think I've made some presents nearly every year, since I could do so, as I even remember making gifts before I was married. So she lashed out & made us a pair of very vibrant & royal purple coloured satin pillow-cases - in the real satin not that pretend stuff they make the sheets & pillowcases out of these days - what luxury. I made them a calendar - something I've been doing for a few years now but this time instead of photos/scrapbooking I did a little Art Quilt or Fabric Collage of some images I had seen in Quilting Arts mag. & added a purchased calendar to hang from it[the good calendar that has all the moon dates in it + all the other revelant info...] I was very pleased with it as it is one of the first things I have done in this sort of style - of course I forgot to take a photo of it so only have this one of my sister posing with it.
It says Adventure B4 Dementia ... they have always been mad about camping & fishing & have been members of the Grey Nomad's for over 20 years ... so they got a real kick out of it - of course it is going in the caravan ... lol.
I also made Mum one & it's one I cased in parts from Kellie of an Australian blogger with flowers & a butterfly but will have to take photos of it later... by Christmas Day I'm so tired [as I'm always still making at 1 or 2 in the morning] & I get very forgetful ... ha ha
Poor Gilly had to stay at home - here she is trying to talk me into taking her along ...
Thankful ... for treasured memories & safe travel

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A week or so ago we had good old friends call & spend the day with us for some Christmas cheer ... here is what I made for them ... still having that steep learning curve, both with embroidering the letters & using the new pink camera... I have made a small loop either end of the banner for hanging or tacking to wall...

Thankful... for time spent with good old friends

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Here are the last of my Christmas PostCards...
Recently I bought the book Quilting Arts Gifts and in there was a little item by Jane Davila where she explained how to make a pocket in your PostCard backing to slip your message into... I thought this was a great idea so have made most of my PostCards like this but I also added a little ribbon hanger so the PostCard can be hung as a Christmas decoration. The ribbon has very fine wire in the sides making it easier to fold inside. Jane also had another good project in the book for a Gingerbread house but me 'tinks I had better leave that one until next year ... When I just went into her blog to get the hyperlink I see her & Elin have another new book out at the beginning of next year ... ohh when will my book fettish ever end ...

Thankful... for the yearly contact with old friends & acquaintances...

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Some of the Christmas Tree PostCards I shared with my Grandies to give to their teachers & they were very well received which is always a thrill ... I had seen this design on Vicki Welsh's blog and decided I could do a quick version but still took me a lot longer than it took Vicki. I must buy myself some of the Mistyfuse to try as I layered a organza/metallic check over a plain cotton fabric & you can see some of the fusing still between the layers - steep learning curve...



Thankful... for the ability to be able to connect with people all over the world via the internet

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Wooh, a very exciting time this week as our NZ granddaughter arrives to spend some time with us & other family for Christmas. We'll be out visiting here & there with the other Grandies & no doubt going to a few movies too...



Here are a few more Christmas PostCards... I'm still learning how to do the writing so this year it is rather faint - I like think of it as an added surprise - although some I have done with very bright thread...

Thankful... for the blessings of Grandchildren...

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These are a few of the Fabric Christmas PostCards I made for giving this Christmas ...
Thankful ... for good eyesight...

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Well I finally have this Year Diary finished & ready to post off...

It became a bit of a comedy of errors but I mustn't call them that, they were Creative Opportunities. I had made the cover just a tad short/narrow so the diary didn't want to close as flat as I would have liked so then I had to think of a way to close it so came up with the loop look but had just used a lead pencil I had on my table at the time - then after making that solution, found that most biros were fatter than that so finally found a biro the right size ... talk about making life hard for myself ... sorry, No, talk about creating wonderful opportunities to further my creative possibilities - gosh that sounds all a bit flash ... ha ha
I've also got my Fabric Christmas PostCards finished now just ready to post - will show these over the next few days instead of putting them into a slide show that I know some can't access with dial-up ... I'm running with a hot sewing machine & iron - no silly I'm not ironing my clothes, [that went out with the stockings] it goes with the sewing as I do a lot of fusing of the fabrics... Hope you are all having a great w/e ...
Thankful... for hindsight...

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Where did that week go ... I had my girlfriend ring me last week to see if I had 'stole' her year - she wanted to know where it had gone ... I think we are all feeling a bit like that at the present... I've had a busy couple of weeks & to top things off my beloved camera - which I might add isn't all that old - has decided to die on me & after consulting with my local camera shop was advised it would be a very expensive exercise to fix or even see about fixing as it sounded like a motor within ... ohhh dear so I quickly bought myself a cheapie while there ... Of course the short of all of this is I now have to learn to use, yet, another camera ... I think it is a sad state of affairs that cameras are becoming like mobile phone a very expendable item in our society of throw-a-way items... My hubby was telling our daughter that we have been in our new home 6 years & we have had as many cameras - sadly he is about right as that is when I started using digitals...

My sewing machine has been getting a pretty good work-out of late too - I've taken photos but will upload them when I know how again ... ha ha
Now for something pretty I found on my morning walks ... we used to call these Fairy trees as our kids thought they looked like little fairies flying in & out of the leaves with the breeze. Well it turns out they are called Fairy Dusters from the family of the Calliandra species ... they are so delicate ...

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Just look at this family, they are so pleased to have a fine day to prine themselves. Mum & Dad Magpie are on the fence - can you see the baby one in the tree ... well he is as big as his parents but his grey colour tells you he is their baby ...
Thankful... for the lovely song that the Magpie sings of a morning ...

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What a wonderful surprise... When I was young we lived on a dairy & agriculture farm, meaning we milked cows[for cream & butter], that lead to left-over milk to feed pigs. We grew corn [maze] for Mr Kellogs, sudan for the cows to eat to keep them going in the dry spell & of course we had chooks & grew some veggies. It was a fun life but a bit lonely as my sister & brother were so much older than me so I always longed for company. I remember when I was very young, our windmill run out of water so we had to get a diviner in to find the channel again & drill down for new water - this is what watered the cows & other animals - we survived on rainwater at the house but in bad times we had to drink the bore water too. So it was rather urgent that we find this windmill/diviner & we went for a long drive one Sunday & found them in a paddock living outta their truck & a lean-to & they had a daughter my age... whoopee I has so delighted.
Anyway they came to our place in a couple of weeks when they had finished that job - in the meantime we had to cart water from the local windmill about 7 miles away but I couldn't wait until they could come to our place. I remember having the most wonderful time with someone to play with everyday - they didn't stay with us as they had family near-by & it was so close to Christmas by then but the man would bring his little girl[I can't even remember her name now...] so we could play in the sandpit under our big pepperina trees. They found water on Christmas eve - great celebrations & the new drillhole was all fixed by new year & all the neighbours came over to help move the windmill over to the new hole using tractors & ropes - we sat up on the hill & watched but it heralded the end of the best Christmas holidays I think I ever had as a kid.
These rain lilies remind me of the farm as I brought these little bulbs with me wherever we lived - they will lie dormant in a pot until it actually rains on them & I really thought I had lost them after plating them out in the garden, in this last year with the dry so bad so you can imagine my surprise & pure delight when I went for my walk one morning & there they were to greet me - it took them a day or so for the flowers to bloom but the rain brought them back. It really is strange how somethings will not grow without the rain - you can keep them alive with tap water but the rain bring them into bloom ... pure magic...
Thankful... for the magic of Mother Nature ...

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With the rain about, the weather has been so humid & hot that working in my Gyrlie Shed has been 'hot stuff' ... sorry - sick joke ... anyway it's that time of year where I need to get in & do some work on Christmas Presents.
I love a Christmas where you make the presents & I've challenged my sister to make me some little thing for Christmas this year as we all have to watch our money spending... more than usual, this year... I don't think a Christmas has gone by in the last 45 years, that I haven't made something for someone in our family.
I think the first Christmas presents I made was homemade lollies. I remember Mum was so impressed she even bought me those wax paper cups, with Christmas motifs on them, to put them in & she showed me how to wrap them all up pretty - if the truth be known she no doubt had nothing else but she made it sound like a very special treat/idea. Plus she taught me how to make a few more different sorts of lollies I didn't even know she knew how to make. I had made chocolate fudge a couple of months before at Domestic Science [now that ages me eh?] & my sister who was married by then & lived in the big smoke came home that w/e & was in raps about my fudge so I asked Mum if she would get me the ingredients to make them & some other lollies, of which she did. I can remember standing at the wood stove stirring & stirring so the fudge would be nice & smooth & come out just right ... man did my sister love it. Mum told her not to eat it too fast as it had taken me a long time to make & it had only just made enough for everybody to have some [think she thought there might of been some hidden away... ha ha] Our family have always had a sweet tooth. This is what I'm working on at present ... it will be a cover for a purse diary.
Thankful... for family & all those happy memories...

119

Myyy... I'm just so thrilled with the visitor we had the other night ... isn't he lovely ... we have often heard him but have not sighted him or one of his kind, in ever so long ... maybe because of the drought but with all the rains I guess he was becoming rather waterlogged ... he was only too pleased to pose for me while I took these photos.
We didn't have green frogs, when we came to live here but our eldest daughter did where she lived - she had so many they were a very big nuisance &... well lets just say she was only too pleased to give me whatever we could catch.
It was like comedy show... we found a box with a good lid then lined it with old newspapers & garbags as we had been told if they sit in their urine it will burn their skin. Then we set about collecting them - well they only come out at night but we got a few ... into the box with a spray of water to keep them happy. We are sitting out on her verhanda having tea/evening meal & she quickly gets up & goes into the laundry then comes out with a silly smirk on her face. You see we hadn't told the men what we were doing nor had we told the kids - just would of got all outta hand if so many knew... Well apparently while we were eating tea she could see the frogs making their escape out of a very small air-hole in the old fruit box so she had gone into the laundry & the only thing she could find to plug the hole was an old saucepan...lol Anyway kids off to bed, men watching TV so back to it again & we found about 12 frogs - stuffed the holes & went to bed. By morning we had lost one or two but there again we might of counted wrong so we prepared them for the five an a half hour drive to our home. It was dreadfully hot weather so we had their box on a couple of ice packs & had sprayed them well. They really did travel well & that evening we opened the box & let the jump out just as a sprinkle of rain came. That was about 5 years ago now & we only see the odd one here & there but not for ages this last time so he really was a welcome visitor. Why don't we have green frogs here in our suburb ... well that's because the [introduced]toads kills them, sadly. If you look at the photos at the bottom of my blog that show my Gyrlie Shed you will see them in our water feature.
Thankful... for the beauty of nature's little creatures

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We have had some beautiful rain of late ... some folks have been a bit less fortunate & the rain/storms were very destructive & my heart goes out to them. I'm trusting that they are getting the help they need & will be back in their homes very shortly & have them repaired quickly.
I love coming getting up & finding my buckets full- this is just outside of my Gyrlie Shed where we don't have gutters on the awnings. This water means I can water my pot-plants when they dry out, we only have a very small tank on the side of the shed. Here it is still raining & the buckets are very full. Last week we got over 15inches[370-400mls] of rain which is a miracle - we are lucky if we were to get that much in a year & that with a great emphasis on 'lucky'.
Thankful... for good soaking rains - rains that are filling dams

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The Bougainvillea's are looking spectacular at present, a real summer flowerer - here are some of the lovely colours I've seen around my neighbourhood whilst doing my morning walks. Reading up on them, I see where the plant was named after a French explorer, scientist, Louis Antoine de Bougianville and the plant is originally from South America.
I remember when everyone used to have a Bougainvillea growing around the tank stand at the back of the house, or at the side ... now when you go driving you will see a large bougainvillea in the middle of a paddock & you know that was where the old farm house used to be ... sometimes the old tank stand is still standing minus the tank & it is totally covered by the plant. They do have dreadfully sharp thorns on them & one must be very careful with the disposal of the trimmed branches as I really don't think the thorns ever disintegrate - they will even penetrate right through your rubber thongs & if the tip should break-off in your foot it will fester for sure so no wonder they are left to do their own thing. These days they have bred them down to a pot-plant size plant[dwarf] but the flowers/leaves are still the same size as the mother plant & I think they are called bougainvillea bambinos & they come in all the lovely colours but I can't find if they still have thorns...
Thankful... for having eye-sight to see such beauty...

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Myy I sure have been AWL of late ... I've been fine just told myself I would not blog until I got a swap I'm in done ... it seems to have taken me months to do but I think all it was was I got a bit disheartened along the way but never mind they are done & in the mail so they should be arriving as their new neighbourhoods this week & O/S in a week or too...
So here is what I've been doing creatively ... In This House swap...
1st select material & make patterns for the cutting out of...
2nd Cut out material & do the fusing to felt[batting]& fuse backing material to visofix/vilene
3rd start the fun stuff ... sewing then embellishing...
4th sew the back & front together & finish the embellishing ...
This House is my House or Home ... inside the door it says 'a House is not a Home without Love at the Heart'

The second one is 'My Castle' ... behind the 'welcome' drawbridge it says 'My Home is My Castle'
My Castle is a bit of a tongue in cheek go at that fabulous 1997 Australian movie "The Castle" ... starring greats like Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry, Sophie Lee, Anthony Simcoe, Eric Bana & Bud Tingwell. We have several friends that liken DH & me to the Kerrigan's in The Castle. A great movie to get out when you are wanting a good Aussie laugh.

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Gosh it's already 11/11 which is a very special day here ... today is Remembrance Day at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month of each year. People will wear a red poppy in their lapel or pinned to their clothes as memory of those that have fought in our wars... I read today that some folks wear a white poppy as remembrance + a hope of world peace ... I was brought up with the story of the poppy being red & that was how they grew after all the fighting on the Fields of Flanders, WW1, signifying all the blood that had been shed.
When I was 13 my parents & I went to Melbourne to see my sister & family who were living there at the time - I clearly remember Dad taking us to the Shire of Remembrance there even though it was not in November he was fascinated in how they had built the Shrine so that at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month that the sun would shine on the special plaque... It was a very special place & building erected in 1934 [I had no idea it was that old until today]...
'Lest We Forget'
Thankful...to live in a free land ... appreciate our freedom ...

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Don't you just hate those day where you just have to & I mean HAVE 2 do some house chores ... mine that has been poking me in the eye for days is the fridge ... the freezer needed cleaning out & you know it took me all of about 30 mins. so while it is freezing up again I thought I would add a post ...
My girlfriend Jean lost her Dad the other week so I made her a card - Jean is a great card-marker so do have a looksee at her blog ... now Jean just loves flowers so I had my flower stamps out but it wouldn't come together & then I happened upon my bush hat stamp & I just knew I had to make her a card with that as her Dad was a great bushie & now that she has the card I can show you.
Thankful...for pain relief - I should take more notice of my pain as it tells us days ahead that we are getting rain ... gosh I'm sounding so old cause I remember when I was a child [just the other year...lol] the old fellows all riddled with 'arthur' would say 'It's going to rain next week I can feel it...' - one should not scoff at such things ...