191

Guess what!!!

You know that "time" is going just as fast in 2010 as it did in 2009... ha ha

I bet, I didn't have to tell you that one... especially for those who are back at work...

A friend, Miss D took me away for a couple of days visiting our girlfriend on the border [Border Girl] & her man [Mr. Music], it was a nice change not to have to drive myself. Thanks Miss D & thanks to Border Girl & Mr Music for taking us everywhere & finding such great places for us to spend our money... ha ha Will tell you more about that adventure later on...

Today, I'm packing the Christmas decorations away... My Man took them down for me yesterday... Bet he had fun finding them in the garden as I tend to hide them if I can... ha ha

Say G'day to Purple Welcome girl... a newly acquired friend for my front garden.

My Man is afraid someone will want to take her so he makes sure she is well secured with zippie ties - not always in the most appropriate places but what can I say his intention is good.

Before you grab the Santa Key, did you notice the lovelies at the front...

Front door star has been in the family for years - picked by the our kids...

Notice the heavy duty fly-screened door to keep bugs & burglar's out & dogs & good people in...

Just by the front door... poor plant is an imitation bamboo... belongs to the grass family. it has to have a severe hair-cut a while ago to survive the dry & heat & is taking longer than usual to come back... but come back it is... a true survivor...

I know it's a it of a challenge but there are strings of golden angels & beads hanging in this crouton tree pot-plant... we think it has been potted for well over 30 years... I just love it's colours so it has pride of place in front of the door...

With our style of house we have lots of off the wall pot-plants... This ivy just keeps going on, no matter what the weather... forever green...

OK, you have seen what's inside, so we are out the back now & still more hanging pot-plants they even hang off each other & I use whatever I can find to decorate them & make them more colourful & fun... Loved the mirrored balls when they came out a few years ago even if they don't have hangers on them anymore they sparkle in the plants... either in the sunshine or the moonlight...

Again a bit hard to see, no doubt, my beads & mirrored balls hanging in the water garden feature..

Now you can see why I say it must be a bit of a challenge for My Man to find them all...

I use anything I can find to hang my plants in... here we have a kitchen ceiling cooking pot-hanger & the frames off old dead free-standing electric fans.

Well must be off now & pack them all away for another year... thanks for popping in... Next time I'll try to show you all the crocheted presents I made...

Angel Messages...

Discover the brilliance within yourself.

In so doing, you will unearth

the brilliance in every person you meet.

190

I thought I would show you some of the decorations I have in our house,
before it's time to pack them away again for another year...
This is a decoration I received this year from my friend Rob

I don't think I'll be putting it away with the Christmas ones as it's

too special & wasn't really given as a Christmas gift...

Rob has had lots, & I mean lots of ops on her eyes, in the last few

years, so to receive this hand made gift from her is extra special.

Last Christmas I gave her a book with this pattern in it...

she so wanted to make it for me this year, with some help

& with lots of love sewn in...

This is a glass decoration, which was always a favourite

of my Dad's so when we packed up Mum's house I found

it in among some Christmas paper wrapping so, I quickly

retrieved it & brought it home. It's a bird now hanging

off a set of jail keys I've bought in my travels...

This is the lovely enamel bell my eldest gave me

a couple of Christmas' ago... she knows how I love

special decorations... note it has an angel on it, too...

This is another decoration/ornament I retrieved from

Mum's house... Mr. & Mrs. Claus & tree that stack like

Babushka dolls... I think they bought them in Tasmania

when they traveled there... made of Huon pine timber...

These next ones are the Disneyland Christmas decorations

I told you about on Wednesday
This is Mickey Mouse...

and here is Minnie...

I have a large garden & I like to put decorations around

in my pot plants, etc... so I will show you that next time...

Angel Messages...

No matter how difficult your circumstances,

Never give up hope.

Trust in the wisdom of the Creator

as, out f the blue, events may turn in your favour.

187

Here is some more Christmas decorations before I have to put them away for another year...

The photo quality might not be too good as I took them late on Christmas eve...

This arch is going from our kitchen into our lounge - front door open cause it was soo hot... opps, sorry, that was to let Santa in... right?

I love to decorate this arch each year & I put the wonderful bauble decorations our eldest daughter has given us over the years...

The green tartan tells us when her first born arrived & the others over time when she gave us another Grandie... even Gilly gets her own bauble... the last Christmas she was home I got the lovely enamel bell... it is beautiful & very special...

You might not be able to notice it but there are another 2 decorations hanging in the arch & they are very special to me too, as I bought them when I went to Disneyland in Los Angles just before Christmas 2000, when Disneyland was celebrating it's 45th birthday. I'll try & take another photo of them tomorrow in better light.

Here is my garland of crocheted stars, hanging above the lounge - Michelle of Royal Sisters showed us how to make these this year with her generous giving of her granny twinkle pattern...

Here is our little antique metal swirly tree - I got that lovely fold-up tree on one of my craft teaching trips with Miss Lucy, when we went to Berry, New South Wales... not many decorations on it this year, just some of the extra baubles... we only have a little house so some things have to come in small versions... ha ha

Santa hadn't arrived yet but the postie had left a post box for the Grandies from their Uncle & Auntie who live way out west...

Notice the lovely painted cream can... I'll tell you it's story another time but it's extra special...

'No', Shrek does not belong to the Grandies, although they are always allowed to play with him, but he is actually mine... I got a great deal at a toy shop one year, so I got him for me... yes I'm a Shrek lover/groupie...

At Christmas time he is my Santa's Helper... doesn't he look smart in his apron... he's not at all grumpy over Christmas - Princess Fiona makes sure of that...

That's all for this time... more later as I have to go make my resident 'grumpy' some tea... ha ha

Angel Messages...

Be yourself, you could not create

a single hair or single finger.

Your abilities are granted to you

by the love & power of the Creator.

186

While I'm telling you about Christmas decorations with meaning/stories...
Here is another one we have had for many years & if no other decorations get put up, this one surely does... Santa was given to us by our families friends, Gloria & Bruce...
Isn't it a lovely way to remember folks that you don't get to see all that often now. They have a very special place in our family especially when we were still bringing up our kids.
Santa [sorry photo not too good but you get the idea...] has a crocheted thread from his hat that holds all the Christmas cards... I got my Mum to extend his cord one year - he hangs in our kitchen.
I will have to try & work out a pattern for him this year as it looks rather simple - I think... ha ha... famous last words I guess... but I will try before I pack him away...
Angel Messages...
Self-righteousness & prejudice will not afford you real insight into the matter.
Open your mind & be brave enough to communicate.

185

I do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as we did... filled with family... one of my own & hers... my sibling - sister & her some of hers plus our Mum/Nanna... then visits from another daughter & hers yesterday... now all have gone back to their respective homes...
And we are on our own... well just for today anyway...

I thought I would show you this again... a decoration my Mum made, like some 25 years ago we were working out... ohh how time flies when your living life...

Each winter my Mum & Dad would go up the coast to a very popular holiday area called Hervey Bay [pronounced Harvey Bay... much to the Mexicans amusement]... They would camp up there in their caravan for 3 months & they used to just love it.

The further north you went the warmer the winters were... not to forget the winter whiting would be biting so well at this time, too.

The Mexicans [people from down south & over the border, usually Victoria] would come up there, for a warmer winter so they all become great friends... the men off fishing & the women folk doing craft... mostly crochet. This was a few years before the Grey Nomads, got their signature name, I'd say, as they were all retired folk, out to enjoy a cheaper holiday & meeting new people, plus of course the weather.

So this is from one of those many holidays... Now it was in the times when a six pack of cans - drink cans [be it soft drink or beer] used to come with the plastic rings around them to hold them all together, so you could pick the whole six pack up in one go... a throw away plastic waste product...

With these plastic rings, the girls could cut 4 good full rings... which they crocheted around in the [60 treble/double crochet ]... then a row of 3 chain, single crochet into top of each second treble [30 ch loops]... easy peasey so far... Now you need 9 rings - three green, three red & three white. Single crochet around a small childs hard plastic bangle, this would make the hanger/handle.

From this hanger they would plait a 'rope' to hold the crocheted plastic rings which were hung in order of red, green then white.

Leaving the tail of the plait hanging at the bottom.

The rings were slip stitched in place & slightly turned up in the front where they would sew a bell in place.

Such a shame you can't get these plastic rings any longer as they were just the right weight to crochet around then turn up the edge but one day, we'll find something else to use, I'm sure... maybe you know of something we could substitute for it...

Yep they did the re-cycle long before it was to became so 'in'.

I think with all these photos you will get the drift of how it was made... each member of the family got one to keep & treasure... I love Christmas decorations with a special meaning or a story to them... don't you?
Angel Messages...

Instead of considering a matter from your single viewpoint,

try to observe it from the perspective of others.

Instead of worrying only about your own interests,

consider the well-being of the whole.

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

120

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...