149

When we went to our Grandies birthday the other day before we left for home we drove down to the waterfront near where we used to live & had coffee over looking the jetty ... what a lovely end to a wonderful day ...

I've been having a go at painting faces on fabric in the last while ... it has been fun & another steep learning curve as I have never been able to draw faces let along paint faces before so I was quite pleased with my effort - they are not fantastic but I think they show some character. These faces are for some dolls I'm working on at present.

This week the last of my gifts I was so fortunate to have won on One World One Heart arrived ... see my lovely collection of gifts. Lisa was our wonderful hardworking host - Thank you Lisa for another yearly event of such great fun. The pendant fish-watch is from Imelda at Meldy's Blog, thanks Imelda, then the ceramic pendant beads from Gaea at Gaea's Ceramic Studio Blog, thanks Gaea they are all so lovely & last but certainly not least was the lovely bookmark from Sandra at Thistle Cove Farm - don't you just love that name ... thanks Sandra... Next time I will try & remember to show you the little quiltie I made for my winner, Katina - I know that Katina was very pleased to received it.

Thankful for the spirit of giving in our world

146

Gosh days just seem to run into each other at the mo can't believe that Feb is just about finished - I know I said the same about Jan. Ohh BTW it's not an age thing either ...lol

I've been keeping busy at my sewing machine but can't show anything at present as I'm still awaiting the arrival of some parcels - just in case don't want them to see them here before they get them.

My sister & I have been busy the last few weeks visiting Aged Care facilities as we prepare to have our Mum placed as she is getting so fraile ... not that she thinks it's a good idea, most of the time, but at other times I can see a flash of relief come over her face so hopefully deep down she is accepting that life is changing for her. It's a dreadful feeling for her & us as we want her safe & cared for but also understand her not wanting to leave her home of about 50 years. Well visiting all these places does take time [& energy, I must say...] some are dreadful places that I'm sure the government isn't keeping a good enough eye on but we won't be putting their names down on our list that's for sure but some places are just so lovely ... we were wanting to put our names down in a couple of them now - you were made to feel so welcome ... don't some people just have that knack of making you feel at ease & so comfortable. We have two more to visit this week & we feel we have our five then that we are pleased with. Mum had to be accessed again yesterday & she is still classed as low care so even though she is not pleased with the result it was good - why do the aged [of her era] be so obsessed with getting a good tick on their results cause as soon as we said she got a good tick she was much happier.

Well I couldn't pop in without a photo ... this was taken at Ban Ban Springs on the way home from visiting our eldest daughter - it is only the second time I remember seeing mistletoe in flower. I don't really know why they call it mistletoe but it is one of those plants that only grows by attaching themselves to another tree - in this case a lovely old gum - they don't kill their host but grow quite happily with it. This is what I found about it "Mistletoes are aerial parasitic plants that use other plants to obtain their water and mineral nutrients" The flowers look very colourful.

Thankful ... for the beauty of nature

136

Seem like forever now I have been busy drawing out - from cardboard templates/stencils I've made. Cutting out little flowers etc, using every skerrick of fabric I start to use - those pieces that still have some fusing on them. I know a lot of you draw & cut the image out first on the fusing then iron it to the fabric but I just seem to do it the other way around - that's me always have to be a bit different ... wait a minute I only just read the other day that is one of the things that make an artist ... doing things different or back-2-front...

My flowers looked a bit lop-sided [as I said in the post before] so I decided to use my punches as templates - I must get a bit fussy I think as I like them to look 'right' although not everything in nature is perfect in shape, I know, not that 'mine' are perfect but I think I do 'over' try... ya know what I mean ... I think my girlfriend says I'm being a bit pedantic!!!

Sooo what do I say of my DH when he asks me... 'couldn't really do 'something' with these bits?' ... oooooh cheeky Buggar ... just because it was his birthday ...

Doesn't my inside garden have lovely colour ... in flowers & in circles ... love colour...

I must have enough for 10 Art Quilts I think ...

I knew those Ferrero Rocher boxes would come in handy & with Christmas just gone a new supply ... ohhh the thrill of it all ...

Thankful ... for finding the simple pleasures in my life ...

135

Here is the Art Quilt I made my Mum - I hung a calendar off the bottom of it so she can look at it all year ... [Quilt approx 10" X 12"]

A close-up of the butterfly - love the dimension
I got the idea/inspiration from Kellie's lovely ArtWork on Don't Look Now ... if you pop on over to Kellie's she has a free download of the cushion she just had as a giveaway plus the flower patterns ... ummm when I look at Kellie's flowers mine do leave a bit to be desired with their lop-sided look ... ha ha ... adds to the character ... welll that's my story & I'm sticking to it...
BTW Mum loved it ... but then she would ...
Thankful ... for cooler weather - something about an overcast, drizzy wet day, seems to clean & clear the soul & mind ...

134

This is a wonderful little poem that I found on Maureen's blog & as DH & I are a tad deaf we both got a real laugh out of it & I'm sure you will too, especially if you have this slight affliction, so I'm sharing it with you all too ... th
It Pays to Listen
When they gave out brains,
I thought they said 'trains'
I missed mine.
When they gave out looks,
I thought they said 'books'
I didn't want one.
When they gave out noses,
I thought they said 'roses'
I asked for a red one.
When they gave out chins,
I thought they said 'gins'
I asked for a double.
When they gave out heads,
I thought they said 'beds'
I asked for a soft one,
IT PAYS TO LISTEN !
Ohh isn't this so true ... thanks Maureen ...
Thankful ... for loved ones that show patience & tolerance ...

133

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

112

I've had two great finds of the day ...
While blog-surfing today... well really I was doing a bit of a clean-up of my emails on Gmail & that's when I got to do a bit of blog-surfing & I found Manxgirl & she has a lovely idea on her blog ... at the end of each post she lists 3 Gratitudes - I so love this idea that I'm going to do something like that on my blog from now on - maybe not 3 but definitely 1 cause we really have so much to be grateful/thankful for in our life...
I also popped on by a local PostCrossing girl's blog & Katy sent me looking at Where the Blog are You? where Louisa is featuring Australian, Folks living in Oz or ex-pat Australian Blogs ... you should pop on over & have a looksee...
Thankful ... for having the time it takes each day to blog-surf...