IT'S FREYA'S BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday Freya

In our thoughts and wishing you a wonderful day.

Love from Nanny and Papa (and Molly) xxx

IT'S HOT AND I CAN'T DECIDE WHERE TO HANG THE PICTURES

It's very hot here today and this weather is to continue for the foreseeable future with no rain on the horizon.  We're getting to the 'banging our heads off the wall' stage and are looking forward to a break in the weather.  "It WILL rain again!" we remind each other.

Do you like the photograph of the shed.  Some time ago, we went for a drive with Roger and Anne to Killarney which isn't too far from Allora when we came across this shed.  The shed shows the life of the Blue Cows on the Farm and I think it's hilarious.  I'm not sure if that is the title of the artwork, but that's what I have named it.

"Time to get the billy on the boil.  Let's make sure this fire doesn't decide to take off into the forest!"

Papa and I have had a fairly quiet day.  One of Papa's friends popped in this morning before I had even had my breakfast.  "Would you like a coffee Keith?" I asked.  "No, no Connie!" he said.  "I'm just returning a book for David." 

In he came into Papa's office, sat himself down and about two hours later said "Well I'd better be off now!"  It was nearly 10.00am when I had my breakfast.

After breakfast I decided to give my office and Papa's office a big tidy.  My office had become a bit of a dumping ground what with Christmas and then the painters.  I really got stuck in, dusted all the books and pictures, cleaned the windows and my desks and then gave the floor a good wash.  Same with Papa's. 

I also dragged all our pictures and paintings from my office, Papa's office and the guest room into the library where they are all propped up.  I've been wandering around with different ones saying to Papa, "What about this one?" as I hold it up against the wall.  He's been very patient and stops what he's doing (preparing dinner), dries his hands and comes and holds the picture or quilt up for me to stand back and look at.

I've given up for the day though.  It's too hot and I'm having difficult making a decision.

Tomorrow's another day and hopefully I'll make a few decisions then.

I can't see what's written on the mug, but from memory the cows name was on the mug.

Well I'm away for my wee rendezvous with Papa in the garden.

Love Nanxxxx  PS  Don't forget to send my a copy of your essay. 

LITTLE THINGS AND UNCLE ALAN'S BIRTHDAY

Well hello there!  I've been wandering around the house taking photographs of 'little things' that make me smile.  This one was given to Molly by Colette and whenever I step on Mr Rooster, I just about have a heart attack!  Do you remember what he sounds like girls?

This lovely little puffin was given to me by Auntie Amanda.  Once when we were visiting she took us to this amazing place - somewhere in East Lothian where there were lots of cliffs and we could see some puffins too.  Here's a picture of the cliffs.

I think this is Timmy Willie, one of the characters in a book by Beatrix Potter.  He sits on the kitchen window and watches me doing the dishes.

I went to church today.  It was a lovely service with our regular minister Andrew Clarke.  His 'word' for the day was ...be still and know that I am God... which comes from one of the Psalms.  I think we sometimes have to remember to do this when things get a bit difficult and don't always go the way we would like.  We just have to stop what we are doing, thinking or worrying about and remember that God knows us, cares for us and loves us more than we can imagine and no matter what situation we may find ourselves in, when we turn to him, he will make that situation work for our good.

Today is Uncle Alan's birthday.  Here are a couple of 'oldie' foties.

This one's of Uncle Alan with Auntie Amanda and this one below is Uncle Alan on his own.

Well I'm away to have a cuppa.

Love Nanxxxx

I'M EXHAUSTED!

As I said, the painters left yesterday and we decided not to touch anything until today, giving the gloss-work a chance to completely dry which it was this morning.

I didn't know where to begin.  Can't remember what I actually started doing.   However, I've got to the point now where the library is fairly organized as is the kitchen/dining area.  I had to wash all the windows in both rooms, as they were all dusty, had fingermarks all over them with the painters using the panes to balance themselves and there were also spots of paint on them too.  I just got to the end of the ones in the kitchen when I noticed the house next door and realized that there's going to be a lot of dust coming my way in the next few weeks.  Ah weel!  We'll handle that then.

We've actually hung a couple of pictures up in the library.  One that Uncle Aaron painted - over the fireplace again.

We moved the gas fire that was sitting in the hall outside Papa's office down under the house.  Why I have had it sitting there for nearly three years I DO NOT KNOW!  Now I have the chair Papa made in that spot and a lovely print that Auntie Emma gave Papa for Christmas.  It's a picture of a chair and says VAN GOUGH  THE CHAIR which I thought looked kinda nice beside Papa's chair.

We haven't hung anything up in the kitchen yet except I put my lovely hearts back up on the windows again, and Mabel my redundant bottle opener. 

Do you like the new oil-cloth I bought for the table?  I bought it at Hannas and because it is mainly grey, I thought it would go well with the cupboards in the kitchen.

We've also decided while we're doing all this redecoration stuff, we would get a new outdoor setting for out the back.  It's due to be delivered in the next couple of weeks so in the meantime, Papa and I moved the front one out to the back as it's a lot cooler there in the mornings.  Papa asked the painters if anyone would like our old table and chairs and Chris quickly said he would love them.  So, he and Papa took the table to bits and Chris loaded them all into his utility.  He said he restores furniture and he will store the table and chairs and restore them sometime in the future. 

Well, that's what I've been up to while you have all been asleep.  Looking at my clock here I can see it's about 6.30am and is probably still dark.  Muma mentioned that you may be going skating on a lake that has frozen over.  If you do, take care and don't do any of those gymnastic type moves on the ice.

Here's a photograph of your Muma taken a long time ago when she was in Lucerne in Switzerland.

Love Nanxxxx

FRIDAY QUILTING TODAY

Hi Liliane

It's been a lovely day today.  It's 5.17pm and I've just come in from the garden after sitting for a wee while with Papa while we both chatted about our day over a glass of wine - well not one glass of wine, we had a glass each!

This morning, only one painter arrived - Corey.  He started off by telling me he was going to give the place a good vacuum and then 'start again'.  And this is what he did.   He cleared away all the dust sheets and proceeded to vacuum all the dust from the previous three days.  He then laid down fresh dust sheets in preparation to paint the skirting boards.  Papa explained to me that he couldn't paint the skirting boards with all the dust lying around.  If a gust of wind had blown and blown dust all over his newly painted skirting boards he would have had to wait until they dried, sanded them all off and started again, which of course would most likely have added an extra day to his work.

Here's a picture of Corey vacuuming.

He's in the kitchen/family room in this picture, so you can see some of the paintwork.  Unfortunately, the air-conditioner now looks a bit 'old' with all the new paintwork around it. 

After Corey arrived which was around 8.30am, I headed off for a shower and got ready for my first quilting of the year at Robyn's.

I was the first to arrive but others arrived soon after. 

I took the Hebridean quilt with me and got started with the fishing trawler and managed to get it pinned on and ready to applique.  Picture before...and

after...

It was lovely catching up with my pals and seeing what they have been working on over the Christmas holidays.  I myself have done very little as I find it quite difficult to sew in the hot weather and when I try in the evenings, I end up sewing insect wings into my work!

Robyn has been working on various blocks representing stories from the Bible.  This one of the Nativity took my breath away.  To begin with, I didn't notice what she had used as the stable.  I just looked at the block and said "Oh!  That's just gorgeous" and then I realized what she had done for the stable and said "Oh my goodness!  That's amazing!"  It gave me goosebumps Liliane.  It's a wonderful thing to look at a piece of work, whether it be sewing, art, wood etc and see the thoughts the creator of the piece of art has had in their minds when they have made it. 

Robyn's friend Pam who lives in Ipswich - on your way to Brisbane - brought the beautiful quilt she is making.  It is a design of Robyn's but Pam has made it her own by doing it slightly different to Robyn.  Where Pam has made a lyrebird, Robyn had a chook.  Here's Pam's lyrebird.

Don't you just love it?  What about that tail?   This particular quilt features quite a lot of birds.

Look at the size of these borders?  The work in this quilt is enormous. 

Here's another photograph of one of Robyn's biblical stories - the ark.

We all had a lovely day.  Papa came with Molly to pick me up in the afternoon.  Robyn's dog Henri just loves it when Molly comes to call and after Molly had given me a lovely welcome, she and Henri had a wee play together.

Tonight Anne Green is picking me up to go to a garden club.  I've never been before so will let you know how it goes.

Well my dear, I'm away to make some scrambled eggs on toast for tea.  We still can't do a lot, even though the painters have finished.  The skirtings are still pretty sticky, so we'll leave everything and see how things are tomorrow.  I don't want to start moving dust around the place :)

Love Nanxxxx  PS  Robyn read this out to the group...

You should learn that you cannot be loved by all people.

You can be the finest plum in the world...

   Ripe...juicy...succulent...

And offer yourself to all...

              BUT...

You must remember that there will be people who do not like plums!

You must understand that if you are the world's finest plum and someone does not like plums, you

have a choice of becoming a banana.

BUT, you must be warned that if you choose to become a banana, you will be a second-rate banana.

You must remember that there will be people who do not like bananas.

Furthermore, you can spend your life trying to be the best banana

(which is impossible if you are a plum) or:

you can seek again to be the best plum.

IT'S AUSTRALIA DAY TODAY!

The man who has been named Australian of the Year is

Emeritus Professor Alan Mackay-Sim

Biomedical scientist treating spinal cord injuries

An inspirational scientist and international leader in stem cell research, Professor Alan Mackay-Sim has given hope to thousands of Australians with spinal cord injuries. A global authority on the human sense of smell and the biology of nasal cells, Alan led the world’s first clinical trial using these cells in spinal cord injury. In 2014, Alan’s research helped play a central role in the world’s first successful restoration of mobility in a quadriplegic man. As the director of the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research for a decade, Alan’s research has championed the use of stem cells to understand the biological bases of brain disorders and diseases such as schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia. Alan’s pioneering work has led to collaborations with teams of health professionals who are translating his research into clinical practice. He has laid the foundation for the next generation of researchers and demonstrated the value of inquiry, persistence and empathy.

Photos

As you can see here Liliane, Mr. Mackay-Sim's research helped a quadriplegic man to regain movement.  Quadriplegic means that, either through disease or an accident, a person is paralysed in both the arms and legs usually as a result of damage to the spinal chord.  This must have been amazing for the man who received this ground-breaking treatment.

The painting continues, with Chris and Cody here today.  Sam, Chris' son has taken the day off today as his Dad says that he isn't well trained in gloss work yet.  Sam has just finished school and has been helping his Dad during his school holidays for quite a few years.  Chris was telling me this morning, that Sam has decided to take a year off before going to University in order to save some money before leaving home.  He will continue to work with his Dad, this time though he will be working full-time.

When he heads off next year, he is going to study in Sydney to be a film producer.  If you want to know more about what a film producer does, just click on the link above.

Chris, thank goodness remembered that today was a public holiday and picked up the new paint for the library on his way home yesterday afternoon.  He's now in the midst of painting the room.  I've just taken a photograph of him from my office.

I'm much happier with this colour.  What do you think Liliane?

Here's a photograph of the stuff the painters put over the books to protect them from dust and paint.

Yesterday after the painters left, Papa and I spent some time in the garden and I took a few photographs for you.

Here's one with Keith the builder next door.  He was pulling all the cladding off the back of the house and was making quite a racket.

Another photograph of  Molly, happy in the garden now that the painters had left.

And another couple as Chris continues around the library.

The bottom picture give a better idea of the colour than the one above.  It's taken looking into Papa's office.

Tomorrow I'm heading off to Robyn's for my first monthly quilting at her place for the year.  I'll be taking the Hebridean quilt and giving it some thought while I drink cups of tea, eat yummy food and chat away to ma pals.  Will remember to take the camera.

Love Nanxxxx

STILL IN THE MIDST OF PAINTING THE KITCHEN AND LIBRARY

Here's a photograph of Papa putting up a couple of architraves on the window in the library yesterday.

Well, it's all go here at number seven!  Papa's just finished mowing the lawn and is now charging around with the whipper snipper.  I can see where I'm sitting - out on the back deck - and hear the digger next door which is doing goodness knows what but includes going quite deep with its front shovel in the back garden.

The painters have arrived and are spreading out all the dust sheets again and the air is getting full again of the smell of paint.

Molly isn't happy tied up here beside me and is thinking "Oh no!  Not another day like yesterday!"  She doesn't like being tied up as she is unable to keep everything in order beyond the fence :)

I'm not sure what I'm going to do today with everything all higglty pigglty.  And it's to be very hot again today which makes it almost impossible to do much anyway.  I've just checked your weather for Wednesday.  You're to have a top of zero and a minimum of minus four so make sure when you head off to school that you are super warmly wrapped up.  Mama said that your bus trip to school is beautiful as it travels through gorgeous countryside.  The next time she or Dada take you to school Liliane, would you ask them to take a photograph for me and then I can imagine what your daily journey to school looks like from the window of your bus.

How is your gymnastic course going?  Have you been able to do any new gymnastic-type moves? 

Have you heard from your Daddy yet?  Has he arrived safely?  If he sends any photographs, would you get Mama to send one through.  I've just checked what language they speak in Ethiopia.  It's AMHARIC and looks very strange - lots of squiggles. 

It's just after 4.00pm and the painters have all gone home.  They'll be back tomorrow morning at8.00am and have said they won't finish tomorrow, it will be Friday before they finish. 

They put some of my chosen colour - Angel Shoes on one of the walls in the library and a short time later I head Christ shouting "Connie!  Could you come and check that this colour is OK?"  And OK it wasn't.  It didn't look at all like the colour on the card and Chris himself agreed.  He took a bit of the colour from the tin and smeared it next to the colour on the card and indeed, it was the same colour.  It was so PURPLE Liliane.  You know how much I love purple, but not this one, no siree!  He tried halving the colour with white and then three quartering it, but no matter what he did we didn't like it.

The final decision after a lot of thought is that we will go with the colour in the hall.  The kitchen is nearly finished and looks more green than blue (it's the same colour as in the guest room and my bedroom) so we didn't want to come in the front door to Brazilian Grey, then another colour in the library and then yet another colour in the kitchen.  So, Brazilian Grey in the hall and the library.  I think it should work well.  There are all the books, the dresser, rug and cream curtains to break it up, so should be fine - fingers and toes crossed.

You can see how the painter was trying different shades of the Angel Shoes colour, but it was way to purple and lavendery.

In this photograph you can see the hall colour - the darker colour and the Angel Shoes.  Do you think we've made the right decision Liliane?  I hope so.  We'll know tomorrow when the library gets the full treatment!

I can hear Papa!  He has just brought the car in.  As always I hope he hasn't run over dear Molly.  But she always goes to him when he opens the gate and jumps in beside him for the ride down the driveway.  When she gets out of the car to greet me, it's as though she has been on a long trip.

Well of for ma wee get-together with Papa in the garden.

efaqrehallahw  xxx  If you turn the 'e's upside down and add two dots above the 'a's this is Ethiopian for Love youxxxx

THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR

Yesterday, I popped in to see how Keith the builder is going with his renovations on the house next door.

Can you see that he's taken down the small porch where the old couple used to sit?  I wish he would take down the two terrible fly screens too.  In fact I don't know why he just doesn't pull the whole lot down and start again.

I had a lovely chat to Keith who is very excited about his renovations of the house.  Inside he has pulled out everything and is going to add some more on to the house out the back.

Here's a photograph of the inside at the moment.

Still quite a bit of work to be done!

Well, the painters all arrived this morning.  There are three of them.  Chris and his son Sam and another young man called Cody.  They all seem very nice.  Everything is draped with plastic and dust sheets.  They used a  Gladwrap-type of stuff to cover the bookcase so that all the books won't get dusty.

They've been busy sanding and filling up gaps and any bits on the wood that's a bit rough.  I noticed that Chris was busy with a very long pole doing the kitchen ceiling, and from the looks of it, the ceiling in the 'library' has been done too.

Troy Markey the electrician came in today as well to change some sockets that are a bit yucky and old with fresh new ones.  He also brought a new fan for the library.  The one that was there was way too high and Troy couldn't get an extension pole to make it lower.  So a new one it is and it's just lovely.

Papa and I are a bit locked-in, he in his office and side verandah and me in my office.  Sometimes I go into his office and lie down on the couch with my book.  When it gets a bit cooler, we will take ourselves out into the garden with a wee beverage.

I went to the library this morning to see if I could get a few interior design books.  I ended up with heaps on a table in the library, but most were pretty old.  The two I did bring home weren't too bad, but not brilliant.  One was on Scandinavian design which I really like but the book was just full of these strange chairs the Scandinavians are famous for.  So that's one to go back to the library.  The other one was called FINISHING TOUCHES and again not much in it to get me overly excited, so back that one goes too.

I'm reading a great book at the moment called MY BRILLIANT FRIEND by Elena Ferrante an Italian author.  I'm not reading it in Italian though, I'm reading an English translation - just in case you were wondering;)  So, while I was at the library, I ordered the next two as this one that I'm reading at the moment is the first of a trilogy.  Although the librarian said the author actually did a fourth in the series.  I am so enjoying the book.  Perhaps you can tell Mama about it.  She would just love it.

After the library I headed for home and just as I was heading into the lift, out of the corner of my eye I saw the café and quickly rushed in and picked up a couple of sandwiches for lunch.  Daddy was so pleased when I arrived home.  "You brought some lunch!" he exclaimed when I fell out of the car with all my books and purchases.  I was very pleased with myself for remembering we wouldn't be able to get into the kitchen what with the painters an all.

After collecting the sandwiches, I made my way to a sewing shop which wasn't too far away to see if they had any light boxes.  Do you remember I had a light box in Summerfield which I used for tracing shapes on to fabric?  Anyway I managed to get one which is super thin and about the size of an A4 sheet of paper.  It will come in handy not only here but to throw in my bag if I need it at quilting.  So Liliane, I'm really getting ready to knock the Hebridean quilt on the head.

Also popped into Hannas and picked up some new tea-towels.  A good number of my present ones are beginning to look like rags.  Also picked up new oil-cloth material for the kitchen table.  It's in grey and will match the kitchen quite well.  The walls are going to be in the greeny/blue we have in our bedroom so all the 'red' bits are out the window now!

Well I'd better go now.

Love Nanxxxxx