A NEW PLANT AND AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH

Do you like the new plant Papa planted up for me for the kitchen?  I love it and have been putting it here, there and everywhere to see where it looks best.  I think Chooky looks lovely beside it, but Chooky has flown the coop since I took this photograph.  She is now up on top of the cabinet you can see above the plant.

And this photograph, can you guess who the man is?

Yes!  It's Uncle Angus from Glasgow.  Doesn't he look funny?  Do you like the gorgeous curtain behind him.  I think Auntie Mairi bought it in France.  And his sun hat!  And the lovely bricks...and what's on the shelf behind him?  And what about those socks!

Tomorrow I'm off to quilting at Robyn's.  My goal for the day is to embroider a fence on my Hebridean quilt and discuss with Robyn whether to put on borders or not.  Actually I've made the fence already.  It's the wire I have to learn how to embroider.

Also, I have an appointment with the dentist to check everything is healing in my mouth the way it should.  I'm still feeling quite unwell with it all.  Getting quite fed up if the truth be known.  I went and did a big pantry/laundry shop this morning and by the time I drove home and realized that Papa was next door chatting to the Builder and I probably had the task of bringing all the shopping in myself, I just about fell on the ground crying.  "Yoo hoo!" shouted Papa over to me in a very happy voice.  "Could you please come over and help me with this shopping." I replied.  He came over very quickly.  I think he could detect from my voice I was a bit at the end of my tether.  He helped me in with the shopping, sat me down, put the fan on and made me a nice cup of tea.

I am now quite recovered and starting a list for when I feel able to get going again.

Quote from the wee doggie book.

"A friend is someone that won't talk behind your tail when you leave the room."



Love Nanxxxx

IT RAINED!

Hello my darlings

Yesterday, we were very excited because it rained!  Yes it rained!  I can't remember the last time it rained.  We had around 29 mls which will really help everything to green up a bit and help the trees in the garden.  They have been under a lot of stress with the extreme hot weather conditions, many of them dropping their leaves in order to conserve their energy.

I can't tell you how wonderful it was listening to the thunder and the rain on the roof and see it pouring down the street.  Today of course was the big mop-up which wasn't too difficult, especially as the temperature had dropped quite considerably.

So, it was up with all the windows, open all the doors, get out the blower and then the bucket with hot soapy water to wash the verandahs.

Also today, our new table and chairs for the back deck were due to be delivered and delivered they were -  just before lunch.  It was quite a job taking off all the wrapping on everything.  I was exhausted by the end of taking off the wrapping from one chair.  But together with Papa we managed to get all the wrapping off the chairs and table, then the legs on to the table.  Here's a photograph not long after the delivery.

At this stage I had taken off most of the wrapping from two of the chairs.  Papa was dashing around the garden with his mower so that he could put all the clippings in the bin before the bin-man arrived. Once he had completed the mowing, he came up on to the verandah to help me with the rest of the unpacking.

We finished off the unpacking by 12.30pm at which time, I had to leave for my Bible Study up at the church.  By the time I arrived back home, everything was unpacked and Papa had prepared a lovely late lunch.  We are very pleased with our new table and chairs although there are a couple of dents in the table.  Papa telephoned the store where we had bought them and they said they would organize a new table.  By the time we had finished our lunch, we decided we could live with the couple of dents and Papa telephoned the man back again and said not to worry about getting us another table.

While Papa was at the library

and before the table and chairs were delivered, I had a lovely time doing all my household chores, especially as the weather was much cooler.

I had planned to do some more sewing on my 'field' for my Hebridean quilt but haven't managed to get to it.  Hopefully I will do a bit more tomorrow.

My new 'field' is supposed to represent a field that has been harvested.  I am on to my third go and I think this one will be a goer.  My first two attempts just didn't work out.  Every time I tried to do a new 'strip' it wouldn't sit straight or wasn't big enough.  I was nearly tearing my hair out yesterday with it. I had drawn an image of what I wanted to do and it just wasn't working.  In the end, I cut up the image I had drawn and am slowly doing one field strip at a time.   With the first couple attempts, I used beige, gold and dark brown colours, but on this third attempt, because I'm so tired of the whole thing, I moved to different colours with the main colour green and am really pleased.

This afternoon, I had Bible Study up at the church.  The minister's wife Simone takes the study and she is so lovely.  We are doing a study on the book of John.  One of the main verses we looked at today was when Jesus said to his disciples "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.  No-one comes to the Father but through me!"  What an amazing thing for anyone to say of themselves.  The ladies in the group are just lovely.  We start the study with a cup of coffee or tea and some cake - of course!

Well my dears I must away.

Hope you have had a lovely day today at school.

Love Nannyxxxxx

Papa is in the process of making Nicoise Salade for dinner.

We've had a bit of rain, probably 2mls which isn't a lot to write home about but about which I'm writing to you about!  It's very cloudy, but I've checked the radar and we've missed all the rain.  It's now on its way through the Lockyer Valley and down to Ipswich.  Papa's just opened the doors and turned off the air-conditioner and there's that humid smell there is after the rain.  Oh loovly!  I can feel cooler air coming in.  Here's the thermometer from yesterday.

This morning our new vet telephoned to see how Molly was.  Wasn't that kind of him?  Papa told him that she still didn't seem her usual bouncy self.  He said it may be a good idea to discontinue the Cortisone tablets.  She had one this morning, so hopefully in the next day or so she will begin to be her old self again, running down the verandah and barking at every Tom, Dick and Harry who decides to walk past her fence.

Papa had a very busy morning this morning.  He had an appointment with our Bank Manager, Charlie who has just finished building a new home for himself and his family.  Well, he didn't actually build it, the Builder built it but he asked Papa if he would check that all was OK before he paid the last payment to the Builder.  Papa met Charlie around 10.30am and spent about an hour and a half with him going over the house which Papa says is really big.  There weren't too many issues.  The main one was the one where when you come in the front door and look down the hall, the door at the end hasn't been centralized on the wall.  I think this will be quite a fiddly job to fix but when fixed will look much better.   I was going to go with Papa but then I thought I would probably be hanging around for ages and would start crying and crying in the gutter "I want to go home!  I want to go home NOW!" and I really couldn't be doing that what with the Bank Manager and all.  So I made a good decision in not going as I didn't imagine for one minute he would have taken an hour and a half to go around a house.

After he left Charlie, Papa said that he went to the library to drop off some books and then on to Betros Brothers to pick up some fruit and vegies and then on to Coles to pick up some more stuff.

I was really wondering where he had got to as I was supposed to leave the house at 12.30pm for my Bible Study up at the church. He rolled in about five minutes late which wasn't too late as the ladies tend to have a wee chat before they start the study.

After the Bible Study, I headed off to Copylam which is a company that does photocopying of difficult stuff.  On my Hebridean quilt I had made the grass-type stuff below the cottage but I wasn't happy with it.   I kept biting my bottom lip this morning while Papa was out wondering "Should I try something different?  Should I leave it?"  In the end I drew a different idea - kind of strips representing crops being cut and will have a go at that.  The drawing was really small and after the Bible Study I took it to Copylam and had them enlarge it to the exact size for my quilt.  That way I can use my light-box to cut out the material to the size I need.  I'll take photographs as I move along.

This picture is what I've made already and I'm not sure about.

This picture is of the view through the window in the boat. It was originally the colour of the sea and then I realized it was positioned in such a way that you would have seen both the sand and sea so I appliqued a bit of each and I'm very pleased with the result:)

Also took this photograph of Papa while we were sitting out on the back deck.  I like the picture in the background in the kitchen.  And I like Papa too of course!

I noticed on Facebook that the lost dog at Auntie Emma's has been rescued by its owners.  I'm not sure how happy Auntie Emma is as she really loved that dog.  But I'm sure she will be happy the dog is home again with the people who love her.

I'll find out more when I head down to visit on Thursday.

Well my dears, I shall away.  It's 10.00am your end and I am thinking of you both at school as I type and hope you are having a wonderful day.

Love Nannyxxxx

WASHING FEET, QUILTING AND PREPARING DINNER

Hello my lovelies

Just home from quilting at Kerrie's.  Papa is making a Nicoise Salade for dinner and he has just made me a wee cup of tea as I sit to write to you both.

The day started with a walk, not with Molly though as Papa had already taken her.  The front steps were all wet after a very brief shower through the night and it was quite misty too.

After breakfast, Papa left for his U3A where they are studying Shakespeare's Hamlet and I had my shower and made myself beautiful for quilting, even painted my toenails!   As I had some time to spare, waiting for Kerrie J to pick me up, I did a bit of my Bible Study for next week.  I had to laugh at part of the reading where Jesus puts a towel around his waist, gets a basin of water and as was the custom then, begins to wash his disciples' feet.  At first Peter is astounded that Jesus would stoop to do something that was considered the job of a servant and when he says to Jesus, "You're not going to wash my feet - ever!", Jesus says to him, "If I don't wash you, you can't be part of what I'm doing." Peter then says "Master! Not only my feet, then.  Wash my hands!  Wash my head!"

As I said yesterday it was Kerrie J's birthday today.  I took some photographs for you with her receiving all her bits and pieces.

She was thrilled with them.  Leona made a delicious orange and almond cake which we ate off gorgeous tiny plates with little silver forks.

Carol finished the binding on a little quilt for her grand-daughter Maddie.

The plan is that it will be a little cot-quilt for her dollies.  Carol originally started the quilt when her daughter Catherine was a little girl.  When Carol started it, it was going to be a wall hanging.  I'm sure Maddie is going to love it, as at the moment, she is using her Muma's dish-towels as blankets for her dollies.

Yesterday, after breakfast, I asked Papa if he would help me move carpets around the house.  I decided that the green carpet in the kitchen area would look better in the library and the plainer colour that was in the library would look better in the kitchen area.  So with sleeves up, we moved all the furniture, rolled up the carpets, swapped them over and moved all the furniture back.  I'm really happy with the change.  What do you think?  I think the green carpet really picks up the grass in the picture and the plainer one looks better in the kitchen what with all the colours in the quilts on the walls.

I also brought out one of my wee dolls that Auntie Emma gave me and have added it to the little table beside the couch.

It's been a bit cooler today with the temperature around 30 degrees but Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be around the 38 degree mark - pretty darn hot!!

Well I'm off to do a bit more on my Hebridean quilt.  Have added a couple more hills and have almost finished the trawler.

Love Nannyxxxxx

HANGING PICTURES, WASHING FOUND AND CUTTING BAMBOO

Hello my darlings

Today has been a fairly relaxing day so far with Papa bringing home the weekend papers when he came back from his walk with Molly.

I too went for a walk this morning.  I had downloaded some interviews from BBC Radio 4 to listen to on my walk.  The interviews I downloaded on to my MP3 player were from a programme called AMERICA REWRITTEN.  The interviewer was a man called Robert McCrum and he was interviewing six writers about the transition from Mr Obama to Mr Trump.  They were very interesting interviews - each one only around 10-15 minutes each.  One of the writers he interviewed was one of my favourite writers - Marilynn Robinson.  On my way home I was so engrossed in what was being said through my earphones, I didn't hear Papa say "Hi Connie!"   He had to jump out on to the street and wave his hands in front of me to get my attention.  He was standing with Molly chatting to Lance who lives down the road.

We had a lovely chat with Lance and he was telling us that he and his wife Emily lived in Edinburgh for two years.  Emily's mother is Scottish so Emily probably has some family over in Scotland. Lance said they had a great flat up the hill from the station towards to old town and their flat was right up high in one of the old buildings.

From his description, I think it may have been in one of these buildings.

I found my washing!  It was in a sandwich bag on the table beside my sewing.  I have no idea how it got there.  I was just about to head out to the bin and drag out all the rubbish and see if I had thrown it out by mistake - and there it was.  And here it is!  Pinned to the quilt and blowing in the wind.

I still have to sew the washing on and embroider a line and perhaps make a pole.  Can you see the little boat I made today too?  It's just above the washing.

Papa's in the background putting up a picture for me - the one of Hans Heysen's wife sewing clothes for her new baby in 1913.  I asked Papa to hang if quite low so that when I am sitting on the couch, I can see it easily.  It's one of my favourite pictures.

Doesn't this look fabby?  I cut some bamboo and put it in a vase to add a bit of 'something' to the corner.

And here's a photograph of two quilts hanging on the walls.  Don't they look wonderful?  I'm really pleased with the effect.  Auntie Emma said she didn't think the orange cushions were a goer and has given me some gorgeous cushion covers which are in a blue/green design.  Next time I'm in town I'll pop into Lincraft and pick up some cushions.  The covers are rectangular in shape and as I don't have any on hand that shape, I'll pick some up next time I'm in town.

This photograph shows the picture Auntie Emma gave us a while back.  It is of a bowling green scene in Brisbane and I thought the roof of the bowling green clubhouse looked perfect with the wall colour in the library.  Papa and I have decided to get two small chairs with a coffee table to go in here but no rush.  Auntie Emma has lovely chairs that would look great near the window.  I'll ask her next time I see her where she got them.

I think this chair of Papa's has to go.  He has agreed that two smaller chairs by the window will look much better.

Will away and see what Papa's up to.  I think he's preparing dinner.

Love Nannyxxxxx

FERGUS AT KINDY, SCRATCHING THE DOGS AND HOME AGAIN

Helloooo there!

Hope you are both keeping warm.  Still hot this end with temperature today around the 33 degree mark and no end in sight before next Thursday which is as far as the forecast goes.  The further we drove on our way home from Brisbane this morning the drier everything became.  I heard on the radio too that there are bushfires burning up at Mt Coolum again.  I'll give Emma a ring a bit later and tell her as she and the rest of the family are supposed to be heading up there after tea tonight.

Papa and I had a lovely relaxing time down at Auntie Emma's.  We arrived there yesterday around 10.00am stepping out of the car to an extremely hot and humid Brisbane.  Bundled our cases, plants and two tables that Papa painted into the house and quickly shut the door and breathed a sigh of relief to be in the air-conditioning.

Auntie Emma loved her painted tables and having her lovely plants back.  She immediately put the plants in their old 'homes' and Papa, Auntie Emma and I helped take one of the tables upstairs to the side of her bed.  The other table, which I thought was for the other side of the bed was actually for the hall. So that one didn't need to go far!  Papa suggested to Auntie Emma that she get some glass to go on top of the tables to protect the paintwork.  He has cut out a couple of templates for her to take to a glass company so they know what size and shape to cut the glass.

Then it was into the kitchen and time to put the kettle on.

We had a lovely time chatting at the kitchen table about this and that and especially about the plans for the new house.  Auntie Emma and Uncle Michael have made a couple of more changes which will make the house work even better for the family.  For example, they have moved the main bathroom down to near the pool which is a great idea, especially if you're desperate for the toilet.  It also means that when the boys have finished swimming, they aren't going to be dripping their way all through the house but can walk into the bathroom from outside.

After lunch, Auntie Emma and I went to collect Fergus from his new Kindy which is just beautiful.  It is held in an old Queenslander which isn't too far from where Auntie Emma lives, so when she drops Fergus off and collects him again, there isn't too far for him to travel in the car.  The teacher who runs the kindy is so lovely.  You would both love her.  She's very old fashioned and wears beautiful clothes and handles the children, especially the teary ones (who have just started Kindy and are missing their mums) with great care.

Outside the grounds are incredible.  From the Kindy at the back, the grounds go down a long, long way into a rainforest and the Kindy folk have built lots of pathways, steps, swing area, climbing areas, a bridge and an area where they can release water from the rainwater tank and create a creek.

Underneath the house is the sandpit which because it is underneath the house has lots of protection from the sun and bad weather conditions.  Auntie Emma couldn't take a photograph of the sandpit because there were children playing in it and apparently you can't take photographs of children without their parents' consent.  So any photographs Auntie Emma took, she had to be careful not to get any children in them.  Thankfully it was OK to take one with me :)

I went for a wander this morning and found a wee troop of girls with water in seaside pails and paintbrushes (the type for painting a house) walking along the bridge.

 "Where are you lot off to?" I asked and they said they were off to do some painting.  I followed them and they settled themselves down on some steps and proceeded to 'paint' them.  They were having a lovely time.

This is where they let the water go from the rainwater tank to create a waterfall and a creek.  Isn't this a great idea, especially the way the weather is at the moment and the feeling that we may never see rain falling ever again!  I know, I know, it WILL rain again.

This the back of the house.  I think that may be me in the photograph.

Back in the house, Fergus was settling down and getting to know his new friends.

He had a wonderful time with these huge blocks and before long another little boy came and joined him and said his tower looked like an airport tower so the other little boy began to add a runway.  It was at this point Auntie Emma decided it was probably OK to say "Goodbye" to him and head for home - which we did.

When we arrived home, Auntie Emma had her breakfast, I had a cup of tea and Papa had a coffee and the three of us sat chatting with Auntie Emma showing Papa some of the photographs she had taken of Fergus at his Kindy.

After our cuppas,  Papa and I packed our things into the car, waved "Goodbye!" to Auntie Emma and headed up the hill.  Papa has just popped out to do a few errands.  Molly has been fed and is having a wee sleep under the table.  I'm about to have another look at my Hebridean quilt which is set out here on the table.  I lost the washing I made at Robyn's on Friday.  Oh dear!  When I went to quilting on Wednesday, I asked everyone, "Has anyone seen my washing?"

 When they all realized I was talking about washing for my Hebridean quilt they had a good laugh.  The washing still hasn't turned up, so I'll have to start all over again :)

Love Nanxxxxxxxxxx

HAMLET, QUILTING AND HANGING PICTURES

Hello my darlings!

Well I'm coming to the end of a lovely day. 

I decided not to walk this morning and instead had a lovely lie-in and browsed through my IPad while Papa took Molly for a walk.

Finally put my feet on the floor and got the day going.  Papa had his first U3A this morning.  They are doing some Shakespeare.  This term the group are studying Hamlet.  Not the cheeriest of plays but Papa seemed to enjoy it.  One of the tutors he had in a previous class - Greek plays was there.  This man is not only a lecturer on Greek plays but also acts and produces them.  Today in class Papa said that this man took the part of Hamlet and was fantastic.  I can just imagine all those oldies in the class reading Shakespeare, some perhaps for the first time, and then someone with this man's experience comes in and just blows them away.  I'm not sure though, how the man himself copes with the others!

Kerrie Jessop one of my quilting ladies picked me up for quilting at Kerrie Klan's.  It was the first for the year at KK's and we all had a lovely time greeting each other with "Happy New Year!"  We all had a lovely day, nattering away and catching up with the happenings over the Christmas break in our respective families.

I remembered to take my camera!

Here's Robyn having some of the delicious slice Kerrie J made.

Quilt top of a beautiful quilt that Val made over the holiday period.  That's Val holding the end up.  This quilt is just gorgeous.  It is all made in strips and, as you can see has a 'circle thing' happening.  Not sure how she has put it together.  I love the way she has graded the shades from light to dark.

Here's a close up.  Val doesn't hand-quilt her quilts.  She sends them off to be quilted so we should see this one soon all completed.

After quilting, Carol Parkinson dropped me home and came in for a cuppa.  Carol has three grand-daughters - no grandsons.  Her daughter Catherine's two girls are Maddie and Lexi.  Maddie is about two and Lexi is just a few months old.

Carol's son Andrew and his wife Kath have not long had a wee girl called Sophie, so we all ood and aad at all Carol's photographs today.

I've started putting up pictures.  Do you like this one here?  I jut love it.

I've put this cross stitch in the bathroom.

This one in the hall and can you see the one I've put in the guest room?

As you can see we are still tripping over pictures :)

Here's a picture of the two couches which we moved into the kitchen area.  No pictures up yet, so looking a bit bare still.

Well must away and get my beauty sleep.  We'll be up early tomorrow as we're off down to Brisbane - back on Friday.  Papa painted a couple of side tables for Emma's bedroom and we'll take them down together with her plants which we've been looking after over the school holidays.

xxxxNannyxxxx

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