GREER'S COMING TO VISIT TODAY

Bedroom's all ready for the traveller!

She left Bundaberg back early December, stopping off to see son and family in South Australia and then onwards to Western Australia to see another son and family.

I've just Googled how far by car it is from Bundaberg to Perth in Western Australia.  It's 4,528.7 km via National Highway A1 or a 48 hour drive!

Greer does this every year in her wee Vw Combi Van which she had all kitted out a few years ago.

She's due in around lunch-time!

Love Nanxx

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hello my lovelies!

Here are the gorgeous doggies the boys gave me for Christmas.  Aren't they wonderful?  They are sitting in pride of place on my small blue dresser.

Well, Christmas is all over for another year.  Our tree is down and packed away.  We no longer turn on the lights on the verandah and I am no longer hauling out the flour, butter and sugar to make mince pies and shortbread.  Although having said that, I did make a batch of shortbread this afternoon.  We're going to dinner up at Roger and Anne's in Cabarlah and I thought I'd take a 'plate'.  I'm also going to see a friend tomorrow for afternoon tea, so I'll take some to that too.

Auntie Emma, Uncle Michael and the boys left for Adelaide today.  They are visiting Uncle Michael's family who are on holiday in Victor Harbour about 100 kms south of Adelaide. 

 I noticed on the forecast today that the temperature is to be 38 degrees in Adelaide which in the old scale is over 100!

Papa has been busy today making a little gate to go at the top of the stairs on the back verandah.  This will make it easier for Papa and me to go up and down the stairs when we want to keep the dogs in.  Between the two of them, they create quite a lot of noise when they have free reign to do what they want and truth be told, I don't think they mind being locked up on the verandahs some of the time.

Today is quite hot - in the 30's so all the fans are going full bore.  It's now 4.15pm and I think it just might be time for a wee glass of vino down on the back lawn.

Love Nanxxx

SOME CHRISTMAS BAKING

Hello my lovelies!

I've been doing a bit of Christmas baking for the Kennedys who were passing through on their way south.

I decided to leave the icing of the chocolate cookies for the young 'uns when they arrived.

Love Nanxx

WEDNESDAY MORNING 9.44AM

Hello my lovelies

I've been very good today and went for a walk this morning.  As the dogs had already been for a walk with Papa, Molly wasn't that happy about going for another one but I dragged her along anyway.  It was freezing cold and windy but I stepped it out in a brisk manner and managed to keep the blood pumping around the body.

When I arrived home, Papa was ready to head off to U3A and his guitar lesson.  U3A has been on holiday for three weeks, it being the end of semester break time.  I think he's glad everything is back to its normal routine again and he can take off while I am busy writing my lists of THINGS THAT MUST BE DONE!

After he left, I took off my extension piece of material on my Christmas quilt and moved it along to THE LAST PIECE ready to quilt.  I then dragged out my green box and chose some bits and pieces for the binding.  I think I may have enough of the back which still has to be trimmed to make the sleeve.  It's all happening here.

Today is quilting up at Kerrie's.  A good day to sit with a quilt on your lap and quilt as I said it's very cold.  It's to be cold and windy for the next couple of days.

I had a lovely morning yesterday up at Charis'.  Anne Green came along as well and the three of us sat out on the verandah chatting about grandchildren, books, gardens and a million other things that are too many to mention. Charis has taken a term off school so enjoying the days where she can decide what she would like to do.

The photographs of you, Mummy and Carolyn are just beautiful.  You all look as though you had a ball together.  

Golden photographs from Umbria.

Love this one.  Mummy looks particularly naughty.  And Carolyn looks as though she is seriously considering the suggestion.

Love Nanxxxx

SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT 12.24PM

Hello my lovelies

Woke and pulled the IPad out to see what you have all been up to.  Mamma has put up wonderful photographs on Facebook which give a wonderful feel for your day.

Another beautiful day here today.  "These blue skies..."

Papa has just popped out to the shops - can't remember what he's gone for.  I thought we had everything we needed for lunch.

I had a sleep-in this morning.  Couldn't believe the time when I woke up.  I could hear voices in the kitchen.  Keith had popped in and was having a cuppa with Papa.  Was very good, and still went to church.  Quick shower, made the bed, load of washing on, bowl of cereal and out the door.

Andrew the minister is on long service leave so we had a guest preacher this morning.  The poor man had a sore throat and had to suck some lozenges to get going.  But, his sermon was beautiful.  The Old Testament reading was from Numbers 6: 24-25...

The Lord bless you and keep you

The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you His peace.

The reading from the New Testament was from Matthew chapter five - the 'Blessed' verses.

He said:

3 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 

Blessed are those who mourn,

    for they will be comforted.

5 

Blessed are the meek,

    for they will inherit the earth.

6 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

    for they will be filled.

7 

Blessed are the merciful,

    for they will be shown mercy.

8 

Blessed are the pure in heart,

    for they will see God.

9 

Blessed are the peacemakers,

    for they will be called children of God.

10 

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

After church, I headed home.  Papa made a cuppa and we sat out the front until it was time for Songs of Praise which was a wonderful episode all the way from Ireland - County Antrim.  I have never been to Ireland.  The scenery looks like Scotland, only softer.  

There was a fabulous singer, Kathryn Scott on the programme.  HERE'S a link to her singing.

Must run.  Papa is calling me for lunch.  After lunch I'm popping down to see Margaret.

Love Nanxxx

TUESDAY 9.25AM

Hello my lovelies

Auntie Emma and Fergus have not long left to head down the hill back to Brisbane.  We've all had a lovely couple of days together.

One of the first things Fergus and Papa did together was to make a wee trailer to go on the back of his bike.  Fergus loves to put things in 'trailers' as he's mad on trailers and anything else that can be hitched on to a vehicle of any sort.  Here he is with Papa putting the trailer together.  Papa had prepared all the pieces before he came.

And here is the finished product.

I think he was quite pleased with it.  It has been packed into the back of Auntie Emma's car and is now on its way to Brisbane.

While Auntie Emma and Fergus were here we took a drive to see if we could see some of the new Bypass that is being built here in Toowoomba.  We took the road up to Highfields from Toowoomba.  You don't go too far up the road before you can see some of the work - not a lot though.  While we were driving to another lookout to see if we could have a better view, Auntie Emma noticed lots of large trailer type vehicles with other smaller vehicles with flashing lights.  Before you could say "Wow!", Auntie Emma swung her car off the highway on to some dirt and grass where all the vehicles were parked.

After talking with some of the men with the yellow jackets on, we discovered that these vehicles, together with police vehicles had escorted the huge trailers carrying steel all the way from Brisbane.  They had set off around 10.00pm the previous evening so that there wouldn't be too much traffic on the way and arrived at the site around 5.00am.  So, it was a long trip.  We were so lucky to arrive when we did as the trailers and escort vehicles were getting to leave to do another trip to collect more steel for the bridges that are being built on the new Bypass.

Here's one of the smaller trailers.  Two huge ones had already left and as they were leaving gave big 'toots' with their horn especially for Fergus.  Fergus got a bit of a fright and went and sat in the car to watch the last one leaving.

After they all left, two of the yellow-jacketed men came over and chatted to us and gave us lots of information about what the journey that day had entailed. To get up the Toowoomba Range, the trucks had to be pulled up!  Here's a picture showing how large the trailers were.

Here's a video showing drone footage of the progress on the new road.

And a wee picture of Fergus and me chatting while having lovely strawberries and ice-cream.

Hope you had a nice time down in Montpellier.

Love Nanxxxx

SUNDAY MORNING 9.23AM

Hello my lovelies

Beautiful clear day again today.  That's something I really love about living here in Toowoomba, the generally, clear winter skies.

It may be sunny, but boy is it cold!  The temperature this morning was one degree but it's to go up to seventeen later on.  Canberra was minus eight this morning!

Auntie Emma and Fergus are arriving a bit later on.  The whole family have been on holiday for the past week up at Coolum where they rented a house.  Uncle Michael, Hamish and Angus are heading back to Brisbane and Auntie Emma and Fergus will stay with us until Tuesday.

I've decided to make a nice stew and an apple crumble for dinner tonight.  A nice wintery dinner.

Well my dears I shall away.  Thinking of you all lounging around the pool in Montpellier and looking forward to some holiday snaps.

Nanxxxx

FRIDAY AFTERNOON AT 3.44PM

Hello my lovelies

It's been a quiet day today for Papa and me.  Papa has been busy pottering in the shed, practicing his guitar and popping out for some shopping.

I did the chores and since lunchtime, I've been working on our budget for next year!  Today is 30 June and the end of the financial year here in Australia.  Because I keep a very close track on everything Papa and I spend, I was able to print off a report on all our spending for the past twelve months.  I am very sorry to inform you that we overspent :)  This year, we have vowed to be good and stay within the limits.  Papa said that if we overspend in one area, we have to cut back on another.  I'm not quite sure what he means by this but I think he might mean we have to cut back on our gin, whisky and wine!

Yesterday I had a lovely day.  Robyn has a quilting group that meets at her home each Thursday and she invited me along to yesterday's get-together.  It was only a few ladies there as it is the school holidays here at the moment and a lot of people are away.  I caught up with a few folk I hadn't seen for ages and ages which was nice.  It was also Robyn's sister Dawn's birthday and the group had put together a gorgeous 'birthday box' for her.  Dawn loves all things leopard-printy and the ladies made her coasters, place mats, a little make-up bag and an apron, all in different leopard prints.  As you can imagine, she was just thrilled to bits.  I took along my Hebridean quilt for a 'show and tell'.  Everyone loved it.  I also took my Christmas quilt to work on.

Frances, one of the ladies was cutting away at material and as I was wondering what she was up to, I went over, sat beside her and asked her to explain what she was doing.  Frances works with a pair of scissors a lot in her quilting work.  She showed me photographs of some of her projects and girls, they are just wonderful.  For example there was one wall-hanging quilt which was a gorgeous duck.  In making this duck, Frances used her scissors to cut out, very, very carefully lots and lots of flowers from her chosen fabric - in this case the main colour was pink.  These flowers were then laid next to each other and sewn down with the machine.  Before she starts the cutting process, she irons on Visoflex to the back of the fabric. Here's a link to see how Visoflex is used.  Frances then cuts out the bits she wants from her material and when she has all the bits she needs, she lays them carefully on her backing fabric, and very carefully irons them down.  This holds the flowers (or whatever has been cut out) on the fabric until they have been sewn down.  The flowers have not been turned under, the edges are raw.  The next step is to sew down all the edges of the flowers and Frances does this with her sewing machine, sewing one eighth of an inch from the edge.  I've asked Frances if she would mind sending me a photograph of the duck or something similar and when she does, I'll forward on to you.

Talking of photographs, Auntie Emma sent through some photographs that she took on her wee trip to Byron Bay.  One special outing was the outing to a gorgeous gallery which features not only the works of Margaret Olley but also a set-up of her home.  Here's a description Auntie Emma wrote.

So they constructed the rooms and installed the some of the actual windows from her home in Sydney!!!  So it was like peering into her world.  They had Radio National (Margaret Throsby) playing inside (but not out) so she must have loved listening to it while she worked.   Then in other areas they had simple cut outs.  Looking in was like seeing hundreds of still lifes.

And here are some photographs:

These two photographs are taken in or around Byron Bay.

Can you see the cows in this photograph above?

Well my lovelies, I'm away to have a hot cuppa as it's freezing in here.

Hope you're enjoying Montpellier.

Love Nanxxx

SATURDAY MORNING AT 10.00AM

Hello my lovelies

We're back home again.  Papa and I left Brisbane around 3.00pm yesterday and got caught in awful peak hour traffic.  It took us almost an hour to reach the highway.  Papa tried different ways to get out of the traffic jams but every time  he did we would soon end up in another jam.  I think this was caused by a number of things;  it was Friday (but of course...as you will remember... Sunday was a'comin'), schools were coming out and it was the start of the State school holidays.

I must say it is nice to be home again.  It's 10.00am.  I've done a few chores;  cleaned the two bathrooms and laundry and hung out the washing.  I like to get some of my chores done before sitting down for breakfast - I feel like I've earned a wee bit of a rest:)

Papa has disappeared.  He said he was off to buy some ham for our sandwiches for lunch about an hour ago.  I'm not too worried as this often happens.  It will be very interesting to see what he has been up to while he's been out.

We had a lovely time down in Brisbane with the boys.  We didn't do anything special, just the usual chores and walks to the parks nearby which was lovely.  We had to end up cancelling our proposed trip to Sandgate as we would have been leaving the dogs for too long.  Perhaps another time. 

 Here's another photograph of Fergus in his wigwam.  This one he's looking out of the side window.

And here's one with Papa and Spot who thought it was a very comfortable kennel to be in, especially with Papa whom he adores.

  Michael is now on holiday from work and Auntie Emma arrives back home today.  Tomorrow they  have rented a gorgeous house up the coast for a week and then they will be back in Brisbane for another week before the boys go back to school again.

I've been sitting here thinking about the garden.  We will soon be into July which is time to start pruning my roses so I think I may drag out my garden file today and refresh my memory of what to do.  It's a bit like getting to the end of a quilt and having to do the binding.  It's been a long time since the last time you did it and you always need a refresher.

Papa's arrived back.  He popped into Hanna's to buy a pair of slippers.

  They are short Ugg boots.  Not the best looking things, but he'll only be wearing them at night-time thank goodness.  

Well my dears on that 'cosy' note I shall head off  and put the kettle on for a wee cuppa.

Love Nanxxxx

SPOTTY WITH SOME TEDDIES

Spotty playing with Fergus in his wee wigwam.  He loves lying with all Fergus' teddies.

xxxxNan

RUNNING ALL AROUND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, A NEW BABY, A NEW BOOK AND A LOVELY LUNCH

Hello my lovelies

I'm sitting here at the kitchen table.  I can hear Papa practising his guitar.  His music teacher is getting his small group learning music theory.  This is quite challenging but Papa is always up for a challenge and sets time aside each day to work hard on his homework.

Last night we went out to dinner to Kerrie J's house out at Highfields.  She and her husband Richard went for a holiday to Scotland a couple of months ago.  I gave Kerrie a list of possible places she and Richard could visit when they were travelling before they left so, it was a great evening to....

I started this on Saturday morning and it is now Monday afternoon!  Just when I was in the middle of typing this post, Richard Jessop arrived to pick up our possum trap.  He and Kerrie live up at Highfields on a property that is beside something that resembles a ravine.  Needless to say they have zillions of possums eating their avocados, oranges AND lemons!  Can you believe it?  Richard stayed for a cuppa and a chat and while I was making coffee and tea, Papa took him for a wee look around the house.  When he was taking Richard out to show him the laundry area, they both heard quite a commotion coming from the house down below - the one where Spencer the dog lives and Molly sometimes barks at through the fence.  "I think someone's crying Connie!"  Papa said.  I left the tea/coffee making and ran down the verandah, out the gate and around to Allan Street and into Spencer's garden.  Spencer met me at the gate and I made my way round to the back where sitting outside on her verandah was the lady weeping and wailing.  In front of her was her cat which was obviously dead.

"Oh dear!"  I said and put my arms around her.  She had been up most of the night calling the cat as it sleeps inside at night.  Finally in the morning when she came out there was her wee moggie.  He had obviously been in some sort of fracas through the night and had made his way home before collapsing and dying.

I picked up Moggie in my arms while Moggie's owner went for a wee blanket.  We wrapped him up and laid him on the outside table.  We couldn't quite get his tail under the blanket as he had gone quite stiff through the night.  I sat with the lady for a while asking her if she would like Papa to take car of Moggie but she said "No!  I think I'll take him to the farm and bury him there."  I left after half an hour or so and said I would come back in the afternoon.

Came home and had some lunch and as Keith had popped in earlier (before Richard) and I had said I would pop down and see Margaret, I headed down the road.  I decided to take the car as I had a shop to do too and the weather was looking quite stormy.

Had a lovely visit with Margaret.  Margaret and I had a great chat together.  Keith made us both a cup of tea.  Margaret always asks how both of you are going so I tell her all about your latest adventures and plans for the summer holidays.

After visiting Margaret, I made my way back to see Spencer's mumma.  When I knocked on the open back door, she took a minute or two to come as she had been lying down.  I noticed that Moggie was still on the table and that his owner had laid a beautiful Camellia on top of the blanket which covered him.  I went in to the kitchen while the lady popped on the kettle.  We chatted away about different things, how long she had lived in the area, about her work - she works in the Intensive Care department as a nurse up at St Vincent's.  In between talking, she would constantly lift her hanky to her face to wipe away her tears.  I stayed for about an hour, inviting her to come for dinner but she said she thought she would just stay home and have an early night.

By this time it was nearly 5.00pm and too late to go shopping so it was back home again.  However, when I arrived back home and got out of the car, I could hear her weeping again.

Yesterday we could hear visitors were with her which I assume were either friends or family.  I'll keep contact to make sure she's alright.

Yesterday I headed to church in the morning.  It was a lovely service.  After the children's address, the minister, Andrew, played an audio visual recording of THE GOSPEL SONG which you can hear here.

While I was sitting waiting for the service to begin I felt a tap on my shoulder, turned around and there were Bob and Bev.  As we were leaving at the end of the service, I noticed Simone the minister's wife with a brand new baby in her arms.  He was so cute all wrapped up in a tartan shawl.  Simone and Andrew periodically foster children that for some reason can't stay with their parents and this wee fella is one of those children.  Benjamin is only two weeks old and just gorgeous.  I had a hold of him, and was showing him off to all the old ladies in the church as though he was my very own baby.  One lovely man put his hand on Benjamin and said "May God bless you!"  He said it so quietly and meaningfully I was nearly moved to tears.

As I had walked up the road to church, Bob and Bev drove me home and stayed for a cuppa and a chat.  After they left, I went and did the shopping which was quite a big shop for the laundry, bathroom and pantry.

Home again with a million bags which Papa helped me bring in.  All stuff packed away and time to sit and have a wee glass of white wine.  Papa was in the process of making a lovely lunch.  After what was quite a late lunch, we settled down and did some reading (I think!)

Here's a photograph of wee Fergus taken when we were at the Art Gallery in Brisbane last week.

Tomorrow Papa and I are heading down to Brisbane for a few days but I will do my best to keep up with the blog and what we are up to.

Another book for Mummy and Daddy for their reading list for holidays.  I've just started this one and it's great.

Love Nanxxxx

BRISBANE, ANTARCTICA AND A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD

Hello my lovelies

Well I arrived home last night after a few days down in Brisbane.

While I was in Brisbane, it poured and poured and when I spoke to Papa on the telephone he was most disappointed because the rain had not reached Toowoomba.  As there are no clouds on the horizon for the next ten days or so, he has hauled out the hoses and is beginning to water the trees and shrubs before they decide that no-one cares for them and start to feel a bit low.

As you can imagine, when I arrived home, the dogs went berserk.  They were very happy to see their Mama home.  I had to drop my bags, take off my glasses and sit down on the couch with each of them on either side of me and give them good scratches along with lots of words of how much I had missed them.  Molly especially was quite beside herself making lots of 'crying' type noises.  Oh dear!

Papa has been working in his shed while I have been away.  He has been doing lots of jobs to make his shed nice and tidy and organised.  I think I sent a photograph a while back showing the new workbench he had made.  Roger up at Cabarlah gave him some sheets of 'stuff' which he is using to line some of the walls.  Then I think the plan is to put some shelves and hooks up to take his tools. Once he's all set up, he's going to make me a couple of coffee tables to go beside the couches here in the kitchen.  There's a little table between the two couches but I think we also need a table on the other side of the couches too.  I downloaded a photograph from the Internet giving Papa an idea of what I am looking for.  I would like to paint the tables too in a nice 'Porter's' colour.  Forget grey in this house!  It's all Colour with a capital 'C".

While I was in Brisbane, Emma, Fergus and I went to visit the Art Gallery where there were a few installations set up especially for children.  I think the Gallery is preparing for the onslaught of children when they break up for their end of semester break today.

Wee Fergus had a wonderful time with one of the installations which was made up of heaps of really large blue bricks, hoses, and rope.

I've asked Auntie Emma to forward some photographs. When I receive them I'll send on.

There was another installation which Fergus liked.  It was to do with all things Antarctica.

The folk who had created the installation had done a wonderful job.  From the ceiling they had hung grey/blue nets to symbolize the sky.  They had also made gorgeous clouds which hung from the ceiling.  They had been made with beautiful material which had stiff metal edges around the edge.  I wish I had taken a photograph for you - they were beautiful and would look great in any bedroom :) I've had a look on the Internet but can't find any images.  As the installation was set up for young children, there were Antarctic-type soft toys everywhere;  puffins, seals, polar bears, penguins, more penguins and even a gorgeous otter.  I'm not sure if otters live in Antarctica but this one looked quite happy as it wasn't too cold in the Brisbane Art Gallery.

There was also a fantastic drawing/painting exhibition of works created by children around Australia. These were obviously inspired by the artist and Antarctic explorer Alison Lester.  As you can see from the article below, Alison kept in touch with the schoolchildren of Australia by email, detailing all that she was up to while she was in Antarctica.

CURRENT EXHIBITION: ANTARCTICA - ALISON LESTER AND FRIENDS
From June 24 - July 12, this remarkable series of works is a collaboration between artist and Antarctic adventurer Lester and the schoolchildren of Australia. 
Children's author, Alison Lester, travelled to Antarctica in 2005 as an Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) Arts Fellow. Her regular reports back via email to the schoolchildren of Australia resulted in a unique collaboration of imagination, inspiration and innocence.
She has created a series of paintings inspired by her experience, and is working on developing a children's book from the series. Created in collaboration with the schoolchildren of Australia, the resulting works are both poignant and charming, a blend of childlike naivete and the deft hand of an illustrative master. The outcome of this creative dialogue is unlike anything most of us have seen, both because of the subject matter, and the process of the art that created it. The product of many imaginations, many months, and many surprises...

Here are a couple of works from the exhibition.

I could have spent all day looking at these drawings/paintings but Fergus let us know that it was "...time to move on."

Girls, would you tell Mummy that I've just finished a great book called A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan.  She might like to put it on her 'holiday reading' list.  Here's a photograph of the cover and a link to Wikipedia.

Love Nanxxx

FREEZING, VISITING, SHEARING

Hello my lovelies

Another freezing day here today so I'm all wrapped up in leggings jumpers, big woolly socks and Ugg boots.  Papa has just brought the two dogs in here and closed the office door as there is an inspection going on next door and the two of them are giving the poor folk a proper telling off.

Yesterday I was supposed to go to quilting but I decided in the end to stay home as I had a very sore throat and felt quite poorly.  I took a couple of Panadol after lunch and took myself off into the sunshine in the garden with my book.  Promptly fell asleep.  Panadol does that to me for some reason.

Around 4.00pm, dear Robyn popped in to see how things were going.  Papa made us both a cuppa and we sat and chatted for a while.

I'm not sure if you've heard about Cecil the sheep that was found recently after years of wandering in the wilderness.  It's thought he may have escaped while sheep were being sheared.  Cecil was rescued from a cliff ledge in a disused quarry at Heybridge in Tasmania.

Too heavy to clamber back up, the five-year-old was stuck there for about a week without food or water.  Apparently Cecil came from a property near Bothwell in Tasmania's south but it's not known how he travelled the 200 kilometers to Heybridge.

After he was shorn, the fleece was weighed in at 38 kilograms!  Imagine carrying that amount of extra weight around - especially if you are trapped on a cliff ledge for over a week with no food or water.

The person who sheared him said that he was very calm as he was being sheared.  "I was surprised that he just sat there," she said.  "Maybe he figured out the game was up and this might help him a lot."

The future of Cecil's fleece has not been worked out yet.

"The quality of the wool, it's beautiful,"  Ms Gunter said.  "It's a lovely, lovely fleece really.  I doubt you'd make a beautiful suit out of but you'd probably make socks, singlets or perhaps if it was too terrible make it into a wool doona."

So now we know.  If we own a wool doona, it's made out of terrible wool.

The RSPCA are now looking for a good home for Cecil.

Love Nanxxxx

VISITING, BUILDING, CHATTING, THINKING, TIDYING, QUILTING

Hello my lovelies

We had a lovely day yesterday with Don, Jenny and their youngest daughter Sarah who has not long finished high school.  We started the visit off by going outside, sitting in the winter sunshine and munching on the yummy nibblies that Jenny had prepared.

Then, Jenny called us in for a most delicious lunch - the main was apricot chicken.

While we were still sitting around the table, Don and Jenny's son Brendan popped in with his partner Sarah.  We all continued chatting, drinking our cups of tea and eating lots of delicious chocolates until it was time to head out and see how Don and Jenny's new home is coming along.

The new home is being built just off Happy Valley Road which is on the right hand side, just passed the army barracks.

Their block is on the high side of the road and has a fabulous view over the escarpment to the east. This photograph is taken on a block on their road  showing the view.  I don't think this is their block but it's on the same side of the road.  I just got this one off the Internet.

The builders have reached the stage where all the frames for the house are up and probably this week they will get the roof timbers up.  Even though it was just timber frames, we had a good idea of how the house is laid out.  Here's a photograph of Jenny and Don outside their new front door.

They have used lots of great 'patterns' described by the famous architect Christopher Alexander in his book A PATTERN LANGUAGE.

One great pattern that they have used is the creation of an outdoor room.  Although this room has been created as an outdoor room which will include a special kitchen for barbecues, it has been built under the main roof.  When not in use, the room can be closed off with shutter doors.  In this room there are wonderful views into the garden.  These windows will be glazed so that if it is a coolish day, the room can be closed off.  I'm sure this is going to be a well-used room.  This room also has a northern aspect which means it will receive sunshine in the winter.

Here are a couple of examples of 'patterns' from Alexander's book.

I will continue to take photographs as the building continues.  Actually, Jenny sent me an email this morning to say that she has a Facebook Album chronicling the build.  When I find it, I will let you know so that if you like, you can follow it too.

Today is Bible Study day.  I finished off my study last night.  We are nearing the end of our study on Haggai and Zechariah.  Although I had hardly heard of these two prophets, and although their 'books' are quite small, what they have to say has been very encouraging.

When we start each study in our study book, the first question is always "Write down something you learnt or that was helpful to you from the previous notes."

This is something I learnt and found helpful from the last study.

"Only by consciously drawing aside to spend time with God are our spiritual lives enriched and we are equipped to serve Him and others."

Well my loves, I must away.  I have another LIST.  I'm aiming to get this office tidy, clear the sewing table which is now ten metres high with stuff that I need to find a place for, organise my gardening file and sew an extension on my Christmas quilt so that I can continue quilting near the edges.

Love Nanxxx

BRISBANE, ZADIE SMITH AND SUNDAY LUNCH

Hello my lovelies

Well, I'm back up the hill and into my cosy clothes.  It is FREEZING here!

I arrived back home late Friday afternoon and the first thing I did was have a long, long shower and get into the lovely pyjamas Auntie Emma gave me for Mother's Day.  Then I slipped on the gorgeous pink, soft bed socks and made my way down the hall to the kitchen where Papa had a G&T sitting on the table waiting for me!

Yesterday was a quiet day.  I had grand ideas of all the things I was going to do but in the end I just pottered and finished a great book I was reading.  Papa kept up the cups of tea and between us both we had lovely view of the garden as we periodically got up to move our chairs back into the sun.

The book I was reading was by an English author called Zadie Smith.  Here's a photograph of her and a link to the book which was called SWING TIME.  Mummy might like to get a copy.  She would really enjoy it.

I had a lovely visit down to Brisbane.  It is much warmer than here and because I had only packed warm clothes, I had to borrow something from Auntie Emma.  On Friday, we went for a fabulous walk in Southbank.

I love these deckchairs which are scattered around Southbank for visitors to sit on.

I didn't have a close look at this statue to see who it was but I just loved the blue heeler by the man's side.

Today Papa and I are going to have a relaxing morning and then at lunch-time we have been invited to our friends Don and Jenny for lunch.  They have recently moved to a rental property at Kleinton which is a bit further out that Cabarlah so it will be nice to have a wee nose in a new home.

They are in the process of building a fab new home in Cabarlah.  We may, after lunch take a drive out to see how that one is going.

Well my darlings I shall away and perhaps speak to you both later.

Love Nanxxxx