The Family is Home

My daughter, Mandy, her husband, Gerald and their two beautiful girls, Niamh and Erinn  are back home in Sydney after 5 weeks overseas, first in Ireland, then a week each in London and Thailand. From the photos, I'd say they had a grand time.

And the two girls are looking so grown up!!  We haven't seen them since September and they change so much in that time.

These London photos look very cold, but they had a great time doing all the touristy things and navigating The Tube.

Thailand looks a lot warmer than London.

Now they are off to new schools tomorrow.  have fun girls.

Liz Needle



Friday Fences 3

This week I found this old church in Woodside, not far from where we live.  I guess it's not really old by European standards - or even American, I suppose, but it is about  150 years old as is the old stone fence.

And for those of you who were curious about the house behind the very grand entrance gates last week, here it is.  Just a very standard old Australian stone farmhouse with outbuildings behind that have been extensively renovated and look like they might be stables..

 Its the grounds that continue to amaze me. They now have dozens of old style street laights along the drive  and each tree along the road has its own ground light to illuminate it at night. They are now preparing the front area for instant lawn. Every day something new happens.

Fridays Fences 2

Fridays Fences  is a new activity for me, but we'll see how it goes.

Not far from us, someone has bought an old farmhouse with barns etc and has spent a HUGE amount of money doing it up. Everytime we drive past there is something new. Haven't a clue what is going on there, but my guess is a horse stud. My DD reckons it is some middle eastern potentate who has bought it for a holiday shack for his race horses when he come to Australia once a year for the Oakbank races. LOL!!

They've  built a new stable? complex matching the original stone, planted mature trees, miles of post and rail fences, instant turf and so on and on.

Here are the entrance gates, not finished yet.

Liz Needle

SCATTERDAYS 'R'

This week has gone so quickly - I seem to have been busy every day. It wasn't helped by me breaking a tooth and having to go to the dentist. I could not believe what it would cost to save the tooth - there's not much left.  I have decided at my age there's not much sense in spending thousands to save a tooth that no-one can see unless I really grin and that I am not really going to miss. I have 28 others I can use.

This week the letter is 'R' - not quite as difficult as the 'W'.

Transport  -  What could be classier than this Regal Red Rolls Royce. She is a gem.

Technology - the Radio is something I remember with fondness as a child. This is a Reproduction of an early Radio. I remember we had something similar when I was little. It is partnered by a very recent digital Radio. Somehow the old one is more appealing.

Something Red from the sewing room - Recycled Red  folders that I used at school and have now been seconded into other duties.  I must re-label them sometime.

Mammal - I though of plenty of mammals but photographing them was difficult. Those pesky rabbits in my vegetable garden just wouldn't sit still and I got the shock of my life when I opened the door of the granny flat and startled a Rat that had got itself trapped inside and was trying to find a way out. Fortunately he has been trapped and disposed of.

Inspiration hit when I realised that I still had my Christmas decorations on display and there was Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, just waiting to be the star of the show. Here he is checking out the garden.

I hope you all enjoy my interpretation of the letter 'R'.

Liz Needle

Owls

My eldest grand daughter has developed a passion for all things owly, so in November Jo and I went shopping for owls. We could hardly find a thing in any shops. A month later we went to Adelaide to complete our Christmas shopping and the shops were full of owls. What a difference a month makes!!

I found quite a cute cushion, but the price tag of $40 stopped me short. Not that I don't think we should pay well for hand made things, but I doubt if the poor craftie got anywhere near $40 for her time and materials. Anyhow I decided that I could do it better and cheaper and this week I have been sewing. Here are two of my creations.

Kind of cute. I hope the girls like them.

Liz Needle

Excitement

Great excitement on Friday night. We'd had a horror of a day - 46 degrees in town and a couple of degrees cooler up here in the Hills.  Perfect set up for a fire.

I was cooling off on the veranda when just on dark I heard the fire siren and then a police siren on the road above our house. A few minutes later Don came out to say a neighbour had rung to tell us that there was a big fire at the end of our road. Don jumped in the ute and roared off to see what was going on. Meanwhile Mark checked the CFS site and discovered that the fire was a vehicle fire. Don came back and said the fire was at the end of our property - about 300 metres away down the hill and the CFS were in attendance, then he roared off again.

I ran up to the road to find a group of neighbours there watching the CFS fire trucks deal with the fire.

We watched in the dark amid much speculation as to the origin of the fire and, as the danger was past, much laughter as the theories became sillier and sillier.

We learnt the next day that the old fellow down the road was driving down the hill when his car slipped off the road, then as he tried to get back onto the road, it rolled into the ditch on the side of the road and caught fire. Luckily he was only 50 metres from home and his son, hearing the revving of the engine came out to see what was going on and was able to get the old boy out safely. There was a 50 metre patch of paddock burnt - luckily it had been closely mown and the fire ran along the verge for a distance, but was quickly contained by the CFS who only had a couple of kms to come to the fire.

Could have been a tragedy and we have one very lucky old neighbour.

Liz Needle

Scatterdays

My first Scatterdays post. After much frustration because Blogger appears to have changed its uploading options, I have finally got my photos sorted, thanks to Ramona - also a Scatterdayer.

The theme this week was  'W' and the categories were Expensive, Exciting, Musical and  a WIP.  I actually found this letter very difficult and am not entirely pleased with my efforts this time.

Water is expensive and it is costing me an arm and a leg to keep my precious garden alive through this extremely hot spell. I am dreading the news that there will be 'Water Restrictions' this summer.

Wine is exciting, especially when it was my first bottle of real French champagne.

Wind in the Willows is musical, a lovely soft whispery sound. I had hoped to create a video here, but can't work out how to download from my camera onto the blog.

And finally the only WIP - Work in Progress I have at the moment is the organising of my new sewing room. It's a long story and a long process, interrupted by the comings and goings of my son. One day I will get it sorted.
   

  Next week the theme is the letter "R' and the categories are a Mammal, Technology, Transport and Something Red from my sewing room.  Off to put on my thinking cap.   Liz Needle