2012 is nearly over...

And what a year it's been. DH and I have been fortunate this year as the dramas of family life haven't been as 'cataclysmic' as some years have been...just the usual up and downs. 

DH and I worked together on 2 elections in March and April; he as the Returning Officer (boss) and me as his clerical assistant. It was work like nothing I had ever done before. But I thoroughly enjoyed taking orders and having no real responsiblity other than to do as I was asked. So different from teaching! 

After the elections we took a break and went to Victoria for a lovely holiday visiting the goldfields' towns and finishing up with a few days in Melbourne. Naturally the laptop came with us and I blogged about all our travels.  DH also played some golf competitions away from home and this year I went along too. As well as travelling farther afield, I also blogged about places in my city.

Queensland Art Gallery, in front of a 3D picture of  one of the galleries in the Prado... 

One day in November, we went on a cruise from Brisbane to the Gold Coast; magical!

We went to Toowoomba's Carnival of Flowers in September

While DH played golf I walked along the beach with a friend who lives on the Sunshine Coast

I continued with my knitting groups and my beloved Sisters of Stitch. I continued to make my knitted throws, crocheted throws and beanies; mostly for charity but I did make a few for gifts to friends. I also made 7 throws by sewing together squares which had been knitted and donated to K4BN. 

This one was such a challenge as all the squares were different sizes :-)

A baby blanket made with donated squares, plus a mini Christmas stocking

 Our parish embarked on lots of activities for fund-raising (including a fete) which I also  became involved in enthusiastically. 

Not my favourite sewing project this year; sewing rectangles of fabric over  logos on shopping bags :-)

The Christmas Markets in the church hall

This year I became more involved with blogger swaps and as a result 'met' more fellow bloggers and I find that the more blogs I read, the more I learn. Becoming involved in swaps meant that I also worked on more sewing projects. I tend to be a lazy when it comes to knitting vs sewing; sewing needs more preparation than just picking up some yarn and a pair of needles...but that is changing! lol

Years ago I loved hexagon patchwork; have spent time this year re discovering that joy! I made 2 of these decorations for swaps... 

In the Spring OASS, Sue made me these lovely gifts...

As well being involved in swaps, I also participated in Photo Scavenger Hunts which were so much fun! One week I even shared what was in the third drawer of my kitchen bench...Another wonderful way to 'meet' other bloggers.

This year I also made the conscious decision to listen to the message that the cardiologist had been 'sprouting' for 6 or so years...give up the carbs! So starting at the beginning of May, I have avoided sugar. Not easy, as I think that I was actually addicted to the lovely  stuff! lol. I continued to ride the exercise bike each day but this year the weight started to come off so now the 6 monthly visit to the cardio is quite pleasant!

Despite avoiding sugar, I still continued my regular meet ups with various groups of friends...everyone is now used to my not eating cake or dessert...

schoolmates at an December get together for lunch...

In May we had a family engagement and that will be followed by a wedding in May 2013. DH and I are now wondering whether there might be another engagement in 2013?? Meeting DsD1's beau and seeing how happy she is was the best Christmas present!

Lucy, our great niece, dancing around in the dress that we gave her for Christmas; according to her grandfather who delivered it on our behalf, it was a big hit with its big bow and net petticoat :-)

In late November my pregnant niece developed complications...it looked like the baby, due on Christmas day would have to be induced 3 weeks early... my niece's condition was closely monitored and gradually all appeared to right itself and the pregnancy continued. December 25 came and went...nothing happened. And then today my niece's baby was born; a boy, 4.5 kgs, 53cm long and named Maximo Floyd. What a wonderful gift to usher in the New Year. 

One proud dad with Lucy and little Max

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Yet again! I've been sorting through those boxes of photos

If you remember, one of my goals to work on after I retired, was to work my way through the boxes (and boxes) and albums of photos that I seemed to have amassed over the years. My idea was that I would sort the photos into different categories and then scan the photos to make digital albums. There would be a copy kept on our portable hard drive and then there would be copies stored in either my Facebook account and/or my Box account. The latter 2 methods of storage mean that there is yet other copies which can be retrieved from any computer not just ours. The Facebook album of my mother's family has been brilliant for all the younger  members of our extended family as they can copy photos for themselves.  

One lot of photos that I've been putting aside for quite a while and have quite a pile, were photos taken at functions and celebrations at our church. The other day I had fun scanning and putting together a digital album of a concert we had in 1992 to raise funds...and we had lots of fun!

 Everyone helped in some way...

In the kitchen...

These lovely ladies were even having fun with the washing up!

There was a wonderful buffet table in the kitchen and one of the cheeky players  was  getting up close and personal  to one poor fellow...

Some of our young parishioners provided musical items...

There were recitations...

Peta performed a dramatic and moving rendition of 'The Man from Ironbark' 

This lady was a lecturer in the English Department of the University of Queensland...before this she worked as a teacher aide at the school where I worked, and she wrote pantomimes for my Year 7 Drama Club...

 Then we had an item from 'Les Mis'. Adrianna is still involved with music now in her middle 20s

The ladies guild worked on an act too...a medley of songs from 'My Fair Lady'... lots of rehearsals for that!

Waiting in the Sunday School room waiting for our item to be announced...

After Intermission we had 2 melodramas. The casts in these had just a few rehearsals due to work commitments...but that made it even more hilarious!
Melodrama # 1

3 'school girls' and their headmistress wait for their cues...Act 1

Cath, the Head Mistress, walks amongst the tables with her long list...

Then it was a quick change out of the sports uniform into the white outfit to play the poor heroine who was being forced against her will to marry the evil Jasper Jellybags, the villain of the piece!  But like all melodramas, after a lot of 'hamming it up' from the players and booing and hissing from the audience, it all came out right at the end. :-)

Phew! We're nearly at the end of the drama now, having survived forgotten lines  by one cast member  who then ad libbed and jumped a whole page of the script...and that page had my character's funny lines  too! sigh...

Melodrama #2
Father Neville organised this in friendly opposition to our Melodrama#1! They had had less rehearsals than us...and it showed! lol But young Peta was brilliant as Poppy the poor heroine....

The holey stockings were a nice touch! lol

Peta's mum, Pat, and Father Neville were the villains...

There were heaps of other musical items and also some dancing. It was a great night and it's been fun to 'look back'. 

Still keeping busy...

The family got a lovely surprise this Christmas. DsD1 has been quietly getting to know a young man who lives on a property close (ish; I think the property is about 60km away from Wandoan) to the school where she has been posted these last 2 years. Friendship has evolved into love and DsD1 is absolutely radiant! Last night DH and I, plus my BIL and SIL met the young man  when the couple came to dinner. 

He is from a grazier family and although we had tried to buy some meat for the BBQ at a specialist butcher, this butcher did not really have any cuts that would be suitable for cooking on the BBQ, so...we ended up with 'supermarket' steaks, chops and sausages. And our guest complimented us on the meat's quality! (polite?)  It was a lovely evening and even though lots of questions were asked of our guest, I'm sure he didn't mind. :-)

My lovely BIL and SIL...two of our best friends!

 After Christmas I've been organising a couple of new craft projects...

A new project with long hexagons...

 It was amazing what I found in my stash that fitted the theme, sewing. The other morning I sat and fussy cut quite a few of the hexagons but still have to work out what I'll use for the squares. I'm making something for my first swap of 2013 and, for now, it's a bit of a secret :-) It's not a table centre like the photo below but I will use the same layout for this project.

I made this for a Christmas 2011 swap; have never received acknowledgement that it arrived safely :-( 

Another secretive project that I've started is some knitting...the yarn looks grey but is actually black...it's not for a swap, but a gift for someone...

Another little task I've been doing is sorting through some boxes of photos. While DH is 'glued' to the TV watching the cricket, I sit on the couch and look through the photos and collate them  into groups and/or themes. I have found lots of photos of parish life from when my children were little. So far I have shared an album of photos of a 1992 parish concert on Facebook, much to the delight of former parishioners, as well as present day ones! In a later post I'll share some of them :-)

Christmas...

 On Christmas Eve, the family gathered at our place... We started with a lovely spinach dip made in a hollowed out cob loaf that has become a speciality of DD1. Then it was time for the prawns that my brother brings each year...

 The main course this year was a variety of roast meats, accompanied by 3 large baking dishes of baked vegetables, steamed greens and gravy.

That's my dinner in the foreground :-)

 I had put a lot of wrapped gifts under the tree but as the family arrived the pile of presents grew dramatically. (I always get a bit 'thingy' at this time because I feel that there are too many presents but the family chooses to ignore my suggestion that they limit the spending :-/)
The pile of presents was just so overwhelming, that I suggested that each person, hands out the gifts that they had bought and I would hand out the Secret Santa gifts that the 5 girls do between them. So pretty soon the dinner tables looked like this!

DsD3 brought along Roberto as he has no family here. He is from El Salvador. I told him that I had planned to fry some plantains to make him feel at home, but decided not to when my local fruit shop expected me to buy the whole carton as it's a special order :-) Roberto didn't mind...he was impressed that I'd thought of him

DD1 brought along her housemate, Janelle who is sitting between my 2 girls...

DsD looking a bit pensive here...

Our Son in Law to be!

My 'little' nephew is now 14 and over a foot taller than me!

My lovely DH who had peeled lots of vegetables and brought tables and chairs out of storage...and was generally a great help!

My brother and his partner gave me this magnificent hydrangea 

 Then on Christmas Day we went to my BIL and SIL's place for lunch... more food and more presents! lol

 But we'd already had a cooked breakfast with DD2 who had come  over about 8.30.

 Now a couple of photos of the Advent swap goodies...

Haha! Blogger keeps turning this photo on its side...All these beautiful items from Cheryl took me up to Christmas Eve... On Christmas morning I opened the last parcel and what a lovely surprise!!!

Two lovely Christmas mats made with the folded start technique! They will make a wonderful addition to Christmas in 2013. Thank you so much for being my swap buddy Cheryl; I've loved everything and it was so much fun!

So that was Christmas! And pretty special it was too :-)