Bon Voyage...

Last night 12 members of our family gathered at our place for a special dinner for DsD3 who is heading off to Canada to work and 'find adventure'. DH and her have been busy for months completing forms and applications for visas, finding medical insurance etc, with DsD3 working late shifts where the extra money can be earned, selling her car and saving almost frenetically to have sufficient funds behind her. Items have been packaged up for storage, some of her household items have been sold or given away, leaving just the bare minimum of items to accompany her to Canada.

DsD3 with Maz and Paps as she refers to us! lol

As the guest of honour I had asked her was there any special meal she would like...she chose the homemade meat pie that I make. I made 2 big batches of the filling before I went to Melbourne and froze it in a number of tupperware containers. I had organised family members beforehand to bring items such as nibblies, steamed veggies, potato bake, and a fruit platter for our shared meal, so all I had to do was put the 3 pies together yesterday morning and bake them before everyone arrived...

We had a very small 'Bon Voyage' chocolate mudcake as these days family members only want small slices and DH and I don't want any left over cake tempting us :-). DH's cousin made the cake...

My sister in law brought this huge dish of potato bake which is one of her specialties...

After dinner was over the 'floor show' that happens at our place every evening started...
Yep! the resident brush tailed possums run over the roof and down the crepe myrtle...

Part of the audience in the front stalls...standing only! lol

Tonight I did a task for DsD3 that I have done so many times for her in recent years...sew cloth badges on yet another BJJ (Brazilian Ju Jitzu) uniform. The fabric of these uniforms is seriously thick and many a time I've had to struggle with hand sewing them on as especially the jackets are too bulky to get under the sewing machine needle and to push the jacket through is nigh impossible. I shall miss Miss Nikki but am absolutely thrilled that I will be too far away to sew badges on any new uniforms! lol
These large cloth badges were sewn on both the back of the jacket and also on one leg of the pants...

 This smaller oval badge went on the front of the jacket...it was like sewing through 4 layers of the thickest denim! :-)

Tomorrow morning we will take Miss N and her mum to the airport where my stepdaughter will fly to Sydney and from there she will fly to Vancouver to start her latest adventure.