Finally handed over!

Today was the first Sunday Stitchers meet up for 2016! That means lots of chatting, laughing, stitching, Show and Tell of projects and of course, eating. 

We had our last get together in December, when we had celebrated one member's 70th birthday in style with a high tea at Parliament House...Helen, the guest of honour, is sitting in the middle.

Another thing we did for Helen's special birthday, was each of us made a quilt block with the theme of 'Teapots'. 

A few weeks ago, Helen laid out all the blocks she had received...

They are all so beautiful...mine isn't there.

But today, I finally handed my block over. It's very plain but as I said to Helen, the plain will balance the stunning ones!!! Lol

The design is from Urban Threads. The threads are Cottage Garden's 'heliotrope'. 

Observant readers...

I love it when readers point out something they have noticed in my photos...often an item that is not the focal point of the photo. You see, I love to look closely at photos too, picking up details that are not so obvious. And so it was with photos in my last post. Cynthia from South Carolina noted that the portable toilet on the building site was similar to those in the US. Cynthia commented that theirs are known as 'Porta-Johns'. I smiled at that name and of course thought of the name that ours are generally called, 'Porta-loos'.

(Photo brazenly borrowed from the Internet!)

But this afternoon while driving home past that building site, I saw that the 'loo' on the site had an interesting name/brand. So I stopped the car, and with my phone went over to the fence to get a closer look and take a photograph...

Darn! That black mesh was in the way and I wasn't tall enough to put the camera above the fence! 

Hmmm...a problem here. I didn't want to go home and get DH to come down just to take the photo for me...then I had an idea...

I could stand on the pink brick things that the temporary fencing was slotted into. (Photo cropped from one taken early last Dec, hence no black mesh)

And I still had to stretch up a bit but I got a photo! I guess if anyone was watching they would be wondering what I was up to! Lol

So Cynthia, this toilet is rented out by 'dunny.com.au'. Dunny is old Aussie slang for toilets; the term originating in the times when toilets weren't the nice 'flushing ones' we take for granted now, but little buildings (outhouses) down the back yard. But it's often used to generally describe toilets now by some. I found my male students delighted in using that term! 'Please miss, can I go to the dunny?' Thus making the rest of the class snigger! 'Yes, you MAY go to the TOILET'!  .

And which Aussie readers remember the Aussie movie, 'Kenny' which was about a family owned company which hired out portable toilets? There were scenes in that movie that had me laughing till my sides hurt...hope that doesn't mean I'm odd?? 
Now Cynthia's comment prompted this blogpost so it would be remiss of me if I didn't say how much I enjoy reading (and learning about the US from) her blog. Cynthia is a retired teacher who loves to travel. Her latest blogpost found here,is called 'The Sunshine State', and it's about her trip to Florida, (not Queensland); some great photos!

Down on the corner of the next street...

In late August when DH and I arrived back home after being away for 5 weeks, we were surprised to see that a corner house in the next street had gone! 

So on July 22 when we left, the lowset  brick house, surrounded by lots of trees was still there...

( images taken from Google Street View) The large photo in the collage is the same aspect as the majority of the following photos...looking downhill) 

Well the developers didn't waste any time...

The locals were perplexed when a big truck delivered a load of big poles...we were even more puzzled when these poles were driven into the ground...

Then after a day or so of very noisy 'pile driving'...and a visit from the concrete pumping truck...

One wet Friday, I was looking after Maximo and he and I walked down to look at the digger.

The builders weren't working so we didn't have to dodge trucks and the digger moving back and forth.

I showed Max where the plumbers had put in some pipes...we talked about baths, basins and toilets! Lol. And the Besser Blocks had started to arrive too!

I got into the habit of taking a progress photo every few weeks...

Ground floor starts to take shape. 

Starting on the next level...

More progress on that second level...

Before they left for their Christmas break, the builders started to put dark mesh on the temporary fencing...

Then on Monday this week a huge truck drove up our street at 6.15 am. It had a very long load of roofing panels. Next day I took this last photo...roof all done! 

So from now on for a while, I guess the 'tradies' utes (trucks) will be filling up the street while those tradesmen/tradespeople get on with the finishing...painters, plumbers, joiners, built ins and kitchen fitters, tilers, electricians, landscapers, and so the list goes on. But this build hasn't worried us too much as it's not in our street! Just a few times it was hard to get out of the area due to big trucks blocking the road. But us locals know the sneaky 'escape routes'. Lol

Not long now...

A very recent photo of DsD2...38 weeks! 

She has now finished work. And of course the Baby Shower was two Sundays ago. 

I had planned other gifts for the new parents but when I discussed my plans with DH, he thought what I suggested was a bit odd/daft etc. But when I spoke to the young couple, telling them what I  planned, they were very agreeable! 

Tweed Heads and Murwillumbah...

 The next morning we headed south from Coolangatta...Just south of Coolangatta we made a stop at Point Danger...

The Centaur Memorial and Remembrance Walk honours those who lost their lives in WW2 when the hospital ship Centaur, was sunk by torpedoes fired from an enemy submarine.

The lighthouse at Point Danger.

 

And what's a trip to the Coast without a stop at Fantazia at Tweed South?...

I really was looking for some circular knitting needles Size 5mm and at least 80-100cm long...but there weren't any #5 that long just teeny 40cm ones!

After that we headed for Murwillumbah. Pretty soon the road is going past sugarcane farms. This area reminds me so much of North Queensland.

And we even went through a town with a sugar mill...the town of Condong.

Fruit and Vegie stalls by the side of the road...

And it wasn't long before we reached Murwillumbah...crossing the bridge over the Tweed River...

As DH drove us through the town I took a few photos...

And some photos of the beautiful parklands beside the river...

Our destination was the beautiful Tweed Valley Regional Gallery. A gallery in a really lovely setting. ( The warning about snakes was only for outside...we were safe inside!) lol

The paintings of the winner and finalists of the quite prestigious Archibald Prize for 2015 are on display at the Gallery until the end of February. And that's what we had come to see!

After lunch in the cafe with some friends (one of whom was fellow blogger, the lovely Nanette from Stitch and Sow), we strolled around looking at the Archibald Exhibition. It was wonderful! I rarely buy books/catalogues of exhibitions ( trying not to collect clutter!) but I wanted to enjoy some of those paintings long after we'd been there...so I bought the book!

Hopefully there won't be problems with copyright, but here are a couple of my favourites...

  Eva Orner painted by Sally Ross.

Tim Bonyhady painted by Andrew Sayers and Judith Neilson painted by Jiawei Shen

And I bought 3 postcards...portraits of Jenny Kee (it was amazing), Michael Caton and the lovely Betty Churcher whose son painted this portrait in her last weeks.

There were other Exhibitions in the gallery so there was plenty to look at in the several hours we were there! And of course there is the permanent Margaret Olley Room Exhibition at this gallery and of course we went through there again.

Coolangatta...

Last week, DH and I spent a night at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast. Both of us have fond memories of this area from the 1960s. Unlike a lot of the Gold Coast, there is still a 'laidback' charm about Coolangatta. 

Once again we were staying at Outriggers which has been rebranded as Mantra Outriggers...

Views from our balcony...Twin Towns Services Club across the road from the Mantra...

Looking south and east from our balcony...those 'triangles' in the middle of the photo mark the Queensland/New South Wales border...

And looking east from our balcony, the sweet little pink 60s motel...it's still here! 

As usual after we checked into our accommodation, we went for a stroll around...

Along the foreshore...

  Then up a side street...the old caravan park is now a lovely big park...

Named after DH's family??? (No I have to admit it was named after a former governor.)

The rather grandly named Coolangatta Transit Centre...

Then along a street that runs parallel to the foreshore...

When I was in my late teens, the Coolangatta Pie Shop was always a stop...such memories of those pies and doughnuts! All off the menu for us these days! 

That night we had dinner with former colleagues of DH when they all worked at Social Security (Centrelink). These friends chose George's Paragon cafe, a favourite of theirs...and what a wonderful choice...beautiful Italian and Greek food! There are a number of these restaurants/cafes both on the coast and in Brisbane. I can say we'll be going back again, that's for sure!!

Friday Night Sew In...

Last night I finished stitching a couple of hexie flowers...I had already stitched the 6 hexagons on to the centre one, so it was just the 6 side seams joining those hexies to each other.

And I also did some knitting...the 'scraps' project, 'Knitted Minestrone'. I'd finally finished the latest block of black garter stitch (boring!) and so last night I started the next scrappy block.

Earlier in the month in my FNwF post, I wrote about the Mystery Ball of yarn ( a ball of all different yarns in the one ball) that I was going to use. At the same time I'd been searching cupboards and shelves for a similar ball of yarn that I had bought at an Open Day at the Qld Spinners and Weavers many, many years ago. I couldn't find it! Yet, yesterday when I went into the disaster area that is my sewing room, there it was sitting on the table where I keep my second sewing machine! 

 Found in time to be part of my Knitted Minestrone throw! Now the difference in price of the Mystery Ball and the Magic Ball certainly reminds me of how long the latter has been waiting to be used; $19 vs $8. I bought 2 of the latter and the other one was used in a project ages ago.
Thank you to Wendy for once again hosting FNSI. There were 54 of us who signed up this month and it's easy to visit all or a few of the participants. Just use Wendy's Linky 'thingies' on her post here.

Scoliosis

I very rarely draw attention to the fact that I suffer from a spinal abnormality. But at the age I am now, I have the self confidence to not only admit to it in a very public forum, but also to show photos that I usually hide. 

 I was born with a genetic predisposition to this condition but it wasn't until I was 11 years old that the deformity was was noticed by my mother. That year on our annual holiday, my mother commented to the landlady of the flats (they had become friends over the years) that she thought something was wrong with my back as the clothes she was making for me seem to pull to one side. Mrs Ling in turn asked advice of her friend who was a veterinarian...yes a vet!!!! He looked at my posture, asked me to bend from the waist and then told my mother that she should take me to the hospital when we got home.

Eventually I was diagnosed with scoliosis or curvature of the spine. My mother was distraught that she ‘had a crooked daughter’ and insisted it was because I didn’t sit up straight... I carried that guilt until my mid twenties when I read an article which stated that it was something that I was born with. Treatment was a pretty hit and miss affair. Immediately I was sent to physiotherapy a number of afternoons a week after school. I had to do the set of exercises each day before school...naturally I hated doing them. But I was trusted to catch a bus to and from the hospital by myself for these sessions so that made me feel a bit special.

At the end of Grade 7 when I was 12, the orthopaedic specialist decided it was time for some different treatment. So the last week of term 4, I was admitted to hospital and put on a device that stretched me (straps under my chin and a strap around my hips, then the attendant turned the handles that the straps were attached to. I believe these machines had been used as instruments of torture, lol) Then when the doctor was satisfied with the amount of stretch, a body plaster was quickly slapped on then the traction was released. I started high school like this; mum bought me a uniform large enough to fit over the cast...I gained some notoriety at school as a rumour went around that I’d been in a horrific car accident. Everyone was nice to me so even though it was a ‘crock’ to be like that, unable to bend etc I had a lot of fun! The plaster casts went from under my chin to where my legs joined my body. The casts were changed about every 6 weeks and sometimes I would be sent home for a week or two without the a cast on. That was absolute bliss! This was the pattern of my life for 20 months. When I was 17 the specialist (in the public system) said there was nothing more to be done except continue with my physio. (There were operations being done where there were rods inserted in spines but my parents had felt these to be too risky and they weren't really informed by the specialist who had treated them with contempt.)

One of only 2 photos of me in my plaster cast...sorry one of my mum's blurry pics!

I went on to live a normal life never letting the condition be a problem. Yes at times it could be uncomfortable but not unbearably so.  I wore any clothing styles I wanted to, including backless halter dresses in the 1970s much to my mother's chagrin.

In my 30s I would wear close fitting tops and from the left side they didn't look too bad...

But as the years have gone by, especially in the last 10 years or so, the 'bumps and humps' have become more pronounced as my spine deteriorates. So now my mother would be pleased as I tend to wear loose shirts over tank tops.

Wearing my 'uniform'  of loose clothing on the upper body, nursing 2 week old Maximo in 2013. 

Very dramatically, my GP told me 7 years ago that my spine would collapse within 2 years and I would be wheelchair bound. With the help of my Bowen therapist I railed against that and when my GP retired last August, she said I was amazing...well for now I am! Lol

A few years ago I checked out whether there were any support groups for scoliosis sufferers. I found a UK Facebook group called 'Look Good Twisted' but it has gone a bit quiet. I paid a subscription to an Australian association based in Melbourne...they took my money for 3 years without anything in return. But one day at the Zillmere Knit and Natter a lady working at the centre came up to me and said she noticed I had scoliosis, and said she did too! So Lenore and I have formed our very own support group. We hope to find others to join us but till then we two will have our catch up lunches and coffees! 

We have met at the lovely Matthew Thomas restaurant in Sandgate...the houses either side of MT are all beautifully restored just like the old Masonic Hall building in which the restaurant is located. 

The food is always very nice...my Portuguese chicken...

Lenore with her lovely meal...

So I have found someone that understands perfectly what living with scoliosis is all about.