One dress; four little girls.

In 1982 when DD1 was one, she was given a little dress for her birthday from her daycare mum Margaret. At her little family party, I dressed her in that dress...

Not really a very good photo of the dress unfortunately but it was pretty and became a much loved outfit of both DD1 and later on, her little sister. DD1 was to give the dress a name; the ‘Polly Put the Kettle On Dress’ after the illustration of that nursery rhyme character in one of her books. Polly’s dress looked so similar. No photos of DD2 in the dress have been found but she did wear it, and love it! 

Well, I kept that dress plus a few other favourites. But by the time my girls had their own children, fashions had changed and they weren’t really interested at all in their old dresses. But in a last hurrah before the stored clothes were ‘despatched’ to new homes, I lovingly washed the little ‘Polly dress’ and...

Yep! I first tried the dress on Miss Holly when she came to us for minding on her usual Friday...


Then the next day we visited DD1, her hubby and baby Carrie. And yes, we dressed her in her mum’s dress too! 

And a sort of re-creation of that 1982 photo but with an armchair instead of a high chair.


So there you have it; 2 generations in 1 dress 😃. 

A bit of crafting...

Each year I attend the Christmas Market at the Karuna Hospice here in Brisbane held the last Friday of November. On the last Saturday of November, our parish also holds a Christmas Craft market and at that one I help on the day and also do baking. Well this year DH and I will be in Melbourne that week so DH can attend the World Cup of Golf as a spectator so I can’t help these markets either by spending my money or giving help, so I decided I would make things for them to sell. Due to a fair bit of grandma duty, there is not the quantity or variety that I’d hoped but every bit helps. 

Last Friday I delivered my items to Karuna...

Some little stockings decorated with buttons, yo yos or bells with loops to hang on the tree.

Some thread catchers ( Natalie Bird’s pattern) with thread snips, using some of my stash of sewing themed fabrics. Using the fabrics eases the guilt of having so much in my stash! Lol


And that mohair throw that has been written about in the odd Wool on Sunday post. A modest amount of my Jo Sharp mohair has been used up so again the ‘stash guilt’ is eased. 🤣


And tonight I finished the items that I’m donating to the Parish Christmas Market. No throw for them as no more are finished but I did give them 2 for July’s Art Show.

So more thread catchers...

Placed in cello bags make them look a bit smart 😉. And again I added cutters/snips.


More Xmas stockings but this time I added a lollipop to each cello package. (I bought the bag of lollipops in case local children came around on Hallowe’en. They didn’t so now the sweets are leaving our house!) 

I really enjoyed making these simple items; it was just like the old days when I used to do a lot of craft for school and church fundraising. Funny how one gets out of the habit.

So now DH and I have our Melbourne trip to look forward to (leaving Tuesday morning) and then a drive over to Adelaide for a few days before arriving home on Dec 2. It will be lovely 😊 

Mini Stockings Time Again!

Each year I write a post about the stockings that members of my knitting group ( plus other lovely people) make and then fill with sweets. These little gifts are then distributed to those who help the needy in the community have a bit of Christmas cheer. Over the years that I've been with the group the number of stockings needed has steadily risen to over six and a half thousand!

The last Tuesday in October the ladies ( and one man) at Zillmere Knit and Natter got to work and filled stockings for 2 hours!! 

The lovely ladies in my stitching group once again had a lolly drive which resulted in quite a haul to take along to Zillmere. 

And this year I was determined not to make a one off trip to Costco to buy sweets to donate, for two reasons. One is that I have to depend on a Costco member to take me and secondly most of Costco’s range of confectionery is mostly chocolate which is unsuitable for summer which the season that Christmas is here. The first 2 years I made that trip to Costco I was able to buy a big bucket of wrapped lollies but since then it is unavailable. But I did very well buying from selected local shops. 

So here is everyone hard at work filling stockings...

 

A good morning’s work’ with many more packing sessions to come so no group is disappointed and misses out on stockings for their 'clients'.

A new era for DH!

A few years ago DH scared everyone, including himself, by collapsing on the golf course. (his second home!) A similar incident had occurred a year or two before this,  but on the latter occasion while being taken to hospital his heart stopped twice!! Originally these passing out incidents were written off as 'sugar problems' as an angiogram showed no blockages, narrowing or damaged valves etc in the heart. But with the data collected by the paramedics in that ambulance it was soon ascertained that the 'electrics' of DH's heart were a bit bodgy to say the least. Suddenly all the fainting episodes over many years made sense. So now DH has a pacemaker and hasn't looked back healthwise since.

But the legacy of that day was that he became anxious about walking the 18 hole course, as he had done for the 40 or so years that he has played golf. He started hiring a golf cart for the 3-4 days of each week that he played but started making plans to buy his own. He had already put his name down for a spot in the big sheds at the course where people can rent a place for their cart to be stored. Actually buying the cart would wait until that spot in the shed was his! A few months ago DH's name came to the top of that list so immediately the search was on for a good quality refurbished cart for DH to buy.

Within 10 days, delivery day came.

The cart was driven to the golf course on a trailer of course. We watched as it was driven off the trailer...

 

DH was invited to drive his cart into the shed and I went along for the ride...I tell you what...that thing could really move and I found myself clinging on as we drove around a few corners, into the shed and then backed it into its spot!

 

The man from Yamaha took DH through all the basic things he needed to know, including checking the batteries regularly etc, and of course plugging it in to the power supply while it's in the shed to keep it charged up.

 

DH had asked me to take photos that he could send to all his friends and family. But I also took photos of the old buildings near the cart shed that were the remnants of the old farm on which the golf club was built...I love history!

 

It took a few weeks after delivery of his new buggy for DH to actually use his new toy. You see, our part of Queensland had days of heavy rain which turned the course into a quagmire...and electric/petrol etc buggies are banned in those circumstances until the ground dries out. But he's had plenty of use since then.

The Kindness of Others...Generous fellow Bloggers!

A while ago I wrote a post about the dolly  'blankets' that Miss A and I made out of cut up pieces of flannelette; no hemming, just raw edges. The 2 older granddaughters loved playing with the dolls and their 'blankets'.

Well within a very short time I received a parcel from Maria who writes the blog, 'Life on the Block'.
In that parcel were two beautifully made patchwork doll quilts. I was absolutely rapt!

Then a little later I got a message from Marilyn who writes the blog, Mardi Meanderings.  Marilyn offered me a doll bed which she would restore and make a mattress and pillows, to complete the transformation. It's no surprise then that I accepted Marilyn's generous offer!

But that wasn't all! When I went to the next Sunday Stitchers meet up, Susan who writes the 'Susan's Sewing Space 'blog', also had a patchwork doll blanket for the little girls in my life.

Every week the two older girls get so much pleasure from the thoughtfulness of these fellow bloggers. Thank you again Maria, Marilyn and Susan!

Wool on Sunday

Joining in with Rainbow Hare blog for Wool on Sunday. I had planned to write about other yarn related things that I've been doing this last month, but in the last day or so I've changed my mind. Instead I'm going to write about an incident in which my past caught up with me...in the nicest possible way.
It all started when I joined my Newmarket Mums group for our monthly coffee the Sunday before last. Pictured are some of the treats we bought 😉

. One of those friends said she had a message for me. Apparently she was having coffee at a local café when she was approached by a woman who asked her whether she had been a teacher at this particular school. When my friend said yes, the woman (Daphne) introduced herself as being a parent of children who attended the school in the 1970s-1980s. Coincidentally I had been a teacher at this same school at the same time and after some chit chat Daphne asked if my friend was still in touch with me and if so, could she please pass on a message to me.

So with all the Newmarket Mums listening intently, the message was passed on. Daphne  wanted to let me know how much she loved a crocheted rug which she had bought at a school fete. Then the memories came flooding back and I shared the story with my friends. I had made that rug!

Gradually the details came back. I had made 2 knee rugs and donated them for sale and both sold. Apparently Daphne missed out on buying one and possibly mentioned her disappointment to one of the organisers of the fete. This person asked me if I could possibly make another one and I agreed. I also remember that the rugs were sold for $10 each and the Parents and Citizens Association also got that 3rd $10 from the extra one I made.

Daphne's message also went on to say that the rug was in perfect condition and that she had told her children that they were not to throw it out when she died; one of them should take over looking after it. Well...to say I was chuffed was an understatement!

When I came home I decided that I wanted to personally thank Daphne for her lovely message. A search of White Pages didn't help find a phone number...but then I hatched a plan using Facebook. I'm a member of a FB group which has members who went to this same school. So I asked if anyone was still in touch with Daphne's family or even Daphne herself. Within an hour or so I had a reply from a former student of mine who said she was a FB friend of Daphne's older daughter. This daughter lives in the UK but my former student said she would message her. It wasn't long before the daughter and I 'spoke' on Messenger and I had a phone number.

Next day I rang Daphne and we had a lovely chat. She said that she had bought the rug as a gift for her mother. Her mum loved the rug and treasured it apparently. When her mother died, Daphne reclaimed the rug and she iterated her instructions to the children not to throw it out when she herself passed away. I had no idea of the year that I had made it but Daphne was able to tell me it was 39 years ago in 1979.

By coincidence her daughter from the UK is spending a week here  and J very kindly took a photo of the rug and the other day sent it to me. It was a shock to see it...I thought it was a granny square afghan...but it was a hexagon design! But I guess it is a while since I made it so not surprising I'd forgotten the actual design! lol