Wool on Sunday

 When I retired in 2011, I joined a group called Knitting for Brisbane’s Needy ( K4BN). This group made items of warm clothing for distribution by various groups and charities who give support to the needy in the community. As well as warm clothing, knitted and crocheted blankets and quilts, the group provided toiletries, sewn garments, knitted, crocheted or sewn toys and various other items such as school supplies that could help make people’s lives a little happier. The group had been started by Karen Croke who had seen a need in the community to help community organisations who endeavored to help the plight of the needy and disadvantaged in not only Brisbane, but also Queensland wide. Karen was helped by her husband Peter and I believe the group started with just a few people but the numbers increased as the word spread. 

The group had a number of Knit and Natter groups, which provided a social gathering as well as a collection point for donations. Over the last 16 years the group has distributed hundreds of thousands of items. 

At one stage in the last 10 years, I was a member of 5 Knit and Natters. One in a private home was disbanded about 5 years ago and a new venue was never found. Then in recent years I’ve had more calls on my time to do ‘Grandma Duty’ so not so many K&Ns for me. 

I’ve made lots of new friends over these years, been given lots of ideas and patterns by others and have had a thoroughly enjoyable time. 

But a few years ago, illness struck Karen…a severe illness at that. Then early this year Peter was also struck down by illness. 

So it really wasn’t a big surprise that in April this year it was announced that K4BN would be wound up. It was obviously a big decision and not one made lightly or without much soul searching. 

In a conversation with Peter, he indicated to me that they had decided to completely close and not merely do a handover to someone else to run this completely voluntary organization. In the 16 years he and Karen had built up a well deserved reputation of being reliable, as well as being supportive, compassionate and caring towards those who were doing it tough in our communities. They feared that if run/managed by others who didn’t have the same commitment to the needy, then the reputation they had built up would be tarnished. They just didn’t want to run that risk. 

Sure enough, after that announcement they were inundated with offers to take over. Eventually Karen wrote a post which I copied and saved at the time because it really showed how much this couple had done over the years…a lot of it, quietly in the background. I’ve masked the name of the member, who had suggested how the group should be run as Karen addressed this to her. 

So here we are in September and that means we are having our last K4BN Knit and Natters in these next few weeks. But that’s not the end of this story. Friendships have developed and even though some groups will disband, many of us are being ‘rebranded’ 😜 and will continue to meet regularly and will continue to  make items for needy people. But it will be on a much smaller scale as each group will make lists of community groups we’d like to help. 

For example my favourite K&N group at Albany Creek will now become ‘Knit, Crochet, Donate’ (KCD) Albany Creek and our ‘sister group’ is KCD Strathpine. We’ve had a meeting where we discussed the charities we’d like to support and we’ll only make what the charities need. The Albany Creek Library agreed to continue to let us use the meeting room for free as long as we donated to local charities…too easy! 

Many of us members have friends and family who have supported us by making and donating items to K4BN over the years and I’m forever grateful to these lovely people who have given me the most beautiful and useful items to pass on to K4BN. Hopefully this relationship will continue albeit scaled down somewhat. One thing KDC decided on, no fundraising so I won’t be pestering friends and relatives to buy raffle tickets any more! 😜

So wow! This post has been very wordy but it’s a post I felt needed to be written. 

Here’s a photo of Karen, such an inspiration to so many of us. Not only for her amazing compassion but also her dignity and determination as she lives with an illness that has taken so much of her energy 

, faculties, independence and mobility. 

Karen and Peter decided that despite closing down, that this year from September to the end of November they would accept items that could be used as Christmas gifts to the charities that the group usually supported. So I’ll finish the post with some photos of past years where members were packing the famous K4BN mini Christmas stockings. 

Goodbye K4BN and best wishes to Karen and Peter as they spend more time with their daughters and grandchildren. 

Some of my 25 Days of Christmas posts...

Eight years ago a friend suggested I join her in a project that she called ‘25 Days of Christmas’ where each day, starting on December 1, we would post a photo on Facebook with a Christmas theme. Little did I know that I would continue to do this for these past 8 years and my friend dropped out eventually when other matters in her life were more pressing. As I had changed my Instagram account to Private this year, I decided to also post the photos on that too. This brought my little project to the attention of a former principal with whom I had worked 16 years ago and she was inspired to do her own series. E’s posts were from different perspectives from mine and they really inspired me to branch out a little as they say. 

This year’s photos prompted lots of comments from others, and, best of all, they shared their memories with me. 

Here are some of those photos...not in any particular order though. 

When I wrote the post that went with this photo, so many people commented about their childhood dolls. 

Here’s what I wrote...

25 Days of Christmas; Day 20

It was Christmas 1959 and my parents surprised me with the gift of a large doll. I was rapt because I’d always wanted one as I only had stuffed toys and 2 small dolls. I called her Suzy. On the same day I received her, somehow Suzy fell on to the floor and a gaping crack appeared on her head running from the top of her head, behind her ear to her neck. I was mortified and was too frightened to tell my mum as I would have got the strap. I remember that I put sticky tape ?? over the gap and put a bonnet on Suzy’s head which I never took off! 😬🤣

John East  ( our neighbour at the back) would have agreed that my mum was scary 😂

Thanks to E, I started to look wider afield as to what Christmas meant...and here in Australia, it can mean the long summer holidays! This memory went back to the early 90s. This is what I wrote...

25 Days of Christmas; Day 16

Here in Australia, the word Christmas also conjures up thoughts of the long summer school holidays. In the early 90s Liz, Jen and I had a memorable holiday in Cairns when we visited my BFF who had moved there. Having a very limited budget, we travelled by Greyhound bus which had the cheapest fares. (I wasn’t teaching at that time and earned very little running an OSHC centre) 

 I took little surprises, crafts, puzzles etc to help pass the time on the long journey. The girls were so good...no complaining whatsoever. In Cairns we had the best time; visiting Kuranda, Port Douglas and even snorkeled on Arlington Reef, to mention just a few of our adventures. We even found a family crypt with my family name in Mareeba! 😄

 

On another day I wrote about the joy I felt as a child, when a friend of my father ( and his wife) would give me a book for Christmas each year. Usually it was a Girls’ Crystal Annual and oh the memories when I found these photos on the Internet. The one on the left was my absolute favourite. 

I described how after Christmas lunch, I would sit and read all my new books for hours...yes mum and dad always included books in my gifts too. To me, it was absolute bliss. 

Friends commented on my post of similar experiences and many also had received Annuals from popular comics of the time.

Another post I wrote was how my 2 daughters have started a tradition with their daughters...making gingerbread biscuits together before Christmas. Miss Holly is very enthusiastic and very helpful in doing this, so maybe one day she will be in charge. 😜

Another post was to do with the Nativity at our church. Unlike Nativities at shopping centres, ours does not have the Magi in the stable until January 6, Epiphany. So those 3 kings make their journey gradually to the stable...

Now this next photo collage got lots of comments. You see, this lovely shop, like a lot of Patchwork Shops, has been closed for many years. Commenters had lovely memories of this shop...as I do. 

25 Days of Christmas; Day 15

In my first year of retirement in 2011, I enjoyed the extra time indulging in my crafting hobbies. So I was a regular visitor to the now long gone Patchwork Tree shop at Alderley and of course went to their Christmas in July and Christmas (in December 🎄) events. At each, Alison and staff put on an amazing spread, games with great prizes, a little stitchery to work on, Secret Santa gifts...and of course shopping the store! 😉😜

The first few years that I did this series, it was really hit and miss what got posted. The last 3 years, I work during the year on getting a lot of my photos ready in an album on Facebook. Of course, there’s always room for new ideas etc to come up and be added. All great fun! Best of all are the discussions and memories that are prompted by my posts. 

The Sunday Stitchers Christmas Party

Last Sunday we had our Christmas party at Sunday Stitchers. It was a lovely day filled with friendship, lovely gifts and laughter. 

Those of us who arrived early were able to help set the tables. 

Sandi organised some games.

The first game was played in teams if 3 and we had a list of decorations that had to be put on a little tree that each team had...in a certain time! 

We also had to gift wrap a ball; not an easy task. So while one team member took the tree out of its box, another team member took the list of decorations to a big box of items and counted out what we needed. The other team member wrapped and gift tagged the ball. Lots of laughter ensued 😝. 

My team with our decorated tree...


Every team member won a prize! 

Sandi also made the most magnificent photo frame that we could use to have our photos taken. Here’s the three of us who come together in the same car each month. 

We also gave and received a big haul of small gifts from each other...

This is Michelle’s photo which I stole! Lol

I had had plans to make a gift ( ornament) for everyone but ran out of time. So only 3 of the 14 gifts I distributed were handmade, the rest were from Bed Bath and Table! But they were nice. 

As usual we had Secret Santa. This year we each handed over a fat quarter to be redistributed to the person who would be our Secret Santa. Some of us added a list of suggestions of what we’d like made. I received this text fabric with Australian place names on it. 

Eventually I decided to make a bag as suggested by my partner but I was determined to use what was in my stash. 
This is what I came up with...the front,

And the back

The fat quarter I handed in was Christmas fabric with elves. Teresa, my partner made me the most beautiful table runner; to say I was thrilled was an understatement. 

It’s already in use on my dining room table; love it! 

This year, instead of each of us bringing food, we decided to go to the Norfolk Tavern which is in easy walking distance of the community centre where we meet each month. No photos but we all had a lovely meal.

After lunch Sandi had another game for us...

Yes we were all given a cup of popcorn and a tapestry needle threaded with twine...and we were given a few minutes to thread as much popcorn onto the string that we could. Well the popcorn kept shattering so the floor got a bit messy. Three of us ended up in a tie for first; it had been fun! 

Now Alison is the person who organises the rental of the room and brings the tea coffee supplies each month as well as a myriad of other things for the group. So we gave her a presentation to show our appreciation; wine and chocolates 😁

And of course we had December birthdays too

The day had been a lovely celebration to end a wonderful year for our group. 

FNSI...

Yes, yesterday was the third Friday of the month, which meant that last night was September's Friday Night Sew In, or in my case, Knit in.

I revisited a project that I'd put aside a few months ago, while I worked on a number of other things. After hearing that a friend of many years was quite ill and facing heart surgery, I decided that this throw would be a perfect 'pick me up' gift for her...but first I have to get to work and finish it! Just a small detail, surely! 😉

How fortunate that I had chosen Sue's favourite colours when I started this throw way back at the start of winter. 

Linking up with FNSI over on Wendy's blog. A big thank you to her for once again hosting this virtual crafting get together once again! 😊

If I am devastated...how must she feel??!

I belong to a number of 'groups' as I go about living my life. One group that I regularly socialize with consists of women whose children were at school with my two girls. One of these ladies has been experiencing problems with her voice over the last 12 months or so...it was as though she had permanent laryngitis. She has been to a number of ENT specialists, but tests revealed nothing. My friend also noticed that one of her legs 'seemed heavy' and her usual brisk walk to the station each morning was becoming more difficult. 

Another lady in this group is a radiographer and our friend's problems intrigued her. This lady suggested  that our friend ask her GP to refer her for neurological tests as the ENT specialists had had no answers. Our friend had to insist she be sent for these tests as her GP thought it was a waste of time...😒

Just under a month ago, our friend got the results of her tests. It was devastating news...she has Motor Neurone Disease. ( also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease and ALS, depending on what country you live in) 

'Motor neurone disease (MND) is the name given to a group of diseases in which the nerve cells (neurones) controlling the muscles that enable us to move, speak, breathe and swallow undergo degeneration and die.'

The prognosis is not very good I'm afraid. Our friend got this diagnosis a few days before she was due to fly overseas to visit her only child. The specialist told her to have her holiday, so that is where she is at present. When she comes home, she plans to move to a complex with various levels of accomodation. She will first go to an independent living townhouse and then as her need for care arises, she will still be able to be in the same complex. Our group are discussing how we can help...and reading everything we can about this terrible disease. 

During this last month, I've found that attending the gatherings of the other groups I belong to, has been great in lifting my spirits...

Knitting group at Albany Creek..

Show and Tell at Sisters of Stitch at Chermside Library...

Show and Tell at Sunday Stitchers at Coomera...

One think that 'struck me' when I heard of my friend's illness...in all the years I've known her, she has ordered fruit toast without butter as she felt butter or margarine should be avoided because they are fat...so she ate dry toast. 

Another job for Santa???

In 2014 my Secret Santa in the Chookyblue SSCS was Isabel from Portugal. And what a lovely lot of gifts I received; as they say I 'was really spoiled'! 

This lovely Christmas ornament was made from cork...

Isabel stitched a lavender sachet but after checking customs regulations turned it into the sweetest little pillow. There was also a ball of yarn, a gorgeous Zauberball in predominantly purple shades. And there was also a Portuguese chocolate flavoured with passion fruit...it was delicious btw!!  

The main gift was this magnificent circular needle holder which Isabel made for me...it has been such a wonderful gift...made with Kaffe fabrics too!!! 

Well, I noticed as 2015 went on that Isabel had 'become very quiet' with almost no activity on her blog or Facebook. So finally in October I sent her an email asking how she was and once more saying how much I had loved her gifts. I found out that 2015 had not been a good year for her and that she had not signed up for the SSCS as she felt she wouldn't be able to keep to the deadlines. Isabel commented that she loved the fun of being a Secret Santa with the stalking etc and might I add that she is a very effective stalker! My circular needles were kept in a ziplock bag for years before Isabel made the special holder for them! 

So...even though life was a bit crazy here for me with DH's health issues, I decided then and there that I would make up a SS gift for Isabel. Time constraints meant that I didn't sew anything myself, but I 'gathered' some gifts together ready to post in the first few days of December. The parcel only arrived late last week in Isabel's town so just didn't make it before Christmas. 

A Christmas ornament complete with a little hanging bag; a stocking in Australiana fabric and a face washer with a cross stitched kookaburra. All these items were stitched by friends who sell at markets.  

And I bought some charm squares of Australian Aboriginal designs from Tuppy's....

And an iron on fabric label...

And a fabric patch from Nature's Face...the wallaby can be easily seen in my poor quality photo but there are lots of other fauna ( and Aussie flora) hidden in the fabric patch. 

My goal was simply to give Isabel a nice surprise and let her know that others are thinking of her. And I achieved that! 

Now it would be a wonderful surprise for Isabel if some fellow bloggers could visit her blog and wish her a Happy New Year...??? Here is the link http://kraftier.blogspot.com.au/.   

I feel very humbled...

Every now again something happens and you go, 'Wow! You would do that for me?'. Well that happened to me yesterday, while I was enjoying the Newmarket Mums Christmas 2015 lunch. Yes I realise that Christmas was well and truly over, but this group of ladies celebrate in January because that's when everyone seems the least busy. 

So yesterday I set off from home with a plate of fruit and a Secret Santa gift.

Now this group of ladies 'go back a long way' to when our children were all at the same primary school in the 1980-1990s, and we all became friends as we worked on tuck shop, or manned fete stalls together, sewing bee groups or met up at P&C meetings etc. 

Chatting, sipping champers or fruit punch and sampling the nibblies....

Oops this bottle overflowed when the corked was eased out...

Later, the lunch buffet...photo taken when most of us had filled a plate...

After the food came the time for the Secret Santa gift time. I drew #1, which means I got to choose first from the pile of gifts...oooh it was a case of 'Which one shall I choose?' I chose one which looked interesting...largish and the parcel looked 'squishy' which meant it probably wasn't chocolates which I try to avoid! Lol.

Turns out, I made a great choice!! I was thrilled. It was a beautiful ombré colour large towel...all those colours that I love and there was also a cake of soap...

I love 'fancy soaps'! 

Now back to what I mentioned at the beginning of the post...

Yesterday the group started to discuss possible venues for our monthly coffee mornings on the last Sunday of the month. Then one of my friends said that she would like to suggest/propose that we change that Sunday to another one in the month so that I didn't miss out. You see, my belovedSunday  Stitchers group meetup dates have been clashing with the Newmarket Mums' days. Consequently I had been to only 2 NM coffee mornings in 2015. It's something that I've agonised over for the last 2 years. 

Well everyone agreed with Margo's suggestion so now the group will meet the first Sunday of the month! As I said, I feel very humble that the majority would change the date for just one person's convenience. Great friends indeed!!! 

When we stopped at Bristol...

DH and I have a friend who last October left Australia after living there for 21 years, and returned to her home city of Bristol. We had sent messages to her a little while ago saying we would stop over in Bristol to see her but had had no response. I emailed a mutual friend who gave me an uptodate email address we could use instead of a Facebook message that we had been using. I included in the email I sent our UK mobile number and while we were sightseeing with Heather and Andrew on Sunday we got a call. So DH found us accommodation in Bristol and we set off from Taunton on Monday morning.

When we arrived in Bristol the first thing on the agenda was to find a laundromat (Aussie for launderette). DH prefers to just drive around and keep an eye out for such a place. That method wasn't really working that well on Monday morning so I suggested I google 'launderettes in Bristol' on my phone and so I did. Within minutes we were at the one in Baker St.

DH helped me carry the bags into the launderette but then left me to start the washing while he went to find a parking spot...other than using a coin operated machine in caravan parks years ago, I've never done any washing in a laundromat. But the man who was in charge was a great help so by the time DH got back the load was washing away.

After that we headed off to drive around Bristol to get our bearings...

We saw lots of streets which had rows of brightly coloured terraced houses

Lots of other terraced houses...

Some very stately homes ...

We also came across this magnificent bridge which is 150 years. It spans a huge gorge and was built by Brunel who was an engineer well ahead of his time. (I have seen a documentry on some of his projects)

We were so impressed with this bridge that we drove around so we could cross it for a second time! Lol

The view from the bridge...

I have been noticing these signs that suggest that traffic may build up...

Well the traffic did queue that afternoon in Bristol... (Although it was heaps worse when we went into the city about 5pm!)

When we found our B&B, the lady at the front desk said we had been 'upgraded'....?

I was very impressed when she opened the door to our room...

Very nice and so roomy! Our B&B had once been a hotel for gentlemen and 2 stately homes before that...we even had a small dressing room!

About 5pm we braved the busy city traffic to find where we would be meeting Alison. After a bit of a walk round we drove to the meeting place, Queens Square.

Here we are after having a big hug!

Alison suggested we walk a short distance to the waterfront....

We had a meal and stayed chatting for quite a while and then we walked back to our cars at Queens Square...and as we went Alison pointed out places of interest including a very old hotel which is very higgelty piggelty inside...

And a young man near that pub offered to take our photo...

There is a lot to see in Bristol but the best thing we saw was our friend Alison. We will meet up with her again later in April when a group of Aussies converge on Villers Bretoneaux at the Australian War Memorial.

To read the post I wrote when the parish gave Alison a send off last October, here is the link...

http://thenextstage-maria.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/a-send-off-for-special-friend.html