A very satisfying feeling...

Today I put the finishing touches to 2 of my recent knitting projects. One, the project I named 'Over hill and dale' was delivered to the church hall along with its inventory sheet. The workers had already started to display items on the tables and many paintings had been already hung. The Art Show starts on Friday night and then goes all weekend.
The second project was tied up with a bright length of ribbon, then wrapped up ready to give to my neighbour Judy who is 70 today! Judy is a special neighbour; she's the one who waters the garden, collects the mail and feels our pets when we go away. It is a two way thing though as we have done the same for her at various times. The two families even share cars if necessary, and wait for delivery people or repairmen and Judy has a spare key to our house rather than us have one hidden somewhere.

'Over hill and dale...'

Judy's gift, tied up with ribbon

The birthday girl unwrapping her surprise (her grandson doesn't have a hunch back; he'd just taken his warm jacket off and wrapped it round his neck! lol)

We didn't get a photo of her reaction when she unwrapped the parcel but it was one of big surprise. I have been working on it at various times when she's 'dropped over' but of course she had no idea it was for her! lol DH and I, along with Judy's daughter and grandson, then went out for a celebratory lunch at a nearby tavern.

Tonight, as his birthday bash clashes with another birthday party we're going to on the weekend, my brother is having a celebration dinner here tonight with 2 of his children, 2 of our girls and of course DH and I. My brother's partner isn't coming, as here in Queensland, it's a big football (rugby league) match between our state and NSW tonight and it 'the gang' will be watching it here. She's told my brother she's not into football so won't be coming...I'm awful you know...because she's not coming, I haven't worked non stop getting the house ready...just a quick dust, wipe over and DH ran the vacuum cleaner over the floors! It says something to me though...I have to work harder on the relationship between her and I until she seems more like family instead of an honoured guest.

Lotsa knitting!!

Today was a day of knitting, knitting and more knitting! This morning I drove to Scarborough for a K4BN  (Knitting for Brisbane's Needy) 'Knit and Natter ' session. I arrived about 20 minutes late, as despite having the GPS, I missed the turn off and the next off ramp was a number of km up the road. I love the GPS (remember we named her 'Harpy' in the US) as 'she' is just so calm and reassuring no matter how many wrong turns I take! lol

Three husbands were also at the K&N and they had their own 'Natter' session. I took a newish project to work on; one of my garter stitch chevron rugs that are fairly quick to finish. I tend to underrate these throws as it is such a simple design but I've made so many over the years and they always turn out so well. Even though no two of these simple rugs have been exactly the same, they do look similar as i tend to use MY favourite colours in them! lol.

I also took home a medium sized box of knitted squares which I've volunteered to sew into blankets...it could be a real challenge I was warned as the squares come from a number of different sources and are often all different sizes...The box is still in the boot as I need DH to carry it up into the house for me. Probably on another post, I'll tell all about my experience making these rugs...stay tuned! lol

Tonight I went to the local wool shop where another group of knitters meet to ...well... sit and knit...and of course natter!!! It's also a good opportunity to prowl around the store looking at all the goodies...
Tomorrow I've set aside time to weave in the ends and sew the label on my Art Show throw, as well as snip a few ends on another throw which I am giving to my neighbour Judy on Wednesday for her 70th birthday! I have a couple of UFO projects that I plan to work on this week as well...it's looking good...possibly 3 finishes this week!!

Update on DH's brother...he checked himself out of the hospital late last night which has upset the family so much. DH is feeling quite angry at the moment as well as being 'sick with worry' for his brother's welfare. He spent quite a bit of time at his brother's house this afternoon with some discussion about the future in the worst case scenario. My mother refused treatment in the last 4-5 months of her life and I know how upsetting it was for the family; we felt so helpless. Ultimately we had to accept her decision though. Tomorrow is another day and things could change...you never know.

Another weekend...

On Saturday night we went out with some friends for a meal and then went back to their place for dessert and coffee. I took along some of my choc-coconut slice as my contribution. This recipe has a bit of a history. When I was still at high school, (so we're talking the mid sixties here) my mother and I were visiting a neighbour when Mrs O'Regan (the neighbour) said that could we come out to the kitchen with her as she'd just remembered that her youngest was bringing home some friends later in the  evening and she wanted to do some baking for all these young men. We watched her make the slice and my mum asked for the recipe.
I've made that slice so many times and especially when my children were young and I still make it. It's easy and people seem to really enjoy it.

So here is that recipe:-

                                       Chocolate Coconut Slice a.k.a. Coconut Delights

Ingredients:- 1 cup Self Raising  flour

                    1 cup of crushed Vita Brits, weetbix or cornflakes (or any cereal really)

                    1 cup of coconut
                     1/2 cup of sugar
                    5 oz of shortening (5 tablespoons)
                    1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
                    1 dessertspoon of golden syrup
Method:- Sift flour and cocoa into bowl. Add cereal, coconut and sugar and mix well.
               Melt butter and syrup; add to dry ingredients, mix well.
               Press into greased swiss roll tin.
               Bake in a moderate oven for 12-15 minutes. Stand tin on cooler and cut into squares.
               When almost cold, ice with warm chocolate icing and sprinkle with coconut.

Today I had plans to go to the Farmers' Markets in the next suburb. Unfortunately I slept in a bit and then we got a phone call from DH's older brother's step-daughter telling us that her stepfather was very ill and had been taken to hospital. The paramedic had told her and her mother that the ambulance would be in a queue for at least an hour at the hospital before my BIL would enter Emergency. DH has spent most of today waiting for the updates from his SIL. The latest news is that it is not known what is specifically wrong, however he is unable to walk and it is reported that they are unable to listen to his heart because of the 'noise coming from his lungs'...(sorry, remember I'm getting this third-hand!) Tomorrow is another day and being Monday, the public hospital, will again have staff involved in testing etc back working.

This afternoon I went to a tupperware party at my stepDD2's place; lots of young friends and siblings far outnumbered the 'oldies', i.e.  myself and StepDD's mother. When it was my turn to pick a prize out of the box, I picked the little tongs...a sign that I've been to too many tupperware parties is that I already have all those little goodies in the prizes box!!! lol

On my mind...is silicone bakeware safe?

On a blog recently I read that the silicone 'mat' is a better alternative to baking paper. Over the last few years I've seen silicone bakeware on sale and I've also been to Tupperware parties where 'goodies' were baked in or on silicone bakeware. A number of my friends have the silicone muffin pans. I've shown my age by being a bit sceptical of this 'newfangled' kitchen ware...I sound like my mum now! lol
Well...on the weekend, DH and I stopped in at Harbour Town, where I made my usual beeline to the David Jones Warehouse. I was after a new pyrex rectangular dish to replace one which had broken. DJs only had a starter set of about 6 pieces which wasn't what I was after. I saw a set of silicone bakeware which was marked at 70% off marked price. This made it less than $30...DH and I talked about it and eventually we bought it.
Since then I've wondered about the safety of using such bakeware, so I googled ,' Is silicone cookware safe?' Sure enough there were many sites dealing with the subject. One site, the writer expressed concern for an oil which is in the silicone. This writer concluded that she wouldn't take the risk that the oil would be in the food after cooking. Most other sites talked about how the silicon was inert and chemicals wouldn't leach into the food...
What do other people think????

This time last year...

This time last year, DH and I were on holidays in Tasmania. It was a really special holiday as we were not only sightseeing but also we took the opportunity to meet up with friends; all former Queenslanders who had moved to Tasmania. One friend lives in Hobart and she and I had been childhood friends as we lived in the same street. We went to their Swiss style home in South Hobart and were treated to a Swiss style meal featuring baked potatoes and melted cheese...yum!

Another friend we visited lives near Launceston at Evandale, a charming town which is described as ‘Georgian’ in the tourist guides. Lynn went to the same primary school as DH and I and she was in the same class as one of DH’s older brothers. Her little sister was one of my classmates. Years later we both worked at the same school; myself as a teacher and she was one of the best teacher aides that I’ve ever worked with. She is also a mad keen knitter! She married a Tasmanian but when she was widowed she came back to Brisbane. She pined for Tassie so ended up going back there to live about 12 years ago. I’d missed her big chuckle (it was infectious...you would laugh too!) and wonderful friendship so it was great to see her again.

Lynn and I at a lookout overlooking the Tamar Valley

We spent a weekend in a motel in Launceston and Lynn took us out sightseeing both days. So we got to see some places that tourists often miss including some beautiful spots in the Tamar Valley as well as the area around Devonport.

Our other friends lived in Burnie and both Andy and Marion had been former workmates of DH in the AEC. They took us to a charming restored pub for a lovely seafood meal and a long evening of ‘catching up’.

Andy and Marion

We went to the usual places on our holiday such as the Cadbury factory, (where I bought a veritable mountain of my fave ‘Turkish delight’ which were seconds and came in large 600gram bags), the Gardening Australia vegie plot in Hobart's Botanical gardens, Port Arthur, Richmond, the Huon Valley, Queenstown, Strahan, ‘The Wilderness Wall’, The Gordon River Cruise (best ever day as we saw whales close to the boat as well as unbelievable country!), Don River Railway, Cradle Mountain National Park, Cataract Gorge. We spent 12 days there and even tho’ Tassie is small, there was still a lot of country we didn’t see.

The motel we stayed in in Launceston was a former bakery. (restored by the Newman family whose son was our Lord mayor until recently)

Part of the huge suite we had in Hobart; this motel had been  a former school!

Our little hire car; my little car, Mitzi, is also a micra

The Botanical Gardens; the famous vegie patch for gardening Australia

Close to where the boat turns around on the Gordon River cruise

Eaglehawk Neck

Whales frolicking near the boat, just before we headed inland up the Gordon River

We stopped briefly in Campbelltown as DH's grandfather was born here; he enlisted in the Tasmanian army to fight in the Boer war

Now if I ever go to Tassie again (and a few people have told me of an event in November which is like a ‘Markets’ crawl’) I have even more people to visit! Through Facebook, a family of ex-pupils have found me and they live in Devonport. Then, in my knitting group, Knit4Charities, I’ve ‘met’ some other Tasmanians. Also, I reckon I’d like to meet a fellow blogger who lives not far from Lynn I think...

I went back and edited yesterday's post...

This morning I took the opportunity to do a little work on the garden at the back. Firstly I planted the seed potatoes I bought a few weeks ago and which are finally sprouting. A fortnight ago I prepared the soil, digging over the area and then adding cow manure,compost and some gypsum as the clay is still a problem.
I only used a fraction of the potatoes, so if any one lives in Brisbane and would like some seed potatoes, you only have to ask via the comments' box!

The prepared garden bed was almost completely covered in fallen leaves!

Then I made a start of raking up the fallen leaves which blanket just about the whole backyard. The culprit is a chinese elm tree which is really a weed here in Queensland and they seem to be everywhere. I'll put some of the leaves into the compost bin to provide some carbon content, the rest I'll put into a black plastic garden bag, along with a few handfuls of manure and blood and bone, and leave for quite a few months so it breaks down.

The 'naked' chinese elm tree

The path from the back gate is a carpet of leaves!

One of my raked piles

And finally...
Yes as the title suggests, I went back and edited some of my post from yesterday...I mentioned a magazine called 'Forum' which I said a friend had lent me some copies way back in the mid 70s. I said that the mag had been described as 'soft porn', but this was a description used by the detractors, and it was probably a bit unfair. My friend lent me issues with medical articles in them as in the 70s we didn't have the luxury of the internet and Google.

A friend's birthday...

Last Friday night DH and I went to a local sports' club to help a teaching friend of mine celebrate her birthday. Sue joined the staff at my first school in the mid seventies and we became mates due to both of us owning and loving cats! Her cat Tweety (?) had done 'country service' with Sue at Marlborough and they were both enjoying being back in the city. Sue looked almost nerdish and a bit straight laced but underneath, she had a wicked sense of humour and you are going to be horrified by what I say next....she lent me her 'Forum' magazines!!! Those of you who have never heard of this publication, let me just say that the term 'soft pornography' has been used to describe this magazine. However this term was used by its detractors and really doesn't describe the publication objectively. Sue lent me issues which dealt with 2 things that were the bane of my life then...cystitis and thrush. Admittedly  I learned about things I didn't know about before I read them, lol! Anyway I have digressed again...




THEN:Sue is at the righthand end of the front row; I'm the shorty in the back row hiding my 7th month pregnancy!


Eventually transfers in the early 80s meant we were no longer working together but we stayed in touch. Sue was a good friend...when my first daughter was little, Sue would let her sit at her piano and 'play'...not everyone would let a toddler loose on their piano.
Then in 1998 I took a teaching contract at an innercity school called K G. And of course the year 6 teacher was none other than my old friend Sue. We had a few changes of principal in those years and the last person appointed was quite formidable. This person's personnel management skills featured  variations that could be termed as bullying. My friend was one of the targets. I agonised about what to do and then one day decided to do something 'unMarialike' and speak up for my friend and the others. I wasn't alone...but it was to be an error of judgement . In this case doing what I felt was morally correct, resulted in a transfer to a less salubrious school. Seven people were transferred immediately and my transfer was 2 months later. The person who was bullying was rewarded with the acting position becoming permanent.

NOW: Celebrating a birthday at the Broncos Club

Four of the 70s  'Newmarket' gang! LtoR, Sue, Maria, Margaret and Carmel. (the latter 2 are behind the principal in the previous photo)

Sue retired a number of years ago but we've stayed in touch. At her birthday bash she made ID cards for each of us to wear.

This was mine...I don't like the term 'insubordination' but I guess that's a reference to when I tried to stand up to a bully. In the years directly after the 'incident' I'd ask myself whether I would do it all again...and suffer the consequences...the answer was always yes...nowadays I'm not so sure..
Sue leads a very busy life these days, with her choir , her work with a volunteer radio group as well as her new career of teaching English.