A bit of this and that!

Thank you to all those who commented on my last post about the progress of the buildings next door. Some of you asked whether we would be 'built in' and/or lose our views. Unfortunately the answer to both those queries is...yes. However, because townhouses #2-6 are set back from the front fence line, I should still be able to see those mountain range views from the front veranda. The previous house on that block had lots of straggly gum trees and a large wattle tree that obstructed the view from the front before, so this is a bit of a win. Townhouse #1 is being built adjacent to  the back of our property and will obstruct the view we presently have of the little historic church and a former redemptorist monastery building on the hill at Mitchelton, which is a bit sad. 

Should still have this view after the building work is finished

Last night DH and I went to a fundraising night for Knitting for Brisbane's Needy at the Orient Hotel in the city. As part of the hotel management's commitment to helping groups in the community, they provide up to 100 free meals and suggest that the charity chosen charge $30 per head. That money goes to the charity's funds. How wonderful that they chose K4BN for this offer and the Mexican food provided was delicious and in generous quantities and the staff were lovely. We had the usual lucky door prizes, raffles with amazing prizes and an auction...so I would suggest that the evening was a 'nice little earner' for the group! ( About 50 tickets were sold for the night so we didn't quite use up the 100 meals offer)

[The Orient Hotel was built in 1875, which makes it amazing that it is still standing given the reputation Queensland had in the 60s and 70s for demolishing old buildings. The room we were in on the first floor had the most beautiful stained glass windows.] 

At the Zillmere Knit and Natter last Tuesday, it was mentioned that some members were planning to dress up a bit for the Mexican Night, so being me, I thought that perhaps it would be fun to do so as well. So a trip to Bargain Box resulted in the purchase of a rather fetching sombrero. Then a day or so later DH went back and bought the cactus that we had looked at earlier. 

It was fun, even though I felt a bit conspicuous on the train to the city, carrying a large plastic bag with an inflatable cactus poking out the top! But when we arrived at the venue it soon became obvious that I was the only one who had dressed up! Good job I'm not a 'shrinking violet' isn't it? 

One of the more enterprising members raised some funds by taking the cactus around the room offering people the chance to get their photos taken with the cactus, for a small price of course! lol

My niece took the photo below...she found these pieces of fruit with bites taken out of them around the house. Who was the culprit??? Lucy informed her mother that it was 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'...needless to say my niece had a few choice words to say about Eric Carle and his book ...and her daughter. I just found it so funny!! lol

And my weekend is going to finish on another social high note...a group of local bloggers are meeting tonight as Chooky Blue ( a fellow blogger from country NSW) is in Brisbane!

I have until this Wednesday coming to finish the throw for the Art Show...it's been a busy weekend so I will be in a finishing frenzy tomorrow and the next day! lol

Some more progress on the building site next door...

Well the bricklayers were busy the week before last and last week they had a break...

This is the wall 20cm from our fence line that Brad had told DH and I about when the work first began...

On Tuesday of last week, Brad worked there on his own in the morning...

Late morning a truck arrived and parked in the back street...

What a truck it was!

I think that the driver/operator of the truck was just checking whether the equipment would go right to the front of the property... but where was the readi-mix concrete going to come from??

I had started off by taking photos from our back yard but moved to our front veranda...

The truck driver opened a compartment at the back of his truck and went around spraying the inside of the compartment with a spray 'bottle'.

Ah! This is where the cement is coming from...here's a cement truck which backed up to the back of the truck...using the zoom, you can see that compartment that I mentioned...

Now you can see that the black piping has been connected to the side of that compartment...

The driver operates the equipment from the control pad which is attached to a belt around his waist...

I was taking the photos from a distance but pretty soon I would get a ringside view :-)

The blocks are being filled with concrete via the pipe via the compartment in the back of the truck from the readymix truck. The man on the end of the wall is Robin, who is the managing director of the building firm whose project this is. He has spent a fair bit of time on the site doing 'quality control' and carrying lots of bricks!

Gradually the men worked their way to the back of the property...

Then for a few days, the site was empty while the cement dried I guess...

A view over the building site from near our back door...

Hello! It looks like the builders are graffiti artists too! lol

Arrows and Ws...

Lots of bricks stacked up at the back fence...

More Ws near our side boundary...

This week we have had a different group of 'tradies' working on the site...but that's for another post. 

June 26...our anniversary.

Today DH and I celebrated our wedding anniversary... He had proposed to me in the January while we were having a gelato in Lygon St, Carlton in Melbourne. The wedding date had been chosen carefully as a federal election was due that year and DH's job involved running federal elections which meant long hours and weekend work. The election was tipped to be later in the year, so June was considered 'safe'. 

It was a second marriage for both of us so the OTT wedding gown wasn't an option. I vaguely thought that I'd wear a caftan like gown with lots of colour. It was organised that my best friend, ( and bridesmaid), my future SIL and also my brother's wife at the time and I would go dress/outfit shopping on a certain Saturday morning. We had a list of a number of dress shops as I expected to take ages to find something. Our first stop was a suburb away and a favourite shop of mine over the years. The shop owner, Marlene, brought out a number of outfits...she recommended cream rather than the lurid colours I had thought about! lol The second outfit I tried on was the one !  I knew as soon as I had tried it on. And it was cream :-) 

So we all decided to then drive to Sandgate to a shoe shop that my friend recommended...and lunch of course too. By the end of the day I had bought some lovely new shoes, so I did well. 

On my wedding day my future SIL surprised me by organising for a friend to drive us in a limo...

The bouquets were made by my friend's god-daughter at 'mates' rates'...no hydrangeas at the time of year so I chose irises and Singapore orchids...

DH with his brother and our parish priest at the time, Father Rod, waiting for me to arrive... We were early, so Phil, the friend who owned the limo, drove around nearby suburbs and people waved to us...until it was time...

My baby brother was waiting at the church to 'give me away'....

To start the service my 2 girls and DH's 3 girls lit 2 candles to signify the 2 families...

At the end of the service, DH and I light the 3rd candle to signify the joining of the families...

With my 2 darling nephews...they are so much taller than me  these days!

With my new inlaws...My widowed SIL on the right in the back row was to later  catch the bouquet and she still keeps asking me 'when it is going to work'?  lol

 We had the reception in the old church hall and we had one big party for 100 of our friends and family. It was all in a lovely atmosphere. Our caterer was at that time, the owner of a renowned tea shop here in Brisbane, 'High Societea'...I had known Cathy for a number of years through my friend Pamela.

Here we are walking into the reception...to the tune of  'I do I do I do I do I do, by Abba.

Here is our beautiful cake with its sprays of hydrangeas and morning glorys...

 And here is Pamela, the wonderful friend who made and decorated this cake for us...

It was a lovely day and it's been fun looking back through all the photos. It has been so wonderful to 'get a second chance' in love.

You must like purple...

So said the lady who served me recently in our local pharmacy... so how did she know that?

Was it because when I put my handbag on the counter, she saw those flowers ?

Or was it when I unzipped my bag and took out my reading glasses and put them on??

Maybe it was when I got my purse out of my bag to pay for my prescriptions...

 I'm darned if I know how she knew that I love purple! Maybe she was just psychic??? Lol

 ( DH bought me the purple cape/jacket in New Zealand for my recent birthday. It's merino and possum and very soft and warm :-)  ) 

Keeping busy...

You may have noticed that I haven't been very active in Blogland recently. A close relative has had ongoing  mental health issues for a number of years and every now and then this person has a 'meltdown'... many in the family look to me to 'sort things out' and sometimes it's this reaction which is more stressful than the 'meltdown'. Enough said...I know that I am a most fortunate person, and, after all, it's the 'hiccups in life' that make the good times seem extra special.
Last Monday, a friend who is my 'sounding board' rang me up about 9am and suggested meeting for coffee...I nearly said no (I had been busy wallowing in self pity :-/)  but quickly changed my mind. Just after I got off the phone, I received  a lovely encouraging text from DH just before he hit off on his golf game. Then a little while later DD2 sent me a lovely text unexpectedly. When I got to the shopping centre where I was to meet my friend, I decided to buy a takeaway coffee from a nice coffee shop instead of the usual not so nice coffee one can buy in the Foodcourt where I was to meet Dianne. The coffee was free because of my loyalty card...and those 3 little things just brightened up my day so much!!! And the blues have well and truly gone!
And as the title of this posts suggests, I  have been busy...

DH and I had a trip to Bunnings for gardening supplies, including some seedlings and 2 lots of seed potatoes...

I have been busy sewing up squares that have been donated to K4BN...mostly I join them up to make a single bed sized blanket...

Squares tacked in rows and then the rows tacked together ready for the final sewing up and neatening of ends...

Some squares I edge with a darker colour using Double Crochet (Aussie DC) These 2 bundles were made up into single blanket sized throws

 Here are the ones I've sewn up in the last 10 days or so...

Here's another one...these squares were knitted with 2 strands of 8ply acrylic and were found in an op shop in Tasmania...the donor very kindly sent them up to Brisbane...

Of course, I've had to continue to supervise Brad the Builder on the site next door!! lol

I've also been to some Knit and Natters... the red/black and yellow knitting on the right of the photo is my indigenous chevron throw...

I've finished some secret sewing for a Swap that I'm in...will be able to show the whole object soon :-)

And just for a bit of culture, DH and I went to the theatre :-)

Firstly we went to the Gardens' Point Theatre of QUT to see a play starring Henry Szeps. It was a very enjoyable night...

And we were able to see the newest building on the campus too...apparently according to the Links magazine from QUT, this building is 'state of the art' technology wise...

And of course, this campus has a very old building which was the original government house in the colony...

 And then last Friday night, DH and I went to see some one act plays at Act One Theatre at Strathpine...

The tiny theatre is situated in the old shire hall....

 We had a very special reason for going to these plays...'Housekeeper Wanted', the play on after intermission featured DD1! She played the applicant who had a drinking problem...there was lots of comedy in the role and DD1 also had to speak with an English accent which she successfully maintained throughout the performance. She got lots of laughs during the performance and after the show a number of people congratulated her on making them laugh... 

And DH and I gave her some flowers after the show... DD1 loves pink by the way!!

And this afternoon DH took a photo of me with the 'Art Show 2013 Throw'...not long to go now, probably another 30cm or so, and despite not liking grey, I love this throw; it is soft, light and oh, so warm!

So I'm well and truly back with you all in Blogland!