Keeping busy...

Saturday of last week, the family gathered to celebrate 2 birthdays; my 'little brother's' and also my nephew Rowan's. My brother is a 4th of July baby but Rowan was born on July 16.

My brother with his two youngest sons; Rowan is in the middle and at 17, is heaps taller than his dad.

Lucy and DD2...with the little miss eyeing off one of the birthday cakes!

On Sunday, DD1 and I went to Shorncliffe and lunched at Matthew Thomas restaurant. This place has beautiful food!
I kept calling the place Matthew Flinders for some reason! lol.

Monday I headed off to the Scarborough Knit and Natter...I took along some donations which had been given to me to hand in to K4BN...like this crocheted rug...

And these beautifully warm hats made from polar fleece scraps by Margaret. Margaret attends Sisters of Stitch and has just recently given me lots of other lovely donations for K4BN. 

Also at Scarborough we were shown a knitted teddy which was made from a knitted square! What a friendly looking chap he was! 

Talking  of squares...at Paddington Knit and Natter on Tuesday, Anissa, the owner of Knitch, the yarn shop we meet at, showed us a pair of slippers made from 2 squares...here they are modelled by Anissa!

Anissa had time to sit with us on Tuesday morning between customers, and her fingers were far from idle...

This is what she made in a short time...a little toy that will fit easily into a little hand and can be kept in a little person's pocket. 

Parking is somewhat of a dilemma in this busy part of Paddington. I had 'cruised' the side street near the shop looking for a parking spot knowing that I would have a steep hill to climb to get to the shop. All these side streets around Paddington are 'littered' with parked cars, but surprisingly for an old suburb, these particular streets, although very steep, are actually quite wide (ish). I saw a spot in this street and did a u turn to get to the space then drove past it...darn! So I prepared to drive around the block again when I saw a spot on nearby Enoggera Terrace which wasn't on a hill but is a street that branches off the main street that the shop is on. Sweet! That's my Micra on the left; it looks like it's near the wheelie bin but it's actually a safe distance from the bin and the ever present garbage truck . So I just have to cross the street in the foreground...

And the shop is just down there...

Now I know a hill climb is excellent cardio exercise but I knew that I would be loading up my car with donations as Anissa and her customers are soooo generous to K4BN...
This is what my boot/trunk looked like after the car was loaded  up...

 I moved a couple of bags so I could show the other bags that were hidden. There are knitted and crocheted items, including toys...

And there are bags of toiletry items. These will all be handed over at the Albany Creek Knit and Natter.
So after these few busy days I was ready for a quieter day on Wednesday...that's for sure! :-)

The year is winding down...

The end of year celebrations have revved up a notch in the last few weeks...

Wednesday of last week was particularly busy. In the morning the Albany Creek Knit and Natter group celebrated at the last meet up for 2014...

Barbara brought along her beautifully knitted Santa...

And the sweetest little bunny...

Helen had been busy joining squares...a never ending job! Lol

Then it was time to head off to my next stop

Sisters of Stitch, the fortnightly craft group at Chermside Library were celebrating with a Christmas party on Wednesday afternoon...the buffet table had quite a sumptuous spread...

 Saturday was the next busy day for celebrating...

Grovely Knit and Natter in the morning...

Always lots of fun at Grovely...Lorelle keeps us all in order though...lol

I 'annoy' her by always taking lots of photos...

Then my friend ( from my school days) picked me up and we both drove to Shornecliffe a beach suburb of Brisbane. Our destination was this place...

But it's not a Masonic Hall any more...it's a lovely restaurant called Matthew Thomas. There were four of us school mates meeting for a Christmas lunch. From our table we could see the sea...

We may be ladies in our 60s but we do what a lot of young people do...take photos of restaurant and cafe food! Lol.

And here's my delicious lunch...Noosa Whiting and salad...it was beautifully cooked.

Valerie gave each of us a beautiful wooden reindeer ornament...we lined them up for a photo...of course! 

Lastly, more photos before we headed for home.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. DH and I will host a Christmas dinner for 2 of our girls with husband and partner. On Christmas Day DH and I will celebrate with his brother and his family. On Boxing Day we will celebrate with my brother and any of his family who are around...phew...but there's more! On Boxing Day DH's eldest and her partner will arrive to stay with us until Jan 2. Because they will be so busy catching up with her Brisbane friends and her mum,  Christmas dinner with them and a few other rellies, won't be until Dec 29. 

Merry Christmas everyone!