Some more decorating...'old friends'

In a previous post I mentioned that I have sorted through all the boxes of stored Christmas decorations and have found decorations that I'd completely forgotten about, just like this one... 

I don't know for sure which DD made this but it would have been in her primary school years; possibly at After School Care. My daughters both attended ASC because I was the coordinator of the centre at their school. The paddlepop sticks have been glued to a piece of card and then the message written on with crayon pens. What a treasure and I had forgotten all about it!

Now the next 'forgotten' decoration also has a bit of a story attached to it. It is worked on plastic canvas and the lady who made it, is now no longer with us...she passed away about 5 years ago.

 Audrey was a retired kindergarten teacher who was really 'into craft'. When some funds were needed in our parish, she stitched these wall hangings to sell to raise funds. I bought 4 and gave 3 away as gifts...leaving this one for our family Christmases. I had also forgotten about it and it just sat in one of the boxes in the cupboard. It's brought back lots of happy memories.

A close-up of the stitching

Now the next item has been out on display at Christmas, the last 2 years after I found it all wrapped up in tissue paper at the bottom of a box of decorations.  And it has a bit of a story attached to it as well :-)

Quite a few years ago I saw the plate in a magazine ad and 'just had to have it', but it was being sold through the 'Bradford Exchange' which is similar to the Franklin Mint. These companies sell 'collectibles' but once you buy something, they pester you for ever with mail outs and offers. I ended up buying the plate as I thought that it was so cute and my DDs and I are all cat lovers. There are some real personalities amongst those cats, including some herald angels! These companies sell far too many of each item for them to be valuable, but I didn't buy it as an investment, so that's alright :-)  .

  

'Bibs and bobs' or what's been happening around here...

Firstly some photos of the Advent swap, although not right up to date...Cheryl continues to spoil me with delightful items in the parcels...
The beautiful bird ornament with the Santa hat is now decorating the long bench that the TV sits on. The purple bracelets have already been worn and I love them. The little teal and purple purse is so sweet and the vintage Santa tin has a secret...

 It's actually a candle!

This amazing Christmas bell is also decorating the TV bench

Many thanks Cheryl; I love what you've sent me!

 Now as the month of December continues to rush headlong towards Christmas,  there is a winding up of group meetings. Last Saturday I had breakfast with my high school mates and then I headed off to the last Grovely Knit and Natter for the year. Only 3 of us made it but we certainly had a great time catching up.

And of course we had some Show and tell...Dianne takes T shirts and polo shirts and turns them into a dress by crocheting a skirt and sewing it to the hem of the shirt...They look wonderful!

It's amazing how blogger turns photos around :-/ 

 Sue had made another of her knitted in the round jumpers for the Summer Challenge...

A closeup of the pouch/pocket on the front...

Lastly I'll show some of the decorations that I've put together. Usually I just decorate the tree and maybe throw a bit of tinsel on the shelves of the hutch. Inspired by other bloggers I have gone through every box of decorations stored in the top cupboards in the bathroom and consequently I've 'found' ornaments that haven't seen the light of day for years... So I've decorated more areas than usual.
When the sofa table got ousted from the loungeroom when we bought the modular lounge, it sat in the corner of the dining room. It normally has family photos on top but I put them away for a few weeks and put up the little tree that I used to use in my classroom. It has handmade ornaments plus old ones from my girls' childhood...

 Last year my friend Lee gave me some lovely Aussie animal ornaments....

It has been quite hot here and the gold candles have started to bend because of the heat :-(

Next time I'll post some photos of other decorated areas. The girls will get a surprise when they come over on Christmas Eve...I've really had fun!

Year 7 Graduation Dinner

Last Wednesday night I was honoured to be able to attend the Graduation Dinner for the Year 7 class at my former workplace. This particular class had been my students when they were in Year 2. The dinner was held in the school hall...

The invitation...

The back entrance to the school hall...

Looking from the cafe area of the Tuckshop into the kitchen...

The hall with tables all set for the festivities...

Note the black plastic over the front doors of the hall...it has to be a surprise :-)  The principal and the Year 7 teacher are just doing a last minute check before the students come in...

A message above the stage area...

One of the organiser mums and her son (former student of the school) ...Jo wanted to get some photos as the students came through the door...

Teachers and teacher aides were asked for a group photo...

A little gift box of goodies to take home...

The table decorations included little lights run with little individual power packs :-)

Lights are dimmed and some dancing starts...

 We were served the most beautiful savouries on arrival, followed by a delicious buffet meal. The food was prepared and served by a group of hard-working parents (and 2 former students) . As well, these parents had also made the decorations and then decorated the hall and tables that afternoon. A lot of work and planning over the last few months.

Some of those workers behind the scenes...

But that's not all... a DVD of the slideshow of school photos of the year 7 students throughout their time at the school was presented to former staff. (other staff would have received their copy by Friday)

The DVD of photos plus a booklet

A lovely evening and my last at that school as all the children that I have taught have now finished primary school. There won't be many Year 7 graduations still to go (only 2013 and 2014), as Queensland will join most states and have primary schooling finishing at the end of Year 6. 

Another Christmas 'break-up'...

As the year draws to a close, many of the groups that I belong to are having the last get together for the year.   Naturally that's an excuse for a bit of a Christmas party. On Monday the Scarborough Knit and Natter group had their last meeting for the year. It was actually held at Deception Bay due to the ill health of our regular hostess. Thanks to our GPS I had no problems finding my way into the uncharted territory (well uncharted for me!) of Deception Bay. That day I took some photos of some of the items for Show and tell.

Robyn modelling some of the donations...

 The next photo has a bit of a story attached to it. Angela had asked me  for the pattern for my chevron garter stitch throws. She tried knitting one but found that knitting something with so many stitches on the needle wasn't for her. That first attempt became a scarf. Then Angela decided to knit  A4 sized rectangles with the pattern. She then sewed them into a blanket...I love it when people take an idea then adapt it to make something so different!

Angela with her lovely blanket

Now Robyn is showing us a number of hats that she has made in the last month...

here is a child's jumper knitted by Robyn...

 The next 2 photos show the lovely circular shawl/baby blanket made by Claire...

 And this is another baby blanket made by Claire...

On Wednesday afternoon I went to the last Sisters of Stitch meet up for the year. Yes, yet again...another Christmas party! lol

Show and Tell table at Sisters of Stitch...lots of quilts to be donated to the children's hospital

This is the display board outside the meeting room at the library

Close up of our sign...

Tomorrow I'm going to enjoy staying home and getting a few jobs done around the house. But most of all, I'm looking forward to putting some more decorations up for Christmas. The tree is done, the hutch is done, some of the veranda is done but I have a few ideas on what else I can do. :-)

Out and about...again!

Yep, I'm still being what my mother would have described as, 'being a dirty stop out'! lol   So...

Sunday I was privileged to be able to join a number of fellow bloggers at a blog meet. Kayly (aka Cheryl) and I got a lift with Lynda.  The venue was the very quaint Wishing Well Cafe at Victoria Point. The sign outside explained that the premises had had a number of uses, including a brothel! But that was a long time ago apparently! :-)

A large table in the courtyard had been booked for our group and the wonderful staff had decorated the table especially for us!

Peg and Dale, the patchwork chickens on the left, came with Lynda, but the rest of the table decorations were provided by the staff...

We had started with a morning tea cuppa, then later we ordered lunch and later on in the day, it was time to have afternoon tea. All food and beverages were delicious and the food was beautifully presented and home cooked style. I was just so impressed with the quality. Now between cuppas and food, there was a lot of stitching going on, except from me...I crocheted :-) There was also some 'Show and Tell' and there were some beautiful things to admire. Unfortunately, I was so intent on looking at these beautiful items, I forgot to take pics of all of them...so only have some photos to show...

Here's Marilyn showing her magnificent wall hanging...

This is a bit more of a close up...how beautiful is that!

Cheryl, Deb, Dee and Maree enjoying the Show and tell session...

Cheryl showing her quilt top all finished...

Here's another quilt...

Noela showing one of her beautiful journal covers... 

Just had to take this photo showing china oddments on hooks ...this tree (and other ones too) are growing through the roof...the roofing material has been cut to fit around the trunk! 

Here's the wishing well...and as you can see...more trees growing through the roof! lol

One of the lovely young waiters (I'm old-fashioned...it was a waitress actually!!!) offered to take a group photo
Susan, Cheryl, Deb, De, Maree, Marilyn, Noela, Lynda, Moi (and Alison wasn't there at that time) 

Any readers who live anywhere near Victoria Point, I highly recommend this cafe...I've already told DH we're coming back for lunch one day soon :-) !