I Love a Sunburnt Country!

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains

Of ragged mountain ranges

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror –

The wide brown land for me!

This beautiful poem by Dorothea Mackellar just about sums it up for Townsville now. Caught in the grip of a severe weather system. A couple of months ago we were suffering through a 7 - 5 year drought, on water restrictions ( which are still in place, ha ha) and getting a new pipeline to supplement our water supply from the bigger Burdekin Dam! 

Now our dam is at over 190% and still filling!

With every meter of water that rises in the dam, the further they raise the floodgates with potential flooding downstream!

Having lived all my life in this region I have seen this often. Sometimes yearly in the small sugar town I grew up in. Our house would flood every year!

Flooding was always in the back of our minds when we moved to Townsville in 1988 and we built our house with floods and cyclones in mind. Of course one can never become complacent and with any new development around the area there is always the risk of changes to waterways and of inundation.

Coming home from work on Wednesday I was stuck on the highway due to flooding! My home is less than 5 minutes away and it took me 5 hours to get there. At least I had my phone and I had my sister and husband for company (via messenger) the whole time.

So while we are high and dry here some of our neighbours are not and my heart goes out to the people who have lost homes, pets and things that matter.

Thanks to social media, although we may be flooded in and not able to get out to help we can see the devastation around us. It makes you feel less alone and know that others are affected too! This time we are lucky.

So many lost and found horses, dogs, chooks, ducks and geese. Funny how cats seem to be safe! But human goodness shines in a time like this and others are collecting and posting on the found pages.

Lost - Now found.....at least these could swim. What a wild ride it must have been!

Someone's precious momento of a loved dog washed up at the mouth of the river.

There is of course the need to be careful as nasty things get washed up in other areas. Coastal Taipan.

Shop shelves are bare but people are sharing and baking goodies for the community centre.

But in all of this there are the good stories of neighbours helping each other, businesses giving free tarps, and using equipment to help the community.

I hear the word " resilient" used a lot when there are disasters - I don't really like that word. We just get on with things and do what needs to be done!

But all is not doom and gloom. The grass is green, plants I forgot about are well watered and my crochet is humming along just fine. We have power and food, although, I think I have put on a couple of kilos with all the eating........rain makes me hungry.....You?

Stay Safe.

All Things Said and Done!

 It doesn't have to be a new years resolution but inevitably there are some jobs that start out as such. Like cleaning out the pile of recipe books from Coles and Woolworths. I can't take all the blame for collecting as my daughter also collects these for me as well!

This is not the first time I have cleaned out this type of magazine and after each frenzied episode I start to gather again. I say to myself that I'm not going to collect these as there are a myriad of  recipes on the net and pinterest.

So with the intention of going through the mags and saving just the recipes I might cook,  I set about making a new folder cover in which to store these gems! Now I could have made an easy one like the folder above, but I need to trace and stick and applique then sew before I am satisfied!

I can't take the credit for the idea as it came from Jennifer who is also making a folder cover, although her cover is for patterns and sewing. You'll just have to wait to see it over on her blog.

The apron has tiny pockets and goodness knows what will go in these!

All done and ready to fill with the cut out pages of delicious food ideas......if only I'd cook some!

Actually I'm liking the look of that chicken recipe on the Coles mag...might start with that one first!

Maybe I'll not have to do this again. 

I went to Woolworths today and guess what? NO recipe books came home with me!

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A Quiet Year

WOW! It's the beginning of another year and I really don't know where the last one has gone. I've been a little preoccupied with health, home and employment matters much of last year.

Having had major surgery at the end of 2017 laid me up for a quite a few months with a gradual return to work for the next 6 months. Somewhere in your mind you think that it is holiday time and you plan all of the things going to get done!

Well that's not exactly how it happened with 2 trips a week for rehabilitation and feeling weak and unable to return to normal life for a while. I guess it has taken a good 12 months to recover and get back to my old self.

My oldest brother also passed away from Bowel Cancer in August and although we had about 3 months from diagnosis it is still difficult to reconcile this loss in my heart. I spent many a wonderful day with him in hospital and not one to skirt the hairy issues of death and dying we had interesting conversations on the matter. I surprised myself on how I held together and gave him the benefit of all my years of nursing (I worked for years in Cancer Care) and which he earnestly asked for. I would get a call from his daughter asking for me to visit. I live an hours drive away and lucky I had a very very understanding boss!

It was a time of mending and healing of rifts within the family (we are part of a large family) and I guess that was his legacy as a big brother.

As the months pushed on I threw myself into everyday activities such as work, making a home and being a parent and grandparent. It always amazes me on how life goes on when you feel it should stop and grieve with you. Every now and then I would pick up my embroidery or sewing and do a little. It's always a good thing to keep busy.

But time is a good healer and it's time to sweep out the old year and bring in the new and start looking forward to a wonderful year ahead and many new challenges.

Happy New Year 2019.

A Little Rain.

Loving these rainy overcast days, not that I'm complaining as the garden is starting to look green again and the many trees are having the best drink they've had for a long while.

Flowers have appeared where none were before and the smell wafts across the yard day and night. I love the garden in the daylight hours as much as in the evening.

If you know where to look you can often see small flowers hidden from view, especially on the succulents and cactus. Some flowering for just a moment and others opening and closing many times over.

The native bees are busy collecting pollen and making new homes.Three Fire Tailed Resin bees have been busy cutting out new homes in a piece of mango timber specially chosen for a wood turning project but now belongs to a group of bees, including some leaf cutter bees.  I really understand that term "busy as a bee"! I guess there will be no lamp base or bowl turned from this piece of timber now.

Here is a great picture of this beautiful bee courtesy of the internet where more than her butt can be seen. 

I only wish I was industrious as these busy bees, but unfortunately I have been busy just tidying the craft room and getting ready for the new year.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

When Life Gives You Lemons.

Or rather when a friend shares with you some of the latest range of Tilda Lemon Tree Collection, then you just want to do them proud and make something lovely and usable. 

I wanted to make something functional and practical for my home and what better than a couple of items for the kitchen.

Using a beautiful piece of gifted feed sack fabric I used an assortment of fabric pieces to add a bright and cheery  band to the bottom of the kitchen towel and then a couple of applique lemons above.

Using the left-overs I had enough to make a pot mat/holder with some using Insul-Brite for the batting. They are going to look great hanging on the oven door. 

Once I knew what I was going to make the rest was quite simple and easy to put together and I am thinking of making a few more sets to add to the gift box.

Here are a couple of tutorials from Pinterest.

Get this one here.

And these delightful houses by Kerryanne can be found here.

and of course a tutorial from Jenny who gifted me the fabric.

Can't wait to see what she is making from her selection of fabric!

Keep creating.

Lets Prepare.

I've seen lots of blogs out there talking about being prepared and making gifts ahead of time and having had a gift box for a couple of years now I don't need to be convinced of the benefits. Sometimes a little encouragement and inspiration is required to push me along and get started again.

Nothing beats dipping into this goodie box and looking for something a friend or family member will enjoy as a special gift.

Something purple for our daughter in law. She has been giving hints for the last couple of years and trying to steal mine......maybe I'm a slow hint taker!! She is sure to love this casserole carrier. Both only took a couple of hours each to make.

But that's not all..... I made another smaller one for her as well. Now she will have large and small dishes covered.

I love my little stash of handmade tags.

This little zippered pouch will be added to the box as well.

Love the little points, a bit fiddly but don't they just dress it up a bit..

I have also included a few links to lovely items from others who have the same idea.

Jenny's making book marks and hot packs here. The bookmakers are super beautiful and may just find their way into some of my books.

Fee's making tissue covers here. I did a few of these last year and they make a cute little gift to tuck in with something else.

There is a tutorial for a microwave bowl cozy here. I have been looking at making a few of these for the grandies as they are very handy making noodles in the microwave.

How about sewing up an apron for a friend who likes to cook? There's a great tutorial over here.

There are loads of ideas out there and Pinterest is a good place to start your search.