2016 - The Year that was.

January

The Year got off to a melting start with 44⁰ C temperatures

and a good reason not to be outside!

February

Was the time to start on those UFOs

One down and One into the THB (Too hard basket)

March

Another UFO finished,

taming the pile of scraps in the sewing room and the weeds at DD's home

April

I took you on a tour of the Royal Exhibition Buildings in Carlton

May

Volunteering for way to many projects at once

An Anniversary, Book launch, Mothers Day and Starting a new quilt

What was I thinking?

June

A good month for adding to my knitting wool stash, 

Baking, working on WIPs and finishing PhDs

July

To celebrate our 'Coral' (35th) Wedding Anniversary

A trip to the Great Barrier Reef

and meeting up with Quilter friends as well!

August

Cake decorating and Stencilling with the Scan 'n Cut

September

Welcome to Spring!

October

Finally getting to the "Making of the Australian Quilt" exhibition

 to see the Rajah Quilt 

November

The hand stitching is done, borders are on.

"My Istanbul" is finished and back from being Custom Quilted.

December

I have been sharing "Who I am and What I do" with you for 6 years now 

and I have also shared the important things that happen around me.

In those same 6 years Our Beautiful DD has been working on her PhD (Chemistry)

She finally graduated - It was a Happy Day!

As I have prepared this "Year in Review" I have thought back and remembered all the things that happened that I haven't written about.  

It has been a VERY busy year, and next year?

... I will keep you posted.

Bye for now and may you have a Safe and Happy New Year.

Yesterday....

I thought this was the photo of the day -

Thank you Thrifty Car hire ... The impossible was achievable.

(That was a LOT of weeds)

And then we passed this tree

a massive broken branch

they fall without a sound, without warning -

 Known in Australia as a "Widow Maker"

was this my photo of the day?

And as we neared closer to home

we encountered a little bit of water across the road ...

so we stopped and surveyed the scene in front of us.

The spillway at Edwards Lake in Reservoir 

was unable to cope with the volume of water.

I have never seen it with much more than a trickle, 

behind that fence is a 10 foot drop which is now full of water 

and overflowing the road.

It certainly was a LOT of water

Water aerobics anyone?

If it was this bad here - we wondered what Coburg Lake looked like

a small diversion to see perhaps

The photos of the day

The spillway

The bike path under the bridge.

Yes, we got a bit of rain yesterday.

Boxing Day tradition

Christmas is a time to re-connect with family and friends.

The day after Christmas is my DH family's day.  

Traditions set years ago carried on in wonder by the next generation.

Believe it or not - these two were our "Santa's Elves" this year and they did a wonderful job.

The traditional Boxing Day Test match starts at the MCG and our Backyard match has carried on through the years.

Some of the 'kids' have just never grown up!

And the younger ones?

Well they may have just created their own New Tradition -

Backyard Fencing !

Take THAT Uncle Danny!

It was a very happy Day - see you all Next Year.

Christmas Eve - Be careful what you wish for...

Our family started a "Giftser" account this year which has proved to be quite successful.
Happy faces and smiles when wished for gifts were received (instead of those puzzled
"What am I going to do with this?" expressions.)

My wish list included a letter to "Santa" which went like this....

Santa, I already have a bike but something with 4 wheels would be nice oh and could it have working Air-Conditioning?   ;)

My wonderful DD and her DH gave me just what I asked for - 

They gave me a Lamborghini!

Ooooh and my favourite colour too

... not sure if it has working air-conditioning, 

I will find out when I take it for a spin tomorrow!

Christmas Countdown continues

Christmas Cake

Baked and Decorated?

Done ✔

It really helps when you have an "it will do" Flower Spray on hand.

If stored correctly sugar-paste flowers don't 'go off' and you can reuse them.

This one is being recycled from my Father's 90th Birthday. 

Last minute shopping

The shopping centre was oddly quiet for the last week to shop before Christmas broken only by the occasional announcement and the strains of Christmas Carols  

* * *

Well, what can I say other than - 

I don't think his Mum had this in mind 

when she took him to all those Saxophone lessons! 

or perhaps it is an

"Uber Ninja Jazz Saxophonist"

that is hiding in a tree?

The Great Christmas Eve BBQ dinner test drive...

Christmas in Australia is in the middle of Summer and this year we are expecting a hot 30º C. So the 'traditional' Northern Hemisphere hearty meal is not really appropriate.

Freshly caught Tasmanian Salmon and large Prawns looked so enticing at the supermarket today I thought it would be an idea to give our new-ish BBQ a test run for a Seafood dinner this year.

Heat up the Webber, add some potatoes and close the lid.

This sounds like MY kind of Christmas Dinner - no heating up the Kitchen or the lingering aroma of food long after the dishes are done.

While that was cooking, I sauteed some Zucchini and Carrot ribbons in Butter and threw in some Pomegranate seeds for a bit of Christmas colour.

And the verdict?
The Salmon was perfect and would cook it this way again,
the prawns went in too soon so unfortunately they were a bit overcooked and in future, I would serve boiled potatoes - but then, this IS why it was a 'test run' after all!

Now... What's for Dessert?

Another thing off the list ...

DECORATING ?

DONE ✔

It has turned out to be one of THOSE weeks!

What can I say?

We are SO proud of her!

Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Science with Honours
Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice

and FINALLY

a PhD 

In case you are wondering her Thesis was titled

The pH Dependant Electrochemical, Photophysical and Electrochemiluminescent
Properties of 1,2,4-Triazole Based Iridium(111) complexes.

A Grand Adventure

Today was an early start after a late night spent packing.

Not my suitcase, this time it is DS#2 who is going off on a grand adventure.

His first time overseas.

First leg - Melbourne to Auckland

We wish him God-speed and a Safe return in 5 weeks time.