July 7, 2008
We had a lovely time, O’Reilly Rainforest is a slice of heaven. The weather was not that great but after all it is a rain forest. We all did a couple of the shorter walks on the Friday, then Graham and Jess did the twenty five km walk on the Saturday. If poured rain all day and some of the time it was extremely heavy, it meant that they couldn’t see any of the wonderful scenery as it was just low clouds. They got back just before dark, I was starting to get really worried, they were drenched to the skin and extremely tired. Jess was recovered by the next morning but Graham will still take a few more days to recover (old age).
I got time to stitch and read on the Saturday, sitting before the fire and occasionally looking out at the valley. It was such a peaceful day but I started to get very anxious around 4.30 as they were still not back. Luck I got the phone call not long after that to go and pick them up.
Jess at the beginning of the walk, at Binna Burra
The view from the villa at dusk.
July 3, 2008
It is school holidays, I have been looking forward to them. The break between the 1st and 2nd term was only one week so it made the eleven week second term seem extra long. I have done very little over the last three days except for reading, playing on the computer and a little sewing. We leave tomorrow for a few days away in the mountains which we are all looking forward to.
If you are a fantasy reader, I just finished the greatest book, ‘The Name of the Wind’ by Patrick Rothfuss. It is his debut book and the first in a trilogy. He is a wonderful storyteller and I totally agree with the statement….. ‘Not a word of the nearly-700-page book is wasted. Rothfuss does not pad.’ Now to wait patiently for book two to come out.
I started a drawing to go with this post with this but my wacom drawing board gave up. I ordered a new one, there are many things that I could live with out but a drawing board is not on of them.
photo credit: jimthompson
See you all next week . (the Iphone comes to Australia next week)
June 26, 2008
I must admit I love ‘playing’ as I call it. I see a new template theme on wordpress that is pretty, I download and install it then I start to play with it. I have changed it yet again this morning but I have the sizing all wrong with the background paper, it will need a bit more fiddling with. I have used Dani Mogstad background paper and Emily Powers flowers.
I don’t know if you live in a big city. We do although not that big compare to others around the world. Our city has grown extremely fast because of its beautiful climate and the resources boom that is taking place in our state. The infrastructure has not kept pace, our traffic and roads refect that. There was one accident yesterday on the Gateway bridge and instead of my drive taking an hour it took two. I don’t really mind if I have something to occupy me, like podcasts, a book besides on the passenger seat or my drawing tools. But it was dark so I could not do the last two and the radio was boring; so it was a very long trip home. I would really love to work closer to home.
photo credit: monkeyc.net
June 17, 2008
I have managed to finish the stitch for this week, it was buttonhole stitch and I have always loved that stitch and had lots of fun making the little sampler. I did herringbone the first week but did not make a very good job of it, so I will have to re-do it. The timetable that we are following is realistic as you have a new stitch for each of three weeks and then the fourth week is a catch up week.
There are a few new blogs that I am finding very inspiring and I check them very regularly, one is Spirit Cloth; I find her work awe-inspiring and I am amazed how much she gets done each day. The other one is Playing with Needles, I really likes how she loves to experiment with different things to get her desired effect. These are both very beautiful blogs.
Pen is on the move this week. Tomorrow she leaves Sudan and is going to spend some time with Ses, Arthi and Riya in Cambodia before starting her job in Liberia. The four of them should have a wonderful time together, seeing new things and sharing experiences. I must admit I am a little envious of them, I would love to there as well.
May 18, 2008
We often do the inland drive from Sydney to Brisbane or Canberra to Brisbane and it is amazing drive you see the vastness of the Australian landscape. After we came back from living in the US we were blown by the broadness of the sky and how blue the sky was. So it was an easy topic to choose for ‘wide’…..I did ‘wide open space’.
May 11, 2008
Hoping that you had a lovely mothers day. A wake-up kiss from my daughter, a yummy breakfast at a local restaurant, time to read and watch ‘Death at a Funeral’ (an extremely funny movie); a quiet and beautiful day. My eldest daughter moves to Cambodia this week with her partner and daughter. Over the last ten years or so, I seem to be saying ‘good-bye’ to my children a lot, looking at this in the ‘glass half-full’ way……. they are really doing things that they are passionate about; that we have wonderful places to visit; we see lots of exciting photos (did you hear that Pen and Ses); we hear about a lot if adventures, like Pen taking fourty-eight hours to travel from Sudan to Cairo and it makes them the brautiful, caring people that they are.
The topic of IF this week was ‘electricity’, I really could not think of anything, so having at look at some of the contributions this week has been great. Love this one and this one (love the story attached to this one what a great thing to do with a class, have them finished the story)and this (had to put the link to this one in as this is exactly what Molly would say, trying to please everyone.) Just found this blog, I love all her illustrations. Now I will stop looking and go I to bed.
photo credit: James KhooJames Khoo
April 14, 2008
Well that holiday went really quickly and I’m back at work this week. We spent a few days in Canberra, mostly catching up with Sarah, Arthi and Riya; although we did seem to do a lot of shopping as well, as Jessie was looking for shoes for her formal this Saturday night. Sarah and Co. are moving to Cambodia not Vanuatu as originally planned. At the moment they are doing an intensive language course and I feel that it most likely be another six weeks before they go. Life is a little unsettled for them as they are living in a serviced apartment but it is amazing how much they have made it feel like home. They have put Riya’s wonderful art works up on the wall and the kitchen is full of appliances and ingredients. We had a carbon copy of the apartment four floors above them and ours really felt like a rented apartment…….lovely but cold.
It was so good to be back in Canberra, there have been so many changes in the city, extension of the shopping centre, which is just lovely and lots of other new buildings. Autumn is really on the way and it was beautiful to wake up on the Tuesday morning to two hot air balloons floating over the city. The weather was starting to get cold and most days you needed long sleeves.
March 4, 2008
Pen left yesterday to start her new job, she has a lot of travelling in front of her and will not get to her final destination until Thursday we think. She was very excited and full of anticipation to be starting in a new country. It was hard for us and her to say ‘goodbye’ but I have come to the realisation that she loves her work and doing that kind of work is where she wants to be. She says that the aid workers world is a small world and she goes already knowing other workers in the area. That will help her feel at home quicker.
I love this story I hope that her life is not really going to be like this.
Now my other big news is that Sarah, Arthi and Riya leave this week for Vanuatu. Their house was packed up today and they are staying with some friends until Saturday. They had their farewell party last Saturday which started early in the afternoon and went late into the night. I remember those wonderful Canberra parties where people drop in. We will miss them but will be able to keep in contact by Skype and hopefully Ses is going to start a blog.
