Sunny Sunday

Are you having a nice Sunday afternoon?
Well here the sun is shining and basking my pretty little petunias in a lovely warm glow. They sit in their pots right outside the window where I sit. Their soft, little heads nod in the breeze.
Perfect weather for being outside taking advantage of the warming sun before the afternoon shadows return to deliver the brisk cold air.

I was hoping to make this a sewing/quilting thread but have nothing worth showing at this stage.
I have been in one of my slumps. You know the ones? Tired, restless wanting to do something but can not focus long enough to work on it. It's all there for the taking, just don't have the mojo.
It's not uncommon for me to be like this as long time readers will know. I struggle some days with depression and certain events can really set me back in my seat and render me practical comatose. I get lost in my thoughts. Yep I really do I can awake to find that I have been unaware of my surroundings for as long as half an hour. This is happening a lot lately. Of course having sleep apnoea is not helpful either, although I am awaiting on tests for this.

I have done some work on mindfulness and had some success with it too. The thing with me, I need to keep practicing it. :)
I have a few new projects in mind and I will be up to it shortly but I do waste many hours drifting *sigh*.

Okay enough of my ramblings, better hit publish before blogger throws a tantrum and deletes my post. There are a few issues going on there, hope they are soon rectified.
Oh also thank you to he lovely people who visit my blog and even leave a comment. I am very happy to see this, it means someone out there is listening to me.
And we all like to be heard.

P.S If you want to use the link it is right click, can not get it to do the other way.

Sense of achievement

Good morning. My fingers are stiff and cold today as it is very cold here, hovering about 4 degrees, which is pretty chilly. I have the heater on full and it is slowly warming up the room.
I am very happy to report that an applique project that I started late last year is now completed. When I say completed I mean all the parts are ironed on too the twenty blocks and now they all need to be blanket stitched to secure them.
I would not have got this far in the past week had my daughter Nicole not helped me. For a while now I have tried to interest my girls in sewing,quilting without much success. Nicole was here on holiday and when I asked her to look at the work and suggested she have a go she took to it like a duck to water. She was a natural and her work so neat it left mine in the shade. She took art at school and loves painting so applique was a natural progression. Once I complete the blanket stitch I will be able to complete the quilt. I still have the borders to make and then I will post pictures. I really love this design from the Piece O Cake girls. It allowed me to use beautiful bright and pretty fabrics, and who doesn't love that?

                      Daughter Nicole

Once the quilt is completed I will post more pictures. As usual the photos are less than perfect, much to my frustration.
I intend to get straight onto my next project too which is another design from the same designers called Aunt Millies Garden, which only has 12 large blocks, so it will be easy after this one. :)

Be back soon, take care.

Sharing some pics

A few posts back I wrote about my girls cooking for me and making my Mother's day the best they could think of. I finally found the energy to download those pics and I present them here for your viewing pleasure. They show scones with jam and cream and a pot of tea, which my daughter Katie wanted to do as a special treat. Well the scones were beautiful, but the tea was less nice, but I am a coffee drinker. :)

The last four pictures were taken last Thursday at a small one pub town called Broadarrow, 38km's North of Kalgoorlie, W.A.
The bloke, myself and two of our daughters decided to do something different for lunch and headed up there around 11am, intending to beat the lunch time rush from the hungry hoards who come from all the surrounding mite sites that surround this town.

We were too late, 3 cars were already lined up in the sparse red dirt. But no matter we listened to the car stereo and read our papers whilst we waited for our famous Broady Burger & chips! My oh my it was worth the wait. That burger had everything in it and was cooked well, and the chips were the best we had tasted. My tip is if your ever in the vicinity call in for lunch, but make sure you take cash, as they don't have EFTPOS. :)

I have some more news and pics to post soon so stay tuned.
Jan

Counting my blessings

Well I am sure most of you will know if you have tried to access blogger in the last couple of days that there are issues with it. I am hoping by the end of the writing component that it allows me to post some pictures. if not then it is gonna be a real dry argument.

What has everyone been up to lately? Yes, I really do want to know, come on let's get a dialogue going. :)

It is Saturday today and I have awoken to find my eldest daughter has come over to make me a beautiful coffee and bought over some of the pizza she had last night. I must say it was yummy. And it is nice to know that she thinks enough of me to do this for me.
It is sometimes quite hard for me to be cheerful. Those that no me well will agree with this, but others who don't know me so well might be surprised to know that I am a real misery guts at times. I have a lot of pain, almost constantly and it can wear you down, couple that with sleep apnoea and it makes for a slightly (oh alright a very) cranky Jan.
So when someone like my beautiful girl makes an effort to please me it makes me feel good. So thanks Amy.

On another note another daughter Nicole, has been here on holiday from Perth and she has taken on the role of chief cook. Well we have had some lovely tucker including macaroni cheese, spinach & ricotta cannelloni, home made pizza, where she made me try eggplant and it was not as bad as I thought.




It's these moments that reassure me that I have raised some decent, kind, independent individuals, despite never fully knowing if my efforts to parent them were going to produce these outcomes. I think parenting is an inexact science as we never fully know how they will turn out.
But my lot make me feel proud and blessed.

Well I waited and it seems like blogger is still not letting me post photos, so I will send this post into the ether without them.

All over the place

                           Kalbarri

Well after reading this hint in the blogging thread on SS forum I am composing this post in Microsoft Word and then copying and posting into blogger. I think this will turn out well for me as I can see exactly how much I am writing. There is not a great deal to talk about today as I am feeling under the weather. Still. I have been miserable for a few weeks and it is not shifting despite taking the medication, so will need to investigate other methods of getting out of the doldrums. It really is the pits; I mean I am annoyed at myself, let alone other poor people putting up with me.


The girls tried hard to make my mother’s day as nice as possible and it was, but I was unable to take the full enjoyment their efforts deserved. I do know that I am a lucky woman to have been given five such lovely, caring daughters. They cooked for me, massaged me, some sent flowers, others cleaned.

What more can a mother ask for? I tell you these kids of ours are a blessing.

Well we have survived the first mother’s without my dear mother. I had wanted to visit the cemetery, but my body would not cooperate with me.

The bloke has his days of starting today, he works 4 days on 4 days off and this seems to suit him down to the ground. It means he has time to get all of those mundane chores done around the place and it also allows him to kick back and chill for a few hours and have a beer and watch a movie on the T.V. We all need time out don’t we? The bloke has been working since he was sixteen years old, when he started his apprenticeship as a mechanic, so that is over thirty six years in the workforce, with not that many holidays to be honest. If someone is due a proper holiday it’s this bloke. Oh for that great big lotto win eh?

                       Geraldton foreshore

I am aware that I don’t stick to one topic when I post I am all over the place, a real reflection on what is going on inside the head really. Scramble. But please do let me know if I am a waffling and I will do my best to sort it out.

I would like to know what people would like to read when they come here. Is there any one thing I could rabbit on about? What is the one thing you come to my blog for? Come on let me know I am genuinely interested to know.

Well that’s enough warbling for one post, I will stick some pics up for some colour, random shots probably.

 

         
            Toy poodle 'Smog'



Ciao,    



Jan

My first Mother's Day without my Mum

Mother

                My dear mother nursing one of her many great grandchildren

Today is the first time in nearly 47 years that I wont have my dear mum with me. There is always a time of firsts after losing a loved one. It will be 12 months in August and I am amazed how quickly the time has passed. I miss her so very much still. I still go to call her on the phone, before sadly realising that she's not there.
You know I have even thought a few times about calling her number, anyway. But I stop myself, concerned that someone else might answer the call.

She was a good mum. Anything she did was for us kids. A selfless person who put herself last to the detriment of her own self.
I remember the good times mum, they are the ones that make me happy.

Love you mum. Forever. Until we meet again and then some.

I hope mothers everwhere are being cherished today. Hug them tight.

                These are my brother's orchids that mum loved




Till next time

My first Free Motion Quilt

Two posts in as many days eh, things are really looking up. Well I am putting up the pictures of the quilt I finished so I could take it to my daughter who lives in Geraldton. I am pleased to report that she loved it as it was her favourite colour palette and looked fresh and on trend. I will admit that no matter how or where this quilt was photographed the pictures do not do it justice. So we are still getting used to this camera, but I am really tempted to dust of our previous little camera that took a pretty good little snap.

See what I mean about the photos? No matter what the bloke does there is not one I am happy with. If anyone wants to share their photography tips it would be most appreciated. I used Amy Butlers 'Soul Blossoms' range. I would have to say that this range is my most favourite to date. It was inspired by a trip Amy had to Bali.
My very first attempt at FMQ and all in all not a bad effort, even if I do say so. I had practiced on samples many times and made the decision to tackle this quilt. It measured
approx 170"x201".

Finally returned with lots to talk about

Hello friends

This is probably going to be my longest post to date.

So much time has lapsed since I last posted, but there is a good reason. I needed to undergo a colonoscopy in the big smoke a.k.a the city, and we were there for 6 days all up whilst I did the bowel prep and then had the procedure. The lead up to the procedure was the most anxious, life focusing time I have experienced. I am naturally nervous and super anxious concerning all things medical. Talk about white coat fever!


Anyway as is usually the case with me there was nothing to worry about. Sure the risk was very high for me due to my extreme obesity but the medical team were highly trained professionals who also had great caring natures. They treated me with utmost respect and dignity and I felt I was in safe hands. I got the all clear and they only removed one small polyp that didn't look nasty.


The anaethetist usually administers sedation prior to the procedure, but due to other health complications I was unable to have it.  Despite my very high anxiety in hearing this bit of news it was all fine. In fact I was was able to watch the whole procedure on the screen. I was joking and laughing with the nurses, doctors and aneathetist.


I do like the learning about the workings of the human body.
Oh and I forgot to say that part of the prep for me was not eating from the Tuesday lunchtime until after the procedure on Friday afternoon. All I was allowed was clear fluids and the ghastly laxative powders. I am 100% amazed that I could do this, given my eating history. It was difficult to say the least, but I did it and the consultant congratulated me on the great prep I had done.
Top marks eh? I wonder if I can add it to my resume??
 
 

               this bird lived in the tree outside my girls home

 
So after that episode, the bloke and I headed up to Geraldton a mid west coastal city, some 400 kms North of Perth. Our daughter Emily lives there and we had not visited the place the whole time she has been living there which is over 2 years. My brother and the blokes sister also live there so it was great to catch up with them all which we did at a BBQ I organised before we left.
Our girl rents a small former fishing cottage quite near to the water. Just a little place that she has made her own by painting everything in reach blue, her favourite colour (Yes she had permission from the owner). 

My brother loves his orchids

It was cute to stay there, we were sleeping on a borrowed bed in the lounge right near the t.v so we didn't mind one bit. Had a nice time. Whilst we up there we headed on to a place called Kalbarri, about an hour and a halfs drive from Geraldton. Well this place is lovely. First stop was Chinaman's beach where we all had a cup of tea, that is me, the bloke and my brother and SIL.

                                         Chinaman's Beach, Kalbarri

Then we drove around the town grabbed some lunch before heading home again. Dinner that night was again shared with my brother. It was very nice, as my SIL made curry as she knew I loved it. Thanks Dot.

Got home yesterday and I am very happy to be home. It is good to get away but even better to come home again. I have my home set up to suit me and all my needs and it is my safe place. Comfortable again. It will be a long while before I get back in the car, it is just too darn cramped for me with my leg issues. I was in extreme dicomfort the whole time we travelled.

Panadol only does so much.

Any way I am going to put some pics up to show you some of the things we saw.
Hope your still reading this mammoth post.


Till next time