Thankyou

A big thankyou to all my blogging friends for your love and support Oh and the hugs
It hasn,t been the best week Scans MRIS and Doctors visits with my Darling Daughter
When Jim is at work I spend as much time as I can with her and at the moment she can't drive so between Jim and myself and our dear younger daughter we are driving her wherever she needs to go
She didn't get the best news I'm afraid
Cancer is definately in the miningy (excuse spelling) From my understanding the fluid beween the brain and the skull Thankfully not in the brain or the bone ,but is causing pressure on the brain, hence the unbalance and episodes of paralysis down one side
The Docs are hopeful that two weeks of daily radiation to the whole brain and a couple of extra treatments to the area where the cancer is will help
They said that about the time of her wedding her hair will be falling out and she will be extremely tired and lethargic
Was horrified that after the scan Friday of last week on the Monday Lorraine and Lynda were in the shop trying on outfits for the wedding when her oncoligist rang on her mobile to say she had a brain tumour
Where has the compassion in the Medical profession gone?
She had more scans on Tuesday to see if the cancer in the breast and lung were stable No results there as yet
We are all feeling a bit low at the moment
If I havent replied to you all in person Please forgive me

Roller Coaster

Since our daughter was diagnosed with metasatic breast cancer on Valentines Day 2006 Our life has been like a roller coaster Down then up a little way then way down again
When she came home from her trip she looked and seemed so well
Aparently she had a funny turn while away and told noone because she knew Jim would make her come home
She has had a headache for the past three weeks and was told by her GP to go home and take aspirin
Finally they are taking notice of her and have now discovered there is a tumour on the brain
Today I took her for an MRI and tomorrow I will go with her and Jim to the Cancer hospital in Melbourne
Hopefully they will have some results and she will be told it is benign
Life is so hard sometimes Please include us in your prayers
Iam having a little trouble dealing with this news at present
She wont let us tell anyone until she knows for sure what she is facing ,so I have noone to talk to about it
Sorry this is such a depressing post but its the way I feel at the moment

Sewing Machine Mat

Inspired by Jenny at Elefanz I decided to make myself a mat for my sewing machine

I had this pretty material that I didn,t really want to cut up

It has been so wild wet and windy here these past few days it has really only been good for indoor activities and sewing is the go

Jersey Boys

Yesterday I had the lovliest day
Went on a bus trip with a group of friends, to the city to see the Jersy Boys on stage I thoroughly enjoyed the show and music
So much conflict between the boys its hard to imagine when you hear their music
It was lovely to just sit back and be dropped at the theatre door and picked up at the end of the show
No parking worries No stress

A SMALL FINISH

I have had a very small finish this week Decided to make myself a cover for a loose leaf folder I keep patterns in
I was so pleased with it and thought how nice it was until I put it on to the folder and realised I had made what I wanted for the back wrong way round Only I could manage that
I wasn't about to unpick it so appliqued another rose onto the front and now both covers have decoration , so I'm not TOO TOO unhappy with it
Just thought I,d show you a not so good photo of my favourite quilt "Home Among the Gum Trees"
I made this one about three years ago All hand appliqued and machine quilted by me Iam quite proud of this one
I have two grandchildren with me for the school holidays while their Mum works
I do enjoy having them
Weather is not so nice today

Life is quiet

I havent posted in a while, simply because there has not been much of interest happening in my life
Don,t get me wrong I like it that way If nothing is happening it means all is well and Lorraine,s health is ok so that makes me happy
I haven't had many finishes either Have been doing some hand applique on my log cabin quilt which is one of my long term projects
With the lovely spring weather we are having I have been busy in the garden
Only exciting thing that has happened is that Lorraine and her long time partner have set a wedding date 7th of November which will be her 40th birthday It will come around quickly and things are falling into place nicely... re. plans for the big day

Photo I hope

Finally managed to get a photo up

As I've said on many occasions I'm not real good at this computer stuff and when things change .........well

Anyway looks like I might have it worked out again

Thought I'd show you a couple of little projects I have been making

Fathers Day in Australia today The girls came over to see hubby for a little while and sat and watched the footy with him It is a cool day here but at least no wind or rain

Ant's Poem

CANCER
Cancer is evil
Aunty fighting for her life
Chemotherapy
Feelings crushed as hair falls out
Two months off to live her life

This poem was written by my 12 year old Grandson
It was an entry in a school competition run by a

neighbouring school
Over 400 poems were entered from about 6 schools

around the district and Anthonys poem was the winning entry

He got a $50.00 prize

I have been trying to put up some photos for the last hour Things are different on my computer since it came back from repairs

I shall keep trying

WELL I'M BACK

Did any one even know I was missing?
Had some computer trouble Got a virus or something so have been without it for the past couple of weeks
Thats not the worst of it though Was also without my sewing machine Oh the pain of it all Hubby thought it was good Sat and watched the idiot box with him while I hand stitched
Can't show you what I've done though Haven't had time to reinstall the printer
Any way both are home now and both working well
I have been trying to catch up with everyones blogs so you will all hear from me in due course
We have had so much rain Water lieing every where and it is realy cold Hard to believe our winter is supposed to be over

Gabi's Scrap Quilt Done

Last night I finished the scrap quilt for my cousins daughter It has many flaws but I'm sure Gabi will love it and treasure it all the more because it was made from her late Grandmothers scraps
I am fairly happy with the way it turned out, all things considered
The boys played their last game of football for the season today and both lost It was freezing Can,t say I,m sorry it's over. Danielle came home with me
She is working on a very large project for school and she has chosen to do it on quilting so we spent the afternoon researching the history and she has just made four pinwheel blocks to be used as samples
One she will leave as patchwork, the next one she has basted, the third we will quilt(very simply) and the last we will finish
The project doesn't have to be finished until November then they have a night for interested people to view the finished projects
The students chose what ever topic they want
I think Anthony is doing his on weapons
Last year he did it on Nitro Trucks This is Danielle's first I think her mother chose the topic so I can help
In this project parental help is encouraged

Paper Bag Swap Parcel Has Arrived

My paper bag swap parcel came in the mail today All the way from Texas I received some lovely gifts as well as the beautiful wall hanging

She also sent me some American quilting magazines a Texas keyring A Texas cookbook and some gorgeous material with which I have to make something nice for myself to remind me of her

Thankyou Barbara

Go visit her and say Hi

She has a photo of a quilt someone made for their car I love it

Her blog is http://panhandlesuesquiltingspot.blogspot.com/

I'm sure she would love you to drop by

Quilt Blocks

Managed a bit of sewing today Made a new chair pad for the dining room chair because the other one was worn out
My cousin came to visit last Christmas and her 11 year old asked me if I'd make her a quilt using her late Grandmothers material
The material was posted to me and not a peice of cotton material in sight So today I made a start and did these two blocks Some applique will go on the centre square
It's a little difficult because all the material is different weights
Hopefully I can make something reasonable from what I have been given to work with

I can't believe I have a 16 year old grandson

I have been taking things a bit easy this past few days Hurt my back and havent been able to sit for to long
Today my eldest grandson turned 16 I just can't believe I have a grandchild that age He was very excited as he got his Learners permit to drive this morning I snapped him as he came to show his Pop and I that he passed He loved his saw AWESOME he said
Lorraine and Jim arrived home safely last weekend after touring around the country for the past two months It was lovely to see her looking so well and happy Thats her in the back of the car
She has come back with hair and it looks beautiful She only had a bit of fluff when she left
She had scans last Monday and will get the results next week Hopefully her bubble won't be burst It's lovely to see her back to her bubbly self The holiday has done wonders for her
Still raining and cold here Hopefully I can sit long enough tomorrow to get some sewing done

Paper Bag Swap

I recently participated in the Snickerdoodle Paper Bag swap
These are the goodies I made for my partner Barbara in Texas She received them last week and I think was quite pleased
The Victorian needle case was what I made for her from the lovely peices she sent The rest were just a few little extras
Now Iam waiting patiently for my parcel to arrive

Motor bike quilt

I have a little time before Iam off to school for the Kitchen class with my grandson

As I haven't had many finishes lately I decided to show one of my earlier quilts

I have been working on christmas presents so haven't been entirely idle

I made this quilt for my eldest grandson who is motor bike mad as is the younger one

I found an old doona cover at the op shop which I used for the centre panel and the backing was also a doona cover with BMX bikes on it

Not entirely recycled as I purchased the fabric for the borders

My nephew has a similar one I made for him

Iam pleased to say at ages 15 and 16 they still use them

It is a beautiful winters day here today I really should be in the garden Never mind, the weeds will still be there tomorrow...............and the next day ...................... and the day after that....................

Jess' 18th Birthday

Thought I'd share a family photo with you Taken at my neices 18th birthday party last Saturday night
Some family members managed to avoid this photo My Mum and son in law actually
Pictured are myself and hubby,2 Grandsons ,brother in law, youngest daughter ,nephew,,and in the front my sister then the birthday girl and my grand daughter
We had a great night
My elder daughter rang last night She is having a wonderful holiday and they are now slowly making their way home She has to be back for scans on the 27th Her health is holding up fairly well aparently

Brooch

Yesterday we went to my sisters house for a party for my neices 18th birthday Time goes by so quickly
We stayed the night and came home today in time to go to a craft afternoon at my friends house She had bought kits and we made brooches I found it a bit fiddly and my eyes are not the best Anyway I was quite happy with the result
Not the best photo I'm afraid but you should get the general idea

Begonias in my Carport

The begonias in the front of my car port are looking lovely at the moment.
Jack Frost paid us a visit this morning and hung around until after 9.00am The water in the bird bath was frozen until much later
It turned into a beautiful day afterwards though and I managed a little gardening
I still have the grandchildren They will go home tomorrow afternoon and back to school next Monday
The house is always so quiet after they go home and I do miss them

Saw Painting

My eldest grandson is going to be 16 on the 30th of this month I was pretty pleased when he asked me if I could paint him a saw for his birthday He liked the one I did for his Dad a while ago
As I have said ,I'm a complete novice and my friend Nadia comes over and adds a few brush strokes and brings them to life
Grandson is interested in motor bikes so I decided to do him a saw with a motor bike I printed a photo of him on his bike to copy (well try to copy) I have to say Nadia did the bike
Then Nadia painted some flowers and I did one as well No prizes for guessing which is mine
Anyway I'm fairly pleased with it and its all my own work Nadia hasn't touched it
Still windy and cold here Footy tomorrow Oh Iam a devoted Nana

Flowers from Merimbula

Cold wet and a biting wind the last few days The grandchildren are on school holidays so they have been here the last three days Went home tonight Mostly they have been watching telly
I have been busy trying to declutter Realy don't know where to start
I loved these flowers I saw in Merimbula Never seen them here Wondered what they are Maybe pionsetta?
Iam planning some sewing tonight Sit by the nice warm fire with some applique I think