a day trip and some general natter

WOW! Where did July go?! 

 

As much as I love winters here, this winter sure has messed around with my asthma, as well as me getting a dose of flu...twice! 

We started a 3 day lock-down on Saturday, July 31st at 4pm which was extended to Sunday, August 8th at 4pm. We had 9 Covid cases in that last 24 hours of lock-down so numbers had decreased. Our mask mandate will probably remain in place until December. Some other restrictions will remain in place for 2 weeks. I think social distancing will become a normality until enough are vaccinated where it reduces the spread of Covid dramatically. 

I think they should consider quarantining Aussies returning from overseas for at least 3 to 4 weeks, instead of just 2 weeks. One guy was in quarantine for 2 weeks and was negative on all his Covid tests and then, a week after leaving quarantine, he tested positive causing it to spread into the community. Luckily, our state government acted quickly with restrictions and two lock-downs. Sadly, New South Wales isn't fairing too well because their Premier was slower to act. They are averaging between 250 and 270 new cases a day at the moment. They had 357 new cases on the 9th. I hope they manage to get on top of it.

Bradley (son) had his first Pfizer jab on Friday with only mild side effects - headache and a bout of nausea. Sore arm too but that is to be expected with it being an intramuscular jab. I had my first Astra-Zeneca jab on the 10th (yesterday). I'm nervous because, a very tiny percentage of people had some very nasty side effects such as life-threatening blood clots with the Astra-Zeneca. Cross fingers I don't have that happen but it's a risk I am willing to take for the greater good. If I caught Covid with having asthma, my chances wouldn't be good anyway. The Delta variant spreads like wildfire and is deadly.

My doctor said to get checked if I develop any symptoms after the 4th day. The peak period is 6 to 14 days but blood clots can develop even a month after Astra-Zeneca vaccination. Wish me luck.

 

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Anyway, just prior to the lock-down, we managed to get away for a much needed family day trip to Andrew Drynan Park. It's so lovely and peaceful out that way. It"s our new favourite spot. Aaron recently bought a new Mitsubishi Outlander SUV and he had attached an awning to the roof racks. It worked beautifully! The grass greens took on a bright yellow tone because the sun was full-on with barely a cloud in the sky. Very reflective.

 

A couple of galahs dropped by

Aaron's dogs - Violet and Scarlett

a family selfie

 

I love the textures of trees

We all had a beautiful day! On the way home, we passed a Paraglider Pilot holding up a sign asking for a lift into town. He had the glider packed up in a huge bag. We were upset that we couldn't help him because the car was already chockers with our gear and no available seat. Aaron said that Beau would stop for him and, sure enough, Beau did pick him up and dropped him into Beaudesert where he was meeting up with other Paraglider Pilots. Beau said they had a nice chat about Paragliding.

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I haven't been doing a lot of sketching lately but I have been keeping my hands busy knitting bed socks. No easy feat when I deal with daily arthritic pain in my hands. I can't even straighten my ring fingers...the middle knuckles are so swollen and very painful pretty much all the time. I hate the shooting pains.

 

Anyway, years ago, I would knit bed socks for the boys and Aaron said he wanted a pair for this winter. The bed sock pattern is very basic. They aren't pretty-looking but hey, they are bed socks.

Aaron modelling the socks. 

Violet and Scarlett adore him.

Nice shot of my Maseurs too. hehe

So that's the goss for now. 

I've been also watching some art classes online 

when I get the chance.

I hope you are all keeping safe and well.

Love, Light and Peace

Oh, the pain, the pain...

Sorry I haven't been around much.

I ended up in a nasty way with inflammation of the chest wall lining. It may have been due to the angiogram I had just over a week ago....seems too coincidental for it not to be.  I've been in a great deal of pain every time I cough, sneeze, take a deep breath, or move a certain way.  It's at its worst when I'm lying flat on my back and then I go to get up.....makes me scream out loud in pain.  I'll be glad when it clears up. Doctor's orders are rest and pain-killers.

So, while resting on my comfy lounge chair, I have been busy with the crochet hook and the knitting needles.

I finished the Granny stripe blanket throw AT LAST!!

I finished it off with a simple picot stitch border.

Jack hopped up on my bed to inspect it.

Cody and Jack LOVE to sleep on my crochet blankets.

I can't say I blame them because these blankets are so warm and cosy.

I've now started another ripple throw blanket for Aaron.
I LOVE working in ripples!

I also knitted the first pair of bootees for my next Grandchild due in November. Aren't they darling?!!  For now, I'm sticking with neutral colours until Michelle and Alex find out the sex of baby in a few weeks. I still have to sew the seams on this pair and add the ribbons.

What an amazing cloud formation we had in the sky on Friday morning!

I was totally mesmerised by all those bobbles!

Same morning, I spotted this butterfly resting on the fronds of my potted fern under the pergola.

I think it's called a Common Crow butterfly. We get a lot of them around here.

By the way, if you go to leave a comment, you may notice a new addition which I added today.  On top of the standard Blogger comment form, there is now a Facebook comment form too which will give my family and friends on Facebook the opportunity to comment if they wish. If you don't have Facebook, simply scroll down and use the regular Blogger comment form as you would normally.

I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone but, for now, I'm only allowing myself short stints at the computer until this rotten chest inflammation clears up.

I hope you're all having a great weekend!!

It's a long weekend here with tomorrow (Monday) being a Public Holiday in celebration of the Queen's birthday.

~ Love, light and peace ~

pyjama day, inspiration and mikayla

it's been a nice, relaxing weekend so far and, today, i declared it a pyjama day

so grabbed the opportunity to take this week's self portrait.

week 28 in the 52 weeks of me project

brad is joining me
i think he would stay in his pyjamas all day every day if he could...lol

i'm not normally a pyjamas all day person.
actually, this would be only the third time i've worn pyjamas ALL day long.

i'm wearing the bed socks i just finished knitting recently

with the medical issues, knitting, crochet and decorating projects over the past couple of months, i've barely touched the sketchbooks although i am beginning to feel the urge again.

especially after buying these two books for my collection recently
cathy johnson is truly an inspiration and a very giving and helpful artist!
her flickr albums are here
her art journal workshop blog is here

i've also been taking an AWESOME watercolour class here with another of my favourite artists, alisa burke. i've downloaded all the videos, just need to find time to watch them and put what i learn into practice. i am blown away by the inspiration out there on the net, particularly in blogland, so i guess there's really no excuses for me NOT to create.

hey, check out my gorgeous granddaughter!

michelle took this pic of mikayla last month.
can you believe she's 7 months old now?!!
it was a cold, windy morning so michelle rugged her up nice and warm.

~ our own little eskimo ~

have a blissful weekend, dear friends!!

~ love, light and peace ~

keeping busy

i managed to escape the nasty gastric bug aaron had last week but the decorating bug still has a firm grip on me. i bought a new quilt cover set the other day when pillowtalk were having their sales and i've been changing a few things around in my bedroom. pics to follow in a later post.

michelle must have caught the same decorating bug because she has been busy with mikayla's room. i have been given the task of re-painting this little, shelf-sitter fairy who has been in the wars over the years with a few breaks and glue back togethers. i helped michelle paint this ceramic fairy back when she was a young girl so it has a lot of sentimental value for her.  now, michelle wants the fairy to have a fresh, new look so she matches in better with mikayla's room colours which will be mostly lime green and fuchsia/magenta pink.

here she is with the first layer coat of colours
lots more to do yet

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have you ever made paper flowers?

i was taught to make them from normal-sized tissues by a friend of the family way back when i was a young child and now they have made a giant-sized comeback using florist tissue paper....particularly for wedding decorations.

recently, michelle found a 'how-to make paper flowers/pom-poms' on martha stewart's site and wanted to make some for mikayla's room. we used gift wrap tissue paper which worked well but you need to be very gentle when pulling the papers apart for the petals.  the more layers of paper, the fuller the flower will be.

they look quite effective, don't you think?

and we had quite a bit of fun making them

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we are in for quite a cold snap over the next few days so i've been busying myself with the sticks again. the knitted slippers i made have been keeping my feet toasty warm at night so, this time, i'm knitting myself a pair of pink bed-socks.

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btw, i was asked why it will take so long (october 7th) to get the results from the biopsies taken during my surgery. you see, i'm going through the public hospital system which means i won't have to pay for anything. the down-side is that there is a longer waiting time. however, IF my results showed something needing urgent attention, i would be notified and called in sooner to get the news....hence, the reason i'll be happy to wait until october as this will mean there were no issues for concern.

for those who celebrated, i hope you all had a wonderful fourth of july and canada day weekend!

~ love, light and peace ~

home from hospital and doing okay

after a couple of hiccups to start with, surgery went ahead and i am now at home recuperating...YAY!!!  i'm feeling some pain but i expect to be back up to par over the next couple of days.  unfortunately, i won't know the results of the biopsies until early october unless of course they find something sinister, in which case i will be called in sooner.  naturally, i would prefer the wait until october.

thanks so much for all the well wishes via comments and emails.  you guys sure know how to make a gal feel loved.  much appreciated ~ xo

prior to going into hospital i knitted a pair of these

what are they you ask???

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knitted bed slippers, of course! 
to match my purple PJs and slippers

i chose the pic below for WEEK 25 in the 52 WEEKS OF ME challenge

it makes me think of those raggedy dolls legs! LOL

i've been lax at keeping up with everyone's blogs with all that's been going on in my life lately but I am going to make an effort to catch up while i'm recuperating.  i can't wait to see what you've been up to.

~ love, light and peace ~

bed socks keep the tootsies warm!

hi everyone!

BRRRRRRRR!!!!!  winter is sure making itself known this past week with morning temperatures around 6°C/41°F.  i know that's nothing compared to what some of you experience in winter months but our homes are built for summer so are not normally central heated.  when we lived in wyoming, it was always snug and warm indoors during the winter months thanks to the central heating whereas, here in brissie, if it's cold outside, it's cold inside.

so i've been knitting up some bed socks for the boys.
this is the pair i knitted for aaron.  it's a very basic pattern and simple to make.

sure to keep his tootsies toasty warm

and they match the crochet bed throw i finished for him recently

and here is little mikayla wearing the crochet jacket and bootees i made for her. michelle makes those fancy headbands.......TOO CUTE!

MY! how this little munchkin is growing!

i've now started a crochet bed throw for myself

i decided on a granny stripe this time
and i can't wait to progress further along with it.

MEDICAL UPDATE - my surgery is scheduled for june 27th and, if all goes well, i should come home the same day so, naturally, i am praying that will be the case. i'm SO nervous! i had a regular D&C many years ago but, this time around, i'm more concerned with the abnormalities on my ultrasound that they will be checking out as well. i will need to rest for a few days afterwards so the kids better get used to me dishing out orders when i get back. lol

i hope you all had a lovely weekend!

~ love, light and peace ~

a throw blanket, book review and another mug shot

YAY! i finished the ripple design blanket throw that i started for mikayla in february.

i think i did well on time considering it's size.
here it is laid out on my queen size bed.

i just need to weave in all the tied off ends now

this is a knitted bedspread my mum finished off in recent months for their spare room. i actually knitted those leaf motifs over 30 years ago when i had planned to knit myself a bedspread. i changed my mind about the colour so passed it onto mum and, over the past year, she took up the challenge to finish it.

 this is my mum's own unique style of bedspread which came about when she started to crochet the light green centre for something else but found that crochet caused her hands to hurt from the rheumatoid arthritis so she decided to use the piece for the bedspread centre.   the rest of the bedspread is knitted apart from the light green border. quite effective, isn't it?

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 WEEK 15 in my 52 WEEKS OF ME challenge

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i just finished reading 'The Beach House' by Mary Alice Monroe.
i'm not really one for romance novels any more but i did find this one to be an enjoyable and interesting read.  the beach setting was the main reason i bought the book.  i particularly loved reading about the loggerhead turtles which are intricately woven into the plot.

Cara Rutledge, a strong, independent woman receives a letter from her mother beckoning her to come home for the summer so they can spend some quality time together at the family beach house and perhaps rekindle their bond as mother and daughter.  The choice is made easier given that Cara has just lost her job and boyfriend but, in heading home, Cara knows she will have to face the demons of her past.  In reconnecting with her mother, Cara learns that true love involves sacrifice, family is forever and that mistakes of the past can be forgiven.

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i haven't been online much at all this past week due to family medical issues and the odd migraine thrown into the mix. i now have a few medical tests lined up myself for different things....hopefully, the news will be all good.

we've had some light drizzle this morning so that puts off my plans to mow the lawn. i might try and get some sketching done instead. 

what are your plans?

~ love, light and peace ~

PHOTO MONDAY - Black & White

What an interesting theme this was....black and white photographs can be so dramatic and effective.  It was fun experimenting with what subjects would best capture the topic, however, I found myself fighting the urge to splash some colour into them.   Funny because, once I was on a roll with the black and white photos, I had to force myself to stop. lol

Those of you who have been following my blog for some time now will know that I love Tibetan/Indian style Buddhas and that I have a few of them around my home.  This particular Buddha resides in my lounge-room.

my Balinese fish (metal) sculpture

Below is a part of my potted large-leafed jade (Crassula_ovata) plant commonly referred to as a money plant. According to Feng Shui, it attracts good luck and fortune to have money plants in and around your home, particularly at the front entrance. 

a gardenia from my garden

i guess you could say my kitchen accents are based on a Mexican/chilli theme and, some years ago, i  just couldn't resist buying this ceramic bull (below) when i spotted him in a cheap dollar store.  i think he fits in quite nicely with my kitchen theme, especially with a bottle of tequila parked beside him.....which may  also explain the glazed over look in his eyes.    no....wait a minute....it was Beau who had the glazed over look in his eyes after downing the tequila at his sister's 21st birthday party some years back.  this particular bottle does not bring back pleasant memories for him and i still remember picking him up from said party and the need for a bucket and a few pit stops on the way home.  i also vaguely recall him muttering the words, "i'm never drinking tequila again, mum".  Yeah, right.....LOL

i thought it would be fitting to throw in something that IS actually black and white

~ love, light and peace ~