Sewing Time

This week I've been busy with the sewing machine ...... mostly making curtains for the bedroom  dressing room/wardrobe area.  It's like a sleep out attached to our bedroom and has 3 windows which all had those pretend wooden spotlight blinds that no longer worked and were caked with dust.

  Pete pulled them down and put up new rods and that elastic stuff to out some lace curtains on behind the block out ones I was making ........ still have a rather large bedroom window to do as well, so I took advantage after lunch yesterday and linked in with Wendy and FNSI to get the lace one done and one drop of the large curtain.  I'll get the other drop done over the weekend sometime.  I still have to buy some tie backs so I'll show the finished photos once it's all completed!

Scruffy sticking close and helping

Last night I sat and worked on the fogbound cardigan again!  The band is worked in the round and makes for a very long round each time so it's slow progress for sure!

What I did do during the week was walk down to My Local sewing shop just on the corner and joined

in with the Wednesday group for a sew and stitch.  I didn't take any photos of the group being my first time and only just meeting people I didn't want to scare them off lol! But it meant having to unpack something to take to work on .......out came "Down the Rabbit Hole" the first border which just needed an inner ear stitched
Then I worked on this table runner which I found while trying to locate the other Rabbit Hole bits .......so I worked a little on it getting another bit of stitchery completed.  I just unpacked sewing/craft boxes and have shoved the stuff just anywhere, but now I really do need to get it somewhat sorted out where things will go so I can easily locate bits and pieces .... and there may still be another couple of boxes to unpack lol  I've really been blessed with such a wonderful room to become the new Beehive!

 I found I needed some more choices of cottage garden threads to do the large flowers .......while this shop didn't have have them, I was told that Dew Drop Inn at Harvey Bay had them , and very conveniently

hubby was having to take the boat back down there to have some things checked on it  and to visit the Fishing Club........so after dropping off the boat, he was happy to make a detour so I could pick up these yummy threads!

A walk down to the Pier to check it out before heading to the sports club to meet with the fishing

Tide was out and we only walked half way out this time

crew, dinner and then back home!  Such a wonderful day! 
 I guess reality will hit home before long as I'll need to get onto some work options in the next week or two ........ by then I might have my sewing room in order lol.    Today Patchwork on Pallas (my local sewing shop) has a club morning , so I'm heading down to check out what that means ........





Earlier in the week I decided I had to do something with the Laundry Area ..... you see its located under the house here, as it often is with the Old Queenslander Style Homes ....... however that also means it's caught up with the workshop area to an extent as well lol ....... This photo is just after I started working on it - its actually much darker than this, but the camera has made it appear quite bright and light ........

And this is after ....... I've yet to get those bits of concrete scraped off the tile section and wash the tiled floor ...... and at some point I feel I will likely be painting the laundry area to brighten it up a bit perhaps .......... but for now, at least I can get to it a bit easier and have somewhere to put things!  I'd be keen to hear how others fix up laundry areas located under the house ...... my last under house laundry was in Brisbane and we left there in 2002!

 But for now, we are Absolutely loving our new home, our new area and our new chapter of life!

Sorting Things Out

Firstly a big thankyou to those of you who have left comments on my posts - it seems something has changed with Blogger and where the comments used to come to my email and I could respond direct to you there, this is no longer happening for many blogs.  Please  know that I do appreciate all your lovely comments, for now I may have to begin responding on the comments section till I work it out a bit better............ And now onto the news update for this week!
It's been interesting working out where various pieces of furniture are going to "live" in our new home ...... We needed firstly to get hold of some wardrobes so our clothes could go somewhere as the old Queenslander Home didn't have any built in robes in the main bedroom ...... During the search I did find the perfect bookcase to fit into our "library/study" room 

And Pete surprised me when he suggested we could also get a glass cabinet to hold some special pieces as well as a new sideboard for the TV to go on .........  It just needs moving up a tad before I begin to put things into it

While I've been busy unpacking boxes, I also decided to join in with the virtual party held by Chooky and got a bit more of my knitting done - still have to pick up the band, but figured I would work on the first sleeve till I got to unpacking the other knitting needles I'm going to need ......
I also partied by getting some of my new crafting room set up and partially unpacked .... it's a work in progress as you can see ....

Pete has been out and picked out a new boat to enable us to go out safely on the bay ...... 

We had a look at a few places including taking a drive up to Bundaberg ...... loving seeing all the

sugar cane which is a major crop around this area.  I'm sure I'll have more to share on the area as we begin to get around and find things, but meantime ........






I'm looking forward to us being able to head over to Fraser Island to explore it at some stage in the future - given this is just week 2 in our new home we have quite a few things keeping us busy ......

Since we've decided we won't be getting any more chooks for quite some time (if ever), Pete has pulled down the chook yard and small chook house to arrange a place for the boat to easily fit down behind the carport.  We will also be getting some water tanks, so this helps give us alot more room.  Pete is also planning on building me a little shelter area for my gardening bits and bobs - so stay tuned ..... can't wait to see how it turns out!

Can I just confirm how much I'm loving our new home!  I'm also enjoying finding places for things

and getting to explore the local area bit by bit ........ yesterday we went to Howard to a market and we got to try some Mango Melon which I had never heard of before ...... it has more of a rockmelon taste to it, but smoother/creamier.  Very Yummy and even Pete who doesn't like mango enjoyed this melon ..... one came home with us and I plan on keeping some seeds in the hope of being able to grow some for ourselves!

Before I go and see to the roast, I just have to share this great photo that Pete posed for when we were in Bundaberg and came across this lolly warehouse ...... talk about a quick U Turn!!  I guess he has certainly found his sweet tooth the past few years lol ....... we came out with some yummy rocky road - original for Pete and Ginger for me as well as a couple of other little chocolates lol.  He said to take this photo to send to our daughter who also shares the love of lollies since she was just a little girl.     
Big Hugs to all,  Sharm

Hello from Maryborough

Well here we are in our new home in Maryborough at long last!  It's been such a busy time since the last post which was from Bundalong ........ settlement on that house should be going through in the next couple of weeks- what a blessing to have it sold right at the last minute! I was very grateful to have some of our neighbors pop over to help with the cleaning of the house and to keep us company as it took longer to get the semi trailer packed with all our stuff than we had hoped, so didn't get to leave Bundalong till almost 3pm ..... 
me in the Pajero with Scruffy and cliff ( the lorikeet) , following Pete who was driving the Ute with the boat

towing behind! 5 hours later we pulled into

Thanks Wendy!

Parkes for the night and I was glad to be off the road after driving in the dark for the last couple of hours.  Luckily we had no issues with kangaroos.  We left there at 4:45am Tuesday morning and drove straight through only stopping for fuel and toilet stops as  during which time 

Mick popping in for a last chat with Pete

Scruffy was able to get out for a quick walk.  We pulled into our friends place at Curra at 5pm for a cuppa and then made the last 40mins pulling into our house here around 6:30pm Tuesday night!  It was one very long couple of days!!!  We had Wednesday to get a little collected before the removalist van arrived on Thursday morning and we started the unloading .....

We are no major hurry to have to get everything unpacked all at once, but have begun making a good

start nun the less.  I quickly discovered I needed more storage in the kitchen so Pete has put up some floating shelves which are making a massive difference already!  I'm cited to see some of my canisters again as they were packed up nearly 18months ag.   When we brought the first load of boxes up in June last year I had seen a couple of little paw paw seedlings growing in the veggie garden ....they were around 2-3 inches high and I carefully tended them while here leaving them with grass mulching around them ...... well, oh my goodness, what a surprise to find not only had they survived, but had grown quite tall and one was even bearing fruit!  I'm looking forward to them ripening and getting to eat fresh paw paw!  Speaking of the yard, our friends hadn't been able to get up to mow for a couple of weeks and the grass was in need of a good mow - Pete soon put the ride on to work pretty much making hay with the amount of it!  I'm putting it into a couple of large boxes to compost down for a new vegie garden bed ....... I'm keeping the empty boxes so I can lay them on the ground to begin making it as I'm hoping to be able to grow quite a bit of produce.

Today we downed tools and headed off to the Koala Market down at the Bay ...... wonderful fresh fruit and I picked up a huge lot of strawberries for just $8 (they are very sweet and yummy, just not looking "right" for supermarkets).  When we got back here I used 1kg to make some jam for us, then

sliced up another 2.5kg which I've put in 1/2 kg lots in the freezer, another 1kg into a container in the fridge to use for smoothies and another 1/2 kg is in a basket on the bench for eating! Once I get a few more things sorted I'll share a few more photos ........ take care all,
Hugs Sharm

All in a Week and last time from Bundalong

Bundalong is Sold!

This time last week it was Pete celebrating his last day at work ..... but since then alot has happened .... Mothers Day on Sunday, then Monday Night this happened ........


And last night it went unconditional!!!  Which means we have Sold!!!!  Settlement should take place somewhere around the June long weekend depending on solicitors and banks




Tuesday was a farewell lunch from the wonderful Pulm Group which was great!

Louise & I - Physio and Nursing with the lovely brooch I was given

Brooch and handmade card from the group

And Wednesday as well as being my birthday was also my last day of work at the hospital in Wangaratta.  I was spoilt with some wonderful gifts and a great afternoon tea!

Since yesterday its been all systems go as I try to get the extra paperwork completed, and packing

The lovely card and gifts from work - talk about spoilt!!

done amidst a couple of goodbye dinners/ drinks.  Eldest son managed to pop into work to say goodbye (not sure he will get out over the weekend) and gave me his footy jersey from the Mothers Day game (which I missed due to the building inspection!)

I had thought I would have time to sit and do a bit of knitting tonight, but it seems that is a long way off at this stage!   
We've woken up to a very Foggy Saturday Morning ...... with internet still working, although it was meant to be cut off yesterday ..... hopefully I'll get alot accomplished this morning and can sit for a bit of knitting later ...........
Not sure if I'll get another post in from Bundalong as the removalist truck arrives Monday morning and we will be leaving as soon as they have it all packed up, and I have the house here cleaned ...... hoping to make it as far as Dubbo on Monday afternoon if we can leave here by lunch time, if not we may be staying at Parkes .............  the plan for Tuesday is up at the crack O Dawn and drive the rest of the way through (somewhere between 10 - 13 hours plus food/fuel/doggy stops).  So I'm expecting next time I post will be from our new home in Queensland .......... see you all there!!

Bye for now and big hugs,

Pete, Scruffy and I  - Not long before we start the trip up!

Sharm xoxo

Happy Retirement and only a Week left

Pete finally retired from work on Friday although I'm not altogether convinced it will be

permanent and I think he feels like its more just part of the whole moving process!  Time will tell, but daughter and I felt the need to give him a bit of a celebration at any rate, which he was pretty to enjoy!





A farewell dinner with friends at Boorhaman Hotel - like going home since we lived just a few doors down from the pub  for 8 years (after Brisbane and before the Townsville move).  I often wish we had gone back to Boorhaman rather than coming to Bundalong - we might well have just stayed put if we had!  And as you might notice in the photo, Stace has the scarf on which I got finished for her.

Meagan (work colleague and friend) was over on Friday for a farewell coffee and she gave me a lovely little bird ornament, and hand cream (which I forgot to take a photo of before packing it) ....... and I in turn surprised her with the finished rainbow lap blanket which she loved to bits and kept draped over her during our catch 

up!

All systems go this weekend - Mothers Day today and the lovely Chrysanthemums from Stace and John to go to the new house and continue the tradition that was started many years ago! 

And Scruffy wasn't forgotten ...... he got a bag full of goodies that Stace and John had picked up the previous weekend while at a dog show in Melbourne ..... he loved it of course and particularly the little stuffed doggie toy they bought him as well!

but I think he loved it even more that Stace had the blow up mattress out in the lounge for the entire weekend for him to share with her lol




Onward with the packing ....... no contract

signed yet so idea if we are leaving here with the house sold or putting a rental in ...... and we are just so over by this stage that we are just proceeding with getting things done ready to leave!  3 more days of work left for me and then we have 4 days to get everything finished off and cars packed up ready to take off tomorrow week!  It's going to be a busy week ahead (with my birthday right in the middle of the week), and hopefully I'll manage to get one more post done before we leave ....... take care everyone

Hugs,
Sharm xo

It's hard work keeping up with everyone!

Hook Me a Rainbow

FNWF  - managed to get a few more rows crocheted on the Rainbow Ripple which is being made for a friend ........ 2 rows of each color, so it's rather nice getting to the next color!  No ends to sew in as I tend to crochet over my ends at the beginning of each row of a color change - I find this works really well!  After a few rows yesterday and a few more last night ........ I spent most of today moving the boxes from the cabin into the lounge room (after making room in a corner), packing more boxes, moving most of the potted plants to an area around the back where the truck will come, doing the usual weekend

washing ...........  and then sitting back in the afternoon sunshine with a cuppa Hooking a Rainbow again!  It was such a joy to sit there with the afternoon sunshine on my back enjoying the quiet and just hooking ...........  Mary and Suzette popped around the corner at one stage and I managed to get a sneaky photo of them  (which meant a selfie with them in the background lol) ......

they have been rather distant since the fox attack a while back and they are now the only 2 chooks left.  A wonderful friend who lives on a farm and has many of her own chooks has offered to take them for me, so tomorrow morning I will be heading over there to drop them to their new home.  They are both older hens now - Mary is about 9 years old, so it will be nice to see out their days in a big yard!  That leaves just the lorikeet Cliff and our dog Scruffy to come with us on the the 2 day move north.  I think Scruffy will be very pleased to get up to a warmer climate ...... and to see his mate Clyde lol

Yesterday we actually got a bit of rain - the first rain in quite some time, and as I went to the kitchen window to look at it, I had to laugh ........... a flock of pink galahs had flown down from the trees to hang upside down with wings outstretched having a shower!  They were having such a wonderful time, I just had to grab a photo.  I hope your weekend is going well ...... Hugs Sharm.       Also linking with swool on sundays