I've been sewing again

I made this bag for a very pretty lady. It is a beautiful dark green linen, lined with a floral voile.

This bag was made for a lady who loves autumn colours. It is made out of sari silk and silk georgette. It is very pretty, but I think will be better as it ages. I have been experimenting with my own 'label' and sewing that in to things I make for other people... I think it looks cute...

The Elderly Part II

Our second visit was to Nana Spot. Sitting on her bed with the door shut, she had busy in the bathroom 'tidying up'. We celebrated her 90th in January this year. She was so excited to see the two cakes each with 45 candles... what a sight. That's her there, all happy and in a tizz.

She remembered 'the boy' and remarked many times on his beautiful teeth, how tall he was, who has brown eyes in the family, what a good looking boy. He would answer with more gusto than usual and then it would start again... what beautiful teeth you have... ooh and look how tall he is mum, nearly as tall as you, next year mum, next year he'll be taller than you.... where did those brown eyes come from... oh, the daddy... hmm... hasn't he got beautiful teeth....

and so it went on. We hugged, I tidied up the bathroom as there was quite a bit of stuff out of the cupboard, and went on our way, us to our next port of call, she back to bed, very happy, the visitors having made her day.

As we went to the car The Big Man remarked on how cute she was, how she kept repeating herself, starting with the questions, how often do you visit them all mum? Does she always know it is you? How many times did she say my teeth were beautiful? Do you think they are beautiful? Are they really?

And he still had a peaceful happy smile on his face.

The Elderly Part I

It was a long time ago that my then 85 year old grandmother TOLD my two young sons to please refrain from calling her OLD, to refer to her as ELDERLY in future.

Since that day, neither of them have called her old. They have respected it completely. They are still not fussed on 'doing the visits' as we call it. Three elderly ladies, all in a row. If they have tricked me into thinking they are sick and stay home from school, to suddenly feel better an hour after, then we 'do the visits'.

Today we did the visits but it was different. The Big Man and I went first to Grand Nana... very deep into her dementia, has lost all of her vocab and is very still. But her little eyes light up when she sees anyone, me too so that is nice. The man next to her took a liking to my arm and continued to rub and kiss it as I talked to Grand Nana. The Big Man just watched in silence as I allowed this to happen, then turned, kissed the gentleman on the cheek as I removed my arm from his grasp.

On the way out we came across Mister Jim. I asked him to tell The Big Man how old he was.

"Seventy!" he says, puffing his chest out with pride.
"WOW" says The Big Man with obvious admiration.
"Mister Jim, you are 70 plus....?" I prompt him, knowing that he is EXTREMELY proud of his age.
Mister Jim raised himself to his full height in the chair, making his cardy to move, and allowing us a peek at his suspenders holding his trousers up... "I am 98! Come here boy and shake the hand of a 98 year old!"
The Big Man shook his hand, a broad grin crossing his face, he broke into a really big smile, a rarity in The Big Man.

RRR, the house dog skits around the hallway wanting to play. It is quiet and peaceful, but Mister Jim has just given this young man a moment... man to man.

I love watching it. It made me smile... I think it was just what he needed.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

In class today and we were discussing the Kubler Ross grief cycle and we then talked about the fact that Kubler Ross is a woman etc, and then I stumble upon this which is very very beautiful. I found it on the just mentioned: The Little Big Company... not sure where she found it... but very lovely and so apt for me at the moment.

Camping

Had a great time camping last weekend. Arrived just on dark, set up and got children into bed after dinner and campfire, and then hit the sack ourselves. Imagine the next morning to wake and find ourselves at the base of a most majestic mountain. So beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky, such a beautiful day.

Kids went off adventuring at sun up, littles one way, bigs the other, returning regularly to give us updates on the hideouts they had found.

Then off to Moogerah Dam to enjoy some boating with friends... nothing better for a boy (four in fact) than being towed behind a tinny on a boogie board. Heaven on a rope. T and I relaxed under this tree, knitting possum pouches for charity, watching the comings and goings of this very busy place.

It was absolutely idyllic. The sun shone across the water like this all day, obviously I chose the right place to sit.  It sparkled and shone all day, until finally it was too bright to look at as the sun set lower in the sky.

Then, as we made to leave, the traffic banked up and we had to wait a half hour or so as a rescue helicopter had come to the rescue of a young girl injured on the lake. Imagine the excitement for the boys to see the whole road blocked by a helicopter.

The crowds were thick, the excitement was rife, every little boys dream, except for... 

rock jumping into mountain pools... that's every little boys dream too...

And then, when they got out it was icy cold and their lips were blue and so onto a hot rock in the sun they went to try and gather some warmth from the sun, just like a lizard...

Hmmm... what else was there to do... oh yes, there was the fire lighting competition. Littles versus Bigs. Littles Won! YEAY! The only tinder they were allowed was from the bush itself and they only had a flint to work with. Took a lot of hard work and hunting but finally they found some old dried out thistle heads with seed fibres in it and voila! FIRE!

So exciting for all of us... we all want our own flints now for Christmas.

Look at this...!

I stumbled upon this gorgeous boot home. 

It is the winner of a challenge... think I might enter the net challenge which is up in June.

"We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another."