October - It's A Big Month

It was Hubbys and mine wedding anniversary on the 5th. That makes 18 years. Doesn't seem possible really.

On the 3rd it was Mr A's 14th birthday!!! Time gets away so fast. He has grown soo tall especially over the last 6 months. He has matured soo much as well. I can't believe that my little boy who had a rough start to life and would shut the world out when he couldn't cope, has embraced the world. He was a very quiet baby, very laid back (then all 3 boys were and to a large extent still are!) He didn't cut his first tooth until just before his 2nd birthday! Then proceeded to cut every tooth in the next 12 months. He was very, very sick with all this. Ear infections, throat infections, chest infections, low grade pnemonia (sp?) more ear infections. He did burst an ear drum during this time as well. He got to the stage where Mr A. & I stayed home for around 6 months. I took Mr J. to and from Kinder. Mr A. to and from the doctors and the chemist. Apart from that, we stayed at home. Once a week when my hubby came home from work, he would have tea, then drive for 45mins taking my shopping list with him, do the shopping and come home again. Once he cut his last tooth, all of this settled down. However, his speech never took off and nobody outside his brother, dad & I could understand him at all, and we were hit & miss as well.
By the age of 3 1/2 Mr A. started speech therapy that was to persist until the age of 10. He was diagnosed with global dypraxia. Speaking with him now, no one would ever guess that the most simplest of things were always so hard.
By the time he started school, the immediate family who had consistent contact with him, understood him very well. Starting school was very exciting for him and very nerve racking for me. By the time he was in 1st grade, he was also diagnosed with dyslexia. We began tutoring for this and this persists to this day!
As a young boy when things went wrong, he would withdraw into himself and shut the world out. The more you tried to talk with him when he was like this, the more he shut you out. This could last for several hours. This has become less and less as he has gotten older and we have been able to teach him how else to deal with different things, that it is ok to make mistakes - that is how we learn, that his family will always love him. That friends move away and you can make new ones. That it is ok not to be the best but to always try your best.
He is now the leader of his 6 at scouts. His scouting leaders remark how much he has grown. He is a junior black belt in Karate. He started this at age 5 to help with his co-ordination. I would stay and watch the session and translate (so to speak) what Mr A was saying to his sensai. They learnt to understand him though, and it wasn't often that I had to intervene. He still has the same sensai and shehan. All these people have helped Alex to become who he is today.

We had 13 people here on Saturday night for a birthday tea. Wouldn't have fitted any more people into our home.

This is Miss H. She is our youngest niece, turned 1 in July.

It is also Mr H's birthday this month. That's a blog for a bit later.

Have a great day all and thanks for reading to the end of my entry today.

Spring has Sprung

Spring has arrived, which means the football has finished. I have found the front yard (which means I have been tending to the garden and removing the weeds. lol.)
I am still working on the back yard, it is quite a bit bigger.
We have nearly had an average rainfall this month after so long with very little rain. The one thing that grows first and fastest are the weeds!
Here are some photos of some flowers out the front.

Daffodile, an early starter

I love Tulips in all colours.

Daphnie, My husband says when he smell the daphne, he knows that winter is over, even when we get the return of the cold spells. As a result, we have quite a few of these plants and they do smell wonderful!

Rhododendron, we have a few different colours throughout the front and back yard. This one has a couple of suckers growing which is great!

Camilla, again, we have a different colour in the back yard.

We have two standard cherry trees that were planted around 16 years ago. They are budding up and as you can see are about to burst into life so to speak. This normally means that the winds are just around the corner. Great gusting winds normally arrive just after the cherry trees bloom!

We have quite a few roses in the front yard as well, they are not ready to be shown as yet.

I will show some stitching in the next post.

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day.

Grandma's Gift to Us

Hubby & I have been married 18 years in two weeks time. I was 18 1/2 when I met him but I won't say how old I was when we married. That'll give away too much information!!!! :-)

The tapestry that appears on this post was stitched by my Grandmother for our wedding present. The same Grandma whom I stitched the Russian Blue for. Grandma also stitched this tablecloth.

The tapestry depicts scenes that I love having spent my childhood on the farm with the cows and sheep and all that entails.

It hangs above our fireplace in the lounge room. I love this tapestry. I remember Grandma trying to teach me how to do this when I was a young girl...... I would get the first row right, start the next row and have the stitches going in the opposite direction!! lols.

I have chosen to post this for a couple of reasons today. One was to show you what a wonderful stitcher my Grandma is. The second is Grandma is back in hospital at the moment. She has been in and out a little bit lately. Started off with a gall bladder infection. Put her on antibiotics, watched her for a couple of days then sent her home as she was improving. Finished the antibiotics, in severe pain so back to hospital. The infection has now spread to her pancreas.
Once they have all of the infections cleared up, they will operate to remove the gall bladder.

Grandma has already survived a major operation this year when they removed a blood clot from between her skull and her brain. I am sure she will survive this one with flying colours as well!!!

Toby

It has been a while since I have shown you Toby, our Alaskan Malamute. He has grown considerably since the photo down the side.

Hubby liked Toby sitting on his lap when he was a puppy. Toby still thinks he is a lap dog, although, you don't see hubby very much anymore.

Tobi likes to think that he is human. This is him with our eldest, J. Wherever we are, he needs to be, as close to us as he can get. We sit on the coach, he should too. We need to keep reminding him that he is not supposed too.

He especially loves my hubby though. Tobi doesn't like to let him out of his sight.

Grandma's Russian Blue

I have been extremely busy for the last 18 months and my cross stitching time is suffering badly.

I thought I might post over the next couple of months show some of my stitching that I have completed over the years. I am hoping to make some more time for my studying, stitching and fun stuff on the computer, as opposed to work stuff on the computer.

The two photos here show a Russian Blue cat that I stitched for my Grandmother Bevitt. Grandma stitches and knits continously for her ever expanding family. She has 6 children, 18 grandchildren and around 13 great grandchildren!!! (still growing). Some of the great grandchildren are similar ages to the grandchildren.

Any way, I saw the chart in "Cross Stitch Gold" several years ago and bought the magazine straight away. Even though I was in the middle of something else, immediately located some nice fabric and all colours and started stitching as soon as it all arrived.

Once the stitching and framing was finished, hubby and I packed up the 3 boys, jumped in the car and drove 10 hours to where Grandma was living at the time in the Bega region NSW. She was so suprised and loved her cat. Grandma breed cats for many years. Firstly Burmese then the Russian Blues. She won many awards over the years.

Grandma has moved a couple of times since then, but the stitching still hangs in her unit for all to see.

She has been in hospital several times this year. Had sugery early in the year to remove a blood clot between her brain and her skull. Just recently again with a gall bladder infection. Hopefully it will clear up totally or she will be back in again to have that removed.

I hope you have enjoyed my Russian Blue.

Lindy

2009 Black Tie Night

We have attended our 2nd Black Tie Night with our eldest boy J. This is count the votes in the local under 16.5 afl league.

I can't believe how much he has changed and grown in the last 12 months.

Below is a photo of J and his date for the evening in 2008.

The following 2 photos are of J and his date for 2009. He is now 16.5 years and had his first shave before the evening!!!

He was definitely less nervous this year. I was a very proud mum of my boy who looked after his date wonderfully well. Opened the car door for her then closed it. We were sitting at different tables but you know how it is. You watch them as well as talk to the other people around. The meal was a beautiful spit that you go and help yourself too table by table sort of thing.
Well, J handed his date a plate, knife and fork, poured the gravy over her meat. When they got back to the table, pulled out her chair for her. My boy is growing up!!!

Oh, and he polled 3 votes for the year too!!!

It's Been RAINING

It's been raining finally!!!!

So much has happened over the last 3 / 4 weeks that I have really struggled to cope with. We have had so many fires, lost over 200 lives and over 2000 homeless. That is without stating the loss of flora & fauna both native and domestic.

We have had several fires within striking distance of where we live, one on the town limits just before Black Saturday, two within 1 hrs drive, in two different directions, one fire within 45mins drive in another direction. The only direction in which a fire never came from was Melbourne!!!

However, over the past week we have had drizzle rain on and off. We hadn't had any rain in over a month, I think longer and will correct this later. If you would like to see some photos, check out Lee-anns site down the right hand side.

I have spent most of the year wanting to cry, never so much as the last month and stories coming from the fire fields.

Peter Brock Start of 3rd Panel

It's a slow moving project, however, one stitch at a time we are getting there. I am nearly 1/2 way through the first page of the 3rd panel. One more panel to the left, then I get to start going to the right.

I think the top is now starting to look like a wall of tyres as it is supposed too. So far I am happy, very happy with the way it is turning out. It is only the speed of the project (or lack there of) that I am having an issue of.

Happy stitching / living life to the full to all.

Lindy

Baby Presents

Nearly 12 months with no post

However, I am still here and I am still stitching although not as often as I would like.

Over the past 12 months, 4 family members or friends have given birth!!

As part of their welcoming gift I have stitched each a personalised towel.

Hope you liked the towels. I am still stitching on Peter Brock and will show the progress over the next couple of weeks.

Lindy

A Stick of Butter?

Hi all my wonderful blogger friends!
I have a question for you. Ree from The Pioneer Woman Cooks has a wonderful recipe called Apple Dumplings which I would love to make. However, it calls for a stick of butter and being in Australia, I am not sure how much that is.
So my question is: "How much does a stick of butter weigh?"
Thanks for your help

Lindy

R.I.P Misty

Misty Muir.

From the Ozmalute Kennels

23 May 1992 - 14th March 2008.

We said goodbye to our little girl today. It is sooo hot, somewhere btw 35 - 40 degrees C. She was great last night, in fact has been great since she got home from the vet 3 weeks ago. She had put on weight and her whole coat had come back. She was playing, well as much as she could, and had found her voice again. She had a lot to say and do in the past three weeks.
With the second day of such heat, she became ill again this morning so I rang the vet for an appointment. Within 2 hours I rang the vet and said that she was suddenly going down hill very quickly and I took her in. Tony's Practice are sooo good. They did offer to put her on a drip and more drugs and that sort of stuff, but the weather is not going to get much cooler for a week, it was time to say goodbye to our faithful friend.
Just before she was a year old, Jared was born. In the house where we were living, if we were out at the clothes line I couldn't hear if Jared woke up. Misty could though and she would pace backwards and forwards to the door until I went inside to him. I quickly learnt what she was up to. :-) Until the very end, she always had to know where we all were and that we were o.k.
We are all missing you Misty, but know that you are in a better place and will not suffer this hot weather and your body not doing exactly what you want, any more. Rest In Peace our little girl.

Who Is Peter Brock?

The Old Man & His Dog has asked me who Peter Brock is, besides obviously a racing car driver. I think the best way I can do this is to copy from Wikipedia as well as link so you can follow up with more research if you would like to. So this is the copy:

"Peter Geoffrey Brock AM (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006) otherwise known as Peter Perfect, The King of the Mountain or simply as Brocky was one of Australia's best-known and most successful motor racing drivers. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, although he raced vehicles of other manufacturers including BMW, Ford, Volvo, Porsche and Peugeot. [1] He won the Bathurst 1000 endurance race nine times, the Sandown 500 touring car race nine times and the Australian Touring Car Championship three times. Brock's business activities included the Holden Dealer Team (HDT) that produced Brock's racing machines as well as a number of modified high-performance road versions of his racing cars."



Most motor car racing in Australia is Holden v. Ford endurance races. Jared is a Holden Man (well, young adult) through and through. This is Jared's hero for ever and a day.



Lindy

WIP Peter Brock

It has been a while since I showed my WIP Peter Brock Racing Car. I have almost completed 2/3 of second panel. I had a christmas vacation this year and spent a month camping around Tasmania with the family and didn't take this particular project with me. I took a much smaller one. :-) Who can go for a month with no stitching at all??? Any way, its on 32 count evenweave over 2. Enjoy.
Lindy

Our Misty II

Misty and I would like to thank everyone for their good wishes and thoughts that have been sent her way. She has recovered extremely well from her internal infection and is still leaving the vets shaking their heads. Keep her off slippery floors they say, and away from steps. Now if someone could just explain to Misty that she is not supposed to come into the house any more as she needs to climb stairs (3) into the back door and not allowed on slippery floors (tiles) that would be great!! She may well see her 16th Birthday after all!!

Jared is 15! Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my eldest boy. I am a couple of days late in posting this as it was his birthday on the 24th. So there he is, my cheeky toddler that has grown into a cheeky and very loveable 15 year old!
This is inside my Dads bus. Dad converted the school bus into his motor home. Jared has always had a love of anything with more than 1 horse power. He loves engines and wants to know how and why they work and how to make them better. In fact, he wants to know the ins and outs of any vehicle! He was around 4 in this photo.
Jared also has a love of sport. He was 12 in this photo. He currently races mountain bikes, plays AFL football, boxing and is involved in the scouting movement.
So, here he is at 15, standing at around 6'2" or 6'3" tall. I really don't know where the time has gone it only seems yesterday and we were welcoming him into the world. He is a very generous teenager who does go out of his way to help others and always tries his hardest in everything he does. Happy Birthday Jared, we are extremely proud of you. Love Mum.

Update on Misty

Misty is home from the vet. The infection has cleared and her temperature is normal again. She is still struggling to stand although once she is up, she walks around with now problems. We are still working on her being able to stand up on her own, so please keep sending all those positive thoughts they are helping!

Our Misty

If you are reading my blog today/tonight. Please keep Misty (see photo in post below) in your thoughts and good wishes. She is in the vet hospital tonight and is very ill. She has an internal infection, very high temperature, diarrhea and dehydrated. The Dr Tony and his staff are very good. They are putting fluids with antibiotics and vitamins into her tonight and we will see how she is going in the morning. I think we are getting very close to having to say goodbye to her and it is hurting so much but it hurts even more to see her so ill. If she lives till May she will 16.

Our Malleys

I thought I would start introducing you to our extended family. We have quite a menagre when it comes to our pets and we love them all. Malleys, cat, fish and lizards.

We love our Alaskan Malamutes and have had 5 over the last (nearly 16) years.

The photo above is of "Misty". The photo is a bit misleading as it looks like she is running but she is well and truley past that now. Misty is our first Malley and is nearly 16 and still going strong. She has a bit of trouble with her hind legs and was born with a heart murmer (not that you would ever know if the vet didn't tell you!). She has such a will to live and enjoy every day! This photo was taken around 2 weeks ago.

This is Misty with Qimmiq (Alaskan for dog). Qimmiq was our 3rd Malley (we looked after Cody for a while). Qimmiq was with us from 1995 until 2006. He was a beautiful sable colour (red). We have a 6" paling fence down each side of our house. He would stand up and lean on the fence, put his head over the fence and say hellooo to the neighbours.

This was Wolfie. We rehoused Wolfie 3 years ago. The people who raised him had to move to a smaller property and had surrendered him to the Malamute rescue centre. Misty was pining for her playmate as she hadn't been on her own for a long time. Sadly, Wolfie died about a month before Christmas. This is our latest ball of fluff named Tobi. He is now 17weeks old and growing day by day if not minute by minute. He is learning to leave Mistys back alone. And she is loving a new companion. Mr J. (who is 15 on Sunday!) has plans to train him to sledding, weight pulling and back packing. Well see how long that all lasts. I think I will be training him to do some of that. I had wanted to with Qimmiq but the kids were all only babies and hubby worked all week so I could stay home with them. There never seemed enough hours in the day....

So, here are our Alaskan Malamutes who are very much a part of our family.

Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to all in Blogger Land. I woke this morning to find a these gorgeous roses and card waiting on the kitchen table for me. My wonderful husband has to leave home around 5am to be at work on time and I don't function at that hour. I had also left him a card on the kitchen table for him to find this morning as I was at a meeting last night. The family was in bed by the time I came home.


The photo below is of my maternal grandparents wedding. Edward Bruce married Anna Scanes on the 1st December 1937 in a small country town in NSW, Australia.

As I was finishing my very first cross stitch (photo below) my Grandfather passed away (14th Sept 1990). I placed the cross stitch in the hoop and gave it my Nan to keep for all the "days to remember". I have many, many, many wonderful memories of being with them through school holidays. They had a farm and welcomed us every holidays with open arms. 7 of our cousins also lived in the area and this was the only time we saw them. We did every thing from building cubbies, collecting wood for the fire, eggs from the chooks, taking morning tea to the shearers, rounding up the sheep and cows, helping with lambing, riding the motorbikes and tractors. We were out the door after breakfast and never in again until sundown (unless for FOOD of course!).

Unfortunately, Nan had to move to a nursing home 3 years ago as she was no longer able to be at home on her own. She found many of her friends there and really enjoyed playing cards and exchanging stories and memories with them. Nan passed away 12th Sept. 2006 and the cross stitch found its way back to me. It hangs in my kitchen and reminds me to cherish every day and remember all the good times!

I hope that you can all have brilliant "days to remember". This is my wish to you.

Lindy

Alex has started High School

This is my middle son Alex. On the 30th January 2008 he started his first day at High School. I can't believe how the years have flown. It only seems like yesterday that he was starting Preps and I was fighting the education department trying to get him some extra help. When he started school, he had already been in speech therapy for 2 1/2 years and still, nobody outside the family could understand him.





Today, we celebrate all the obstacles that he has overcome. He left speech therapy 3 years ago and now, nobody who meets him for the first time would ever believe he had to work so hard to be understood.
He has been at high school for 2 weeks and is absoultely loving it and having the best time. He really did need a fresh start and this has given him that.
He started with 2 friends in his class from primary school and 1 extra friend from outside of school. He tells me that he now has 12 friends in his class. They are going away on camp at the end of this month and I pray that it is such a positive experience for him after last years terrible time.

Mind you, I must tell you, that we never did get that extra help from the education department and he is dyslexic to boot! (We never knew that when he started school :-) Just another thing to keep you on your toes!)

The other young person in the photo is my youngest boy Hayden. He is on his own in the primary school. Something he had never experienced before either. He just starting to settle down with no big brother to talk too. Just as well he has many friends to play with as well.

Family Heirloom.

My Grandmother stitched this table cloth and matching napkins when she was a young lady. I was the very lucky recipent when I married. My table isn't big enough to show it to its full beauty.

A closer up of the centre piece.

This is stitched in each corner.

This is stitched in middle of each side section and again on each napkin. Grandma has also crocheted the border around every piece as well.

GO GRANDMA and thank you. Not only for this beautiful tablecloth and napkins but also for helping foster my love of stitching.