Friendship Swap 2013 - Cheryll & Dee

 

Friendship - A way of showing someone how you feel

Communal Friendship - such as ours - Friendship in which friends 'gather' often to provide encouragement and emotional support between two or more people. That's us :)

World Happiness Experts say that people with friends are happier than most.

Empathy, sympathy, compassion and understanding form the basis of all friendships, Here we show the ability  to be ourselves and to select the gifts we think that another would like. Re-read the basics, colour choices, hobbies, likes and dislikes certainly form the ideas we have in our heads. Our common interests can form bonding friendships.



 

 

 

"R"

 

"R" - Rest your Teapot on this (came with 4 serviettes too!)

 

"I"

 

"I" for Ironing Cord Holder in my favourite colour - PURPLES - yey

 

 "E"

 

"E" Enjoy this Owl pattern (You bet I will ) and Enjoy some Chocky & Tea (Nom Nom Yum)

 

 

"D"

"D" - Dry your hands on these - there was a little OWL button on one - HOOT HOOT!!

 

 " S "

"S" Store your bags in this
 

 

Random  - For Cheryll

 

I chose this pic as a random thing for Cheryll to show how much I appreciate her swap ideas.

The Parcels :)

I'm still OOOOing and AHHHHHing

 

 

 

 

 

The Items are truly GORGEOUS

 

 

"F"

 

"F" - FIND your Needles and Pins

 

 

"N" - Notebooks

 

"N" - Note Paper and Sticky Notes with OWLS :)

 

 

Sorry the pictures went on all over the place - having problems with the internet connection this time. So you'll have to go back and forwards to have a look - it's worth it :))

 

THANK YOU Cheryll for sending me this wonderous parcel Khris for organising the FRIENDSSHIP SWAP again this year. It's certainly a wonderful way of expressing friendship.



Friendship Swap 2013 - Part 1

Woo Hoo !!

My beautiful box of goodies arrived - though with a little dilemma. Unbeknownst to me and my swap partner - Cheryll - my 'Friendship Swap Goodie Box' had been misappropriated by a person known to Australia Post.

I pondered, and as excited. What would Cheryll send me ? As time went by, I became a little concerned at where the parcel may be, Never occurred to me that it was in 'no-mans land'. I just put the lateness of its arrival to our slap happy - sometimes its late, don't deliver on Friday thing :)

Then - I was driving up the street after going shopping - for food this time - and saw the postal delivery van.  My lust for parcels was in action. I parked and got out my car to await him walking across the street. I had been waiting for another two deliveries of bits and pieces I needed to complete some craft items.

As he walked across the tar, I notices he had two parcels and two letters. The letters amused me as he normally didn't bring those. He apologised for the lateness of the delivery. Huh? I said that I had been expecting some parcels. I noticed one had a digit incorrect and said "oops - that could have been an addressing error". He looked me straight in the face and said "Please read the letters first , it'll explain why your parcels are late".

Perplexed I took the parcels inside, noticed the slightly ripped package from Cheryll - excited I was - and told Mum that the delivery man was acting funny, and told me I had to open the letters first. So I sat down and opened the first of the letters. Oh Dear!!! Apologies from Australia Post stating that the parcels were allegedly stolen and under investigation by the police department. I felt overwhelming sadness as over 6 parcels in the last few months had disappeared, and the second in my hand was one of those. I had made a claim to PayPal and received my money back for that one, though I did write to the person involved and got him to send me an invoice to repay him - after all I did actually have the goods now.

I was soooo happy o note that the contents of both packages were intact.

So as NOT TO SPOIL the excitement, pictures and beauty of the swap gifts I will write a second BLOG to show you all what was sent to me.

Thank you to the employees of Australia Post who got Cheryll's parcel to me. You don't know how much it means to me and Cheryll its here safe

Yours in quilting heaven - Dee

Not sure if you can read this but its part f the A.P. letter

Market Day

Hooley Dooley it was hot yesterday but the weatherman said it would be cooler today. Thanking my lucky stars the weather was going to be kind - I had help to pack up the car to take the bits n bobs Mum and I craft for the market.

Together with my Quilty type things - fabrics, embellishments and patchwork goodies - I hand craft babies to toddlers rompers & hair things. Hair bands, berets, crochet owl hats, dragon beanies for great photography props, knitted bootees, baby blankets, embellished Eco bags, machine and hand embroidered baby bibs, tea towels, hand towels, crochet coat hangers, crochet terry towels and baby pillows. That's just a bit.

My goodness there's more ? :)

At the moment I am typing on my phone and I'll have add photos of the market a bit later - because - I don't seem to be able to download the app required to dhow you them.

Would you believe I had some petty theft today and so did my neighbouring stall holder. They lost a pair of Tibetan pants and at $25 wasn't good for them - I lost 3 hair bands - one if which was taken from the bag - but they left the embellishment !  So I'm down $10.50 with - not nice when you're trying to serve someone to have another pilfer from you.  It's school holiday time here and together with kids wandering the streets having 'nothing to do ' syndrome and the influx of cars and terrorists ooops did I type that - tourists visiting this beautiful area what else is there to do? Hope you sleep well tonight - not!

Yawn :O ..... I probably need a Nanna nap but too tired to get out of chair . Thank goodness there's always help putting up the gazebo( and. Getting out the tables or I wouldn't t be able to help . This stuffs the back up before you know it ,

Back to chat soon :) Dee

Fire and danger ......

Fires are raging all around the Mid North Coast of NSW at the moment. Have been up that way and today the Pacific Highway had to be closed to all North Bound Traffic at 2pm before being closed in the other direction due to high winds. The fire was not contained at that point. Very close to the service station and food outlets and the small township of Purfleet. Some relatives were up that way tin the morning and said they could smell smoke and see small flames late morning.
By 5m the Pacific Highway was also closed at the Forster/Tuncurry turnoff.
At the same time a large tree fell on the Bucketts Way - that was the only other access point to Taree !!
Whoops- headed home at 2pm to see plumes of smoke coming from down near Forster Keys/Green Point....and I didn't get to see the news so hopefully the 10 houses that were reported on the local radio station to be under threat survived it.

Hopefully you and yours are safe and out of harms way.

I'll be back later with my Friendship Swap 2013 picys :)

De

Showoff

Today I sit here - freezing and sneezing. Yet another cold has taken over my head and chest and the wind is howling outside!!!! BUT the sun is shining so it could be warm somewhere in the garden. So in between availing myself of the tissue box, I can sit here and blog away.

I don't want to 'infect' my sewing so I'll just write about and show off some of the creations I have been making for quite a while - a little later on in the blog.

The Craft depot is so close I am salivating. Going to go get Noreen some more bobbins for her new embroidery sewing machine and see if I can locate some winged needles for Mum and her friend. They can complete their tablecloths then. Amazing you can't find them in Taree.

Alas on my travels up and down the coast I can check a few stores - so annoying to have to stop in at each and every craft and fabric shop - to check on these hard to get necessities!

If my spelling becomes "erratic" its cause my fingers are frozen......brrrr Soz about this :/

I am wondering why my genetic makeup in crafts and art has not followed through to my one and only daughter.   The nearest to craft is the plaiting of the horses manes and tails and painting of their hooves for show :) She's also a mad hand at helping groom dogs too so that in itself is a craft of sorts I suppose.

My eldest son isn't creative either. Ummmmm. Nope can't think of anything here other than rolling up ciggies - doesn't really count though huh? Does playstation count?

Thank goodness in a round-about way, my youngest son - a middle child like moi - paints. Not just drawing etc but on cars. As a spray painter he is very good with colour matching - luckily for him didn't take after Dad & Paternal Grandmother with colour blindness. It's a dream to watch him paint. He glides his hands and arms like a ballerina - no make that a conductor. Tooing and froing left to right. His eldest son looks as though he has that creative link with drawings :)

My Mum - who any think I must take after - sewed my dresses as a child because affording dresses was a little too difficult. That's and knitting were the two crafts Mum kept busy at and  I loved my hand knitted jumpers and cardigans!  I loved the dresses don't get me wrong - but I craved a pair of jeans. I had to borrow a pair off a friend in year 9 for mufti day. She didn't want me coming to school to be made fun of in my quirky hand me downs and other. Oh to be bullied and teased. High school is another subject :(

I attended ceramic classes and made pottery bits and bobs at our Foster Arts and Crafts Centre when it was still located in the Bullring on Forster Main Beach - wow things have changed these days. My daughter was just a dream then.


We did a crochet class with Aggie McClutchey at Taree. She had a shop at Centrepoint Arcade. Always told me I was cacky handed doing the loops and she was amazed they still worked - I still don't understand the complexity of this explanation of my skills. Looks normal to me. I now make flowers without patterns cause I can't remember how to read patterns properly. A few loops here and there and wallah - a flower is created ! I reckon f the end result is what you want - well? Only getting around knitting - my 8ply bootees are quick and cute - at times. No cables for me. I have knitted socks and baby things, toys x heaps but a jumper for my hubby - well he could be in a nursing home by the time I got that completed :/

Then we attended machine patchwork classes in the old Nabiac Hospital now the Community Centre with Jenny from the Post Office. This was after a lady whose name I do remember, but as this is my story ..... told me that using a sewing machine wasn't patchwork and I basically wasn't welcome in their group - snobs !! I can do both now with some aplomb. See kids - there is bullying at all ages. Have a few UFO's but well... we'll keep that a secret...maybe not cause we all must have at least one.


I now handmake and handcraft items. Funnily enough I have only grandsons though most of my creations are for little girls :) Wishful thinking maybe?

My burpers and bibs are popular with their quirky sayings on them. Boottees and blankets are ooed and ahhed about. My dinosaur and owl hats are popular as are the little hairbands I buy to embellish. The little baby rompers I craft, have guipere lace, roses or hearts on them and for little boys I make ties and belts. Singlets are embroidered and I have eco bags and eco nappies. All good.







Loving Mums embroidery sewing machine and have been creating new bibs for her and other things for me - will have to hint in my 'Could be good idea for presies box' for my own. I could do sooo much more.






You do realise at this time I have another hundred years or more of life to complete all these tasks - am sure this is to happen (pffft)

That brings me to my fabric stash. Actually looks more like a shop or as I like to explain it - 'Its my Fabric Library.' I say to my hubby - 'And just how many screws, bolts, nails, tools and toys do you have?'  He is the one when we travel about to offer to have a quick stop at a fabric shop should he see one. He doesn't really complain. gotta luv him :)

Won't write much more here - want you to stay awake so you can go create something exiting - whether it be craft or a meal or even dusting - a job well done makes for a happier person.

Enjoy your day and remember to smile at strangers

Dee :)

 

Read on ......

 

Its a brand new day but only just - Its just 12.03am as I start to blog:) Must be getting in early and no I haven't had coffee since this afternoon.

Got that when I was handing out brochures on how to vote - yep again. No more for me now though.  I have voted early because I will be busy on Saturday and there are plenty of other volunteers that are willing and able (though some complaining about doing so, so I  wonder why they volunteered in the first place) to carry on through till Saturday. But that's as much about politics as you'll get from me. I like having friends you see. And of course the old saying runs so true - Politics and Religion ruin friendships.

Now on keeping myself busy ..........

I have made some more stock for my Market Stall. Funnily enough, I have so much more girl baby/toddler things than boys and all I have is grandsons aged 1, almost 3 and 7!!

So there is Eco Nappies and matching hairbands with cute flowers - can use the naps as swimmers as well, cute bunny ear styled hair bands, guipere lace embellished rompers - butterflies and gorgeous lace. Made up some more baby gift baskets and just have to wrap in cellophane to keep them pristine. I will write more on all this when I download my photos to the computer.

Swap.......

My Friendship Swap presies are burning a hole in their box!!! Still can't send/deliver then to my partner till she comes backs from holidays.

Holidays..........sigh........

This brings me to remember what a holiday is about. It's that time when phones are not supposed to ring  with children on the other end begging you to come home because some type of emergency is happening ( yes this did happen and my kids were all working age!), parents can cope without you visiting, jobs can still run without your input, pets can live without your undivided attention because they can love others who feed them the same diets and treats, markets don't need you every month and my doctor doesn't need her monthly allowance from me.

So to plan a holiday? Once again I can plan though that does not mean it will actually happen.

Ask my friend Jo. We plan, we delay - either way something crops up for me and vice-versa. BUT we do get together and when we do we make the best of the short time. That's the problem when we now live hundreds of miles apart. Hey Jo! Did you know there's a Quilt Market in November in Melbourne?

I joked only yesterday to Jo that I could run away, make sure I had money so no-one could track my whereabouts, leave my mobile phone off  and have a break away from the myriad of going's on at the moment Jo and I agree we could do with a break - big time LOL.

And now ............

This alas my friends is the point I should shut both the computer down and my brain to give it a rest. Heaps to do tomorrow, still have some new signs to write and three bibs to complete, help someone move some stuff before getting back home in time for dinner. Saturday is a catch up day before the Market on Sunday, Newcastle on Monday and heading down to visit my girl then relatives. A very special birthday event for my daughter - her hubby is away till November and he is missing this event for the second year in a row. That's the job he has as one of our defence personnel and something she signed up for - we all know how much he wanted to be with her for this birthday.  Her Dad and I will make sure she has a fantastic 30th :)

Adieu and Good night. Hope you're all sleeping well

Dee

Friendship Swap

How exciting to be able to join the Friendship Swap with Kristina McCarthy again this year !

Today I received a parcel from Cheryll - my partner .

On arriving home this morning I saw the postal van parked across the road on the grass verge. Ooo yeah I thought - some little bits and pieces I've been purchasing on line have arrived and maybe my Friendship Swap parcel has arrived.

I know the mail can be slow up here but I was getting a little worried as Cheryll let me know the parcel was on its way prior to going on her holiday. And there was a reminder from Kristina about sending and noting receipt of our parcels via emails. I had a couple of other parcels overdue but put in a claim to eBay for one and received a credit only yesterday.

The postal gent waved to me and I crossed the road to retrieve the parcels only to be told - 'Sorry about the late delivery luv". I didn't understand his comment when he added that he had a couple of letters for me as well.  Now this is the parcel delivery man not the postperson who delivers around 2pm.

I said to him that I thought the parcel went missing because when I saw that he number of the house was one digit out it was my fault. He then asked me to read the letter prior to opening the parcels. And he said it twice. Now this was an odd thing to be told so perplexed I took the letters and the parcels inside the house.

I spoke to my Mum as I walked in about what the parcel delivery man said. I then opened the  first of the letters only to find an apology letter from Australia Post, the second letter read the same. Apparently both these parcels had been allegedly stolen and luckily retrieved and the matter was still in the hands of the police.

I sat stunned.

Both parcels were unopened - thank goodness for that. Only the larger of the boxes had ripped brown paper. I quickly opened the smaller to find that it was the parcel Id just got a credit for and I which I had also left neutral feedback for as this was the second parcel I had paid for from this particular seller.

I called eBay and had my comment rescinded immediately and then contacted PayPal to resend the money back to the seller. After all I had received the goods.

I was a little worried about the second parcel as I recognised Cherylls name and address on the back of it. I opened the box to find all the bits and pieces still in there. I will upload pictures and make comments on that later.

I think I am still stunned as only two years ago I sent out a parcel that went missing from the local post office I lived near at the time. This was never found and I had to put in a claim for things I had bought and made for another friendship swap. Difficult to put a value on things like these. It took months to get the claim finalised and I felt like the person to whom it was being sent and the organiser of the swap may have thought I hadn't sent it. I can't believe I'm on the other side of it this time. That's twice in three years!

So I'm not sure if the parcels went missing from the front door or otherwise, though I did speak to Australia Post who assured me it wasn't from the house - I was almost in the car to go apply for a P.O. box if it was!

So a topsy turvy day it has been with me not even able to access my Blog for hours. There seemed to be a block to me accessing this tonight as well.....note the late hour of this authors notes LOL

Wishing us all a better day tomorrow - I will be volunteering some time in handing out how to votes for the weekends election before heading home to complete the last few items for my market stall on the weekend. And if my dogs are lucky ( or otherwise as they may think)  - they will have major haircuts when I get out the clippers out.

Yours in craft and life - Dee

I've Been Missing from my Blog :(

Hello All !!!

What a tumultuous year I have had.

I lost my sister-in-law who I spoke about last year. I spent a lot of time with Lee-Anne during her last few months and the last week was the hardest. On September 19, 2012 Lee passed away after a relatively short battle with breast cancer. This insidious disease metastasized. Chemo and surgery were not to be the be all and end all. The hospital and staff were fantastic letting me have the bed next to her so I could be with her till she was no longer.  I was there for her and she knew that she had love and companionship to the end as I had promised her.

My newest grandson was born weeks earlier - Lee never got to see him in person but my little phone videos and photos made her grin. She revelled in the fact I assisted his entry into the world.
Unfortunately Lee left four daughters behind. The eldest only 15 and the youngest only 2 at the time.
It saddens me to say its only two weeks til the anniversary.

I had my name on a list to train for voluntary palliative care and assistance and when I rang last week they had mislaid my name - I was told I now have to wait another two years for another training session. I feel saddened as I really felt I could help somehow.

Family crisis, both good and bad have competed for my time. Elderly parents in-law have developed the onset of old age, friendships changed due to locality. Family partnerships have stopped and started, a child born and torments of modern day living affected us all. And pets have too left us with holes in our hearts.

My computer died and as avid craftspeople you know my hard saved dollars would be spent on a new sewing machine before I would purchase a new computer. Thank goodness the craft I make and sell bought me this newest toy - my new 'Puta" :)

So now I can be blogging on and on and sharing of my crafts and busy life.

Warmest thoughts Dee