WOW ITS CHRISTMAS DAY (ALREADY).....

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.

BIG KISSES & CUDDLES TO YOU ALL

LYN XOXOX

This was supposed to be a HAPPY post, for Christmas, I am SOOOOOOOOOOO tired, hurt & sore all over from painting & had the shits with everything & everyone tonight, UNTIL I found out a very close friend of ours tried to throw himself in front of a train last night. This beautiful Man has a gorgeous Wife & 3 beautiful kids, what we all thought everything to live for, you just NEVER EVER KNOW! SO HAVE THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER WITH YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS & SHOW THEM YOU LOVE THEM. I THANK GOD, BUDDHA, WHATEVER, DAVE IS STILL HERE WITH US.
WISHING EVERYONE A VERY VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & MAY 2009 BE KIND TO YOU ALL.

HEAPS OF LOVE & KISSES

LYN XOXOX

I thought it was time I showed you all my Chrissie tree, not the best photos but well you can get the gist of it.

This year I choose pink, cream & silver as the main colours for my tree.

The red stocking is one I bought last year from a ebay seller in America.

These gorgeous baubles I bought from Spotlight, they have cute pink Christmas Stocking all over them!

And I managed to buy the matching wrapping paper as well, not very often that happens, I can tell you!

Ok so I don't know if you can tell but the black specks in the sky are fruit bats leaving the other night. We have had a major problem in our area with these dirty, noisy, smelly pests! Have even had one spew on my shoulder as they were leaving a few years ago & I have to tell you it burnt the hell out of my shoulder. It was like acid dropping on me.

I realise a lot of people think these things are *cute*, I find nothing cute about them & cannot understand why they are protected. They kill the trees they live in, the ground reeks when ever it rains from their urine, they are just YUCK.

When we moved here in 1996 there were no bats, they arrived a couple of years later & more & more keep coming every year. This would not even be an eighth of the amount that live just down the road from us. this year our very wise council decided to cut down the beautiful big trees that they live in & built them wooden roosting nests, it still didn't stop them, there are more back yet again this year.

Ok so I have had my whinge for the day.

Tomorrow will be my last post before Christmas.

See yah then

Lyn xoxox

I have been pretty slack lately, well at posting that is, have been sooooo busy cleaning, painting, getting ready for Christmas, that I feel I am running out of time, & I started my Christmas shopping in March this year!!!! Anyway, its good to be back & I really wanted to show you what I made for Kylie at http://www.threadsoffriendship.blogspot.com/ for the Secret Santa Honeypot Swap. It has been years & years since I have cross stitched & really enjoyed making these Chrissie Decorations for her. If you go to her blog you can see a photo of them on her tree, these photos did not turn out the best!

Dylan my youngest son liked the Chrissie tree so much her wants me to make him

one, another thing on my *to do list*!!

All wrapped up snugly in their Christmas box. Well this is a short & sweet one, has been stinking hot here today in the mid 30's & was out all day at the shopping centres (thank god for Air Con, really need it our sweet ole abode) getting the last of the Chrissie pressies, just 2 more to go & I am done, yessssssssss! Bought too much for Dylan (as usual) but he has his birthday Feb 14th, so have made a start on that at least.

Ok, that's it for now, the storm we were suppose to get has been & gone, has cooled down outside at least but not inside!

Be back tomorrow.

Enjoy your night

Lyn xoxxo

Secret Santa Honeypot Swap, how gorgeous are these....

I did my first swap last month, it was the Secret Santa Honeypot Swap & my Secret Santa was Judy Greer who lives in a small town in Tennessee. We had sent each other a couple of emails before my parcel arrived in the post, & Judy honestly is such a lovely Lady. I am so thrilled with my Christmas decorations, just how cute is the lolly pop & the lolly, I was jumping round the room for joy when they arrived. Judy also made me the beautiful card, & as an extra put in the stunning hand towel, which has an R embroidered on it, just perfect. Then to really top it off the next day in the mail this gorgeous postcard arrived from Judy, it will also be bought out each Christmas & take pride of place on my Hall stand. (Sorry it is a bad photo, I deleted the wrong one) So thank you so much Judy, you made such a wonderful job of everything & I cannot thank you enough. I was hoping to put a link to Judy's blog but unfortunately I do not have it, I have emailed her so as soon as I get it will put it on for you.

I had planned on putting more on this post but could not get the other photos on, so will post again tomorrow. Have a great night everyone.

Lyn xoxxo

What do you know, Ive been tagged.......

Recently Mel from http://melsroseplace.blogspot.com/ tagged me seven things about myself, sorry Mel that it has taken so long to do this but anyway here goes...


1. I was born on the 22nd Jan 1960 (yep I know Im getting up there in age, but do not feel it thank goodness) in New Zealand to Margaret & Harold, the best Parents a girl could ever have. Being pretty stubborn I decided I was not going to arrive into this world on my head, so after quite a battle of wills with my Doctor insisting on turning me back around all the time, I finally won & came popping out on my feet!





2. My first full time job was working in an office, not the most suitable job I must admit, but I stuck it out for 6 months while waiting for a Hairdressing Apprenticeship to become available. After I qualified at the age of 21 I moved to Australia with the guy who became my future Husband. We lived in Sydney, & rented quite a few places in Kings Cross, had a ball living & working there (at the Crest Hotel as a Housemaid) & met & made friends with some pretty colourful people.





3. At the age of 22 I had my eldest son, Mick decided to arrive 5 weeks early & I was in labour for an hour! I found it hard not having my Mum with me for support, I can remember one day when Mick slept for 11 hours straight, I poked & prodded him, did everything to wake him, in the end rang my Mum in a panic, & she very calmly told me that being premy he just needed his sleep!





4. New Years day 1986 I left my Husband & moved up to Coffs Harbour to stay with my Sister in law, 3 weeks before my second son was due. Sharon picked me up at the airport, we had just pulled into her driveway & I couldn't get out of the car. A quick trip to the hospital & in less than an hour Ryan arrived into the world. I few months later I moved into my own place where I was very lucky to make friends with some great Ladies.





5. When Ryno was around 2 1/2 I met my future Hubby (the photo below is on our wedding day, over 17 years ago, good grief, where have the years gone?) He asked me 5 times to marry him, I finally said YES when he told me it was either marriage or the end of the relationship, & I came to realise I trusted this beautiful man enough to *take the plunge again*, something I have never regretted! I know it sounds corny but Noel is my best Mate, he has always put me first, he loves me for me & has put up with so much, a early menopause which started when I was 36 & put him through hell, & my depression. I honestly love this man with all my soul & cannot imagine what life would be like without him.





6. In 1993 on the 7th February I was cooking tea 2 weeks before our daughter was due to be born, when (excuse me) but I had the biggest urge to go to the loo. Noel & the boys were watching a movie & when I realised the *urge* was in fact labour pains & I couldn't get off the toilet I started calling out for help! The tv was up to loud for them to hear, finally managed to drag myself off & all hell broke loose as the rush was on to get to the hospital. I had come to realise that when the pains started they didn't stop, no led up just full on labour, we were just very lucky to be living with Noels Mum & Dad at the time so didn't have to worry about the boys. 3/4 hour later Taska Rose was born, I finally had my little girl. In September 1996 we bought & moved into our home. When Taska started school I returned back to work & then in 2000 I was very SHOCKED to discover I was 5 months pregnant! I had had no signs what so ever, this one decided to stay hidden until they wanted to be known! On the 14th Feb 2001 at the age of 41 I gave birth to Dylan, who was 3 weeks early & the labour lasted 23 minutes, he was the fasted on record at Coffs Harbour Hospital. But he had one last little *surprise* for us, he also decided he was going to land on his feet, Karma had come back to bite me on the bum!



7. I love to sew, in fact I enjoy many different crafts, & this year took the plunge & finally started selling my wares on ebay. I have *met* some lovely Ladies who I have had the privilege to sell to, & although I had a rather nasty experience with one buyer, I will be back to it in the New Year. I have decided that 2009 is going to be the best year ever & am really looking forward to it. Oh & one last thing, I just LOVE hugs & kisses, a real need to get through the day!


Sorry but for some reason ??? the photo turned out smaller than it actually is, just click on it if you really want to have a look! Ok so that is my 7 things about me, hope I haven't bored you guys tooooooooo much. Now I have to pick 7 other bloggers & challenge them. Here goes...

A Bite of Country Cupcakes

Cottage Rose

Miss Ali's

Originals by Gail & Tony McCormack

Our Shabby Cottage

Paint Mine Pink

Shabby Roses & Pretty Things

So there you go, all done, now I just have to notify everyone that they have been tagged! This has taken a lot longer than I thought so will not be back on until tonight to post what I was going to do in the first place. Oh well that's life huh.

Hope you are all enjoying the start to your weekend

Lyn xoxxo

A HUGE THANK YOU......

I will be back on tomorrow (with so many photos & a VERY long write up) that I would have a constant supply of coffee/tea should you decide to pop back in!
I just want to thank everyone who left comments for me,for my last post, you have no idea how loved you all made me feel. When I was writing my last post I kept thinking that maybe no one would want to read about my *problem* I mean I do realise that we all have problems in our lives, & was really worried that you would just think I was *Nuts*! Well I truly am over whelmed!. I am happy to say that I am gradually getting back to normal, the only issue I still have is with my eldest son, & as time goes on the gap is getting bigger, the damage is getting worst. But I came to a decision tonight (which I have to say I have been putting off for quite awhile) & although I know it will only make things worse, I could not live with myself if I just kept ignoring the situation & did not speak up! So it will be a lot quieter here for Christmas with no Grand kiddies around am just keeping my fingers crossed that they will make contact again when they are old enough to do so themselves.

I also want to say how proud I am of my Hubbie, he really has been my rock, I know in the past it has been very hard for him to understand just what the hell was going on with me, but this time he was there with his shoulder constantly in my face should I need to lean on it, giving me the space I needed when I just wanted to be by myself, trying to get the kids to understand why Mum was always in tears, OMG this man really deserves a medal, & I love him like you would not believe!

Enough, this was supposed to be a HAPPY post, (says she with a grin on her face) so thank you all again from the bottom of my heart & see yah's later today.

Sweet Dreams

Lyn xoxox

Been away in my mind........

Good Lord it has been a while (well for me at least) since I posted, truth is, I'm coming clean here!, for the past 2 months it has been VERY hard for me to hold things together mentally, I suffer from depression & have not felt this bad for years. So I am slowly crawling back to what is my kind of sanity, probably not normal sanity, but mine at least! It has been years since I have been this SAD, the bloody effort it has taken just to get out of bed in the mornings, insomnia at night, crying all day, the hell my family goes through when they see me like this even though I try my hardest to put a front on that I'm happy (which I have realised that is how I have spent my life,) OHHHH to be NORMAL! To make matters worse (god can it get worse) is that my second son, who I love like you would not believe, Ryno was born the day I left my Ex Husband & I had always thought of as MINE, until Noel my Darlin' came along & bought him up as his own & he became *ours*, anyway Ryno & Chloe his GORGEOUS girlfriend are leaving on the 12th Jan to work at the mines, that is going to kill me! Second thing is I have lost my eldest son, we have had a major fall out which will never be repaired, he has not spoken to me for nearly 4 weeks now, & to be honest I do not want to talk to him I am so ashamed & disgusted with him, & NO MOTHER should ever feel that way towards her child! So life has been shit, sad, way tooooooo much but at least I can say I do remember how to smile & mean it, I HAVE managed to clean my house (boy was it a mess!) & the most important thing I am very slowly learning that I am not perfect, I stopped making my wares to sell on ebay because of one customer not paying for three items she bought from me, the lies & excuses she gave me were I now realise just incredible, I stopped doing up the furniture that is cluttering up our garage because I just could not stop painting, I kept telling myself *one more time around & then it will be perfect* but of course it never is *perfect*, well at least not to me! SO there you have it, I have realised I have flaws, major flaws & it is time I learnt to live with it. Easy to say but I am like I said on the road to repair.

So on a brighter note our puppies are now 4 weeks old today, 2 more weeks & they are off to the pet shop, I always get way toooooo attached to them, they are just so cute & will no doubt cry my eyes out, along with the kids when they leave us!

Christmas is fast approaching, I was involved in a *Secret Santa Swap* this year, my first, took me weeks to decide what to make, (again the has to be perfect came into it) but in the end I did a craft I have not done in years & sooooo enjoyed it, have taken photos so will post them when Kylie receives her parcel. God I hope she likes them!

Ok so I have rambled on enough here & have probably put you all to sleep, but OMG do I feel better for having gotten this off my chest, I have felt like I was living a lie not being honest with my illness, disease, madness? call it what you will, so I have bared my soul to you all & hope you will still pop in & leave a comment for me, I really do love hearing from you.

Oh before I forget, thank you so much Mel for including me in your 7 questions, I will get onto doing it in the next couple of day, it really means a lot to me Sweet.

Will take me a while to catch up on what everyone has been up to, but am looking forward to reading what has been going on.

Hoping your Day/Night is being kind to you



Lyn xoxoxo

Shannon This one is for you Sweet.....

CONGRATULATIONS MANDII ON YOUR NEWS, AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU SWEET!


Well I promised you guys photos of the Cheap Trick/Def Leppard concert & here they are. A friend who came with us took these photos on his Mobile phone, because Noggins here forgot to take her camera didn't she! Ok so this is Cheap Trick, oh wait of course you can see that, dah!

This poor guy stood in front of me all night, he was one of the security guys placed around the stage to stop over zealots fans getting onto the stage (not that I ever considered doing it hum hum). It was his first job & he had to look at this geriatric 48 year old fan dancing, singing her lungs out, (oh & Im not too proud to admit that I am utterly tone deaf!) & generally getting carried away with the whole atmosphere of the night. That's Joe Elliot by the way, the lead singer.

The lighting show was just incredible & not to mention very very hot from where we were standing, right in the very front. Best seats, ooops standing spot in the whole place. This is Phil Colin.

They set the Microphones up right in front of us about half way through the concert, & dead set I could have just reached out & touched both Joe & Phil honestly I could have, if it wasn't for our little security friend standing right in my way...oh come back Phil I want to touch you again. Only joking!

This was when they sang *two steps behind* & how good do those bods look for guys in their mid 40's, not bad at all from where I was standing I can tell you. Thou I do think *Sav* needs to get a new hair style, still has the same 80's look going on! We all had a chuckle at the young guy behind us trying very hard to impress his girlfriend, saying things like.. Oh & thats Joe there, Phil has been with them for such & such a time, That's Viv, Sav this & Sav that, like he had this up close & personal friendship going on with the guys. It put a smile on my face, young love huh.

Ok pleased I could share our great night out, they still looked great & still sounded great so I was one happy little chickadee & Shannon hope you like the photos Hon!

The Mother-In-Law from hell & my obsession with Dunnies.....

Now I have to let you all in on a secret of mine, I have an obsession with Loo's, Toilets, Dunnies, Lavatories, Out Houses, name them what you will! This first started when I had my 21st at an amazing French Restaurant (I didn't want a big party, just family & friends gathered for a very special Dinner) & of course I took my camera to take photos of my special day. I ordered escargots (common name Snails) & I think everyone was a tad horrified, but let me tell you the taste is just to die for! I have not had them since but they are on my *to do* list which I have recently started. Ok getting back to the Loo thing, when I, excuse me, went to the Little Girls Room, here was the most beautiful toilet I had ever seen. I can still remember exactly what it looked like, all done out in very Chic Black & White tiles on the floor & walls, & it had a wooden cistern high up on the wall with the most sweetest pull thingy, and a white porcelain knob on the end. I rushed right on out of there lickity split & picked up my camera & just started clicking away. I think I spent the longest time it takes to do a *pee*, in fact now I think about it, it should have been recorded into the *Guinness Book of Records*! I just had never seen a loo like it before. It wasn't until we bought our home & I was going through it on *open day* (actually I arrived early & walked out the back & as soon as I saw the back yard I just knew this was the home for us) & guess what, when I walked into the loo room there it was, a cistern on the wall. Yipeeeeeee I said to myself, if we buy this house I get my all time favourite loo as an added bonus! Well I walked right out of there, went up to the Real Estate guy, put in an offer & before you could say *Bobs your Uncle* the house was off the market! My Darlin' was playing Soccer this day & received quite a shock when he came home to be told I had bought a house he hadn't even seen! No it wasn't really that bad as the house we were renting at the time was exactly the same as our home now. I have to admit the toilet in our home was nowhere near the standard of that beauty in the French Restaurant, it had a concrete cistern which had been painted silver of all colours, & over the years the water kept leaking out of it all the time hence the string attached to the spring & fastened to a hook on the right hand side of the photo above. The pull thingy was an old cruddy chain & no porcelain knob on the end. A few weeks ago we finally said adieu to this faithful but broken down friend, it is now sitting down the back yard keeping company with another old concrete cistern which will be turned into little ponds, hopefully with small waterfalls. I do still have a reminder of our old faithfull though, the outline on the wall where she once stood, so when the rain clears I will be repainting the toilet. We went looking for a new toilet recently & I have to admit I embarrassed my Hubby by sitting on all the ones I liked (well they do have to be comfortable when I take a book in with me to read). I haven't found the *right* one yet but I do know its out there somewhere, waiting for the day I find *her*.

I just had to show you guys this invitation that my friend Anna (boy am I missing her at the moment) in an email. If this is for real I really pity the poor girl who is going to end up with this Mother-In-Law from hell, but it gave me one hell of a laugh. Click on it to enlarge it!

My great $10 find (rocking chair) is still sitting by itself out in the shed, I went into Spotlight yesterday as they had 20% off all their Manchester (gotta love that) & could not believe that I found nothing that took my fancy to cover her in. In Coffs we only have Spotlight & one other fabric shop to choose from. so I am at a loss as to what to cover her in. Bugger! I do have four curtains that I bought off ebay, Rachel Ashwells *Rosilee* print, which I bought to make pillows etc with, got them for a steal at the time, but when I saw them I thought they would look lovely hanging in my bedroom. My Darlin' does not want curtains, just the wooden blinds, which by the way I am very slowly trying to talk him into letting me paint white. I am too scared to cut into them in case he should change his mind & I wouldn't have enough to hang. Decisions Decisions.

It is still raining here, has now been 1 1/2 weeks & it is starting to get me down, I have so much painting to do but is too wet & damp to get anything to dry. So listen guys, I know there are so many of yous who really need all this rain (I should not be whinging) so if I can come up with a way to send it down/up to yous I will



Enjoy the rest of your day



Lyn xoxox

This old house........

This beautiful old Heritage Listed house was the first place I lived when I moved out of home. Back then (I was 17, good grief 31 years ago) it was divided in half, the caretakers lived on the left side & three of us on the right. Apart from my room my favourite room in the house was the kitchen. It had big french doors that opened out onto the amazing garden out the back, full of big old leafy trees where I would sit on really hot Summer days.

The bathroom had the most hughmungest claw foot bath I have ever seen, in those days we didn't even think about saving water, or had to pay excess water bills,(droughts were something only African countries suffered!) & every night I would fill it to the top with bubbles & laze back until the water turned cold!

My Mum is in this photo asking the present owners if I could have a look through, the door on the other side of the bay window was our front door.

Ok so this is a really bad photo of me (as usual, I do NOT like having my photo taken) standing by the outside door that led into my room. The owners have also added another door on the outer wall & use this room as an office now. My room was once the Maids quarters & surprisingly was the largest of the three. It had a massive walk in robe, a real treat 31 years ago, which was once the maids bathroom. I really enjoyed taking this visit down Memory Lane, although sadly the owners have let the house decline, have changed the layout around & my beautiful bright & sunny kitchen is now a very messy bedroom! I just couldn't get over how much stuff they had in this massive house, every room was just spilling over with it.

My love of old homes started out with my Great Grandmothers house in Hapuku near Kaikoura in New Zealand. Every summer we would visit this amazing Lady, she was over 100 when she died & would talk to me about the voyage out from England when she was 4! My Great Aunty Lily lived down the road in the most beautiful Cottage I think I have ever seen & from a young age I just knew this was the type of home I wanted to own *when I grew up*! So when I saw this house it just seemed right that it would be my first rental. I have always wanted to own it, although where it is in Nelson I would never be able to afford it, this is probably the smallest house in the street, in a very expensive area.

So there you have it, hope you enjoyed the walk down Memory Lane with me.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

Lyn xoxox

Is she going to become a stunner or what.......

Buggar, why is it that the photos always end up in the wrong order??? Um ok so this little gem of a rocking chair is my great find down at Vinnies in Maitland. It needs some TLC done to it, in fact I am not game to sit on it yet as most of the screws are loose!

Need to recover it to get rid of the yucky, yucky fabric that is on it now. Will have to have a real think about what I am going to cover it in.

A coat of paint (white of course) & she will look brand new, well sort of. Will show her off when she is finished.

A short one this morning, Anna's last day here (sob) so are going shopping again.

Oh & I cannot believe I forgot to tell you guys that our Bonnie had four gorgeous pups while we were away last week. Photos coming up of them latter......

My Bestest friend Anna, Def Leppard Concert & our Pub crawl.......

I have been a bit slack with my postings lately (well yep ok you guys are right, I have been REAL slack) but then I do have a really really good excuse, my bestest friend came back up with to stay for a week, so I am allowed to do NOTHING but sit & talk, relax, go shopping, laugh until my insides hurt, have a few drinks (ok ok quite a few drinks) & just love this very special Lady who I am sooooooo lucky to call my friend. (Boy is she going to go OFFFFFFFFF when she see's I posted these photo's of her!)

I cannot believe that this time last week we were down in Maitland getting ready for the Def Leppard concert, where has the time gone, well I guess sitting around doing nothing, talking etc etc. The concert started at 7pm, we left Mick (our eldest son) at 1pm, caught the train into Hamilton where I found a shop I have always wanted to go to, *Anne's Glory Box* where I spent quite some time taking in all the beautiful fabrics & laces etc they sell. The only thing I bought was a pattern!!! The guys didn't want to visit this treasure trove with me so they went to the nearest pub, well you really couldn't blame them as it was a stinking hot day & we really did need to find somewhere that had air con! We ended up doing a pub crawl all the way to Broadmeadow where the Entertainment Centre is, good grief it had been a LONG time since I had done that. I even had a win on the pokies!

We finally got there, bought Macas for tea, & stood in line (up near the front) & waited & waited for the doors to open! Ok so the mad rush was on to get the BEST spot & still cannot believe that we managed to stand right in front of the stage. Yes sireee, we could just reach out & touch them if we wanted to (but didn't) In all there were 3 bands, the support band which I am a bit ashamed to say I cannot remember their name & they were very very good, next Cheap Trick (could only remember 3 of their songs!) & then who everyone had come to see (although I doubt doing the pub crawl thingy like we had) Def Leppard came on. I must admit I was a bit worried they wouldn't sound as good, we are all getting older after all, but no they did not let us down. Shannon *Love Bites* sounds so incredible live, *two steps behind* they sang right in front of us, I could just go on & on. I have to tell yah, I wont be forgetting this concert for a long time.

The only let down to the night was that we had to walk back to Hamilton train station after the concert & missed the train by 5 minutes so had to wait over an hour for the next one, but hey that's life huh.

Friday was spent doing the rounds of the local Op shops in Maitland. Ooooooooh wait until I show you the little beauty I bought for $10, I had to go & ask the ladies behind the counter if *the price was right*! & yep you bet your bottom dollar it was, so paid for it straight away while I looked for other little treasures I could purchase for next to nothing! My Darlin' was a bit horrified when he saw my steal, *why do you want THAT*, *How will it fit in the car*, where are you putting THIS when we get home*, *you are not painting it WHITE are you*, etc etc. I just smiled & told him how great it will look when I have finished giving it a new lease of life! Sorry but you will have to wait until my next post to see what IT is. Due to 3 males who are not into Op shops I didn't get to spend nearly as much time thrifting, but was really happy with my treasure that I bought.

Oh forgot to mention that I forgot to take my camera to the concert, can you beleive that, but our friend who came with us took some photos on his camera. Will post them as soon as I get them on my computer...

I finished the frames, have hung one in my bedroom, put the oil painting that came with this frame back into it, but am not really fussed with it, it seems a bit bright to me, but it will do until I find something to replace it?? My next job will be our duchess (you can just see the corner of the mirror on the bottom right hand side, feel a bit guilty as it took *My Darlin'* hours & hours of varnishing years ago to transform it from the Mission Brown paint it had on it when we bought it. What was it in the eighties with *Mission Brown*, I think Australia must have had a huge sale on that colour paint!

Love how Taska's bed side cabinet turned out. *She* looks so much better with her white paint & glass knobs, now I just have to make Taska a new quilt for her bed, I had to bribe her (SHE IS INTO BLACK & WHITE) so will make her a quilt in black & white for her bed to keep her happy!

Ok so this is a short & sweet one from me today, heading off to Maitland in the morning, Deff Leppard concert at Newcastle on Thursday, doing the rounds of Vinnies etc Friday in Maitand (so many thrifty shops down there) my best friend Anna is coming back up with us on Saturday to stay for a week (REALLY looking forward to that, heaps of time spent on the front veranda) planning on coming home via the New England Highway, will be my first time, & out west hopefully will have heaps of small towns with thrifty shops, YES will be in HEAVEN!

Put a bet on the Cup today (my one & only time I pl;ace a bet) my horse came in 4th, them the brakes huh, but still really enjoyed the thrill of the race.

Hope yours horses came in for you's

Enjoy your night

Lyn xoxo

Wow my first ever blog award.....

Wow I do not believe this but I have received my first award from Kathryn at http://ourshabbycottage.blogspot.com/. I am honestly over the moon & have the hugest smile on my face that will no doubt stay there for the next few days. Thank you so much Kathryn, you do not how happy you have made me.

Ok so now it is my turn to pass this award on to 7 other great bloggers out there, so here goes:

http://thepink-poodle.blogspot.com/ Andrea because she has become a close friend & I smile every time I read her blog. Hey sweet this is your second award in one day!

http://adregan.blogspot.com/ Ali a fellow Kiwi because she bought my blog to life & I still cannot get over how pretty it is.

http://shannonthompson.blogspot.com/ Shannon was the first person to leave me a comment on my blog & boy it meant so much to me.

http://http//abiteofcountrycupcakes.blogspot.com/ Kylie because her blog is just so cheery & she tells it how it is!

http://melsroseplace.blogspot.com/ Mel because I just really enjoy reading her blog, & she has a picket fence & roses in her front garden just like me!

http://wwwbloggercomcottagerose.blogspot.com/ Rose because her blog is just such a delight to read, & she loves her gardens!

http://www.abeachcottage.typepad.com/Sarah because I just love how she has renovated her Beach Cottage, & her wit is very infectious.

Ok so I know I said 7 & if I can still count properly that is my seven (thou mind you I could just keep going) but there is one more that I need to give this award to:

http//ourshabbycottage.blogspot.com/ Kathryn because her's is the first blog I read every day & I just love all her creations, a very talented Lady.

Ok so there you have it, if you accept this award you can place it in your sidebar & you must blog it & send it on to seven others. ( Leave them a comment on their blog to let them know)

Enjoy the rest of your day

Lyn xoxo

My special trip home.......

In January I went home for a couple of weeks to surprise my Mum for her birthday. It was the first time in 27 years that I had spent both my Mums & my own birthday back home with my family, well & truly long over due. I will never forget the look on my Mums face when I walked in the door, it was priceless & my Dad had kept the secret for me since August of last year, no mean feat when it comes to my Mum I have to tell you. Anyway last night I was looking for some photos that I had saved & came across the ones I had taken back home. These were all taken in the Chinese Garden in Nelson, it really is quite breath taking.

Ok so this one is of my gorgeous Dad, Cindy their little girl & well me! Yuck I never like how my photo turns out!

Love this one, my gorgeous Mum & Dad with Cindy. I have this photo as my background on my computer.

It always amazes me how Chinese gardens are so peaceful, would just love to have this in my back yard!

Love the white, so clean & crisp looking. Love this shot of Cindy, she is the most sweetest little Australian Terrier, my Mum & Dad really love their little girl.

I took this shot because of how the pebbles were laid, all on their ends rather than flat, would have taken weeks or even months to do & they all form a pattern!

How much do I WANT this is my back yard, just so peaceful sitting in here, can see me sitting in this in my back yard with a good book!

So these are just a few of the photos I took, will show more at a later date.

Have a busy day, we are off on Wednesday down to our sons to stay for a few days to catch the Def Leppard concert on Thursday night, am really getting excited. It has been raining here for the past 3 days so has taken longer to get Taskas bed side cabinet painted. Hopped out this morning & gave it its final coat so will take photos of the finished result when it is dry.

Hope you have enjoyed sharing my very special trip home with me, let me know what you guys think!

Have a really great day

Lyn xoxox

Vinnies, Vampires & Vacations.....

Taskas friends popped over last night while doing the Halloween thingy so I just had to take a photo or two of them. A LOT of preparation went into looking this good!

I have been feeling VERY VERY down lately, has been quite some time since I was this bad & let me tell you it is a road I dread going down, anyway after weeks of not being able to do anything, especially housework, I decided yesterday to get in & tackle the growing mess around me! Yeah right after I go for a walk down to our local Vinnies. I do not know what I was looking for, just had the feeling something was waiting for me to take them home. Nothing in Vinnies so went next door to Legacy (I keep calling this place Leprosy, not good.) Well what do you know but sitting there all by its little lonesome was the bedside table I have been hunting & hunting for Taska's room! Yee Haa, even did some haggling but nope the guy wouldn't budge on the price. What the hell, its what I have been looking for, so as I do not drive (yeah yeah, shock horror, rapidly approaching 50 & still cannot drive, although I do own my L's) I had to leave her at the shop until this morning. Taska took one look at it, fell head over heals in love, telling me how perfect it is, trashy handles & all, saw the look of horror on my face & bellowed *please do not tell me you are going to paint her WHITE! Ummm yeah! is that a stupid question or what, she knows every single bit of furniture I get my hands on is painted the sacred colour! As I still have a cane table & more photo frames out in the shed in the process off being painted WHITE, I will allow the new comer to our family to sit very quietly in Taskas room where I will choose to ignore her in that disgusting burgundy colour, until I get to her!

So after my big find of the day I was feeling soooooooooo much better & stopped in at the THIEF"S shop, our biggest & only privately owned *second hand* shop. I had spotted a great looking out door lounge the day before that I could just so see sitting on my front veranda (if you have visited before you will know this my favourite spot) & had spent that night having dreams of painting (WHITE of course) & making up more poofy cushions to match the chairs, & just have something to lay on & read by book, have a coffee (or the odd beer or even better Vodkas) in peace, so had decided that it was going dirt cheap, so imagine my horror when it was not even there! Ok so around the corner to yet another thrifty shop where I found the little collection above. Two very tacky gold frames, a curtain that has the most sweetest roses on it, & a book on Madame de Pompadour (YEESSSSSSSS). Ok so the frames have now been painted white & lookin' real good, the curtain I am going to make new cushion covers for the front veranda as the pink & white stripe are toooooo small & I really have to have rose fabric out there, & the book I am just going to sooo enjoy reading 'cause I have always wanted to go to France, like forever, I think in a past life I lived there! So after two hours of thrifting I walked home (remember there's no license here) in 35 degree heat & finally arrive looking like a beetroot, dripping wet, but OH SO HAPPY, which I have not felt in I do not how long.

It has been a few hours since I started this post, My Darlin's best mate arrived round, few beers in the shed(out of Vodka) & have had a painting frenzy. The frames are finished, the cane table has one coat to go, & best of all one blue eye, one green eye, Taska is sleeping over at a friends tonight SO the burgundy has gone, draws have had 3 coats, the rest just the one, but am hoping to have it finished before she arrives home tomorrow. Will bribe her with a black & white doona cover!

Thanks heaps for popping in, you know what to do, leave a comment, see yah's

Lyn xoxoxo

Oh yeah as for the Vacation! there isn't one, just couldn't think of a third V that I did yesterday!

Thank you so much Marie & I bought a PINK Webcam.....

I would like to thank Marie Christine who bought the pillow I listed on ebay with all proceeds donated to the McGrath Foundation. Am so happy that my pillow is going all the way to France (the number one country in the whole wide world that I have wanted to go to since I was knee high to a grasshopper) I am so happy & proud to have been able to donate towards such a worth while cause.

Ok so the photo is suppose to be down here but well I am still learning when it comes to positioning my photos! I bought a wecam for my computer to do skype with my son & hopefully Mum & Dad (are we listening Sweets!) as I am really over the high phone bills! The first one I bought would not install on my new Computer so put it on the kids comp. I was skyping my son using my neighbours microphone. Anyway I was down town the other day & thought I would check out another webcam, & you can imagine my delight when I found a PINK WEBCAM YEE HAA! Rushed home to install it, rang my son on skype & imagine my horror (or should say imagine how @*&#@$ I was to find the PINK one does not come with a built in Microphone!!! NOOOOOO Where as last time I could here but not see, now I can see but not hear, which unless I take a crash course in lip reading or sign language is completely & utterly useless without a MICROPHONE ARGHHHHH! Well at least I have learnt a big lesson, it does not matter whether it is just THE right shade of pink, never buy in haste, check to see if it comes with everything you need! So I guess over the weekend I will be going out to buy a set of microphones, which by the way was what I was going to buy before I saw the PINK thing!!!

Below I have included the receipt for the donation I made the the McGrath Foundation.


Thanks so much for popping in & hey don't be shy, leave a comment so I know you have visited.

Enjoy the rest of your night.

Lyn xoxoxo


McGrath Foundation Ltd.PO Box 4Northbridge, NSW 2063.ABN: 23 115 566 624
Oct 30th, 2008Receipt No. 8000
On behalf of the McGrath Foundation I would like to thank you most sincerely for your generous donation and support of the Foundation.The McGrath foundation is committed to continuing Jane's legacy by promoting "breast awareness" among young women, and enabling the placement of specialist McGrath Breast Care Nurses across the country, particularly in rural and regional areas, to support women diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast Care Nurses are specially trained nurses who act as patient advocates, care coordinators and provide support for women with breast cance, their families and carers.Thank you very much for your valuable contribution, which will enable us to continue to work towards achieving Jane's vision.
Mrs Lynette Rigby67 Gundagai Street Coffs Harbour NSWAustralia
Donation Gratefully Accepted
$ 26.00Payment Method: Credit Card

Starting the Reno on the front Veranda

I have been busy renovating my front veranda, started with painting the decking white, (am going to have to give it another coat yet) as my Darlin' thinks it needs another one, have painted the cane table white, still have to do the other one as it is cream & I don't like it. My Sweet spray painted the cane chairs white (of course) my all time favourite is the really old one we picked up for NOTHING, cannot get any cheaper than that huh! I had made up cushions that fitted the shape of the chairs but were very uncomfortable, so yesterday made new cushion covers for Euro Pillows to put on the bases - they are SO CUSHY & COMFY & used a pink & white stripe fabric of course. Also made new cushion covers for the back rests, but have found I need BIGGER ones, so that is on the list after I give the deck another coat of paint & repaint the other cane table! I also bought some annuals & potted them up to give me some more PINK flowers over Spring?Summer! I think I have mentioned in the past hour much I LOVE my front Veranda, it is my QUIET SPACE, kids are banned if they raise their voices (Mum & Dad know who I am talking about here) & now it is even better because it is MY CALM PLACE!
Ok so I need to tell you guys out there that I have been pretty down lately, has taken my all to to this, let alone clean my house which just has NOT happened! So tomorrow on MY LIST is clean the house!! well I would rather be out finishing off the sanding of my porch, repaint my porch & door frames etc etc etc.
My ebay & etsy have really suffered, I have made NOTHING!! have heaps of ideas in my head so is time I started using them. To tell you the truth I just want to get on the next plane outta here, France has always looked SO GOOD to me, Europe, where ever, think I will visit my favourite countries via the Internet, cannot get any cheaper than that.
Ok so that is it for tonight, has been really HOT here today & is still really HOT so until tomorrow when I show you the PINK thing I bought yesterday for my computer, hope you guys have a great night.


Lynxoxoxo

P.S. Oooops forgot to say the Lady I bought my pretty necklaces from on etsy is HomeStudio.etsy.com Am hoping this link works as I have not done thisbefore. Oh & she has FREE POSTAGE WORLD WIDE until 31st October.