Dylans Birthday & From this to That......

I have just realised how slack I have been with my posting lately not that anything overly exciting has been happening anyway! We had Dylan's 8th birthday party last Saturday morning down at the Jetty Foreshores & was so pleased it turned out to be a beautiful day. He & 5 mates had a great time although I felt pretty worn out after it all. Couldn't get over how warm the sea was, was like being in a bath!

Dylan is wearing the stripped T-shirt!



Well last night we had a *Going Away* dinner for Ryno & Chloe, Chloe's Mum & Dad came round & it turned out to be a really good night. The photo below is of a parting *little* job asked me to do for him! He is having his road bike shipped over to Perth (don't even want to comment on that idea) & needed a cover made up for his Navman so he can put it on the bike! Talk about short notice! So I have spent today making this cover up for him, not the easiest of materials to sew especially the clear plastic stuff.

So this is the finished cover, am not happy with it, I feel the sewing is way to rough but he tells me it will do the job, fine so long as he does not show it to anyone! I have to admit though that there was NO cursing involved while making this up, had to undo it a couple of times & my reaction: *Oh dear* not the usual @#*% when that happens. I did find out that any pin holes do not come out & of course there are 2 each side right on the front!

They leave Coffs tomorrow at 4.30, fly to Sydney & then on to Perth arriving 11.30 WA time which I am told is 2.30am NSW time! Going to be a long day for them.

I am not looking forward to it, yes I know I have to *let him go* but that is easier said than done! Must remind Chris (Chloe's Mum) to bring plenty of tissues)

Have a great weekend.......

Gorgeous prints from a by gone era.......

I simply love the beautiful paintings by Maude Humphrey (Mother of Humphrey Bogart) Her series of children doing the washing (hanging their dolls out by the head on an old fashioned clothes line) playing nurses (above) doctors (sewing their dollies up) chefs (cooking their kittens) artists (painting a picture) & probably my favourite The old woman who lived in a shoe, picture at right, the little girl disciplining her dollies!

There is just something about these little kiddies Maude used to paint, beautiful soft colours & the expressions on their faces, priceless!

I have a few of her prints that have been put onto silk, you know the ones you make into cushions etc but I just cannot bring myself to use them think they would look lovely in frames, but then I guess I could make them up & just buy some more to frame!

I consider myself pretty lucky to be writing this post today, I honestly thought we were going to be flooding this morning. It just did not stop raining last night (to be honest it just poured down) stopped this morning for about 1/2 hour & then it came down like you would not believe. I have never seen rain like it. I have an old cane chair that sits down in my back yard & the water was up to the seat, not a very good thing to see when the rain has no desire to stop! I do not know how many times my Darlin' had to back wash the pool, was quite a sight to see the water flowing over the sides, our garden shed went under water. luckily the trusty Lawn Mower was moved just before. I had been speaking to my Sister in-law this morning (who lives in Kempsey) & she said her land value had gone up by $100,000 as they now had canals all around their home, I had to laugh at that one. The photo above is my neighbours back yard taken 1 hour after the rain stopped. Before that you could not see any of her lawn at all. The Mid North Coast is still on high Flood Alert & will be until the King Tides reduce. (King tides happen when the incoming tides are a lot higher than normal). Coffs Harbour has a lot of creeks running through the City & when it floggs (slang for *pours down*) the creeks fill up really fast & if there is a King Tide there is nowhere for the water to go so the place floods. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that there is no more rain. Dylans classroom started to get water in it today as the school has a creek running right around it, he came home from school very excited, told me all about their little adventure with the water in the classroom, he really thought it was great, typical boys they could not understand why they could not go swimming in the water.

Ok so I have prattled on long enough, to all the lovely Ladies in Victoria if I could send this rain down to you I would in a flash, we had 200mls over night, far too much!

So where ever you are hope Mother Nature is being kind to you!

Have a great night.

The Heavens have opened up........

It has been raining here since Thursday night & to be quite honest with you all, I am well & truly over it! When I say raining I actually mean FLOGGING down non stop which is not the best when we are also having King Tides, the last time it poured like this was back in 1996 (also had King Tides) & Coffs flooded!

Dylans party was called off on Saturday so had quite a upset little boy although he still had a good day. We have put it off until next Saturday so am kinda hoping the rain will be gone by then, keeping my fingers crossed anyway. Just to top everything off our swimming pool is about to over flow so can see Hubby is going to have to back wash it, won't that be fun in the flogging down rain. Better away I have a house that needs cleaning & it will not do itself I am afraid.
Have a great day.

Australia United, Happy Birthday to the big 8 year old........

$21 million raised in 5 hours, now that's pretty amazing to me. The last I heard the total had soared to $75 million all up, it just shows what a nation can do to help its own. Australian's should be very very proud of themselves. Thanks should also be given to the other nations who have contributed, this world is not so bad after all!
Above is the latest photo of my homeland (New Zealand) showing the smoke coming over from Victoria. Nearly all the South Island is covered in smoke except for Nelson right at the top. (Hello Mum & Dad) I read NZ has been renamed Land of the Longest White Cloud, I really had a laugh at that. Ok so for some good news at last, the police have arrested a 39 year old scum bag for lighting the fires at Churchill. I am kinda thinking here that he does not deserve to go through all the usual Legal procedure instead if I had any say in it I would let all the people who's homes & family he has taken from them have him. Going to Jail is just far too easy for him. I imagine they are going to have to have pretty tight security around him.


The 14th Feb to most people is Valentines Day, in our family it is also our Son Dylan's birthday . He is turning the ripe old age of 8!! Dylan was born 2 weeks early & his labour lasted just over 13 minutes! Just to top it all off he came into this world a breech birth (just like his Mum did 41 years earlier). He was a very sneaky little guy, not letting us know he was there until 20 weeks through the pregnancy, at times I still feel I have not gotten over the shock of it all. This is what an early Menopause can do to you, your hormones are so out of wack you do not get any symptoms at all. Don't get me wrong here I love this little guy to bits just find having an very full on soon to be 8 year old a bit much at times, I have after all recently tuned 49 BUT must say have been feeling a lot younger lately. The picture below was taken last year on his birthday, tomorrow he is having a party down at the Jetty Foreshores (I really really need this rain to go away) so will be a very full on day thinks me! Will get photos tomorrow & include them in my next post.

I also had a very lovely surprise this arvo, a friend that I have not seen in quite a few years just turned up on my doorstep! This was extra special to me as Dawn & I had a falling out a few years ago which really hurt me & you know it was like old times today sitting out the back catching up from where we left off, pure bliss.


Wishing you all a happy Valentines Day.

See you all on Sunday.

Oh & I forgot to tell you guys my daughters school had a special Icy Pole day on Wednesday & raised $4,500.00 & Dylans school had a Mufti Day today, cost a gold coin (will find out next week how much was raised) all to go to the Bush Fire Appeal.

What were they talking about, there are plenty of paddles......

I thought we all needed something to put a smile on our faces. My good friend Anna sent this to me quite a while ago..... Who was it who said *Up shit creek without a paddle*? It seems they have not been to this store!

Hope this makes you feel a bit better out there.

It just gets worse........

After watching the late news today I was both appalled & disgusted to hear that looting has broken out in some of the fire revenged areas in Victoria. People (actually I feel they deserve to be called scum) have been going into the homes that are still standing & helping themselves to whatever they want. I just cannot believe this despicable act can happen in Australia, good god haven't these poor souls been put through enough without this happening to them, it just sickens me to the core. I just hope these low lives are caught & severely dealt with.

In huge contrast $10 million has so far been donated from all around Australia. It just shows when times are getting tough financially in this country people open their hearts & give what they can, they just want to help whatever way they can.

131 people have now lost their lives....

In my thoughts........

It is much sadness that I write this post this morning. Last night when I went to bed the death toll from the fires in Victoria had reached 84, this morning when I turned on the TV I learnt it has now risen to 108. I honestly cannot quite grasp this, what has now become Australia;s biggest disaster, & to learn that quite a few of these fires have been deliberately lit I just do not understand how any one could do this. The penalties in this country do not justify the heartache, loss of homes & loss of lives that these monsters cause, I feel should these animals be caught they should be charged with the murder of every life lost.

The work that the fire fighters, both the Fire Brigades & the many locals are doing is just out standing, I have heard reports of many who have helped to put burning homes out only to have their own homes burn to the ground. Seeing whole towns on TV that have been burnt to the ground & looking like a war zone is just devastating, I honestly cannot even begin to imagine what it must feel like to be left with just the clothes on your back. To date 750 homes have been lost & although in some areas the temperatures have dropped down to the low 20's & rain is falling, near the NSW border the temp are still in the mid 30's & lightening strikes are now threatening even more homes. The Australian PM has told the nation this morning to *Brace yourself for more bad news* that hell & all its fury has come to Victoria. I watched this man this morning break down, talking to people who have lost everything & giving people comfort in a simple hug.

Australians are a tough breed, the homes lost will be rebuilt, towns will grow again but at the same time this tragedy will never be forgotten. I have done a lot of crying this morning as I watched the news, I truly feel for the people of Victoria my heart goes out to them & I rather naively hope the death toll does not get any higher. I am also very proud to think that my country (New Zealand) has come to the aid of Victoria in sending Fire Fighters over to assist in getting the fires under control.

While the bottom of Australia burns the top end is in flood, two lives lost & a little five year old believed to have been taken by a crocodile. A lot of the affected areas have experienced this disaster before & to go through it yet again must be heart breaking.

I really do not know what else to say here except to everyone affected *You are in my thoughts*

Lyn xxx

Creative Juices PLEASE come home.......

Ok so I really do not what is going on here but I like Kathryn at http://ourshabbycottage.blogspot.com/ cannot seem to get back into my routine. I'm kinda thinking here that maybe it has something to do with the state of my teensy weensy sewing come computer room. It has always been a real squash for me in this room but seen as our home is a tad on the small size I consider myself very lucky to have this room & I have spent many an hour happily sewing away to my hearts content. It like my sons room (couple of posts ago) has turned into a tip as I have pulled out fabric after fabric & just sat & looked at it & thought to myself *I have NO idea what to do with you*, it seems the fabric no longer *specks* to me the way it use to do! If I am really honest here I cannot stand the colour of the walls, I painted this room a few years ago this yucky yellow (as I did the bathroom) to *brighten* up the room but I have never been a yellow person so am thinking it is time I just pulled everything out (although that would mean not having my computer for a few days, god forbid!) & painting it my calming cream, what to do!

Today I had planned on cleaning this room up but my heart just is not in it, I have found since my application was *rejected* for the job I have always wanted, my heart does not seem to be in anything, its as if I have lost all confidence in myself, & I keep thinking what if I make all these *things* to list on ebay & they do not sell, I bash myself around too much & think I am not *good enough*! So I guess I am thinking what does not happen will not hurt me huh!

2009 is proving to be a very difficult year for me, too much self doubt, too much putting off until tomorrow, creative juices lost (if your out there PLEASE come home) & just feeling very unsettled, I no longer know what I want anymore!

Ok so here's the deal I do know I have to do something with this room, so I think this week will be spent packing it all up & repainting, I think colours set your moods & I know this one is not doing me any favours, there yah go have finally decided on something!

Before I go I would really like to mention a post on a lovely Ladies blog Tammy at http://forastitchinthyme.blogspot.com/. Tammy wrote a beautiful post about her Mum & I have to say it reduced me to tears. It really reinforced in me just how lucky I was growing up, pop over & have a read, leave a comment to this truly beautiful soul.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend & to the lovely Ladies down in Victoria my heart goes out to you all who's family have lost their homes.

Oh & one more thing, my daughter Taska has been reading all the comments that were left for her for her 16th birthday & wishes to thank everyone who wished her a Happy Birthday, she was truly overwhelmed.

The ever changing faces of Taska Rose..... For my Birthday Girl...

Today my *little* girl turns 16 & it really leaves me wondering where on earth have those last 16 years gone. Taska Rose decided to enter this wonderful world of ours while I was cooking Spag for dinner. The rush was on to get me to the hospital in time (my longest labour was exactly an hour) I know/knew that the first pain puts me straight into full on labour so its either drop everything or have my baby on the way!!!

I found out during my pregnancy that we were having our long awaited daughter. Since the age of 12 I had known her name was going to be *Taska*. The first time I learnt my Grandma's middle name was*Tasker* I knew that was the name I wanted to call my daughter when & if I ever had one! The name Taska has now gone through 3 generations. Originally it was my Great Grandmas maiden name, was then given to my Grandma to use for her middle name, & finally has been passed on to my daughter for her first name. Her middle name Rose is also my Mums middle name.

One very extraordinary thing (there are many) about Taska are her eyes. She was born with the darkest blue eyes I have ever seen, almost black. As she grew older they started to get lighter & one day we noticed her right eye was changing colour. She now has one blue eye (from her Dad) & one green eye (from me) not something you see every day.

This year Taska is in Year 11 at school, I find it hard to believe that my little girl has only 2 more years of schooling & then is off into the big wide world to chase her dreams. Her wish in life is to become a photographer, something I think she will go a long way in, she has always loved taking photo's & seems to have a natural talent. For Christmas we bought her a camera (mainly to get our camera back) & I'm amazed at the photos she takes. Taska has brought us a lot of joy & some heart ache over the years & I would not change her a bit, she truly has a beautiful soul.

So my gorgeous Sweet Sixteen enjoy your special day, & always know *you are much loved*.

Mum & Dad xxxx

Welcome to the *Tip*......

The photo above & below is what happens when the Summer holidays are just way tooooo long! This room (which became known as the *tip*) belongs to my 7 year son Dylan & he manged to make this mess in about 15 minutes flat while looking for ONE of his toys!

It took me a week to clean up, I now have three rubbish bags full to the brim ready to go to the Op shop & one rubbish bag in the bin! Decided to give his room a thorough clean, wash down walls, sort out outgrown clothes etc.

So this is the little *Darlin's* room now, back to normal & a lot cleaner & tidier than it was before.

Have told him if he EVER gets it into that state again I will, well I think you can imagine what I said! Sorry about the blurry photos but was in a hurry when I took these, not to mention very hot & bothered. I realised while I *lived* in this room during the major clean up that he is in the *pink* room, this was originally Taska's room but after my Sweet polished the floors in Dylan's old room we moved Taska in there as it is bigger. He has never said anything about having a *pink* room -so far.

THIS is the little *Darlin* who managed to turn his bedroom into a *tip* taken his first day back to school, going into the big part this year, Year 3.

Now I am like a Sargent Major every evening before he goes to bed, doing the rounds in his bedroom looking for anything out of place or not put away.

You know I kinda like school terms at least my house stays tidy. Until the weekend......

Memories are made of this......

I cannot believe that I spent most of today trying to get these two photos onto my blog, had so much to do & did not manage to get most of it done today, so I hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane with me, this post is a lot shorter than first anticipated, tomorrow I will put the other photos on!
I love old photos, in fact I love just about anything old, there is just something so appealing about the colour or rather lack of, before colour photos were introduced. My eldest son Mick gave me a Treasury Set for photos quite a few years ago for Mothers Day & I have always kept my really old Family photos in the little album that came with it. Being small the photos fit perfectly inside but you can still see how the passages of time & many loving fingers have *worn* them in! To me nothing is better than seeing an old photo with stains, rips & age marks all over it, it gives it life, a personality I feel.

Ok so before I get too carried away I should tell you about these two I have posted. Not too sure what year the one above was taken, obviously around Christmas time, I'm guessing 1962?? (you need to help me out a bit here Mum). My older sister Sue is on the right & yep I'm the one about to throw a fit because I guess I either did not want to be there or else I was scared stiff of the man in the funny suit! Sue just looks very bored with it all.

Now I know this one was taken in September 1966 as Mum has written on the back: Lynette 6 1/2 yrs, Deane 2yrs 2months & Suzanne 9yrs! I can remember this photos being taken, it was in our back yard of the home I grew up in. Good grief will you take a look at my hair, I'm on the right, Mum what were you thinking! The beautiful Lady holding my brother Deane is my Grandma Adair. In the background are the Aviaries my Dad built when he bred bids. Now the block fence behind us holds quite a few memories for me as well, whenever I was naughty I would run outside & my poor Mum would chase me round & round that fence, was even worse when Dad put gates up as I use to close them on Mum all the time. This is what I love about old photos, I look at this one & the memories of my childhood come flooding back to, I remember the dresses my sister & I wore that day, I remember exactly how my backyard was when I was growing up, the play hut my Dad built for my sister & I down the back, the Apple & Pear trees, veggie gardens, coal box, the list goes on & it puts such a smile on my face, wonderful wonderful memories. The best one of all though is that very special Lady in this photo, Mary Adair, my Grandma, I look & I can make believe she is still here with me.

Stunning works of Art.....

For a long time now I have been a lover of the stunning creations from Gail at http://gailmccormack.blogspot.com/. I especially love her roses sitting in the most gorgeous old fashion tea cups, vases, teapots & creamers they always seem to me as if they have just been picked from my garden.

When the beautiful Miss Ali from http://adregan.blogspot.com/ (who by the way made up my very very pretty Blog page using Gail's creations) decided to close her Website for a while I bought some book marks, & cards from her. So sweet is this Lady she sent me extra ones & I discovered they fitted perfectly into several small frames I had. One of the cards above is from her while the other is from Gail when I purchased the stunning painting below. The picture frames I received from my big sister Sue several years ago & although I had some old family photos in them, they never looked quite *right*! Now they look perfect I think.

Ok is here *she* is, I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this painting, the soft green background blends beautifully with my green bedroom walls, the sweet floral vase is very similar to the vintage china I have collected & I just love the roses, they way the eye is drawn to the rosebuds, onto those in full bloom & lastly getting towards the final stages of their life, starting to wilt & you would not dare attempt to place them back in the vase more securely in case the petals came away in your hands. I could not believe that it fitted perfectly into one of the two yucky gold frames I bought for a song & painted white, it was meant to come & live with us in our home! Whenever I pick my roses I love watching them go through these three stages of their lives & smile each time one drops all its petals, I always leave them lying near the vase, its all part of the process! My Hubby mowed our lawns the other day & when he was sweeping down the front path I caught him just in time about to sweep the rose petals into the garden. Sure the neighbours thought to themselves *good lord here she goes again!* as I was shouting at him to leave them where they were, their lives were not quite over yet!

We have hung this beauty in pride of place above our bed, I look at it everyday & can almost smell their heady fragrance on a hot day (truth be told it is actually my roses in the front garden I can smell). I know I will be buying more of Gail's beautiful creations, this one however will always be very special to me, it is my first!

Have a great day & stop & smell the roses!

Lyn xxx

From That to This.......

I have been itching to show you all the transformation that happened over Christmas, our new out door entertaining area. This is the back view of our house & the start of it. My Darlin' busy at work ok so note the back steps, the window on the left is our *little lounge*, the one on the right the laundry!

Getting closer to being put up, boy cannot believe the end result! Stinking hot day this was done 38 degress!

Not a very photo but posts are up & roof is on getting ready to pour the slab, finally somewhere solid to sit!

Rio laid waiting for the concrete to arrive, very early in the morning! No steps into the back of the house for the past few days, that was a lot of fun especially when doing the washing!

Our friend *Spike* getting the first wheel borrow ready for the concrete truck to deliver our Chrissie pressie!

Slab down at long last, still no steps! Lattice needs painting.

How good does this look, an even slab of concrete to put everything on YES!

Finished result, I painted our old oak table *White* Hubby lacquered the top for the true *French* look! Love the candle holders, so chic. LOVE this table!

This old bench used to belong to our neighbour. When she gave it to us all that remained was a couple of rotten slats. So my trusty Darlin' knowing our much I wanted this, made new slats up for it & I stained them. It has been sitting down the back under our Mulberry Tree for I don't know how long until I found it & had a brain wave to paint the slats white. Yeah right, painting went fine until I had to put the thing back together, the whole neighbourhood heard me, I was not a happy chappy! The thing kept falling apart & all the paint chipped off, which I am not complaining about now, just need to make some new cushions for it!

Our new back steps how good do they look, my Darlin' made & stained them himself!

So above & below show the finished result Or should I say near finished result. Still have a few thing to do until its completed, just LOVE sitting out here in the cool unless the neighbour from hell is home, another story you really do not want to get me started on that one.

Ok so Im outta here, got some serious partying to do this weekend, so gotta go!
Have a great weekend everyone & hope you like my new entertaining area

Lyn xxx

Saying goodbye to a first home.....

So the reason I was soooooo late in posting my Mums birthday ( I do have a VERY good excuse here) was that I have spent the week helping my son Ryan & girlfriend Chloe - pictured above at a fancy dress party as *Postman Pat & his Little Black Cat* - pack up their home & clean through out in preparation for the couple who will be renting from them.

I have to admit here that I am a tad worn out, nothing to do with my new age of course, I am blaming this squarely on the heat, after all even Chloe kept saying to me *How hot is it*? I think they are very glad it is all finished, after working all day they were back round there until round 9pm every night, so made it long days for them.

I was quite teary the last time I was there, I mean come on this is not even MY home but it is very special to me, the first home our son bought! my Hubby had done quite a lot of work round there so that makes it even more special.

Ok enough babbling here, I kinda think you all get the message how proud we are of Ryan! So until the next post, hope you all have a FANTASTIC weekend & to all of you either in Victoria & South Australia I really hope this heatwave goes soon, am thinking of you guys.

One more thing as I am going away tomorrow so might not get the chance to post, I want to wish my gorgeous niece Rachel a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, have a great day Sweet heart. Love yah heaps xxx

Oh & by the way Ryan does not wear glasses & that is a wig not his normal hair! He is not a postie either, thought I should let yous know!

Lyn xxx