Seen on Netflix

Monique has been quietly watching a cooking show on TV and has fallen for the work of Zumbo on the show "Just Desserts" on Netfllix.

Seems pretty ordinary doesn't it?  But then she heard that the national cake decorating competitions was going to be held in Brisbane.  She had to go.  Her father said "it will be too expensive."  Her reply, "kids are free."  So off they went.

She loved the demonstrations and when the host was walking around talking the 'spiel' she bailed her up and asked could she please get Zumbo's autograph.  She told them how much she admired his work and that he was the best in the world.  So, being young and cute she got to meet her idol.

And got her autograph and a whole lot of goodies from the sponsors.

Aunty Laura is green with envy.  He is her favourite desserts chef.  We better watch this child.  I was president of Chefs of the Future back when I was teaching and didn't realise just what an impact I had on my daughter, Laura, until she dropped out of her prestige Uni course to do hospitality.  Luckily I was able to talk her into doing a business degree with a major in International Tourism and Hospitality.  Looks like we have another one who might go this way.  Although just at the moment she wants to do something in science.

One step back

Two Steps forward one backwards.

The story of my life at the moment.  We had visitors, I did too much, I ended up in bed again and am still recovering.  But I am recovering.

I put together the flyer of the next Children's Class today.  I have sent it off to be  given the OK but I think this will be fine. "embroidery inspired by ethnic designs".

The two designs look nothing alike but they are both based on the Indian 'first mark' design, which is what the Paisley and all those other designs are inspired by.

And aren't the flowers wonderful?  The garden is just blooming at the moment.

The Brazilian Cheery Tree is loaded with fruit and the jams are mounting up.

ANZAC Day 2019

It was a chilly morning that greeted us as we made are way down for the morning service.  Most people walked and the flash lights stood out in the darkness because we only have the the odd street light here and there.  It was very dark in the early morning and that procession of lights said so much.  People also arrived in dingys from their boats and these were pulled up along the beach.  I am surprised by the number of children who attend, some with their parents many with there grandparents and all are perfectly behaved and seem to know how special this service is.

The playing of the Last Post ends our service and the trumpet calls loud and clear through the gum trees.

Lest we Forget.

Easter Report

The weather was wet.  Very wet.  Only one person braved the beach for swimming.  Some guests arrived by kayak, but it was too wet to paddle back so they caught the ferry.    (Those extra kayaks are now stored, along with our own,under the house.)  The had to catch the ferry anyway as they had drunk too much wine!

That all sounds a bit depressing but it wasn't.  We all had a great time just being together.  The children had all the adults acting like kids again.  We fell about laughing at the girls running up and down trying to get their kits flying.  Monqiue successed ,

But Jasmine had to keep running.

The island is overloaded with visitors all intent on enjoying themselves.  The path at the front of our house was thronged with walkers, bike riders and kids going down to do some fishing, in the rain.  All the holiday houses seemed to be full and there were people everywhere.  The dogs, (all 3), barked at everyone one who went by.  Most people brought there pets with them so there were all these other dogs to bark at.

I nearly wore myself out getting the back patio ready, I'm not really up to housework, but, it was the perfect place for everyone to sit, eat and talk.

I put some seedlings into those pots I haven't used for ages and because  the patio  is at the back of the house it is out the wind and a pleasant place to sit.

 

The girls loved their bunnies far more than I thought they would and when they returned home sent me photos of them in the beds telling me they were a perfect fit.

The moment the received them they gave them names, Georgia and Sunny, who are now the cousins of Geraldine and Samantha who arrived last Easter.

They are both into using acronyms at the moment and the white board was full of them.  The BAE stands for ' Best Aunty Ever".  Aunty Laura played hide and seek for hours with them.  (Jasmine's spelling of Georgia is inventive, Gorga.)  They were reunited with the family dog so he was mentioned as well and I'm not sure what role Goro played.

I am so glad my cleaner comes tomorrow.  After so much rain, lots of people and dogs the floors really need a good clean.  All in all it was a very good Easter Holiday.

Dragons!

I could do with one of those, just to keep all the visitors in check.  Along with the 12 family members, who have invited themselves to stay for Easter, I know there will be others who will 'drop in'.  "We were just over to the island and thought we would drop in and see you".  I'm feeling a lot of trepidation about this Easter break and a dragon would help.

Talking of dragons, I had lunch with my daughter who does leather work and is making a new wallet for a customer, (along with her job as researcher and university lecturer.)  The first thing I thought of when I saw this piece was, DRAGONS.

The hide was like nothing else I have ever seen before.  Turns out that this is Emu hide, which you can't buy in Australia because the birds are protected.  She bought it in New Zealand where it is farmed for it's meat, feathers and hides.  It is the leg of the Emu.  It also reminds me of Dinosaurs.  Not surprisingly as the two are related.

I think I need to commission her to make one for me, although I could use a fire breathing dragon.

Have a happy Easter, I don't think I will have time to blog for the next few days.

Running repairs

I got a text from my son saying that my grand daughter, Jasmine, was in melt down.  Her security teddy (who is really a rabbit but who's name is Ted,) had lost an ear.  Could I please help?  (In others words would I come over and sew him together again.)

I made arrangements to drop in a couple of days later, just make sure he was somewhere I could find him.  I found him on the hall table but not the missing ear.  I had to make a number of phone calls to be told it's location.  I would never have found it as it was hidden away so it wouldn't be lost!!!

Boy did that Ted stink!  I had to hold my breath the whole time I was working on him.  I found there had been a number of repairs prior to this in the form of safety pins holding him together.  The pins were super rusty.

But poor Ted would have lost his head without them.

By the time I had got him back together the smell was really getting to me, so I walked into the bathroom to get some air.  There I fond that Holly, the young cat had been up to mischief.

I found her sitting near the hall table next to the front door but she knew she would be in trouble so took off.

I deposited the repaired Ted with a note saying that if he didn't have a bath he could die!!  In fact we could all get sick from that smell. 

I see his owner had chewed one of his arms right off.  Poor Ted.

 

A good weekend

Saturday was cold and wet and blowing a gale.  I travelled up to town to teach at the Guild and had a lovely group of ladies who made the teaching really easy.  There had been a mix up about the date of this class so the Easter bunny (and chicken) made an appearance to apologise.

On Sunday the sun shone, as it should on it's name day, and the island was beautiful.  People swam at the beach.

The Quandamooka people came and told us stories in song and dance.

They had a great young didjeridoo player,  he is young but very good and the boys danced with conviction.

It is good to know that there will be a good run of mullet fish coming through soon.  The Noonuckle people, which means people who's main food is mullet, say you can tell if there will be a good run by the number of parrots that fly in from the back country and there have been lots of golden crested kockatoo  in the skys lately.  Another thing mentioned was about the earth and the skys.  They have a story that the planet Mercury had a brother who died, so they do not speak his name.  In many cases it has been proved that these old stories talk about actual events that have taken place in history.  Now it is believed that they have been here for at least 120,000 years.  The oldest living culture on earth.

On the home front the lawns need to be mowed, but they aren't too bad.  (That low letter box is a distraction.  My husband ran it over with the ute.)

And looking down the bank onto the beach I see that it has doubled in size  and Kerlew creek is running again after the recent storms.

We are coming into the best part of the year, when the days are fine and clear and it is cool at night.  Roll on Autumn.

It wasn't a mistake

It wasn't a mistake to quilt and then bind the edges, it was very sensible. 

After finding a few fat eights I thought I would be smart and sew then into the squares that turned through. 

Again, lovely job.  The sewing is improving.  Then I came to the quilting and found that over-sewing the beginning and end of the threads  was really unsightly.

Only solution, tie each pair of threads and sew them into the piece using a needle.  Just horrible! 

I have decided that all the edges for the remainder will be bound.

On the learning to sew front, Monique has now sewn a draw string bag and a pillow cover.  She put a zipper opening in the pillow cover and neatened all her seams.  There were a few minor errors but a great start for an 8 year old.

Something strange

I grew up in New South Wales and have lived in Queensland for over 40 years.  When my husband and I first found Coochiemudlo Island our children were only small.  We both fell in love with the place.  It was remote yet only 50K from Brisbane.  There were few amenities but somehow the place was just magical.  We kept coming back year after year for out holidays and have finally retired here.  It is still magical.

Back in the distant past when I was very young, like 9 or 10, my Mother became ill and eventually dies from breast cancer when I was 16 years old.  She had one brother and he had three children, my cousins.  We saw each other on and off, mainly at our grandparents home.  Back at the time when my mother first became ill the two families drifted apart.  The last time I saw my cousins I was 10 or 11.

Fast forward to yesterday.  I was coming off the jetty and saw a ute with one of my cousins name on the side.  Tollis is not a very common name, so I went and asked who he was and it was my cousin Gregory who I haven't seen in all this time.  He and his family have found this island, even though he lives in a different state, and they find it magical as well.  He says that he and his wife are going to retire here.  He is an architect and has already built his house here.

What are the odds that two people who lived such different lives from each other should both fall in love with the same off the track place and meet again after all this time?  Life is strange.

A lack of water

Even with cyclone Oma coming so close the lack of rain up untill now has left the island rather dry.  I must say that I was afraid that we may have had a fire and the whole island would have burnt.  But the other thing is that the birds are finding it difficult to find fresh water.  To address this I made a makeshift bird bath.  Just an old pot for the base and the dish it once sat in  is now the bird bath. 

Every time I look out the window there is another group of birds lined up to access it.