Very Overdue Update

Has it really been nearly 2 months since I last posted!! The days just just seem to slip away so time to do an update before we head out of August and leave Winter behind.....

Mid July and our family home finally passed onto new owners - a  family with young children ....so lovely to know that the wonderful life we had growing up in the home and in a lovely area can now be passed onto another family. My sisters and I had another week there packing up last minute things - even got the old box of wines, which dad kept reminding us about, from under the house ...not sure they were of any value though! We stayed in the house with no furniture so we "camped" indoors - luckily the gas heating and electricity was still connected !!

With Mum's birthday late July and mine early August we celebrated together in Bundanoon

and while up in Bundanoon we though we should pay a visit to Berrima Patchwork and of course some purchases were made! A few more fabrics to add to my 30's range and some....just because I loved the bundle of colours together! 

I have been collecting old doileys which maybe one day will be made into something and was fortunate enough to find this lot for $5 at a local op-shop.... I now have around 30 or so....I do at times wonder about the person who actually did the lovely embroidery on these.....

....and one of my doileys was just the right spot for this lovely posy of flowers gifted to me by a special friend..... 

Sad to say there's been no progress on any creative projects since my last post..... perhaps next time! 

Happy Stitching

Asta

A Little Reading & Stitching....

Well, it seems it takes a bit of doing nothing to get some stitching happening and that's what has happened over the past couple of weeks.....  Covid finally caught up with me and.... quite coincidently at the same time with my sister, Linda who lives way up on the mid-north coast!!  ....this of course meant a couple of weeks off work with the first week spent taking it easy and relaxing in the sun with a book and this little one not too far away.......... 

Then time to maybe start a new project that involved just some hand stitching.... so a forage through my stash of 1930s reproduction fabrics which have been multiplying over many years was made, a pattern found and a start was made.....  

Also finished off this panel - made from pre-cut hexagons purchased from the Liberty shop in London way back in 2018! Will make it into a cushion when the urge to sit at the sewing machine makes an appearance! 

That's about it for now....with health returning (including my sister's) for me it's back to work tomorrow.......a bit less stitching will be happening but will keep going as it's time to make something from these lovely fabrics.... and there are even more stashed away than what's in the photo above!!

Happy Stitching

Asta

Special times.....

Oh my goodness! Has it really been that long again since I was last here!!  Well, I think I will keep it to the main events for now...... 

Going  way back to February Mum & Dads' aged care home in Bundanoon decided to celebrate Estonian National Day as my parents are Estonian.... so... my sister and I dressed up in our national costumes - we were amazed they still fitted as it was many years since we had worn them when we did Estonian folk dancing!! It was a great day - with a morning tea and a short documentary style film on Estonia..... many of the residents were fascinated in learning about a little known country - some thought we were about to start dancing but unfortunately they were out of luck! 

In April (19th to be precise) Mum & Dad celebrated a very special occasion ....

their 70th Wedding Anniversary!! 

The staff at the home baked a cake for them and we also took in a cake and flowers - they have certainly reached a milestone.....

May then arrived and time for a Mothers' Day visit to Bundanoon.... I arrived to be greeted by colourful Autumn leaves - and surprise, surprise it wasn't raining!

Mum & Dads' aged care home put on a lovely Mothers' Day morning tea..... the room decorated with pink and purple balloons, vases of flowers and yummy cakes with cups of tea...... 

I actually had my needle and thread out before Mothers' Day making Mum a small lavender bag......

And Megan in England sent her traditional Mothers' Day message ...this year from Bristol !

As always have been reading...... over Easter and weeks on either side.....

A week ago we had great news from Megan  .....her husband James has had his Permanent Residency Visa approved!! So now they are on track to arrive home by (hopefully) September / October.... Megan left for a 3 year working holiday in 2015 - of course she met the man of her dreams and it has taken a little longer for her return - though we have had visits and I've been able to travel over to catch up with them. 

And.... today.... SOLD.... our family home of 70 years (not counting the 10 years prior when my Uncle and family lived there before leaving for Canada and selling on to Mum & Dad) ...we all have been  very fortunate that a young family has bought the house and it will be kept in its original state with only a possible extension out the back..... as my blog becomes a journal I will do a separate post about our home.... my sisters and I have spent many a week over the past months packing up the memories! 

.

Meanwhile 1st June has arrived and with it very cold weather!! ..... and this little Miss always finds the sunny spots....

So that about catches you up with the latest from here..... I have started doing a bit more stitching, knitting is happening, more books are being read, enjoying working my 4 day week ...but more next time including more of our Sydney home sale..... 

Happy Stitching

Asta

Christmas 21 - January 22

 WOW!! has it really been that long since my last post. The past few months have been rather busy but lets just catch up with Christmas and January...... As mentioned when finishing off last time I mentioned that we were having our Christmas in Bundanoon, which we did, and it was so good to be able to have Mum and Dad join us. 

Christmas Eve was rather cool with fog and a Winter jumper needed....but much warmer by the following day......

Then, just like that one year rolled into the next and with January came the much anticipated arrival of Meg and James from England and Hayley from Queensland - visits had been dependent on a rise in covid cases - but luckily they all made it! Meg and James had to isolate for 7 days before visiting Mum & Dad at the aged care home and we couldn't believe it when the home went into lockdown on the 7th day!! To say we were very disappointed would be an understatement but there were many long visits chatting via phone over the following days.... and Mum & Dad were so thrilled to just see them all. 

Amazing what you can do with reflections!

Meg, James and Hayley made the most of their visit and spent a few days further south holidaying at Mt Kosciuszko.....mountain bike riding and hiking....

The 3 of us also enjoyed a lovely girls (only) day out...... over a long long lunch! 

A few more photos, for the memories, of our Bundanoon holiday....

A couple of weeks later and it was time for Hayley to return home while Meg and James spent the last week of their holiday at "home" on the coast catching up with friends and spending a day climbing Pidgeon House Mt.......on what was a hot, humid day - bit different from their English weather! 

All too soon their bags were packed and they were heading back to England - fingers crossed a permanent move "home" is on the agenda for later in the year!

Then February arrived and with it came weeks spent in Sydney packing up our family home of 70 years ready for sale...... but more of that in my next post..... 

Till next time

Asta 

Christmas is coming.....

Well.... a bit of an update from my last "post" where I left off just about to leave for Bundanoon. A couple of days became a couple of weeks as my sister ended up requiring surgery in Sydney after a wisdom tooth extraction caused a fractured jaw... "ouch"! This was followed by dad taking a slight decline in health so decided to stay on for a further week - but since then he has improved...... It was rather a cold rainy two weeks in Bundanoon but I had plenty of time to get to know my sister's rescue dog Sandy as taking him out for walks was an everyday event.... no matter what the weather!! 

Also took a drive to a little village called Wingello where I spent time at a shop called "Castle Handmade" . The owner, Liz, has the studio set up at her home...she sells beautiful wools and runs crochet classes... a few balls of wool were bought for a future crochet project! 

Not a lot has really been done since then....busy at work and trying to catch up with housework but a couple of weekends ago my Santas came out of "hibernation" and touches of the festive season started to appear.....

Will be spending the Festive Season in Bundanoon and we're hoping Mum & Dad can join us at my sister's place for Christmas Day...presently they can as covid restrictions do allow them to leave but as we all know things could change. And.... Megan & James arrive from England for an unexpected 3 week  visit early January so we are keeping our fingers crossed that all will happen as planned!! Hopefully Hayley will also be able to venture out of Queensland for a visit! Would be just lovely to have the whole family together - be it even for just a short time! 

So that brings us nearly to the end of the year...... wishing my readers a happy and peaceful Christmas with loved ones and hoping the New Year is truly a good one for us all !! 

Happy Stitching

Asta