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! 

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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 

October Update

 Before we slide too much further into November I thought I should do a quick October update. As our restrictions have eased over the past month our lovely embroidery group (minus 2 who couldn't make it) was once more able to get together .... as you can see though we decided it was cause for celebration with champagne and dinner as it had been some time since we had caught up....perhaps the stitching will make an  appearance next time? 

Another very special occasion to celebrate was Dad's 99th birthday!! Dad & Mum are now at a Residential Aged Care village in the Southern Highlands and due to the covid restrictions my sisters and I weren't able to all visit at the same time..... Linda & Vivien had a lovely morning celebrating his birthday and I was able to visit a couple of days later.....

While the update is still in the "Southern Highlands"..... my sister in Bundanoon has adopted a "rescue" dog...  and though it's only been a couple of weeks Sandy (an 8yr old Beagle x red cattle dog) appears to be settling in very well with an outing even to visit Dad and Mum..... 

Apart from a weekend trip to see Dad & Mum and help celebrate a "special" birthday, going to work and doing a spot of gardening -  when it's not raining (!) life has been rather slow paced - not a lot of creativity happening... but as always books have been read...both are thrillers  - "The Voice in the Dark" a debut novel by Sarah Hawthorn with an ending you didn't see coming....and "The Survivor" by Jane Harper (also wrote "The Dry" ) - another great read ! 

So that's about it from my part of the world ..... will be heading up to Bundanoon for a few days  and plan on taking some stitching with me so maybe there will be something to show next time! 

Happy Stitching 

Asta

What a Couple of Months!

 Well, who knew what the next couple of months since my last blog would bring! But....before I move on too much further I must share my birthday photo - from way back in early August when my birthday just happened to fall on the same day as my embroidery group has our get together...... a lovely cake was made by Helen.....

By the following week our dad was in hospital and so followed an eventual move for both our parents from their home of nearly 70years in Sydney to "Residential Aged Care". My sisters and I have been on what seems a "never ending" learning curve regarding aged care and all that comes in the process of this kind of move! As the 3 of us live in different areas of regional NSW - not forgetting to mention the restrictions of Covid -  modern technology came to our rescue with endless phone calls, emails and zooms..... the end result being that mum and dad are now residing in a lovely Residential Aged Care home in Bundanoon - within walking distance of my sister in the Southern Highlands, a closer drive for me than going to Sydney, a bit longer for my sister up north but still achievable....... they seem to be settling in quite well. Our parents have done very well though, having being able to stay in their own home till the age of 92 (mum) and dad (just about to turn 99).

For obvious reasons there has not been a lot of creativity happening over the last couple of months - it was like having a 2nd job during this time - but the other day decided my old cane lounge on the verandah was looking a bit worse for wear so decided as shops (at that time) were closed would make a small quilt - decided to hand quilt with big stitches but as you can see someone has taken a liking to it and stitching has been happening rather slowly.......

I did find time to do some reading.... it was a bit of escapism.... all really interesting but different stories..... "The Paris Library" partly based on true events during WW2, while "Women in Sunlight" had me dreaming of spending a year in Tuscany.....And the true story of "Finding Gobi" was a nice light read as was "Lara the Runaway Cat"

Over the past weeks I have been walking with some lovely friends along the beautiful beaches in my area .....

While Megan and James in England went on their first holiday in 18 months (which is a long time for Megan who loves her travels)....they headed off to Scotland - pictured here on the Isle of Skye......

This weekend I will travel to Bundanoon to see mum and dad - due to the covid restrictions have not seen them for quite some time - last time would have been I think around May? A lot has happened in their little world since then! 

Will catch up soon 

Asta

July Update

A quick update for July before moving into August..... The month of July always brings our mum's birthday and time for another family celebration in Sydney but unfortunately due to lockdown that was not to be so a "virtual" birthday cake was sent and a shared cup of tea.....

.....Mum received her presents by post including this one I finished in time ........

Apart from this little bit of creativity have, as always, been reading......This was a book bought at Storyfest this year .... a biography about Elizabeth von Arnim - an early twentieth century author...was interesting.... 

"Happy" mail arrived during the past week....time to knit myself something - let's see how long it takes as the last garment took 3 Winters to finish! 

And while we can't really travel too far Megan & James in England went mountain bike riding in Wales - Megan's new found sport and Hayley in Queensland spent a few days camping with friends in Girraween National Park - well known for it's boulders! 

So that's about if for July......maybe August will bring a little more creativity, some more reading and warmer weather which for me brings more motivation!