Cheered Up By Cheerios!

Firstly ... can I say a big THANK YOU! to all the lovely blogging buddies who left encouraging comments and sent emails checking up on me after my bout of the blues last week. It was very hard to stay gloomy with so many positive and caring comments coming my way, so thanks to you all for helping me see the bright side of life again ... I knew it was there, I'd just lost sight of it for a bit! :0)

A relaxing weekend also helped to kick the blues once and for all, starting with coffee with our friends Matt and Amelia. Scott used to work with Amelia and we became good friends with her and her fiancé Matt. It's a bit trickier maintaining the friendship now that Scott's changed jobs, but we do try to catch up for a cuppa or meal every few weeks. This time, we met at a local coffee shop to keep the winter chills at bay ...

We got the waitress to clear the plates away first so we didn't look like piggies! Tee! Hee! Hee! And if we all look a little flushed, it's cos the heating was up quite high ... even for my Beloved Geek Boy and I who like heat. We had a lovely time of chatting and catching up ... and the Mango, Lime and Coconut Torte and Chai latte were pretty good too! Tee! Hee! Hee!  We also took ourselves off to the cinema to see the "A Team" movie ... which we thoroughly enjoyed! Having grown up in the eighties, the A Team was one of my fave TV shows, so it was fun to see the movie version. And yesterday, along with a few of the usual household chores, I did some stitching, so all in all ... a good weekend.

Now ... I don't know if any of you will remember, but last week, I made a little reference to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and said there'd be more about that later??? Well ... as part of the Cancer Council's annual "Australia's Biggest Morning Tea" fund raising campaign, we held a "Mad Hatter's Tea Party" at the retirement village where I work ... and we had a BLAST!! It was such a fun morning and lots of people joined in the spirit of fun and wore funny hats. Here are a few to entertain you ...

OK ... now, when my boss says he's been REALLY busy working ... we think that perhaps THIS is what he's been up to! He SAID he was sharing the food around, but I'm not convinced! Tee! Hee! Hee!

This is Tony, also known as "Beannie Boy" who takes care of our village maintenance and grounds and he's pictured with one of the more 'colourful' characters in our village, Vera. Oh ... and that person in the navy cardy and red skirt disappearing off to the left in the background is yours truly. I DID wear a hat, which you can just see a glimpse of ... but I forgot to get someone to take a photo . Oops! :0)

Some hats were elegant and ladylike ...

... some hats were for boys (good Scottish Tam O' Shanta there!!) ...

... and some hats were for flowery girls.

And these were some of our prize winners pictured with supporter of the morning and local businessman Craig ... the one WITHOUT the hat!! The lovely Marion of Quilters Angel also kindly donated some prizes for our morning, helping to make it a very enjoyable time. (Ooohh ... don't forget to check out Marion's pattern of the week, too!!) And the most important part ... we raised over $700 for the Cancer Council!! Not bad for a group where most are pensioners!!!

I'm off now to make myself a cup of tea ... or perhaps I should make it a hot lemon toddy to stave off this cold!! Hope you're all having a fabulous start to your week. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS