Hazy Daze & OPAM Winners!

I'd like to say that my "Hazy Daze" in the title of this post was a sunny, summer, hazy daze ... but it's not ... SIGH!! We've been having some weird weather here on top of our 'hill'. Last weekend saw wild, WILD weather hit the south-east corner of Queensland, with some areas experiencing flash-flooding and sadly, five people lost their lives. (Remember ... If it's flooded FORGET IT!!) Here on the 'hill' we just got a darn good dumping of rain ... over five inches!! ... which was very needed and very welcome.

Now ... those who visit me often will know my Beloved Geek Boy and I moved out of town last September to our dream house in the country. (though I'm not really sure if we qualify for 'in the country' since we're 40 minutes from Toowoomba, 20 minutes from Highfields and 5 minutes from Crows Nest! :0) ) We are, however, also right on the doorstep of a large area of state forest and following the rain, the powers that control the forest decided to do some back-burning to help cut the chance of bushfires. As a result ... we've been living in a smoky haze for the last few days - EEK! I know the burning is necessary, but we have NOT been enjoying the asthma wheezes or the smoky sinuses sneezes! It's the first time EVER that I've wished for a strong westerly wind to clear the smoky haze! :0)

About the only good thing to come from this (besides cutting the chances of bushfires, cos ... hey! ... that's a definite plus!!) was a few rather special photos snapped by GB. This is my favourite ...

A little corner of our garden. I've planted up an old wheelbarrow with a red geranium and some bright yellow marigolds, some cheerful chrysanthemums in front, some lemon thyme in a cane basket hanging from the handle, a makeshift birdbath in the foreground and a 'proper' birdbath behind. And all viewed through a dreamy, wispy veil of ... SMOKE!!! SIGH! Still ... it IS a pretty photo. :0)

On to less smoky matters ... except that there must have been some needles and sewing machines SMOKIN' throughout April, cos my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg and I have updated the spreadsheet and there were ...

359 FINISHES!! WOO! HOO!!

Well done ladies! There were a few WISPy WISPs finally added to finishes lists, kits that had been in the craft cupboard for years were finally made up, new projects were started and finished and some good progress was made on long-term projects all around blogland. Sweet Peg and I are both so very proud of you all! :0) A huge thank you to everyone who emailed their monthly tally through to Sweet Peg or me ... that really is a big help to us. And thank you to those who even if they didn't get to email us, made sure their sidebar list of finishes was updated before the end of the month ... this makes it SOOOOOO much easier for us when we're blog-hopping.

And speaking of blog-hopping ... have you "hopped" around to visit some of your fellow OPAMers to see what they're creating? If you haven't, I'd encourage you to make yourself a cuppa, find a comfy chair and take a while to do some hopping ... I guarantee you'll be amazed, enthralled and inspired to keep creating. And let's face it ... that's part of why we love OPAM. :0)

And the news I'm sure you're all waiting for ... the winners of April's random draw are:

FLO

&

BEV C

Congrats, ladies! Email your snail mail addresses to me and I'll be popping a little something in the postman's backpack for you. :0)

Right ... I'm off to ... you guessed it! Play Polly!! :0) I've got all the doors open to air out the stale smoke smell and an episode of "60 Minute Makeover" to watch. Hope your week is toodling along nicely ... and much less SMOKE-ILY than mine. :0) Til next time ...

SMOKE THE BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS