Back To Reality & OPAM Reminder!

Well ... It seems like our holiday was already a long time ago, although this week has flown by! GB was out of town for most of the week for work & I seemed to be kept very busy playing catch up, at home as well as at my grown up job. I think I need another holiday to get over getting over the holiday! :0)

I'm sitting with my feet up (very sore feet!!) with a cuppa reflecting on what I've achieved for the weekend, which was also full of catching up. There were six loads of washing (sheets & towels as well as holiday washing & normal weekly washing), a kitchen tidy up, unpacking ports & vacuuming the house to evict the colony of dust bunnies that moved in when we weren't looking ... Man! We have a big house when you're touring it with the vacuum! :0P

There was, however, a little bit of time for some sewing action, finishing off something I started during my holiday. Remember these?

These squares became ...

...a cover for my chair! :0) Just kidding! :0) It is, of course, the latest in my growing collection of patchwork skirts. I love the colours of these fabrics ... I've been collecting them for a while & a friend who visited Bali last year contributed quite a few, too ... Thanks Chriss! I wanted all of the different greens, blues, aquas & teals that you see in the ocean so I'll have a little bit of the beach to cheer me up even when I'm back here on top of our 'hill'. I'm planning another project with the leftover fabric from this skirt ... I'll show you when I get around to it.

And my new skirt is also a finish for my OPAM tally ... YAY! :0) Yes lovely OPAMers, it's that time again where you need to update your sidebar lists & email your tallies to me & my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg. What have you all been creating this month?

Right ... Time to go & rummage in the fridge to find something for dinner to replenish the energy after a busy weekend ... Which also included a fun dinner catch up with Chookyblue & Fiona from BubzRugz. Sorry, no pics ... What happened at dinner stays at dinner! Tee! Hee! Hee! Have a fantastic week, everyone! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

 

 

FINALLY! A Sunny Day!!

Yes, it's true ... After six & a half days here at the beach, Friday FINALLY delivered a sunny day ... YAHOOOOOO! 

 

So we decided to pack in a few outdoor activities to take advantage of the dry day.

First on the list was a little drive back into the hills near Malaney to visit Mary Cairncross Park, which had been recommended to us. There is a lovely new visitor centre with interactive displays for the kids (big kids had fun too!) as well as a great lookout platform to view the spectacular Glasshouse Mountains.

And a comfortable walking track through a pocket of rainforest. It took just over an hour & I managed to easily walk it in my not-my-walking shoes ... The only problem I bumped into was a leech who thought I'd be a tasty snack ... EEEEUUUWWW!! We also spotted some much nicer local critters ...

A mumma wallaby ...

And her cute bubba wallaby. We also enjoyed spotting & listening to quite a number of birds, including my favourite th whipbird. So having had enough exercise for a bit (& wanting to give my leech-abused toe time to recover!) we headed back to the beach for some lunch ...

This was our lunch view ...tough to take, hey?! :0) And then having full tummies, we decided another walk was in order ...

... Along the beach for the first time without being rained upon. It was still too cool for us froggies to be tempted to swim but we enjoyed getting our toesies sandy. Did I mention we walked a LOT on Friday?! My handy step counter on my phone told me I did 17,180 steps! YIKES! No wonder my feet were killing me & I conked out much earlier than usual! :0)

Then we woke up this morning to ... More rain! SIGH! Ah well ... We still managed to have a nice day. We met up with my buddy Lynda (my usual Tuesday lunch buddy who was passing through. Forgot to take a pic.) then decided to treat ourselves to one last special lunch ...

Sandcrab lasagna for GB & lamb, fetta, olive & mushroom calzone for me ... YUMMO! And our lunch time view ...

... Wet & grey, but still pretty spekky. :0) 

So tomorrow we have to head home & go back to pretending to be grown ups ... SIGH! Not at all ready for that but we have to pay for the holiday somehow. :0) I think we'll be coming back here when we can ... Who knows, the Sunshine Coast might even live up to its name next time. :0)

I hope you've enjoyed the snippets from our beach break ... Next post will be back at Edward House ... Since we didn't win lotto tonight! Tee! Hee! Hee! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS,

KRIS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Fursday!!

Here we are, more than half way through our beach break & ... It didn't rain ... As much! ... As the last few days. :0P It was still mostly cloudy, but the sun DID make a couple of valiant efforts to come out of hiding ... Briefly!

We started the day with a fun catch up with one of my aunts who lives in the neighbourhood ... Sort of! :0) We hit one of the many coffee shops/Cafes there are to choose from within a block or two's walk of our unit & had a lovely chat & catch up on family news ...

GB decided he'd rather be photographer than photographed today, here's yours truly with Anne. Great to spend time with her. We then decided to take advantage of the 'no rain' situation & headed down the highway to a couple of the northern suburbs of Brisbane that we don't usually go near (since Toowoomba/Pechey to Brisbane travels for us are predominantly to southern suburbs) to visit some fun shops I follow on FB ... Yes ... I am a very fortunate woman to have a husband willing to take me to antique & patchwork shops without grumbling ... Too much! :0)

After a stopover in Samford, where I found a couple of vintage treasures (I can't show you cos they're gifties for friends who occasionally drop into the blog!), a disappointment at the second vintage shop as on Thursday they apparently don't open until 5pm & last stop ... Somewhere I've been wanting to visit for a while ... Faeries In My Garden. Well fancy that! I visited another patchwork shop! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Uh! Oh! Caught with my hands in the fabric! No, really, Sweetie ... The bolts just THREW themselves off the shelves! I had to catch them before they hit the ground! :0P For some reason GB didn't believe me! Tee! Hee! Hee!

After rescuing those fabric bolts, it was time to try to beat the peak hour traffic & head back up the highway ... In the rain! Surprise, surprise! ;0P We'll have a quiet dinner in before going for our nightly dessert-hunting stroll ... Ben & Jerrys, Valentinos Italian ice cream or the current fave, gelato.  It's a good thing we're doing so much walking! :0)

Hope your Thursday had some sunny patches too. :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

 

 

And The Rain Comes Down ... Still!!

QUACK! QUACK! I think we're starting to develop webbed feet! :0) You guessed it ... It's STILL raining here at the "SUNSHINE" Coast where we're holidaying. So what was our latest wet weather adventure? A road trip to one of our favourite spots to visit ... Malaney & Montville ... Where we dodged showers, checked out interesting little boutiques & ...

... Found a dry spot for some lunch ... Beef ragout for me & braised lamb for GB ... Wonderfully warming on a wet Wednesday. Then there was some more shopping to be done ...

... At a couple of patchwork shops that were on our way home ... Sort of! :0)

Then it was back to our unit for a cuppa & feet up ... Whilst watching the rain! :0P ... Before heading off on a brisk walk to find somewhere to have dinner ...

... Award winning pizza. And we decided the awards were well deserved ... Not to mention the service was excellent. We rounded the day off by waddling off (we were pretty full from the pizza!!) for some gelato to take home. AAAAAAHHHH! We love holidays! :0)

Hope your week is puddling along smoothly. (sorry! Couldn't resist a rainy pun!) I wonder what wet weather wonders we'll discover tomorrow? :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

 

 

 

Rainy Day Holiday Update!

Well ... Our holiday track record of "it always rains when we go to the beach" is running true to form. Day three at the Sunshine Coast & it's STILL raining. :0)

GB's vehicle needed to spend a day back at the dealer's having a tray tub fitted, so with a little buzz-box courtesy car & most of the day to kill, we splashed off. Hmmm ... So what does one do on a rainy holiday Monday?

Why, one finds a coffee shop, of course. :0) Here's GB's impersonation of a startled possum. Tee! Hee! Hee! And we were at the Ginger Factory at Yandina. When you visit the Ginger Factory you really have to try ...

... Fresh scones with ginger jam & cream ... YUMMO! There are also some fun giftie type shops to browse through ... Though we had to wait for the downpour to back off a bit before making it across the open area between shops. We then headed off to Sunshine Plaza in search of a specialty popcorn shop we'd visited previously.

This was a cute shabby boathouse on the river where we pulled over to consult Siri on the best way to find the plaza. The water level was pretty high ... In fact a few metres further along a local tv news crew was shooting footage of the rising levels. Plaza located, popcorn acquired & it was time to head back to pick up the vehicle ... Via the Patchwork Angel at Forest Glen, of course. :0)

I wasn't TOO naughty! :0) Some yummy dotty spotty fabrics, a really pretty charm pack & a new travel sewing light all follows me home ... That's my story & I'm sticking to it! :0)

So ... The weather may be a bit soggy (we're starting to develop webbed feet! Tee! Hee! Hee!) but we're still enjoying our break. Stay tuned for more holiday adventures. :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

 

 

 

 

Of COURSE It's Raining!!

We're at the beach so of COURSE it's bucketting down rain! It ALWAYS rains when we go to the beach, but you know what? We don't care too much. :0) Our 'water views' may be a bit more limited than we'd like & it's not great weather for sitting on the beach or swimming ... But we're on holiday for a week & it's been dry for so long that rain is a novel experience, so to use a phrase I don't always like to use cos it's used out of context so much ... It's all good! :0) 

I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend ... No matter what the weather is like. :0) If the rain clears enough for us to venture out, I'll pop back with some pics, but right now I'm going to curl up on the not-too-uncomfortable couch with a cuppa & my kindle ... Not too shabby a start to a holiday. :0) Til next time ...

BEACHY BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

 

Beachy Blues & OPAM Winner!

Hello to all of you lovelies out there in blogland! I seem to be missing in action more than I'm here at the moment, but life just seems to keep getting messy. Although ... I'm hoping it will slow down at least a bit, as my Beloved Geek Boy & I are both on holidays this week & next. Weeeeeeeell ... Apart from me having to pop into work for a couple of hours Monday & an hour on Tuesday. It's nice to be irreplaceable isn't it. :0)

So far I don't seem to be making much headway on crossing anything off my "Things I Want To Get Done During My Holiday" list ... I've had my nose buried in my Kindle re-reading some fave books from Sherilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series ... OOPS! Guilty pleasure! :0) But I have managed to have a bit of a play with some fabrics I've been hoarding ... Er ... Collecting! ... For a while now ...

Some beachy blues. I'm preparing to make another of my patchwork skirts that I live in & am hoping to capture a beachy feel by using the many hues & tones of the ocean ... Green, Aqua, Teal, Blue, Navy ... You get the idea. Hopefully when I wear it I'll feel like I'm relaxing on a tropical island paradise. :0)

And just so I have some mental pictures to help with that escape, GB & I are looking forward to a week at the Sunshine Coast next week ... YAY!!! It will be our first proper holiday since before we moved three & a half years ago & we're hanging out to smell the salt breezes, hear the hum of the waves & feel sand between our toesies ... BLISS! Of course ... It will probably rain because it ALWAYS rains when we go to the beach. But we're fine with that because even if we're sitting on the balcony watching the rain ... We'll be watching it rain AT THE BEACH! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Before we go, though, I need to tell you who was the September OPAM random draw winner. As always, a big thank you to everyone who emailed their tally through to me or my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg. Much appreciated. Congrats to ...

SUNNY!

Email me your snail mail address Sunny & once I'm back from the beach I'll get a little surprise in the mail for you. But right now I'm off to arrange & rearrange some beachy blue squares. Hope you're all having a fantastic week ... Even if you're not at the beach! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS