Winter Birthday Celebrations & OPAM Winners!

Greetings to you all from the top of our frozen 'hill' today. After a couple of weeks of moderate weather, winter came swooping back in like a vengeful Valkyrie overnight. This was what my weather ap told me this morning when I first poked my nose out from under the doona ...

Can I tell you, after a quick trip to the loo, I dived straight back into my warm bed-burrow cos it definitely felt like -0.4 degrees!! EEP!!

When we eventually crawled out of bed, my Beloved Geek Boy reminded me why he's my hero ... He ventured out into the gale force winds to get wood to light the fire. What a man! :0) Which was just as well because we were hosting a winter birthday lunch today for ...

... This handsome fella! :0) Can't half tell we're related, can you?! :0P This is actually a pic taken when we celebrated his 70th last year ... Which we also hosted ... I think it's our 10 seater table that gets us elected! Tee! Hee! Hee! Today's lunch was a small family affair with GB & yours truly, Mum & Dad & Dad's cousin & his lovely wife ...

We had a yummy winter hotpot lunch with several dessert options ... Which we all had a taste of everything ... Guess there are some family traits showing there! Tee! Hee! Hee! It was a wonderful time of chatting & catching up. Happy Birthday for another year, Pa! Hope you enjoy your bag of goodies! :0) He's pretty easy to please, my Dad ... A packet of cashews, a packet of macadamia nuts & a packet of chocolate coated honeycomb & he's in birthday heaven. :0)

And while I was in giftie-giving mode ... I've done the June OPAM prize draw. Thanks to everyone who sent their monthly tally through ... June was obviously a busy creative time, with 151 finishes ... Our biggest monthly tally this year! Well done everyone! And even if you didn't get to add to that total, but made some good progress on some long term projects, give yourself a pat on the back for staying motivated. :0) Random draw winners of the stitchery this month are ...

MADDY C

&

DEANA

Congrats, gals! Drop me an email & I'll send you a PDF copy of the prize stitchery.

Well ... That's about it from me today. I hope you're all having a restful weekend & that the coming week treats you kindly. I get the nasty feeling I'll be spending the next few days expecting to see penguins & polar bears playing outside my window. :0P You know how much I hate being cold! BRRRRR! I think I'd better go warm up with a cup of tea ... You're probably not surprised, right?! :0) Til next time ...

BRRRRRRRR! BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS,

KRIS

Checking In & OPAM Reminder!

Greetings to all you gorgeous creatures out there in blogland from the top of our grey & gloomy 'hill' this stay-in-bed Sunday! It's a rare & valued quiet day at home for us today with me catching up on my grown up house chores & my Beloved Geek Boy snuffling & coughing his way through a nasty head cold ... It's not my fault! His lurgy has lots of different symptoms to mine so I refuse to accept responsibility. :0)

Once again it's been a crazy busy week here at the Meares' Madhouse. I've done a lot of extra time at my grown up job, GB has worked some big days & we spent yesterday doing a first aid course. It's one of those things we've both talked about doing but kept putting off, but we now have pretty certificates to say we're able to help in emergency situations. I'm hoping it's a bit like insurance ... If you HAVE it, you probably won't NEED it. I'll just keep hanging out with all my nurse friends so they can take the lead in an emergency ... The patient would probably prefer that too! :0)

So ... Once again there hasn't been a lot of sewing happening, though I HAVE spent a bit of time working on instructions for Holly Bear & finished a belated birthday giftie for one of our nephews ...

It's a rainbow unicorn! He's made from a Melly & Me pattern from some fabric my sister-in-law sent me that was an off cut from a baby wrap she purchased from Wrapture Australia. The fabric was a bit heavier than quilting fabric, which gave me a few challenges, but I think he looks pretty handsome.

I need to get him in the mail now ... Once I work out how to wrap a unicorn. :0)

So ... My finish tally for June actually has something on it. :0) And speaking of finishes ... All of you lovely OPAMers, it's time to update your sidebar lists & email your finish tally to me or my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg. Thanks to those who have already done so ... Sweet Peg & I will be doing our blog hopping in the next couple of days, so get cracking. :0)

Right now , though, I think it's time for a nice cup of tea in front of the fire before I convince myself to get back to instruction writing ... SIGH! I hope you're enjoying a relaxing Sunday whatever you're up to & that you have a fabulous week. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

A Winter Play Date!

Greetings to all of you gorgeous creatures from the top of our grey, overcast & wintery 'hill' this freezing Tuesday. It really is a bleak old day here ... Perfect for snuggling up in front of the fire & catching you up on the crazy carry-ons from the Meares' Madhouse. :0)

Last week saw the winter solstice come & go amidst some of our coldest, nastiest winter weather yet ... 1-3 degrees at 8:30am for three days in a row is NOT the sort of temperature that makes this summer gal happy! BRRRRR! Thankfully, it warmed up a bit for the end of the week, just in time for a sleep over play date with my Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette. YAY! :0)

Friday saw us hit our usual haunts in Toowoomba of second hand & antique shops, with a yummy lunch at The Springs cafe/nursery/gift shop. No treasures discovered, so we headed home for adult beverages in front of the fire. :0)

Saturday saw us convince my Beloved Geek Boy to take us on a little drive north to Cooyar (it's a pretty small dot on local maps) to visit a lovely lady I found through Gumtree, who has a mini collectibles/bric-a-brac shop set up in a shed & who opens her shop by appointment, as well as selling treasures online. I met Julie a couple of years ago & finally got around to introducing Lynette. FUN! :0) We both found some goodies to adopt ... Lynette found a pink Depression Glass vase & I found ...

... A pretty sandwich platter & six matching plates. The platter has been damaged & repaired, but the colours were so pretty that I just had to bring it home with me. :0) We then popped in to Bunnyconnellon olive grove & winery for ...

... A little wine tasting. Well ... Lynette & GB tasted ... I'm a bit of a wine barbarian ... I only like sweet wines. :0P .. So I had mineral water. We then decided to put an order in for lunch & find a comfy spot in the sun to warm up & wait ...

... & enjoy the serenity. :0) It's not showing up in the photo, but there was a mob of sheep down near the fence, but other than a few stray "BAAAAAH" sounds in the distance, it was quiet & peaceful ... The perfect spot for ...

... Devouring a DEEEEEEEEEELICIOUS ploughman's platter ... Fresh baked bread, crumbly vintage cheddar cheese, olives, cherry tomatoes, crisp cucumber, ham off the bone, crunchy pear, fruit chutney, boiled eggs ... YUMMO!! :0) 

Nothing left but an empty platter & crumbs. :0) It really was a lovely way to spend a Saturday ... & did I mention there's a wonderful gift shop, too?? :0) If you're looking for a nice spot for a lazy weekend lunch, I'd highly recommend a visit to Bunnyconnellon. It's just north of Crows Nest so an easy country drive from Toowoomba, Dalby, or even Brisbane. They have a FB page but for some reason I can't get the link to copy/paste properly. TECHNOLOGY!! 

So ... That was my weekend ... What did YOU get up to? Whatever was on your agenda, I hope you enjoyed some time with your favourite people. And since its already Tuesday, the week is off & running at full speed, with more crazy busy stuff at my grown up job being compounded by my office being given a facelift ... I'm excited about it, but since it's a small space (my office is a donger that was set up as a 'temporary' office space about 20 years ago!) & I'm still having to work in the chaos of moved furniture, drop cloths & paint fumes, it's a wee bit challenging! :0P Still ... I can't complain about being bored! :0) Enjoy the rest of your week! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Ambushed! ... Again!!

A croaky, sniffly, coughy hello to all of you gorgeous creatures out there in blogland. I hope you're all well ... Which is something I'm NOT at the moment ... DARN IT! I've been ambushed by my second head cold of winter & feeling rather miserable. I usually manage to get through winter with just one head cold but this one was sneaky. SIGH!

So, between feeling miserable, not sleeping very well due to breathing apparatus not functioning at full capacity & longer than usual hours at my grown up job, there hasn't been anything creative happening here. I had thought today might be a sewing day, but I keep having long blinks ... In between snuffling & coughing! So I've given in, put some "Easy Air" essential oil blend in the diffuser ...

... And am snuggled under my trusty flannel blankie reading a Nora Roberts book ...

... In between long blinks! I may just stay here til spring. :0) If only I had someone to bring me hot toddies & bowls of homemade chicken soup. Ah well ... Will have to make my own cuppas & settle for chicken noodle Cuppa-Soup, I think. :0) Hopefully this cold clears up soon so my sewing mojo comes back ... Maybe next week. :0)

I think it's time to crawl out to make one of those hot cuppas so I'll sign off for now. Have a fabulous weekend, everyone & watch out for lurking lurgies! :0) Til next time ...

SNIFFLY BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Last Weekend!

A big hello to all you gorgeous creatures out there in blogland! Here we are, it's Friday again. Have you had a good week? I confess that mine has been another challenging & crazy-busy one with some big changes happening in my grown up job & lots of after-work errands needing to be run this week. It's been a bit of a topsy-turvy ride again, to the point where it's the weekend again ... & I'm just getting around to telling you about LAST weekend! I really am starting to meet myself coming as I'm going! :0)

So ... Last Saturday saw my Beloved Geek Boy & I crawl out of our warm cosy bed fairly early ... On our night-owl scale of measurement! :0P And we headed off down our 'hill' on one of our mini road trips to Nambour to meet up with my Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette & her Sweetie to explore the vintage & collectable offerings at Collectorama. I think the husbands thought their presence might stop Lynette & I adopting TOO many goodies ... Not sure that theory worked! Tee! Hee! Hee! I wasn't TOO naughty ... But I DID find a few pretty treasures to adopt ...

Both Lynette & I seem to have a strange attraction to pretty jugs. :0) The little rosey jug is very close to the pattern on a couple of trios I've had for years, so it had to come home with me. The trio of jugs was a VERY good price, marked down a bit because the smallest is slightly damaged ... If you look very closely ... I just love the thatched cottages. :0) And the biscuit plate was too pretty to pass over ... I love the creamy background with the pretty flower colours popping against it ... Plus ... It's a nice practical plate for special afternoon teas.

After Lynette & I had adopted all of the pretties our budgets would allow, Lynette's Sweetie suggested a lunch destination he'd heard of in nearby Palmwood ...

Rick's Garage is a VERY happening place on weekends & we were fortunate to get a table ... Parking was a bit of a challenge, but after a hike up a VERY steep hill, I felt like I'd earned my lunch! :0) Rick's is a 50's/garage/mechanical themed eatery, with the decor & grounds sporting mechanical paraphernalia ...

... Like the penny farthing above the sign created from an old bicycle tyre. 

Here's the four of us ready to dig into our yummy lunch. (PSSST! Don't you think GB & Lynette's Sweetie look like they could be brothers? :0P Their birthday is even the same day, though a few years apart ... Pretty funny coincidence, right?!)

And the food?

... Was DEEEEEEEELICIOUS!! I had the chicken salad which was lovely & fresh & flavoursome. There were four clean plates at the end of the meal! :0) After a lovely relaxing time of chatting over adult beverages, we parted ways & made our way back up the 'hill', enjoying the lovely scenery along the way ...

It was a perfect day ... Sunny & warm, perfect for showcasing the Glasshouse Mountains.

Aren't the colours gorgeous? It's very dry & brown here, so we enjoyed the lush green along our trip. Thanks to my Bestest-Buddy & her Sweetie for such an enjoyable day.

After our very full Saturday, we had planned to have a quiet Sunday to catch up on our grown up chores ... But the best laid plans of mice & men ... We ended up hosting GB's folks for lunch & having a couple of his friends pop in as they were passing by. And during lunch GB's Mum received a call from the nursing home in a nearby town where her 102 year old Mother, GB's Gran Kent, resides, to say she'd been a bit low & perhaps family should visit ... Just in case. So, we jumped in the car & headed off.

GB with Gran Kent. She roused several times while we were all there & even ate some of her dinner, so that was good ... & this week she seems to have been a bit brighter. Family is precious, isn't it?!

So ... With several busy weeks being sandwiched together with equally busy (though lots more enjoyable!!) weekends, GB & I are planning a quiet catchup weekend at home for the next couple of days, though I think there might be some sewing snuck into the schedule there. :0) Speaking of sewing ... My GORGEOUS OPAM Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg has done the prize draw ... Have you checked in with her blog? If not, maybe you should. :0)

Right now, however, I hear the kettle calling my name. I think I'm going to snuggle under my blankie with a cup of tea & something to keep my hands busy & enjoy some episodes of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries ... I love the series starring Essie Davis & Nathan Page, as well as the books by Kerry Greenwood the series is based on. Murder mysteries with 1920's style, fashions, music, panache & clever humour ... Gotta love it! :0) I wish you all a fantastic weekend spent doing something you enjoy with the special people in your life. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

PS I'm not sure if blogger/Google have sorted out the comments issue, but thank you to all who leave comments & visit my little corner of blogland. I do read & appreciate all comments, even if I don't get to respond. :0)