TOO BUSY KNITTING TO BLOG !

It's not easy to find wool in Queensland in this hot sticky weather

but I 've found some and the knitting needles are busy clicking away so I can send a couple of squares to Sue for her Sunshine Blankets for the Elderly.

Hope to get some done before my visitors arrive on Wednesday.

Cheers

FINAL HURRAH !

What a lovely week I've had!

 

I've been toasted by dear friends,

I've received tons of lovely cards and gifts. Now it's my turn to cater.

Some teaching pals from my old school are coming to afternoon tea tomorrow so I spent part of the day in the kitchen today preparing a few goodies for them.

Recipe located and ingredients assembled.

I decided to make the recipe into muffin-sized cakes - easier to handle.

Butter and sugar were creamed then eggs added.

Coconut, flour and sour cream mixed then the two combined .

Into the oven...

and iced with coconut ice icing.

Apricot Choc- Chip Coconut Cake came next.

Scones and a few more bits and pieces tomorrow.

Clean the house.

Make the tea and coffee..

then

THE END.

Thanks for helping me "celebrate".

Cheers.

SIX

Hello my Blogland friends. I hope all is going well for you today.

I know that at the moment I'm a bit obsessed with numbers with a 6 in them but, as a friend told me on Monday,  6 is a perfect number. ( a mathematical fact she assures me !)

So 60 is not so bad after all.

Six identical coins will sit around the outside of a 7th coin exactly touching one another, no gaps or overlaps.

No other number of coins will do this.

Go on try it!

Cheers

INTRODUCING LADY ?

Introducing Lady Helen and Sir Tony

Part of the kit that came with my Scottish plot for my birthday was a Deed Poll form so that, if I wished, I could legally change my name to Lady Helen.

This is the top part of the form.

In order to preserve my identity I have hidden some details and cropped the rest of the form but I'm sure you get my drift !

I got to thinking that, if I was going to all the bother of changing  my name by Deed Poll,
( which by the way I'm NOT !)
that I might as well go all the way and change it to a really Scottish sounding name.

I mean Lady Helen sounds great to me ...

but not really Scottish....

and if I'm to embrace my new heritage.........

tartan,

haggis,

bagpipes

and all.

Then I think I need a Scottish sounding name.

But   NOT   Lady Morag! 

I'm sorry, but I couldn't bear to be called  Morag!

So I'm asking for suggestions

Lady  Who ?

Can you help me out ?

Cheers

ARISTOCRACY ?

This photo was taken a couple of years ago on a visit to Scotland where my daughter was living and working for four years.
She grew to love Scotland and we did too.
Don't you think I look like I belong there in the beautiful Scottish highlands?

Well, now I really do !
From now on  just call me Lady Helen !
Yes, that's right, Lady Helen  if you please!
On my behalf, for my birthday, my son and his partner purchased for me a plot of land in Scotland - a Highland Estate in Scotland !

The letter that came with the title deed says:

 "You may also wish to know that by ancient tradition, the ownership of land in Scotland allows you to style yourself with the title of Laird or Lady !

I also now have a family crest...

and a tartan !!!

You're completely amazed aren't you?

Me too!

Oh, did I tell you how large this plot of land I now own is?
The one that makes me Lady Helen ?
One square foot !!!!!!!!

This clever marketing strategy is a fantastic way of preserving and ensuring the future of a beautiful section of Scotland, reversing centuries of deforestation and encouraging the land to regenerate. The whole estate which is being preserved in this way, has been broken up and sold to people all over the world in one square foot sections.
Because of this it can never be developed or built on and with good management by groups like the Scottish Woodland Alliance, returned to something like its original state.

The land I now own is in the Lordship of Lorne, by Appin, flanked by Loch Linnhe to the west and Loch Levin to the north.
Not far from Fort William and beautiful Glencoe.

I have Ordinance Survey Reference Points so when I visit my land

with the aid of a GPS I will be able to exactly locate it.

( And one day I will. You know how we are drawn to our own land !!!)

How's that for an unusual birthday present?

Cheers.

PS. We'll have to have another photo taken wearing the correct tartan .

REACHING THE BIG 6....O !

On Monday I turn 60 !!!
No, don't say that number too loud.

I always thought that 60 was old ...........
but I feel the same as yesterday .....and last year... and the year before that.

But I guess  we all feel like that.
Inside we feel just the same ....
but I'm moving out of middle aged into old !

No, I can't be?

Sunday was the day of the Big Birthday Bash.
Some serious preparations were needed.

Son and his partner were flying in from Sydney to join in the celebrations and daughter was up to stay for the night.

Nothing lavish but a nice Breakfast was planned at the Golf Club

where we had done a test run for Tony's birthday.

So I made good use of this stuff .

 and off we went to meet 13 friends and family at 8:30am on Sunday morning.

There were lots of happy people.

 and it's so nice to have the kids around.

We don't get the whole family in one place too often these days.

Before long everyone was tucking in

to this

  or this

 and soon everywhere were sights like this

Then it was off home for birthday cakes !

I had a lovely time .

Thanks for coming everyone.

Cheers

A BIT OF GOOD CHEER

Kate from the lovely blog Garden Bell is fast developing a bad case of Winter Fever.

She's had enough of Winter !

She's sick of snow and cold and wet and BEING INSIDE!

She wants OUTSIDE !

She wants WARM  !

She wants SUNSHINE !

She wants FLOWERS !

So here are some cheery flowers for her .....

Beautiful Cootamundra Wattle

Wattle is our national flower and there are many different varieties.

These beautiful specimens were growing along the side of the road in Victoria.

The beauty of wattle and many other Australian native plants is that they bloom in Winter and they come in strong vibrant colours.

Hope that cheered you up a bit Kate.

........................

Today my dear friend Lynnie took me off to High Tea for my upcoming birthday.

The one involving big numbers and zeros!

A little bit of this.

Delightful !

Thank you my dearest friend.

Getting older is not so bad when you have dear friends to spoil you!

RIBBON EMBROIDERY

I don't know if you've noticed but I've not been posting much.
Oh I've been here, cruising round the blogs reading all your posts and leaving comments where I could.

But I've been very BUSY !

Cleaning for my visitors and before I go away  ..........

... and I've been trying to organise crafty workshops for my CWA group.
I will tell you all about them as they happen.

Last year ( before my blogging life began) I attended a Ribbon Embroidery workshop.
I have a table runner which I love and I thought I would like to learn how to do it.
Maybe make another one for my dining table.

So off I went to the workshop and it was sooooooo DIFFICULT to do!
Hard to control that ribbon.
I'd just finish one flower, give the ribbon a final pull and phtt a whole section of a flower on the other side of the sampler would disappear!!
Or the perfect pansy would pucker and twist !!!

So after  FIVE  hours I went home with  3   flowers completed !

Luckily for me Tony had flown south to see a football game and I had a whole weekend to myself.
And how do you think I spent it ?
Yes, I sewed.... and sewed ....and sewed ....

'til I finished the blessed sampler!

PHEW !

So here it is

Want a closer look?

Two sorts of rose.

Carnations

and pansies

and even though I've bought all the equipment I still haven't tackled that new runner.

Cheers.