This and that........and bring on the Pink!.............

Just a quick post this morning before I head to the kitchen for the final preparations for this weekend's Pink Retreat. I woke early to the sound of the birds outside my window. They are very vocal at the moment, perhaps because spring has sprung?? (Which makes me wonder where they go to in the winter, as I don't recall hearing them so much then??) The house is starting to look a bit pink, and the decorating fairy will be here by lunch time to add the final touches, which she does so well.

As a part of the weekend, we "auction" donated goodies to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Network, and I have started putting out the items on the piano, but there are still more to do yet. 

There has been some pink cooking, although most times the pink turns brown when it is baked!!

I had a very cluttered top drawer full of utensils, and it has been getting heavier over time. Just how does all this stuff accumulate, in just over 2 years, since the kitchen was built?? Mum decided it would be a good job for her to do, and it is now sorted, and everything is much easier to find.

All these items have been discarded, mostly tongs that did not close, and plastic that has been discoloured by the dishwasher. All these things have gone to the kindergarten where my sister works, for play time in the sand pit.

While mum was here we enjoyed a morning cuppa with visitors who dropped by to catch up with mum.

We had an early morning trip up the highway on the day that I took mum home, and the weather was very wet and cold. We saw an amazing rainbow, and I pulled over to snap a picture. Unfortunately the photo does not show it's radiance, but you get the idea!?

After my meeting in the city I did some shopping and then visited some friends, who had this amazing letterbox that was cleverly made by the man of the house.

On my way home I picked up this young man who came to stay with Grandma for the weekend, until his mum and sister arrived the next day.

We found this box in the drawer, and decided it would be a good wet weather day project. 

All the instructions were in different languages, and the pieces were supposed to be cut out, ready to sew. 

It did take some time to work out which pieces were which, and you can see that the cutting out was a bit "ordinary", but eventually we matched them all up. I did start sewing by hand, but my hand skills are very "amateurish" and I eventually got the machine out, although this was very fiddly because the pieces were small. 

Here is the finished puppy, and I am hoping he does not fall to pieces anytime soon.

We also did some baking, and you can see the biscuit mixture looks nice an pink..............

...................until they turned a bit brown in the oven.

And this cake was very pink until it was baked too, but I fixed this with some pink icing!

 There has been lots more pink cooking this week too, but I will save that for the Retreat report.

Yesterday was Angels day here and there was a good attendance of angels. A lot of it was more social and less working, although some work was achieved by a few. I did take some photos, but have decided that most are not very complimentary, so won't be published.

After the angels had departed, the vacuum cleaner came out, and the sewing room is now set up for this weekend's action.

I have a little bit more work to do in the kitchen this morning and some last minute shopping, and then await the arrival of the girls. There is a full house, and another 4 "day" girls. We welcome back some regulars, and look forward to a couple of "newbies" who will be joining us. Lots of fun times ahead, and I will be back in a few days with a full report.

Blessings, From Jude