A finish, flowers, fabric, friends, family and figures!!!!

In case you thought I had given up on the blog, here I am back again, and trying to remember the events of recent days so that I can update newsfromjude. Except for the birthday message a few days ago, it looks like it is almost 2 weeks since an update.

After the retreat post, I spent quite a few days with Max, working on this Caswell quilt, that has been in my possession for longer than I care to admit. Jill started this in 2017, and it took care of many hours for her, while she sat with her mother, who was not well. It's amazing, the work in all this needleturn applique, and I can't imagine even doing one of the blocks. (Maybe, one day, when I have lots of time on my hands??? )

The quilt has now been delivered to it's owner, who is pleased to have it finished for her. She has 2 more similar quilts that she has done, and they are now waiting "patiently" in my queue. I love it, when they say, there is no hurry, as it takes the pressure from me.

Those buds, have turned into these flowers. This is a hanging basket that I purchased, and really needs to be repotted, so that's another job for the "to do" list.

Found some more flowers on my roses, that usually look quite pretty at the start of the season.

Last week the diary had events marked for being in the city, and as they were a couple of days apart, it was decided to stay, instead of making 2 trips. Pat and I headed up the highway early Monday morning, and arrived in time for a lovely lunch with members of the QGSA Judging Panel.

Following the lunch, I drove to the Barossa to catch up with family, and especially my grandson who was celebrating his 11th birthday that week. Pat joined up with friends Maxine and Dot and visited The Jam Factory in the city where they had a tour of the facility. When I arrived back in the city, we enjoyed a meal with Maxine, (thanks Maxine), and then Pat and I arrived back at the accommodation, ready for a good night's sleep. (I had driven 6 hours that day!)

It was a slow start the next morning, as I slept much later than usual!! Next stop was to the fabric agent's warehouse, for me to see what backing fabrics they had in stock. (And I might have found some other bolts to bring home with me too??) I can't wait to work out what to do with this bundle.

Then it was time to visit with more family, and while I drove there, Pat spent time with another friend, Raylene. I enjoyed some time with these special people, and we sat outside in the shade and enjoyed cake and conversation.

 It was back to the accommodation in the dark, after a total of 3 hours driving there and back. All this city driving is a bit out of my comfort zone, especially as there are lots of road works happening while they are building new expressways. Plenty of slow downs, to 40k and 60k, and although the phone app is good, and mostly giving good directions, I did think at one stage, that it had taken me the loooong way to where I needed to be!!??

The weather on both those days was warm, but not too hot, and the forecast for Wednesday was not looking too good, with strong winds and temps well into the 40's. It was Tuesday evening, when we received the notice that our meeting for Wednesday was cancelled! It was a bit disappointing, as we need not have booked 2 nights accommodation. But in hindsight, it was probably better to be home by mid Wednesday, as there were many fires in our state that day, and the weather was quite nasty. (So there was another 3 hours of driving time to get home.) Staying for 2 nights gave us a good chance to catch up with friends and family that we would not have done otherwise. (Always a positive to every negative isn't there?)

While I was away,  my trusty house sitter came to look after things for me. Val had been unwell for the last Mystery weekend, but had picked out a case to do. So her time at my house was put to good use, and she finished the quilt, called Daisy Petals, before she left for home. (It is now waiting for the quilter!)

I will finish this post with some extra photos of family, (to add to the one above,) plus some that were sent to me, and some that I have "borrowed".

How did Miss Bridie get to be old enough for kindy??

And this little man is not far away from his first birthday!?

Some hot weather has meant it's time to use their pool...........

..............and this is my first grandie, who is not far from 19 years old!!??

This little man, looks like he is almost as big as his sister..............

......and he is flexing his muscles, and almost 2 months old now, and doesn't look like he has lost much of his hair, does he?

This has mostly been my view this week, while trying to get some sort of order into my bookwork, and get figures ready for my accountant appointment on Tuesday. I still need to get the 2018/2019 tax year done, and have now worked my way up to 23rd November, in an effort to see where I am going for the next financial year.

Yesterday I attended a special "0" birthday for a friend, after which I came home and just sat! I was even too tired to do this blog post, as the week caught up with me. (Is this an age thing, or not??)

 This morning it was time for church, and I was challenged and given much to think about by our Pastor, who spoke on Worship. I wish I had taken notes of what she said, so that I can go back over it again??

That's probably caught you all up on newsfromjude, and thanks if you are still reading. It's almost time to get the next book printed, and all these copies will save me some work on my life story. Hopefully after Christmas, if I am up to date with the schedule, I will take some time off and get back to sorting photos and writing some more chapters.  I can see the year 2020 is filling up already, and I can't see that I will be bored any time soon.

Blessings, From Jude