Looking back through the years of "PINK" - 2012 - 2015

 For the last 8 years I have held a Pink retreat in September to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA). With restrictions in place this year I am unable to do this in the same way. For the last 8 years, over $8,300 has been raised for BCNA, and I am conscious that many fundraising events for 2020 have been cancelled or postponed. But the need for funds remains or has even increased.

I thought it would be an idea to go back through the photo files and select some photos from those retreats before I tell you about this year's plans. This post and the next might be photo heavy.

2012 

I would have given you a link to go back and read the post from these years, 2012-2015, but for some reason the photos are no longer visible, although the words are?? I sure am glad that I get this printed each year, and have saved all my photos onto a hard drive!

The first Pink retreat was held in 2012 as a fundraiser for the BCNA. I was very grateful for the support I received from this organisation back in 2008, following the surgery for my Breast Cancer, and decided we could have a fun weekend and help raise much needed funds. 

For those new to this blog I had purchased the house across the road, which I called The Sanctuary, for the purposes of holding quilting weekends and commenced these in 2011. 

This house was on a double block and had a lovely garden area, and each September spring turned on the pink for us.

                                

Many more pink decorations were put up all around the garden and house to add to the atmosphere.

 Pink goody bags were made for those attending the weekend, and a pink quilt was sewn and then raffled.

These are all the goodies that were donated by lots of lovely people for the weekend. So after lots of thought about what to do with them all, I made pink money (by printing on the computer and laminating and then cutting them out). And then put there “money” into little pink purses. And we had lots of auctions, where they bid for the items with their “money”. It was great fun and everyone enjoyed this. And when they ran out of the play money, they put in real money if they wanted something else!

The arrivals from the city, checking out their goody bags and settling in with their sewing machines. One of these ladies just “slithers” around, and likes to just tidy things up!!!! (And she calls on her “understudies” when there is a need somewhere!!!) Just delightful.

(I copied the above paragraph from the original blog post from 2012, and wonder if some of you could guess who this lady is ? 8 years later, she is still coming down from the city, and is almost a Bordertown local now!!)

There was a buzz of activity as they all set up their machines, and got to know each other.

They were all encouraged to dress in pink.............. 

                              .............and of course we always have a group photograph!

That first year, an afternoon tea was held on Sunday afternoon for other locals to attend as a fundraiser

                     ..............and everyone helped in the kitchen where there was a lot of pink goodies.........

........and tables were set up in the pergola for the guests...........

...and my neighbour entertained us with his guitar playing.

Another group photo showing off the bags we made that weekend.

                                       It was a great weekend, and the start of many more to come. 

2013

The collection of donated goodies for this year's auctions, which are keenly anticipated by the girls.

The optional project for the weekend was making journal covers.

Although last year's afternoon tea for the locals was a good fundraiser, it was also a lot of work for those staying for the weekend, so this year I decided that we would have High Tea just for those attending the weekend. This way they could "play ladies" and enjoy themselves without so much work. It was also a great chance to get my grandmother's cups, saucers and plates out of the cupboard for an annual airing.

                                                      2014

Another Pink retreat, and out came the pink decorations all over the garden, and the house.

We started out by enjoying a lesson of making pink flowers in the afternoon sun shining in the pergola.

And don't they look fabulous in the green bottles...........................

............and in the pergola garden!

Of course the pink hats come out every year, to add to the atmosphere, and behind you can see the gorgeous kits that Michele made for each lady of a Tudor Rose Pinwheel.

It is good to act like a child again.....................

This is the pink money that I made to put in the purses. This is what they used to bid on the auction items, and when they ran out of these coins, they added "real" money. (Note that they all "purchased" the play money at the start of the retreat.)

Each year, the amount of goods gets larger, and some years I invite other locals to come in to "help" with the bidding, and make it more interesting.

Spring weather often meant that the pergola was a good place for lunch.

There were always a couple of "pink posers" in the group!

                

 Michele Hill came to join us for the weekend and made up gorgeous kits of a Tudor Rose Pinwheel. Some girls made them up, and they look gorgeous. I don’t think there was lots of intense sewing happening, but overall it was a great time of chatting, sharing, eating, laughing, and participating in the auctions. I believe that for lots of those attending, it is a time of therapy, when we find out that  others have travelled a similar path at sometime in their life. And that’s what makes each retreat special for me.

I copied the paragraph above from my blog post of 2014, and was struck by the last sentence. Perhaps it's a bit ironic that as I am planning this year's pink events, I am specially thinking of the lady I mentioned above, dear Michele who is currently under going treatment herself. We don't have to look far do we, to know someone who is affected with BC.

Some of us enjoyed a very fun evening of playing cards, and still in pink attire!

These cute little pink fuzzy things were donated to me before this year's retreat, and I struggled to come up with an idea of what to do with them. The following paragraph has been copied from my 2014 post.......

I put the fluffies into a jar, so that the girls could guess just how many there were, (and then they could keep the jar as a prize). But a few got away before I could put the lid on, they went everywhere!! The turned up in the oddest places, like in the fruit bowl, in the coffee cup, in a bed, on the jam jar, in the tissue packet, and in the dessert bowls etc. etc. And one lady reached up in the cupboard for her cup, put the tea bag in and added the hot water, before she discovered her fluffy. He was a bit sad and very wet and still recovering from first degree burns!! Each time someone found one, they were given 2 extra play dollars for the auctions, so there was great excitement each time. Until Sunday morning, when I arrived at The Sanctuary to find this note!!

Once again it was a special weekend of sharing, chatting, laughing, and eating pink food, but especially the fund raising.

2015

While all the retreats are lots of fun, and full of laughter, this year's was probably one of the best there has been. Maybe it was because this was almost the end of weekends at The Sanctuary as the house had been sold and I was moving everything out. The specialist decorating lady got to work in the house and garden and added her magic touch, that she does so well! 

Again there were lots of goodies for the auction. There was more than this, but I can't find the other photo right now.

There was a special project for the weekend. I had permission from Bonnie Hunter to use her Scrappy Trips pattern and Val kindly made up kits for all the girls of 100 pink strips each from my stash. Perhaps this is why that even today, I don't have lots of pink fabrics in my drawers?? 

And again, spring had sprung and the pergolas was a lovely area to sit in and chat with a cuppa.

There was pink liquid to drink as well.

Lots of laughter and smiling faces in this group photo!! Perhaps they were laughing about the group photo that was taken not long after this one??

As a background to this photo, I need to tell you that there was a calendar of the Broken Hill group who posed, with quilts (and little else) and this was hanging on the back of the "little room" door. There had been a lot of chatter about this calendar, and jokes that we should make one for ourselves!!???? After dinner, (and I don't think she had anything to drink), but the oldest lady in our group, who was about 85 years old at the time, decided that she would show all the young things what she was made of?? And out she came wearing only a quilt, and her necklace. There were a lot of gasps and surprised looks, but I couldn't believe it when one by one all the others disappeared and came out wearing quilts also! - This had not been on the agenda for the weekend! So of course we had to take another group photo, and I had permission at the time to put it on the blog. I do hope they haven't changed their minds 5 years later??

(Because we had made Bonnie Hunters Scrappy Trips quilt she had been following my blog for a report on this, and sometime later put a post about it on her blog, and there were LOTS of visitors to my blog from there!! So these girls were world famous!)

         Another High Tea was enjoyed...................................

.........and for those that stayed the extra night there was another night's entertainment which was a lot of fun!! We played a game called frustration, and you need to get Sets or Runs. When I said all I had in my hand was Runs and I wanted Sets, there was a lot of laughter when the word sets was misconstrued!??

We had a lovely pink sunset to finish off another great weekend, and the end of an era at The Sanctuary.

While The Sanctuary was about to finish, it is not the end of the story. If you had followed along with this post, I thank you. It has been a good trip down memory lane for me. I will finish this post for tonight, and come back with another post for the years 2016 - 2019 soon.

                                          ******************************************

On other news, we had a successful AGM (with a quorum) on Monday evening and it was good to include some members by Zoom. My weeks has been hectic with getting my bookwork ready for an accountant appointment, a doctor appointment, the AGM preparation, some customer quilts, and planning the 2020 pink event. I have also finished sewing the items I made for Mr Jett who is about to turn one year old. Photos of this will happen in due course. And it's only Wednesday evening! I am rather behind in reading blogs, and replying to your comments, but I will catch up soon!

Blessings, From Jude