A bit of this and a bit of that, all in one post....

I have spent a few hours this morning, going back over photos, and sorting and deleting, on my phone and camera, so I have lots of space for the next couple of weeks. And in the process, I have found a few more to post on the blog. There are more quilts, lots of family happenings, and other stuff.

First up I might talk about the weather, which has been a mixed bag this week. After a lovely few days of autumn weather, it turned into another burst of summer, with temperatures up to 36 deg, and now has gone back the other way and down in the mid teens! Yesterday the winds were strong, and there was even a dust storm in the middle of town! Not your everyday scene in this street. My pergola needs sweeping as it's full of leaves from the wind, but I am glad I had not got to that job, as the wind is still blowing hard, and they would only be back again. At least the dust has gone, for the moment, and we received some rain, although only 5 mls, and not what was forecast. This morning I lit the fire, for the first time this season, as I have some washing to get dry. And I must say, that the winds are so strong, that I am glad that I had the TV arial taken down from the roof!)

Since I turned Max off, I have got a few other jobs done, and mostly sorted my packing. But even though I do have lots of other things I want to get done yet, I do admit to feeling quite "lost", and quite out of my routine! I know there is a bit of housecleaning to get done yet, and have managed to sort out a lot of paperwork, and other things that had been put off. All in the name of "getting my house in some sort of order" before I go!?

This quilt has been loaded onto Max and will be ready for me to get started on in early May. (Note I did not say just which day in May!)

And this is the pile of Mystery Cases that I have managed to get finished and ready for June. (There are still a few being worked on yet, and I might manage to get more done this afternoon?? See how easy it is to procrastinate that cleaning?)

I found some more quilt photos in the files, and have nearly caught up on those. There are a couple that I can't show though that are destined for shows.

This was made by Lois, and is a really bright quilt. Her instructions for the quilting, were no feathers please.

I could see that the diamonds formed a star, surrounded by the diamonds and placed a point to point pattern around the star points, and a different a diamond spiral of lines in the surrounding ones.

The following photos are of 2 quilts that were made by the staff, residents and other volunteers at our local hospital. The quilts are called Spirit of Love Covering Quilts, and are to be used as a covering on the residents who pass away, as they are wheeled out of their rooms. The residents were able to help make the blocks if they were able, and otherwise they offered opinions to the volunteers, on what colours they liked, and their fabric preferences etc. A few of our local group helped with the sewing of the blocks. There is a book being made which records the whole process, and some family's donated fabrics, and ideas, and lots of photos were taken along the way. This project resulted in 2 quilts being made, and lots of blocks were pieced together for the back of these.

One quilt was quilted with an allover pattern called Dancing Hearts.

Some residents gave doileys for their blocks.

These dove blocks are on both quilts.

One resident likes dogs,.........

and another likes cats.........

...... Bordertown is famous for the white kangaroo........

 The other quilt was quilted with Butterflies and Swirls.

Some blocks were embroidered.......

and some were appliqued. (This is one block I did not quilt through, as the fabrics were very thick).

 

One resident had lived on a farm.....

                                          ...another liked Scotty dogs...........

and another loved tractors.

This is Chris, (on the right), who works at the hospital, and was the instigator of the project, with Val who was one of the volunteers who helped with the project. Chris was keen to watch the quilting process, and took photos of Max working to add to the book. This has been a very worthwhile and successful community project.

I do have some more photos of family to post, but will come back with another post of those, very soon. I have a load of washing to put out on the airer, by the fire.

I am back, to finish this post. I must have spoken too soon about the little bit of rain as we have just had a big down pour. And now there are 10mls of rain in the gauge, which is the biggest rain we have had all year! (And I know that 10ml is not much!) This photo was taken through the window,  a slight contrast to yesterday's dust.

And now the leaves are all wet!

And here are a few family photos that I have, some sent to me, and some "borrowed" from their facebook page.

Earlier in the year, GD1 received her "P" licence which enables her to drive on the road, by herself.

DD2's boys, all dressed for the basketball grand final...........................

 ........

...........................and now it's time for first footy match of the season.

A recent school swimming carnival...............

..........and winners are grinners.

Miss Bridie saying good bye after DS's recent birthday dinner.

Looks like she was happy on Easter morning! (There is a slight chance that this Miss might be in town today, so here's hoping it works out!)

Yesterday DD1 received her teaching degree at a ceremony in Adelaide. I was unable to attend, with the date being so close to my leaving,  but received this photo last night. This is an amazing achievement for her, having taken a lot of part-time study over many years with all that life has dealt. Well done, and congratulations on succeeding, and sticking with it, when many would have given up.

A family photo of DD1's children, before school one morning.

And of course we have to have another couple of photos of Miss Billie.

Her first smile, which her mum was quick to get on camera! She is growing up so quickly. I received a phone call this week from DD3 telling me they are coming to visit a few days after I get home, so a bit excited about that.

If you have sat through all of the above, I thankyou. I do have more but will do that in a separate post. I remember that I was going to show photos of the Uneek Animals at Tailem Bend and found the pics, and realised I had not done it yet.

I think maybe I better get to some of that cleaning that I need to do, and also change the sheets on my bed. The temperature has dropped enough for thicker sheets for when I get home.


Blessings, From Jude