To the end of March...............

It is Sunday afternoon and the last day of March, so it must be time to do a post. I can't believe that another month has almost gone, and tomorrow it will be April. Apologies for a lack of newsfromjude posts, and looking back there does not seem to be a lot of photos to show either. Apologies also to those who have commented for my lack of a reply.......

My last post finished with the arrival home from our Waikerie trip. You could be forgiven for thinking that there is no quilting happening here at Number 8, but you would be wrong. It seems like there is more travel than quilting lately.

 There was a holiday weekend shortly after the Waikerie trip, but it coincided with very HOT weather, so we decided to stay home by the air con instead of heading off again. 

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Thus it was the next weekend when we packed up again and headed north once again to Barmera where we camped for 3 nights by Lake Bonney. It was very peaceful spot and we enjoyed our days watching the water lap the edge of the lake, watching the ducks and pelicans swim by and enjoyed the sunsets. One night we watched the lightening in the distance and saw planes flying in the night sky. I even read a book.

Chooky had a zoom session on the Saturday while we were away, and I managed to check in with the girls for a little visit. Always good to catch up.........

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We had a recent trip to the city to check out office supplies and visit with a friend who is not well. A quick call into Mum at Murray Bridge on the way home was great. I noticed the moon not long after that, and tried taking a photo as we were driving along.....but it is not as stunning as the real thing was.........

....and before we arrived home it was dark and I tried again........possible a good camera or better phone might help???

Max has been busy with quilts, and I shall do a separate post on these. In between the travel and the quilting, life has been very full...... weekly KYB days, visits to friends places, another friend's birthday lunch, doing the church data each Sunday for March on a PowerPoint presentation, composing a monthly Gum Tree Quilters newsletter as well as the usual daily household activities.

I lined up for my annual Flue vaccination, which was delivered at the local oval, and we just had to drive the car through and was "jabbed" in the arm through the car window. How quick is that!!? While never having had a 'reaction' to a jab before, I do wonder if I had one this time. That evening I felt very ordinary and went to bed thinking my head would explode!! Next morning I felt fine.

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On Good Friday we attended a morning service at Buckingham, which is a little church about 15 minutes drive from home. You can see the tiny church in the photo below, and while the service was held outside, the church only holds about 40 people. 

It was a beautiful blue sky day, sitting amongst the gum trees, and watching the cockies fly in and out of the trees. Apologies to any 'greenies' reading, and much as it was lovely to watch them, these birds do an awful lot of damage to the trees by stripping them of the leaves, and can kill the trees over time.

This morning, Sunday, we attended the local sunrise service at the Bordertown Lake. This is always a special time as the sun is rising over the lake, and once again there were many cockies flying around and these were also very vocal.

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I will add a few family photos. We had a trip to the city to celebrate the birthday of my grandson who turned 14.......

                                                         

  

....and there were other family members who celebrated birthdays .......

............and this family enjoyed receiving a parcel in the mail from their grandma...........

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This has been a very different Easter at Number 8. The first time for many years that there has not been a house full of ladies for a retreat. I went back into the files for a few photos and memories..........

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Looking back has brought many special memories........ and here I need to add that this lovely lady, Jocelyn, who has been regular here at retreats over many years and stayed here even though she lived just a few houses away in the same street!!  Jocelyn passed away on March 16th. She will be missed. I found a few photos in the files which I added to a tribute in the recent group newsletter and will add them here too.....

Jocelyn enjoyed machine piecing and heirloom sewing, and a few notes from her group profile noted that she loved William Morris quilts, although never attempted one of her own. A memorable quilting experience was meeting Michele Hill and doing a workshop with her at The Sanctuary and Number Eight.

Here is Jocelyn with her magnificent Heirloom quilt, proudly standing beside it with her friend Marg, at a Bordertown Quilt show a few years ago.

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That's all the newsfromjude to the end of March 2024. Things have certainly changed, which is all part of the journey of life. 

Blessings, From Jude