Ripple-a-long report and a give away

Not much progress to report sadly.  A few rows have been added so it is growing slowly.  The colours are bright and cheerful but it is not a project that pulls my heart strings.  However when I need a gift it shall be there and that is more important than thrills I guess.  There has been other things that have happened so all is not wasted.  To motivate myself I am dreaming of nicer projects to come.

Now on to the give away.  I am a great collector and starter and a terrible finisher.  I am sure the grammar police are about to fall upon me for that effort.  Back to story...Since it is the beginning of autumn and the relief from the heat and humidity in my part of the globe my heart is turning to thoughts of the woollen nature.  Hence I am going to give away some sock yarn in a bright and cheerful colour way.  It is Noir wool from Spotlight and I think it is called Pink.  It has pink, purple, orange, green and blue in it.  A veritable rainbow of sock lusciousness and it should easily make a pair of ladies socks from the one ball.  Since it is my first give away you have an excellent chance of winning.  Please reply to this post and leave an email address so I can contact you.  I will draw the prize next Monday 8/4/13.

Dementia go away

This is one of the days when I wish whole heartedly that dementia was not stealing my father away piece by precious piece.  Even though it was not designed to hurt dad has just brought mum to tears.  He simply does not remember he has/had a wife.  She has stood by him steadfastly.  What a sad thing that a loving relationship is ripped to shreds by disease.

Poor dad is just about driving himself insane trying to apologise.

Hopefully I feel better about this in the morning.  I pray that dad sleeps tonight.

Happy Easter

I cannot believe that Easter is upon us.  A few small bunny gifts are out as my children are older.  There is nothing extravagant just simple plans for a family day.  More poor father is so confused tonight and I pray he wakes a little brighter tomorrow.  Dementia is tiring for us all.

Most of all we have been trying to focus on the real story of Easter.  This has brought some interesting questions and ideas forward.  Miss 16 is busily trying to read the Bible story and put it into perspective. On that note I will wish you a very blessed Easter Day.  I am thankful for the blessings Easter has brought to my life.

Never drink lemon water after cleaning your teeth!

Oh what a silly thing to do and my mouth now hurts.  Oh well I shall remember the day.

One of my fledglings has flown the nest.

Where has the week gone?  On top of all the usual stuff my eldest girl has moved into a flat right next door to her childhood home.  Her new window looks into her old window.  Today has been extra busy as my mother gave Beth her mattress so my son Will and I dismantled her old bed.  The boy had a ton of fun armed with power tools.  I am now so relieved as I never have to lift the mattress out of the old water bed frame to make the bed ever again.  Everyone is now in campout mode as the new bed does not arrive until Tuesday.  Believe me there is enough to keep me busy for a month let alone a few days before the new thing arrives.

What are your Easter plans?  Mine are many and one is very significant for me as I plan to be baptised on Sunday.  The rest of the time will be spent quietly at home as dad copes best in his own environment.  Tomorrow night we plan to have a bayside picnic and watch the moon rise over the water.  This will be a highlight for our little family so I hope the weather behaves.

Another year older

 Every year I dread my birthday.  This year however I had a much simpler day and I liked it very much. Some favourite people joined me for lunch that very fabulous Ristorante Tartufo.  We chose the banquet option.  By the end of the meal everyone was very full.  Plate after plate arrived and each was better than the last.  I remember we started with some home made sourdough and salumi platters.  These had pate, a rabbit tureen, pickles and some beautiful proscuitto.  A fresh Caprese salad followed this.  Please forgive my spelling as I know very little Italian.  Then came my favourite Vitella Tonnato.  I know many are against eating veal but this is extremely enjoyable and most different.  It then becomes a bit hazy as the plates kept coming and I had enjoyed some glasses of Prosecco.  I know we had some lovely pasta courses which included a pea pasta. a mushroom and truffle pasta and the most amazing pumpkin ravioli.  The chef happily supplied a risotto for our gluten intolerant guest.  I wished right then that I wasn't allergic to seafood as it looked spectacular.  As you can see I was even given a cake.  It was a beetroot chocolate cake.   I dislike the earthy tasted of beetroot but this was mouth wateringly tender and tasty indeed.  It was a huge piece of cake and the left overs lasted until Saturday.

If you live in Brisbane and do not made paying a little more I would highly suggest you eat here.  The staff are excellent and the cooking sublime.

I did so enjoy my lunch out and then rushed home for stage two.

A very lovely friend took me to Robina where we went to the Kaisercraft shop.  They had a make and take night.  It was fun.  the place was set up like a party and we moved from station to station at will. I will try and shrink the photos so I can put in a few so you can see how much fun we had.

Slowly rippling along

It has been fearsomely hot in Brisbane over the last few days and progress has slowed right down. I am pleased to see that at least another band has been added to my work and hope to see and increase in production.  Much of "my time" has been interrupted over the last few days.

Once again I am irritated by the knots and joins in the wool.  I am truly looking forward to reviews of the Bendigo wool.  I like to support the Australian companies when I can.

I had the best time surfing everyone's blog last week.  There are new colour choices that are very inspiring.  Keep up the great work ladies.  I love visiting your worlds.

Later in the week I will be pack with some pictures of my night at Kaisercraft.  I had the best birthday this year and one of my friends treated me to a night there.  A scrapbookers dream.