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.  

Nimbus

This is my darling Nimbus.  She joined our family last January.  Nimbus was adopted from a rescue organisation.  She was brought in at three days of age.  supposedly her mother refused to feed her.  This little darling gave the lady who hand reared her a few rough times and has been ill once since we brought her home.

Over the last 14 months this little ball of fluff has become my substitute baby.  Unfortunately for me Miss Nimbus is not a cuddlesome girl. Instead of cuddling she chirps and talks to me.  My youngest is recipient of most of the cat's affection.  At 3.30 every afternoon there is a joyous reunion. She does spend most of her nights near me though.  For this I am grateful.  Nimbus has brought so much joy and love into our home and I am very grateful for the lady who spent so much time raising her.

The phone mystery deepens

Overnight my house phone has disappeared too.   Now if you were a black and silver handset where would you hide?  Mine was not flat last night when it was last used but has joined the silent brigade today.

The Joy of Alzheimer's

Caring for dad is my primary occupation.  Most days are fairly routine with the odd twist or two.  Like many who have this disease dad hides and hoards and loses things.  All his life dad has been a collector and hoarder and this has worsened of late.

This afternoon we have been fruitlessly searching for the house phones.  There are two phones and neither can be found.  To complicate things both have obviously been well hidden, off the property or flat.  The positive is that one missing camera has been located.  I have run out of ideas.  I have looked under mattresses,in the fridges, in the cars, in the garage and so on.  I am perplexed.  One benefit is that the house is blessedly quiet.

Just as well he is well loved.  The photo is old but the kids adore their grandad still.

Life ripples along...

I am moving slowly along with this blanket.  My tension seems to have tightened up over summer.  Bit by bit I will relax into crochet again.  The photo is not the best.  My camera is still not right so I used my el-cheapo mobile. Oh well I think I have just about doubled it this week.

Now on to some confessions.  I dithered about joining the ripple-a-long.  There is a huge bedspread under construction.  I am up to sewing in a zillion threads and joins.  Then it will be time to add a lacy border.  The pattern has a border but this person finds patterns so very confusing.  I like the colours in this work and once I sorted it all out it has been an easy project so far.  Please meet my Flowers in a Row afghan.  The pattern is from Red Heart with a few alterations.

To finish off I went hunting and found the first ever ripple I did.  Long ago I gave my then 6 year old son time to choose some yarns he liked.  Basically he chose the brightest rainbow hues ever seen.  This was a challenge and I fiddled for hours before I was happy with the effect.  The blanket is 15 years old now and the acrylic yarn has certainly seen better days.  It lives in storage and hopefully one day it will be loved again. I had no idea how to join and decided that a fringe was the easiest edge.  In retrospect I would skip the fringe and stick with a better quality pure wool yarn.

Thanks for stopping by.  I will be visiting a lot of blogs over the next night and day.  God bless.

Weekly Money Tin Weigh In

I am miles away from serene right now.

So to distract myself I have weighed my money tin.  It now weighs 3076 g.  That is heavier than two of my babies.  My tin has increased by 207g.  I wonder how much is in there now?

God bless.