And so that was Christmas!

Christmas is all but over for WM and I. All that's left to show for it is a tree that was still growing in a paddock last Friday, a fridge full of left-overs, a tray of untouched lollies, about a kilogram of cashew-nuts, half a tray of glacé fruit, most of a large Christmas pudding, about ten mince pies…

And a very bad cold (and infected sinuses) which has knocked me right out of action -- an unexpected and unwanted present from my grandsons!

For the first time in thirty-six years of married life, WM and I will spend Christmas Day without family.

For the first nine years we had Christmas lunch with my family and spent Christmas evening with his -- I am very blessed to have in-laws who didn't expect us for Christmas morning and lunch!

Then along came DD; and my family came to us for Christmas. That lasted until my sister started having children, then we alternated who was hosting.

After her second divorce, my sister moved away, closer to our parents, but we continued the alternating years until WM started working shift work and we couldn't get away. Then began many Christmases with just the three of us. Mum and dad would join on 27th December and stay until 2nd January.

Now DD and family have moved away and we had to find new ways to be together. WM had to work today (Christmas Eve) and be back at work on Friday so we can't travel to them for Christmas.

Instead, we've had three family celebrations where DD and the family have been present.

The weekend before last we went away to Ebor, in northern NSW, about two-and-a-half hours from where DD now lives and a 1600km (1000 miles) round trip for us. We went there to share Christmas with my sister, her children, her sons-in-law, her 8-month-old grand-daughter, and my mum. What a great weekend we had. My sister booked accommodation for all fourteen of us and we had a wonderful time.

L to R: Sister, OG, N2H2S, SIL, DD, YG, Boyfriend #2, Niece #2, WM, great-Niece, Niece #1, Boyfriend #1, Mum, Nephew

On Tuesday, DD and family arrived here. Mum arrived on Thursday. On Saturday, WM and I hosted Christmas (ham and turkey with salad followed by a choice of Christmas pudding or fruit salad) here with my brother and his family, mum, mum-in-law, DD and family. Hence the fridge full of leftovers mentioned in the first paragraph. The photo shows my youngest niece (mum’s youngest grand-daughter, aged one month younger than my Older Grandson) opening the first present of the day.

L to R: DD (under hat), YG, OG, SIL, niece, DSIL, N2H2S, DB, MIL, Mum (WM is taking the photo)

Yesterday WM and I took mum to Strathfield station to make the trip home, went to church then went to WM's extended family get-together. He's the eldest of six and his mum has seventeen grandchildren (all but one with partners or spouses) and thirteen great-grandchildren. Unfortunately, a lot of them weren't able to make it. It was extremely hot and incredibly noisy. The cold my grandsons shared with me had hit with a vengeance (colds in summer seem worse than those in winter) so we only stayed about four hours. I hope I didn't share too many germs, I tried to stay away from as many people as possible!

a sweaty boy reads a new book

one of the best places to be when the temperature is 40°C (104°F)

four of my mother-in-law's six great-grandsons; she also has seven great-grand-daughters

DD and the family left at 10:30 yesterday morning. There were so many things that I should have been doing and so many things I could have been doing but what did I do? Went to bed and slept for another two and a half hours!

It's bizarre sitting here looking at the tree. I'm still waiting for Christmas feelings to arrive but they seem to have gotten lost even more so than usual! I haven't felt at all like Christmas, despite all the hoop-la we've been through! It's also bizarre seeing ads for Christmas on television because, in my head, Christmas is already over!

So how will we celebrate the day itself?

We were going into the city to see the Christmas lights but I’m not feeling well enough to brave the crowds. WM is secretly pleased, after all the excitement of the last couple of weeks he’s looking forward to a couple of quiet days! Tomorrow morning we will go to a low socio-economic suburb not too far from here where we've volunteered to help serve lunch to homeless people. After that, we've been invited to afternoon tea at our friends' house.

Boxing Day will be spent quietly at home before WM heads off to work on Friday and "normal life" resumes for us.

January is summer vacation time in Australia but WM won't have his annual leave until next October. With all my classes and most of my other activities (quilting group, Bible study) closed until February, I guess I'll have plenty of time for my own crafting activities!

Whatever you're doing, and whoever you're spending it with, I wish you a peaceful and joyous Christmas. There’s only one reason why we’re having this holiday (holy day): “peace on earth and good will toward men”.

the scene above our garage

Does God heal today?

I know that I am being controversial. My non-Christian readers have already left. Some of my Christian readers are flipping out and/or gathering their refuting arguments.

But my Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

That means He is just as willing to and capable of healing today as he was when He walked the earth in person.

As you know, I was diagnosed with shingles six weeks ago. For the past ten days, I have been completely off all forms of pain-killers; yes, even the “mild” ones like ibuprofen and paracetamol. I am completely healed of shingles!

Yes, it’s possible that I had a mild case and it was going to clear up quickly. But – I was in pain on Saturday and after prayer at church on Sunday morning, was completely free of pain.

I choose to believe that my God (who is also my Father and my Friend) healed me.

And if you don’t think healing a middle-aged woman of shingles is very dramatic, listen to the testimony of this young woman who attended the Healing Rooms in California. There is no doubt in her mind, or in mine, that God healed her!

Praise the Lord!

Happy Easter

Jesus is alive! Truly the "greatest day in history".




Additionally happy for us, DD convinced SIL to return home for Easter and they're having an Easter egg hunt and dinner here with MIL, WM and I!

Praise the Lord for His blessings!

there comes a time...

To each of us there comes a time,
 when valleys we must face.
The walls seem steep, no end in sight,
 yet always there is grace.

from the poem "Valleys" by Debra Isenbletter 

Last weekend, WM and I had a wonderful couple of days away, the details of which will be for another post.  On Sunday we had a brief visit from our DD, her husband and our two grandsons.

DD mentioned, very casually, that they would be travelling north on Monday. It was only later that it dawned on WM and I that we had just kissed our grandsons goodbye. We thought we had until after Easter but they are gone. DD will be back to prepare the house for their move but the boys will not come home.

I cannot begin to tell you how painful it is, how long the valley seems, how steep the walls appear!

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and still my heart aches. 

But there comes a time when one must push past the pain and resume one's life. As Debra Isenbletter says so simply, "always there is grace". With God's grace, I can move on through this. With trust, I can believe that "all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Today I will tidy my sewing room and make room for some creativity. I will take my sewing machine out of its travel case where it has been for two weeks. And I will stitch my love for our grandsons into a quilt that will be given to someone in the palliative care unit of a local hospital.

May it bring comfort to the recipient and I!

it's Christmas Day

I wish you love, joy and peace this Christmas.

image from http://crazy-frankenstein.com

Becky Kelley reminds us...

I was so moved when I saw this video on Kay's blog that I had to stop what I was doing and come and share it straight away.



I've never heard of Becky Kelley but she had me in tears by the first line of the chorus!

Thanks, Kay, for sharing and thanks Becky for a great reminder.

busy but not with stitching

Just dropping in to let you know I'm still here. The rest of this post describes my week since last Tuesday and there's no stitching to be seen here -- you have been warned! :-)

Thank you for all your good wishes and prayers for Lorna as she recovers from the accident in which she broke her shoulder and as she adjusts to life without her husband of more than sixty years. Thanks, too, for your lovely comments about WM's orchids - he appreciated them all.

Life has been extraordinarily full since my last post which was published while I was still at the church conference which went from Friday night until lunch time Tuesday. For those who are interested in such things, it was a very powerful conference and this "stray" has returned to her Father, body, soul and spirit! I'm happy to share more by email -- just ask!

On Wednesday, another member of the Knitters' Guild of NSW and I travelled halfway across Sydney to teach 16 primary-school-aged children to knit (with the help of one of the librarians). No photos were taken; as you can imagine it was full on!

The Caring Hearts Community Quilters met on Thursday morning but I decided not to go - I needed some space to sort through things I had learnt and other issues arising from the conference. DD and the grandsons arrived on Thursday afternoon and stayed for dinner.

On Friday, WM and I went to the Opera House to hear the Sydney Symphony Orchestra; the highlight of the concert was Ravel's Bolero -- excellent! We stayed overnight in the city and after a buffet breakfast headed west in the rain.

This time I was at the Upper Blue Mountains group of the Knitters' Guild, teaching a lovely group of ladies the rudiments of lace knitting. I was more than ably assisted by the same Guild member and I couldn't have done it without her -- thanks so much D. No photos were taken that I'm aware of - we were much too busy!

This week has proceeded more normally with church on Sunday, sewing class on Monday and a massage yesterday. Today I plan to do three loads of washing and some shopping before my monthly embroidery class this afternoon.

I'll be back before the end of the week with stitching-related content, I hope!

So, as Porky Pig says on Looney Tunes, "that's all folks!"

still not blogging regularly

I have finished the course that kept me away from blogs and crafting for three and a half weeks. I know many of you out there won't believe me, but the course was life-changing and I will never be the same!

Now my DD has started the course, so for the next three weeks, except on weekends, I will be looking after my two grandsons while she has her life changed! Consequently, there may not be much time for blogging or crafting in the next twenty four days or so.

In between my course finishing on Tuesday and her course starting yesterday, I have managed to read all the blogs I follow – up to their posts of 3 August. Some blogs I have read beyond that but I am working through them slowly and systematically and, thanks to that wonder called iPad, I will get there eventually. 

I don't want to disappoint the followers of this blog. It's a craft blog and you come here to see some stitching - right? So stitching you shall see…

During the period of the Olympic Games I did manage to frog two items for the Ravellenic Games. However, I never got around to adding them to Ravelry, and it's too late now so I didn’t qualify for any medals.

Nevertheless, here are the before and after photos of the Infinity scarf which I frogged because I thought the yarn was too dark to show the lace pattern well and, being pure wool, it was a bit to scratchy for being worn around the neck. The picture on the left is the true colour.
 
And here are the before and after photos of the pilchers I knitted when DD was pregnant with Older Grandson (who is two and a half today -- where does time go?). She was sure that she would be using cloth nappies but convenience won in the end and she used, and still uses, disposables. Neither of my grandsons would have got their thighs into that tiny leg hole, now I think about it! The pilchers were frogged and the yarn will be dyed and made into something else –– some day. The picture on the right is a truer colour.
 
The eight pieces that were my bag are now just three pieces. I have to bind the corners and base of the bag (the hardest part of the job I believe), then I can sew on the last two pockets, one on each side and the bag will be done. Hopefully I will have it finished by the end of the month since I only ever seem to work on it in class.

Speaking of classes, last month I teased you with this and asked you to guess what it would become.

Here is the finished article. I love those little colonial knots!

It is part of a triptych. The second one was started last week. (I know it needs ironing but I don’t want to set that wash out pen!)
 
I'm sure I’ll have all three finished and bound in time to decorate our house this December. (What’s that? Christmas is less than nineteen weeks away? Get outta here!)

I’m off to prepare for the arrival of my grandsons (yes, I did remember to move that glass-topped coffee table out of the living room).

Catch you soon!

I just had to share this with you

- found on Mary Lou and Whimsy Too!

Happy Easter

Good Friday

In Jerusalem that day were two mothers, both grieving for their sons...they prayed that God would be merciful.

One mother, Mary, watched as her son died... The other mother welcomed her son home, saying, with grateful tears in her eyes, 'Barabbas! God has answered our prayers!'

Another man more important than the mission. Jesus died on Barabbas' cross ... our cross.

from Power of Your Love by Geoff Bullock, 2000. (p.171)