GOODBYE.......... FOR NOW

On Friday 9th October 2009, at 8am, my brother and I lost our beloved Dad to Cancer.

He had fought a long battle over 2 1/2 years with this horrific disease and did extremely well with it all. It was only in the last 2 weeks that it finally caught up with him when he began to deteriorate rapidly.

I contacted Scott in FNQ at lunch time on Wednesday and suggested that he should come to spend some time with Dad. Scott arrived early on Thursday morning and spent the day with him. By mid-afternoon, when I arrived after school, he was in a large amount of pain and the Dr had prescribed a Syringe Driver of morphine to be administered. The Dr had just advised Shirley, my brother and my uncle that his life expectancy was only "a matter of days".

The Blue Nurse had just arrived to administer and attach the Morphine Syringe Driver. This was a nurse who I work with and he told me that "he'd look after my Dad for me". To that, I replied: "You'd bloody better". Shirley told Scott and I to go and have some time together and she told us that shortly after we left, he was asleep and snoring.

He slept right through the night, and passed away peacefully at 8am on Friday morning.

I was at work when Shirley rang me and I arrived at the house at about 9am, where I stayed with Scott, Shirley, Uncle Dick, Sallyann and David for the rest of the day.

As heart-wrenching as it is to see him go, it is a blessing that he is not suffering anymore.

We woke up to rain this morning, so we can only hope that he has organised that so that is citrus trees can have some water.

Rest In Peace Dad, and we'll see you on Thursday morning.

RIVERFIRE 2009 FEATURING F111 DUMP & BURN

Tonight marks the start of Brisbane's Annual River Festival with "RiverFire". It's a monster fireworks display all the way up and down the reaches of the Brisbane River from the western end of the city to the mouth of the river. It has always been highlighted by and "Dump & Burn" display of 2 F111's as they fly at low level down the river. This was all simulcast on one of our local FM radio stations too.

The planes are based here in Brisbane at the Amberly AirForce Base. Unfortunately, because of the age of these planes, this is marked the final Dump & Burn by these planes, so it was a very special night here.

Because of this, we decided to take the kids half way into town to see it IRL instead of just on TV, like we've done every other year. Being nearly 10, DS was very keen to see the planes perform IRL anyway.

We didn't go all the way into the city or river bank because all roads leading into the city were blocked off anyway, and all the public parks close to the city and river were packed with 1000's of people. Best to stay away from those numbers of people, with young kids, after dark anyway, we thought.

The city also put on a FREE Chris Isaak Concert in the Botanical Gardens in town tonight as well. It is right in the centre of where all the entertainment etc was. Would've been a great gig, if you could get there early enough this afternoon. Great music, great light show, great overhead entertainment - and all at an even greater price : FREE.

Oh well, tomorrow it's back to normal again - washing, cleaning and relaxing a bit. Talk to you again soon.

"NARNIA" FILMING HAS STARTED

Earlier this week, I read in the local paper that the filming of the latest "Narnia" film has begun here at Cleveland. On Tuesday, I picked the kids up from school and took them up to the site to have a look.

All of the filming was taking place in the deck of the ship so we couldn't really see very much, but the Director was connected to a PA system so that all visitors to the parkland could listen to all the directions of the movie. What we couldn't see, we could get a mental picture of by listening to these directions.

I was able to take some random photos with my little camera which surprised me somewhat when I uploaded them to the computer. One of the stars of the movie appeared in nearly all of my photos. It was rumoured in the local paper that Aussie TV star Garry Sweet was starring as the ship's captain. Anyway, the proof is in these photos. There, on the Quarter Deck, overlooking the 'sword fight' scene is Garry Sweet himself. Clearly given away by his bald head in the photos. Sorry the quality of the photos isn't brilliant, but that is the best I could do with my little camera.

FATHER'S DAY 2009

Father's Day was a beautiful sunny and hot day here.

We had my Dad & Shirley and Aat come over for a special morning tea because Rick had to go to work after lunch. That ruled out any plans for going out to lunch.

Of course, swimming was the order of the day for the kids and they were in and out of the pool several times during the day.

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY

WOW! Is it THAT long since I posted anything here?

Last week was Tyler's birthday which happened to fall on a Monday, so we had her birthday party on the following Saturday.

On her actual birthday, we drove down to the Gold Coast to pick up Opa from the plane, because he was flying home from a weekend in Melbourne. We deliberately got there a bit early and we had a walk on the beach at Tugun for about an hour. The weather was just perfect. Not too cold and windy, but not too hot either. The clothes that Tyler is wearing in the photo was just the right beach attire that day. Of course, the kids just HAD to run down to the water's edge and get their feet wet, and the water was REALLY COLD!!!! which was the reason for lots of screams and squeals when the waves got to them. The water was soooooo clean and blue and the new sand on the beach was so white and clean.

I love the early morning sun on the ocean.

The birthday girl dressed for the beach on a Winter day.

Testing the water................

What a glorious day.

Here are some photos from the birthday party. She had a lovely group of little girls come around and we had home-made marshmallows, coconut ice, sausage rolls and 'little cups of coffee' ( made from biscuits, marshmallows, lifesavers and freckles). The cake was a Princess' tiara made from lots of cupcakes.

We did some craft, played musical statues, limbo and had a treasure hunt.

She got some beautiful presents - and all 'crafty' ones. I wonder where that comes from??????

Tyler with 2 of her friends

All the girls and,

with 1 of the cupcakes that made up the cake

DARLING DOWNS ZOO

During the recent school holidays, Rick was fortunate enough to be having the weekends off, so we decided to make the most of those weekends to go out for lots of drives in the country. We felt that we owed it to the kids because we were both working during the week and they had to stay at home for most of the time with whichever parent wasn't working.

On the first weekend, we decided to take them out to see the Darling Downs Zoo which is slightly south of Toowoomba.

It is only a small zoo, and due to the miserable and unpredictable weather, we had been right around it in less than an hour. It was a really cold day, so it was nice to get back inside the car to have some lunch (breadrolls I had made before leaving home) and a nice warm cup of coffee.

After that, we kept on driving, and just another 40km up the road, we found ourselves in Warwick, so we stopped there for about an hour or so and had a wander through the local shopping centre (the only place still open after midday on a Saturday) and Rick and I even bought ourselves a new pair of shoes each at the local Williams shoe shop.

We stopped at the Big Orange in Gatton on the way home and stocked up on fresh fruit and veges for the week. It was still mid-afternoon so we stopped in Laidley for a look at some new housing estates that we had heard about. What a beautiful little country town. We also saw some friends (Tyler's school friend from last year) who moved out there late last year, so we stopped and had a cup of coffee with them and the kids could catch up and play too.

WHAT A GREAT DAY OUT!!!!

A TRIBUTE TO MY GRANDPARENTS

It's taken me the best part of the last week, but I finally finished this today for a Linda's Shabby Chic Challenge over at Scrap Pile.

The challenge was to just make a card, but Linda had sent this beautiful Basic Grey Kit for a Matchbook Album, so I thought I'd use that - just a tad more than a card.

I am really happy with the finished result. I showed it to my Dad when he came over this afternoon and he was very impressed with the way I had preserved some of these memories.

I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF

I'm so glad that I got that nightie made for Tyler last weekend. After the cold snap that we've had this past week, it came in very handy. She loves to wrap her legs and feet up in it while she's watching TV and even when she goes to bed.
On Saturday, Rick suggested that I go and buy some more flannelette and make another one so that I'm not having to wash and dry this one in time for bed again that night. Anyway, I didn't much encouragement to jump in the car on Saturday morning and go shopping.
I finished the 2nd one last night. It is lime green checks with a fine pink line through it and has little pink and white daisy ribbon/lace around the hem and sleeves. The buttons are really cute pink ones with white spots on it.
Here they are:
Here is a close-up of the material I used for each one.

A Very Creative Weekend

This weekend has been a the Queen's Birthday long weekend and I started it of in the best way. I was given some money to go to the Scrapbooking and Papercraft Expo with some spending money for my birthday from Dad & Shirley.
Rick offered to take the kids to work with him in the afternoon and I could just pick them up on my way home from the Expo.
I parked at ANZ Stadium and took the bus into town and then the same bus back again. It all worked out really well.
I had the best day there, being on my own. I could do what I liked in my own time and didn't have to worry about anything or anybody else getting bored, hungry etc. I arrived 1/2 hour after it started and left 1/2 hour before closing.
IT WAS THE BEST DAY
Amongst some of the things I bought were some lovely Kaisercraft OTP Projects. One of them was a 'Babushka Doll' album. I already had the Babushka Doll range of papers, so I started putting it together on Saturday night. I have it hidden because I'm going to put photos of Tyler in it and give it to her for her birthday. I think it is going to be really cute when it's finished.
I can't wait to post a photo of the finished product here when it is finished.

Look What I Created This Long Weekend

I've been trying to get a long flannelette nightie for Tyler this year, and do you know, you just get them. So................
on Friday afternoon, I went to my local fabric shop and bought a pattern and some lovely blue & white checked flannelette. I started to cut it out yesterday afternoon and did the bodice and then today I put the sleeves in, did the skirt and put it all together. Of course, she just HAD to wear it to bed tonight. She had an early shower this afternoon and put it straight on and told me how cosy and warm it was.
Next weekend, it will be back to the scrap table again.

Dad, Robyn and Dick
This weekend, Kirsty flew Dick and Robyn up from Sydney to visit Dad. We don't know if they'll be able to do this again while Dad is still with us, but we certainly hope so. They flew up on Friday afternoon and stayed with Kirsty and Cheryl. Kirsty drove them down to Dad's yesterday morning where they spent the majority of the day.

Dad and Robyn
Dad really wanted this to happen, because Dick is his next sibling and he felt like he really needed this quality time with him to talk, reminisce and resolve some life-long problems. We were asked not to come down until mid-afternoon, which we did and then had a cup of coffee with them. When we arrived, Dad and Uncle Dick were going through a bag full of old B&W photos that were grandpa's, trying to remember the people in them and the reason for the photo. (This is exactly the reason why I am now an avid scrapbooker - so that my children and following generations will have records of my photographs.)

Dad and Dick looking through some of Grandpa's old B&W photos
Kirsty, Dick and Robyn left at about 4.30pm and we followed soon after. I rang Kirsty to find out what their plans were for the night and she told me that Dawn (Dad & Dick's younger sister) and Dave were down from Coolum and were staying at a motel around the corner from Kirsty & Cheryl's. They would be having dinner with them there. We went home, changed into some warmer clothes and then went up there to meet them all again. We had a quick Hungry Jack's dinner on the way. We had a lovely couple of hours with them all, laughing and catching up and "philosiphying"(?sp).

Robyn, Kirsty, Tyler and Bryce at the Colmslie. Tyler was doing Kirsty's hair with some of her new hairclips, and Kirsty was loving evry minute.
We had to leave at about 9 because Rick had to get home and get ready to go to work. It was lovely to have us all together. It's been years since so many members of our family have been together in the one place.

First Sleep Over

It's nearly a week since my last post, so I'd better do something about that.
Tonight Tyler is having her first friend over for a sleep-over. We have had Mikaela and Shantelle over a couple of times after school this week until Julie finished work. Anyway, yesterday afternoon, they asked if Mikayla could come for a sleep-over, so we decided to do it tonight.
It is the first time for both of the girls and they have been so excited all afternoon. I let them stay up until 8.30 and then they talked quietly for about half an hour before they fell asleep.
Who knows what time they'll wake up in the morning!
Rick has promised that he will make pancakes for them in the morning for breakfast.
Note to self: I must take a photo of the sleeping arrangements early in the morning - this is definitely a scrappable occasion.

RAK GIVEAWAY

Have a look at this RAK that Ceci from Scrap Pile is offering:
http://ceci-bell.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-blog-rak.html

LEST WE FORGET

This morning I made the effort to get up early and attend the Dawn Service at my local Cenotaph.
I've never done this before, and last year I promised myself that I would finally do it in respect to my great grandfather who served in Gallipoli and to all the Returned Servicemen and Women who I care for on a daily basis at work.
The air was filled with a sense of excitement and reflection.
At exactly 5am, the service started with just the slightest hint of daylight peeping over the horizon of the ocean. It was a lovely service but, at the same time, very moving. It was lovely to see so many young families there (with young children) to lay flowers at the base of the cenotaph.
There was only one unfortunate event when an elderly gentleman (Returned Veteran) appeared to suffer chest pain and Paramedics had to attend to him until an Ambulance arrived to transport him to hospital.
It really must be an extremely emotional experience for these people. Now they can go away and enjoy a lovely breakfast put on for them at the RSL and enjoy the rest of the day with their mates raising a glass or 2 and maybe enjoying the odd game of 2Up. They deserve it.

LEST WE FORGET

Healesville Sanctuary

After feeding the parrots we kept on driving up through the Yarra Valley and past some vineyards until we came to the Healesville Sanctuary. This is a beautiful little zoo set in amongst the native bush full of Australian animals. As you can see, Flat Stanley just keeps poking his head up in all the photos!!
This was a lovely day out for all of us and especially for the kids because it was so lovely and relaxed and away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Anything more unique to Australia that a platypus?
Ever seen an emu with a 'comb-over"?
A wedge-tailed eagle.
A rather friendly wallaby.

A VERY large goanna.

Oops! There he is again!