Tragedy..How Close is too Close....

As you know we live in a little town,most everyone used to know everyone but we are growing rapidly as the mining boom takes over our once beautiful valley.However our street is one of the older ones and so there are not many newcomers in it,so we all still know one another and look out for each other.
Six houses down from us is/was a lovely couple always together,not even shopping apart they were as one.
Less than one year ago Murray the husband retired and although just in  his 60's he was so vibrant and talked of not wanting to get bored so he asked his cousin Rob if he could go out an d help on the farm a couple of days a week,so excited, Murray went out for his first day and low and behold a couple of hours there and he literally died at the wheel of the tractor,a massive heart attack.
Val has struggled so much with Murray's passing,she was a bowel cancer recoverer,always talked to Bob as you do to the postie,he is many people's confidant but for some time now she has not come out to meet him and chat,instead of gradually coping without the other half of herself she got more depressed and yesterday turned into a horror story for our street,Val hung herself in her carport.
How terrible for her 2 daughters,I do not know who found Val,I cannot bear to think of how desperate she must have felt...how much courage and planning it took for her to do this.
It brings to mind all those people you see,never apart where ever they go,not any independence whatsoever,choosing to live as one.How hard this is when one goes first.
My aunt and uncle were like this so much so that when Uncle Roy went into a nursing home Aunty Thel would walk everyday in her 80's to sit with him then walk all the way back,when he passed she literally stopped eating properly until 10 months later she joined him.Aunty Thel never made friends outside the home she did not need them as they had each other so when he went so did life.
I think we need to have a life outside our marriage,interests,friends,hobbies,most of all connections.
How many friends /acquaintances do you have that your family probably don't know,I know I have some that I chat to along my way.people on my mail run that I have become a friend of but not socially but they are connections to life.

Please if you are just insular to your marriage think about how you would cope,find a little interest now,get a hobby,go to bingo even,just something...don't rob your wonderful family of 2 loving parents let them have at least one of you left.
I cannot bear to think how Murray and Vals girls must be feeling,no grandparents left,no more wonderful Mum hugs,and apparently daughter hugs were not enough or grandchildren hugs,I guess no one hugged her like Murray did.
I just think this is so devastatingly sad.The day before  in our nrxt town a young Mum 41 died from a heart attack leaving 3 girls,I am sure she would have traded places if such a thing were possible,it is tragic when someone dies of natural causes but just horrific when we take the breath away that God gifted us.
I pray that Val is safe in her beloveds arms,that it is all she imagined it would be,that peace is the only feeling she has,as the horror of the real world is just starting to unfold for those left behind.
RIP Val.

                                            When Billy met Georgie.
My lovely old Aunty Pat has had to go to a nursing home many miles from us,she is Mums younger sister and 6 hours drive is far too much for Mum to go and see her sadly.
Yvonne(Pats daughter)came for a visit to see Mum and she has taken Billy Aunty Pats dog to live with her.We fell in love with him and if Yvonne had not taken him we would have loved to as Molly loved him too.
Here is Billy meeting Georgie for the animal lovers out there.

We were so sad to see our visitors go..perhaps they will be back,we have offered to babysit anytime.lol.

                                                 



                                          Garden Wandering and this and that.....
First of all a lovely blog that I have followed for a long time has disappeared...removed really...sadly this lovely young English lady very happily married was informed by her husband that he no longer wanted to be married,just like that ..out of the blue,she posted a short blog saying the basics and that when she felt more human after such a shock she would be back,now Mel has removed her blog totally,I do wish in the past I had emailed her about any little thing then at least I would know she was fine.. I do miss her lovely blog and Mel if you are blog hopping and just not blogging yourself,you are much missed and many followers would have you in their thoughts daily as I do.so anyone who used to follow At Home with Mel Mel...sadly she is not blogging at this time,may your heart heal soon sweetie...

Many changes taking place in our family also,our son is talking about moving a very long way away although still Australia it is an ocean crossing,I want only the best for him and his family,.I will say no more...just he is our boy and always will be,we hope we will be invited to visit at some stage,we will miss them bit there is the phone and the email so that is good and the children can talk to us by those means,it is not final yet but they are excited.

I am going to take you for a little wander around the garden such as it is...

 This is a tiered planter that Bob bought it at a garage sale so that Mum could have her garden without too much bending,she has Stocks in the top and pansies etc in the other rows

 This Iris's have been wonderful this year,the path has now been poisoned for weeds now.

 The Lavender is lovely and healthy.

 The back garage wall,it has old items hanging off it and more to go up also the garden now has Geraniums in it.

 This area needs some TLC must do it next garden day.

 Bobs first Broccoli almost ready a little while to go yet.

 The Hycnths poking through.

 The wait was worth if for our garden lady the Jonquils are up and as they finish the Daffodils will arrive.

 In the pot there is a little mushroom with a Butterfly attached it dances in the breeze and is solar powered Mum loves it we have another with a Hummingbird.

 This is a bird ornament on our front wall we have 2 just a little different to each other.

A lovely day for a bike ride lol,one of Mums little plant holders.

Thanks for your visit,probably a craft post next time....have a blessed day and hope you are loved as we all deserve to be..even if just a little bit.

                                             A Scrappy blog, Scraps of this and that....

Because my eyesight has become a real problem I was so worried I would not get Olivia's quilt done as it had a lot of embroidery,when I did Lilli one it took me 2 years to embroider and this one has taken almost the same time, I made sure that I made Livvy's quilt my priority and at last the work is done, I will have it quilted professionally as I did Lilli's after Christmas as it is expensive but after so much work it will be worth it.

This is a Leanne Beasley quilt and all hers are a thing of beauty,my embroidery is not the finest,but I did it and am so glad I stuck it out to the end!!!

I have been doing small projects that are manageable for me so here are some other "little things" I have made.

When I received a swap package some time back the scissors had gorgeous little pillow holders on them so I have done some ready for Christmas gifts.

Next are some more scissor keepers,

 I have taken a long time to make these just going back to them every now and then,they are strange little people also for Christmas gifts.

 Some embroidered ( easy as you can see) pillowcases I am about to do another set and I shall pack these away for when the girls grow up in case my eyes do not improve,I won't be able to do them when they are young ladies.

 My latest project my friend Lyn came for the last Saturday and taught me how to do this crochet stitch so I am doing a lap rug,it is growing a bit each evening as I watch telly with Mum,I am so happy to have learnt something new this year.

Now for the next lot of packages getting ready to go, I can't really say too much about these and I can only sent up to 3 per week as they are going to a much needed moral boosting area but mail is limited,so the first 3 go tomorrow,I have enough goodies for quite a few so they will be put together and posted each week,we will still do 25 for Egypt in a couple of months and Afghanistan as usual and more books will be going next week.

As you go about your daily life this week can you think just for a few moments about those serving for us,can you enquire if there is someone in your community quietly going about sending boxes as we do?perhaps they may need a few packets of Tim Tams,tubes of Vegemite,anything that would be a treat,I cannot tell you the joy that it brings when ladies turn up on our doorstep and give me a few dollars or some goodies to add to our packages,the thrill of getting a thank you note now and then from the troops is worth more than anything,we do not do it for thanks  but it is wonderful to know that someone actually received the package in a country far away while defending us.

Do you feel you need a little inspiration today? just go for a little blog stroll over to Aussie Hero Quilts and see what is happening there,the world is full of such wonderful generous people,I am so blessed to be associated with them.

May the light of hope shine upon you and may you be blessed by only good things.Life is good,even on the rough days.

                                                              A quiet Home.....
Papa has taken the children home as Mum was not well enough to travel so now we are back to three,the echo's of children's laughter is now a memory that I relish,the toys are packed away till next holiday,although Mummy did say they may come back for a night or two with all the family..we will see..it would be lovely...

 Livvy and Molly,Molly never uses her legs while they are here lol......Livvy is a gorgeous little person she does not have a mean bone in her body,just an absolute joy.

Then there is William,he is a laugh a minute and never ceases to amuse us all,Bob calls him Bulldozer Bill as he is full on..at the same time there are no cuddles that compare to William's.We miss them so much,they bring so much joy to mum and seem to pick her up and make her smile.
So far this week  my Mum has had a fall trying to pick up Molly but thankfully she was not hurt,Eden our sons son had a buster off his bike as the chain broke so a call to Nanny from hospital yesterday,he is fine but a few patches of skin missing,poor little fella.
I think we have well above our quota of mishaps this year surely!!!!

Anyway just on another someone else has left the home and we were sad to see her go,another era ending in our life's journey.Bella has gone to a young couple who were so excited to have a big bike to ride,I know they are going to have fun!!!!

Just an update on my sealed pot challenge,my second pot is almost full and as you can see one is full to the brim.Bob even started his own he saw how I was going and got inspired.I can't wait to see how much I will have at the end of it all.I felt guilty for the first few weeks of putting all my change and any left over at the end of the week in the pots as I used to do this for the grandchildren and divide it between the 6 at the end of the year.It was bought to my attention by a friend that both families earn far more than Bob and I and that perhaps we should think of us as this is all towards a really good holiday in 2 years time.We have not had a holiday for 8 years now as we do not get time off other than gazetted holidays,one of our little families have been to Fiji this year and the other a wonderful beach holiday in Queensland and we struggle to get enough for a 3 day weekend to get away for a break,so now I do not feel so bad about us having our own money lol...funny old creatures aren't we...just maybe this time we will come first.

(shhhhhh... I still spoil them when they come and send a parcel now and then so not all goes in there,it is what Nan's and Grammy's do).

Have a wonderful day and may the sun shine upon you as you go about your daily lives.

                                               School Holidays and Special visitors.

Olivia and William have been here for almost a week and I has been delightful.They give Mum such joy and me well i just love it ...love it....
Our kate had to have an operation so it was easy for me to have the children for her,everything is fine but I do worry about Kate,she was very flat after the op and was coming for a few days also but she was not up to it so PaPa took them home yesterday,Livvy crying and Will saying we will be back next week,Alex was away at Air Cadets camp so we will get to see him next week.
William has lost his front teeth and new ones not quite through enough to enjoy a crunchy pear as he is showing us.

 Livvy was in the kitchen with me a ,lot we made Pineapple upside down cake, Marble Cake and Jam drops,she is such a sweetie.

 Here she is doing a little video of her cooking,wish i knew how to edit these things..anyway hope it works.

                                           CARAMELISED ONIONS

6 LARGE ONIONS SLICED VERY FINE OR CHOPPED WHICH EVER WAY YOU PREFER.
3 CUPS SHERRY OR RED WINE VINEGAR
3 CUPS BROWN SUGAR
2-4 BAY LEAVES
20 BLACK PEPPERCORNS CRUSHED
PLACE ALL INGREDIENTS IN A LARGE STAINLESS STEEL SAUCEPAN
BRING TO THE BOIL AND SIMMER GENTLY UNTIL LIQUID IS EVAPORATED AND ONIONS TRANSLUCENT...ABOUT 90 MINS(I FIND MORE LIKE 2 HOURS ).POUR INTO STERILISED JARS(MAKES ABOUT 4 SMALL TO MEDIUM JARS).
KEEPS 3 TO 6 MONTHS.

TO MAKE AN ALTERNATIVE AND A LARGER AMOUNT APPROX 8 JARS...
ADD.. TO THE ABOVE RECIPE 1 EXTRA ONION.I RED CAPSICUM QUARTERED AND SEEDED AND PLACED UNDER THE GRILL,REMOVE BLACKENED SKIN AND THIN SLICED.
2 SHALLOTS THINLY SLICED.
THIS GIVES YOU EXTRA JARS AND IS A LOVELY FLAVOUR.
I HAVE MADE THIS RECENTLY AND DID A DOUBLE BATCH AND IT WORKED GREAT.
REMEMBER THIS IS QUITE SWEET BUT IS JUST SO NICE WITH THAT SHARP CHEESE AND ON MEATS OF ALL KINDS WHETHER THE MEAT IS COLD CUTS OR HOT,A GREAT SANDWICH ADDATIVE,I AM SURE IT WILL BECOME A FAVOURITE JUST AS IT HAS HERE AT OUR HOME.
ENJOY.