Well after some very tough weeks my spirits were lifted yesterday with the arrival of my National Emergency Medal and clasp for the 2019/2020 Bushfire Season.
I wasnt able to be at the presentation a few weeks ago as I was in hospital after having been diagnosed with kidney cancer in my right kidney.
I was having a radical nephrectomy which is the removal of the kidney. This was 7 weeks ago and its been a rough couple of months since being diagnosed in February. Im on the mend now and look forward to getting back into doing more designing.
The medal has certain criteria that has to be met, service must be in the protection of lives and property; or in the service of interests, that are not their own; in direct response to the emergency (including support that enables or facilitates the emergency response).The geographical area in Australia where the declared emergency happened, are the Local Government Areas (LGA) listed.
Not all fires are included, only the larger extended fires are eligible and there is a qualifying period for each local government area with the minimum duration of service that a person is required to have completed the eligible emergency period for the area.
I am humbled but proud to receive the medal.
Well my recent visit to Vegas I saw a cyber truck! And I can honestly say its as ugly as I thought it would be.Parked up in one of the posh hotels I thought I must go see what all the hypes about.
Well I wish I hadnt bothered haha.
Looks like a piece of sculpted tin foil.Not sure why anyone would part with their hard earned cash for that!!!!
I challenged myself with this make. I loved the look of all the hardware on it and really wanted to make it. I took my time and learnt so much along the way. It was looking just as I wanted. BUT.
Just as I was finishing up, by adding the strap, I had a disaster! One of the strap connectors came undone! As this is what takes the full weight of the bag, I thought that there was nothing I could do.
I asked fellow bagmakers on a couple of Facebook groups I belong to, but it was hard to explain what had happened.
In the end, I decided to hand-sew the edges of the connector with invisible stitches, then I added an extra rivet through the actual strap right through the bag.
I am so glad I found a solution. So here she is! The Momexa bag.
Monday 12th May was my eldest granddaughters 18th birthday.
As I posted pictures on Facebook of her as a baby, toddler and more from over her 18 years it was joyous but also a deep sadness that my son, Darceys dad was not here to see what a beautiful, thoughtful, loving and smart young woman she has become.
Darcey lost her dad and I lost my son in 2011 when he took his own life. She was 3 years old, he was 28, and we filled in the gaps for her through photos and his art of which she became accomplished in herself.
I am so proud of her and what she has achieved.
… last weekend I was once again cheering for my youngest son, Paul and youngest granddaughter, Olivia (father and daughter! lol) who were both competing in the county championships between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire!
It was a lovely sunny day for a change as Ive often been cheering them on in the rain, snow and wind! lol Thankfully it was a lovely day and it was a pleasure to be out in the sunshine!
Olivia ran first and despite being one of the youngest in the race she came a brilliant 3rd. Paul ran sometime later and he won his race by a country mile! What a fabulous afternoon we all had!
My Tulips are in bloom. They are just beautiful. Double yellows were planted two years ago. Must have been the mild winter. We are a little late in Northern Iowa. This time next week they will be all gone.
Now its time to get the yard cleaned up, annual plants and get the garden in. Happy mothers day in the USA this week end.
Today I managed to get a picture of the VE Day postbox topper, made to mark 80th anniversary celebrations across the UK.
And made to acknowledge Victory over Europe Day.
This design is so clever, it incorporates a tank, a soldier parachuting in, and of course Winston Churchill, all sitting on the Union Jack flag.
I cant wait to see what the lady makes next.
After having a bit of a sabbatical from resin, I thought Id have another go. I had quite a bit of UV resin in my cupboard and wanted to use that up. I had no plans to start using epoxy resin again but that soon went out of the window.
The youth clubs my daughter manages have decided to do a summer fair in July to raise money for an animal shelter and I said I would make some things for the kids to sell.
Id already sent a few bags full of resin charms Id made from UV resin for them to make some jewellery with and then I started to make some other pieces for keyrings and fridge magnets.
I made these pieces from left over epoxy resin from a pour of a larger project as a surprise for my daughter.
I thoroughly enjoyed doing these few pieces and decorating them, I cant wait to do some more.
… a lovely sight it is in our local woods! We are lucky to be surrounded by lovely accessible countryside just a short walk from our house whichever way we choose to walk!
And at the moment these woods are looking sooo fabulous whichever way I walk!
The bluebells are fabulous but its the cowslips I so love to see!
We were giving our Golden Retrievers a run around the local park, and we have to pass a clubhouse to get to the next field.
Usually, the gates are locked, but today, Billy disappeared inside the gate. Sam looked at us, then decided it was more fun to follow Billy.
We could hear people laughing, so I sprinted (fast walked) inside, to find them both in the actual hall, where people were all dressed up, waiting for a party to start!
I managed to stop Billy saying hello to every single person and leaving slobber and hair all over their nice clothes (he is such a flirt!) And got them back outside.
How embarrassing, luckily, the party goers thought it was funny.
This is a picture of them looking very angelic, but dont be fooled, as we can now add gatecrashing to their list of crimes.
Last weekend was the London Marathon, one of the most prestigious running events in the world. My daughter completed it a couple of years ago. What I was unaware of that on the Saturday before the main event they hold a Mini LondonMarathon for children.
They get to run the final mile of the actual marathons which is down the mall and over the well known finish line, where each child receives a medal.
My youngest grandchild Harry who is 7 was one of those picked from his school to take part. There were 16 children and 6 adults represented from Benson school.
My daughter was one of the adults as she does cross country with the children at the school so most were used to running at least a mile.
It was quite emotional for her as she crossed the finish line with her son. Big brother Alfie was there cheering them on along with other teachers and parents.
Well, the lady who makes the postbox toppers has been very busy lately. Before I got a chance to share the Easter one with you, she had a quick turnaround and changed it for St Georges Day.
They are both such fun toppers that I wanted to share them both.
For Easter we had a bunny with Spring flowers and Easter eggs, then for St Georges Day, of course, its George fighting the dragon.
So clever.
One thing about my daughter and grandchildren they do like to go for walks. About a mile or so from where they live at RAF Benson is the very picturesque village of Ewelme, and nearby are natural growing watercress beds along a stream.
They form quite an expanse and is a popular place to walk. People are allowed to help themselves to the watercress. It is a beautiful area to walk and further down the stream there are places to just sit and enjoy nature.
Alfie who is now thirteen has started to show an interest in photography and has been borrowing his mums camera to take some beautiful nature shots of the plants, trees and even his mums and Harry.
The pictures I got sent I thought were amazing. No filters applied, just a boy and a Nikon camera.
Was still the Easter Holidays this week so we got to have some wonderful times with our youngest grandchildren. Of course they wanted to do all the things they always do including crafting (well dont we all love crafting lol!!} with it being Easter week we made bobbing Easter Ducks!
Another must on their lists of things they want to do is baking … sooo we made Apple Cinnamon Swirls ….
Ooooo and they were delicious! Needless to say I was sooo shattered after theyd gone home …. But Id love ved every moment of the day!!
Last week, hubby and I travelled to look after our youngest granddaughter, Daisy for the day while her mummy and daddy were at work.
We dont get to see her very often, so we wanted to do lots of fun things with her.
First, we made some cakes, and what little girl doesnt like cooking with their nanny? I admit it was a packet mix, as I am a bit out of practice. Then we made an Easter basket. Hubby had bought lots of Easter crafty bits, and Daisy used most of them to make her basket.
We had a lovely day, and she had lots of fun with us.