So its not really a wine glass but it is a water tower. Built in 1984 to meet a growing area it stood in its original form, concrete, until 155 blue lights were added to the top in 2003 to make it a prominent landmark for miles around.
Later the lights were changed and now change colours or can be lit up to different colours to support different causes/celebrations ie Domestic Violence week, NAIDOC week, even the State of Origin foot ball games.
Holding a million litres of water and weighing 400 tonnes, it was located in bushland. Now a beautiful park has been developed below so people can sit and enjoy it. We definitely know were nearing home when we see it.
I have always loved seeing it as it was built the year my daughter was born and when the area was rapidly being developed….. it has a lot of memories and I love seeing it as we drive along the roads in the area.
Todays designs are both pretty DL size designs, perfect for Mothers Day or a Birthday.
I missed the Easter post box topper this year. However, I was thrilled to see this lovely new one this week, created to celebrate 200 years of London Zoo.
Among the beautifully knitted wild animals, there is a card that reads, Celebrating 200 years of London Zoo: Pioneering animal scientific study and conservation of endangered species.In other news, I realised today that this month marks my 17th anniversary as a designer on CUP, with a total of 3,696 products to browse through on my page.
My daughter Kayleigh has never considered herself artistic, she says the crafty gene must have bypassed her as her brother was extremely arty.
Ive always encouraged her to have a go and to be honest she doesnt give herself enough credit for things she has a go at.
She has always been her worst critic but when putting her mind to crafty things she has produced some great things.
Now she doesnt profess to have green fingers as neither do so but her latest crafty session she attended she put together this basket of plants.
I think she has done a great job and should be proud of herself.
Well hubby and my new toy…….. the Log Dog. Each year weve been splitting fire wood with a small log splitter(8 ton) but sometimes the hardwood just wont split usually because there is a knot in the timer.
So that means out comes the axe, or the block splitter that have to be swung to try and get a crack in it.
Australian hardwood is just that……hard! Some logs are way to big for the smaller splitter and they too need manual attack. Hubby has a bad back and after doing a few logs he is in so much pain that I put my foot down this year and said no more.
So as its coming into winter I went on the hunt for a larger one, Ended up with a 35 ton log splitter and it slices through huge hardwood logs like a hot knife through butter.
We just put the log onto a trolley and take it up, position the log and press the handle. I love it. Ill be doing most of the splitting this year so hopefully I will get through the stacked/seasoned logs in no time.
We can store all the split logs in the shed and just bring up what we need to refill in the house.
This week my designs are two gift pockets. Suitable for money or gift cards.
Instead of driving to visit our son and family last month, we decided to take the train. This made it so much easier for hubby as he didnt arrive feeling tired and dreading the long journey home.
The only problem was that we usually throw everything into the car, like snacks and drinks, and dont have to worry about carrying it.
I realised that all my small crossbody bags were no good, so it was time to make something a bit more practical for days like this.
So I made this sling bag that can be worn on your back or across your chest.
I can even add 2 straps and use it as a backpack. I enjoyed making this until I got to the binding, which I hated! I am so happy with how it turned out and love the celestial fabric.
This is my latest book nook, The Museum. My daughter bought for my birthday back in February and its taken a while to get around to building it.
This was a bit more complex than my previous two as it has 4 lights to deal with, of course I topped my husband in for that part as Im functioning with one good eye as Im waiting for a cataract surgery on the other.
It certainly was challenging, but as Im learning from the previous book nooks it seemed to go together ok until we reached the roof part.
That was a nightmare as light had to be concealed on beams and the cross beams kept coming apart from the arches.
In the end in trying to get the beams glued to the arches two of the arches broke beyond repair.
This was unfortunate as the were stained glass acetate strips to slide in for the roof. So, after a bit of thought I attached the beams without the arches and printed off a stained glass effect on acetate and glued that to the beams.
The crafting instinct kicked in and the result was better than the original.
We always buy our granddaughters Easter Eggs, even though two of them are teenagers now. They love the big posh ones now, but we dont mind. And little Daisy loved her one with the unicorn soft toy.
Hubby and I didnt have any Easter Eggs for ourselves, but our daughter gave us both a chocolate muffin cupcake, with a mini egg on top.
Delicious with a cup of tea.
My daughter for the last two years has been a Youth Worker for RAF Benson Airplay which is run by the YMCA.
This provides 3 youth groups for the different age ranges. Ben Club is the younger ones, then there is the Intermediates and the Older ones.
That do all sorts of activities and certainly keeps the children occupied during the holidays. Each year AirPlay has an annual conference in January, my daughter couldnt attend but she didnt know she had been nominated for an award for her work in 2025.
She was shocked when her regional manager phoned her and told her she had won the Unsung Hero award for her work with the children and going above and beyond supporting the families.
Im so proud of her achievement in just two years. It was well deserved.
Well my name did. A few months ago I saw on the NASA website an offer to add your name that would go on an SD card that would be carried with the astronauts on their trip round the moon on Artemis II.
The SD card with me and over another 5 million names was put in a little mascot Rise and was taken on this exciting journey around the moon.
When I submitted my name I was sent a boarding pass with my name on it also. Ive been watching the journey live stream and feel proud that I got to see NASA go for another trip round the moon.
I remember watching the grainy pictures on TV fifty years ago when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first set foot on the moon on 20th July 1969.
I was at college and we were all allowed to go up to the conference room to watch. Its been exciting to once again see action around the moon.
Have loved watching the four astronauts do their interviews and go about their work but its about to all come to an end when they splash down on Friday (US time) which will be Saturday our time.
The trip has been pretty much faultless except for the loo which they had a few issues with. Amazing all that money and the loo has been the problem! This week my designs are both DL size card suitable for Mothers Day or a Birthday.
My daughter loves to play a joke at home, at work, given an opportunity she will do it. So imagine when I get a message been keeping a secret Mum go to my page. Now Im past playing jokes and wasnt even thinking about it being April Fools day.
I might also mention she also loves making little videos. So I go to her page and there is a little video with the Australian Survivor logo. It is a real shame I cant put the video up but it was exactly as they do the promos for the competitors on the real show.
Now with her athletic and sporty background I was convinced theyd picked her to go onto the show. So here I am congratulating her on her big secret and telling her how great shed be on the show……I was so excited.
She let it go for about 10 mins and then piped up……Mum its April Fools Day.
I was a bit deflated at that point but laughed hard at her joke. Oh well…….it was good while it lasted! She did manage to fool quite a few people though so Im not the only April Fool!!! This weeks designs are two lovely swan designs.
Our Golden Retrievers suffer from seasonal allergies, which make them very itchy and can cause hot spots. So we decided to try to feed them healthier snacks to replace their shop-bought dog biscuits. This can work out quite expensive, so we decided to make our own.
Hubby has been making them a chewy biscuit, made from carrot, oats and honey, which they absolutely love! Then the other day I made them Peanut Butter & Oat Sticks. I added a little chunky apple sauce too. They are nice and crunchy. Both got Billys nom-nom seal of approval.
Well as its Easter weekend It would be appropriate to feature Easter Bonnets or in Harrys a hat. Now I remember as a child in the 1960s making Easter bonnets at school and they were nowhere near as elaborate as what the kids do today.
Mine was a paper plate with a couple of long strips of crepe paper attached to either side so the hat could be fastened my head.
To decorate we had seed scrunched up coloured tissue paper glued to the top to look like flowers and VOILA!
Easter bonnet made. At Harrys school its a competition for the best and they are quite elaborate as competition is fierce.
Themes are thought out and whilst parents can help the children have to be involved and have the concept. As Harry goes to boxing he wanted a boxing ring with Harry V Eggy. Of course eggs and easter decorations had to be used and this is what him and his dad came up with.
He didnt expect to win at all, but he did in his age group and was rewarded with a chocolate Easter egg.
I think it was a fab idea and very unusual, but he did say it was heavy to wear on his head.
…. Youngest Son, Paul Wright was, representing The United Kingdom & competing in the European 800 metres masters race in Torun, Poland this week.
We were able to watch his heat live on YouTube on Monday, and we were also able to watch the final live on Tuesday!
Ohh myyy getting the right YouTube livestream was rather worrying … but …. Once Id got it set up and started the screen recording I could almost relax! lol Paul led both the heat and the final …. and is now the European Masters Gold Medalist!, ummmm ….
I might just be a bit of a proud Mum at the moment! Lol
The other day, we had the pleasure of looking after our little grandpup, Cookie, who is our daughters dog. As you may remember, she was a rescue, and as you can see from this picture, she has really blossomed over the years.
She is a little princess and loves her family. While she is still nervous around new people and still dislikes the postman, she has become much more content overall.
Its heartwarming to see her relaxed at our house, even when her family isnt here, because she trusts us as well.
Witnessing her transformation has been truly lovely.
Im currently very much into a vintage vibe in my home. For years I kept my home quite modern with neutral aesthetics.
However, because I dont get out much I was getting fed up with this neutral colour palette, everything was just beige and I have been watching a lot of vintage home decor videos from Provincial French Farmhouse to Arts and Crafts style.
I wanted to have a modern heritage style. Now Ive always loved William Morris designs so I was going to bring that into what I wanted to do.
Its a work in progress but my latest little project was making a plain little birdhouse into an old vintage style taking inspiration from William Morris Strawberry Thief.
I completely repainted and distressed it, added moss and handmade clay strawberries. I found a couple of cute little birds to finish it off. I love how it turned out.