New Quilts

Today was Devonport Group's Friendship Day. Here are 2 quilts I showed. The black and red has now been finished and the Black and White one is a top only.

I am not good at naming quilts, any suggestions?

Anzac Day 25 April 2008

Lieutenant Colonel Henry Edward Tregaskis Spotswood 1894 - 1975


I've spent the morning watching the Anzac broadcasts on TV. I'm too much of a sook to go to the march and service down town.
Graeme has been and gone twice, once for the dawn service and then came home briefly to catch his breath and off again for the march, service and lunch.
He goes with his father, Trevor who has just turned 87, who served in the second world war. Dad looks forward to the day and especially since Graeme has been with him.

Graeme was among the early "Call-ups", the ones who won the lottery in the mid 1960's. He did his 2 years of training, but never put up his hand to go to Vietnam. Not everybody who did National Service had to go overseas, he was one of the lucky ones! I met him one night after he'd been to a funeral of a mate who was killed in Vietnam - I too was a lucky one!

My Grandfather, Harry Spotswood, or Da to his 13 grandchildren and many many surrogates was a wonderful man. He was an original Anzac, another lucky one, who got injured, rehabilitated and then sent to fighgt in the Somme in France. How lucky is that????

He was an orator, a born talker. He came to our school Anzac Day services occasionally and was the guest speaker. He knew the man with the donkey, how cool was that when you were a child!
He also became a Methodist Lay Minister, which also meant we needed to sit still on many occasions, but I will admit that his children's sermons were wonderful. I can still see him with one hand in his pocket and the other with a finger pointed out in front of him.

I miss him, he passed away 6 weeks after Nic was born, I just wish that Nicholas (and Robert) had spent more time with him.

As with many, he didn't talk about the war, he would show us the scar on his leg where he was shot though and then move the conversation on!

He also served in the second world war as Officer in Charge of Elphin Barracks in Launceston. He would have been a good age by then. Years later his Batman, Leith Byard, taught my children the piano and then mum went to art classes with him.

Scatterday T-2 (My Neighbourhood)

This is NOT a toy boat! There is a man in that pedalling. What a fantastic feeling it must have been.

Looking up into the Gorge.

Let me get at that bird!!

From the Chair lift, the Basin side.

The happy couple.

Killing one Bird with half a stone here. Scatterday (late again) is bought to you by T and the words Square, Blue (my current mood) and In My Neighbourhood.

Well the last one was easy - I live in Trevallyn, sitting above the lovely (if somewhat muddy) Tamar River. Today was a perfect Autumn day so we went for a walk from the start of the Tamar, along the South Esk River and up to the Gorge. This is a natural basin in the river, which in winter and with plentiful rain (what's that?) fills up and floods the lower areas around the man made swimming pool.

The chair lift is said to be the longest single span ride in Australia and goes across from one side (Gorge side) to the other (Basin side). Locals will know what I mean. It's something I have never done in all the years it's been established and today was it. We sat underneath it at the Restaurant having coffee and muffin and wondered what had we been waiting for???? It was wonderful, the view, the photo opportunities and the weather.



Check for yourself. This shows it up much better than I can describe. We are so lucky having this just 1 k from our door!

The peacocks are still around but are waiting for the daffodils to bloom and so will they.

Scatterday K-2

Is it still Saturday? Good!I know I should post my Scatterdays before I read anybody else's, but now I have Blog Reader installed, it's too tempting to scroll down all the new stuff.I had Knitting in mind for a hobby, but it's been used a lot so I tried to think of something else. Not mine of course, I only have one and it's also my business, so somedays it's not even my hobby! :-(

Office- keyboard

Hobby - Karting


Nice smell - Kahlua - a big glass-full over ice is really nice!

Macca in Launceston

Fran and Macca (not a good one of either!) I'm not a Groupie, I just like what his program does, bringing all of Australia together.

My name on the back of the bus

For years and years we have been listening to Macca on "Australia All Over", even before he was the "man". I can't remember who it was earlier, but at 7.30 AM there was a small "serial" called the Prickle Farm, which we just loved. I think Mike Hayes wrote it, about a newish farmer and his trials and tribulations. (off to Google here) I became addicted to the Sunday Morning ABC Radio show and then along comes Macca! Mind you some days I could slap him, but then I roll over or get up and he gets over whatever is annoying him. I congratulate him for keeping politics in the main out of his show. Very refreshing! I think you could have listened to him all during the election campaign and not know that one was happening!

This week it has been Tasmania's turn to be in his "Say G'Day Tour" with it culminating in Launceston this morning with an OB. (Outside Broadcast - but in the foyer - weather in Tas)

Although I was up at some ungodly hour this morning because I thought our clocks went forward ( not back) thus gaining an extra 2 hours, I was ready early to go to our local ABC studio, but DH, enjoying the extra time, was laying in bed with the cuppa I gave him, his book and the beautiful Autumn sun shining in on him, and would not be hurried.
We arrived for the last hour, squiggled our way to the front of the crowd near the CWA morning tea table, sat on the floor and watched. After a while one of the CWA mafia offered me a chair, God bless them!

It's interesting to see how the show is presented with "spontaneous" phone calls, his pile of books, CD's and other notes, his guests and how he does his impromptu chats - during a break he asks "Who's got a story to tell me?" and very firmly tells the Anti-Mill Lobby it won't be them and interviews a 9 year old from a dairy farm in Redpath.

A lovely morning all told.

Lee Kelly. Like me, you all are probably wondering what she looks like?

Scatterday A-2

I am late again, mainly because I still have this rotten cold and my brain has gone numb!

Found one restaurant with an A name, found his brother's shop too! Rob, DS2 said that it was cheating, but I explained to him it wasn't so much the answer but the effort involved in getting the photos! :-) (isn't it?) (probably no one will read this anyhow as I am a day late)

Ask me about the effort in getting the photos onto the blog, takes longer than getting the pics! Frustrating, I think I need to close machine down, have a walk, lunch and start again!

Something you find in the dark revealed that with a flash - "Absolutely Nothing" so I took a photo of our Alarm and it showed that it has a turquoise Number pad. (note to self - clean number pad)