Australia Day and A Great Australian

 This is a book written by a very brave Australian. Carl is pictured with his younger brother on the cover of his book. Carl grew up in the slums of Sydney with an unstable mother unable to cope after a divorce when Carl was 5. From then on he was badly neglected and in and out of boys homes where he was badly abused. Carl should be mentioned in the Australia day awards for his bravery in speaking out and giving evidence at the Royal Commission into child abuse.

 A keen genealogist Carl has also written about his family history which includes convicts and bushrangers. For a man with such little education he is a very clever man. I hope he will write a book now about the convicts we share on my side of the family

 This is Carl's Great Grandparents. Eliza Jane French and Fred Beauchamp.

 My Great Grandparents Amelia Louise French and Joseph Mason. Amelia and Eliza are sisters and Carl and I are distant cousins. Our Grt Gandparents  were themselves Grt Grandchildren of convicts. While I had a safe, happy and protected childhood Carl's was unsafe and monstrous. But Carl did get lucky as a young man, Married young to a very supportive wife and is now the patriarch of a large family.

 An old photo of one of the Boys' Homes.

Carl's book was launched by the opposition leader Tanya Plibersek

Stingray Excitement

 I love Stingrays, the bigger the better. They glide about so quietly and do no harm unless frightened then they do have a sting in their tail. There were 5 altogether on Saturday, one of them was very large.

 Now there are 2.

 Then 3. I didn't manage to get all 5 in one pic.

 Google tells me Stingrays are friendly and inquisitive and this man wants to be friends. The Pelicans aren't worried by them. They are hanging around the boat ramp hoping a fish might be tossed their way. Not sure what Stingrays eat. They have eyes on the top of the head and a mouth underneath the head.

 Yes, that big dark shadow is a Stingray.

 And the man managed a pat on the head.

Going under the jetty.

 Except for 3 men at the fish cleaning tables the crowd! are watching the Stingrays. Grandson A  is at the end of the jetty in a white T shirt with his father next to him in an orange shirt. I am standing in the shade with daughter S.

This is the famous Kiama Blow Hole, very popular with tourists when it is blowing. Not today though, the sky is blue and the sea calm. To the right of the pic you can just see a dark patch where water spurts high in the air through a large hole in the rock. Kiama is only 20klms down the coast from where I live so I hope to visit and check on my five new friends soon.

Elizabeth and Philip Platinum Anniversary

 Congratulations to Elizabeth and Philip on their 70th Wedding Anniversary. I admit I am a bit late with my good wishes but I was waiting till I had this rare piece of fabric in my hands.

 This is a piece of cotton fabric and would have been on sale in the shops at the time of the royal wedding in 1947. You might want to make curtains or a skirt to wear as you watched the wedding parade in 1947. My piece has a few small holes so is a bit delicate, I have hemmed it and displayed as a cloth on my table.

 This small length of coronation cloth came in the same parcel. It had been made into a bag but I opened it up, washed the fabric and haven't yet decided how best to display it.

 Another Charles and Diana wedding tapestry I finished in the 20th year since Diana's death.

 Very interesting embroidered sampler which is now on my wall. Stitched in the Coronation year 1953 it has almost every Australian flora and fauna stitched, including a red back spider above the house and a platypus top left. Under the map of Australia there is a crown with 'long live our Queen' stitched. The year 1953 is stitched under the boomerang. In the middle there is a Welsh dragon and an Irish harp with initials above. Was this stitched by British migrants settling into their new home but just a little bit homesick???? I will never know.

 I have now finished this cross stitch Diana. Another of Sheena Rogers great designs which I have framed.

Yes I'm still here, look under that green seat, I am hiding. Every evening SHE says come on Shibella and we will have a walk around the Estate together. The so called estate is the size of a postage stamp and I can see it all from my hiding spot. Boooring!!!