Teresa Gil 'Longest Reign' Cross Stitch Update and Catching Up

 My Longest Reign cross is powering ahead, fun and easy to stitch. Soon I'll start on  my favourite part and do some beading.

 A recent addition to my collection is this small hand embroidered calendar with 1937 calendar attached.

  An unfinished tapestry from Charles and Diana's wedding. I have a large stack of UFO's of my own and now I buy more from eBay to add. This one was a Family Circle design and I might or might not finish it. The red plate is also a Charles and Diana wedding souvenir from my local Salvo's shop.

 A handkerchief from the Royal Tour 1949. Cancelled when the King became ill.

A bath towel from the Coronation 1953. Another eBay bargain.

 A bedhead that was being tossed out when a store room at my local Senior's hall had to be emptied. I had it in my car in seconds as I need all the display space I can get. It only needed a wash and even the built in light works. Looks so good in my spare room after about fifty years stuck in a store room.

 A bush fire on the small island opposite my house. Called a 'suspicious fire' it was left to burn itself out.
The island is named Bull Island because a bull once lived there and a small stone commemorates him. Why he didn't swim across or walk over at low tide no one can tell me!

 Another op shop bargain, this red top with Prince of Wales feathers. Looks a bit pink in the pic. but it is bright red. Once again I was in the shop at just the right time. I might even wear it to my Melbourne Cup lunch tomorrow. Teamed with white pants and my blue shoes and hat I will look like a walking flag

No use pleading with me Shibella you need grooming. The hot weather is here and you will get knots so I must brush and comb more than just your pretty face.

And The Stack Came Down

 Not sure if I should cheer or cry when the Port Kembla copper smelter stack came down. At almost 200 mtrs tall it could be seen for miles around and no one could be lost at land or sea if they could see the stack. It has not been in use for some years and there was hope that it could somehow be used as a tourist attraction.

I could see the stack from my house so sat outside for over 2 hours harldly daring to blink in case I missed the stacks last moments. There was a delay in the timing as 2 people refused to leave their house in the exclusion zone. Though all residents in the zone were entertained in a nearby club and I think there was a drop in centre for pets.

 When the stack was built 50 years ago Port Kembla steel works and copper smelter was in it's heyday and migrants from all over the world as well as locals found employment here. But things change

 Streets around were crowded as everyone wanted to take last photos of the iconic stack.

 All went to plan.

 No more stack. Police on horseback patrolling to make sure no one tried any last minute heroics to save the stack.

 There was a streaker of course. You can see him just to the right of the interviewer. His lack of pants covered by a black blob.

And a politician having his tweet.
Now the souvenir T shirts are on sale and I want one. There is also talk of pieces of the stack being sold as souvenirs. I think I have space in my home for a piece of dusty concrete.

Australia Day Celebrations

 Australia Day tomorrow and I have found the perfect dress to party in..........
In your dreams Sylvia. Do you want to be laughed at, pointed to or have Charlotte ashamed of you? No, I am going to a barbecue lunch and will wear something sensible and allow myself one glass of wine.
I bought the dress at one of those cheap $$$$ shops and thought it so special I had to buy it. I love sparkly sequins.

 Three old Australian houses. This one belonged to my maternal grandparents. All three houses were owner built around 1920 or before and remained in the family until pulled down by developers. All houses have a lot in common. In all three the toilet was outside even when the sewer came along. The first 2 had a sort of tacked on bathroom and I don't remember a bathroom at all in the last one. Must have been hidden in a shed. Two had a piano and the house below had a tennis court. Strictly for A grade players only so my siblings and cousins never played on it.

 My paternal grandparents owned this one. My father and his brothers slept on the side verandah as was common in those days. Boys and young men often slept outside somewhere. Under the house, in a shed or in this case the verandah. These photos are the only ones I have and taken just before the houses were pulled down.

 This one owned and built by Mr Linen's maternal grandparents and was still there and owned by his family last August. The house is almost walking distance to Sydney airport and is surrounded by flats and hotels and I think has already gone. The verandah on this house was closed in, once it is closed in it is then called a sleepout so the spare men and boys have a bit of shelter. Tough life in those early days. I have enclosed one end of my verandah but I call it a sunroom and only Charlotte sleeps there sometimes.

I love king tides, they come every January. Daughter S and family have just returned from a holiday at this pretty spot on the coast north of Sydney. The picture speaks for itself.

 An Australian cat. Charlotte likes to remind everyone she is descended from the temple cats of Burma but you are here now and have me for a servant, that makes you Australian. Charlotte is a thinker not a doer so she is thinking about going down the steps but maybe not doing it.

I know there are herons all over the world. This one must be Australian and he is spending a lot of time on my verandah lately. I leave out water but he/she looks around for a while then takes off.

Bushfire Update

 This morning I woke to smoke haze and the awful smell of burning. I should be able to see the mountains opposite but all I can see is thick bushfire smoke. The birds you can see in front and in the distance are all black swans

 I now have the smoke that covered Sydney yesterday. You can see by the woman's hair how windy it was.

 Aren't people wonderful, this is at Lake Macquarie yesterday (not my lake) north of Sydney and people were out in small boats rescuing wildlife that tried to swim away from the fires. This is a wallaby being rescued.

 Yesterday's headline, now over 300 homes have been lost, mostly in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

 Today's headline.

 Some local pics from the Illawarra Mercury. The top pic shows a fire plane at Coomaditchie Lagoon near my house and smoke over Lake Illawarra. Bottom pic. is a slightly singed but safe cockatoo.

A pet dog safe and sound. I worry about all the wildlife and pets that couldn't be rescued.                      With the exception of the top photo which I took this morning from my verandah all the photos are from the Telegraph or the Illawarra Mercury.

Australia Day Celebrations

Australia Day, 225 years since Captain Arthur Phillip sailed into Sydney Cove with the first fleet, mostly convicts, to form a settlement. Big Ted is celebrating the day with a new shirt, hat and sun glasses. Rescue Bear was asked along at the last moment and had nothing new to wear.

 When it got too hot they arranged themselves on the steps. Lots to see today with many boats and fishermen on the lake. Big Ted and Rescue Bear are now firm friends and often seen together since BT heard of RB's sad start in life. The other bears are too Royal to celebrate Australia day. They will have their turn on Queen's Birthday holiday in June.

 Had a bit of a panic when I thought I had no Australian books among all my Royal and cat books. Have manages to find a fair selection to show. I can include the Royal visit book because it is about the visit to Australia 1954. The small book on the right Transportation and Chains was written by a distant cousin about his convict ancestors.

 Here is a true blue Aussie dog. A brown Kelpie named Gypsy. Gypsy belonged to my father many years ago.

 An old Aussie holiday home. My mother always insisted on a waterfront with a rock pool and a boat included. We had a couple of holidays here as children, we always hoped the tide would come a bit higher and go through the floorboards, it never did.

Another house of mum's choosing. The tide is out here and oysters can be seen on the rocks. These houses never had a bathroom or much of a kitchen. There was always a stiff climb down from the road high above with our luggage. The toilet was a ramshackle building with a pan back up in the bush somewhere and in some of these houses a man and boat would call to take away the pan.

Different times. This is some of my family off to celebrate the day on the lake in their boat. I happily waved them off, someone has to stay behind and do the waving and I love my lake view but I don't want to be on it or in it.

Local Views for a Change from Royals

The sign as you come into my suburb. I live on the left side of the sign but a bit further around the Lake.

 The lake is deep in some parts and shallow in others. This digger was out the front of my place but further over a few weeks ago trying to keep the channel clear for boats. Then it got bogged and started to sink. Pictures of the poor digger were on the news and as you can see, in the newspaper.

 The digger back again, this time safely on a barge. I took the photos from my verandah.

 The bridge across the Lake shown in the first photo. I live on the north side but almost everything I do involves crossing the bridge to the south side. The speed limit on the bridge is 70klm. per hour. I am a good and careful driver but the length and straightness of this bridge somehow causes me to turn into leadfoot granny and speed over at 80klm. hour.

 A new fishing platform is being built, perhaps to stop fishermen getting their feet wet? Schoolchildren now choose fishing as a sport. Last year my grandson chose surfing for his sport. In my day.........let's not go there, I think summer sport was tennis or tennis. I hate tennis. I should also mention I hate fishing and buy my fish from the supermarket freezer section or open a tin of salmon.

 The local Bowling club. No I don't go bowling either but I do like nice views.

A couple of local shops, I could walk to these but my car has a life of its own and loves to race over the bridge.

Lake Views and Op Shopping

Once again real life has interupted my blog posts but my Lake views give me something to blog about. Sunday was a bit windy but perfect for skimming along the Lake with a mini parachute or kite, fun to watch but something I would never do. Not sure what this sport is called and mostly done in the ocean but perhaps these were beginners practising on the Lake. There were three kites in total.

Today a professional fisherman was out with his nets and he always has a following of pelicans willing to catch any falling from the net. Behind the pelicans is an island, you can see a white boat going through the channel then I will see that boat again when it comes out from behind the island.

Now for the Op shopping display. I bought these casserole dishes at different times because I love the colours but have since been told some people love to collect these old dishes so now I want more and have another item to look for when Op shopping.

Bought the cardigan last week at the Salvo's store, a brand new bargain still with tags though the size had been cut away but the Keynote Made in the U.K brand was attached. I think Keynote was a Littlewoods brand. I did a google search and found the same cardigan but in a pretty green on ebay advertised as vintage 60's if that's right this cardigan has been stored unworn in someone's wardrobe for many years.

Another new item with tags this very pretty dressing gown Made in Italy I bought last year and still haven't worn it. I think I'm afraid Charlotte or Emily will catch the silky fabric with their claws or I will spill my morning coffee down the front but it was such a bargain I had to buy it.

A queue for tunnel fun, Emily is first in but always has to take time to think about going through to the end or backing out and walking away. Charlotte waits for Emily to decide. Charlotte always goes through and out the other end.
Emily never goes through to the other end, I think she is just teasing Charlotte.