The First week

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The Alamo

This weekend we travelled to San Antonio, we left Dallas at 6am on Saturday morning and stopped at Carl's Crossing for Gas about 50 miles down the track.








Next stop was at Waco where I had the difficult decision from a multitude of choices for breakfast but I settled for Eggs Benedict which was beautiful,we kept going towards San Antonio because we stopped at Waco on Sunday which will be tomorrows installment.







We arrived at San Antonio and Tom and I went to explore The River Walk which was outside our hotel's back door, it's a little like Darling Harbour in that it has lots of bars and eateries and there were hundreds of people enjoying the area.




This is the Park Police and like all other law enforcers in this country they are armed.

I've arrived

After leaving Bathurst on Sunday morning Trish dropped me to the Airport on Monday morning on her way to work.The long flight was OK although I was surrounded by children and the obligitory young Aussie drunk.I arrived at Dallas Airport about 5PM Dallas time and we went to dinner at Fridays.
Today I feel very rested and caught up on sleep and talking so we might do something today like washing or playing cards.
I am not sure how to upload the pictures on Tom's computer so when he gets home from work I'll get some instructions.I hope everyone is well.

Ready to go

Well tonight is my last night in Bathurst for 10 weeks I am hoping it will be a nice warm spring and although I will have missed all the daffodils etc I won't be sorry to have missed the worst of winter.
Trish has gone out tonight to help one of her Bathurst friends celebrate her birthday and then in the morning we'll be off to Sydney.
Everything is packed and ready but the dogs aren't talking to me, ever since the suitcases appeared they have been tichy!! hopefully they will get over it soon.
My friend Judy and her husband Gerry are coming here for a holiday to house/dog sit and the only thing I am worried about is the safety of my stash.I have asked Gerry to supervise her near all fabric and also some of my threads!!!!
I wouldn't mind if she would finish some of my UFO's I am basically a topper and I think at last count there are 15 quilts of various sizes requiring quilting.
I do have a Handi Quilter but my back is not up to that so I'm better off quilting with my Bernina 440QE (which by the way is having a service at Bernina Chatswood whilst Mummy is OS.
May you all stay safe and hopefully I will update this blog from Dallas on Tuesday to let you know I am safe and warm.

Smilebox

I have been playing with Smilebox again and here is a slideshow of some quilts I have made.Only a few days to go now I am packed and ready.

Digital slideshow generated with Smilebox

Wedding quilt

This is the quilt I made for my son and daughter in law Tim and Tamara when they were married on the 22nd Noveember 2008

The following quilts I have made for various people, the memory quilt for Helena,her family gave me the photos without her knowledge so I could print them off.There is a very pink quilt for a little girl who loved pink and the cot quilts made for grandchildren of friends.

More quilts

I made this quilt for Jayne from blocks that Anjii Solomon had sent me when she was my angel back in 2001 and she was working on her book Anjii's Angles.

http://www.anjiisolomon.com/book_orders.htm

Quilts I have made part1.

I have been trying to think when I made some of these quilts but because I have been quilting since the early seventies I can't remember exactly (read I can't remember when I made them!)


My Aunty Kath absolutely loves mauve and purple and I made this sampler quilt for her many years ago.




I made this quilt in the first mystery quilt challenge with Scquilters, Uncle Ernie loved this quilt and guarded it from the staff at his Nursing Home;rest in peace Boy.
And if anyone wonders why I called him Boy I have since I was about 2 years old (so I am told) which is when I first wrapped that man around my little finger!

Countdown begins

This time next week I shall be in Sydney at Trish's place ready to leave Australia for USA Monday.To celebrate my countdown (and because I'm ready and waiting) I am going to post some photos of quilts I have made every day this week.But first back in January Di and I travelled out to Joy's house to do some serious sewing,Di was putting the borders on her mother's quilt which is now at the Long Arm quilters in Cowra


This is Di measuring and double checking and then Joy had to inspect at one stage!

Life Update

Well things have changed around here lately, since the Bathurst SCQ retreat my computer died totally and I had changed ISP's so I now have a new home phone number and a new email address;I think in a way it's a good thing I am moving onwards and upwards with my life.
in about 3 weeks I am going to the USA to stay with my cousin and her husband so I will miss all the rest (and the worst)of Bathurst's winter!!
Tomorrow my daughter Trish is ## years old it only seems like yesterday she was a bouncing and very healthy baby,as always I wish her health,wealth and happiness for the rest of her life.

An article about my childhood area

I spent the first 2 years of my life at Chinaman's Beach then we moved to Kurraba Road Neutral Bay until my parents went their separate ways in January 1963.Louise,Andrew (RIP) and all out friends regarded Kurraba Point as our neighbourhood and many a special time was had there.
So that is 13 happy years living in what is now a new suburb!


http://mosman-daily.whereilive.com.au:80/news/story/kurraba-point-declared-new-suburb/

Promises, promises part 2

The best laid plans of mice and men!!!
My PC has gone to God so I am managing with my old laptop as best as I can.The new computer should arrive next week,thanks to the Tim Tams who paid for it for my birthday and Mother's Day.
Jayne and Tom want me to go over to Dallas ealier than the (booked)11th August date so we are just waiting for Flight Centre in Gawler to ring back with the price difference(been waiting 24 hours now).
It's turning cold today so running away from winter a bit sooner will not worry me at all.

Promises,promises

I have decided today I am going to use this blog more frequently, now that the SCQuilters retreat is over and I have more time on my hands there is no excuse.
I have spent most of today organising photos for the retreat blog ,please go and have a look at some of the photos and see what fun we had in Bathurst in early May
http://2010retreat.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow I will organise some photos for this blog and then I will update regularly so that when I go to the USA in August I can keep everyone up to date with my travels with Tom and Jayne.

Anzac Day 2010

Anzac Day was always special in my life, as a young child we always attended all the services in Sydney and watched the March without realising the significance of ANZAC!
My maternal Grandfather fought on the Western Front and as a result of a GSW (gun shot wound) to the (L) shoulder was a TPI.



This is a photo of a very young James Oswald Doyle in uniform





Here is a photo of the Leeton boys in Cootamundra Military Camp before they left for the Fighting in Europe
My Grandfather James Oswald Doyle is on the right side standing.

Both my parents served in the Australian Army, my father was wounded in Tobruk within 12 months of landing and was a a TPI.Mum was in the army for 3 years from 30/031943 until 4/04/1946 just 4 weeks before their wedding.





My mother
Sheila Maura Doyle 22/04/1923 - 16/03/2001

Life Update

I really can't believe so much has happened since my last posting almost 23 months ago; first my beloved Uncle Ernie died in November 2009 and I had a very sad trip over to Wagga Wagga for his funeral.Aunty Kath is managing very well without him and I am very proud of her.

Tomorrow is my 62nd birthday and I have Aunty Kath and Uncle George (both my Mother's siblings) still going strong to support me in life.How lucky is that!!Aunty Kath is my mother's younger sister and Uncle George is the oldest and most beloved sibling of the family.I still remember singing Georgey Porgy pudding and pie and then running for my life (which I could do in those days )years back in the mid 50's I suppose.

I am on the committee for the Scquilters retreat for 2010 which is being held in Bathurst on May 7,8,9th 2010 at the Goldfields Function Centre.
I have many reservations about many things but I am biting my tongue quite severely today.

I am very proud to belong to Scquilters and I must tell you that the friendships I have made in this online/but in person group have made so much difference to my life,some people I have met and some I haven't but they are my family believe you me.

Wedded Bliss

Next Thursday my Aunt and Uncle in Wagga Wagga celebrate 60 years of marriage,now is that an achievement or what? They were married on June 4th 1949 at St Joseph's Church Yenda New South Wales and have lived in Wagga Wagga since then most of those years at Macleay Street opposite the Botanical Gardens.When Uncle Ernie built the house it was almost out of town but now it's almost the centre of Wagga.

Memories

Today I had a big trip down memory lane or perhaps a wake up to reality I was reading the SMH and in Domain was a house for sale.Now just because it was listed at 6 million shouldn't have given me palpitations but it did for many,many reasons.I loved this house as a child for many reasons and today it bought it all home to me,not all the reasons were good but many were so I am going to share these with my friends.


I have a very deep and long love affair with Frangipani's and their fragrance and this is one memory this house can claim, in my childhood years (the 1950's) this tree was outside the kitchen window as I stood on a stool helping Auntie Dolly and Auntie Jess wash their dinner service.With hindsight and knowledge I shudder at this memory because it was a Clarice Cliff dinner service they were allowing a 4/5 year old wash up in a Belfast sink(deep and porcelain).


The very large bathroom almost to the left of the front door off the large hallway and both had black and white tiles ( I think marble) and was perfect for practicing my ballet on,the bedroom I used to sleep in was next door to that.


I know they were the safest and friendliest people in my life and no one on earth knows how often I escaped there away from from my parents disintegrating marriage and their frequent abuse(physical and verbal)of me, thank God they spared my younger sister and brother a fair bit probably because of their age.



Out the back of the house they had a huge bed of nastursiums where now the terrace stands but the view was the same and I have many happy memories of that.I was allowed as a big girl (probably only 6/7/8 years old) to ring and ask could I stay the night and then I would be allowed to walk to their house,not that far from our home.Oh boy I am drowning in memories tonight and the scary thing is those 2 women had more influence over my life than either of my parents. The last time I stayed there was in 1965 just before one of them died and I have racking my brain trying to remmber more about them.


Many nights in my dreams I go back to my happy days at this house and when I spotted it in the Domain today it has rekindled so many emotions I am almost swimming in them.
I hope this will get you the link to the house please look at all the details bu the front of the house has remained the same and that is all but memories are memories and you can't take that away from me just like I can't afford to buy this house or even dream about buying it.


http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2007632129

It's already February

The year is just running away already but I have been busy,I did start the Bonnie K Hunter mystery quilt and in fact I am half way there.I had to put it aside because I was making the centre of a quilt that is to be raffled soon,it goes off to Belinda Betts in Orange to be quilted next week.Then I decided to do my Siggy squares for the Adelaide retreat,the weather has been so hot here I just sat in the sewing room between 2 fans and worked on them whilst watching DVDs of Midsomer Murders.I have 87 which I hope is enough they are different from any others I have done.The housework has been slack for a week or two so I thought I might get up about 6 AM tomorrow and have it all done before the temperature hits the roof again.

Here is the quilt I gave the Tim Tam's for a wedding present

Well so much has happened in the 6 months since I last visited this blog and where do I start?I have had an addition to my family with another dog a rescued maltese cross dog called Murphy,he wants cuddles more than anything in the world but he regards himself as a quilt sitter rather like a cat.My friend Judy calls him the Quilt Police because whenever a quilt gets near him he has to investigate and then sit on it.
To summarise my life since June 2008 my holiday to the states was cancelled when my cousin's son died and they came home so I went to Adelaide for 4 weeks to stay with them.Then I was made redundant at work which has made me poorer but for the first time in my life I have time to sew and use my rather extensive stash.
My son Tim married his beautiful bride Tamara in November at St Brigid's Church in Marrickville and the reception was held at at the Royal Cruising Yacht Club,they delayed their honeymoon until Christmas Eve and they had Christmas in Paris and New Year in the Champagne region of France.They are now in the UK, a bit cooler than we are here in Bathurst.
In the meantime I have made them a quilt,worked on lots of other projects got all my UFO's out of storage and then decided to take on the Doubledelights mystery quilt from Bonnie which I am enjoying.
Trish is coming home this weekend and I looking forward to spending some quality time with her,all my visits to Sydney have been rather rushed but I am learning how to slow down and enjoy not working full time ,for the first time since I left school this is the longest time I have ever had without working,but no work no income and my money is about to run out.

Murphy

Mr and Mrs Timothy and Tamara Colley