Digital scrapbooking

A few years ago I discovered another way to waste hours on the computer. Well, it is not really a waste if you are being artistic but the time flies by like mad and before you realise, it is afternoon already and you probably should stop playing and get on with yesterday's washing up. Here is my latest effort at digi scrapping. I used some of the frost photos I took yesterday and put this little gem together. Crikey it was cold and the icecream container we have outside with the dog's water in it still had some ice in it at dinner time.

Digital scrapbooking is a lot of fun though you don't have the hands on paper and embellishments to play with but by the same token, if you make a mistake on your layout there is no need to wring your hands and tear your hair out because you can simply delete the offending portion.

Oh well dear readers, I must away as we are going to Armidale in an hour or so to hand over some hard earned cash to the boys at Bunnings and whilst in town we will treat ourselves to a Thai lunch. Yum yum, can't wait.

Cheers

March 2011

Hello loyal readers
Are there any still here?
My get up and go - got up and went
I will try to get back in the groove
Hope you are all going well.
Linda

My childhood Christmas

I have fond memories of growing up at Glenbrook on the NSW Blue Mountains between 1960 and 1972. Especially my Christmas memories. When we arrived at Glenbrook at the end of 1960, I had just turned 7 years of age. That first Christmas was memorable because being new in town, not knowing many people and not being flush with funds, the local Anglican church folk took it upon themselves to bring Mum and Dad a Christmas hamper that year. I remember it well as there were 2 ladies that knocked on the door and presented Mum with this large box full of food and good wishes. There was even a gift each for me and my brother. Mum was so happy that after the ladies left, she cried. Times were tough for a few years and Mum always managed to make ends meet while Dad caught the train to Sydney 5 days a week and toiled away in the office of an insurance company.

Christmas at Glenbrook was always hot. Trying to sleep in a stuffy room with no fans or air conditioning was the norm. Waking at 4am to find a santa sack full of goodies at the foot of our beds was marvellous. I was so excited that I couldn't wait until the sun came up to start unwrapping my gifts so I used to try to remove the paper as quietly as I could so as not to wake Mum and Dad. Brian would sneek into my room and we would both start peeling the paper away. Why "Santa" used to wrap things in the noisiest paper "he" could find (cellophane) was a mystery to us. Inevitably, Mum who was a light sleeper, would hear Brian and me trying unsuccessfully not to make a noise with the paper and would yell at us to go back to sleep. Of course that only lasted about 5 or 10 minutes then the excitement would overwhelm us again and we would have another go.

Christmas eve would normally see a group of singers on a flat bed truck appear on the street corner and sing carols. Dad would always buy a real pine Christmas tree a couple of weeks before Christmas and we would decorate it with home made paper chains and other decorations. I can still smell the pine now. Ahh, it was a real Christmas smell.

Christmas dinner in the 1960s was the traditional hot meal made in a sweltering kitchen by my poor mother. Later on when sanity prevailed, we got into cold meat and salad. A much more sensible choice for our climate. Brian and I were allowed to have a small beer as a treat and we loved that. It didn't do us any harm and we thought we were pretty cool.

We always had our neighbour, Mrs Malcom join us for Christmas as she had no family of her own and she was like an extra grandmother to us. That was a long time ago and today Christmas for me is completely different. It doesn't hurt to remember the old times.

Happy Christmas one and all.

The Countdown to Christmas

Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas one and all.

Here we are into the second week of December already. My how the time had flown in the last 12 months. This time last year we were getting ready to settle our sale of the Cowra house and go to Lismore. Now 12 months later we have been living in Ebor for just over 10 months in our own little cottage in one of the most beautiful parts of the New England ranges of NSW. Life is good.

This Christmas my Dad is coming to stay for a week and will arrive on 21st. I just know he will love it here with the lovely fresh air and the animals next door plus the walk out to the falls and a trip into Dorrigo for a Chinese lunch.

Another surprise is that Matt's sister Loretta (with whom we were intending to share her farm space in Lismore last year) is in the process of selling the farm and looking for another place to live. Co-incidentally, today she will arrive to inspect a property in Ebor. It looks great on the web site and if she buys it, she will have a sizeable chunk of cash left over from her sale. Noice. It will be nice to have her close again.

I am planning our Christmas menu and have already started buying supplies. Ham, turkey etc. Salads and yummy desserts. Must also stock up on the plonk as Dad likes a tipple or 3, just like me.

More soon

I went back to school

Yesterday I taught a craft class at the Ebor School. It was a combined small schools day with kids from Chandler, Hernani, Dundurrabin and Ebor primary schools. About 46 kids altogether from kindy to year 6.

It was a great experience for me as it has been decades since I was able to see how the school system works. I have the utmost admiration for all teachers now. The energy level was palpable as was the noise level when the kids were released into the play ground. Amazing.

Anyway, I had 2 groups of budding artists to keep amused and it was great to see what they created. During the preceeding week, I made each child a zip bag with 2 Christmas Cards, 2 Gift Tags, some stickers, patterned papers and ribbon then they all set about creating cards and tags. I have come to realise that almost without exception, they all love to do craft.

The end results varied from spectacular to ordinary but they were all made with love. I am now the volunteer craft teacher at Ebor. How about that?

Hellooooo...... did ya miss me?

As usual I have been slack at updating this blog of mine. I have a good excuse though. I went to stay with Dad for a week at the beginning of the month. I also had the opportunity of catching up with Sonja, Sue and Felicity from school. We had a nice coffee and chat at Emu Plains and it was good to see these ladies that I have known since 2nd class in 1960. I got new tyres on the car at Gordon Leven's Tyres and More at Emu Plains (free plug), another old school mate but unfortunately Gordon was away on the day I turned up so I missed out on saying hello.

I also met up with my online scrapbook friends Dawn, Sharon and Shaz at Penrith Panthers for lunch. So nice to see y'all again girls.

My week with Dad was pretty good. We took the train into Sydney one day and then the ferry over to Watson's Bay and had fish and chips on the wharf. Delicious tempura whiting fillets. Something Dad had been wanting to do for some time so I thought why not make a day of it while I was visiting. We then caught the ferry back and then a bus to Paddington for coffee. I was born there and Dad worked there in the 1940s and 50s. I also lived there between 1979 and 1990. The place has changed a lot. It was a great day and cheered Dad up immensely.

Happy days.........

Making greeting cards

I have decided to make and sell my own greeting cards and here is a small sample. At present I am selling them through the local post office along with my bookmarks. I also had a craft stall at Fusspots Cafe over the long weekend and made a tidy $46.50. Not bad for my first go. I have been invited to return by the cafe owners any time so I plan to have a few more stalls between now and Christmas. I have started making Christmas cards as well and am hopeful that I can make a few bucks to fund my hobby.

I have also met the principal from the Ebor school who asked me to teach a craft class in November. I have decided to get the kids to make a couple of Christmas cards for their families along with a tree ornament made from an old CD. Here is one I made a couple of years ago. We sent one each to our parents.

So, with Matt's woodwork talents and my scrapbooking efforts, we just might be able to have an outlet for our products next year. I can just see it now.... Appletree Cottage Woodwork and Crafts with a stall out the front of our house. I will have to make a big colourful sign to attract the tourists.

Cheers