Sisterhood To A Tea...

To celebrate and remind...

Just spent the weekend away with my heavenly sister on our annual "Sisterhood Togetherness" time. We have done it 3 times in the last 7 years. Last year we went to Byron Bay. Aaah, bliss. This year we each brought a very good friend and went somewhere a little closer to my home (about 4 km away!!) but a resort none the less.. 

We did massages and herbal tea in bathrobes and gentle spas. We did dinners and French champagne and talked, talked, talked. We lazed by the pool, had cocktails and squeezed in leisurely breakfasts that we didn't have to cook. We laughed and laughed and laughed. And talked and slept in and read and read and read.

My sister and I bought gifts to mark the occasion. Mine was the tea cup above from Maxwell and Williams: pretty, dainty and matching. My sister bought us all hats from Elk Accessories which we wore everywhere. And didn't care about the inquiring looks we received. Not at all.

Fedora

Trilby with bird

Trilby with cicada

V-e-r-y relaxing and v-e-r-y terrific. Highly recommended








 Ciao for now...






 

Supporting Community...

Some of the 25 or so gifts

I live in a wonderful community. We don't live in each other's pockets but certainly team up together when needed. One of our lovely friends is unwell and before you could say "jack robinson" there was a cooking roster, offers to do laundry and cleaning, offers of assistance with transport...
It brought a tear to my eye
In fact, an account has been set up for donation towards a cleaner and someone to do the laundry so my friend can know her kids are looked after and she can solely concentrate on her darling hubby. If she knows the house is tidy she can concentrate on what is important. It will mean she isn't stressed about something like "have the kids got enough school socks clean". Someone even gave her a gym membership to keep her mind clear as this will be a long haul.
I am on food duties and I did a special parcel of gifts to be open daily with the family. Some gifts are for the hubby but lots are for the family to. It is designed to get them laughing. And talking. Cancer is a very scary word no matter what age you are. I have done this sort of gift bag for family and friends who are recuperating from illness which can take a long time. Although flowers are nice, I think this sort of thing also works very well. Feel free to use these ideas for your loved ones.
First I shop at a cheapy shop and buy crazy pressies like glasses that light up, silly putty, jigsaws, bubbles, chalk for drawing on the footpath, chocolate (of course), solar-powered flower that dances, pencils and paper, washable tatoos, stick on moustache and beard..... See, crazy stuff.
Then
I wrap them all and write crazy poems on them to temp and tease

These are glasses that look like Dame Edna's and light up

One of those solar powered flowers that dance in a pot

Moustache and a beard

A ball on a string...

See, tragic little poems but guaranteed to bring a smile and a laugh. I have serious stuff in there too like special lip gloss for dry lips, sugar free chewing gum guaranteed to get bowels moving (yep, bowels), notebooks to jot down thoughts etc. All presented in a nice draw string bag.
For the price of some nice flowers and a bit of a creative mind....






Give it a go.
 Ciao for now...
 

Reject Run...

Hello beautiful people. I've been trawling shops and the universe for ceramic stool to add to my new little outside area as side tables. I've been looking here and there with the average price ranging between $160-$179.


So...

Imaging my delight when I came across this catalogue!!!

There it was:

Ceramic stools....

$40.

Yup!!!

$40 each

I rang the shop to hold two for me

I got in my car and v-r-r-o-o-o-o-m-m-m...

THEY ARE MINE!!! Bwahahahaha...

2 black ones. Picture to follow of it all set up because bit of a rainy dull day here.

Sort of blows my "Frugal February" theme though doesn't it?

However, I bought a bag in January that needs returning as the leather colour is patchy.

So....

The bag was $80. The stools were $80 together. So, it sort of cancels each other out

Doesn't it?

That's my theory so I am sticking to it.




 Ciao for now...








 

Zig My Zag...

I am a bit addicted to zig zags at the moment especially since my heavenly sheets came into my life. I don't know about you but that four letter word S-A-L-E gets me every time and I was in a bit of a rush as "Frugal February" was fast approaching.

It all started because I moved a chair and, well, needed new cushions to complete my decorating. As you do.

The chair is to the right of this picture in our entry...

The zigzags compliment the wavy waves...

 So, I bought these lovely cushions from Adairs (online) for the entry. I would have snapped up red ones too but alas they only came in a sort of burgundy. I did find some red stripped ones at Pillow Talk (on line) but an still a bit "eh eh" about them. Below shows a pic of the cushion I had before and my new stripy one.

Floral

Zig Zag (and model)

 Looks a bit bare here but I do have two cushions. I like things clean and sleek. I also got 2 outdoor chairs for my birthday so thought I would tie the outdoor area with the indoor by adding, you guessed it, more zig zags. Now I also r-e-a-l-l-y like these ones but alas, no red. I don't m-i-n-d these red ones but think I like a wider zig zag. However, best suck it up because didn't have to buy them (even if they were on sale). The black ones came from Adairs too.

Black and linen on black. Looking nice and sleek

I don't leave the outdoor cushions on the outsode chair because of:

• Rain
• Birds
• Nameless pup who believes she makes a great accessory.

Oh, speak of the devil...

She thinks her collar compliments the lounge and sets the cushion off very nicely. Hard work this!

 Ciao for now...




 

High School Highs....

1st Day of Kindy. He was 4

Master T has just spent nearly two weeks at high school and is going great guns so far. He l-o-v-e-s it. I think he is in awe of the bigger kids, the muscles, the hair... the girls........

He gets home and is quite chatty. He especially tells me what his sister and her friends are up to. This won't last as he gets the "death stare" from her. Oh well. He sits down every night and does his 1 hour of study / homework / review. I think anyway. You can never be sure with this computer generation who can surf in and out of programs at the flick of a wrist. Atleast I know he isn't on Facebook. As yet

First Day of Primary School. Here he is nearly 6

1st Day of High School. He is nearly 13. Geez!

Him and his buddy on their first day

Being studious. I hope it lasts!

He is my baby and in uploading these photos it is easy to see the baby he was and the man he will become. He is not much shorter than me now and I am loving seeing both my children grow. I am loving this new life of having both children at High School. They are out of the house to catch the bus a good 20 minutes before I leave for work.

Ahhh, the serentity...


ciao for now



just Martha xx

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

One Two Three... Stroke

Image

Didn't get to the old style cafe in the end. Flooded in!!! Or at least flooded away from the cafe. Bit of an issue around where I live. Water water everywhere. Did drive through some flood water but ended up doing something to the radiator which was then bleeding greenish fluid.

Oh oh.

Trouble.

"Oh Silver Fox..."

"What? I'm laying concrete" (quite a challenge in these times of torrential rain.  Pity about the deadline he is on)

"There is green fluid coming out of the car"

"How much?" Fair question but you see his "much" and my "much" are different. "It has dribbled down 4 carparking spots"

(silence) "Did you go through flood water?"

"Well, a bit"

"How high was the water?"

"Well, it didn't quite reach the windows" (Haha I'm joking but he wouldn't put it past me) "It wasn't quite past the wheel" (tyre wheel that is not steering wheel. He wouldn't put that past me either)

(silence again)

"Is the bonnet hot?"

"Yes"

"How hot?" Now I h-a-t-e these conversations because the Silver Fox used to be a mechanic in a past life and I am always getting asked things like "Is the noise a brrr or a grrrr or even a drrr?" We don't talk the same language. We once played Pictionary together (first mistake) and the word was "vacuum". He drew me a picture of a vacuum in an engine and kept stabbing the picture like I was an idiot, burning holes through me. "Why didn't you just draw a vacuum cleaner?" I asked. Apparently he didn't think of that. As if I would know what a vacuum in an engine looked like!!!! See? No common language. I did tell him that a couple of days before it was going "Phssssssssht" when I parked it. I assume that is not a good sign. AND I did tell him the "Coolant Level Low" light had come on and that I had filled it with half a watering can full of water. See? I know enough at least to do this and put water in the correct orifice. (Hopefully)

So the outcome was that the bonnet was hot and he came riding on his white horse with a big scowl on his handsome brow, watering can in hand, filled the radiator with about 6 litres of water, while the engine was running and kept squeezing a hose to fill the engine. I drove the car home and now get to drive his 1990 BMW 3 series 2 door sedan called Bella. Yep, if you guessed he loves the car more than me you would be correct. Talk about pressure. AND it is a manual and where as I c-a-n drive a manual, I have to remind myself to push down the clutch BEFORE starting the engine! Okay I know I sound ditzy but the pressure is on and he doesn't say much but gives me l-o-n-g looks.

Sometimes I think in times like this a row boat would be much easier. He has fixed my car today which ended up having a hole in a radiator hose which after driving a while would end up leaking as the pressure of the engine built up.  Apparently.

Moral of the story? Could be to not drive through flood water as the cool flood water hitting the engine higher than usual does damage (not to mention potentially getting washed away) or buy a new car with loads of warranty or join NRMA so a nice friendly stranger can fix it with a smile. Yep, maybe the third option.




Ciao for now...