Dad's 90th Party

Dad's party is over and was a great success. We had over 70 people attend. Dad is one of nine, and eight are still going strong. There were four of them at the party. Two travelled from Towoomba and one from Lake Cargelligo. Not a bad effort for their ages. The other four all live in northern New South Wales or Queensland, so it was just too difficult for them to travel.

My generation consists of fourteen cousins. One passed away a few years ago, but ten of us were there. Once again, not bad considering the distances involved. One cousin did not reply to the invitation and has never attended a family event before. Just as we were starting to eat lunch he walked in. We were gob smacked and so pleased to see him. I had only met some of my cousins once or twice. Some cousins were there that had never met each other!! My brother and I are the babies of the generation, so it is amazing that first cousins in their mid 50s are meeting for the first time. It was great getting to know them a bit more.

I did a bit of a talk at the party on Dad's life and lots of people want a transcript. Unfortunately I don't have one. It was just stuff that I knew. I think I might have to write it down, and hopefully get Dad to flesh it out a bit. I still don't know whether to raise the subject of his time as a POW or not. We'll just see how it goes. Getting his life down on paper might just have to be a project for the coming year.

I wore my new black and white skirt and was happy with it. It was nice and comfy.

Mum and Dad are involved in their local church, so we held the party at the church hall and the church ladies catered. They did an absolutely marvellous job. The hall was decorated beautifully and the food and service were great. One of the ladies did the most amazing floral arrangements. It was also good to be able to involve their friends this way.

Dad has been having bad back pain for the last few months and yesterday had a further injection in his back. This provided great relief, so he was really able to enjoy his day. He is really fit and well for his age and was in his element among all his family and friends.

A lot of the family are having dinner together tonight, but Mick and I have just came home after it all. I don't have much in the way of photos as yet, as I didn't really have the chance to take any. A family friend took a lot and is giving me a disc tomorrow. Once I get some I'll post a few here.

Red Delicious Started

I've finally made a start on Red Delicious. Yesterday I traced all the pieces for Blocks 1 and 2 and fused them to the background. I'd forgotten how time consuming this is, thank goodness I am on holidays. I am just using machine blanket stitch applique and have completed most of Block 1. I will try to get the rest of the applique on both blocks done today. Then I will just have the hand stitching details to complete, which shouldn't take too long. At least they will be finished before Block 3 is released on the 15th. I'm looking forward to seeing what "Love Apples" looks like.

Our two cats have been hastled most nights lately by a feral ginger tom cat and as a consequence have both had trips to the vets with abscesses. We have borrowed a cat trap and after just two nights have caught the cat. It was a monster..... and cranky!!!! It has now been disposed of and the local pet cats and native wildlife will be much better off for it's demise.

We have done the last of the organising for Dad's party and today will see most of our relatives arrive in town. They all have quite a distance to travel. Many will be traveling over 1000 kms for one day before returing home. It will be good to see them all. A few cousins are coming that I have only met a few times in my life and probably won't even recognise. We didn't expect as many to come, so are delighted.

A New Year and a Finish

Happy New Year. Let's hope 2009 is good for everyone.

We had our 70's party last night and it was great fun. Everyone got into the spirit of the era. I think full marks have to go to one couple who came wearing their own original 70's gear. John had a body shirt, maroon velvet bow tie and pale blue jacket (he just couldn't do up the jacket). Shelley wore her going away outfit and she is still as slim as she was then.

Another friend came in a caftan she bought in Fiji in 1975 while on a cruise. It is a lovely fabric, printed on the islands and it still looked really stylish.

We had bikies, hippies and Hawaiin shirts. Mick was in his Goodies t-shirt and wore an afro wig all night. I was in my bright yellow dress. Sorry, no photos of us were taken. Unfortunately our record turntable wouldn't play, so we had to resort to CDs, but we still had plenty of 70's stuff.

Today, after the last visitors left we did the big cleanup and then I made another skirt. I used the same pattern, this time in black and white. I'm once again happy with the way it turned out. I made this one a bit longer and took the waist in a bit. It fits nicely. I'll definitely wear this one to Dad's party.

On Tuesday afternoon I went into town to meet up with the lady organising the catering for the party. My car sounded a bit rattly when I pulled away from the traffic lights and then the "Check Engine" light came on and the temperature guage showed "HOT". I pulled over straight away and called the NRMA Roadside Assistance. When he got there he informed me that there was no fluid in the radiator, but he didn't think the engine was ruined. A tow truck had to be arranged. Of course, my mechanic is on his annual holiday until the end of January, so another mechanic was arranged and my car delivered. Apparently the radiator is ruined and another is on order. With a bit of luck it will be there tomorrow, otherwise early next week. There couldn't have been a worse time for me to be without a car, so Mum to the rescue. I have borrowed her little Corolla. Hopefully I can return it to her tomorrow.

While spending time browsing blogs yesterday I came across Happy In Quilting. I enjoyed this blog and was delighted to see she collects green depression glass. The number of comments from other ladies who like green glass was great. Here is a sample of mine. There is much more. I don't really go looking for it now as I have no more room to display it. Mind you...... if I come across something special.......

My grandmother had a cake plate and vase that I always liked as a kid. I received my first pieces as Kitchen Tea gifts back in 1986, when it cost about $2.00 a piece, after I had shown a friend a photo of a collection and commented how much I liked it.

People keep asking how many pieces I have and who manufactured it etc. I can never answer either question. There would be over a hundred pieces and I am not a technical collector. I just like it and put it on a shelf.



The sun was shining nicely on this dresser yesterday. This was my grandmother's dresser and she embroidered the runner in the 1930's. It was passed on to us as a wedding present.

This and That

This post is a bit of this and that. Firstly, this is the skirt pattern I used for my blue floral skirt. I now want to make it again using a predominantly black fabric for the top section and predominantly white on the flaired section. Worn with a red top, it should look good.

These are the vintage ric-racs that Mum gave me. They are a nice little addition to my collection of stuff.

For the 70's party I had grand plans for an orange tie dyed t-shirt for Mick. Here are the raw materials. When I opened the dye packaging and was able to read the instructions I discovered you need a fixative that you have to buy as well as a lot of salt. Cath called in at Spotlight on the way out the other day and they don't have any. Not very handy when you are selling the dye. Therefore, when I did the dying yesterday I just added lots and lots of salt, hoping that would work. No, after I rinsed it and gave it a hot washing machine wash, as directed, it is nearly white again. Oh well, I'll just wait until I can get some fixative and then will get more dye and have another go. He won't have a tie dye t-shirt for the party, but I still want to do it. Fortunately, he has his Goodies t-shirt which will do the trick.

I had to go into town again yesterday. I seem to be spending half my time in town. I have to go in again today to meet the lady organising the catering for Dad's party. Yesterday I picked up all the photos of Dad I had copied. Originally I planned on just having photos stuck on cardboard as a collage. However, I discovered this great frame. It came up really well and I was able to make the photos fit in OK. He is lucky to have his mother's old photo albums, so I was able to include lots of photos of his early years.

Yesterday afternoon I started trying to tidy the office and spare room in readiness for people staying over for New Years. What a nightmare. I should have taken before photos, but it was too scarey. I'm gradually getting there. They will be passable (just). I'll get all the food for the party today and will just have to do the final cleaning and the cooking tomorrow. It always seems to come together in the end.