Tanya and Stella dropped in today,on the way to the airport to collect James, and brought their own lunch.  Stella's cold isn't a bad one and she let Nanna feed her some porridge with pear before playing happily on the floor.  She's almost sitting up but hasn't quite got the act of balancing perfected yet.  She sat with Tanya on the lounge before "zoning out" then falling asleep. At last her hair is beginning to grow and she keeps reaching up to feel it. How blessed am I to have 4 wonderful, healthy grandchildren?

Little Stella has a cold and her Daddy is away so I went to their place Saturday afternoon and helped Tanya entertain her. Stella particularly liked the sound of a plastic bag Nanna had taken her knitting in and would have liked to help by doing a few rows of that too. After spreading her pumpkin dinner far and wide Stella enjoyed her bath with a few drops of Eucalyptus oil to help her breath then settled well.  Tanya cooked a delicious dinner including very sinful Impossible Pie with cream made from a recipe Les Stipanov gave her when we visited Maleny recently.  The weather in Sydney is extremely mild just now and one is confused about what clothing to put on each morning. 

This is my first post in a very long time.  How wonderful that my life has been so busy that I haven't had time to blog.

My new enthusiasm for blogging has been inspired by contact with an "old" work colleague who told me she'd read my blog and I was embarrassed that it was so out of date.  When I began blogging I was travelling and thought it might be a good way for family and friends to keep up with me but nobody I spoke to seemed to be reading it so I stopped posting.  My enthusiasm is now renewed.

I continue to have a very fortunate life with good health, caring family and loyal friends.  What more can a girl ask for?

Last October Tanya and James had a gorgeous baby girl, Stella Ann who has added an immense dimension to my Nanna life.  Of course, much girlie knitting has been done so she'll be the warmest kid in Sydney this winter.

Richard, Sandra, Mitchell, Nicholas and Zachary are still in Brisbane and I recently did a 6 week housesit for friends in a nearby suburb which enabled me to spend fun time with them.  The three boys are all at school now. Mitchell and Nicholas enjoy Scouts and Cubs and all that that entails, as well as doing extremely well at swimming with lots of medals to prove it.  Zac also swims like a fish and he has taken to school like the proverbial duck to water.

After my family, knitting remains my obsession and a day rarely passes without me working on one project or another.  Currently I'm using fine cotton on fine needles to knit a christening dress I've designed especially for Stella.  No pictures yet but watch the blog between now and June.  In the last few weeks I've also knit a couple of shawls using the old tried and true Paton's Bubbles pattern and many beanies for charity.

I continue to knit for Les Bears although haven't been as prolific with the miniature projects as I was in the past.  The global financial crisis has hit the world of bears too unfortunately.

I've enjoyed a couple of trips to Adelaide to catch up with family and "old" friends. One of these is somebody who first knew me when I was 20 years old but lost touch with when we moved to Queensland in 1982.  You can imagine how much reminiscing has taken place.

While in Brisbane I went to the movies with friend Ann to see "The Exotic Marigold Hotel" and loved it so much that when I got back to Sydney I went again with friend Macey and enjoyed it just as much the second time. This will deinitely be one I add to my DVD library.  I'm not sure if the younger generation will relate to it but I'm sure that anybody contemplating or already experiencing retirement certainly will.  Superb acting, great storyline and the fast pace of India is captured very cleverly.

These days I'm a member of the Sydney Sunday Morning Toastmasters.  One couldn't be part of a more energetic, positive, lively, multicultural, multi-aged group.  My only regret is that I didn't do something like this way back when I was part of the workforce.  The entire group inspires me and gets my grey matter working.

The exterior remedial work on my apartment building was finally completed late last year as was my own renovation work on the interior of my apartment.  For the first time in a long time I'm water tight and modern.  The Owners' Corporation have gone on to refurbish the common areas in the building and it is all looking very "schmick".

Something Old

To honour her Grandmother Buist's memory Tanya wore her fur stole.

A Wedding In The Family

Last Saturday daughter, Tanya, married James Lawson in a joyful family ceremony at James's parents' home. Welcome to the clan James.

Broken Hill to the Coast

Another day's driving full of nature's wonders. The roadside grasses were roughly a metre high, apple green at the base and wheaten at the top. As they swayed in the wind they gave the illusion of being lit from beneath. For 2 days my poor car was subjected to bombardment by huge grasshopper-like insects and I am still trying to get the mess off the front despite numerous washes by Richard and myself.

Suddenly the highway was flanked by a huge body of water and I know what camel drivers must feel like when they come to an oasis! There is was sparkling, clear, bird laden water in the middle of absolutely nowhere.


That night I stayed in a Nyngan motel and was treated to the most amazing sunset I've seen in a very long time.

Coonabarrabran, next day, was a lot larger than I remembered it and a good place for a break in the park and fuel. I'm finding more and more service stations in country towns have gone back to having personnel on the driveway to assist customers and there's nothing wrong with a touch of good old fashioned service.

In my opinion the countryside just out of Coonabarrabran was very picturesque and I made several photo stops endeavouring to capture it.

Hospitality In Broken HIll

Pam was everything I expected her to be and so was her ever supportive husband, Des. Warm hearted, generous, hospitable folk. I felt as though I was visiting with "old" friends.

On Saturday Pam picked me up and we "did" the town. After exploring the main street shops we drove out to Silverton where we had a delicious lunch of home-made sausage rolls in the house Des grew up in which is now an interesting "folksy" cafe.

Then a few klms further on we came to a lookout with a vista I will never forget - it was breathtaking and impossible to photograph.