Ginny the giraffe

 This was my holiday project for U3A.

Heaps of wool and cotton had been donated a few months ago and all of us in the crochet group were given the opportunity to take whatever we wanted. We all donate our items to different charities.  As usual not all was taken and the only place to keep it is in an outside shed. 

One of our members came up with an idea that we each take some to make a project over the holidays. I selected two orange and a brown ball of wool. I ended up not using the brown but I used some yellow from my own stash.

 It was supposed to end up at 17 inches mine is about 12 inches tall.

Cinema

 Our movie theatre was revamped last year and was closed for several months. I think we went once in the week or second week after is was reopened and we found the service was not good. Prior to that we had been going to the movies every couple of months, also there had not been any movies that we wanted to see. The strike in Hollywood didn't help either. 

I had heard from a friend about a funny Aussie movie that they said was worth watching.

Tuesday is cheap ticket day and also a day that we don't usually have anything on. Their website didn't allow us to buy tickets online so we went a little early. Must have been too early as we were stopped by gates at the entrance. Movie time was 10am and we were there about 9.20.

Anyway we selected recliner chairs, a new feature, cost $2 more I think, got drinks and popcorn and made our way in.

It was a funny movie, with a couple living in America, deciding to come to Sydney to get married. The harbour bridge and the opera house featured quite a bit, plus our harbour rescue services when some guests fell into the water.

A def feel good movie.

Clothes basket

 We have had a cane basket with lid for more years than I care to think about, we use it as a dirty clothes basket.

It sits in the ensuite between the toilet and the trolley that holds toiletries and fresh towels. It's quite deep and has become a pain to reach in and get the last of the clothes out to wash.

Warren has suggested a couple of things to make it more user friendly, like put a false bottom in it to raise it up. I had the bright idea to make a lining for it but only half as deep. We tend to throw clothes into it from the doorway, it does have a lid but that is never closed. The hinges had broken years ago and it had been reattached with some cord in two places.

First thing was to remove the lid then using a pillow case, I made a sizable bag with elastic around the sides. It can be taken out and to the laundry if need be.

This is the end result. It holds enough for one load of washing.

Elvira bag

 These are all the rage on crocheting sites that I belong to, with many posting photos.

I finished mine today, it was my second go at it as I didn't think it was big enough then it seems too big, the first one is large and only five inches high and is holding small scraps of fabric in my sewing room.

The pattern called for 4 strands of 8ply wool and an eight hook, I used two strands of 10 ply and one 5ply, and a 7 hook, even that was hard on the hands,

It is red and grey and white, the grey and white I had been gifted and the grey run out as I was doing the last handle. It's about 12 inches tall, going to be used to take crochet projects to class.

I even lined it, I bought a 50's style skirt from an op shop as I wanted some fabric with red tones. It came in very handy to line my bag. I did have a small piece of plain red which I made a pocket for phone or keys inside. 

Dietitian

 I had an apt with one on Wednesday, I get four sessions with her.

Firstly she told me that I needed to have breakfast,for years my breakfast has consisted of a cup of coffee.  I responded by saying that I don't like cereal, she suggested porridge, yuk, that's worse than any cereals.

The next 20 minutes, session was only 30 minutes, she went thru Woolies catalogue pointing out things that would be good for me.

iSo my second breakfast was Jordan's granola and no sugar yoghurt with blue berries on top. Actually I didn't add any blueberries because there were a heap in the granola.

First breakfast was a boiled egg on toast, she suggested making a meal of it with cheese, an egg, spinach tomato and mushrooms. Today I had half a tin of oysters spread on a slice of toast.

I was tested for dietibetes and while it's not an issue my sugar levels were a little higher than she (Dr) would like, hence the dietitian and exercise pysio 

A scrappy quilt.

 Yay, got it finished today. It seems to be taking forever but I have two others that I had started before the inner of this one surfaced and being a bit smaller, the panels are smaller too.

I also decided to make the panels in one colour each. Great idea but my sewing room looks more of a mess that usual as I have been putting out stashes of fabric to fit the colour.

This one measures 120 by 165cms. The other two are bigger at 150 by 180cms, one has all the panels done just a matter of sewing them together then putting the back on.

I have done them as quilts would have originally be made, overlapping fabric and doing a fancy stitch to secure them and also cover the raw edges.

A raging torrent

 Lucy and I went walking down the creek yesterday, it had rained through the night and seemed that park run would be wet.

Our creek is usually quite low and hardly flowing, not so when we went.

In a couple of places the water had come up the bank but had a fair way to go before the path. It was flowing quite quickly so today I dare say it would have been almost back to its normal self. Luckily the mossies weren't out or maybe we were too early for them. 

I took an umbrella what a pain that is, there were a few sprinkles and I did put it up for the last 400 metres but could have easily done with out it.

Willy Wag Tail.

 Lucy and I were walking on a large patch of vacant land and we must have disturbed this bird.

I saw him on the ground just in front of us and expected him to fly but no he stayed around just out of reach. He flew up a couple of times only a metre or so and then came to ground again. Didn't appear to be hurt in any way.

I wondered if he/she had a nest near by although it's way out of nesting time. I think he was quite glad to see us continue to walk on by. I had not seen one this close before.

Lucy is just out of shot and even she being around didn't seem to faze the bird in any way.

Brisbane International Tennis

 Warren had signed up to volunteer again this year but ended up pulling out due to his leg injury. However he felt good enough to attend and so he bought tickets. But of a shock to the system as we had to pay! As a volunteer, he always got given tickets.

At this time of year, the transport people decided to do maintenance on the train lines. That meant for us, we could only get a train half way to the city. Parking is at a premium around the venue.

So it was train to Geebung, then dedicated buses to the city but that station hasn't been upgraded yet so it was three flights of steps and then over the lines and down again. Phew, I was glad to see that last step and so was Warren.

Train from the city to Corinda, the closest to the tennis is Yerongphilly station which is then a nice easy walk of about 900 metres to tennis, but that line was closed too. Again dedicated buses to the tennis about a ten minute trip. Finally it was a 200 metre walk to tennis, bag check and scan tickets, no ticket purchase except on line. Just over two hours to get there.

I wanted a coffee but there was a line of people queued up half way around centre court. I waited til later.

On centre court was Osaka and Plislav and we watched two sets before we needed to give our knees a rest. Seats are great but there is not a whole lot of room for legs. Outside getting lunch, we saw that our own Daria Saville was playing on an outside court. The seating there seemed a little more roomy and it's first in to get seats. 

This was how close we were, she was a set down when we got there. We saw her win the next set but unfortunately she couldn't pull off a win. She is returning to tennis after over twelve months off with having knee surgery.

Got some zoom going on here. She's quite the pocket rocket at only 160cms, she won her first round and has been granted a wildcard to the Australian Open.

My Donations

 I like to keep my hands busy. My mum always said that she didn't suffer from arthritis because she knitted or crocheted. I trust that I won't get it either.

Some of the things I made for the Christmas giving tree. The pile in front are draw strings bags, I have some left over ready for next year. I bought an almost new doona cover from an op shop for $4, Bunnings sell venetian corn, 20 metres for $5. 

I sewed PJs in fabric, stretchie toys, lady bugs some monsters in different colours and small soft dolls.

Japanese Ramen

 We got a taste for this earlier in the year. Couldn't believe that I hadn't tried Miso soup before.

Got to confess though, I bought a meal pack with the noodles and Miso in it, there were a few dried vegetables as well. I added one sweet corn and a cup of mixed vegetables. I fried the pork and sliced thinly. It was good.