Sunday, December 28, 2008

The city by night




These are some views of the city as night approached - taken on Christmas Day.


Enjoying the view





On Christmas Day, after we'd eaten dinner, Gina and I sat on her balcony and enjoyed the scenery. These are views of Townsville looking over the city towards Cleveland Bay. The one above is looking towards Magnetic Island. It was such a beautifully clear day and the water was a deep aqua. So tropical!




Family pic


This is a pic of my daughter and her family at the airport ready to leave on their overseas trip. (This was Christmas morning.)


Christmas Day


Okay, so now some of Christmas Day which I spent with friends. This was the table set for Christmas dinner.

The turkey was ready and the preparations were almost done when I took these pics. It was a most enjoyable meal. The sweets we had later.






Christmas pics




Thought I'd try to post some pics of Christmas - our 'early' one before my family left on their overseas trip.

This one on the far left was before the present opening. The one immediately left and the one on the right are of my grandkids opening gifts.


Christmas and after

Quite early on Christmas morning I phoned my daughter's house to wish the family a Happy Christmas. My grandchildren just had to tell me about Santa brought them.

Before 9:30 a.m. I was at their place and so were my son-in-law's parents. We were there to take them to the airport. They were packed and ready and it wasn't long before I was saying "Goodbye" to them. They were flying to Brisbane where they spent some time on Christmas Day with my brother and his family. On Boxing Day they flew out of Australia to Hong Kong. From Hong Kong they fly to Ethiopia where they will spend almost three weeks, I think. They have taken baby formula with them in their luggage and they were hoping that if they had excess weight that it would be okay - and it was - so we are very thankful for God's provision.

I spent the day with friends and I was so glad that I wasn't on my own. We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas dinner with roast turkey, ham and pork and all the trimmings. Somehow we eat far too much on Christmas Day and we waited until later in the afternoon to have our Christmas pudding and brandy custard.

My friends live in an apartment on the twelfth floor of an inner city apartment building. During the afternoon my friend and I sat out on their balcony and enjoyed the breeze and the quietness of the city streets. It was a beautiful day and the sea looked an amazing deep aqua blue. We were even able to see the lighthouse way across the bay at Cape Cleveland. Later, when the city lights came on, I was able to take some quite clear photographs of the city centre at night.

On Boxing Day, my friend and I went to the movies to see, "Australia" with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. The photography of the Australian outback is stunning. I enjoyed the movie and I think it is quite true to history in its portrayal of life in Australia at the time.

Yesterday we went shopping around the home and garden shops. I used a coupon that I'd had for a couple of years (!) in one shop. I finally found some garden ornaments that I liked, so I've now added to my outdoor bird collection. My grandkids will have fun finding the new birds next time they come.

Today I've gardened early in the day - it's far too hot and humid to be outside once the sun is up, so I like to do it while it's in shade. I trimmed shrubs and tidied up my courtyard. Once inside again, I scrubbed the tiles in the bathroom, then I had breadkfast. After I'd been to my daughter's to feed her pets, I came home, had a shower and then I was ready for morning tea.

I'm trying to do some digital designing while I have this four day break and so far I've completed two embellishment sets which I have uploaded to the stores I sell in, so I feel I am accomplishing quite a lot really. Plus, I've loaded PSCS3 onto my PC and I've started working through some tutorials so I'm learning to use that program now as well.

Tomorrow I'll be back at work. I've enjoyed my four day break. If you're reading this, then I'm hoping you've had a blessed Christmas as well.

I'll try to upload some pics from Christmas - and perhaps the previews to my new embellishment sets.

Here's to the New Year. May 2009 be a year of blessing with many hopes and dreams fulfilled. God bless.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Almost Christmas

"Two more sleeps," my grandkids would say...

...and then they are on their way to Africa...starting out on Christmas Day.

I'm really going to miss them so I hope there is some way they will be able to email me from time to time. I just hope and pray that they are kept safe and healthy. It should be a great experience for them as they sample a little of Ethiopian culture.

I'm going to be missing my Mum this Christmas also. It is going to be a tad lonely, for sure, however I'm not going to be alone! I have friends!!! Yeah...and I'll be with them on Christmas Day, so that's a real blessing.

I want to wish all follow along on my blog a very safe, happy and blessed Christmas. Remember...Jesus is the reason for the season!! Have fun.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

My new kit for Christms

Zesty Digi Designs_my_purple_christmas_kit_preview


I have uploaded my new Christmas kit to two stores.

It is at Scrappin Out Loud : http://scrappinoutloud.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_103&products_id=1125

And also at Heaven-Sent : http://www.heaven-sent.com.au/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=110_580_582_586&products_id=1302&zenid=a316142668a804301e633fdbed77914c