Natal Quilters Guild

Yesterday was NQG meeting and for a change I was able to attend. The first part of the day was taken up with looking at the Quilt display and voting for your favorite.

My favorite!

Another interesting 3D quilt.

Circles are popular.

There were various vendors selling lots of lovely goodies and fabrics for quilting. This was my favorite vendor but I resisted.

 

Beth had lovely patterns for making miniatures. And kits for making up these patterns.

We had a most interesting talk and slide show by two quilters who had gone to the states for the Houston Quilt Festival. They described the fun they had visiting the Amish and other places before getting to the festival. Their pictures of the quilts that were on show made us all totally gasp in amazement.

It is good to see how alive and well quilting is in South Africa with the upcoming quilting events taking place all over the country. Maybe I should stop writing and go and get quilting!!

Filling the well.

I have embarked on Julia Cameron's writing course and two bits of advice she starts with, is to write three pages every day no matter what and the second is, to give yourself a regular "Artist's Treat" and by this she suggests you do little things to make yourself feel good and "Fill the well". This could take the form of rewarding yourself with gold stars, to visiting places that inspire you. 

 

The last few days have certainly been inspiring and gives one another perspective on life. We have just spent a few days in the Berg near Underberg. Warren had booked us into a chalet on a farm about five K's outside the town.

The view from our temporary home was just delightful. The colours were simply amazing.

At times I tried to count the different shades of green and the various colours of the mountains.

My sister and brother in law used to spend lots of time taking their children hiking in the mountains so they know the name of the various peaks and many of the interesting spots to explore.

My humble little point and push camera worked overtime as I tried to capture the absolute beauty of the area.

Around every nook and cranny there was something magnificent to see.

Dudley spotted two Crowned cranes playing in a nearby field. Evidently this is a rare sighting.

We popped into Pucketty Farm Stall and stocked up on delicious ginger biscuits. We were amused to see an "honesty box" in the shop.

Himeville is just a few K's away and while the men tested the beers in the hotel, Robyn and I popped into the museum which is housed in the original fort on the main road.

I felt very comfortable there as I recognized many of the artifacts as being similar to what I have in my home!!

 

On the wall in the pub was a little plaque with an inspiring message.

mmmmm, is it applicable?

As suggested by Julia Cameron, the Well is full!

Fun with friends.

So far this year has been a year of family get togethers but now it is time for friends. Firstly we had the Moults pop in. They live in Sierra Leone and have a flat in Durban to which they love to escape to. While here, they do all their medical visits, shop and catch up with friends. Unfortunately they no sooner arrived and fell ill with the flu! As we also had coughs and colds so they found themselves in good company. Old friends are like comfortable slippers, all warm and fuzzy!

Mary and Gavin stopped in for two nights en route to Knysna. We have not had quality time with them for ages. We all commented on how time absolutely flies and how important it is for us to spend time together with our "adult" friends.

Marilyn Gosnell has had an offer on her beautiful home down on the beach in Ramsgate.

 

We have been to many happy functions here and I know it cannot be easy for Marilyn to part with this home which is steeped in many happy memories! With Jerry gone I suppose it is not the same and also the safety factor for a woman living on her own.

The grandchildren will miss coming here too as they spent hours and hours on the beach. Everything has a season and perhaps it is time for Marilyn to move on. I know we will miss knowing she is in her Beach house!

With Wendy and John being in town, Marilyn thought it is a good time to invite a whole lot of Big Benders over for lunch on Sunday. it probably will be our last visit to her beautiful home. We were amazed to see some folk we had not seen since 2000 when we left Big Bend!

The Rostrums, the Canters, Annie Waterhouse, John and Wendy Moult and the Du Casses were all there

Lots of lively chatter and good laughs took place around the table. If only tables could talk as that table has hosted so many people for so many different functions!!

Good food, good company, good wine! What more can you ask for!! Thank you Marilyn! We miss you Jerry.

This was made from a recipe from Charmaine Crous and is simply delicious!! I will have to try it some day!

Back home.

It is always good to get home and back to base. It was fun putting my new quilt out. Diana made this specially for me.....I SO appreciate her kindness and generosity. I am not sure how she does it with three s all children, no home help and a hubby who is often away!! I feel so honoured. Thank you Didee.

Diana made a second quilt using her collection of "African" fabrics featuring people of all walks of life obviously from Africa. I took these quilts to our guild meeting and they were amazed to see these lovely quilts using such interesting fabrics. Why do you have to go to America to get such lovely and interesting African fabrics.

 

Every panel tells a story! It is one of the quilts that you can sit and look at for hours.

Thank you Diana! You are amazing!

The last week.

Back in Sabie Park several of Christopher and Diana's friends were able to join us for braai at the picnic spot. Once again the children were able to run and play and enjoy each others company.

It was so special having Nick and Joshua with us together with Sarah and Oscar. The three boys were quite a handful getting up to all sorts of mischief.

Every morning the adults would set off to be at the Kruger Gate by 6:00 am and the grandchildren, Warren and I would have lots of fun together.

 

This was the most special time ever being with these amazing children and seeing them interact. We are so proud of our children, their partners and their children we are so blessed.

The week passed by so quickly and soon it was time to say goodbye and wave everyone off. The house was so quiet we couldn't wait to pack up and move on too. A sign of the silence was a visit from the giraffe, the Zebbies and even the warthog....who all had been rather scarce!! Till next time.....

 

 

Christopher has put a wonderful you tube video together capturing all the special moments of the holiday.

Molly on Safari.

Parteeeeee Time.

Our eldest son Christopher, turned 40 on the 3rd January. He celebrated this in Australia with Diana's family. Nick was able to join him with Joshie and they had lots of fun. However it was Christopher's dream to celebrate in style in the "bush". He asked us to suss out a suitable spot which we duly did and fell head over heels for a beautiful spot on the river, Sabie River Lodge. 

With the venue booked it was over to Chris to send the invites out and sort out the finer details. On Friday it was time for us to leave Sbie Park and head for the Lodge where we would meet up with the other guests including Sarah, Adrien, Oscar and Nick and Joshua. Having all five grandchildren together and three children is amazing!

 

 

The setting was perfect. Hippos were wallowing in the water and enjoying the lovely weather. Guests arrived from all corners of the world. Those folk with children slept in the Protea hotel and spent most of their time with us at the lodge. The children loved running wild on the lawns. Joshua and Oscar having driven from JHB were thrilled to meet their cuzzies and enjoyed running wild.

 

It was a wonderful reunion for Christopher and Diana and their friends. We all enjoyed reconnecting and Friday was taken up with connecting. Golf at Skukuza was scheduled for Saturday morning.

 

Saturday morning started off sunny and no sooner had the staff set up for breakfast on the deck and the heavens opened and the rains began. It rained the whole day. The golfers got stuck in the club house, the cyclists continued for as long as possible, the children watched T.V. And Marion, Joyce and I spent the day playing scrabble and drinking amarula coffee.

The staff were so accommodating and set up for dinner in the upstairs lounge and the show went on!!

No sooner had the dinner ended and guess what...the rain stopped. The decorations went up, the music set up, the fire started and it was parteeee time! It was a glorious evening and sitting around the fire with the great selection of music playing in the background, no one could wish for anything better. Once the children started getting weary they passed out in front of the teleVision. At one stage I counted fourteen children.

 

The party went on for many hours accompanied by the happy hippos!

After breakfast on Sunday morning it was time to head back to Sabie Park.