Lyn's thoughts..........

Still hot here in the YARRA VALLEY

It has been another scorcher today here in the YARRA VALLEY......I was surprised to see visitors still turning up to the BLUE LOTUS WATERGARDEN today in such extreme heat conditions.....but they still kept coming through the gate........

Rod was happy as he managed to sell his large stone fish bowl/fountain that he had brought at the end of last season today.......in fact one of the regular artists brought it......she comes up every few months with a different group of painting students.

This group came from HURSTBRIDGE today........Geoff had to pick 300 Lotus pods this afternoon to fill an order to send to Sydney tomorrow morning .......he sends them fresh and green......the ones below have been picked for awhile....and the dried ones are from last season.....

If you are thinking of coming up to the Blue Lotus Watergarden then now is the time to come.......the Lotus and Waterlily are all out in bloom as well as many other water plants......make sure you bring a camera,sunscreen,a hat and come and stay in the cool down by the Little Yarra River which is the boundary of the property........the Watergarden Season closes to the Public at the end of MARCH. For more pics take a look here

45 degrees today....it's HOT HOT HOT here in Victoria

WOWIE.......what a scorcher today...the temp reached 45 degrees.....it's been so oppressive....and silly me had booked to have our carpet steam cleaned......arrgh.........so we had Neil here at 7:15am rearing to get started.

It did mean the carpet would dry quickly with the heat......but it also meant that the doors and windows needed to be open until he finished....so for 4 hours we didn't have the air-con on......

I am very pleased with the way the carpet has come up and also our dining chairs and 2 lounge chairs.......they look so darn new.......gosh....I didn't realise how dirty they had become.

I have had some time to upload some more pics from the AUSTRALIA DAY WEEKEND at PAYNESVILLE......ENJOY!!

The local Apex Club cooked the sausages and fish and the Lions Club served it up along with tea,coffee or juice.....all this was FREE!

Many local residents turned up for the AUSTRALIA DAY BREAKFAST on the PAYNESVILLE FORESHORE which was then followed by the AUSTRALIA DAY AWARDS.

SEEING OUR HOUSE IS ONLY A 1 minute WALK AWAY.....I LOVED IT!

I was also delighted to see that a new restaurant called "Fickle Fig" HAS NOW BEEN OPENED.......so look what I had for lunch on AUSTRALIA DAY......yummo!!

Pancakes with maple syrup and fresh fruit and dob of fresh cream! It was to die for!!

Have you seen......

the latest Push and Print Stamp Factory that FISKARS have designed?

I have been playing around with the "Frankie" as the American's have named it whilst spending some time at PAYNESVILLE.

I hope you find this U-tube video helpful!

Don Burrows plays at Paynesville Australia Day

I have finally had some time to download some pics from AUSTRALIA DAY in PAYNESVILLE. Local well known International Musician DON BURROWS once again donated his services to play at the AWARDS CEREMONY on AUSTRALIA DAY......he is a brilliant musician and I have had the pleasure of listening to him many,many times since we have had our HH in PAYNESVILLE. I was absolutely delighted to see our neighbour and friend Peter Buchanan accept the AWARD for EVENT OF THE YEAR.....on behalf of the LIONS CLUB for their NEW YEAR'S EVE FIREWORKS.......Peter is President of the Paynesville Lions Club and a very community minded man........

Hello from PAYNESVILLE....check out our garden growth

WOW.....I can't believe how much the canna lillies have grown in just the past 5 weeks.....amazing.......I arrived here last night....and was delighted to see the size of the canna lillies we have planted along our side fence down here.......check out their size.......as tall as the fence.......and look at the red hot pokers........the garden looks beautiful down here with everything out in flower.........
 

I will have about an hours weeding to do later today........but I'll enjoy every minute of it........it's so peaceful down here by the water.....I just love it........it's our little peace of PARADISE......LOL! ......OUTSIDE OUR BACK DOOR.........

wE HAD A FEW DROPS OF RAIN LAST NIGHT...but it's a lovely day today.....so off soon for a walk.......it's so flat down here....I love walking along the foreshore and chatting to whom ever comes along...........LOL!

Spending AUSTRALIA DAY on the GIPPSLAND LAKES - Paynesville

I'm spending AUSTRALIA DAY in PAYNESVILLE this year and looking forward to attending the FREE COMMUNITY BREAKFAST that the Rotary and Lions Clubs put on.

They have it on the Foreshore on January 26th and they announce the Community Awards!

A few years ago they also had the Bairnsdale Theatre Group do a Re- ennactment of the First LANDING........it was so darn hilarious as one of the guys nearly dropped one of the women as he was carrying her from the boat.....

So I look forward to watching this again this year......and also catching up with friends down there.......

We are also running a Kids Challenge on the AUS/NZ Fiskars Craft Blog so pop on over to have a look at what the kids have created so far.....there are some amazing projects!

Family News

Just an update for our family and friends.......

Brian and Jess are now in South Australia....having a week's holiday on Kangaroo Island before starting work on a Vineyard in the Barossa Valley.

Brian has been asked to help out his old vineyard boss as it is Harvesting Time on the South Corp Winery property.

So both Brian and Jess shall be working there for about a month...or until the "harvest" is completed.......George was Brian's old boss when he worked for South Corp Wineries a couple of years ago.

When Brian left to move back to the YARRA VALLEY........he was the Manager of the property......so it was a HUGE move to come back for a few years....leaving such a great job......and here he is being offered work again with George....so good.

Rod is flat out at the WATERGARDEN at the moment......and is heading in to the Flower Market in Melbourne tomorrow morning......in the wee hours....he went in last week for a trial run....and loved it....so he shall head in again tomorrow.

Tim has found work already "building"....and it's a local job which is handy.

Mike played cricket last night at Coldstream for Woori Yallock and they won.....it's a 20/20 match....so they are in the semi  finals next week.

Brendan and Sally are on school holidays .....enjoying time without teaching.....seeing they are both teachers.....Sally is a Grade 5 Primary Teacher and Brendan is VCE Co-ordinator at his Secondary School as well as teaching PE and Human Development.

I've been flat out with my FISKARS work........organising Shows/events for 2009....lots of fun but also lots of work as we have so much happening on the crafting front this year.......but hey I love it....love what I do .....and I'm blessed to be working for such a wonderful company.

I have been working on a few projects which I can't share just yet......and am hoping to get some scrapping done for ME this next few days........also taking a few days break in PAYENSVILLE........so I might be missing in action for a few days......but rest assured I'll be back......hopefully with a few project shares......I need some time out to just relax and craft for pleasure!

The Great AUSTRALIA DAY Duck Race

WOW.....it's nearly time for this fabulous fundraising event again....only days way now.....held on AUSTRALIA DAY January 26th....

This year we have purchased a family of 4 ducks.....each duck can be adopted for $5.......I need to check my numbers.....it's such a fun and novel way to raise awareness of the Victorian Life Saving Club and the wonderful work they do around our beaches.....and it's also a great day out for families!

Here's some more info I got from the site.....

Adopt a duck to race in the third Great Australia Day Duck Race in Melbourne, Monday 26 January. You will be sent an adoption certificate for each purchase. All ducks are numbered. If the winning duck has your number, you win! So keep your certificate as proof of ownership.

All profits from the Great Australia Day Duck Race will benefit the development of lifesaving activities through Life Saving Victoria.

You could win a great looking all new Lancer ES Sportback with a fuel efficient 2.0L engine, cruise control, iPod connectivity, power windows and 3 airbags. The hatch design gives you the versatility to pack even more into your life!

For further details you can look here

Twist and flip by FISKARS

I was given one of the FISKARS "TWIST AND FLIP" 2 IN 1 corner rounder punches recently by Fiskars here in Australia to play with and give some feedback on so thought I'd share with my Blog readers........hope this helps you understand how user friendly this tool is. I shall be using this tool for rounding my cards,tags,bookmarks and for rounding the corners of concertina mini albums.........I can see lots of fabulous uses for this tool....how about YOU?

Starting to organise Events for FISKARS

Well I haven't blogged now for 4 days.....OMG......that's so sad for me as I love blogging and sharing things.....the pic above was taken last weekend at the Blue Lotus Watergarden in the reception area.....where there are both "fresh pods" and dried pods" for sale.....

I have been busy with family stuff and projects for FISKARS.......and I'm in full Show mode now here in AUSTRALIA......organising all the EXPERTISE EVENT Shows that FISKARS are involved in for 2009 here in Australia as well as in-store demonstrations.

I have been trying to create another U-Tube video using Lotus flowers and pods but that has been put on hold for a couple of days........whilst I do a few other projects......so hopefully I'll have 2 new U-tube videos to share in a few days.......one using the "twist and flip" punch from FISKARS!

I have stopped and started this video so many times....each time I either laugh or one of the boys come through and comment......don't you just love that.....LOL!

See if you can pick the only Lotus flower on this grid.....the rest are Waterlilies!