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

Home again ,Home again jiggidy jig

Well I'm back...........just had a little Blog break and some R and R away from the hussle and bustle of our normal lives.......to re-charge the batteries and to also do some house maintenance.....

Guess where we have been the past week? It's coastal....it's sometimes windy.....it's by the Lakes.....yep....you guessed it......we have been down at our HH in Paynesville! Rod was painting.....and I decided to do some pruning in our garden down there....

...and a few more natives......

We do have many natives that we have planted and the amount of growth in the past 7 weeks has been amazing....and so nice to see when we rocked up....check out the Flowering Gum......isn't it just gorgeous!! We planted this about 3 years ago.

.....AND.......looky what we found on the banana palm we were given by our neighbour two years ago....some REAL BANANAS......yeh!! Exciting stuff to see this change of growth in our garden each time we visit!

I gave my trusty FISKARS CUTTERS a good work out.....LOL!

ok...need to get some house cleaning done here now as we have some visitors staying over night Saturday....my good friend Kay and one of her band members are playing at a Wedding and a 50th birthday over here Saturday Night....so need to get things organised....

I 'm so looking forward to catching up with Kay......we have so many laughs.....and we always have such a great time together....we met over 37 years ago at Melbourne Teacher's College and have both remained friends all that time.....we have a friendship that will last forever!!

...and between us we have 7 sons.....Kay 3 and Me 4......LOL!

We are looking forward to the Opening of the BLUE LOTUS WATERGARDEN Season in November....only weeks away now.......we have so many NEW Garden Ornaments this year....will post some pics in the lead up to OPENING WEEKEND!!

Rod and I are involved in a couple of Craft Shows with FISKARS before then(Melbourne Craft Expo being the first Show)......and Rod is trying to finish off our bathroom renovation....just the floor tiles to go...then the floor tiles in the laundry,toilet and hallway.....so plenty happening around home at the moment....we are also off to visit our Grandson on Sunday afternoon or Monday......so no rest for the wicked.....LOL!

new look in Paynesville

We were delighted to see some new things along the Paynesville Foreshore on our arrival here this past week.......

The local school children have been involved in this beautifying Paynesville Foreshore project.....so darn good.....all these gorgeous planters are along the main street......and foreshore......they have also painted the lamp posts.....and aded some wooden fish to the planters.....looks great!

We love the HUGE Dolphin on the toilet block at the end of our Road.....it lights up at night and looks gorgeous!

Back tomorrow with out next colour......so what are we chasing next you might ask?

Make sure you pop by the Fiskars Craft Blog

xoxo Lyn

Colour me "RED" Challenge ~ Rock Art (aboriginal) and a RED RAK

I'm playing along with the Colour Me Challenge on the Fiskars Craft Blog and decided to show some of the pics I took from our recent holiday up in the Northern Territory....this is Aboriginal ROCK ART at it's best.....many,many years old......created in RED OCHRE.

Every aboriginal painting tells a story...they use to paint about the animals and plants of the area....in great detail........aren't they just amazing?

These were in Kakadu National Park....look closely........how darn clever were these aboriginals using something so permanent such as the red ochre to draw and paint with.

...and YES......I have even changed the colour of my Blog to RED just to get into the RED MODE.......LOL!

I have even had a clean up of my stash today and found all this RED GOODNESS......wann'a win it all?

Just leave a comment below here....or over on the Fiskars Craft Blog

Baby Shower this Sunday ~ what fun

Not long now until Sally's Baby Shower....this Sunday....woohoo....so I'm getting into BABY MODE........LOL!

Have wrapped up some gifts ready to go.....and in the process decided to look through my stash and pull out any BABY products...you know....ribbons,flowers,buttons,papers,stickers any embellishments I could find.

So now I'm going to create some fun projects for not only our First Grandchild....but also for my neice....Becky who is expecting her first child in a couple of weeks.......ooh.....we are in BABY MODE now and it feels so good!!

Here are a few more holiday pics.....    we went on many river cruises...this one was on Katherine Gorge

....and Rod and I are looking forward to visiting the Home and Gift Trade Show next Monday in Melbourne....I love this Show......so much to see....and we use this Show to purchase supplies for our business.

more holiday pics including Rod's Barramundi

Some Mangoes...oops...I mean Paw paws growing on a tree......we saw heaps of these......not quite time to pick them yet........ I did buy some Mango and Boab Jam from the Kununurra Market......YUMMO! 

The agriculture around the flats in Kununurra along the Ord River are amazing......heaps of very fertile land as water is released from the Ord River Diversion Dam......
 

Check out this amazing Zebra Rock bench leg in one of the stores we had lunch at....

A highlight of our trip for Rod was going out fishing in Darwin for Barramundi......he caught some big ones......including this one.......and our visit to the Darwin Museum and Art Centre was great.......this croc....named "Sweetheart" use to be in Darwin Harbour and use to terrorise boats and other crocs......it's now stuffed and on display for all to see.....rather a sad story....as "sweetheart" accidently drowned when his rescuers were trying to catch him to move him out of the harbour to relocate him .........
 

It's Rod's birthday tomorrow (Monday) so we have had a family lunch here today with Brendan and Sally coming up...so it was great to catch up with all the kids and share our holiday stories and give them their pressies....yep.....this mum still buys little gifts for the kids...even though they are BIG KIDS now....LOL!

I'm not sure who is still popping by out their in cyberland since I've been away for a few weeks.......feel free to let me know you dropped by by leaving a comment below....

I'm really looking forward to the Craft and Quilt Fair this week.......Rod and I are helping set up on Wednesday with FISKARS........handy having a ute to transport product from Head Office to the Exhibition and Convention Centre.....and seeing we are selling some product on our Stand this year....there will be piles of boxes to cart in.....

I've also had a look at the world map I have on my Blog to see where visitors have come from during the first half of 2009........WOW........just amazing........feel free to leave a comment to let me know that you dropped by.......come on out of lurkdom!

a few more holiday pics

This cute little Joey was being cared for at the DOON DOON ROADHOUSE......

This land line formation of quartz goes from Halls Creek right through to Darwin......just amazing.....

Nothing like going to an Aussie Outback Dunny in the middle of no where between Kununurra and Broome.......LOL!
  Geiki Gorge...............we went on a river cruise......look at the amazing rock formations......sandstone everywhere......and we saw heaps of Fresh Water crocs.......they are more docile than the Salt Water Crocodiles and they have a longer and narrower snout......

and a Mindil Beach sunset in Darwin ....I have so many more pics to hare....so will upload in the next few weeks once I get home....

Hello from BROOME in Western Australia

Thought I'd share some more holiday pics....here you go.......firstly a CABLE BEACH SUNSET..........this happens every night....truelly amazing.......this place is Heaven on Earth......just beautiful sunsets every night......and we also got to see the Staircase to the Moon on two nights.......a fabulous phenomenon......need to down load these yet.....

 We took a flight over the Horizontal Falls north of BROOME....this was a real highlight of our BROOME stay.......such an amazing sight both from the air and from the surface as we also went through these falls in a fast boat.....OMG...what fun!

A KUNUNURRA SUNSET.......I took this as we were travelling along the 50 kms of the Ord River from the Diversion Dam wall to Kununurra........a fun and fabulous river cruise as we sped along........we just loved it.....so much flora and fauna to see along the way......topped off by the gorgeous sunset...... Then as I looked across the skyline I saw this.......the gorgeous purple/pink sky...

Crossing the Northern Territory border into Western Australia.....we had to declare any fruit,nuts,etc......

Hello from Kununurra ~ Western Australia

Hi everyone,

Just posting a few pics from our trip so far......I haven't had much time to download the hundreds of pics I have taken the past few weeks........we are having a blast seeing the TOP END of AUSTRALIA.........WE ARE HAVING AN ABSOLUTE BLAST WITH OUR tour group....A LAUGH A MINUTE.......our TOUR LEADER is funny and very knowledgable.

OK...here are a few pics.....flew over the BUNGLE BUNGLES this morning at about 7am.....

Argle Diamond Mine....the largest Diamond Mine in the world! The home of the PINK DIAMOND.

 

As we drove over the wall today I just clicked away as one of the gates was open on the Diversion Dam....letting water out from Lake Argyle.......I love doing this ......I have been able to take some amazing shots.......even in the bus....from time to time....such a today.

There are BOAB TREES like this everywhere around KUNUNURRA...thEY are huge...and hollow....they have water inside. REMEMBER the MOVIE.....CrOCODILE DUNDEE......REMEMBER CHARLIE ? Well here he is now stuffed in the Adelaide River Hotel....yep......we even stopped there on our way over from Darwin to Kurunurra. Rod just had to have his pic taken here...... LOL! We went for an amazing boat cruise for 3 hours along the ORD River yesterday from Lake Argyle to KUNUNURRA.......50 kms by boat......an amazing experience.....such fun....it flies along in some areas.....got to see heaps of crocodiles the past few weeks...both Salt Water and Fresh Water.....the ones below are Fresh Water crocs...they have a long narrow snout....and aren't agressive like the SALT WATER CROCS.... Check out all the BATS hanging in the trees as we were coming into KUNUNURRA Last night by boat........ And last but not least an amzing KUNUNURRA SUNSET lastnight .......whilst traveling the RIVER ORD...... OOPS.......one more....for Garden Lovers like Rod and I.....the Kapock Flower...these trees are everywhere around the KIMBERLEYS....... OK...off North to WYDNDHAM in the morning....lunch at the pub....and then we stay at Emma Gorge on El Questro for 2 nights......in OPEN RAISED TENTS........sounds like fun!

Back soon after a break.....from sunny DARWIN woohoo

One week to go....woohoo and RaK winner announced

** edited at 5:47pm Wed.....Congratulations to Pam Carlesso! Your name was just drawn out as my RAK  winner!

Please email me your postal details asap....thank you to all of you who left a comment....I loved reading them all! **

I'm counting down the days now until we fly out to Darwin.....it's getting closer!

I'm now starting the packing into our two cases.....trying to decide what not to take.....LOL!

With the weather in the 30's up there we are going to be going from freezing cold here in the YARRA VALLEY to SUMMER type weather.......so from one extreme to another....LOL!

Think I'll cope though......he,he........I love the warmer weather.....and we'll have sunshine most days I would imagine.....yeh!!

So camera batteries have been charged today.....paperwork all in.....and clothes sorted.....

I have a few jobs to complete work wise before we go and a Wedding this Saturday at Twisted Vines in Silvan which we are looking forward to...as Adam gets married!

I'll be at the Picture 2 Page (Lilydale) Members Night this Thursday evening June 18th for a fun filled night of crafting and then Friday I'm working at PAPERIFIC EXPO in Melbourne for my friend Stacey Apeitos!

So come Tuesday evening when we fly out I'll be well and truelly ready for a restful holiday.......LOL!

Tim and Michael shall be around home to keep an eye on things whilst we are way.