Terrific Thursday

Enjoyed a coffee morning with a good friend at the Cultural Centre in Marion then on to the beach at Brighton for a walk on the sand and a look at the sculpture exhibition. Discovered a new craft shop in Unley selling off Christmas stock and other goodies at less than half price (their prices in Oz are much cheaper than the UK anyway) I spent $30 and got a goodie bag with another $30s worth of things .....bargain.

3 weeks gone already

Three weeks have gone already since we left cold and grey England. We have almost melted in temperatures of 43 but most of the time we have relaxed, played or travelled around in a comfortable 26 - 32. Yesterday and Saturday I managed to fit in two card classes at Charlotte's Web and here are the results. These two cards had a 'banner' theme. I suppose we would call it 'bunting' The small triangular flags were distressed, stamped, scrunched up and sprayed with Glimmer Mist

We added punched borders, stamped background (Darkroom Door) and sanded and distressed edged Photochips for two very unique cards.

Tuesdays cards featured the 'Big Shot' machine with embossing folders and Tim Holtz's dies. Card 1 (above) is made from segments of the Happy Birthday embossing folder using Coredinations whitewash cardstock sanded to reveal the background colour

Card 2 has an 'Argyll' base and Nestabilities frames (10) + a stamped bird, flower and silk leaves. A Putty coloured distress inkpad has been rubbed lightly over the embossed surfaces and crumpled flower. As a finishing touch, we painted the flower and frame with a fast drying Glimmer Paint (chandelier) to add a bit of subtle sparkle

Music embossing folder, Tim Holtz bird and cage cut from metal and a flower cut from sheet music combine to make this simple but effective card. More Putty ink to add interest and highlights and two tiny punched tags for the greeting.

First day at school

With my big sister SophieWith Mummy in my new classroom

At my desk

Full load

Love the sun hat

Happy Australia Day

Its a holiday today and we're all celebrating in different ways.

Clive and Paul are watching cricket - England and Australia at the Adelaide Oval ,while Karen, the girls and I are enjoying a nice lunch by the pool and playing on the Wii.

We hope to go for a BBQ and firework display on the beach later this evening to round off the last big holiday before the schools return after their long summer break.

Hot Weekend

We all went on a family picnic to Silver Sands (near Aldinga) just 30 minute's drive down the coast. The sausages cooked on the Barbi were very popular even in all that heat. Grandad had plenty of practice wicket keeping and Sophie is pretty good for 7! Emily prefers to potter around collecting shells (or eating cheesy balls)

It is a beautiful beach and you can drive the cars right on to the sand, set up BBQs and have a great day out. By the time we left some 4 hours later there were hundeds of cars - still plenty of room for everyone. It was the last weekend of the long Summer break as the kids go back to school next week (after Australia Day on the 26th)

The new shelter ($30 in Bunnings) was just what we needed for protection and shelter.

We played cricket and tennis, swam and generally lazed about. The temperature reached a sizzlin 34 but the sea breeze made it bearable. Only a couple of pink spots when we missed with the factor 30!

Charlotte's Web

These are just a few of the lovely cards I could make at classes at my favourite craft shop in Adelaide - Charlotte's Web in Finness Street (near the Westfield Marion Shopping Centre)

Adelaide - The arrival

Can't believe we've been in sunny Adelaide for over a week now and left all the cold, wet and snow behind. The temperature here is between 24 and 30 most days but peaked at 38.8 yesterday.

We've visited the seaside(Brighton), where we paddled and made sand-castles decorated with shells

Spent a few hours walking round the wildlife park at Cleland where we fed the kangaroos and wallabies
Yesterday, to escape the heat (39) we went to Westfield Shopping Centre and caught a glimpse of the Tour Down Under (cycling). and in the evening watched a cricket match at the Oval

Enjoyed a picnic lunch in the Botanical Gardens and fed the ducks.


On Sunday, after a lovely meal out at the Belaire Hotel we toured the hills area visiting 'opens' looking for the sort of properties we would love to buy next year once we get our Visa an come to live here permanently! Much of the spare time has been spent playing with our two lovely granddaughters or lazing in or by the pool.