~Girls Days/Nights Out~or It's All About The Food and ~P A R I S~

Friday morning we went up the Clyde Mountain and into Canberra
The weather was wet......cold......bleak

even some melted snow I spotted

but that didn't deter this group of girls from catching up!

This bunch of schoolfriend gals have been friends since we were under 10 years old

And a couple of us since babies......Hi Kerrie!!!!!!

In the pice above is Angela......me......Kerrie......Lynn and Kathryn

And what did we do

We ate......talked......laughed

The next day we did it all over again 

Started off with Breakfast

Went shopping at Canberra DFO (Direct Factory Outlets) and I happened upon Provincial 

Of course I stopped when I saw this sign P A R I S

You see......my Son had offered me a trip to New Zealand next year for my B I G birthday

and then also gave me the choice of  ~P A R I S~

Holey Dooley!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where to start????????

First up the obvious.......yes of course, let's pack!!!!!

Then the reality......what to do with JoJo

There is no centre based respite here

Perhaps she can go to DS and be helped by his Partner's Mum

but they have full time jobs...

So much to think about

It may not even happen at this stage due to the logistics of it all

but then again I can keep dreaming......can't I?

If you look at my side bar the essay by Emily Percy Kingsley (a Mum of a child with a disability) describes it all beautifully!!!

Emily Perl Kingsley is a writer who joined the Sesame Street team in 1970 and has been writing for the show ever since.

Her son Jason Kingsley was born with Down Syndrome in 1974.  Her experiences with Jason inspired her to include people with disabilities into the Sesame Street cast, including an actress who uses a wheelchair, Tarah Schaeffer, and even Jason himself. Jason's story was the topic of an hour-long NBC television special in 1977, titled "This Is My Son," and with co-author Mitchell Levitz, Jason wrote the book "Count Us In: Growing Up With Down Syndrome."

source ~Wikipedia~

Back to Provincial

a white dresser for crockery

the same in black

and then timber

We went back to our room and sipped some bubbly with strawberries

Went out again

and ate some more

Sunday saw us off to the fabulous Kingston Markets where I had a Hot Spiced Apple Cider

Check out the size of the Cinnamon Bark for the Hot Mulled Wine

Yep, that's right......more eating......Breakfast

lots of wool on sale

Got talking to the lady of this gorgeous stall Provencal Chic

Check out these gluten-free Florentines made by Divine & Delicious

Mr Armchair and JoJo came to pick me up  

and of course trust JoJo to find the musician playing at the Markets

Jazz Latin Guitarist Gavin Rene Libotte from Urban Gypsies

Thanks so much Gavin for your time and we love your CD!!!!!

Now back to the real world for me

A one where people our age are contemplating retiring/kicking back/travelling

we are still doing bedtime and bathtime
 Having said that we wouldn't have it any other way as JoJo teaches us so much and continues to do so

And like Emily says in her essay
There are also beautiful things in Our World!

~Gilbert & Sullivans Pirates of Penzance at The Playhouse and Some Kind of Wonderful Quilt~

After rehearsing for the last few months away from our local Theatre we are finally into the Theatre now and set construction has begun!

Parts of the set for Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance

Directed by Barbara Gellatly

Musical Director Linda Oxley

The  'working' table

Here are some of the jackets to be used for the Chorus of Police of which I am part of

See the one with the purple and gold braid......that's my jacket!

Some of the Daughters' Costumes

The very talented Jimmy Roe in the Lighting/Sound Box

Jimmy is going on to study Musical Theatre next year and I'm sure he's going to make it one day

GO JIMMY

3 'highly nervous police'

And just to get back to Quilting now above is a pic of the Some Kind Of Wonderful Quilt by 

Anni Downs made by Fiona at my Needlework Group

It's just gorgeous Fiona and I can't wait to start my one using the Some Kind of Wonderful fabrics by Anni 

And Chooky I'm getting there......nearly finished the last block of my Gardener's Journal Quilt.

I don't know what's going on with my email

several times I have tried to get back to people who have commented and I just can't open them up

I'm going to keep trying so I will get back to you eventually!

~A Class with Deb Louie...A Primitive Book...and Pirates of Penzance~

Last week I had the absolute pleasure in attending a very comprehensive quilting workshop at Steph's with the lovely Deborah Louie

I did a one day workshop and boy did I learn heaps!!!

Above is fabric Deb had drawn up for us showing cables, cross hatch and straight lines where we learnt to lift and drag...

Deb also showed us how to prepare a quilt for quilting

My lift and drag...

Cables and cross hatches

I had never really been shown this before and I am so pleased I did this workshop

I thoroughly enjoyed it and hopefully will be able to attend the 2 day one next year if it runs

Thanks Deb......I have learnt so much from you and can't wait to do some cross hatching

During the week I received this Primitive magazine from The Stitching Post which I couldn't resist and ended up signing up for it

lots of lovely projects in warm autumn colours

Rehearsals have started for Gilbert & Sullivan's Gilbert and Sullivans Pirates of Penzance at our local Amateur Theatre Group

I'm in the Chorus of Police and learning heaps......even some acting and singing along with a bunch of other Highly Nervous Police......and having lots of fun

I'm away this weekend with a bunch of school friends that I haven't seen for a while

Mr Armchair is going to take over care duties for JoJo while I go and kick up my heels with my buddies

So I better go and pack now and I'll be back after the weekend with some pics of our rehearsals!!!

~Happy Birthday JoJo~

This post is for JoJo

she waits all year for her birthday...and we have been counting down for 66 sleeps and now it's finally here!

Normally she's not one for jewellery but while shopping at the Canberra Centre she spotted the Pandora stand and chose this blue September birthstone ring...the stone is Lapis Lazuli which is not her birthstone

but it is her favourite colour

The actual birthstone for August is Peridot

She'd been asking for some red drums for a while now and we tracked some down

the look on her face was priceless when she opened her door to them!!!

We went out for dinner to Monet's with good friends Asta, Fiona and David

this is the view when I went there in the afternoon to deliver the balloons

Some stars that fell out of an envelope when she opened a card 

JoJo started off with Garlic Prawns for dinner

followed by Fish'nChips

Mr Armchair chose Sushi 

and I  had Lemongras Chicken

All finished off with a Wiggles Birthday Cake

She had a lovely lovely day and an equally lovely weekend with her brother, sister and niece and nephew here to celebrate!

Over the weekend JoJo's brother and partner came down and they all found a new track to walk on

with a lovely view in the background

Whilst us adults were celebrating on Saturday these 2 little tech savy munchkins were quite happy with each other's company......along with mum's ipad!

A lovely few days celebrating

Happy Happy Birthday dear JoJo!!!

She loves all occasions

and now the countdown is on to Christmas!!!