Christmas Wishes and Brisbane Weather.

My silver reindeer are rearing to go as they wait for their serviettes. They have been pain-stakingly scrubbed and polished this week to keep up with all the other silver allowing for their best presentation ever on the Christmas table. Poor little chap in the centre, his circular holder has snapped off. He will be watching with his mate this year. Just as well that I have eight of these fellows and only six for Christmas lunch!

Looks like a wet Christmas for us here in Brisbane. Rain is forecast until at least Tuesday next week. Needless to say, my roses are enjoying the rain and I think they look amazing smothered in raindrops.

Wishing you all a very Happy and Safe Christmas.

Thanks for:

making me feel welcome in the blogging world this year
 reading my stuff
looking at my photos
following me
inspiring me
making me laugh
making me cry
 thanks for your fabulous comments
and thanks for your support.

Take Care and Merry Christmas!

Hearts for Jane ...

Although I do not personally know Jane from my pear tree house, my heart goes out to her today as she begins her brave journey.

Pop over to Martha at Jellyshane who is connecting girl power from all over the world to support Jane through such a lovely idea.

Hearts and love are for you Jane. For you and your family.

A Sneak Peak into Miss18...

Amongst all this seasonal madness at our place we are  I  am trying to get Miss 18's room completed. The original plan was to finish it off before I went sailing. Well, it didn't quite happen like that.

I do remember a conversation with my daughter in my second week away and she mentioned she hadn't moved into her new room yet. Just as I thought mmm..... wait until Mum gets home and she will do the rest...guess what?...yep...I did!

Needless to say we are nearly there. A temporary wardrobe, power cords to be hidden away and curtains to be hung,  cushions to be sewn... The great news is that Miss 18 wants to keep her black and white Ikea bed linen. She just loves it! She also loves the Super Mario head on her bed!

This was Mr 21's pad until he moved out a couple of weeks ago, so we have been juggling rooms around which means I  have a guest room back!

I Kissed The Ground...

...well, not really! As we sailed into smooth and glassy waters of Moreton Bay on our way to the RQYS  Marina at Manly I felt a sense of relief that I didn't have to be controlled by the weather forecast anymore.

This was the longest sail that I have endured (in nautical miles) so of course I had 'boat' lag (poor old girl) after 22 hours awake and non-stop sailing from the Sandy Straits. 

 I must say that I am extremely happy to be home again and getting on with Christmas preparations. Whilst I love sailing, it's the smooth seas and the sun that I adore not the thunderstorms and the rain and the swells that rocks the boat every which way...that's how it goes!

Anyway, I am back now and actually got to do some real shopping today at one of my favourite shops, Bed Bath and Table. Haven't bought any presents yet... I must be a last minute shopper?

Here are some pics around the house today.

 

I must also thank Tamara from A Treasured Past for the gorgeous giveaway that I won from her. Nothing like a little parcel of Christmas goodies to greet me when I came home from our sailing expedition. Thanks for putting in all of those extras Tamara, I love them.

 

In our own backyard.

Welcome to the heritage listed Lady Musgrave Coral Cay on the Great Barrier Reef!

The14ha Island with a 1292ha surrounding reef is just out of this world and it's in our own backyard. The island is made up of totally coral, the urge to bring some home was dulled by the fine of $1500 set by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority!

We decided to be tourists for the day and took a cruise on a high powered cat that took one and a half hours to get there, compared to the equivalent of approx 10 hours in our yacht. What bliss! (This included morning and afternoon teas and a beautiful buffet lunch).

In the centre of the reef is a huge lagoon dotted with coral bombies, where boaties and yachties can anchor. The diving and snorkelling is spectacular, perfect clear waters and an abundance of colourful fish, turtles and Manta Rays. We went snorkelling for hours and then ventured on a guided island walk.

Seabirds are amazing with the island home to thousands of Noddy birds for three months who arrive on the island on October 22nd each year. How about that? They arrive on the same day each year for nesting in the Pisonia forest which is unique to the Great Barrier Reef.

Such a romantic and fabulous place to visit if you ever get the chance, I have never seen anything quite like it.

This is our beautiful sunset in 1770 last night.

We are preparing to sail south today. No more rain here Yay! We will be sailing for 24 hours plus, to make some sort of headway home, and I need to get home before Christmas! Looks like we will be on four hour shifts as well, that's what the the Skip tells me anyway, I am sure he will let me sleep over time!

With limited internet access, I am not commenting on any blogs at present so don't think I am ignoring you, I am just posting now and then and this will be the last for a little while.

Wish me luck.

The Town of 1770

This is where I am! 

 Just grabbed a coffee on the beach at 1770 a very gorgeous coastal beach at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef- gosh it was good!.

We are sheltering from those very nasty Southerly winds and huge low that seems to be forming. We just have to wait for the Northerlies to come in then then we will begin another leg of bringing 'her' home.

Had some very bad weather up here so we are taking things slowly and making sure the weather is right before venturing out. I really am not a mad keen fan of rolling around in a yacht with 35- 40 knot winds that have been descending on us without warning.

Hubby is an avid sailor and keeps up-to-date on all weather reports so I feel safe with him. The weather has gone mad and not only on the seas, flooding here up North and heavy rains elsewhere. Not to mention the freezing conditions in Europe and the US.

For us now, we are enjoying being tucked away in this magic place with flat calm water.

Our Tree

Our Christmas tree is up! It's a tree we bought from Freedom a few years ago and we love it. It has it's own built in lights at the end of the branches and it is all white, it's bendable and doesn't take up much storage space The beauty of this tree for me is that it does not take up our entire floorspace either and I can change the colours of the decorations at minimal expense. Some of my decorations are from the Uk (still with their price stickers on from Snape Maltings!) I also to use crystals from vintage chandeliers for a bit of bling.

We donated our huge green fake cypress tree to the  Leukaemia Foundation for their front foyer in one of their Brisbane Villages I set up and was managing at the time. I see it every year, decorated and in pride of place in the front reception area. A good feeling to know that it is being used for the festive season for patients and their families who are going through very traumatic changes in their lives.

Notice the colour combo AGAIN, red , white and aqua? Love it!

Pin Cushion Frenzy

In between painting, sanding and re-decorating a bedroom I have been busy making bits and pieces. I fell in love with the pincushions made with an ornate frame that I saw on Simone's blog from Beach Vintage.

Inspired by the fab idea I picked up these brass Italian frames for 50 cents each at the markets on Sunday. Excellent price huh? Used some gingham scraps and embroidered doilies and voila a pincushion frenzy.

A few of my sewing friends should be happy with these for Chrissy! Don't you love it when you can find a blog with user friendly and easy peasy tutorials? I know I do! 

As we wait...

A few shots around about the Keppel Marina as we prepare to set sail on our way South...waiting for tides etc. It hasn't stopped raining here by the way and the winds are supposed to pick up as well!

Oh such Fun!

Bringing Her Back

We are flying to Rockhampton to collect our yacht and sail her back to the RQ at Manly. I hope the winds are kind to us and the rain stays away.

On another note, Miss 18's room is still not completed. I wanted to have it done before I left today but her boyfriend suggested they would  finish off the painting. I wonder what that means?

The last time I saw them with paintbrushes in their hands they reminded me of the Papua New Guinea mud men. Absolutely swathed in white paint, however, in their defence they did manage to get some on the walls.

You will have to wait until I get back from sailing to see this budget project in all of it's glory! I do have a few crafty type posts scheduled for you so you can see what I have been making.

Take care.