It has been a big weekend

 First I went to the "Sorry Day" ceremony in Wellington Square in Perth, where we remembered the plight of generations of indigenous children who were taken away from their parents by force in years past. The Convenor of the "Bringing Them Home Committee" spoke movingly of the sad legacy of this policy which makes many indigenous families so poor and troubled.

There was hope too, however in the young indigenous dancers from "HALO" a leadership foundation taking young men who have a history of getting involved in the justice system, and giving them support to grow as leaders and as indigenous men.
This coming week is "Reconciliation Week" in Australia.

 There was a short walk for me this morning down by the Swan River in Guildford, which the indigenous people call "Derbal Yerragan" -a place where in the Dreamtime the Rainbow Serpent was active.

 DH and I also took the opportunity to visit one of our favourite Swan River cafe and wineries -Little River, where we ate yummy Duck Pate with fresh baguettes and salad. We also bought some of their very fine Shiraz and Cab Merlot wines.

Sadly the wonderful winter weather today hides the fact that the rains have gone away again. Our Weather Bureau now thinks we might have a 60% chance of a warmer but drier winter this year.

Finally we had our builders come back and complete the installation of the mantle for our new heater.  In our joy that this 2 day project was finally done -after 4 weeks- we put all the books back on the bookshelves and are really enjoying settling down in the evening with a book  and the new heater. Very Cosy!

Give more

I have just completed this quilt top, above which will be a banner to go with my "live simply" one. It has a lovely panel of a winery set among green vines in the middle. I was lucky enough to find some fabric which echoed the   vines which I set as a border, then added the flying geese and the words "give more". Then I finished it with an autumn leaf print.

It probably won't be pinned to a backing until next weekend, so this week I am just keeping it on my design board.

We have had a return to autumn weather here in Perth this weekend. DH and I were able to go for a lovely walk at our local beach today -it was a warm day. Any more of this and I will be watering the veggies again.

We know it is winter by the fact that the days are getting shorter and shorter. Yesterday the family came up with a lovely idea to gather together on the winter solstice for a Yule Feast. We are going to have our new 'log fire" in operation, and lots of candles to defy the long night - and yummy winter food, on the longest night which will be on the 20th June.

From that day on, I always feel that I can eagerly watch the days gradually get longer, with each morning a minute or two earlier than the last. I do hope we get lots more rain though -our Perth winters seem drier than they used to be.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. See you soon!

My new role-Nanna!

She is here! My first grandchild -arrived last Saturday morning early in Melbourne. I was lucky enough to be able to fly over for the weekend and meet her for the first time. My son and daughter in law are now celebrating the first Mother's Day at their place and of course, I am now having my first Mother's day as a Nanna. In a couple of weeks my DH and I are going back to Melbourne so he can meet her too, and we can take longer to be with her. 

It has been a very big week as a result of all of this happiness, of course.

This weekend we also celebrated my DH's aunt's 90th birthday. It was good to be able to celebrate that too. 

Today I am enjoying some lovely new CDs and DVDs...I have jazz, guitar music, and tangos! I also have the first 7 episodes of the Miss Fisher's Mystery Mysteries series 1. This TV show is based upon the Kerry Greenwood novels based upon the 1928 fictional detective with a passion for justice, fashion and men! It is really interesting to watch the differences between a TV series based upon a novel you know well -how they can't get all the characters in the TV series, or manage all the complexities. The fashion is lovely on the TV series, but the books are much more complex and more enjoyable as a result. 

All in all there has been a full amount of positivity around here this week -which is a lovely lead up to Mother's day. I hope you are having a good one too.