Crazy patchwork online class and my return to my blog

Time flys very quickly when you work fulltime have 9 grandchildren three furry babies ( dogs) and reside in two different residences.
Where does one start. At the beginning but that is way too long ago to remember. So I will pick up now.
I have joined an online class learning crazy patchwork..I love it and have done a few self taught items but came across Kathy Shaws class and thought I'd join in..so this is my first second third and fourth tasks so far..

 

Picking neutral materials and a 14 inch hoop which I'd had from a candle wicking project..
Then piecing the pieces. This is my block ready to start all the embellishing..really looking forward to starting that part...

Larkins little village 2nd report

Well the week has past and the village is taking place slowly. This was taken this morning and thus afternoon all was removed and the wadding put down for the snow...we received a couple more buildings during the week and some more people. I have to order a church and a ski chalet to complete 2013 s effort. Now putting it all together. Lots of fun.

My story a month after the fires.

Three of our kids were evacuated from there homes during the fires. They all live in Winmalee which was the hardest hit.
When we got home from overseas our eldest daughter left for China and I was staying at their house minding the grans. I work up the road (about 5kms) from their house and on the really bad day of the fires was not allowed to go down Hawkesbury Rd towards their house. I hadn't been advised the fires were so bad or I would of gone down earlier. I had two grandsons at school and one with my son who also lives at my daughters..my other daughter and her two children also live not far from them on Hawkesbury Road..I had no choice but to go back to my home,pray and wait for news. Winmalee is one road in one road out.my other daughter works in Yellow Rock where another fire broke out and there isn't anyway out of there only back up thru where the fires were..I must say panic overtakes oneself when this kind of thing happens..
I knew they were all stay at the time and altogether .
I sat up all night watching the live reports  but couldn't do anything .I then at 4am got a call from my son to say he had just been woken with hoses on the window and 5 fireman in his back yard telling him to get out quick..so he ran with my three grandsons (18 mths 4 and 6 year olds) back to my other daughters house where they would stay..I rang the fire station constant as I wanted to get to them ( of course) at 7 am I rang the police and I was able to get down hawkesbury rd which is about 8kms off the highway..we are about half hour  40 min drive up the mountain from them..I raced down with devastation house after house burnt to the ground..you can imagine when I walked into the room with all my grands sitting on the floor...I am a very emotional grandmother.
I evacuated them all to my house for safe keeping...but then the fires broke out at my work..we have 80 residents in the nursing home. Well we then had to evacuated them down to Penrith which us at the bottom of the mountain. This was no easy task.. 4 people died because of the move..it was 
devastating as we had to squash all these people into two rooms. Mattresses on the floor. It looked just like a war zone.. Anyway everyone is now back where they should be but this community of Winmalee and Yellow Rock will never be the same..193 houses lost. And hundreds damaged. My kids grew up with friends that have lost everything..it's very very sad and now we are flooding in places and near freezing..we have had the wood fire on a couple of times...mother nature has a lot to answer to I believe...
It's a beautiful place to live but if it were not for my parents being here I would be gone...

A new little village in the makings....

Phill and I have wanted for years to build our own little village..we had previously been to a few displays but could never afford to start building one..also didn't really know where to start building one. But.......after speaking to a lady at work and seeing her village I just had to do it.So onto the web and our little village has begun..this is LARKINS CHRISTMAS VILLAGE

This is where we started 

Phill and his jigsaw started cutting

Then board ready for the train track

And then some houses started to appear

Our little collection has been added to considerably 

Some photos

Busy busy life

Well it's been some months since my last post and disappearance on the blog life.i just got into a pickle with work,stitching and life that I had to take a back seat once again and do what I had to do.

Phill and I just got back from a wonderful month of traveling around the Europe vis the sea. We started in Singapore then flew to Venice Italy. Three weeks on the Med visiting Croatia (Dubrovnik)Greece (Santorini,Naples,Messina,Athens, katakolon  )    Turkey (Izmir,Istanbul )Tunisia (Tunis)Spain ( Barcelona) and France  (Marseilles )  Italy (Venice Bari Genoa)
For the next week we got a train from Genoa to Rome where we spent two nights exploring Rome and all that wonderful town has to offer. We stayed right at the walls of the Vatican City. Then catching a train to Ferrara which is an hour from Venice. Ferrara was just the most lovely little Italian town. Then back up to Venice to catch our flight back to Singapore for a night the back to Sydney. 33 days in all.. It certainly was a great holiday. I've added just a few photos.   

part two hopefully a photo

Well I will try again to post a photo. I tried before on my ipad but without sucess.So I jumped back on my good ol laptop and will try again to post a photo. The colour in the photo on the ipad isnt really that good so I took another photo with my camera..

The colours havent come out as they are in life.Alot nicer in life.But im glad I was able to get a pic posted...
tata for now
Robyn