Heaven is a Place on Earth

My girls and I have just spent 5 glorious days with this view over Main Beach, on the Gold Coast in sunny Queensland.

We flew up to meet and stay with some friends who were up there. It is the 3rd time we have been up there in the past 18 months. We absolutely love it. We had a wonderful time though we missed Daddy!

Our days went something like this;

Mornings
Wake up
Breakfast
Coffee on the balcony
Put togs on and lather up on the sunscreen
Head to the beach until lunch time
Mosy back to apartment for lunch

Afternoons
Rest
Relax
Movie
I-something
Putt putt
Pool
Or whatever took our fancy

We headed down to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary for a day.

We bought seafood and hot chips from the best fish market on the coast and ate it on the beach one night. With champagne, of course.

We had dinner with friends from Adelaide who were up there as well. Southport SLSC is a great place to eat out with kids.

I took this photo on the last night, it was so pretty!

It is always tough to finish a great holiday, but we were excited to get home to see Daddy and the dog. They missed us too!

We now have 2 weeks of holidays left. And then another school year will begin! Where does the time go?

I love to travel

Tonight I have returned from Europe. Travelling with my husband, child free and it was fabulous...but it felt like it was longer than 2 weeks. I was fine for a week but then really started to miss the kids. My wonderful family (a mix of mum, sister and brother in law and step mum - but mostly my step mum) had the girls. We are forever grateful for the long stretches they have the girls once a year - not to mention the baby sitting and weekends throughout the years as well. They just move in and it is more of a disruption to their lives than it is ours and we are so appreciative for their support! Usually I am only away for 10 days, this week was 14 days and the girls and I all felt it. We told the girls I would arrive home later than I actually was going to be, so they expected to see me when they woke up in the morning. Nana let them have a treat of watching a DVD lying on our bed, so I was able to tiptoe up the stairs and suprise them. It was priceless and it was so exciting for the 3 of us (Dave not home until Tuesday night!) and there were lots of hugs and kisses!

So...I love to travel, even though Australia is so far away. Dave loves to travel. We always have something booked, even if it is a weekend away. The rest of 2012 is booked up with a week on the Gold Coast, a weekend in Melbourne, a week in Fiji and of course my quilt camp in Queensland in November. That should keep the itchy feet at bay for a while!

Back to this trip though...

3 days in London - I lived there in the late 90's and have been back 4-5 times since then. I always feel right at home. The weather was amazing - bright blue sky and 27 degrees. We caught up with friends, we shopped we drank, exercised, we ate. We enjoyed each others company uninterrupted. I adore my kids, but with all of Dave's travel we don't get a whole lot of quality one on one time in length together!

We flew to Malta for a week. 3 1/2 days at our leisure and then a 3 1/2 day event for Dave's company. An annual recognition event - it was very social and busy but lots and lots of fun. Malta has a fascinating history and we loved exploring the island and learning about it. Event dinners, clubbing, catching up by the pool - all great but has my jeans feeling a little (ok, alot) too tight!

Then onto Dublin for 3 quick days. Felt like I touched down, and took off again. Always lovely to see Dave's family and friends. The weather was abysmal given it is their summer but I wasn't there long enough for it to bother me.

I have flown back and forth from Ireland, UK and Europe many many times - it is always a reminder how far we are away from that part of the world every single time. Though 22 hours of uninterrupted movie watching and book reading makes it alot more enjoyable. Champagne and a flat bed helps too!

Pics to follow once I have unpacked the camera. Fow now I am going to go to bed and hope I make it through until the morning.

A crafty post too. Another resolution has been made - more craft time for me. I am so much happier when I do!

Holiday Fun...and Sewing...

My lovely little family and I have just spent a wonderful 5 days staying here in Smiths Lake. Ah, the serenity. It was wonderful. We felt like we were the only people there. Zeus even got to come with us.25m left great coffee, 25m right a playground, all around us gorgeous lake views. We watched DVD's. We played board games. We did sticker mosaics. We played Twister. We walked by the lake. We went up to Forster. We blew bubbles. We collected shells. We danced to the Mary Poppins CD a hundred times. We went to "The Recky" for dinner. We went for a run or two. We rolled down the sand dunes at Blueys Beach. We hung out. We had an absolute ball!

In amongst all the family fun, I got to indulge in some sewing. YAY for me!

I finished Abby's Quilt. Now to pop it in the post to Emma for her apply her amazing talent and quilt it for me, ready to gift in early September.


I made some of the blocks up for my inlaws 40th weding anniversary quilt. I am struggling with this one. It is a kit and I chose it specifically, thinking my mother in law would love the fabrics and the colours, but it is just not something I would normally choose. I am finding it hard work, rather than enjoying it. Dave is heading to Ireland, via a conference in Munich in late September so I have a little time up my sleeve to get it done. It will also be going off to Emma to be quilted when I get it finished.

I also got a start on Sal's Farewell Quilt. Sal is a very dear part of our family, a wonderful family friend and Zoe's godmother. we have spent many special times with Sal (in fact she was at the birth of both my girls), and after many many years living in Australia she has decided to make the move back to the UK. I am devastated to say the least, but to what better way to send her off with lots of love and best wishes than to make a quilt?!!! It is just a very basic strip lap quilt but the colours are fabulous and I can't wait to see what Emma does with it when I send it off to be quilted!

I also pottered along on my pies and tarts - finishing 1 block as well as 2 extra pies and tarts to be appliqued onto their block of fabric.

New York and Bermuda

As I write this I am sitting on a balcony in sunny Bermuda. Yep that's right folks, Bermuda....as in the Bermuda triangle, as in the Beach Boys song from the movie Cocktail..(Bermuda, Bahama, c'mon pretty mama) Not a place that is a holiday destination from Sydney however when your husband works for a New York based company sometimes we get to go to these random destinations that we would never even consider for a holiday. Bermuda is a 2 hour flight from New York...and we all know how long it takes to get anywhere from Australia!!!

We arrived into Bermuda late last night but we have not left the resort as yet. We are so TIRED!

We flew on Sunday, Sydney-LA-New York, jumped straight in a cab and headed into Manhattan, got into the hotel freshened up and hit the town....dinner, walking up and down, up and down, took in some sites and sights and ended the evening at 1am up the Empire State Building. Monday was a public holiday, for Memorial Day, and we were crazy enough to hit Macy's at Herald Square to take advantage of the exceptional exchange rate. 4 hours later we emerged after stocking up on clothing and manchester and shoes.
We walked back to the hotel to get ready to head out again to meet friends who live in Connecticut. They met us in Manhattan and we had a sensational night catching up with them, first at a roof top bar with views to the Empire State and Chryslers Buildings and then to a great Asian fusion restaurant in the Meat Packing district.

Yesterday was spent walking all over Manhattan again, spot of shopping on 5th, a stroll through Central Park, across to Central Park West to see the Dakota Building (where John Lennon lived and died), lunch in a diner and then back to the hotel to freshen up, jump in a cab, head to JFK and fly here to Bermuda.

We are knackered, but NYC is the city that never sleeps and as we were there for only 2 days this time we had to make the most of every moment. NYC has the most amazing vibe. I just adore this city. I am not a city person generally when travelling but any opportunity to visit NYC and I am sooooo there!!There so many iconic sights to take in, the shopping is sensational, it is so easy to navigate and get around. It has such a buzz. All this aside though, my husband and I were child free and it was all so liberating (having said that though I am missing the girls dreadfully!!!!). What a blast we had!

I am sitting here, listening to the water (and the sweet sound of my husband snoring while he takes a quick mid morning nap) and I feel so relaxed. I had no idea how wound up I was in Sydney. With the hecticness of every day life, all of Dave's travel and the renovation I really was feeling very uptight and I hadn't realised. coming away like this, on this fabulous break has done me the world of good already and we still have another week until we are home. I will be sure to embrace this state of relaxation and take it home with me!!!
I am looking forward to heading out in an hour or so to start exploring this little island. The event we are here for starts tomorrow evening (and these yanks know how to throw a great gig) so this trip will definitely be worth the pain of the flight!

Stay tuned for more!

Weather Forecast...

Thanks to here I was able to see the forecast for when we land in Dublin next week...

Monday 29 Nov High: 3° Low: -1°Scattered Flurries

This morning I have been going through my wardrobe trying to work out what will help me cope with 3 degrees and scattered flurries - whatever they might be!!! Snow perhaps??? I own nothing of the thermal nature, and neither does the rest of my family!!! An excuse to go shopping straight off the plane perhaps??? Last year in London, I bought a fabulous winter overcoat - I may as well have left it there as it hasn't been worn once yet...however my guess is that I will be entirely sick of it by the time we get back to sunny Sydney!

Trust me, I am REALLy very excited about this holiday, Christmas, Zoe's 6th birthday and a family wedding, the whole trip is going to be filled with fun, love and laughter - I just don't do cold very well!!!!

I have a cross stitch, the Pies + Tarts BOM to take with me to keep crafty..and
I have ordered a "Learn to Crochet" book which I hope arrives in time. I have also signed up to the local gym for the 5 weeks we are there. Hopefully these things will keep me sane and warm!!!

I am looking forward to it all, really I am!