Update on my brother Matthew

Its funny isn't it.

Your baby siblings will always be your baby siblings

even when they are all grown up and tower over you!!!

It was just me and Mat for a few years...

I think i was 5 or 6 when Gary came along.

So Mat & I spent a few years playing together...

These are the years i try to remember him by...

I like how the dinkies and pram are lined up!! See I was always like

 "Everything has to be this way!!"

Those are chook houses in the background and that door in the middle was the old dunny!!

We went to Newcastle on Thursday

and were shocked to see his looking right at us and saying

"Hey, how ya goin"

It was the hugest shock!!

The last i heard about it, he wasn't coming out of the enduced coma well

and i was waiting on a phone call from the Doctors.

The call didn't come, and i didn't want to ring

having been up there and seeing how busy they are looking after everyone

you dont want to interrupt them when there are no changes anyway.

And the Doctor was going to ring, so i didn't think anything of it.

Then i just got this feeling that we should head over there.

So Mum & I headed over for a day trip.

You can imagine our surprise!!!

I rang the family straight away and when i rang his daughter

she was like "Yeh have they moved him yet, they said they were moving him to General Ward"

What?? How do you know?

They told Mum!!

I was so shocked!!!

No information had been passed onto his family at all about this!

But a good shock!

So anyway, he is now moved to general ward. 

The 52 staples that were in his skull have been removed.

His memory is ok, and he can get across what he wants.

On Thursday his speech was a little muffled and hard to understand.

But im sure that will improve with Therapy.

He has some slight movement issues with his right side.

But other than that, they are calling it a miracle.

Honestly, this boy is part feline, he has 9 lives!!!

I know i am so hoping with every fiber of my being that he turns his life around now.

We have come together to help him and we promised ourselves we would never do it again...

I so hope he does...

He had a visit from my Nanny Job while he was in the coma.

So we are hoping that she might have kicked him in the bum while she was there.

(Nanny Job passed away some years back, but is never far from our hearts)

Mum showed Matt some photos, just seeing what his memory was like.

When she showed him Nanna Job;s photo, he said

"She came to talk to me"

Mum asked "Who is it?"

He said "Nanna Job".

So heres hoping that he is on the mend, his body and his heart!

(Here were are at cuppa tea time)

Im the cute one in the dress and pants hehe

Book Review - The Replacement

This is Brenna Yovanoff's very first Novel and its brilliant!!!

The Replacement is deliciously dark and spooky, with a sensitive hero and absorbing story.

Mackie Doyle just wants to fit in, but he’s a replacement – left behind in the place of a human child.  It’s kind of an open secret – Mackie’s family and close friends know what he is, but it’s never talked about.  In fact, the whole town of Gentry has an open secret they never speak of; every seven years they must sacrifice a child in return for the town’s prosperity.   Then Tate, a girl from school, comes to Mackie after the death of her baby sister.  She wants to talk to him because she believes the baby who died was not her sister, but a replacement – and her sister was the latest sacrifice.

 Mackie is a really sweet character that alot of people could relate to.  He is a stoic, sweet soul who tries to go unnoticed in a town where “others” like him are hated and feared.  It’s hard to fit in when he is so unusual – so allergic to iron that even the smell of blood sets off an attack, unable to walk on consecrated ground, eyes that are almost black.  When he meets one of his own kind and gets an introduction to the world he came from, he is repelled but curious.  Does he belong with them, or with the humans in Gentry?  The scenes involving the fairy courts under the slag heap are super creepy.

His family knew he was not their own flesh and blood, but raised and loved him anyway.  He and his sister Emma share a strong bond – so strong that when it becomes clear Mackie is dying (poisoned by the iron in the modern world), she goes to a fairy to find a cure.  

I couldn't put this book down, it's the same fanciful work that is Young Adult Fiction, but the story line is something we haven't seen before!!!

The Polka Dot Place - Morningside Drive Kit

Here is the latest delicious dish from

The Polka Dot Place....

Totally Yummy!
There is so much about this kit i just LOVE!!!!!

Bridge let me buy my kit early so i could have a play with it!!
Here is what i did!

"Birthday Photo Shoot"

I made a little pompom daisy from the pompom ribbon!!

"Yum Yum Chocolate Cake"

The little blue flowers are made from the gorgeous fabric in this kit...

If you send me a message with your email address

I can share the technique with you!

See the yummy creape paper ribbon at the bottom?
This is just a rough gather stitch and then i just roughed it up a bit.

This was the recent Sketchabilities sketch

"Camel Rides"

The banners have been cut from patterned Paper in the kit.

And the brown shapes are the journal squares and things with the center cut out.

This was also a Colour Room Challenge

"Start Living"

This one was a Scrap the Girls challenge too.

Using those cute little blue fabric flowers...

Glimmer Mist background.

Gotta get in soon though

this kit wont hang around for long, its way too yummy!

Sketchabilities Sketches - 28 Feb

I loved this sketch from

Sketchabilities 

"Cake"

Featuring photos of Zane...

Isnt he getting big!!

Scrap the Girls - March Challenge

Ive only ever done scrap the girls a few times

but thought this challenge looked interesting....

Here is the challenge

and here is my layout

Start Living

Note:  Do you like my handmade flowers?
They are the cute little blue ones..

Not Another Year Down!!!!!!

Dont you just have a love/hate relationship with Birthdays!!

Last Thursday 10th March

another one bit the dust for me!

43!!

But its always lovely to celebrate it with Family & Friends....

On Wednesday I went to lunch with Jack & Bridgey

we went to "The Verdict"

They spoil me and make me feel so special 

(Brenda got called to take her son to Rep Cricket so couldn't make it)

Then on my real birthday Thursday

Brenda & I attended Quilting Class....

During the quilting class i was so surprised when at

10.30 i was delivered a beautiful bunch of flowers...

Arent they divine!
These were from my son Josh!! Naw.....

Then at about 11.00am another bunch of flowers arrived....

These were from my husband...

Ok, someone is having a go at me!!! lol

(You see, i reminded Josh earlier in the week that "someone" was having a special day this week and that someone would be very happy to get some flowers for her special day!!!

then at 11.30

you guess it....

More arrived!!!

These were from Emelia.....

What a lovely surprise!!!

And not only for me, but also for the other ladies attending the quilting class!!

Here is my quilt so far..

Im so happy with it

Then Brenda and I went for lunch at the Thub Thim Thai Restaurant.

Ive never been there before, and ive been craving it ever since!
It was so Yummy!
And such a gorgeous setting.

It reminded me so much of Bali.

They have an adorable outdoor area that so relaxing, clean and beautiful!!!

Here is Brenda & I

and this is a photo of the cute little decoration that was on my plate

I still haven't worked out what the green stuff is...

When i got home at about 2 or so, i had some deliveries to do

and then Stu called out from the Kitchen

The boys had also arranged birthday cake!!!

Arent they good boys!!

This was the first birthday wihtout Emelia to rely on for all that other stuff

and Mum was in Newcastle with Matt,

so it was upto the Boys to pull it off and they did a wonderful job!
I had a very special day....

and to top it off

Stu & I then went to tea at the "Wild Orchard"

It was a perfect day...

Thank you to my wonderful family and friends...

Some shocking news....

This is my brother Matthew

He lives in Port Macquarie.

I had a phone call on Tuesday Night from John Hunter Hospital telling me that they were taking him into surgery to remove a blood clot on his brain.

We had no idea that anything had happened.

Despite the fact that his family in Port had my phone number,

no one felt it was their responsibility to let us know what had happened.

So the first idea was this call from the surgeon.

(I am also his next of kin, so I should have been informed when its life threatening!!)

He was taken to Port Hospital unconscious and then he went into a Coma

so they sent him onto John Hunter after scans revealed the blood clot.

Anyway, he has been in and had the clot removed

and there is another clot deeper in his brain that they wont worry about at this stage.

If he recovers, they will go after that one later.

He is yet to regain consciousness from the first instance of the attack.

But things are kinda at a stand still at the moment,

its all just wait and see.

I went down there on Friday and there is nothing you can do.

He is under sedation and on life support.

This all came about cause he had been targeted by a group of men.

The first attempt on his life was made two or so weeks ago when three of them bashed him and left him in the camp fire.

This latest one is still being investigated by the police, but without speculating, we know he was knocked off his push bike either by a person from a car, or by the car itself, they are looking into.

So things aren't looking good for him at this stage,

If he does come out of it, recovery and rehabilitation will be months and months.

But we hope for the best outcome for him. 

Thats all we can do at this stage..