Tea Parties and Marie Antoinette Balls

Remember a while ago I told you all about a tea party that we were holding at work to raise money for the cancer council? Well we raised $380. Pretty good hey?
The above photo was all the teapots we collected to make a display with. We really did have some amazing ones.
We had a tea tasting booth where you got to try all the different teas and write down as many as you recognised. It was harder than it first sounded and I don't think I would do that again. Especially with dementia clients.Fun though.

These were all the teacups and saucers we could find around the place. I think tea tastes much nicer from a teacup.

Here is an overall picture of the display. We had a lot of fun decorating the room.

Here is a small section of the room. We had 12 people RSVP and all these people turned up. We were pulling tables out and running around finding food and chairs and it was a tad chaotic for a time. But worth it in the end.

Here was the special guest of honor my Charli girl. She so desperately wanted to come to the party that I couldn't resist. She had the best time. The oldies loved her. She loved them too.


Now onto today's function. It was Marie Antoinette Theme. Every group had to decorate a table and come dressed in the theme. Here are my groups efforts. I was really happy with them. We got runner up prize. A six pack of Crown beer. Now I am not a beer drinker, didn't thrill me, but my clients were thrilled.
This picture is of the chandelier that we made to hang above our dining room table. The ladies loved beading all the beads on it. In fact they spent a whole day just loving it. We didn't take this down to the event. But enjoyed having it in our room. So pretty don't you think?

Here is a kind of photo of our table. I didn't really get one of the table it looked so gorgeous.

This photo is a bit better but not really focussed on the table.

This goregous talented man dressed up as Marie's husband. What was his name again? And he was the emcee for the function. He also made us the most beautiful candelabra, hand carved out of wood and then covered in gold card as the centerpiece of our table. He has so much talent. He sings, dances, paints, sculpts blah blah blah. Now I only show this photo because he is so heavily disguised.

For our decorations we made these lovely eye masks. We sequined and hot glue gunned and perfected to our hearts desire. Added a chopstick to one side and whala. One beautiful eye mask.

The next two are clients who also had the headpieces we made. We got some toilet rolls, spray painted them gold. Attached them to a headband and went to town with the feathers, sequins and hot glue guns again. They are suppose to be like the big rolls of hair the women wore back then. I thought they were groovy. Ours had birds in them, chess sets, white roses(Sadly that one, was my fave but a lady dropped it as soon as we got there and it broke into pieces)


This is me with my gear on. Loving the orange.

And my co worker Sue who totally got into the day as you can see and looked absolutely splendid. It was a fun time


Tomorrow is the Blue Lagoon Day and then thankfully we are finished for another year. Will let you know how that go's in my next post.

Daydream Sunday

I should be getting ready for church but I am sitting here drooling at all the creativity and talent that people have.

Isn't this just gorgeous? I found it here at Kathy Jacobson.typepad.com It is a canvas decorated for a Marie Antoinette Swap. Love it.

And these tags are so so sweet.


A girl can never have too much pink I say.


Too sweet. So girly and pink and fruthy. I love it.


Yep gotta go to church. No more time for drooling.

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Ok I am back from church and was doing some surfing on the net and found this totally cool garden. Now I am not a gardener at all. In fact plants hear me talking about taking them home and they die then and there on the spot. But if I was a gardener I would definitely want something like this in my garden.

Concrete Canvas

Can't believe another week has come and gone. This week is just a blur. I have nearly finished all the headpieces for the festival. I will take some photos next week and post them. They are really groovy - if I do say so myself.

The kids and I watched this amazing show tonight called Concrete Canvas. It was so cool. This is the one we saw the man drawing. How realistic does this look? Isn't it incredible what you can do with a lot of talent. Sadly the man said he had to wash it off before night because it was the councils orders. Believe it or not people were just walking over this. How rude! I keep looking at it and my brain can't even work out how he did it. So so clever.


Here is another one. Not quite as realistic but so so cool.


Another cool one. I want to have a go at this.

Terrific Tuesday

Well Tuesday at least. I had such a busy weekend that I am longing for the next one to catch up on some rest. Lately I haven't been sleeping that well. I am either awake or in a very very light stage of sleep. It is so frustrating. I keep giving myself the mantra. You are still getting rest, you are still getting rest. But the truth is I am TIRED.

Tommorrow the festival begins at work. The theme is Time of your life. We will be going through different times in history and celebrating them. Because I work in the day centre three days a week I won't be joining in all of it but our three days will be. Australiana - tomorrow. On Tuesday it will be Marie Antoinette inspired day. And Wednesday will be the Blue Lagoon theme at our indoor pool in the village.

We have been pulling all our table cloths and doilies out to make early Australian costumes. Throw a shawl around their shoulders and they look so so sweet. We set a part of our room up in the style and it looks like a little homestead with a fire. A lady who works at the village who is in her early 70's lent us two big framed photos of her husbands wifes, Uncles family. Did you get that? LOL. These photos look like they are from the early 1800's. Amazing. We will be going to the concert tomorrow. We have made balls and chains. I think I am going as a convict or a bush ranger - not sure yet -not very enthusiastic about dressing up yet. Should be a bit of fun. Especially for the residents. I love seeing them smile and enjoy themselves.


Here is some interesting reading for those so inclined. I find this stuff so fascinating.

Margaret Dawson (c1770-1816) was a convict on the First Fleet sent from Britain to New South Wales in 1787. She had a long-term relationship with the surgeon, William Balmain, and was one of Australia's 'founding mothers' whose descendants still live in Australia and Britain.

She came from Liverpool and in 1786 was employed in London as a servant in the house of Joseph and Frances Shetley. On the afternoon of Sunday 12 February 1786, while her employers were out of the house, Margaret collected a large quantity of clothing, jewellery, and money, and left the house. Mrs Shetley returned home and found the house in disorder and the young servant girl missing. She sent for Mr Shetley who set out to follow Margaret that evening. Knowing she came from the Liverpool area, he asked after her at the Golden Cross at Charing Cross and was told that a girl of her description had boarded the coach for Chester in the north at 7.00 p.m. Mr Shetley took a postchaise with a Mr Lowe, and overtook the coach at St Albans. Margaret was found on the roof of the coach, apprehended, and taken into a local Inn where she handed over the stolen goods from her pockets and two boxes. The goods were recognised by Mr Shetley, the only item missing being a guinea coin which she had used to pay for the coach. When asked if she had acted with an accomplice or was travelling with anyone, she said no. Margaret was then taken back to London and Mrs Shetley identified the items of clothing.

Her trial record, like that of most of her fellow convicts, remains completely silent as to motive. We can only speculate as to whether her rash action resulted from cruel or indecent treatment at the hands of her employer, a family crisis pulling her back home, a threat from an unknown person, or a simple failure to resist the temptation of an empty house.

At her trial at The Old Bailey on 22 February for "feloniously stealing" goods to the value of £12 4s 1d, Mr Lowe stated that she was so changed in appearance that he would not have recognised her. In her defence, Margaret said "I have nothing to say, I have no witnesses." She was found guilty and sentenced to the mandatory sentence of death. The prosecutor and jury recommended mercy on account of her youth, being only fifteen, and it being her first offence.

After ten months in Newgate Prison, in conditions where malnutrition, filth and violence were common, Margaret was returned to court. Here, on 4 January 1787, her death sentence was commuted "on condition of being transported for [a term of seven years], to the Eastern coast of New South Wales, or some one or other of the islands adjacent".

On the 26th January, she was delivered from Newgate to the Lady Penrhyn, then moored in the River Thames. Conditions here were no better than in prison, with the women on board described as "almost naked and so very filthy' and "where there are very many venereal complaints". She sailed with the Fleet for New South Wales from Portsmouth on 13 May 1787, arriving after a cramped and insanitary voyage of seven months at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson on 26 January 1788.

After allowing time for land to be cleared and huts erected, Margaret, along with the 189 other female convicts, went ashore on 6 February. Here, it was reported by one onlooker "the convicts got to them very soon after they landed, and it is beyond my abilities to give a just description of the scenes of debauchery and riot that ensued during the night."

In August 1789 the convict John Hayes received 50 lashes in a flogging ordered for his "infamous Behaviour" towards Margaret. Perhaps it was this event that brought her to the attention of the assistant surgeon, William Balmain. And perhaps she assisted Balmain in tending to the large number of sick convicts who arrived in mid 1790 in the Second Fleet.

In November 1791, Margaret and Balmain travelled together to Norfolk Island on Atlantic, along with Philip Gidley King, travelling to take up the post of Lieutenant Governor. Her penal sentence expired in January 1793, and soon after she signed a receipt for payment for some grain sold to the government stores, indicating she was literate, free, and farming some land. Their first child, a daughter, was born here in May 1794. The family returned to Sydney in August 1795.

Back in Sydney, Margaret bore two more children, a girl and a boy, with Balmain. The older daughter died on 4 September 1797.

The family left Sydney in August 1801, and arrived in London in March 1802, an absence of just under 15 years. In May 1803 Margaret, now pregnant with their fourth child, and the children, were sent to Ormskirk, near Liverpool.

On 17 November 1803 William Balmain died. In his will, dated four days before, he left a yearly sum of £50 to “my dear friend Margaret Dawson, otherwise Henderson ... whose tenderness to me, while in ill health , claims my warmest gratitude and by whom I have had two natural children … and who is now ensient”. On Margaret's death his executors were to provide £12 10s for her “last sickness and funeral expenses”.

No doubt due to her convict status, in contrast to Balmain's professional position, she was unable to marry him, and she and the children had taken the surname 'Henderson”, which was Balmain's mother's maiden name.

Margaret left Ormskirk and gave birth to the fourth child in London. Little is known of this baby, except that it was a girl, and still living with the family at Clements Inn in January 1807.

Although she was receiving some rent from properties in New South Wales, it is likely that Margaret would have had to earn a living, perhaps as housekeeper. With the help of Balmain's friends she continued to encourage her son John William's education, and he was to return to New South Wales in January 1829 as a surgeon (like his father).

On 16 February 1816, while living at St James's, Westminster, Margaret died, and was buried in the churchyard of St-Giles-in-the-Fields, where Balmain was buried.

While not renowned for any noble deeds, Margaret Dawson was typical of many working-class British women who, having made a grave mistake, were able to rebuild their lives on that fatal shore of New South Wales. Undoubtedly she was a faithful companion to her partner, and a loving mother to her children. Rather than taint their memory with the image of a “convict stain”, Australia can be proud of the founding mothers who provided the first generation of native-born children of European descent.

Bento boxes and Monday Muffin Tins

I have just discovered these and have been inspired to make some for the kids to take to school and for me to take to work. I think they are just so cute and that the kids will like the idea of it and possibly eat their lunches. Well I did say possibly.

Aren't they so nice looking? My kids wouldn't eat all that stuff in them but if I find stuff that they like I could be onto a good thing.

I have also been reminded of Monday Muffin Tin challenge. Now Mondays don't work for me but I think the kids would enjoy a muffin tin lunch and it is a good way for them to try some new foods. There are women all over the world that join in the fun each way and make a themed muffin tin for their kids to enjoy. The link for Muffin Tin Monday is on my sidebar if you are interested.



It reminds me of when I was younger. I would come home for lunch, grab a plate, put a bit of meat on it. Cut some carrot, cucumber. Get a pickled onion. Some lettuce. Cut up some apple. An orange. Really anything that was in the fridge that took my fancy. And then go and sit in the sun and eat it all. I have never really liked sandwiches so this was a good option for me.

Yum yum yum. I will keep you updated with what I create for my kids and myself. My hubby works from home so he doesn't need a lunchbox.

Friday Frustrations and a Thousand Idioms

I don't really have any major frustrations this week. None that I feel like claiming anyhow. Ok I have one. I hate it when my boys won't get ready for school but keep messing about, play fighting, singing, arguing, yelling. And then when it is time to walk out the door they say "Mum do you know where my school shoes are?" Arrrrrgggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


A Thousand Words In Idioms, #2 C and D

As long as people have been around, they have tried to communicate with each other. As a means of getting the message across as clearly as possible, idioms and sayings have found their way into our language. Now, because "a picture paints a thousand words", I thought it would be nice to make this a new photo challenge. The idea is to choose an idiom, or a saying, ( even slang is allowed) and illustrate it with a picture. Each week we'll cover two letters of the alphabet, okay?
We covered our first edition last week with A and B, it's here if you need some inspiration.
I have slightly changed the name of this meme, it's now called

" A Thousand Words In Idioms"

http://heavenisinbelgium.blogspot.com/2009/05/thousand-words-in-idioms-2-c-and-d.html

If "language is the dress of thoughts" ( Johnson), then idioms must the wardrobe ...

Each week we will cover two letters of the alphabet, and since this is week two, this week's idioms have to start with a C and a D. If you're joining in for the first time, you can either do all four of them or just join in with the letters of this week. That's entirely up to you.
So here we go ....

C is for ...


A Chip on your shoulder
Being upset for something that happened in the past.

A person who has "a chip on his shoulder" is angry because of some thing that happened in the past. Example: "He lost his game this morning, and now he has a chip on his shoulder." It is easy for a person to get in a fight when he has a chip on his shoulder, because he is already angry about something else. Example: "Watch out for that guy, he's got a chip on his shoulder." To start a fight, men used to put chips of wood on their shoulder and challenge others to "try to knock it off". Example: "What's bothering that guy?" Reply: "Nothing. He's just got a chip on the shoulder." Example: "Tom had a tough time growing up, so he's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder." You can use the definite article ("the") which sounds more general ("a chip on the shoulder"), but more often people use the personal pronoun ("his", "her", "their") to say that that specific person has "a chip on his (her, their) shoulder."

www.goenglish.com/AChipOnYourShoulder.asp

D is for Doubting Thomas

Doubting Thomas is a term that is used to describe someone who will refuse to believe something without direct, physical, personal evidence; a skeptic.


OriginThe term is based on the Biblical account of Thomas the Apostle, who doubted the resurrection of Jesus and demanded to feel Jesus' wounds before being convinced (John 20:24-29), although the Bible does not mention if actual contact took place. After seeing Jesus alive and being offered the opportunity to touch his wounds—according to the author of the Gospel of John—Thomas professed his faith in Jesus; on this account he is also called Thomas the Believer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubting_Thomas

Uggh that is an ugly picture isn't it? This was fun. I love looking at the history behind all our sayings.

Thursday 13

Okay I have to pick 13 things and make them sound interesting, inventive and amusing. But honestly I have nothing. I know, how about 13 things I did at work this week?

1. Was told to drop dead by one client.


2. Made endless cups of tea and coffee.
3. Went shopping for some gorgeous curtain material.
4. Decorated our room Marie Antoinette Style with full on gold candelabras, gold picture frames, wonderful curtains, made a fabulous chandelier. It looks very very gold. This was for a festival we have next week in the village.


5. I used toilet rolls and glued them all together onto a headband. Spray painted them gold. To use as the curly curly up do styles that the ladies wore then.

6. We have cut out and glued and sequined and feathered some gorgeous eye masks that will also be part of our costume.


7. For three dollars we got these so cute grass skirts and tops for our clients to wear on blue Lagoon day. The top is actually two fishys that cover your breasts. They look classic on the clients. Oh we wear clothes under them.

8. I repeated myself at least 50 times in 10 minutes to a lady that was worried that she should be getting home and reassured her that she was in the right place,
9. We made seaweed out of this floaty green material and then glued gold sparkles all over it and then hung them up to look like a floaty underwater world, complete with homemade clam shells, fish and a mermaid. Very pretty. Very tactile, the clients enjoyed touching it all, sometimes too much if you know what I mean.
10. We waited an hour and a half for a Doctors Appt for one of my clients only to discover that he hadn't even shown up yet. Man I knew I should have been a doctor. Except that I don't do bodily fluids of any sort.

11. Debated for ages what we are going to do for our talent item in the talent show. The theme is time. Don't forget we have major older people that limits what we can do. We really need to think of something though. Any ideas?
12. Sang songs, laughed, talked about all kinds of things and genuienly enjoyed myself.
13. Now this week we had a public holiday so I didn't work Monday. Which was nice. But that means I spent only 6 hours in the car driving to and from work. It would normally be 8. Wow that is a lot.

Wordless Wednesday

I know its wordless but I can't help myself. Can anyone guess how I feel today?

Blah

Yesterday was such a blah day. I was in a bad mood all day and kept putting my foot in my mouth at any given opportunity. There is a lady at church who is known to be sensitive and so we are all just patient with her, but yesterday I told her to pull her head in, that I wasn't in the mood for her rubbish. I felt so ugly and mean. I did go and apologise to her but I felt like it revealed what is truly in my heart and that was scary. Then my kids were really mean to a boy who has only just come back to Sunday School. Admittedly the boy was being mean first but my kids had to finish it and it just made me so mad at them. That they could be so cruel. So I gave the kids a big lecture and when I finished Mooey said "Mum, can we play on the computer?" Arrrhhhhhhhhgggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I spent a good time reading the Bible last night and seeking God to restore the order and balance to my life and I feel a lot better but I am still carrying the sting of yesterdays nasty scenes.

Romans 7:19 (The Message)

17-20But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

Yes I think this sums me up pretty perfectly today.

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It's Saturday somewhere in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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"6 things about your children that you are proud of.”

MMMMM six things about my kids that I am proud of.

1. That my 3 year old is so personable and friendly and seeks people out. And makes them feel special.

2. That my 5 year old is so organised. Knows just how she likes things and does a good job.

3. That my 8 year old is doing so well academically after a slow start, he is finally getting school and going for it.

4. That my 11 year old is so creative. He can draw anything and it looks amazing. He wants to use his skills to glorify God. Now that is something to be proud of.

5. I am proud that my kids all have a good sense of humor. They can be really really funny.

6. I am proud and thankful that my children are learning about God and love him very much.

Pro hart and Pollock

“ My painting does not come from the easel. I prefer to tack the unstretched canvas to the hard wall or the floor. I need the resistance of a hard surface. On the floor I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting. ”
“ I continue to get further away from the usual painter's tools such as easel, palette, brushes, etc. I prefer sticks, trowels, knives and dripping fluid paint or a heavy impasto with sand, broken glass or other foreign matter added. ”
“ When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of 'get acquainted' period that I see what I have been about. I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well."

Jackson Pollock

Below is a Pro Hart painting. Who didn't always paint in the same style as Pollock but for some reason I remembered the ad where Hart was painting a picture on the floor and rolling in it and throwing all kinds of mess on it and the housekeeper comes in and says Mr Hart what a mess.


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