Thanksgiving in Australia.

Saturday evening, we were blessed to share Thanksgiving Dinner with friends.  Thomas hails from Dallas and even though he has been here in Australia almost 12 years - all his adult life - and has an Aussie wife and Australian born children, like me, his heart will always belong to his homeland.

Wow... so much food!

16 adults and six children sat down together this year.

Ham, Turkey, cornbread dressing, mashed potato, green bean casserole, baked beans, cream peas, green salad, gravy, cranberry jelly...

This is the fourth time we've shared Thanksgiving and for the first time ever, we made it past dinner to dessert!  LOL!  Pumpkin pie, candied yams, apple pie and ice cream.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Most of this is food that is completely alien to an Australian/New Zealander's table.  Ham and Turkey of course are fairly typical Christmas fare but more likely to be eaten cold than hot.  Mashed potatoes are normal every day food but the rest... you're unlikely to ever find them gracing our tables.  I love the Boston Baked Beans - Thomas laughs at me cause I love them so much.

I have to admit, As much as I LOVE the main meal, the savory side of the spread, I wasn't so thrilled with the dessert.  The pumpkin pie was nice but the candied yams produced a collective "What the???"  around the table.  LOL.  We are more used to eating our sweet potato roasted and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  To see them served crusted in brown sugar, maple syrup, spices and topped off with marshmellows... My teeth hurt just looking at them!  The Apple pie and ice cream, well I think that's "normal" for any Western table :)

All in all, a wonderful night.  Of course, it's not an Australian holiday, that's why we had our meal Saturday night.  We return their hospitality at Christmas and set an utterly non-traditional table.

I had planned on showing you some photos of the amazing spread but I appear to be unable to operate the camera under the influence of such an over-abundance of food!  LOL... what's that you say?  No, definitely not under the influence of anything stronger than lemonade!  I was driving.

I did get a photo of the ham - this thing was HUGE.  It tasted utterly divine...

So, my compliments go out to the chef.  Amazing work Thomas.

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  I hope it was a blessed holiday for you all.

xxx

K

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggedy-Jig.

Helloooo!

Finally, five minutes to sit down and make a blog post :)

The kids and I had a fabulous time in New Zealand.  Spending time with my parents, my sister and my nephews was wonderful.

Now, before I get sidetracked, I need to say a big thank you to Sharine.  She drew my name as the winner for her 123stitch voucher giveaway!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I have a 123 shopping cart filled with the floss I need for the January "Crazy 15" so it will be going towards that.  Yaaaaay!!!

Now, being on holiday and having nothing that I had to do, meant I was able to get a wee bit of stitching done!  I took the L*K ABC with me and managed to stitch a little on the plane, quite a bit over several evenings and one morning, when Lily decided it was a good idea to be up at 6am, I got a fair bit more done then too. 

Before Trip

After Trip

Yes, I did stitch on the plane.  Yes, I was allowed my embroidery scissors and No, customs officers have no idea what a needle threader is.  LOL.  They stopped me to search my bag, not for scissors but for this:

Jacob and Lily were absolute angels at the airport and on the plane, both directions.  I'm so proud of them.

Have just realised I missed IHSW this month but I did get a satisfactory amount of stitching done anyway.  I'll endeavor to catch up on all your blogs over the next few days.

xxx

K

Hi from New Zealand!

Hello Everybodeeee
*Remember Grover from Sesame Street???*

I'm on holiday in New Zealand.  Visiting my family in Christchurch.

Everyone loved their cross stitched pressies.  Lots of tears and a HUGE surprise for Dad who didn't know we were coming.

Not internet access at home, I'm at the public library where I only have a few free minutes!

So this is a super quick "HI" and I'll *see* you all in a week when I get back home to Australia.

xxx

Kirstin

More Happy Dancing!!!

Nothing like leaving things until the last minute!

I freely admit I'm an expert in the art of procrastination.  I've been "almost finished" the Sweetheart Tree sampler for months.  I'm leaving for New Zealand on Saturday.  So when did I finally get it done?

Monday.

Typical.

Thank you Dear Minnie for providing the final impetus to get it done.  She told me to hurry up and "pee, or get off the pot."

LMAO!!!

So, done it is.  (BTW, Minnie started stitching this same sampler after I did and finished it long before me, so she knew exactly how little time I needed to spend on the thing to get it done.)

Now, without further ado... for my Mum...

The Sweetheart Tree
June Pearl and Roses Sampler
32 ct antique white Belfast linen
DMC floss, Mill Hill beads

... and seeing as it's time for show and tell, here are Dad's framed fishies:

Kreinik (freebie)
Freshwater Fish
32 ct mint green Belfast linen
DMC floss, Kreinik #4 & #8 braid

and my sister's "T":

Nora Corbett
Letters from Nora
T
32 ct waterlily Belfast linen
Crescent Colours overdyed floss.
Mill Hill beads and treasures
Kreinik #4 braid

and to finish off tonight's show and tell; All three framed pieces.  Ready to pack in my suitcase to take to New Zealand on Saturday.  

Happy stitching everyone!

xxx

K