Christmas is almost here...

I'm not really back from my blog/online hiatus but I did want to wish all of my bloggie friends and their families a Very Merry Christmas. May your festive season be safe and filled with love, laughter and precious time, making cherished memories with loved ones. For my friends who will have an empty place at their Christmas table this year I wish for you peace and healing. May precious memories of times past comfort you in your grief.

I am not sure why but my Christmas spirit is sadly lacking this year. Those who know me well will know that this is most unlike me. I'm a Christmas nut and usually celebrate Christmas with joyous abandon! I hope to come back to blogging refreshed and renewed in the New year.

I haven't been very active in my time away but seem to have kept busy nonetheless. Mr B had another surgery and has recovered from that well. Fingers crossed that nothing further will go wrong.
I have been dealing with the usual end of school year things with both my children and organising them for next year as well as sorting some extra support for my son who has had some difficulties this year.
It all sounds very simple when written down in a few sentences like that but it has been very time consuming. Playing telephone tag with various school staff etc has become tiresome and tedious but I think we are finally sorted. Now I am in the midst of book lists and uniform lists. What fun NOT! Lots of medical appointments to attend etc. Lots of WAITING around!

I have also managed some reading and would recommend any of the following books for those who love a good thriller/crime story.

• The Wreckage by Michael Robotham
• Doll's Eyes by Bari Wood
• Acid Row by Minette Walters
• The Retribution by Val McDermid
• Chill Factor by Sandra Brown   *romance as well as murder

My Christmas decorating this year is very simple by sheer necessity. All my trees and decorations are packed away in our shed behind furniture and boxes from where I moved in with Mr B. Unfortunately they are inaccessible without completely unpacking the shed and that is not going to happen anytime soon! I did keep out a small white feather tree that I bought last year and have decorated it with a single silver bead garland and it looks quite pretty, if very plain. My teenagers are getting money for Christmas so I just have to find a present for Mr B and my gifts are done. (Well ok being mum I will buy at least one small gift to go under the tree for the kids) Food will be a simple affair as Mr B still doesn't have his teeth and is on mostly a liquid diet. I haven't even been able to find the spirit to write cards this year. I am listening to Carol's as I type this and hoping to engender some kind of enthusiasm for the coming weeks.

I am still stopping by and reading my favourite blogs from time to time and I hope when I return to writing I still have some friends who will come back to read me.
Meantime from our house to yours -
MERRY CHRISTMAS & A SAFE and HAPPY NEW YEAR

 **Thanks to Karen at Graphics fairy for the santa image. The Grapics fairy

Taking a break...

Life is getting on top of me at present so I have decided to take a short break from all my online activities. I hope everyone is enjoying Spring and I'll see you all when I return.
wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen

Tuesday trinkets 19...

Another mixed bag this week but some lovelies among them!

This gorgeous enamelled daisy brooch ranks among my most favourite. It's hard to see in the photo but each daisy is blushing pink around the centre diamantes. The enamelling is just perfect and it is a large brooch, measuring approximately 2 inches across. I'm not sure of the vintage but would guess 1950s.

This brooch caught my eye due to it's high dome shape and the unusual use of smoky grey and pink diamantes. I'm unsure of the vintage but think perhaps 1940s?

The aurora borealis coating gives this flower brooch away as being 1950s vintage. The green is not as lime as it looks in this photo, that's just the way the light reflected in this photo.

Pretty yellow and clear diamante garland brooch. Approximately 1 inch across in size. Vintage unknown.

Another garland brooch. This one features filigree balls sitting between clear diamantes and the white 'stones' I think may be plastic. Vintage unknown.

Another beautifully made brooch. This one is quite domed and each goldtone flower is set with a clawset diamante. The 'ribbon' edging is silvertone metal also set with clear diamantes. No makers mark. Vintage unknown.

I have a number of basket brooches. This one is beautifully made. It is marked with the copyright symbol and the letters AK. I am unfamiliar with this mark.I was unable to find any reference to it online. Vintage unknown.

Goldtone flower brooch with pearl centre. Unmarked. Vintage unknown. Looks cheap and cheerful.

Pressed metal heart brooch with mauve rose that appears to be made of china. Unmarked and vintage unknown. I wonder if this is a more modern Avon piece?

This is an odd little brooch. It 'looks' cheap and cheerful yet each of the diamantes surrounding the huge centre stone is carefully clawset. The centre stone is approximately 3/4 inch across and foil backed. It is unmarked. Vintage unknown.

This lucite beauty measures approximately an inch across. It has a very old brass clasp but is likely to be from the 1940s when this type of jewellery was very popular.
I believe in this style the roses etc are carved into the back of the brooch and then painted. It gives a very 3 dimensional look to the flowers and leaves.

Despite a missing bead I couldn't resist buying this lovely basket brooch. It features lustre glass beads of varying shades of blue. It is unmarked. I am not 100% sure of the vintage but would guess late 1950s.

I bought this pretty brooch from a lady in the UK. The glass stone in the centre is a deep red. The camera flash has washed it out in this photo. It features marcasite stones around the edges of the design. It has an older style clasp but I am unsure of the vintage. No makers mark.

Yet another basket brooch. This one is tall, approximately 2 inches! The pastel stones have dulled a little. (It is reflecting lime green in the photo, they are actually a soft pastel green) Unmarked and vintage unknown.

Another snowflake brooch. Unmarked. Vintage probably 1940s.

Last up today is this really interesting old thistle brooch. It is beautifully made and finished and I suspect may have been an expensive piece in it's hey day.It looks far too well made to be a cheap souvenir of Scotland. I can't find a mark on it but would not be surprised if it was a designer piece. Each of the stones is clawset. Vintage unknown. Late 1940s or early 1950s would be my best guess.
hope you have enjoyed this weeks trinkets. It has brought sunshine to my day to share them with you all.
wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen

Sunshine AND Shadows....

It's been a pretty 'ordinary' week here. The puppies are growing fast and are a joy to wake to each morning. (even if I would rather it wasn't at 4-5am) They truly are a joy. Mr B put an inch of water into a sheep trough this week for them to use as a paddling pool and they loved it! Unfortunately like most dogs they also loved the mud created by the splashes of water on the surrounding ground LOL. So both puppies had their first bath here. Neither of them was very pleased about this experience despite the warm water! Mr B has made a mental note to remember to roll up his sleeves next time. I'll share some puppy pics at the end of this post so I can end on a positive note but first I'll share the 'shadow' side of this week.

As most of you know my sister and a friend have been staying with us for the last couple of weeks. My baby sister (18 years between us) has been living in Darwin for the last several years. After ending a difficult relationship with a young army man who suffers Post Traumatic Stress Disorder my sister finally decided to come back to Victoria for a fresh start. She sold many of her belongings and packed what was left into her car and brought a female friend along for the adventure. Her whole life was packed into her car (her pride and joy, fully paid for and a little prettied up with custom number plates and red to boot - red ones go faster you know!)

We live in a semi rural area and it is usually quiet around here. The girls had barely been here a week when somebody broke a rear window in my sisters car and stole belongings worth thousands of dollars. (handbags,cash, jewellery, cards etc, sunglasses,cameras (all pics of my sisters children) and more) Perhaps you are thinking they were foolish to leave valuables in their car and perhaps that is a fair comment but we are crammed into an already overcrowded house and the girls only brought inside their swags, a few clothes and shoes, necessities to ease the congestion in the house. Fortunately their laptops were in the house. The car was parked in our driveway, locked and alarmed and we didn't hear a thing. (We are assuming they disabled the alarm) This was upsetting enough as the girls struggled to get ID items replaced from interstate and with nothing to prove who they are. The girls both found temporary jobs within days of arriving and were in the process of applying for rental property. Everything came to a standstill as they waited for new cards, licences etc to be processed and mailed to them. Money was yet another issue.

Then the straw that broke the camels back! The thieves (police said and we assume it was probably the same people) returned 6 days later and stole my sisters car, had their fun, dumped it, filled it with aerosol cans and set fire to it. We were woken at 5am Friday morning to be notified that the car had been stolen and burnt out. My sister was totally heartbroken and devastated. Her friend was too of course.(she also lost a considerable amount of property in the car) I will never understand why some people feel the need to steal from others or to damage property. The car was burnt beyond recognition with absolutely nothing salvageable. There was simply a shell left. The police identified it by the number plates which were found beside the wreck.

After considering their options my sister and her friend have returned to Darwin at considerable expense(hire car which was not covered by insurance).I hope they might come back to visit some day but I doubt it will be anytime soon. I suspect such an awful 'welcome' to our city will leave a long lasting aversion with them. We feel badly this happened at our place even though we know it isn't our fault. It has reduced my own sense of security knowing that people who would do such things have been lurking around our house twice without us even knowing they were here! If only these thugs knew what heartbreak and hurt they cause by their criminal activities. I guess the sad reality is that they simply don't care.

I hope everyone else has had a better week. Enough shadows, now I'm going to share some pictures of Max and Cheby enjoying their first baths.

Max at 10 weeks not liking this bath caper much!

Mr B forgot to roll up his sleeves. He won't do that again LOL!

Next it's Cheby's turn. He had already experienced his first bath before we collected him from the breeder so wasn't quite so keen to escape this time.

Cheby 11 weeks. Look how tiny his head is compared to Mr. B's thumb.

Please can I get out now Dad?

I forgot to take more photos once they were out of the bath so here's one from the week before when they were clean and dry!

wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen