A Marathon and A Century!

Nelson ran the recent Melbourne Marathon.

Nelson's goal was to run the marathon in 4 hours. 

He finished a time of 3hrs, 15mins which was fabulous.

Nelson came 349th out of 2,517 runners in his age group 

and placed 1874 overall of 17,734 runners.

A big smile on his face when he saw 

Chloe and Mitchell down by the bay.

One very happy boy at the finish line

in the MCG!

With his proud brothers!

Checking out his name of the wall of marathon runners.

Look who's name is above his.

Apparently Mitchell also ran the marathon! LOL!☺

We then headed to a local pub for a 

well deserved celebratory drink.

It was a lot easier than the Ultra Marathon

 he ran in The Kimberley back in 2024.

 You can read about that one here. 

 On Saturday, Mitchell made his first 100 after 

20 years of playing competitive cricket. 

Along the way he’s made 18 50+ scores,

including 3 in the 90s. 

He ran out of batting partners when 

he was so close to a hundred.

Unfortunately that was the end of the match due to rain. 

Maybe he would have made more! 

He finished up on 100 not out. 

 

He was playing against his old club 

(and team mates) Diamond Creek.  

 Last year Mitchell had a shocking season. 

He even won the award for 

"The Most Ducks in the Season" 

but he has worked hard over the off season. 

The first match this season he was 59 not out. 

Hopefully it’s the start to a big season.

Mitchell is in the Second XI and co-captain. 

The other captain made a lovely speech 

in the club rooms after the match.

Last week we celebrated Austin and Nelson's birthdays.

Lucky Kade was there to help blow out the candles!

Silver Threads & Golden Needles!

 Last Friday, Silvia (my sister-in-law), 

Sharmayne (Country Fragrance) and I headed to 

Sovereign Hill in Ballarat to attend the 

Silver Needles & Goldren Threads retreat 

hosted by Chrissie's Timeless Treasures.

  

Our venue in Sovereign Hill was the Charles Napier Hotel.

 

 All set to start the first of three days of stitching! 

Hector the Hairy Coo came along with us.

  

This was our first project we received. 

There was a Paris theme happening.

 

 Hector helping out with hexagons!

 

 While the bag was lovely, we decided it wasn't for us. 

We redesigned our bags and got quite a lot 

of comments on what we came up with. 

I'll use my Paris stitchery in another project.

  

Between all the chatting, eating, shopping 

and exploring Sovereign Hill, 

we actually managed to finish our bags.

 I think Hector the Hairy Coo approves!

  

The front of my bag.

  

And the back. Simple but elegant.

  

We received another two little kits 

plus lots of other goodies.

 Saturday night we went back to Sovereign Hill 

to see the Aura Light and Sound Show

about the Eureka Stockade.

 

Arriving Sunday for another fun day.

It was also my birthday so 

 I got to celebrate here again like last year.

 

Silvia and Sharmayne surprised me with

Devonshire tea at the New York Bakery.

  

We went out to dinner at the 1853 Craig's Royal Hotel.

 

 It is such a beautiful building.

 

 Cheers!

  

We all had the pumpkin risotto and it was delicious. 

I can highly recommend coming here.

 

We had such a fabulous time 

and all too soon it was over.

Family Catch Up

It's the end of an era for Mitchell. 

Mitchell started Auskick when he was 5 years old.

After playing junior football from Under 10's 

and playing 265 games, 

Mitchell has now hung up his footy boots.

Nelson, Noel, Mitchell and Dean. 

Noel and Dean went every week to watch 

him play. I was there at his first game and 

for his last! I did go to matches over the years 

but not so much when he was playing seniors.

 

 This is the only photo I could find 

of Mitchell at Auskick. 

I'm guessing he's about 7 here as 

Austin also started when he was 5.

From our big boy to our little boy. 

Kade is now 18 months old.

Where has the time gone!

Kade is such a little cutie! 

This photo was taken last weekend 

at the Hurstbridge Wattle Festival.

A Couple More Finishes

 

I've made a second Catherine Bag from

the Tilda Vintage Indulgence Box.

After seeing the bag on my Facebook, 

my friend Jackie asked if I could make one for her. 

I used a lot of the same Tilda fabrics as they 

were in my stash. This pretty fabric worked 

 well for the back of the bag. 

It will soon be winging itself over to the UK. 

I met Jackie when she came to see her brother 

back in 2023 and we instantly became friends. 

We visited her in Yorkshire on our UK adventure. 

Dean is heading over there soon so can

hand deliver the bag to Jackie.

I also joined the Pentagon Bowl Sew A Long 

with Lauren of Molly and Mumma.

This was a fun project to work on.

A New Quilt!

 

It's been a while since I've made a large quilt. 

 I finally picked up my quilt from my 

lovely long arm quilter, Leanne.

 

My version of the Tilda Jubilee Quilt.

This is my first large applique project and 

I'm so happy with how it turned out. 

Leanne has quilted it beautifully. 

It doesn't show in the photo but the 

background is tiny light blue stars.

It is also so much prettier in person.