Hello, Hello, Hello ... here I am again, back with the final Newsletter for the Year ... as well as the Dates and lunch 'Themes' for our 2013 Working Bees. So sit down, grab a pen ... and prepare to be entertained and updated:)
But first we have the news and pictures from our Christmas Breakup Lunch ... held on December 8th at the Barn. We were admirably catered for by Lesley and John and the Christmas Lunch was indeed splendid .... and well enjoyed!!
Present for the lunch were Val, Win, Yvonne, Amber, Gaynor, Maxine, Carol, Karen and Ethan, Peter and Emily, Reg, Tony and Veronica, Isobel and Jim, Joy, Annette ... and of course Lesley, John and their son Joe.
Looking pretty festive eh?
Ethan had his very own table ... pictured here with Mum Karen ... and Lesley ...
The lunch queue forms a la Oliver Twist .... but no need to fret, we were VERY well catered for and no-one went hungry :)
Crisp salad to accompany our meal ...
Scrumptious Roast and a leg of ham ... with lots of delicious roast veg ...
Yvonne gives the salad an extra 'toss' for good luck:)
Patiently waiting in the queue ....
Looks good ... tastes even better!!
Emily, Peter and Tony ....
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh ..... dessert!!!!
Up close and personal .... well I personally had TWO helpings ... Oooops!!!
A chat during 'afters' ... L>R ... Isobel, Annette, Val, Win, Yvonne and Amber ....
Veronica and Carol ....
Emily, Peter, Reg and Tony ....
Gaynor and Joy .....
Carol and Maxine ....
JIm, Annette and Isobel ....
Isobel ... daring me to snap her ... so I did!!!
Emily, Peter, Reg, Tony and Veronica ... with Lesley in the background.
Isobel, Jim and Annette again ...
And finally ... Gaynor ... filling us in on the year that was ... and the one that is ahead of us ...
Which brings me to the second part of this Blog ... the acknowledgements and updates ...
And firstly, via Val ... we have thanks and a special mention to be given to Jan from North Ringwood for the donation of a large bag of fabric, including many pieces of children specific fabric), as well as Joan Ryan from Wantirna for the equally big bag of fabric donated to us for our quilts. Many, many thanks ladies ... your contribution to our efforts is VERY much appreciated, the quilts be that we will be able to create from your giftings to us will be equally appreciated by the children they keep warm too :)
Val also reported on the Lola Childrens Orphanage in Ethiopia ... you will recall that we sent them 25 quilts for the babies .... aged from 2 months and the children aged to 9 years (with half under the age of 5) who are housed there. We also sent them knitted teddy bears and the children were thrilled with these items. The security/maintenance man at the orphanage sleeps on a dirt floor and was himself the extremely happy recipient of the quilt which was in excess to the needs of the children. So he also will sleep much more comfortably now ... how lovely is that!!
Isobel gave us an update on the International China Concern who we were stitching bean bags, quilts and curtains for .. earlier in the year. They have just received our gifts and we look forward to seeing pictures when the curtains are hung. They care for 280 disabled children who will benefit from our efforts greatly. We had also sent 36 quilts, in matching sets of 3, to the New Hope Foundation ... also in China ... which were equally well received and appreciated.
Gaynor told us also that on the day of our Christmas Breakup .... 44 Christmas stockings, a wall hanging and 10 quilts were being despatched to the Free To Be Kids Home in Kolkatta, India. They will brighten the Christmas Day of the children housed there immeasurably!
Now ... in 2013 we will take on another Orphanage ... this time in Indonesia. This Orphanage will be run by Esther Scarborough and we will be making 40 plus quilts for the children there.
We also expect to be involved in Papua New Guinea, as our ex quilt member, Lois, is presently stationed there with her husband and has emailed us with details of the needs there for new mothers and babies. We'll keep you updated on that score as soon as we can.
Our fundraising has also been boosted quite a bit by the sale of TWO of the wedding dresses that we have. So we will be financial enough to stitch away merrily for quite some time yet ... and 2 brides will be looking simply stunning in dresses that will have created worthwhile funding for us. A win all round I think you'll agree! We still have dresses available for sale ... so please spread the word to all prospective brides that you know!
Now on to the Working Bee Dates for 2013 .... and I do hope that you have your calendar ready ... so here goes!!!
February 9th 2013 ................................. Cold meats/seafood and salad
March 9th ................................. Quiche and salad
April 13th ................................. Chinese
May 11th ................................. Italian
June 8th ................................. Soup and Rolls
July 13th ................................. Christmas in July
August 10th ................................. Casserole and Cake
September 14th .................................. Indian
October 12th .................................. Take Out ($6 per head)
November 9th ................................... OUR OPEN WEEKEND ... DETAILS TO FOLLOW!
December 14th .................................... Christmas Breakup
Now ... you will see that there is no lunch 'Theme' for November ... only the cryptic 'Open Weekend' reference. That is because we will repeat (or attempt to) the resounding success that our Open Weekend was last month. That's right folks ... we had so much fun showing off our talents and selling our wares, that we'll be doing it again ... so will consequently NOT be having a Working Bee as such THAT day. Instead we will be hoping to see our merry band of stitchers volunteering to help out at the Barn ... raising funds and awareness for our 2014 year :)
So, there you have it ... the end of another year Blogging for me ... and stitching for the quilters ... though I'm sure they won't be mothballing their sewing machines over the break!
I will leave you with the usual information/contact/Links that I close each Blog with ... and wish you all a Blessed and Bright Christmas. I also wish to thank ALL who have supported us, those who stitch for us ... both near and far ... and the very special band of ladies who allow me to 'play' at being a stitcher myself each month as well as giving me free rein to Blog my little socks off !!
Blessings all ...
Susan
Our contact details are as follow:
Gaynor Peterson ... phone (03)9756 7950
email ... [email protected]
Susan Hamilton .....phone (03)9737 1825
email: [email protected]
Our postal address (for donations) is P.O Box 398 Monbulk Victoria 3793
Check out the following Links:
http://www.butterflych.org/.... for news about the Butterfly Palliative Care hospice in China
And their very own Blog ... which is beautifully written and contains inspirational stories on the children in their care. See the Link below:
http://butterflyhospice.blogspot.com.au/
http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d6a59784e7a45314d6a673d0d0a&sb=1
www.freetobekids.org/- .... the rescue organisation that frees children from slavery and exploitation
www.com.org.au/ .... our very own Christian Outreach Ministry in Mount Evelyn.
Don't forget that you can support COM and the children in the COM Homes in India by making donations to them via details on their website. I believe they may also have a range of products which can be 'gifted' to the Homes on your behalf and which would make a wonderful 'reverse' Christmas gift this year. For your efforts COM will provide you with Thank You certification .... you can purchase mattresses for the children, school supplies, chickens which will enable the families to have a source of income from the eggs produced ... apparently you can even purchase a GOAT!! How incredible to be able to give a family on the other side of the world the independence that owning a milk producing goat would provide. Give it some thought and contact COM now!!!
Now on to the rest of our Links .....
http://kayleenwest.com.au .... for Art with a positive spirit
http://mellyandme.typepad.com .... creative clothing etc for children
http://mrsmartinsquiltshop.typepad.com/ whose customer blessed us with awesome fabric
www.hopefosterhome.com ... the latest group of babies we are creating crib quilts for in China ...
www.zoehopeproject.blogspot.com giving hope to children in Zambia.
http://english.chinaconcern.org/
... and our newest recipients of quilts .... in Ethiopia
http://www.lolachildrensfund.org/
And finally .......
Our Link to Treasure Corner Opshop in Wray Crescent Mount Evelyn .... the brainchild of Helen Greenwood so many years ago, the start of the support for COM Homes in India is listed below. Well worth a visit for the many bargains available, proceeds from the sales go toward the Childrens Homes in India ... 26 so far have been built through funds raised by this shop, an amazing achievement indeed.
And for those on Facebook ... check out the Treasure Corner 'Page' via this Link ... it's another way of sharing the COM story with the world ... and I get to share our Quilts for Orphans news thru there too ... whats not to love about THAT???
http://www.facebook.com/#!/TreasureCornerOpportunityShop