Update to Previous Post "A Blog Break"

Yesterday, my dear Mum lost her fight to live.  

Being the grand old age of 95, and still making her own decisions, she astounded medical staff  with her bravery and fortitude by agreeing to (Mum was still making her own decisions), and undergoing, some very uncomfortable procedures in the hope they might give a reprieve to the condition but, at the same time, maintaining her pragmatic approach to the situation. 

However, those skilled and caring Doctors and Nurses agreed it was time to stop all interventions, make her comfortable and pain-free in a quiet and peaceful part of the hospital so that my brother, sister and I could spend as much time as possible by her bedside. 

Mum stayed with us a further one and a half days and my heart broke as I cuddled her and held her hand during our last goodbye.

We are so thankful for that time and realise how lucky we are to have had her in our lives for those many years.  She is a true Matriarch in every sense.

 ~~~~~

Thank you for all your beautiful comments in the previous post.  You know I love to answer comments always and I felt so much support from you dear blogfriends as I read each one.  

However, I don't seem to be even half as brave as Mum, because I just have the need to retreat from things at the moment.

Warmest regards, Sue xx 

A Blog Break

Hello !

I am taking a break from my blog and instagram.

A pic of Mum and I taken a long, long time ago.

Here's, not so much a title, but words from my heart.... "To say I have a strong Mum is an understatement... give her some odds, she'll defy them and she's trying her hardest again!"
Proud she is my Mum.

Thanks dear blogfriends, see you when I do xx

A Posy with Love ~ Happy PPF ~

Hello !

Love is certainly all around, so here's my little contribution for Paint Party Friday:

"A Posy With Love"
Acrylic on canvas board

Its one of a number of paintings I took in to our local Art and Information Centre today to be for sale, so I've been varnishing, labelling and (drying ... well, waiting for them to dry lol) over the past few weeks. 
I feel really happy for my art to have been included with other local art and craft folk in our town.

Its also so nice to join other artists online over at Paint Party Friday.  Here's a link if you'd care to join us: 

I'd also love to catch up with any Blog-friends who are on Instagram.  Its fun to find each other and realise we know each other from Blogger-Land.  Here's my Instagram link   Cheerio for now xx

Paint Party Friday and Bits of This n That ~

Hello!

Lots of painting going on here and I remembered it was Friday so its certainly time to post one in readiness to join in with Paint Party Friday today:

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"
Acrylic on Masonite (fibreboard)
(not an original title, but it just seems so apt!)

I made some progress shots of this one, so here we go....

In a way, I kind of liked the blurry, abstracty-feel to this stage when looking back on the photos now that its completed. 
Just shows that its sometimes nice to take things slow, however I carried on with adding more details

So intent on adding those small details 😍

This was to be it... completed, however I really felt it needed something more ......

Yes, a little bit of silver bling seemed to do the trick!

so, that was my little bit of arty fun... much more to see over at this week's Paint Party gathering.  You'll always be made so welcome.  Just click on the icon below:

Some this 's and that 's over the past week or so ....

We were pretty impressed by this young pumpkin's self-support system
(I promise that we didn't manipulate that tendril on the hose)
This photo was taken a week or so ago and, with the larger growth, the pumpkin has dropped a little but is still hanging on for dear life! 

Phew! Our last day of January was a doozie ... hot, hot, hot! :

... but we were fortunate enough to have air conditioning, so the inside temp was very welcome.
(for Northern Hemisphere blog-friends, that 45degC = 113F)

Again, we were visited by birds to our verandah.  I made sure the water in their bowl was replaced every hour with cold from the fridge.
Here's a Wattlebird who'd just about had enough of the heat:

Heard me against the window as I took the photo but didn't move...

Now we're enjoying much better temperatures and had even had some rain which was widespread too - bonus!

Our native Correas were flourishing... laughing off the heat and lapping up the rain...

I'd taken a photo of these two Nectarines just prior to Hubby bringing them in for us to eat - oh...so...delicious

The bees went berserk in the Lilly Pilly again this year...

Finally, a batch of currant scones for us - not quite as yummy as the dates ones I usually make, but welcome with some lashings of butter and  a cuppa none the less.

Thanks for getting down this far!
Have a great weekend and I'll see you over at yours soon, Sue xx