Victoria Bushfires February 2009

It is hard to put in to words the devastation that has ripped through the state of Victoria in Australia.

Many lives have been lost, homes and communities destroyed.

The Red Cross is taking donations to help rebuild these peoples lives. Click here to be linked to the Red Cross site to make a donation.

At the time of writing this 173 people have lost their lives, 750 homes have been destroyed and it is estimated around 5,000 are homeless.

I might add that the fight is not over. Emergency services are still battling to control many blazes.

Not forgetting the wildlife. Injured, burnt and dehydrated animals will require care and assistance. Click Wildlife Victoria to make a donation.

JET Team Trunk Show!

The Jewelry on Etsy Team will be hosting their first Trunk Show on Thursday, February 5, at 12:00 noon EST in the Etsy Virtual Labs.
Come join us in The Gallery. Twenty of the JET members will showcase a wide variety of fine handcrafted jewelry, from beaded creations to metal work. Be the first to answer a trivia question and win one of the many door prizes we'll be giving away! Below is a sampling of just a
few of the JET creations that you'll see at the show. Come find out what special Valentine sales our JETs are offering. Hope to see you there.

Australia Day Weekend

I so looked forward to the long weekend but the temperature here was unreal. It was very hot (40's) and so humid on Friday and Saturday. If you had a shower, dried yourself then you were dripping again within 5 minutes.
Barry and I decided to go and stay with friends at Nelsons Bay braving the outrageous heat on Saturday in the car. At least we know the air con works, thank you!!! We arrived just in time to have a quick shower, chat and then go out for something to eat. By the evening storms and high winds were around us.
Sunday we woke up to, what I would call, miserable and a bit cold. We spent the day visiting different bays in the area and remained, most of the time, in the car.
In one day we visited - Anna Bay, Fingal Bay, Salamander Bay, Lemon Tree Passage, Soldiers Point and Nelsons Bay.

Newcomers To The Jewelry On Etsy Team

Myself and all the team wish a warm welcome to the new members of the Jewelry on Etsy Team (JETS).

We have a great gathering of designers both old and new, young and old. You can find a list of the JETs store details by clicking here.

Anyway, I would like to introduce to you one of our JETlings - "Butterfly" not even a week old and she is joining in all the fun.
Look at this list of yummy beads in one of her creations here -
Unique black lampwork glass pendant Grade A, 4mm Black Diamond Swarovski Crystals, 425cttw Russian Jasper fancy designer limited rare beads Grade A, 243cttw Russian Fine black onyx gemstones Grade A, 50cttw Italian Onyx gemstones.

Next is Room3Designs who loves making beaded pretties and seems to be a naughty JETling already!
This cuff is awesome, a great addition for that night out on the town.

Then there is Delia's Delights who also popped in to join our Friday night chat on Etsy.

A beautiful creation with freshwater coin pearls.

To all JETlings - have fun and enjoy being a JET.

This Is Not Funny!!

Only 2 weeks ago we had the Huntsman in our mailbox. Now we get home from work, dish up our yummy chinese and this one is sitting on the kitchen ledge. Yes! IN MY HOUSE. This is soooo not funny any more.Barry put a teaspoon gingerly next to it so you could see the size. Just look at the size of it and it's hairy legs.
I actually took about 10 photos of this spider and only 2 came out not blurred. OMG I could see it looking at me and was scared it would jump on me.

Out With The Old And In With The New

Hmm I was quite sad to see the old work horse go but after months of hub looking and commenting on new motors I caved in.

So bye bye Subaru Forester.

And hello to Renault Megane.

This beauty has a funny card that you put in it to be able to press the start button to get the engine going. Drives so quietly, except over/in potholes. But the brakes, OMG, I almost put myself through the windscreen. Got to get used to those. Not too sure of the leather interior though, I think I am going to get some seat covers.

I drove it home at lunch time with the roof down but, oh my, it was 35 (almost 100) and even with the air con blasting I ws sweating. So I will stick to the roof down on 20'ish days.

Our First Day Of 2009

What did we do for our first day of 2009?

Decided to get up relatively early to take the dogs down a part of the river with a little beach. They loved their little adventure. Toby, our baby surprised us both by actually swimming.
He looks so cute. So why doesn't he jump in our pool with us??? Weird!!!

The rest of the day was spent by our pool having a wonderful lazy day. I managed to finish book 2 of the Twilight series and Barry tinkered around in his shed with his Monkeybike.

Now and then the heat took over and we just jumped into the pool. I love my pool when it is hot like this.