Reflections on 2023

 In 2023 we went on two long road trips - to the Northern Territory and the Barossa Valley and the east coast. My Multiple Myeloma remains in dormancy and I've been crocheting legacy gifts for friends and family.

In April - May we traveled north east along the Great Central Road to Yulara and counted over 250 abandoned vehicles along the way. We then went to Alice Springs and the Macdonnell Ranges, into Queensland and Birdsville. In Alice Springs I woke up with a pinched nerve in my neck and pain in my neck, shoulder and arm which lasted weeks. By Ceduna I had a cold and tummy troubles. Well, the cold turned out to be Covid and the tummy troubles were lactose intolerance.

In September we traveled to South Australia, then through Victoria onto Nowra on the east coast of New South Wales. Then south along the coast into Victoria then we headed home. Kevin planned the trip so we went past silo and water tank art. Kevin had fun competing in the Observed Trials motorcycle riding events and I caught up with friends. I also enjoyed the sunrises over the water and the sunsets too.

Kevin and I celebrated our 36th Wedding Anniversary this month too. Here are some selfies from our trips.

Here are some of the items I crocheted this year....

All the best for 2024, stay safe, strong, healthy and happy.

Crochet Temperature Blanket 2022

 At the beginning of 2022 I decided to crochet a temperature blanket. I love it as I can look at this blanket and read the squares - this is the week it was hot or when we were interstate and the temperature was -3 celsius,  and births and deaths too....

The temperature decides which colour yarn you use.

 I chose granny squares - one row per day, one week in each square plus a border colour of cream or multi coloured for when we traveled. I used the daily maximum temperature for Perth, Western Australia and added 4 ply grey wool on days that it rained. I decided on 8 rows of 7 squares and had to include 4 extra squares - 8 x7 = 56, so the first square I started on 25th December, 2021 as we had 4 very hot days.... the other extra squares are those with circle centres.  I used 4 Seasons Marvel 8 ply acrylic yarn from Spotlight stores as this had a wide range of colours to choose from. The blanket isn't too heavy and fits nicely on a queen size bed.

I also made one for my grandson based on his first year of life, basically 2021. 

There are many different ways to crochet a temperature blanket, very individual with colour choices and many people add extra colours or rows for special events.

Tips if you are planning to make one:

- Do lots of research using google, Pinterest or Facebook groups

- use a yarn in a range with lots of colours and is readily available

- you may want to do a sample row or square to work out how large it is going to be. 

I crocheted a border of half double/treble crochet using the colours in temperature order so it has an in-built colour gauge.

Well, I'm off to choose my colours for 2023 and have found a flower square which I may use as a weekly square or I may do a monthly square using linen stitch. I still haven't made a firm decision 11 days in to the year.....

Reflections on 2022

 In 2022 we did three road trips, my Multiple Myeloma remains in dormancy and I did so much crocheting my arm started to hurt.....

In April - May we took our caravan across the Nullarbor, to the Victoria High Country, Snowy Mountains and Blue Mountains, along the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, visiting friends, bakeries and breweries along the way.

On the way home we went to the Flinders Ranges and Arkaroola in South Australia:

Arkaroola, Flinders Ranges, South Australia

Sunset over Lake Menindee, New South Wales

Our second road trip was to Francios Peron National Park, near Monkey Mia, 800km north of Perth. 

We stopped at Kalbarri for a couple of nights and here we are at Nature's Window.

Sunset at Big Lagoon

Stand up paddle boarding

Where red dirt cliffs meet turquoise waters

Our third trip was down south and we went to Elephant Rock at Denmark

Elephant rock, Denmark, Western Australia.

Here are some of the pieces I crocheted:

Shawl I crocheted for my daughter in law with Scheepjes wool.

Crocheted bag with Northern Diamond Squares - pattern design by Torun Johansson.

Hexagonal Cardigan

Temperature Blanket for my Grandson's first year....

I took my 38 Mate Myeloma Australia cap with me on my travels;

38 Mate cap traveled over East...

38 Mate cap travelling in the South West of Western Australia.

All the best for 2023, stay safe, stay strong and stay happy and healthy.

Reflections on 2021

 In January 2021 our grandson Sebastian was born. My multiple myeloma is still in remission though I'm on maintenance medication, I'm immunocompromised due to my stem cell transplant and am triple vaxxed but still worried about how Covid would affect me.

Here is some of the art I created this year:

We went to the Stirling Ranges National Park:

Esperance:

Margaret River, Beedelup Falls and Bridgetown:

All the best for 2022, stay safe, stay strong and stay happy.

Reflections on 2020

 Well, what a year 2020 turned out to be.... with covid keeping us close to home we spent many weekends hiking in the local national park.

I spent winter crocheting blankets, my favourite being a baby blanket as our daughter in law is having our grandson in late January 2021.

I took an online art course - Kaleidoscope 2020 - as well as a couple of other free courses too....

And I had fun creating gel print collage landscapes....

Holidays - we went up north for a week to see the wildflowers...

Health - my multiple myeloma returned to the point where I needed treatment and have been taking chemo tablets for 6 months and am in remission and will continue on the maintenance dose until it returns.

All the best for 2021 - my One Little Word will be Family as we are celebrating the birth of our grandson in January ..... so excited.