During our last weekend in Autumn we happened upon a really well made quilt on raffle. It had appropriate autumn colours. Peter purchased three raffle tickets and hopes to win it. Wouldn't that be good. We are taking the picture of it to remind us of what we hope to win or at least what we hoped we would win but missed out somehow.
As part of our weekend away just past, we happened upon a holiday resort tucked away in the country north of Melbourne at an obscure place called Trawool between Yea and Seymour. We inquired about accommodation for the night and were in on a cancellation. How about that! The picture above is the resort's architecturally designed stained glass roof over a meeting room. Very impressive.
This place has everything and even unexpected/unthinkable things like an internal squash court. The landscaping was well done and included two synthetic tennis courts. Hey, we forgot the inside pool just in case the outside one was a little too frosty, especially this time of the year.
This space felt like God's gift to us. It helped to conclude Barb's long service leave with a really nice memory to come away with. 
We went away for the last weekend of Autumn. Our first night was in the town of Yea. The next day we drove a little way out of the town to see this old train tunnel. Cheviot Tunnel was opened in 1887 and had trains travelling through for ninety years. At present there is a push to make it part of an extensive bike rail-trail. It should be a good one.
This is the country we saw on the way to the tunnel. It was a nice fresh day after a good fall of rain the night before.
This pic was taken before the crowd came in the evening. The quiet before the storm. This exhibition was committed to display at least one piece of work by every student in the school. That means that there were at least 363 pieces on display. There was certainly more than that because many students had multiple pieces up. The night that followed was a raging success. Peter did not think to take pictures of the sea of humanity so you just have to imagine the party we had.
Once a month now, Peter involves himself with the fundraising work of the Whittlesea Chaplaincy Committee. Their largest money raising effort is the monthly market. They raise money for the chaplaincy service at the secondary college and the primary school there. It is very humbling for Peter that many people are regularly raising money to supplement his salary. The committee have traditionally sold barbecued sausages and still do so from the caravan specifically built for it. Now the committee is branching out with a second consumable product stall - selling dried fruit and nuts. This was the "launch" of this stall. All the dried fruit and nuts were bought in bulk by the committee and presented wonderfully in the "self-serve" display vessels (a one off expense). Peter and Mauricio, his friend from Bible study group, looked after the stall. It took in $295 on the day which everyone felt was a pretty good start.
Near by, the Salvation Army Band played for a time. This was one of the May Market's attractions. The young boy (below) from the primary school who was busking had to wait a great slab of time till the band packed up, but he still made $105 for his effort. He is a very gifted player and singer and many people were taken by him.
The other feature was the display of teddies. There were many very antique teddies amongst the selection which was taken from a much larger collection owned by the mother of one of the members of the chaplaincy committee. The day was one of those late autumn days that brought back a memory of summer. Many people came and browsed amongst the seventy-five odd stalls (which incidentally all pay a "rent" to the Chaplaincy Committee who mark out the stall spaces and open the gates of the show grounds before 6 am!). The feeling of community is strong. Many stall holders come primarily to support the work. Peter even let his hair get some colour to help the whole cause.
Barb received nice advice from work colleagues to eat at a Sakura Restaurant. So Barb went "big time" and convinced the whole family to come together for the experience. It was well worth the struggle through city traffic to get there.
The chef was highly skilled and thoroughly entertained us in the way he cooked each course before us. There were even occasions when each of us had to catch something he threw at us. One was a food item that had to enter our open mouths! and the other was a "stack" of round bowls... one at a time. Peter was the only person who dropped one on the floor! That part was a bit of a circus act.
Barb was cleverly prepared with glow-in-the-dark sticks which the grandkids loved. They enjoyed the event and liked the chef's entertainment... and liked climbing all over us. What was very impressive was that they tasted each course.
It was really nice to have a time like this when Funks and Acklands "joined" in the city. We actually met in the city at the restaurant in South Melbourne, and afterwards Simon, Dan and us went north to our end of town and the Funks went east to Gembrook. A memorable city encounter.
Daniel especially enjoyed watching the chef. He had never seen a chef throw sharp knives about and catch them again as he positioned for "giant" prawn cutting... and the other sea animals. Gord took this snap.
The green tea ice cream at the end was unexpected and a really nice way to top of a really good night.
There is not too much to this: 8 cut satay sticks and 6 longer ones (plus one very short length) some cotton thread, and PVA glue. Start every join with a blob of glue to stop the thread from slipping. Note the amount of overlap when crossing sticks. Finish every thread binding with a good smear of glue to save tying a knot. It's much quicker and creates a stronger join. 
Occasionally you may find it hard to hold the frame and bind the cotton at the same time. A second person may be of great help if they hold it for you when it is tricky.
Note the triangle sides are to "mirror" themselves. You might have to actually make one just to get it right the next time around. Peter certainly had to do that a number of times till he settled on this version here. 
Note the movable (throwing) part has a critical 'axle' measurement so that it keeps in its place when assembled later with the rubber band.
Slip on the rubber band over the top of the catapult frame before or after positioning the throwing part. This rubber band should keep the moving part from coming loose. To shoot, simply place a small object just above the short stick on the throwing part and pull back, holding the catapult base with the other hand, and then let go the end. The catapult is not designed to be dangerous and should throw a small object over a distance of one or two metres. A heavier throwing object will travel only a short distance due to its weight.
Peter was positioned in his school's cross country as a marshal along the course. Most of the kids gave it their very best effort. Then Peter noticed something very special happen. One of the year 5 boy became distressed and disorientated. Immediately a year 6 boy stopped running and walked the course with him. Peter took the snap and felt that this act of care was greater than the glory of getting a place at the regionals the following week.
It is about time Peter shared about his goodwill wallets and how to make them. The wallet count is up past 180 and there is still a demand for them. He patiently makes a little pile of about a dozen to bring to school the next day. The kids are patient because each knows that eventually s/he will have one too. They are never sure what colour they will get because Peter alternates those. Sometimes the colour of the ribbons changes as well. They don't mind. They also love the miniature $10 note that comes with each wallet.
You start with cut straw board and black display board. These have their corners cut for a nicer finish. There are four ribbons with the cross ribbons slightly longer. They are placed accurately on top of one of the black cards and the other black card is placed 'flush' on top to sandwich the ribbons. Spot glue just four ribbon ends to the top surface of the card, making sure to glue different sets on either side (two from the cross and two from the parallel).
Press the ribbon ends down well so that the PVA glue is squeezed flat and begins its setting quickly. Then carefully "flip" the black card sandwich and glue the four remaining ribbon ends to the other black surface. Again squish the glue so that it sets quicker. Set this (main) part of the wallet aside and work on the separate covers for both sides. Any paper can be chosen for this part. In this demonstration red paper was used to go with the ribbon. It does not have to match the ribbon though. The cut straw board is carefully positioned on this paper. The paper is cut (or has been cut) to allow easy fold-over-gluing.
Keep folding over the exposed paper till it is all neatly glued over. Again it is good to press down the glue so that it will set faster. With one cover ready, run a thin bead of glue close to the edge of the black card outer surface. Then carefully place the prepared cover over this making sure that it lines up (with a slight overhang all round). Perfect!
The cover paper for the other side is also wrapped around the other straw board card in the same way and glued to the black card on the other side of the wallet, again with a thin bead of glue close to the edge. Line it up carefully before giving this cover a good press down. Once heavy pressure is given to the PVA glue (in combination with these paper and card materials) it will be hard to shift from then on. You can gently test the ribbon "hinges" for a moment but it will be better to put the wallet under a few books for a good half hour. The moisture of the glue sometimes caused the cards to curl and pull away from each other so being held down for a time will stop that from happening. And that's it. Give it a shot.
We had a wonderful visit to celebrate Jasper's fourth birthday. We arrived early enough to catch Gord before he left for work. So we were all with Jaz for the candle blowing.
Actually, we came two days before Jasper's real birthday so he probably had a second party, and even a third. Happy Birthday Jaz!
A rocket was just the gift for Jaz. It can go up 100 feet but is pretty safe really. Jaz found that he could sit on the 'pressure ball', or stamp on it, for a good amount of air for each take off.
Gord ready to hit the town looking all business like (with a hat like that he is ready for anything) and Jet looking a little older for each time we come. 
Piper and Jaz managed their blasting off turns very well, sometimes even having two turns in succession before the other resumed. These were all well negotiated. Barb had bought spare rockets just in case both original ones were lost quickly so they both had their "own" rockets to shoot. 
Notice the ladder nearby. This was used on numerous occasions when a rocket happened to land on the roof. We even had attempts at catching them as they came to earth - all great fun.
One of the other gifts was an oil and water "hour glass" and Jethro loved watching the red and blue dribbling to the bottom. He knew he could turn it over again to watch it dribble back.
Jaz coloured this rocket drawing for us. We forgot to take it with us when we left at the end of the day. We will have to remember on our next visit. He was very pleased with his effort.
Piper held up Sparkle, the only chook willing to be carried about. It was one of those nice early winter days when we could still do things outside. 
This was a wedding for the world. Certainly there was a world TV coverage. The Bible reading of parts of Romans 12 was also a gift to the world - a fine choice for so many hearers.
And there were do dramas. It went like clockwork. The bride seemed to become a light on top of the long red candle when she joined her prince. Very large scale symbolism. 
