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November 2008
Next month:
January 2009

The Year Behind The Year Ahead...

Here I am on the very last day of 2008 and having a wonderful time! I really love my garden and have been in it for days on end (I REALLY needed to, I've been so busy this year I haven't put the time in that I should have). What I love most in my garden in Summer is my Vegetable/Fruit/Herb Garden, especially the Raspberry Patch. It amazes me that, even though terribly neglected this year, they still bear so much delicious fruit for us:

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Of course there's a few others in my backyard that like the Summer too, like the King Parrots:

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And the Rosellas:

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And the Cockatoos:

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(Maybe they had their eye on my raspberries!):

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Too late!

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I know that I have had a wonderful 2008 and I really hope that you have too. I have met many of you in person this year that I hadn't met before and I consider this a real blessing. You all inspire me so much with your positive attitudes and happiness each time I get out to meet you all, thankyou.

2009 is going to be a very exciting year for me, and I hope for you too. I have a lot of travel both here in Australia and Overseas so this will hold many new and wonderful adventures I'm sure. There'll be my third book for you to enjoy, lots of new projects (they're all planned and I can't wait to show you!), and maybe on one of my teaching trips I'll get to catch up with you!

Always at this time of year I have butterflies in my tummy just filled with the excitement of a new year ahead. I like to think of the entire year ahead as a journey, a trip to go on and explore, a fresh beginning. May 2009 have lots of fresh adventures ahead for you too,

Leanne Beasley xxx



Getting Out The Decorations...

The decorations are such a fun part of Christmas! I love getting out all the old ones with all the memories attached and of course I love adding a few new decorations each year too!

My new ones for this year are my little red glass birds that simply clip onto the branches:

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These are the hearts that Rosie made me last Christmas:

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These were last year's purchase of new decorations and it was fun getting them out again:

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This little bird has many friends on the tree:

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So this is how our tree has ended up this year:

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I hope that you had, or will have, a wonderful time decorating your tree this Christmas. May each decoration bring back wonderful memories or create new ones for you and your loved ones,

Leanne Beasley xxx


I Love Getting Ready For Santa...

The decorations have once again emerged from the depths of storage to brighten up our home all ready for Santa's arrival. One of my favourite decorations is Santa and his friends placing the star at the top of the tree:

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It's really nice having them in the kitchen with me:

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The kitchen is one of my favourite places to add decorations because I already have a lot of red and green going on so it fits perfectly with my tradtional colour theme of red, green, and silver:

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Right now there's a snowman (and his penguin friend) that have moved into the loungeroom too:

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He's very friendly and reminds me that all my friends at the other end of the world are celebrating with Winter while we celebrate with Summer (hope the snowman's not too hot!):

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I have searched the florists and supermarkets high and low for Christmas lilies but haven't been able to purchase any so I had to venture into my own lovely Summer garden and hunt around:

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They're not traditional Christmas lilies but hey, they flower in my garden every Christmas! Now they've moved into the kitchen too where we're enjoying them day and night:

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I'll pop back soon and show you the decorations, old and new, that are on my beautiful pine Christmas tree,

Leanne Beasley xxx

P.S. If you came to one of the Glen Harrow Spring Stitch-Ins this year have a peek at the updated photo albums (left hand column) and see if you're there!


Home and City...

A little bit of a different blog entry today. I'd love to show you what I have so busily been working on but they're all surprises for next year! I've spent the last few weeks planning all the projects that I'll be teaching at various retreats as well as working on a few big projects. More on all that shortly.

So today I thought I'd give you a glimpse of my local area (I live right on the edge of a National Forest). This blog entry was prompted by a photo I snapped driving back from the shops this morning:

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Did you spot that wallaby in the bottom right hand corner?:

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Yesterday found me in the city. I live just over an hour from the city of Melbourne and I was lucky enough to visit the fairly new Eureka Skydeck 88. It's the world's tallest residential tower and reaches around 300m (984.3ft) off the ground! That little red line (top right) looked a LONG way up:

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And when I reached the top of the tower and saw the little red line it looked a LONG way down! This must be one of the best views from a toilet in Melbourne!:

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There were lots of photo opportunites and great views of our beautiful city. My home is up in the mountains that you can see right in the background. Great views of the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), The Melbourne Tennis Centre, and in the foreground the tower of the Arts Centre, and of course our Yarra River:

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Here's St. Paul's Cathedral and Federation Square:

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Hope you've enjoyed a little tour of where I live!

Leanne Beasley xxx