Speech Not Recognised

Some Bling for your Summer Shades...or Coolness for your Smart Phone!

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:16:00 +0000

Another PRETTY BIRD CASE added to the flock!

This week I finished my most recent work in progress...another sequin & beaded bird soft case for either glasses or phones.

Find it in my Etsy shop!

{QAL} Aiming for Accuracy Quilt Along

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 05:43:00 +0000

My fabric selection for the Aiming for Accuracy Quilt Along.

I'm joining in The Quilting Gallery's {QAL} Aiming for Accuracy.

If you are interested in joining in the fun, click here for all the details.

Finished Project: Scrappy Tulips Quilted Wall Hanging

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 01:16:00 +0000

Handquilted Scrappy Tulips

Roughly a year ago, while reading a favorite quilting magazine, I found this tulip quilt pattern. However, the quilt in the magazine fit a twin size bed. I am always on the look out for ways to minimize my ever growing scrap box. I decided on scrappy tulips, adjusting the magazine's suggested block measurements to my liking.

A pleasant afternoon and a warm cuppa was enjoyed choosing fabric - bright, cheery, "Spring" colors for the tulip petals; vibrant greens for the stems; put-a-smile-on-your-face polka dots, checks, and florals for the filler blocks.

A Happy Scrappy Wall Hanging

It's not perfect. It's handmade.

And, I am delighted with the finished product.

Friends, Florida, & Disney Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:52:00 +0000

Disney with the Easter Bunny and my good friend Valarie, chef assistant at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. She bakes all the yummy pastries!

First of all, let me say, "HAPPY EASTER!"

Secondly, I apologize for the lack of posts. I've been visiting friends in Florida.

Florida was beautiful! The weather was perfect. The fellowship sweet. And the fun never-ending.

Having a "Magical Day" at Disney with my friend!

I hadn't seen my sweet friend, Valarie, in six years! We were missionaries together teaching at the same school. Today, I am living in Australia, and she is baking for Disney. We had a great time catching up and spending the day at Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

Happy Snaps

Top Row (left to right):
1) Waiting in line for the shuttle from the parking lot to the monorail or ferry. We chose the monorail.
2) Classic pic taken in front of Cinderella's castle. Tip: Disney cast members will take a photo for you with your phone, camera, or iPad.
3)Be Our Guest Restaurant inside the Beast's castle for lunch: french onion soup, and a chocolate creme puff, with bottled water. We ate in the dining room decorated as the Beast's bedroom with the enchanted rose.

Middle Row (left to right):
1) Waiting for the train to take us from Fantastyland to Adventureland.
2) Ready for a spin on the tea cups.
3) Enjoying a Dole Whip from Aloha Isle - pineapple and vanilla ice cream...refreshing!

Bottom Row (left to right):
1) The Dumbo ride lit up at night.
2) Mrs Speech flying high with Dumbo.
3) What a Magical Day!

Mr. Speech and I want to wish all of our readers a very happy and blessed Easter.

Pretty Purple Sparkly Cell Phone/Glasses Case

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:42:00 +0000

Soft case for your Android or eye wear.

My previous post with tutorial led to this sequins and beads soft purple case. I enjoyed making the pink sparkly case so much I just had to make another one.

Each bead and sequin was sewn on by hand. Needless to say, it took me a few days to finish. I took it with me over the weekend while I visited my nephews. Whenever I could find a few moments of quiet, I would work on it. You know those small snack size zip lock bags? They worked great for traveling with sequins and beads. Just the right size and no spilling. I even had room inside the baggies for my thread and thimble. My nephews, an 8-year-old and a 4-year-old, were curious about what I was doing. I showed the 8-year-old how to sew a bead onto the center of a sequin. He gave it a try. The 4-year-old like touching the beads on the colorful bird and watching the purple sequin and bead outline grow. "Hey, you gave it a beak!" He impressively exclaimed.

This little beaded beauty is now in my Etsy shop. Just click the Pink Scissors Design logo on the top left - you can't miss it.

Pretty Pink Sparkly Cell Phone/Glasses Case {Tutorial}

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:11:00 +0000

Cell Phone Case - felt, sequins, beads...so sparkly!

Two days.

It took me two days to sew on each sequin and bead - by hand!

Surprisingly, I didn't mind.

Hand sewing is relaxing.

I enjoyed watching the simple felt become a thing of beauty with every sequin and bead I added.

Materials Used:

raspberry Felt (hot pink)
tangerine Felt (bright orange)
batting
white cotton thread
pink cotton thread
pink sequins
pink beads
silver seed beads
light pink sequin trim (it's like a sequin ribbon!)

Tools Used:
pink scissors
pins
thimble
needle
Mom's sewing machine
my own nimble fingers
reading glasses*

The Creative Process:
Measure Twice, Cut Once
I "measured" my cell phone case. By "measure", I mean I eyeballed it...placed my cell phone on the pink felt added an extra inch for seam allowance and mistake making, and cut out the size felt I needed. Then, I placed that piece of felt on top of the orange felt and cut out the same size. Finishing up the measuring by placing the felt on top of the batting and cutting out the size I needed.

Pin in Place & Sew Straight Lines
I "sandwiched" the batting between the pink and orange felt, pinned it all the way around, flipped on the sewing machine, and stitched all the way around my rectangle shape. Once I finished securing the batting in place, I decided on a diagonal design, and started sewing from corner to corner. I lined up the foot along the completed stitching line, insuring straight stitches. Now, I had a design to follow to sew the sequins and beads on by hand.

Busy Hands Are Happy Hands
Grandmother always used to say this to me. She was right. I happily followed the diagonal lines as I secured each sequin and bead in place by hand. And, the time flew by! First, I stitched a sequin in place. Next, I threaded a bead on the needle, carefully drove the nose of the needle into the pink felt, through the batting, and out the orange. Good...bead tightly fixed in place. I moved on to the next and so on, and so on, and sew on! One more thing to do before I stitch it together so that it will hold the cell phone...hem the top edge. I trimmed off excess felt/batting, leaving a clean straight edge, folded down the top edge, and stitched it down by hand.

Seams to Me
Ah, the tricky part! The quilting the felt and batting sandwich helped flatten down the bulkiness of the three layers, but it was still too thick to fit under the sewing foot. I had to sew the seams together by hand. This was not easy and quite time consuming. Especially since I did it once by hand with a blanket stitch all the way around. Right sides together, I turned it right side out, and discovered that it needed something more. A flash of inspiration. I unpicked the beautiful blanket stitch and hauled out my silver seed beads and light pink sequin ribbon. I covered up the remaining white thread with the silver seed beads. I pinned the light pink sequin ribbon right side facing the right side to the pink felt now with sequins and beads. By hand I stitched it in place all along the seam line. Finishing off, I turned the case right side out...BEAUTY! I now have a pretty pink sparkly case for my cell phone.

Comments, Please
I'm so pleased with this project that I've already begun working on a second one and will be adding this item to my Etsy shop, Pink Scissors Design.

What color would you like to see offered?

*reading glasses - these came with turning 40 this year!

Linking Up
I'm linking up with these fantastic craft link parties!

Why I Love My Husband {16-20}

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 03:22:00 +0000

Why I Love My Husband (the never-ending list):
16.) He keeps up with the housework while I'm away. While I'm in America visiting family, he is back home doing dishes and laundry. Thank you, Honey!
17.) He keeps a watchful eye on the budget and makes sure the bills are paid.
18.) He kills bugs and spiders for me...cockroaches, too. And, those Australian bugs, spiders, and cockroaches are HUGE!
19.) He treats me like a lady - holds the door open for me and pulls out my chair.
20.) He has a great smile!

I'm joining in the fun with the Happy Wives Club and linking up every Thursday! I encourage you to share your "Why I Love My Husband" list with your husband. Shower him with some praise and affirmation. In doing so, may the Lord richly bless your marriage.

A few links to begin the week...{#2}

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:47:00 +0000

House of Dots...fun site with cute clothes.

The Main Meal...yummy, healthy recipes.

Inside Airbus' luxury private jet...now, this is how I'd like to travel between America and Australia.

Fat Quarter Shop...has me thinking Spring with this pretty Spring quilt block.

The 5 Money Personalities...which one are you?

Why I Love My Husband {11-15}

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:29:00 +0000

Why I Love My Husband (the never-ending list):
11. When I cry he kisses my tears away.
12. He always compliments me on my cooking, even when I know I missed the mark on the recipe.
13. He surprises me with with gifts. For example, he bought me a large jar of Nutella last week, even though I'm out of the country. It's waiting for me to enjoy when I return home.
14. He remembers our anniversary (6 years on Sunday!).
15. When I'm fretting over the gray starting to appear in my hair, he tells me how beautiful I am. Knowing I like to take care of my appearance, he brings home a hair color kit for me to hide the gray.

I'm joining in the fun with the Happy Wives Club and linking up every Thursday! I encourage you to share your "Why I Love My Husband" list with your husband. Shower him with some praise and affirmation. In doing so, may the Lord richly bless your marriage.

Easter Ornaments for Passion Week

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:03:00 +0000

Easter Ornaments for Passion Week

Easter is early this year - March 31st! Passover is Sunday, March 24th. Start a new tradition this year with an Easter Tree. Use a branch from a tree in your yard and every day during Passion Week hang a new ornament. The idea is similar to a Jesse Tree. See this post. Each day you read the Scripture that accompanies each ornament as you hang the ornament.

When is Passion Week? It begins Palm Sunday and ends Resurrection Sunday --- that's an 8 day week!

This set includes 12 hand-crafted felt ornaments embellished with beads and sequins and a list for daily scripture reading for years of use.

Ornament themes listing, scripture readings, and symbols:

Day 1 - Palm Sunday/Triumphant Entry - Matthew 21:1-11
symbol: donkey and palm branch

Day 2 - Alabaster Box/Mary Annointing Jesus' Feet - Matthew 26:6-13
symbol: alabaster box

Day 3 - Last Supper/Bread & Cup - Matthew 26:17-29
symbol: cup of wine with unleavened bread

Day 4 - Jesus Washes Disciples' Feet - John 13:3-20
symbol: pitcher and bowl with water

Day 5 - Arrest in The Garden - Matthew 26:47-56
symbol: sword/dagger

Day 6 - Crucifixion - Matthew 27:33-44; John 1:29
symbol: cross and lamb

Day 7 - Prophecy of Three Days Buried - Matthew 12:40
symbol: whale

Day 8 - Resurrection Sunday - Matthew 28:1-10
symbol: empty tomb

Please visit my Etsy shop, Pink Scissors Design, to order your set today!

Why I Love My Husband {6-10}

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:44:00 +0000

Why I Love My Husband (the never-ending list):
6. He holds my hand when we walk to the bus.
7. He helps with the housework.
8. He always thanks me for the meals I prepare.
9. When he can't sleep, he uses headphones so that I can sleep without noise waking me up.
10. When he wakes up before I do, he has a hot cup of tea and a bowl of cereal ready for me when I wake up.

I'm joining in the fun with the Happy Wives Club and linking up every Thursday! I encourage you to share your "Why I Love My Husband" list with your husband. Shower him with some praise and affirmation. In doing so, may the Lord richly bless your marriage.

Blanket Stitched Bird Silhouette - Framed {Tutorial}

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 22:26:00 +0000

Shoe Box of Scraps. Do you sort your scraps? This shoe box holds strips...though, I'm certain I've seen some squares and other shapes in there, too.

Today, I'm linking up with Marie of Blooming Homestead. I whipped up this cute little craft especially for today's link up.

Raise your hand if you keep your fabric scraps.

{Both hands raised high in the air.}

Yeah, I have more than one box marked, "Scraps".

I do enjoy small sewing projects that I can complete in a day...an hour - even better! Thus, I keep my fabric scraps...perfect for those small projects I love.

4 easy steps! Cut. Pin. Stitch. Frame.

Materials
8 1/2 x 11 Document Frame
Muslin
Fabric Scrap for the bird silhouette
Fabric Scrap for the branch silhouette
Coordinating Colored Thread
Thimble
Scissors
Scotch Tape
Iron

Technique
Blanket Stitch - here are a few good places to learn this technique:
Tutorial: Hand Sew Felt Using Blanket Stitch from Future Girl
Blanket Stitch from Stitch School
Blanket Stitch - hand video from Connecting Threads

Step One: Cut.

Step One: Cut
Using the thin piece of card board that came with the frame, cut our your muslin...just a bit larger than the size of the card board.

Keep that piece of thin card board. You're going to need it later and use it for framing that sweet little bird.

Tip: Iron your fabric after you cut it.

Save time and your sanity. A smaller piece of fabric is always easier to work with when ironing. No sense ironing yards of muslin when you will only be using a tiny portion of it.

After you have cut and ironed your muslin and fabric shapes, decide which whether your bird will be framed vertically or horizontally.

I chose vertically, leaving plenty of space to embroider a verse or quote later.

Step Two: Pin.

Step Two: Pin.
Pin the branch shape wherever you like, keeping in mind which direction you want your frame - vertical or horizontal.

My inspiration for this craft came from a picture hanging on my sister-in-law's living room wall. I thought the darling bird silhouette would translate perfectly from print to fabric. So, one day while visiting her, I did a free hand sketch to create my own templates. No copying or tracing - - - free hand.

This craft would have gone down differently if it was more detailed than a silhouette.

This bird is a basic shape which I encourage you to try. Doodle and sketch. Draw a bird and a rough branch and put your own signature on your craft. Own it!

Step Three: Stitch.

Step Three: Stitch.
Bird and branch pinned in place, thread your needle, grab your thimble, pour yourself a cuppa, put on your favorite show/movie, and stitch.

I recommend appliqueing your bird and branch onto the muslin. My favorite technique when doing this by hand is the blanket stitch. It is easy and pretty. I listed three places to find how-to's for the blanket stitch (see above).

I chose a coordinating pink thread for my pink bird. Unfortunately, I did not have a coordinating green for my branch. So, I chose a complimentary color of an orangish-brown.

Step Four: Frame.

Step Four: Frame.
Remember that piece of thin cardboard that came with the frame? You used it in step one to cut out the correct size of muslin. Now is when you need it.

You will also need some tape to help hold the muslin in place and keep it as taught as possible when fitting it for framing.

Tip: Before fitting your fabric bird to the frame, iron it so that it will lay smooth and look lovely hanging on your wall or perched on a shelf.

After ironing it, lay the bird face down. Place the thin cardboard face up...so that you can read the writing on it. Fold over excess muslin and tape down to cardboard.

Next, gently slide the piece of cardboard which is now steadying your fabric bird into the frame.

A thick piece of cardboard should have come with your frame. Slide this in behind your fabric bird/thin cardboard.

Finally, gently slide the frame stand...the very back of the frame into the frame.

Voila!

Your lovely little fabric bird is now ready to grace your home.

Now, it's your turn...join me in linking up at Blooming Homestead.

I'm also linking up with these great craft link parties:

A few links to begin the week...{#1}

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:59:00 +0000

Got tomatoes? Make paste!

Cooker And A Looker - Homemade Tomato Paste. Amanda shares how to make homemade tomato paste two ways: the thermochef way and on the stove top.

A note about a few of the ingredients for American readers, "capsicum" is Australian for "pepper": red, green, or yellow pepper. Not the spice. The vegetable. "White Sugar" is Australian for sugar, meaning not raw (which looks a bit brownish), not icing sugar or powdered, but granulated. And, thermochef is a fancy Australian kitchen appliance (I'm sure America has its own version.)

Crafty? Link up Tuesday at Blooming Homestead!

Blooming Homestead - Crafty Tuesday. I for one am glad that Marie decided to host a crafty link-up on her blog. It gives me great reason to craft today...just as soon as I finish this blog post. Marie is inviting everyone to link up projects, recipes, and crafts. Join me in linking up tomorrow. Not crafty? That's okay, craft link-ups are a great source of inspiration...plenty of pinning going on...and you'll find some great blogs to add to your reading list.

No Sew Tee Pee!

The Handmade Home - A No Sew Tee Pee. My nephews would flip for this super craft! Set aside a day or weekend (if you are a perfectionist) to create this amazing reading/play space for your little ones. Ashley says it cost no more than $7 to make. Purchase six 1 x 2 x 8′s from your local handy man store and some jute (or duct tape if jute is not available) and follow Ashley's example for the rest...raid your fabric stash! Read the post to find terrific suggestions for how to make this amazing no sew tee pee at nearly no cost.

I think I might win Super Aunt of the Universe for Life if I made this for my nephews. Hmm, I wonder how their Grandparents would feel if built this in the bedroom I've been staying in while on my American holiday. Wonder if they will mind? I do realize that I may be sleeping in it...

5 Steps in 5 Days to a Happier Husband!

Happy Wives Club - 5 Steps in 5 Days to A Happier Husband. The Happy Wives Club introduces Kathi Lipp, sharing 5 steps for wives to practice for 5 days to build up their husbands. It's not secret that I'm madly in love with Mr Speech! Any time I can learn how to make my husband happier, I welcome it. Think of it as more ways to say, "I Love You!" Kathi admits that the steps she suggests may not be easy, ask a friend to work with you - encourage you and stay accountable to and pray for you. Kathi is the author of The Husband Project & The Marriage Project...I have both books...very good. I highly recommend them!

S’mores Éclairs !

Baker's Royale - S'more Eclairs. I can't resist a delicious eclair! The recipe calls for "finely cut graham crackers". Graham crackers are easy to find in America. I have never seen them in Australia. Any Australian readers know where I can get graham crackers in Brisbane? If I want to make these beauties, I'll have to make some extra room in my suitcase for a box or two of graham crackers. Mini-marshmallows are also not to be found in Australia. I have only ever seen the large size marshmallow and in pink and white. Where can I find plain ol' white marshmallows? I can easily cut them up into a mini size. No worries. Well, that's one more item to add to my suitcase: mini-marshmallows. Clearly, I need to learn where the best places are to buy American imported goods; AND where in Brisbane do the bakers shop?

Happy Wives, I think these would be perfect for step 4 in the 5 days to a Happier Husband.

Hey, if all else fails, do this for steps 1-5.

Methinks, ye husbands shall be very happy indeed!

Russian Doll Sweet Dreams Pillows

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:15:00 +0000

Russian Doll Sweet Dreams Pillows NEW from Pink Scissors Design! Top Row Left to Right: Ekatarina, Iryna, Oksana, Anastasia; Bottom Row Left to Right: Viktoriya, Natasha, Tatiana, Svetlana

Smiling eyes, rosy cheeks, and a heart shaped mouth, these sweet babushkas are cuddle ready for quiet time, nap time, and bed time. Terrific secret keepers and they love slumber parties. Perfect as a pillow for decoration or a soft toy for play.

Measures approximately 20 inches tall and 17.5 inches wide.

I made these darlings while in America. These beauties ship from America - $5.20 shipping to America!

Visit my Etsy shop - Pink Scissors Design - doll section and adopt yours today!

33 Pinteresting Valentine's Ideas I {Heart} 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:55:00 +0000

Pinterest is a terrific place to find Valentine's Day printables. Click here for this one.

Happy Valentine's Day! To celebrate, I'm sharing my favorites from my Pinterest boards. Please share your favorite Valentine's Day Pinterest Boards/Pins in the comments below.

Valentine's Day Crafts
Fun Valentine's Day Fonts
Large Clothespin Craft
DIY: Heart-shaped tea bag for the tea lover
Romantic Map Craft: where you met, married, and live
Countdown to Kisses
Valentine Canvas Tutorial
50 Sweet Conversation Heart Recipes & Crafts
DIY: Giant Balloon Heart

Valentine's Day Printables
Keep Calm and Kiss Me
Keep Calm and Be Mine
Arise, My Love, My Beautiful One, and come away...

Valentine's Day Cakes
Heart Hot Chocolate {Italian site}
Valentine's Day Peek-A-Boo Pound Cake
Neapolitan Rose Cake, inside and out!
Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Buttercream Mini Hearts Inside
Valentine's Cupcapkes
Tim Tams Cake - with Thick Ganache icing! An Australian Favorite!

Valentine's Day Cookies
Milk & Cookies {A Cookie Valentine Tutorial}
Chocolate Valentine Cookies
Valentine Shortbread Cookie Sandwiches
Chocolate Heart Sandwich Cookies
Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Meringue Roses
Heart Shaped Raspberry S'more Macaroons
Valentine's Day Cookie Pop

Valentine's Day Drinks
Strawberry Sweethearts Cocoa
Valentine's Day S'mores Cookie Sticks with Cocoa
Crush Strawberry Valentine Drink

Heart Shaped Food
Heart Shaped Fruit Kabobs
Red Velvet Crepes w/ Mascarpone Cream Filling & Chocolate Ganache Topping
How To Peel A Heart Shaped Carrot
Chocolate Chip Cherry Pancakes

Valentine's Day Activities for Married Couples
The 5 Minute Exercise Every Couple Should Do
The Game of Love

11 Things {a Meme}

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:56:00 +0000

Dressed for sledding in the Arctic Winter of Michigan.

I've recently discovered a new blog, The Paper Mama. She has recently begun hosting a fun meme: 11 Things. It's a way of getting to know readers and readers getting to know bloggers. I do hope many of you will join in the fun and share the link to your meme in a comment below. I know Mr Speech & I would enjoy visiting your blogs and reading your memes. For this inaugural 11 Things Meme, I - Mrs Speech - am writing it. You may recall that I am on holiday in America while Mr Speech is holding down the fort back in Brisbane. Shout out to Mr Speech! You Rock!!! {You all should know I'm not shy about how I feel about my handsome husband.}

The rules:

1. Post a photo of yourself

2. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

3. Create 11 new questions and ask people to answer them.

The Paper Mama Asked:

1. If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to?
"Mom" or even "Mum"...I've been hoping, praying, and waiting years to change my name to Mum. And, you know what...with my heart full of hope, I will continue to pray and wait.

2. Are you a collector of anything?
Teacups. You may recall this post where I swoon over the tea cups at T2. In the past I collected teapots...whimsical and lovely teapots. However, that collection remains Stateside while my tea cup collection is ever growing Down Under. Perhaps one day the two collections will become one and I can host a huge (YUGE) tea party!

3. What is your first thought when you wake up?
"Tea!" - when I'm home in Brisbane. While I'm in Michigan on holiday, "French Vanilla Coffee!" Either way, the kettle is going on and having a hot cuppa is the first thing on my mind.

4. Do you prefer sweet or salty foods?
Yes! Both. I like the sweet and savory together.

5. Name one thing you miss about being a kid.
Playing. I have so enjoyed time with my three-year-old nephew while on holiday in Michigan. Playing is the most important thing in the world to him. And, I realize at my graceful age of {ahem} 40 {shocking, I know} that there is much to learn from a three year old. I miss being three.

6. Are you a morning or night person?
Ha! I would say night, but it's a struggle to stay up much later than 10 p.m. these days. I can wake up between 6 or 6:30 without an alarm, but I'm not happy about it. Can a person be in transition? I don't think I am either a morning or a night person. When pressed, I would rather stay up late than wake up early. But, there's no guarantee I won't be grumpy {poor Mr Speech...he's so patient and kind when I get the grumpies - - - that's one of the reasons I love him so}.

7. List 5 items on your life’s to-do list:
1) Write a Children's Book
2) Adopt a baby girl from China
3) Have breakfast in Paris with Mr Speech
4) Finish all of my current unfinished quilts/sewing projects
5) Travel Europe researching my ancestry

8. Share one thing that people may not know about you.
Though I was born and raised in a state surrounded by the five Great Lakes and renowned for being a Winter Wonderland, I do not water or snow ski.

9. What is your all time favorite song, movie, and book?
Song - Jesus Loves Me
Movie - It's A Wonderful Life
Book - Psalms

10. Do you have any hidden talents?
Teaching...I was a missionary teacher before I met and married Mr. Speech.

11. Are you a really clean or super messy person?
Good question! I think I am a happy mix of both. People pay me to clean their home, while my own for the most part is "lived in". Ideally, I like to have a place for everything and everything in its place, but that's not reality. Especially, when I get out my fabric. Watch out! My works-in-progress lead to clutter. Organization is an area I'd really like to grow in...share your tips in the comments below or email me!

My Questions For You To Answer
1. Valentine's Day is tomorrow, if you HAD to pick just ONE which would you choose for a gift: 1 lb. heart-shaped box of chocolates, 1 dozen long stem red roses, dinner and a movie, or other?
2. What is the name of the most recent movie you saw at the cinema?
3. Your plans have changed and you have 30 minutes to make dinner, what do you make/do?
4. Do you have a Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall birthday?
5. What is your all time favorite book children's book - favorite you read over and over again, perhaps memorized, as a child?
6. If you are a quilter/crafter, take a photo of your most current project and share it with us. If you are not, please share your hobby.
7. Are you a Downton Abbey fan?
8. List the top 3 places you would take me to if I visited your hometown.
9. What is the name of the last blog you visited?
10. Favorite Love song?
11. Tea or coffee?

Your turn! I hope you will play along and answer this 11 questions meme! If you answer my questions, please come back and put a link in the comments. I’d really love to visit your blog and learn a bit about you!

Why I Love My Husband {1-5}

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Why I Love My Husband (the never-ending list):
1. He loves the Lord.
2. He prays for me.
3. He shares his chocolate with me.
4. He watches Gone With The Wind with me.
5. He tells me how beautiful I am even when I'm not wearing make-up.

I'm joining in the fun with the Happy Wives Club and linking up every Thursday! I encourage you to share your "Why I Love My Husband" list with your husband. Shower him with some praise and affirmation. In doing so, may the Lord richly bless your marriage.

I {Heart} Buttons! - A Valentine's Day Project

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:48:00 +0000

Just in time for Valentine's Day! A "L-O-V-E" pillow.

With the snow flying and two feet forecasted by Saturday, I am enjoying my wintry Michigan holiday by staying indoors sewing. A needle and thread and buttons are keeping me quite happy, as I work on this patchwork pillow. I had been collecting fabric scraps and carefully chose some pink ones for this pillow. I was delighted to discover that my mother has a very large container of stray buttons. I emptied the container of buttons, pouring them into the largest mixing bowl I could find in my mother's cupboards and took my time selecting buttons to use for decorate this charming Valentine's pillow. Are you working on any Valentine's projects?

I'm linking up with:

Let's Get Acquainted Monday Link Up with Plum & June

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:07:00 +0000

View from front window. Picturesque, but frigid. Best to stay indoors and sew.

Plum & June is a sweet little sewing blog which hosts a weekly link up where everyone shows off their sewing skills. An Arctic Blast hit Michigan this week, and much of North America, making staying indoors cozy and warm essential. I've been in the USA for about two weeks now and unfortunately have been getting over a bad cold. Still, I have enjoyed the quiet, relaxing activity of sewing and drinking cup after cup of hot chocolate.

I've been brainstorming sewing projects for Valentine's Day. Here's one I recently came up with. I'd love to know what you think of it. Personally, I fell in love with the little beauty and am keeping it for myself. I'll pack it up snugly in my suitcase and fly it back to Australia with me.

Sweet Heart Pincushion for Valentine's Day.

I have a half dozen or so more of these sweeties cut out waiting to be sewn up and finished with a lovely button and bow. Don't you just love that cute little love heart button on the center of the bow? I think it is adorable. I have four more. I won them in a blog giveaway. They came all the way from South Africa. These beautiful buttons are handmade and fully washable from Button Mad.

I will soon be listing Sweet Heart Pincushions in my Etsy shop.

I'm off now to visit the other crafty/quilty bloggers linking up with Plum & June. I hope you will join me in the fun.

also linking up with:

How we do Christmas Part Five - Christmas & Boxing Day

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 07:00:00 +0000

The stockings were hung...with care!

We know, it's the end of January and Mr & Mrs Speech are just now posting the last part in their Christmas series! Life got very busy...much like a whirlwind, as Mrs Speech jetted off to the USA for a holiday visiting family in the snowy land of Michigan. Mr Speech is holding down the fort back in Australia. Let's wrap up Christmas, so Mrs Speech can begin posting about her adventures in America.

Christmas Day in the Speech household is full of childlike anticipation and excitement of opening presents, though there are no children in the house. No sleep is had. And, there is usually a conversation that goes something like this at 4 a.m. or earlier:

Mrs Speech: What time is it?

Mr Speech: 4 a.m.

{silence}

Mr Speech: Can we get up yet?

Mrs Speech: I don't see why not. We are adults now.

Mr Speech: Let's get up!

An so, we get out of bed more like the 5-year-old version of ourselves, than the adult married versions, and gleefully welcome Christmas morning.

This is all before children. After children, Christmas mornings may look differently. It may be the children waking us up. However, I don't see that happening. I think we will be too excited and will be the ones to wake up our children. Well, we shall see.

Mr Speech reads the Christmas Story from Luke 2 before we open our stockings and then move on to the presents. Afterwards, Mrs Speech makes breakfast.

Christmas breakfast has changed a lot for me (Mrs Speech), having grown up in the Northern Hemisphere, in the land of ice and snow. Christmas breakfasts were always hot. All that changed marrying Mr Speech and moving to the Southern Hemisphere. Now Christmas breakfasts are tropical. We enjoy a fruit platter: mangoes, oranges, pineapple, kiwi, pomegranate, grapes, etc... A cold breakfast, perfect for a hot Christmas Day.

The oven does go on, though. The turkey must be cooked. Each year we have a turkey dinner for Christmas. I must brag on Mr Speech. He found a mighty nice turkey and bought it for a fantastic price. He's got great bartering skills!

After Christmas dinner - turkey, roast veggies, bread, green bean casserole - we have a relaxing evening and get to bed early for Boxing Day!

HIP HIP HOORAY! BOXING DAY!

The crowd outside of Myer, Brisbane CBD.

We managed to catch the bus and make it into the city just in time before Myer opened. We hoped to be there for the mad rush. We did expect to see a bigger crowd. Still the crowds of people did not disappoint as we made out way up and down Queen Street Mall ducking in and out of shops: Myer, Rebel Sport, A-Mart All Sports, JB Hi-Fi, T2, Colette, Dotti, Kikki.K, just to name a few.

The word for the day: CROWDS!

Mr Speech is a real trooper! He survived the crowds of girls and women at Colette and Dotti. Bumped and maybe even bruised, he waited while I browsed and bought, and then he carried my bags! My hero!

Tea for two - T2 - tea for me!

T2 is one of my favorite shops in the Brisbane CBD. It's a regular stop on Boxing Day. I love to pick out a tea cup and bring home my favorite T2 tea - French Earl Grey. This year, I only came home with the tea, no tea cup. I just couldn't decide, and to be honest, I was hoping for a Boxing Day sale. Sadly, T2 wasn't having one.

Kikki.K had a fantastic Boxing Day sale. This year I actually bought something. Every year on Boxing Day I browse and wish I had bought something at Kikki K and this year I finally did. I'm so glad! It was a recipe book/organizer and some cute red love heart magnets.

We had a lovely Christmas & Boxing Day. We hope you and your families did, too. Also, we wish you a very happy & prosperous New Year!

How we do Christmas Part Four - Christmas cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:31:00 +0000

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...everywhere I go...

Mrs Speech tells me, that growing up in America, it was their tradition to bake Christmas cookies in the lead up to the Big Day.

For the record, we call them biscuits. Over here biscuits are cookies. You don't soak them in gravy and if you put them with your roast beef it'd be a strange combination. Biscuits are cookies and cookies...are smaller, round things with little chips in 'em I guess.

But, Christmas cookies are what Mrs Speech likes. She usually makes them sugar-cookie-style (like Gangnam Style, only better) but this year she decided to chocolate them up and whack on some leftover chocolate icing mix.

Once police established a chalk outline, they determined that the dough was killed by a star-shaped object.

We never did anything like this when I was growing up. We never really had those kinds of traditions. Our tradition, growing up in Adelaide, was to get out of the 40°/110° heat. Later, when I was comin' up in Brisbane, the tradition was to get out of the 33°/100° heat and melt-you-where-you-stand humidity.

Christmas traditions in Australia are slowly disappearing, you know, like how you read twice a year on CNN that unless someone does something, fourteen languages will disappear in the next year? It's like that. I was walking back home through our unit complex the other day and I saw a wreath. A really nice wreath, too. But then I thought, I don't think there's another one in the walk down to our place. We have one up.

You'd pass sixteen units and not see another one. There was a time when you'd see tons of them. And lots of Christmas tree lights in windows.

Man this is turning into a depressing post. I don't wanna do that to you.

We LOVE Christmas in our household. So we do traditions. We're going through them in this How We Do Christmas series, but so far this is what we've traditioned for the holiday season:

Putting up the tree (everyone does this...)
Christmas present shopping (everyone does this, too, mainly)
Going to the lighting of the tree (not sure for how much longer)
Buying a bauble for our tree that same night
Going to the Twilight Markets/Christmas Parade (just started)
Watching It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve ("Merry Christmas y'old Building 'n Loan")
Reading the Christmas Story from Luke 2:1 to Luke 2:20 (we do this before opening presents)
Watching Ben Hur Christmas Day (after lunch...when I fall asleep fifteen minutes in...it's the best Christmas movie ever, though)

Kind of looks like the angels are surrendering, doesn't it? I like to bite the heads off first.

Traditions are important, in my humble opinion. They bind us to our past and guarantee that we don't forget what is important. And in our five minute culture I want to be bound to the notion that Christmas is not transient, is not of diminishing importance.

That it's a day that has been honoured by billions of people who've come and gone under the reign of the king, for two thousand and twelve years (and counting...regardless of what the Mayans say).

So we hold on to our little quaint practices, of wreaths and Christmas movies, because we love the season, we love the Saviour, and we love our Christmas cookies.

How we do Christmas part three - twilight markets

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 02:27:00 +0000

The masses upon masses heading into King George Square.

Next up for us in this Christmas season is the Twilight Markets. We first became aware of them a couple years ago but for varying reasons were not able to get to them.

Not so this year, I said!

I was dog tired, and not feeling particularly well, and had a blasting headache, but I shoved myself out the front door regardless. Mrs Speech really wanted to go - I think mainly, to scout out what other crafterteers were doing and maybe get a spot next year.

The tree. Alight. No wait, that's not right.

So, we plonked ourselves on the bus and got down the city in about forty minutes. We live a fair distance from town so it takes a little while (I used to ~~waste~~ spend an hour and a half every day on the bus going to and from work).

Things did not bode well when we got to the Myer Centre in the city, which also has a huge bus station underneath it - it's a catacombs of bus islands which sit amid the stream of heavy duty traffic.

Anyhow we got in around the start of peak hour last night and about fourteen buses were banked up to the side of us, cutting off our route in. You've not felt raw claustrophobic horror until you've sat in a metal crate hemmed in by a zillion buses, underground with fifty zillion tonnes of concrete and steel above your head.

Anyway!

The Square

We trotted off to King George Square, home of the Christmas Tree Lighting, and saw it seemed, about the same number of people as there were at the lighting. Except, with tents lined up all over the square and the plaza above.

There's a new trendy-looking restaurant at the rear of the square, called Groove Train, which looked...well, trendy. It was all open and inviting and very well patronised.

At the front there was a stage on which would soon be sung some Christmas songs - more on that later.

Mrs Speech got some new friends.

The place was utterly packed; it was hard to move, let alone get in to the stalls to see what was on offer.

It was all handmade stuff as you can imagine - lots of dolls and felt and magnets. The odd glassware/ceramics. A stall selling independent magazines which was conspicuously vacant of customers.

It was all bohemian and lefty/liberal. Lots of 'good for the earth' and Christmas being about peace and hope and love (but not Jesus. Let's not put Christ in Christmas!). The flavour of activism was not dispelled by the group of twenty or so rallying against apartheid in South Africa (I think):

Leader: "What do we want?"

Group: "Equal rights for all humanity and an end to oppression. And a means of reconciliation and the belief in a common and unique love."

(Maybe I made that last bit up. But that was the gist.) They were largely ignored as the kooks that they likely are. One of the women in the group had a large tattoo on each knee.

And now I will admit to being uncongenial

I recongised not long in that I was getting snotty because of my tiredness and my headache and the crowds upon teeming, sweaty crowds of endlessly pushy/shovey people who I wanted to push and shove into the nearest hessian bag which said 'made from 100% pre-smoked cannabis butts.'

So I had to check the attitude and try to enjoy myself. Incidentally, I'm a big dude. Didn't always used to be that way. If you're reading this and you're big, have you ever noticed how much more difficult it is to navigate sales and markets and such? It's a tough deal. I'm pretty agile and I still find it tough to keep out of peoples' way. Makes it difficult to enjoy yourself when you can't dodge and weave like you used to.

About halfway through our visit in the square, the music began. It was initially a twenty-something woman whose voice operated an octave too high and had that shrill effect. You know the effect. The one that makes you wince, squirm and clutch at your bleeding eardrums all at the same time.

She also liked her licks. A lot of 'all I want for Christmas...is yo-o-o-o-u-u-u-u-u-u-u ba-a-a-a-a-a-by-y-y-y-y-y' that made me want to run for the nearest thrash metal concert for relief.

I had to check my attitude.

Your money can't buy me love

Mrs Speech the next day in her Babushka shirt.

We wandered about for around thirty or forty minutes - for the reasons outlined above it was difficult to intensely and casually browse - and Mrs Speech bought a few things here and there. She is spookily, magnetically drawn to Babushka-related things and today was no exception. She noticed anything vaguely resembling an eighteenth-century Russian peasant woman.

She was thrown off by the occasional Geisha as they are iconically manufactured to look a little like Babushkas, but she came home with a green t-shirt which she almost walked away from but which I convinced her was an eighteenth-century Russian peasant woman steal at the price ($20).

The amount of paper stuff the vendors were asking for was...interesting. Mrs Speech commented that they maybe had to pay a lot in stall fees and needed to make it back. But most things were three to four times the price I would have thought. There was one collection of four pink dolls, the largest of which was perhaps ten inches tall, for seventy dollars. A mud bowl for thirty dollars (we recently got three for two bucks each from Coles).

You may handcraft your wares but you will not handcraft your way that deeply into my wallet.

Watch out for the logies

They walked to the beat of their own drum (I couldn't resist).

After Mrs Speech picked up her goodies we began our way back. There was a Christmas parade which oddly was to terminate at King George Square, which meant it had to cross a very busy Adelaide Street. A strange choice.

"The drummers have been obliterated by the 131 bus going to Moggill."

They started out with the drummers, followed by the dancers in tight court jestery-type costumes, followed by a bunch of other performers. We're not talking floats, don't get me wrong. The thing was sponsored by Myer but I don't think they cared to invest that much. It was more a collection of themed people.

Real camels!

The Mary and Joseph on a donkey thing was cool. And the real camels! And the big star.

We sauntered back to head home, making our way through the throng. Incidentally we ended up on the wrong side of a two way stream of traffic, making our way up the left when people were sticking to the right, and with people packed together like little sardine people, no way of crossing. Oddly people swerved to avoid us as they made their way down to King George Square, like water flowing around a rock, in a stream.

Mrs Speech had a difficult time coming home - we had a long stretchy bus, whose tail kind of flails about a bit and catches all the extra momentum as the bus goes round the corner etc - she promised me to not sit in the tail again.

A nice night and Christmas is now only ten days away!

How we do Christmas Part Two - lighting of the tree

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 15:28:00 +0000

A pine tree, next to palm trees. That's Brisbane for you.

So, anyway, as I said, we're doing a thing on how we do Christmas. By now, you've obviously read Part One - Present Security.

One of the traditions we have tried to begin over the past couple years is kicking off the Christmas season by attending the lighting of the monster Christmas tree (solar-powered!) in King George Square, in the city.

This year we totally made a day of it. We had to mail off some Jesse Tree Ornaments, and when we took care of that, we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around looking for Christmas present ideas and soaking in the summer sun, waiting for dusk when the lighting of the tree ceremony would begin.

So herein is a blow-by-blow account from both my and Mrs Speech's perspectives of the day:

After the Post Office

Mr Speech: It was a beautifully warm day. You can sort of sense what Christmas is all about here in Brisbane, from the pics. Palm trees and shorts are the thing between September and May.

When we left the post office, Mrs Speech begged me to help her avoid the dude selling The Big Issue and the young pair trying to engage people to contribute to Medecins Sans Frontieres or Save the Whales or wherever they were from.

From there it was a short walk down to Queen Street Mall (an open-air foot traffic shopping plaza in the centre of the city).

Mrs Speech: We left the post office and hit Queen Street Mall. I liked the mall's Christmas decorations. Except for the creepy angel, which Mr Speech also thought was leftover from Halloween.

Mr Speech: I did not.

Mrs Speech. Yes you did. You said it looked like a fallen angel, because the paint was peeling off it and it looked ratty.

Mr Speech: Oh, okay then.

Mrs Speech: A little later on, we noticed that the Wintergarden - a newly-renovated multi-level shopping mall astride Queen Street Mall - was playfully lit up with a new facade with colourful dancing butterflies. Giant butterflies. Not normal size ones.

It was summer. It was a hot summer day and I was looking forward to the nice chocolate THICKshake that Mr Speech promised me.

Mr Speech: I did. Yes, I did.

The not-so-thick shake and the oh-so-chic stores

Mr Speech:Mrs Speech doesn't like Australian shakes - she thinks they're basically just chocolate milk. It's true that ours tend to be runnier. It's just a cultural thing I guess. I remember growing up in the Adelaide heat, sucking runny shakes from styrofoam cups and loving it.

I guess in this kind of climate its better for your shake to resemble something that might quench your thirst.

So, anyway I promised Mrs Speech a proper thickshake. We went into another little mall off Queen Street Mall, called Queens Plaza and found an ice creamery that also sold thickshakes. I bought her an outrageously-priced EXTRA thick shake, or so it said.

Mrs Speech: They left off the EXTRA! It wasn't extra thick and it wasn't thick. It was a cold chocolate milk; runny, nothing 'shake'-like about it. And it certainly wasn't Hershey's chocolate.

But it was cool and refreshing and I was thankful to have it. Incidentally the best shake I've ever had was a Wendy's Frosty in America.

Mr Speech: After the not-so-thickshake incident, Mrs Speech decided she wanted to visit some of the swanky stores around Queens Plaza.

We went into Louis Vuitton. It's worth noting that I was wearing old running shoes at the time, and if I had been wearing a Ronald McDonald wig and a nose which made a honking sound, I couldn't have felt more conspicuous. $120 Polo Ralph Lauren shirts are looked down upon in there...we didn't stay long.

Mrs Speech: We didn't stay long, much to the relief of the security guards in their Armani suits who may or may not have been members of the Mafia.

Mr Speech: Does LV really think their product is that swanky that they need a security guard with a buzz haircut and an earpiece to guard the entrance? I felt like we were being watched. Not a pleasant experience.

From there we walked around a little, browsing at all the shops - we hadn't been to the city for a long time so it was nice to reacquaint ourselves with the largest shopping district in the state.

And after a while Mrs Speech looked like she was going to eat me, so I suggested we look for a place to have dinner.

Peri-Peri= hot

Mr Speech: We walked through the Myer Centre, another mall attached to Queen Street Mall (there are a lot of them) and came across Nando's, which is a chicken place we like for sentimental reasons.

Mrs Speech: It was attached to the ground floor of the hotel we stayed at for our honeymoon.

Mr Speech: So we had the Supremo wraps, and some chips and Sprite. I didn't realise at the time that Nando's was a totally Peri-Peri themed restaurant or that Per-Peri was so hot.

Mrs Speech: I had never heard of Peri-Peri before I got here. I thought it was Australian but apparently it's Portuguese.

Mr Speech: Yeah...either way, my mouth was burning. I stole most of Mrs Speech's Sprite. But it was okay because Mrs Speech had Pepsi in her bag.

But man it was great chicken. So tender. I told Mrs Speech that they must have boiled it because it was soft and succulent. And the little plastic stands on the table told us the story of Peri-Peri (see pictures). Apparently it's also called 'Bird's Eye chilli'.

But what it should be called is 'get a firehose quick' chilli.

The case of the thirteen dollar Pop-Tarts

Mrs Speech: AMERICAN CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mr Speech: After dinner we stopped at a lolly store.

Mrs Speech: It's a candy store.

Mr Speech: We call them lollies. Anyway, we stopped and had a look at some of the American 'candy'. All horrifically-priced. So we just took pictures and drooled.

Mrs Speech: I am still shocked that Pop-Tarts are so expensive. I know I can get them for under two dollars in America, and here it's ten dollars more. It's crazy.

Mr Speech: Yeah. Can of Cherry Coke. Get a mortgage.

Mrs Speech: Thanks Mom, for sending the pumpkin pie filling for Thanksgiving. We priced it here and it was nine dollars a can.

Mr Speech: Maybe they pump liquid gold to it on the plane ride over.

We bought a few presents at Myer

Mr Speech: Next up was a wander through Myer.

Myer is the largest Department store in Australia. They have a reasonably upmarket yet mainstream appeal, with fashion, homewares, electrical and accessories being their main markets.

Each December we go to Myer to buy a really nice Christmas bauble.

Mrs Speech showed me some stuff that would make nice Christmas presents for her, and we ambled about lazily, walking off our dinner.

Myer gets pretty heavily into the Christmas thing obviously to draw people in: they have a Christmas section --

Mrs Speech: with a train for the kids that our nephews would have loved.

Mr Speech: Yeah. And lots of Christmas decorations, as you can see to the left, not limited to a horrible Santa/Gandalf, a huge cute reindeer with an oversized face, and a cow with a tutu --

Mrs Speech: with incorrect anatomy --

Mrs Speech: -- which was available as a decoration, for reasons beyond mature understanding. It made 'garish' look good, and could only have been ironic.

Then there were the massively overdressed Christmas tables with decorations and plates piled so high you couldn't see the people seated opposite --

Mrs Speech: where does the food go?

Mr Speech: -- the lava sauce gift pack and the huge popcorn tin which Mrs Speech could have swum in.

And don't forget Let's Rock! Elmo. Christmas isn't complete without Let's Rock! Elmo.

Myer also featured a skinny dude in hipster formal attire who I thought was a mannequin at the top of the escalators. I did a double-take and I think he saw my surprise, because he asked if we needed help. Spooky moment.

Mrs Speech: And some pink-wigged girls at the bottom of the escalators. I have no idea what they were doing, promoting a new perfume or something.

Mr Speech: It was something to do with Nicki Minaj. Weird.

After we looked around for a bit, we split up for a half hour and bought a couple presents for each other. We don't get to the city much and thought we should take advantage while we were there.

Finally, the Christmas Tree Lighting

Mr Speech: After I loaded myself up with heavy Christmas presents - not a smart idea - we made our way to the Christmas Tree Lighting in King George Square.

King George Square is named after King George V (Colin Firth's father in The King's Speech and lays before the Brisbane City Hall complex. It's a sixty second walk from Queen Street Mall.

They lit City Hall in beautiful shades of pink and red and green which I suppose sort of resembled Christmas colours.

Mrs Speech wanted to get in much earlier than we did, but I convinced her that we should wait, lest we stand there for hours waiting.

We filed into KGS with thousands of others, not really able to get a direct look at the stage where the Christmas program was to be held.

Mrs Speech: Which was what I was hoping for but there were too many people ahead of us.

Mr Speech: It actually got really crowded where we were so we backed off about thirty feet so we had room to breathe. Unfortunately a huge dude stepped in front of us and then his amazon wife did the same with their daughter and that restricted our view of the stage somewhat.

When they started the program there were Aboriginal dancers, who after saying something about connecting to the earth (their traditional culture focuses very strongly on a bond with their land) proceeded to sing songs related to...you know, I'm not sure. They were sung in their traditional language.

Following, there was Damien Leith and his band who sung a few songs, a couple of which were from Roy Orbison's back catalogue for some reason, and one of which was a carol. He was good, we both like him.

Then it was time for the tumblers, the elves who tumble. They looked like they were on trampolines (we were too far away to see), and they were doing triple backflips and other stuff which made me cringe, just waiting for a horrible crack sound heralding the untimely and kiddie-traumatising death of one of Santa's elves.

Speaking of kids, there were heaps of 'em there predictably. Which was no problem except that a whole bunch of them were seated on the shoulders of their dads so they could see the stage. Which meant that no-one else behind could see through the forest of children.

I don't blame the parents. The stage was at ground level and should have been higher; also, there should have been chairs so people could sit. Maybe family seating for those with kids.

Anyway, we ended up with a gap between two boys on shoulders, through which I was able to take the picture above and video to the right.

They brought 'Santa' (ahem) out and the Lord Mayor. At one point the playful banter turned uncomfortably toward Santa as Channel Nine's Davina Smith asked if every kid would get an iPad for Christmas.

"Well, some kids will get an iPad, and some won't," he said, in the ultimate act of discouragement. Came off looking like someone who doesn't really know who's getting what. For a dude promoted as omniscient (he sees you when you're sleeping...) it was a less than efficient promotion. Oh well.

Then it was on to the tree, and we counted down from five (why not ten? I don't know)...and the largest solar-powered tree in Australia blinked a bright blue rainbow of colour. Everyone cheered and the crowd thinned out. We crossed the street, ironically taking a picture that seemed more complete (the last one, on the left) than the one we got up close.

We've done this twice in the last three years (Mrs Speech was injured last year), but the thing is, we're not sure about this whole Christmas Tree thing.

We're Evangelical Christians and the Christmas Tree is not in any way Biblical. It is however, possibly connected to the ancient pagan tradition of decorating one's home with evergreen boughs during the winter solstice (near to contemporary Christmas Day) to celebrate the continuity and victory, of life over death.

Legend has it that in 722, Boniface in Germany came across pagans attempting to cut down an oak tree, in order to fashion a stake, which was to be used to sacrifice a child.

He felled the tree with one blow and out of it, sprung a fir tree, which he told the Germans was holy and a symbol of Jesus' promise of eternal life.

There are apocryphal tales relating to Boniface felling a tree with a single blow, out of which sprung a fir tree; or Martin Luther putting up a tree and decorating it with candles.

Christmas Trees to me have the vague feel of paganism about them; wherein of course creation is venerated more than the Creator. What does a tree have to do with the birth of Jesus, even if you do top it with a star or angel?

I judge no-one for putting one up in their home, and I don't think it's a critical part of a person's salvation. But we're not sure about it. We're not Puritans (no singing or dancing or ANYTHING jovial! No!)

We kind of like the idea of a Jesse Tree, and not just because Mrs Speech sells Jesse Tree Ornaments. It'd be nice to put something up that genuinely relates to Christ's Birth.

If you're reading this, please feel free to leave any comment you may have on the issue.

We left King George Square that night, and walked back down to Queens Plaza where Mrs Speech believed we might find a nice Christmas Tree ornament. We bought a wonderful little silver-ish angel, blowing a trumpet.

Then we dragged our sore feet back up the top of the mall, and went home. It was a great day.

How we do Christmas Part One - Present Security

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 05:27:00 +0000

Masking tape/Duct tape. An all-world security device.

You're probably wondering what that thing to the left is. It's duct tape, on our bedroom cupboard.

Let me explain.

We're going to show you how we do Christmas - what it means to us, how we celebrate it, all the little things that add-up to making the season what it is.

If you're from the northern hemisphere, you'll be transfixed at how Christmas for us is less pine trees and snow, and more palm trees and ice in your Coca-Cola. You'll dazzle at the shorts we wear while singing Frosty the Snowman. Sing it, we do.

In the meantime, you'll get a glance at what Brisbane does for Christmas, and how it impacts us.

And so, it starts with the duct tape.

For this, we go back to where we used to live.

Until last year we lived in a similar unit in the same complex here in Brisbane. But whereas our current place has a dual-room loft situation going upstairs, our previous place had three bedrooms, all with their own wardrobes.

which meant plenty of space for hiding presents from each other; Mrs Speech would have one place, I'd have another (the ironing room cupboard aka the third bedroom) and we'd each agree to not look in on each other's turf. Not hard for me, since I rather would have been surprised at Christmas anyway.

But here we have limited space. Our master bedroom has a wardrobe, but upstairs there's just a sort of low closet you can walk into - if you don't mind bumping your head - with some shelves and a rack to hang things. It's an afterthought, really.

Mrs Speech took that space since upstairs is ostensibly her place anyhow. I took the master bedroom cupboard space.

And then SHE LOOKED!!

I'm telling you, it was so egregious I nearly called the cops. She looked one way, then the other, (I captured it all on MrsSpeechCam™) then slowly slid the door open, so I wouldn't hear, and then she rummaged through everything I had bought her...

Okay, not really. She was looking for a top, and opened the door one day without thinking. And, it was before I really had bought anything, so there was only one present there. Mostly covered with a bag. She tells me she didn't see anything.

But it became apparent there was going to have to be some deterring. So, I whacked some masking tape/duct tape on the wall, covering the door. It couldn't be quickly opened; she would have to think about it. And hopefully not peek anyway!

Well, I trust her. I don't think she looked. And if she needed a top, she did always ask me to help her find one instead of just opening the door. At the very least it gave her pause to consider before just charging forward and opening the door.

Tell the truth, it wasn't a huge issue anyway. Usually we buy all our presents then a couple weeks go by before we wrap them and put 'em under the tree.

We went Christmas shopping yesterday, and wrapped them the same day and put them under the tree. So I only had a couple here and there that I had bought.

But that's always one of the first things we think about when we do Christmas. How are we going to hide presents from each other?

Some stuff we have been doing lately

noreply@blogger.com (Speech Not Recognised) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:27:00 +0000

Big W, going nuts on their Black Friday sale.

Wondering at the state of Australian retail

The above picture notwithstanding, the whole Australian retail sector, from farm to fridge, sucks big time. As I recently said.

I dare you to look at the above picture of Mrs Speech and Big W's grand discount and not laugh, snort, guffaw or chortle. Okay, you can chortle a little.

An Australian-USA Thanksgiving, with some New Zealand thrown in, too

That's the last time I play musical chairs with a little old lady. She totally hustled me.

Mrs Speech and I know a lovely lady from Colorado. There's another woman who goes to church with them, who is from Indiana.

They got together and nefariously planned a ~~pro-USA demonstration~~ Thanksgiving celebration for Australian family members and friends. And a little bit for them too I guess.

There was also a very nice, elderly New Zealand couple.

I brought along some HD NFL to watch (Packers! Lions! Friday night football!) and we had turkey, mash, sweet potato, glazed carrots, green bean casserole, olives, boiled eggs, fresh bread, and other stuff.

Thanksgiving traditions. I love 'em.

We had soft drink too. Mrs Speech didn't have much of that because I kept stealing hers.

It was topped off by pumpkin pie, which is something that totally needs to catch on over here in Australia. Pumpkin pie is awesome, especially with whipped cream.

Afterward we sung some songs related to the states of Indiana, Michigan and Colorado, and watched some Youtube clips of Americana-type songs. Everyone had a good time and was satisfied.

Baking ourselves in a mid-morning Australian summer

Beautiful. Our tax dollars put to good use.

A few weeks back I bought a new basketball from Rebel Sport. We had been walking a bit, again and we had passed the basketball courts at the high school a couple times.

They're absolutely beautiful. They had been resurfaced in the late nineties but wear and tear did them in a bit. That and the roots from the monster tree next to the court, which pushed up the far court like localised seismic activity; little rift valleys which meant you couldn't even dribble.

But they done been resurfaced and new hoops and backboards. So I dragged Mrs Speech over there Sunday mid-morning. Big mistake. We were there maybe twenty minutes before the heat got us. It was like being in an oven. The heat bounced off the court and sizzled us. We had no SPF or hats on. We had a bit of a walk home and took some pics of a babbling brook (DON'T DRINK THE WATER!!) and the turkey which scratches around the place.

He's built up a massive cratered nest thing. Mrs Speech wants to fatten him up so we can, y'know, Christmas...

Pricing the gobble-gobbles

Speaking of which, we were at the mall yesterday mailing off Jesse Tree Ornaments. We stopped at the supermarket yesterday and had a squiz at turkeys for Christmas.

Vegies? Check. Gravy? Check. Christmas Pudding? Check. Turkey?

If you're American, you have to know this one thing: we don't eat much turkey here. We have it at Christmas, wherein they might sell a few million, but outside that, not really. In fact, turkey is so synonymous with Christmas, that it would feel weird to eat it outside of Christmas day, unless you're having a turkey sandwich. But at $32.99/kg sliced that's pretty steep for most people.

Put in perspective, you Americans probably eat more turkey on one thanksgiving than we would in fifty years total.

Anyway, so we found a #34 turkey at the supermarket. That's 3.4kg/7½ pounds. It was thirty bucks. Down to twenty, it was.

My guess is closer to Christmas it will come down, and we might get something that size for ten to fifteen. That would be nice.