February round up and Loz, what have you started???

February has been a mixture for me. What a month. Some great times spent with Brad and (some of) the kids. This is one of the clydesdales that pulled us on the tram across the causeway to Granite Island this month. Mr 8 was very excited about that ride. He and I went to the Maritime Musuem this week. He was passionate about that too! We had the best time.

It makes me think about Charles Dickens' opening line in "A Tale of Two Cities". It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Strange how those two so often go together. February was also a shocking time for most Australians as the Black Saturday fires in Victoria took over 200 lives and over 1800 homes. Over 7000 people are homeless, some because of deliberately lit fires. We in South Australia were shocked because it could so easily have been us. Our state is so dry at the moment and we suffered the same high temperatures and strong winds that Victoria did. What was the difference? I don't know. I feel in my gut that it was the police who made the difference here. They have an operation all through summer where they visit known arsonists (and even suspected arsonists). Especially on days of extreme fire danger. They just let them know that they are being watched. This is not a scientific deduction of what happened, just how I feel. I think we were lucky that the police have been running this program all summer.

And my sewing room finally settled down a little, first time since Christmas and the move to a different room. My new desk can be seen above. These are some of the things I spend time looking at. Oh! I posted my 300th post and opened an etsy shop too. Busy, busy! I enroled for the Quilt Fabric Delights retreat in April as well. Who of you are going? Comment and let me know!

And Loz is responsible for this little gem. She had a wonderful post entitled "Whatever happened to that young thin person?" and I have included this photo of the young thin person I was in homage to Loz. My Bradley, me and Mrs 24 when she was about 9 months old. She was superbaby! She was tiny, but at 9 months she could run (that's what happens when you start walking at 7 months!) and she ran rings around us, her young, inexperienced parents! I guess she prepared us for what was ahead - another 7 wonderful babies from whom we learnt all sorts of different things! I know I wouldn't be the person I am today had I not learnt all that I have from my children. I think sometimes we mistakenly think we are going to teach them, but some of the biggest life lessons are learnt from the other direction! So, February was great and shocking all at the same time. I'm looking forward to March!