Stitching

So, just to show Thailand is now a memory, I've been in my sewing room, or should I say, my sewing corner. I've set up in the garage which we don't use as a garage and I'm quite happy in my little nook....

fabric scraps which I hope to turn into postcards

 My sister made this book cover for me for Xmas last year. She hand dyed the fabrics using natural dyes like leaves, seeds etc.

  I've had this "glow in the dark" fabric for some time and decided to make 2 of my grandsons a simple 9 patch quilt/throw for their beds or to snuggle up in during the cold winters they experience in the south.

found this magazine at my local newsagent yesterday....it's got some cute & simple projects in it...

My corner of the world......love being in this space, playing and dreaming......

Paradise

 The first week we were in Thailand, we stayed at The Paradise Resort at Koh Yao Island.....this place is so aptly named.....it is quiet, the food and the staff are amazing......you can choose to do daily activities or do nothing.....to get here, you fly to Phuket and the Paradise shuttle you to the marina where you catch a ferry to the island.......is anyone needs a relaxing break, this is the place to be....and it's not expensive.....

Goodies from Thailand

I loved every moment of being in Thailand and these are a sample of some of the goodies I bought home..... I particularly loved the markets, the energy, the people, the goodies on offer.....

 Gorgeous open weave cotton scarf

 an assortment of bags & purses......some for the grandies & some for gifts

 cute little coin purse from Jim Thompson house. The silk there is magnificent, but expensive.....glad I didn't find the factory !!!!!

 I loved these bags......they are made from mesh with silk fabric attached.

 and what's a visit to Thailand without buying a handbag.........

 The red & black sandals on the right & left of this photo are handmade and they are the most comfortable sandals I've ever had.....I bought 2 pairs and my daughter decided I could have hers too.....I wore mine all the time & all for the princely sum of 99 Baht per pair !!!! The red & cream shoes are elastic and are oh so comfortable....I paid about 400 Baht for them, roughly $12 & I saw them in a shopping centre not far from where i live for $49.95 !!!!

 and pants, pants and more pants.....I nearly always wear pants or shorts and the Thai fabric is very light and the styles are so easy to wear and comfortable & they;re so cheap......250 baht will get you a great pair. They suit the tropical climate I live in. I could have filled my suitcase with them!!!!

and some more goodies.....the blue printed fabric is a cotton sarong; the green & mustard in the top RH corner are pieces of cotton fabric...actually they're scarves, but I'll use them in craftwork. The black, grey, green & multi coloured open weave scarves are in the top LH corner & the little purses & glasses case are made by the hill tribe women. I was drawn to the fabrics and the colours.....

More Thailand photos....

I've randomly selected some more photos of Thailand, including some for Nanette of some of the goodies I came home with......

My daughter is an excellent cook & loves Thai food. She did a cooking class and the teacher took the class to a market to introduce them to some produce they may not recognise & also to choose ingredients for their recipes. The colours of the fruit & vegetables are so vibrant and the food is extremely fresh.....

 Don't you love the purple in these Thai eggplants......

I tried to get a photo of the terraced market gardens, but this one doesn't do the scenery justice. A lot of my photos are on the movie camera and I haven't quite mastered the art of editing them yet........

 This is on one of the "made" roads.....we're almost at the top of the mountain to the village....

I finally got around to organising my Thailand photos and am going to attempt to post a few here

 Chillies drying in the sun.

Part of the jungle where we rode on the elephants. I was a bit concerned they would plod along stepping quite heavily, but they are actually very careful where they step, checking the ground before they proceed. I'm scared of heights, but with encouragement from my daughter Rebecca, I managed beautifully and really enjoyed it.

A ride in a tuk tuk is a must

There are 306 steps up to this temple and it is worth every one of them. The Temple is Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep and it is truly magnificent. 

My daughter Bec and I went on a quad bike ride up into the mountains outside Chiang Mai. Why, you might ask given I've never been on a quad bike in my life !! We rode for about 30 minutes on the main road, then went into the jungle to do a bit of dirt bike riding on a track that was best described as challenging, well most politely described as challenging!! Scared, not much, but I could see headlines in the paper reading "Middle aged Australian tourist has quad bike accident in jungle in Thailand", and I did manage to convince myself I wasn't going to die in a foreign country, although that took some doing !! After the jungle, we again rode on a "made" road up to the highest point and it was fantastic. The view over the terraced market gardens stretched on for miles and it looked like a patchwork of various shades of green & brown....I'm sure someone measured the plots. Unfortunately on the other side of the road, a low cloud had come in threatening rain, so we couldn't see Chiang Mai, but the race was on to get back before the rain fell. Tropical rain can be very heavy. We made it back safe & sound and when I look back, it was fun.....although I have no need to repeat the exercise !!

Bec & I went to Tiger Kingdom outside Chiang Mai......we went into the area with the little tigers and had a play with them, but the photos are on a disc, so I can't show them here. They were cute though, and just like little kids, they were all about playing.

This sign amused me........not sure how I feel about Tiger Kingdom though. You can nominate which size tiger you want to have your photo taken with.....from babies to very large tigers. But they are still in enclosures and the medium and larger tigers are in very small enclosures when having their photo taken. There's something that's not right about that.......

My girlfriend Margie & me at The Spirit House restaurant at Chiang Mai. The food was absolutely beautiful, and so was the setting. The American chap (Steve) who owns it told us he was an antique dealer who came to Chiang Mai 18 years ago for 6 weeks, but never left. He was a lovely bloke who gave us some good tips about Thailand. There is a Spirit House restaurant in Yandina which is on the Sunshine (or North) coast here in Queensland, it's about an hour and a quarter drive from Brisbane, and we've been there a couple of times. We thought they might be "related", but he tells us that's not the case. They do beautiful Thai food too.

This is the War Cemetery in Kanchanaburi. Over 5000 Australian, British & Dutch soldiers, sailors and airmen are buried here. These very brave men were POW's and were forced to help build the Thai-Burma railway for the Japanese in WW2. The conditions were horrific and the brutality of the Japanese ensured that death was a constant companion. It's very moving to visit here & think about these men....some were very young, some were husbands and fathers.....all were heroes.

My husband and daughter gave me 4 days at the Ramada resort in Khao Lak in the south of Thailand and it was a beautiful place to stay. Unfortunately it rained every day we were there, but given I had (as yet, undiagnosed) whooping cough and was quite tired, it worked out well for me to do nothing.

Khao Lak was one of the places hit by the 2004 Tsunami. The 1st photo above shows a Police boat that was 1 nautical mile offshore when the Tsunami struck and it was found 2 klms inland. The bottom photo shows the area today. I think the authorities may be going to make a memorial perhaps, because there was a bit of construction work going on when we were there.

In the top RH corner of the top photo is the Ramada pool after the Tsunami and the bottom photo is the pool today. I can't imagine how frightening the tsunami must have been. One of our taxi drivers said he & his family climbed trees to get to safety.......

And we had 5 days in Bangkok, did a bit of shopping and sightseeing. But as everyone says.....it's great to get away, but it's wonderful to come home.