I Heart Macro

Hello dear readers,

Sorry I have been MIA for so long.
Life has been VERY busy for me recently. Thank your to all my followers who have still been dropping by even though I have not been posting regularly. Thank you for your comments. I have appreciated them all so much.

My darling Dad, who recently turned 90 has just recently moved in to permanent residential care.
After months of ongoing illness, my sister and I felt this was the best solution for him, needed for his  health and ongoing care.
Needless to say we spent many hours looking for a place that we felt would be a match for Dad.
I found it very emotionally exhausting even though I knew logically it was a necessary and  the right thing to do.
Combined with a house renovation... and you may see why I have been MIA!

Anyway,  I am starting to get back in to the swing of blogging again... by joining in to I Heart Macro, hosted by Lori at Studio Waterstone. Here is my entry... a delicate pink camellia.

This plant was given to me a few years back by a dear elderly friend. I nearly lost it last year due to dry weather and water restrictions... I cut it back brutally.. and this year, this lovely plant is now laden with buds and flowers.

Please click on the  photo below to take you to all the fun at studio Waterstone.

Cheers,
Jenni

Renovating!

Hello dear readers,

Sorry I have been slacking off in the  blog-posting department. I have been very busy packing up some of my home prior to home improvements.

We have just recently commenced the renovation; a  new kitchen / dining area, and freshening up the family room and outside deck area will be (hopefully) completed over a 2-3 month time frame.

I can't believe I packed 71 boxes from this (relatively) small area! 62 went to storage along with furniture etc.

We are using the laundry as a make-shift kitchen. The new outdoor (bar-b-que) fridge is in the laundry and we are using that for the moment. The electric frypan is our main cooking appliance as well as the microwave oven and a toaster. So, all in all, it works pretty efficiently.

Old kitchen - now 23 years' old. The wall on the left has now gone - making way for an updated open plan kitchen and dining area.

The empty family space. Carpet will be replaced with beautiful floorboards. New curtains/shutters will be installed and a new paint job will be carried out, too!

The wall is down! Most of the kitchen has gone. Windows will become doors opening to the outside deck which will be extended a little.

New kitchen will be placed in this area, previously the dining area.

Still so much to do....it has only just begun!

I will keep you posted and try and not bore you to death with TOO many house photos! 

Bead making has come to a standstill...although I did spend some time during the recent cold and rainy weekend tidying and labelling glass rods.....feeling quite virtuous really!!

Until next time,

Jenni.

I Heart macro - pre decimal coins.

Hello friends,

I came across these old coins whilst clearing out my kitchen cupboards in preparation for a kitchen renovation.

They have quite a history really.....
They are pre-decimal currency, old silver coins from pre-1966. (Australian conversion from Pounds, Shillings and Pence to decimal currency - Dollars and Cents - occurred on the 14th February 1966 - I remember that day so well)

I kept them because, when I was a child, my mother used to put them in the Christmas pudding...yes the whole  lot!

I remember the sound when she cut the pudding and you could hear the knife against the coins...
We used to 'bag' a piece we liked (the ones that made the most noise)...."I want that one, Mum!"
Often we would chose a piece only to find that it really did not have that many coins inside...how disappointing! My older siblings would often give me theirs if I failed to get any or very little.

When decimal currency was introduced in 1966, the new coins could not be added to the Christmas pudding, as they had different metal composition deemed to be unsafe for adding to food.
So, we kept the old silver coins and my parents would exchange the equivalent value amount in the new money for the return of the old threepences, sixpences and shillings and florins (two shillings). These are her original pudding coins.

The Threepence (equivalent to 2 cents today) has the wheat on one side and the King on the reverse -this coin is dated 1943)
The sixpence (equivalent to 5 cents now) has the Australian coat of arms on one side and the Queen on the other.
The shilling (equivalent to 10 cents) also has the  coat of arms and
the Florin (or "two  bob" as it was commonly known as then) is the current day equivalent of 20 cents.

My husband tells me that the old coins are now worth much more than the conversion equivalents, partly because of rarity value and mainly because of the silver content valued at the high current price of silver.

They look pretty grungy, but this Christmas with my new oven in place, I will give them a clean-up and put them in that pudding!

It will be good to hear that familiar noise again.

To check out all the other great macro photos  and join in the fun, please click on the photo below to take you to our host, Lori's site.