SP10 May/June Parcel Arrived

Today a parcel arrived from Kristeen, my SP10 Pal. Once again it had been opened by Australian Quarantine. Several parcels had been unwrapped, then rewrapped but nothing had been removed.




Kristeen had included in the one parcel my May and June gifts.

Kristeen you have spoilt me again this month. You have been so generous and thoughtful in your gifts.

Kristeen lives in Windsor Canada and she sent me:-

• Canadian flag
• Canadian carry bag (for all my lovely goodies)
• Canadian notebook
• Fibre Trends Pattern (Everone's Favourite Hat & Scarf) ....and .....
• Knit Picks skein (Bare) - it is just so soft
• 2 balls of blue Cotton Ease
• 2 balls of Bernat Ultrasoft Cotton (mauve/aqua)
• a jumper keyring
• 5 very cute sheep buttons
• sheep magnet
• 2 lovely soft sheep (Ebony has a lovely black face and Ivory has a pink face)......and .....
• 8 pkts of Koolaid (will be used for dyeing not eating!!)
• block of "stickies" in the shape of a V
• 2 tubes of hand lotion - Mango mandarin and Cherry blossom (and they smell absolutely devine)

There were also some yummies .....

• 2 Pkts Smarties (who can only eat one smartie and leave the rest until later?)
• 2 Aero bars
• 2 Caramilk chocolate bars.........and ..... I think this may have been for Chloe .....
• a box of very cute Twisted whiskers blank cards

Kristeen, thankyou very much for everything. As you said in your card, buying for someone you don't know can be difficult and fun at the same time. Well, all I can say is that you make a wonderful swap partner .... and thankyou very much.

SP10 Contents

This is the lovely card that Kristeen, my SP10 pal sent in her April parcel to me. It is just so cute .............

Now keep on reading .........

This is how my SP10 swap parcel arrived.

My swap partner, Kristeen, sent the parcel early April and I received it today.

The parcel had been opened by Australia Post for inspection by Australian Quarantine because the screeening process, which uses detector dogs and X-ray machines indicated that there may have been an item of quarantine concern in the parcel. A leaflet was added to my parcel stating that upon inspection, everything met quarantine conditions. The offending item was a pump action hand cream. It was subsequently rewrapped and nothing was removed from the parcel.

Inside the parcel each individual item was wrapped in lovely new issue paper. The offending parcel is the one on the right.

Haven't I been spoilt?

My parcel consisted of:-

• 3 balls of Bamboozle yarn (55% bamboo, 24% cotton, 21% elastic nylon)


• 3 dishclothes she knitted from organic cotton. They are just so soft ... will be used as facewashers.


• 1 round pot scrubber (I think?? it is just too soft for the kitchen sink!!)


• Pkt of Canadian playing cards


• sheep stationery (ewe beaut!!)


• sheep shopping list (I won't be writing lamb chops on it !!)


• a magnetic Canadian Mountie (and he is so sexy)


• Pkt Werther's Original hard candies ..... yummo


• 2 Nestle coffee crisps ..... who cares about dieting when you have something like this to eat !!!!!!!!!


• some Lindt chocolate sheep - it would be tooooo cruel to eat them !!!

AND ......... the offending hand soap (along with the Australian Quarantine leaflet)!!!

THANKYOU KRISTEEN ...... THANKYOU KRISTEEN ..... THANKYOU KRISTEEN .....

SP10 PARCEL RECEIVED

Hi World ......
Just wanted to let the World know that I have received my SP10 April parcel this morning (9am). I haven't even opened it yet ... I have sent an email to Kristeen thanking her for the parcel. It had been opened by Australian Quarantine but they said nothing had been removed.
NOW I am going to go and open it ............

Mystery Skein Swap Parcel Finally Received

This Saturday morning sky photo was taken Saturday morning when I was heading towards the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria for a dyeing (colouring day). The photo shows Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance in the background and one of our trams in the forground.

I still have a lot more to write about ..... but a Sunday roast needs to dished up.....

It has been quite an eventful week. On Monday I went to Wangaratta to visit my mum who was not well. She has had xrays and tests and gets the results back this coming week. So I hope everything will be Ok. It was good to catch up with my mum and also my sister and her family. Life is so precious, so we have to make the most of it.

I received a swap parcel .... this one was one that I didn't expect to receive. I participated in the Mystery Skein Swap which began in January. You were to send 100gm of yarn (wool, acrylic, whatever) to your swap partner and they in turn sent you 100gm of yarn. Then we were to knit something with that fibre and send it back to them. I received my swap yarn and promptly knitted a really long sideways scarf and sent it back to Paula in Mitchigan. I sent my lovely soft black yarn to Paula wondering what she was going to do with it.

So I waited and waited ..... to be fair, Paula did have back surgery during the swap period. The Mystery Skein Swap Yahoo group was very interesting - there was a fair bit of flaming and allegations of thieving. Abruptly the Yahoo group finished and that was the end of the swap ... people were left without addresses and without receiving their swap parcels. I had thought I was not going to receive my parcel ..... and then it arrived ..... a scarf and some note pads and pens. It was such a lovely surprise. Thankyou so much Paula for sending it.

So maybe I will still receive my SP10 Swap parcels. My swap partner has emailed that the first parcel had been sent ..... in April. Oh well, time will tell if I receive it and the one for May/June.
And in case you are wondering yes, I did send my SP10 parcels to Chooi wah in KL Malaysia!!

Will I participate in the next SP ??? Don't know .... will wait and see .........

The First Week of Winter

Saturday looked as though it was going to be stormy. But no rain. Chloe completed her "Juvenile - Advanced" dog obedience class and was awarded her certificate. We, the dog handlers didn't receive a Certificate ...... !! sob sob

It has been a busy week. On Monday I went along to a bead jewellery class and made a lovely handbag charm.

Wednesday I went into the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria. The Bendigo Spinning group came to visit our rooms. I had a table of different bombyx and tussah silk products .... you name it, and I think I have it! There were also silk skeins and some completed silk items.

The Bendigo group wanted me to show them how to do a 'Fibre Sandwich". They brought along 50gm of fibre and with the fibre that I provided we created a sandwich. We layered the different fibres and after we divided the sandwich, portions were placed in paperbags and distributed to the participants. We had a lot of fun and the ladies enjoyed themselves.

Doctor's appointment on Thursday - got the results of a bowel cancer test - negative !! hooray !!

On Friday it was back into the Guild rooms. I was on office duty. It was also Joybelle's day where Jan showed us how to knit with wire, fancy yarn and beads. We were suppose to make a braclet but I didn't like mine and redid it when I got home. However, my braclet turned into a brooch!!

My SP10 Swap partner Chooi wah in Malaysia emailed me to say that she received her parcel. This was a 3 month swap, however, I sent her a parcel in April and then sent her a combined parcel for May and June. My own swap partner said she liked that idea and is doin the same for me.

On the knitting scene I have been knitting some scarves for KOGO "Knit One, Give One" charity. When you travel on public transport you seem to get a lot of knitting done.