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Party Party Party

A round of parties this week ... Yesterday, it was the Gumnutters' Christmas party. ( The Gumnutters are a doll makers' group here in Newcastle. We meet once a month and swap creative ideas and teach each other new skills) The Gumnutters have been wonderful this year supporting the Mando project in Papua New Guinea - thanks very much, you are a special group of creative women. Besides eating lots of yummy food yesterday, we had a Christmas stocking swap and we were all delighted to receive such beautiful stockings. We also made beaded Christmas wreaths - everyone getting into the spirit of Christmas. These little wreaths are very simply made with a few green and red crystals and wire. For this project, acrylic beads look sparkly, too and make a lovely embellishment for a parcel or for the tree. The instructions for this little project are in the Australian magazine , "Beads Etc" issue 8, 2006.

Last night, Jim and I travelled to Sydney to a 120th birthday - our friends Bill and Maureen (whose birthdays are 12 and 13 December respectively) have a combined age of 120! Their sons and daughter organised a fantastic surprise birthday for them . It was a great night, with their friends and family coming from all over Australia for the celebration - and they had no idea until they came in the door to rousing applause and singing.

Today is a very special day - our grandson's third birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYLAN

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