WOWW # 312 ATC Anniversary Swap

WOW those 5 weeks went so fast when we found out it was Anniversary time again

That nice neat table I cleared up and all the nice stuff that was there unceremoniously shoved aside to hold the calendars and street directories I am using to make envelopes to send cards in. These calendars were only $2 each so have no hesitation in using 2015 ones for envelopes hahaha.

Joining Julia in her Stamping Ground to discover more desks around the world

Postcrossing Postcards

Happy and heavy mail day to day from Postcrossing of official Postcards

 This card arrived today from Lisa in Germany. Beautiful ornate buildings in Germany

 I love photos of planes, it gives me a feeling of happy carefree, going on holiday feeling. This came from Yuki in Japan and the beautiful stamp below.

 This card came from Lissane in the Netherlands., the photo was taken by a Dutch Photographer Pietruschka. Reminds me of my childhood when I would look out the window through the rain and was happy that I was in the house nice and warm and dry.

 These Hobbit cards are collectors items as they are hard to get and sort after. I was thrilled when I saw it and came from New Zealand from Anne-Marie, love the stamp on the back to match the card

Postcrossing Memorial Day

I decided to get creative and decorated these envelopes for some Postcrossing Swaps. 

Here is an interesting article on decorated envelopes from the war by John Fogarty titled 

A Memorial Day Memory: Love From the Pacific Theater

T for Tuesday

Photo heavy post

Another teapot I forgot to show 

 We went to Warner Brothers Movie World on Sat because last year it was cheaper to buy a yearly unlimited pass at $109 than to buy the daily pass at $99. We also got to visit Sea World and Wet N Wild, we still haven't made it to Wet n Wild-its now winter and probably too cold to be in the wet

The ride above sounded scary from all the screams. I took these photos on my IPHONE 6, it has a very good camera on it and the day was perfect with lots of sunshine

 Hubby went on the ride above, I waited and waited and still he wasnt on the ride, about 6 rides later I saw him on the last carriage below. He had to take off his hat and glasses, obviously as the ride went sideways 

This was the entrance area, the road looks like a real road

 This is my kind of ride, hardly getting off the ground hahahaha

 The ride I did go on was very tame except for 2 spots where it dipped and the last drop was huge, I screamed my head off and they had a photo of me doing just that (ugly scared look hahahaha), so we got drenched on the way down. When you come off it this is what greets you, a human dryer hahahaha, because you do get sopping wet. Anything to make money huh.

 Michael went on a scary ride, this one went upside down he's on the last carriage again. 

 I managed to get a photo of him as he sped past above me, they sit in the chair hanging down. My heart was palpitating even though I didnt go on any of the hair raising rides

 We had some lunch there, $20.00 per person, all you can eat which wasnt too bad. I forgot to take the before photo. Michael had only pizza.  I didnt like the pizza because it was tasteless so I had the salad below and a second helping of it. Dessert was pathetic as well so we skipped that

 Love this old car that was parked at the entrance

We saw stunt driving skills second to none. How they missed each other was beyond my comprehension, they must have practised a lot. A lot of burnt rubber could be smelt. A fun day in all, I slept on the way down (1hr drive) and slept on the way back. (I wasnt driving LOL)

Joining Bluebeard and Elisabeth for T for Tuesday

Postcrossing Postcards

A big mail day today received 4 postcards from Postcrossing Postcrossers

This postcard came from Hana in Czech Republic accompanied by a wonderful card.

Postcard shows Charles Bridge, National Museum, Astronomical clock, and Old town square

 Love the stamps.  I hope to make my own postcards with stamps on it

 I have no idea what this postcards represents, its is written in Chinese, I cannot read Chinese (surprise!! surprise!! LOL). The sender read that I love collecting stamps so she chose some pretty stamps to put on the postcard-how thoughtful-from Chenmengqin

 I am not sure what this building is of but it came from the Czech republic from PepaEbr

 The last postcard is from Olga in Russia, again I have no idea what mountain this is of as there is no description however the writing is in Russian. Aren't the stamps gorgeous below!

WOYWW # 311 and more Postcards

 Another area of my craft room to view. This one is behind me when I sit at the computer. Above is the before photo of half the table that I needed and was just a dumping area.

The after photo all cleaned up and immediately replaced with stuff. Left top are some wonderful vintage serviettes I will use to make backgrounds on cards. Boxes and baskets of my postcards to be swapped. Tissue boxes-always come in handy.

The three piles in the front left are to go to people. Books of stationery to write in-oppps almost falling off the table there hahaha.

Beautiful sunshine streaming into the craft room, unfortunately at the far end from where I sit.

 These postcards are from private Postcrossing swaps, I like collecting maps of various citys/countries. This one came from Kyoka in California.....and of course the beautiful stamps below

 This postcard came from Shinta in Indonesia, I just love the stamps she has put on. I also love the sticker she has made "Postcrossing Sending Smiles Around the Globe" which is so true. I smile and look forward to looking in my postbox each day to see what surprise is in there and it never fails me.

It's that time of the year here in Australia (at least the Southern States) where we have soup to warm the cockles. I was lucky enough to taste this soup in Sydney MLC Centre when I visited there 2 weeks ago, it was absolutely delicious. OMG did I say it was absolutely delicious!!!, I had to guess what was in it.
I put in some chicken thighs cut into small pieces.
Portugese seasoning
lemon rind of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
Continental Parsley and normal parsley from my garden (a handful of each, chopped up)
mint leaves from my garden (a handful, chopped up)
some chicken seasoning because it tasted bland to me
leek (love leek, use it all the time in winter)
grated carrot
diced celery

and yep it tasted even better than the one I bought tee hee

I added some pasta to bulk it up as hubby does not like watery soup. If you could just lick my screen or smell it and taste it you would know what I mean by it being delicious LOL. That lemon flavour makes a huge difference in taste-so unique. OK I've talked myself into a second bowl now LOL.

I made some up last week and didnt add the continental parsley it made a huge difference to the taste, now I will always add it.

UPDATE: Ms Julia wanted to know the ingredients to the Portugese seasoning so she could make her own so here it is:

5 tbsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
1tsp parsley
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp clove
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 bay leaf (not sure if this is 1/4 tsp or an actual 1/4 of a leaf )

Grind all together

Joining Julia in her Stamping Ground to discover more desks around the world

Postcrossing Postcard from Mallechick

I received this card from Malleechick in the Australia to Australia swap in Postcrossing. 

This postcard was created for her local council. For more information Visit Griffith

This gentleman on the stamp is Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith , you can read all about him by clicking the links in his name. He has achieved a great deal in his career to save fellow Australians.

Postcrossing Official Postcard # 10 from Russia - Sveta

Received this official postcard from Sveta in Russia 

Not sure what the scenery is about as there is no description. Aren't the stamps below gorgeous? I love how there is a description about the stamp attached which is from the Socchi Olympic Games

Postcrossing Postcard Australia to Australia

This card was from MrTeapot in a tag in Postcrossing called Australia to Australia where Australians swap cards between themselves.

Picture 1 shows a view of the Murray River in South Australia

Picture 2 shows the Golf Course

Picture 3 is a picture of the new bridge built in 2002

Postcrossing Official Postcard #9 from Germany-Janka

Received this official Postcrossing postcard swap from Germany today from JankaH. It is a postcard of a UNESCO site called Bamberg, Germany.

An Official Postcard is a card that is sent to a member who name was drawn after a card they had previously posted reached its destination and was registered. We have no idea where the card is coming from. So it's a great surprise to find an official postcard in your postbox.

"From the 10th century onwards, this town became an important link with the Slav people, especially those of Poland and Pomerania. During it's period of greatest prosperity, from the 12th century onwards, the architecture of Bamberg strongly influenced northern Germany and Hungary. In the late 18th century it was the centre of the Enlightenment in southern Germany, with eminent philosophers and writers such as Hegel and Hoffmann living there."

 Not sure what the building is on the stamp.

UPDATED: 16 MAY 2015
Christina kindly let me know that the building on the postage stamp is Ludwigslust Palace in northern Germany. :) .
Wonderful architecture!!

Postcrossing Postcard from Carmen Weber

This card arrived from Germany from Carmen Weber. We are postcard penpals. We swap postcards only with a little information about ourselves/country etc on each postcard that we can fit.

WOYWW # 310

 So this is my other desk that I spend a lot of time at. Well that was good timing to have Prince Harry on tv when I took the photo hahahaa. His month long stay in Australia went so quick. Breakfast on a plate and my morning cuppa tea. That green thing on the desk to the left is a turbo fan keeping the WIFI cool as the climate here is hot and humid. Rosters for work and timetable for craft classes stuck up on the wall. Mobile phone to the left of the cup of tea, close at hand to answer calls. Pile on the left beside the white mobile phone is Postcrossing paraphernalia. Under the desk is my foot stool and a box of copy paper and on top of that is a basket of postcards that has a story unto itself HERE if you'd like to read about it.

 To the left of the desk is my extension desk. My red chair with cushion to give me some height. Radio/CD player-currently listening to Harry Potter books. Fan to keep the Apple tower cool. Stationery drawers holding stuff. Black Pinter. The box underneath is a rubbish bin for paper and a shredder in front of it with paper ready to shred

 Back to my craft desk and its a dumping ground for now. The pile of black cardstock is actually holding down the backgrounds I am preparing for the ATCs for the Anniversary week 312. Its still abit curly last time I looked and thats a month of pressing. Thats my stash of craft goods laid out in front, close up below. Was so happy to find all the stuff I wanted in a store in Sydney last week.

Anniversary WOYWW is here again-week 312 which falls on May 27th, so if you'd like to participate HERE is what Julia has in mind for that post. If you'd like to swap an ATC with me let me know in the comments so I know how many to make and send me your snail mail address via EMAIL. 

Joining Julia in her Stamping Ground to discover more desks around the world