Bridget Larsen: 2016

Friday, December 16, 2016

Interesting Reading - Life hacks

I love Life Hacks - Hints and Tips things that make your life easier

Mosquito coils are they good or bad

Best exercise to remove those batwing arms

Never new Lemons were this powerful

25 places you are not allowed to visit (makes you want to visit it even more

20 stunning natural phenomenons you've just got to see to believe

Fascinated by dominoes? There is someone crazy enough to spend hours building these incredible stacks. It's mesmerisiing to say the least. Like me if you need more here is the youtube channel for
Hevesh5... Dominoes must love her!!

18 Richest families in United States- its interesting to see how these families came about their fortunes, most through sheer hardwork.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Postcard Recipe

I received this postcard from Postcrossing and would love if someone could translate it for me so i can cook it

Sunday, December 04, 2016

Woman

WOMAN. . . . . . . . .

When God created woman he was working late on the 6th day.......

An angel came by and asked." Why spend so much time on her?"

The lord answered. "Have you seen all the specifications I have to meet to shape her?"

She must function on all kinds of situations,

She must be able to embrace several kids at the same time,

Have a hug that can heal anything from a bruised knee to a broken heart,

She must do all this with only two hands,"

She cures herself when sick and can work 18 hours a day"

THE ANGEL was impressed" Just two hands.....impossible!

And this is the standard model?"

The Angel came closer and touched the woman"

"But you have made her so soft, Lord".

"She is soft", said the Lord,

"But I have made her strong. You can't imagine what she can endure and overcome"

"Can she think?" The Angel asked...

The Lord answered. "Not only can she think, she can reason and negotiate"

The Angel touched her cheeks....

"Lord, it seems this creation is leaking! You have put too many burdens on her"

"She is not leaking...it is a tear" The Lord corrected the Angel…

"What's it for?" Asked the Angel..... .

The Lord said. "Tears are her way of expressing her grief, her doubts, her love, her loneliness, her suffering and her pride."...

This made a big impression on the Angel,

"Lord, you are a genius. You thought of everything.

A woman is indeed marvellous"

Lord said."Indeed she is.

She has strength that amazes a man.

She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens.

She holds happiness, love and opinions.

She smiles when she feels like screaming.

She sings when she feels like crying, cries when happy and laughs when afraid.

She fights for what she believes in.

Her love is unconditional.

Her heart is broken when a next-of-kin or a friend dies but she finds strength to get on with life"

The Angel asked: So she is a perfect being?

The lord replied: No. She has just one drawback

"She often forgets what she is worth".

Send it to all the women u respect ....

👍

And to all men who respect woman

👍

W O M A N:

● changes her name.

● changes her home.

● leaves her family.

● moves in with you.

● builds a home with you.

● gets pregnant for you.

● pregnancy changes her body.

● she gets fat.

● almost gives up in the labour room due to the unbearable pain of child birth..

● even the kids she delivers bear your name..

Till the day she dies.. everything she does... cooking, cleaning your house, taking care of your parents, bringing up your children, earning, advising you, ensuring you can be relaxed, maintaining all family relations, everything that benefit you.. sometimes at the cost of her own health, hobbies and beauty.

So who is really doing whom a favour?

Dear men, appreciate the women in your lives always, because it is not easy to be a woman.

*Being a woman is priceless*

Happy women's week!

Pass this to every woman in your contact to make her feel proud of herself.

Rock the world ladies!

A salute to ladies!

WOMAN MEANS:-

W - WONDERFUL MOTHER.

O - OUTSTANDING FRIEND.

M - MARVELLOUS DAUGHTER.

A - ADORABLE SISTER.

N - NICEST GIFT TO MEN FROM GOD.

I respect women.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Interesting Reading-Evacuation Tip-Making Yoghurt

I love cute puppy videos like THIS

If you are going to have to evacuate your home or going away on holidays, this handy tip will help you with your freezer

I love making my own yoghurt and this lady has some cool ideas Down To Earth

I love thees hilarious tweets from Barack Obama and Joe Biden, made up of course but wouldnt they be funny. MORE and MORE

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

T for Tuesday and Southport Queensland

Well I've been long lost for T Tuesday, in fact May 2016, life has been really busy for me. I was busy with crafts and life in general. Aren't these photos so clear? Clearer than my ipad and iphone 6. I took it with the Iphone 7 and its awesome

So yesterday I drove an hour down south to Southport to get our car fixed and waited around for 5 hours until they called me. Arrived there at 6am because I didn't want to drive down with the mad rush at 7am. Sat at a cafe opposite the car dealership and ordered this vegetarian meal-no i am not vegetarian and dont plan to be but its the only meal that comes with so much vegetables. Anyway this meal was HUGE. I only ate a fraction of it and had to put the rest into a container but it was so yummy. That sauce was amazing, it had cilantro and mint in it .
Can you believe how little water they put into my cup? You couldnt even drown in it

I sat by the water for 5 hours waiting for my car and this is the view I had, across the water way was Seaworld, you can just see it in the horizon

A closeup of Seaworld. The white buildings to the left is the hotel Nara, would love to go there one day

I had to get up and walk and went past this wonderful garden bed and below was what i saw waiting at the crossing. They are beautifying the place for the Commonwealth games in 2018, cant wait to go back and see

Looking back from the sea behind me is the city view, not to many high rise like the Gold Coast or Surfers Paradise

They have made this lovely Rockpool area with water spouts and small water catchments for the little ones. It was fully today with parents and their children, was lovely to see.

Another view with this soft water park on the water. Was too early for anyone to play. More buildings looking toward Surfers Paradise.

Linking up to Elizabeth's T for Tuesday

Friday, October 14, 2016

Interesting Reading - Pay it Forward

I always find the glass half full, so that will explain this paragraph of Pay It Forward which is something I enjoyed reading about and taking part in. I first heard about it HERE and Suspended Coffees and their facebook page. I've always thought of why it isnt in Australia and how I can be a part of this movement.

Today i found this floating on my Facebook wall, 542 Eatery Hamilton ON Canada.

A local one to me that we can participate in as well Brisbane Period Project

I have also found that when I am feeling down I gravitate towards helping someone else or phoning someone I know to see how they are doing, it usually makes me feel so much happy and no longer down in the dumps. I saw this online as well, we actually have an organisation R U Okay and on Sep 8th it is called R U OKAY Day where you call someone up to see if they okay. I called 2 people up that day but unfortunately they weren't home. One did respond via email 3 weeks later and I finally was able to phone the other one this week. Better late than never.

I love this obituary from Emily Phillips

10 places to visit before they're lost to climate change

I've always wondered what will happen in the future generations when letter writing goes out of style and post offices are no longer needed. World Post Day October 9th has a competition to write to ones 45 year old self for the younger generation. Well I've passed that age so I'll write about my 45 year old self and share it one day if I can remember what I did a decade ago lol.

2015 1st Prize winning letter Sara Jadid 13 years Lebanon

2nd Prize Mariam Campos 11 years Spain

3rd Prize Leonardo Silva Brito 15 yearsBrazil

My dream is to live on the road and visit the whole of Australia, here is an article about Aussie couples living on the road. Rebelonarainbow Johnny & Jess dustyboots, Vanlife,

Interesting take on travel while you are young

50 most beautiful places in the world, such exquisite places. Without the internet I would never have known the wonders of the world.

Cappadocia, Turkey

Cappadocia, an area in Turkey where entire cities have been carved into rock, is pretty incredible on its own. But whenever hot-air balloons pepper the sky, its beauty level simply skyrockets.

Salar de Uyuni: Daniel Campos, Bolivia

The reflective surface of the world's largest salt mine is like something from the imagination of Salvador Dali—although we're happy it actually exists in real life.

Mù Cang Chải: Vietnam

Mù Cang Chải manages to be one of the most breathtaking spots in Vietnam, with terraced rice fields and mountainous landscapes.

Benagil Sea Cave: Algarve, Portugal

The southern coast of Portugal is lined with exquisite beaches and caves, including the famous Benagil Sea Cave (skylight included).

Snæfellsjökull: Iceland

Iceland's Snæfellsjökull glacier, complete with ice caves and craters, has appeared in Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth and the film Batman Begins.

Palawan Island: The Philippines

With its limestone cliffs and pristine lagoons, it's easy to see why Palawan was votedthe best island in the world by our readers.

Palawan Island: The Philippines

With its limestone cliffs and pristine lagoons, it's easy to see why Palawan was votedthe best island in the world by our readers.

Ashikaga Flower Park: Ashikaga, Japan

Ashikaga's wisteria trees bloom brilliantly for a few weeks every spring, turning the park into a vision of pastel pinks and purples.

Brecon Beacons National Park: Wales

Brecon Beacons offers access to rolling hills, Medieval castles, and romantic waterfalls. Plus it's arguably the best place to stargaze in the UK.

Namib Desert: Namibia

Red sand dunes and skeletal trees make Namibia the closest thing we have to Mars on Earth. The Namib Desert was also the filming location for Mad Max: Fury Road.

Milford Sound: New Zealand

New Zealand is no stranger to breathtaking landscapes. Case in point: Milford Sound, a mountainous fjord where you can live out all of your Lord of the Rings fantasies.

Kolukkumalai Tea Estate: Munnar, India

Situated more than 8,000 feet above sea level, Kolukkumalai is the highest tea estate in the world—and easily the most beautiful.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Although the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has only been around for less than a decade, its regal architecture has already made it the crown jewel of Abu Dhabi—and one of the largest mosques in the world.

Bryce Canyon: Bryce, Utah

Bryce Canyon's layered red and orange rock pillars, known as hoodoos, make it a can't-miss destination for campers and shutterbugs alike.

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

You might know them better as the Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride, but this seaside wonder is actually located just south of Galway. Inconceivable!

You get the idea!! Go and check out the glorious photos yourself!!

Sunday, October 09, 2016

World Post Day

Today is World Post Day

Last year Australia Post put out those wonderful solar system stamps that I made envelopes for that were very popular amongst my recipients

National Awareness Days

There is also a Letter Writing Competition for young people, I wonder what generation will do this! It will be sad to see letter writing completely disappear to texting and emails.

So I was surprised to find how young these winners were and how articulate their
writing was and very interesting. I cant wait to read the 2016 winning letters

2015 1st Prize winning letter Sara Jadid 13 years Lebanon

2nd Prize Mariam Campos 11 years Spain

3rd Prize Leonardo Silva Brito 15 yearsBrazil

And here is the LINK to the past winners, its interesting to see that the
majority of them are from the third world.

Wednesday, October 05, 2016

WOYWW 383

Very busy desk, Wedding invitations finally finished which is the top left hand corner or in the photo below, boxed and ready to go. Decorating envelopes ready for Christmas mail. Some of you shamed me into starting something for Christmas hahahaha.

Another week has gone, my mobile phone is almost dying so I get to upgrade to the IPHONE 7 with all the bells and whistles much to hubby's frustration because he is the gadget man and would love the newest technology. I did offer for him to have my Iphone 7 and I'd take his Iphone 6Splus.

I had to raid the piggy bank to pay for this phone...hahahaha....yes the piggy bank had $1000 in it. It is the tin I have mangled in the photo that looks like a $50 note.

Joining up with Julia's Stamping Ground for more desk peeks.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Interesting Reading and recipes

Such an inspiring story of Gabe Adams, what's your excuse?

Spite House what a delightful house with wonderful stories of its beginning

8 vegetable meat pie kids will love

For the stamp enthusiasts, USA have announced their 2017 Stamp Issues

How to get rid of Bunions naturally and why they are caused

Imagine having this history in your home, goes to show dont discount those weird dreams you have.

How to become famous without trying....eat a pork bun

15 lazy yummy meals

Freezer dinner jackets

Internal clock makes you age faster and die younger

Adorable twins captured by mums imagination Leia and Lauren Lok through mum's photography lens

Old fashioned way of delivering letters

Books I am reading

The United States Postal Service is a wondrous American creation. Seven days a week, its army of 300,000 letter carriers delivers 513 million pieces of mail, forty percent of the world’s volume. It is far more efficient than any other mail service—more than twice as efficient as the Japanese and easily outpacing the Germans and British. And the USPS has a storied history. Founded by Benjamin Franklin, it was the information network that bound far-flung Americans together, fostered a common culture, and helped American business to prosper. A first class stamp remains one of the greatest bargains of all time, and yet, the USPS is slowly vanishing. Critics say it is slow and archaic. Mail volume is down. The workforce is shrinking. Post offices are closing.

In Neither Snow Nor Rain, journalist Devin Leonard tackles the fascinating, centuries-long history of the USPS, from the first letter carriers through Franklin’s days, when postmasters worked out of their homes and post roads cut new paths through the wilderness. Under Andrew Jackson, the post office was molded into a vast patronage machine, and by the 1870s, over seventy percent of federal employees were postal workers. As the country boomed, USPS aggressively developed new technology, from mobile post offices on railroads and air mail service to mechanical sorting machines and optical character readers.

Neither Snow Nor Rain is a rich, multifaceted history, full of remarkable characters, from the stamp-collecting FDR, to the revolutionaries who challenged USPS’s monopoly on mail, to the renegade union members who brought the system—and the country—to a halt in the 1970s.

From the New York Times best-selling author of Cod and Salt, a definitive history of paper and the astonishing ways it has shaped today’s world.

Paper is one of the simplest and most essential pieces of human technology. For the past two millennia, the ability to produce it in ever more efficient ways has supported the proliferation of literacy, media, religion, education, commerce, and art; it has formed the foundation of civilizations, promoting revolutions and restoring stability. One has only to look at history’s greatest press run, which produced 6.5 billion copies of Máo zhuxí yulu, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (Zedong)―which doesn’t include editions in 37 foreign languages and in braille―to appreciate the range and influence of a single publication, in paper. Or take the fact that one of history’s most revered artists, Leonardo da Vinci, left behind only 15 paintings but 4,000 works on paper. And though the colonies were at the time calling for a boycott of all British goods, the one exception they made speaks to the essentiality of the material; they penned the Declaration of Independence on British paper.

Now, amid discussion of “going paperless”―and as speculation about the effects of a digitally dependent society grows rampant―we’ve come to a world-historic juncture. Thousands of years ago, Socrates and Plato warned that written language would be the end of “true knowledge,” replacing the need to exercise memory and think through complex questions. Similar arguments were made about the switch from handwritten to printed books, and today about the role of computer technology. By tracing paper’s evolution from antiquity to the present, with an emphasis on the contributions made in Asia and the Middle East, Mark Kurlansky challenges common assumptions about technology’s influence, affirming that paper is here to stay. Paper will be the commodity history that guides us forward in the twenty-first century and illuminates our times.

24 illustrations

A masterful history of a long underappreciated institution, How the Post Office Created Americaexamines the surprising role of the postal service in our nation’s political, social, economic, and physical development.

The founders established the post office before they had even signed the Declaration of Independence, and for a very long time, it was the U.S. government’s largest and most important endeavor—indeed, it was the government for most citizens. This was no conventional mail network but the central nervous system of the new body politic, designed to bind thirteen quarrelsome colonies into the United States by delivering news about public affairs to every citizen—a radical idea that appalled Europe’s great powers. America’s uniquely democratic post powerfully shaped its lively, argumentative culture of uncensored ideas and opinions and made it the world’s information and communications superpower with astonishing speed.

Winifred Gallagher presents the history of the post office as America’s own story, told from a fresh perspective over more than two centuries. The mandate to deliver the mail—then “the media”—imposed the federal footprint on vast, often contested parts of the continent and transformed a wilderness into a social landscape of post roads and villages centered on post offices. The post was the catalyst of the nation’s transportation grid, from the stagecoach lines to the airlines, and the lifeline of the great migration from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It enabled America to shift from an agrarian to an industrial economy and to develop the publishing industry, the consumer culture, and the political party system. Still one of the country’s two major civilian employers, the post was the first to hire women, African Americans, and other minorities for positions in public life.

Starved by two world wars and the Great Depression, confronted with the country’s increasingly anti-institutional mind-set, and struggling with its doubled mail volume, the post stumbled badly in the turbulent 1960s. Distracted by the ensuing modernization of its traditional services, however, it failed to transition from paper mail to email, which prescient observers saw as its logical next step. Now the post office is at a crossroads. Before deciding its future, Americans should understand what this grand yet overlooked institution has accomplished since 1775 and consider what it should and could contribute in the twenty-first century.

Gallagher argues that now, more than ever before, the imperiled post office deserves this effort, because just as the founders anticipated, it created forward-looking, communication-oriented,

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

WOYWW 382 - Fiji Holiday 2016

Hello I am back, did you miss me?

I have been sick, busy and sick, yes I got really sick with the flu twice this year

that 4th strain of the flu they promised turned out to be really bad and I got to

test it out and boy it wasn't nice. Hopefully I am immune to it and built a stronger

system to cope with any in the future until it mutates again.

I have also been to Fiji in July since my last WOYWW I posted in June and had a

wonderful time for a week.

It was a mini family reunion with cousins and their kids from

Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Scotland.

I will post photos at the end of this post so if you don't want to see them you can skip it

after my desk photo.

So my desk is filled with Wedding Invites I've been commissioned to do. Yes there was a start-stop-start to these as the wedding was originally for 2014 and was postponed. Now the wedding is definitely on and I am pulling out all stops to finish these off.

Each invite and thank you card is hand crafted and individually cut...no short cuts what so ever.

Joining up with Julia's Stamping Ground for more desk peeks.

Fiji Ah Sam Family Reunion 2016

This is the view looking out to sea

This was how close we were to the beach, we had our own private beach

Looking at the house from the beach

Open plan kitchen, with vaulted ceilings

We had a welcome part and farewell party by the staff. The owners Shaan (the purple tshirt) and Jess (striped top) are such a wonderful couple. The workers sang us welcome and farewell songs which was so beautiful to hear the harmonizing

#villamokusigafiji

We went to the Hideaway hotel and had cocktails (mocktails for me), they were $20 but well worth it, nowhere else have I tasted mocktails as wonderful as this. I call it a Tropical Fruit cocktail.

My daughter Keira and cousin Sharon enjoying the hammocks at the villa, I couldnt lie on them as they made me motion sick hahahaha

Fresh coconut to drink, so yummy and refreshing and so good for you

My cousins Debbie and Sharon and daughter Keira walked out onto the reef just in front of the villa and found this natural bar of coral

Thats the whole family reunion, I miss the kids, sadly I wont be able to see the Scotland nieces and nephews for a long time. probably when they are teenagers.

Thanks for a wonderful holiday left to right back row:

Darrell Chau, Keira Nicolls, Damien Hough, Me, Julia Chau, Debbie Venables-Hough

Front row:

Kiana Venables, Jett Hough, Jessica-Rhys-Joey Chau, Sharon Chau-Fairall

oh yes hubby wasn't there because he'd just come back from his

USA holiday and had no more leave left

Mystery Postcard Received

I received this postcard and have no idea what its for. I dont have a contact to reply to.I have sent a search party out via Postcrossing but they can't locate it either.

So if this is your postcard or you know of this person please send me a message so I can thank you/her or register it.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Interesting reading - War and its innocent victims-9/11

Kim Phuc the Napalm girl of Vietnam and how Facebook took down the iconic photo that was posted in Norway

Tea bags and their many uses, and the downside to drinking some brands of tea

Flavour infused sea salt, always wanted to make my own as we use a lot of flavoured anything lol

On the 15th anniversary of that tragic day of 9/11, do you remember where you were?
it was 11pm that fateful night for me, I was living in Adelaide, South Australia, we had just come home from a meeting and I had gone to sleep. Husband got a phone call from a friend in Sydney-Celine who told him we had to turn on the tv. Hubby woke me up a few hours later after watching the news of the Twin Towers, i did not sleep for 2 days as I watched the television coverage of this life changing moment happening in the US.

About the Falling Man the most powerful image of 9/11

More stories about 9/11

Escape from the 81st floor of the World Trade Centre

Trump brags about his building being the tallest in Lower Manhattan

9/11 remembered

Handwritten notes from Air Force One on 9/11

Monday, August 15, 2016

Couture Creations Sea Breeze - Zig Zag Card

Hello there,

I based this project on a Thank You Card I was asked to make that would accommodate

photos, so what better way to display these photos than into a zig zag card.

Out of black cardstock, cut out 1 of 19.5cm x x 12cm rectangle and

4 of 19.5cm x 13.5cm - score these 1.25cm along the long edge and

apply double sided tape

Join each rectangle in a zig zag fashion and fold along scored lines. Cut an angle from the first 3 cards measuring up 9cm to the corner of the second rectangle.

Choose various sheets of the Sea Breeze Collection Patterned Paper and cut the following:

4 of 11.5cm x 19cm

2 of 11.5cm x 15.5cm

2 of 11.5cm x 11.75cm

Line up with the black cardstock and cut an angle out of all

Cut out 7 belly bands measuring 14.5cm x 4cm and score both ends at 1.25cm