Patra's Other Place

I started out with Patra's Place, primarily dedicated to my linen collection and stitching projects. But I kept getting side-tracked, so I decided to create Patra's Other Place for anything not related to embroidery topics. So you now have a choice. If you are interested in me, read this. If you only want to see my linen and stitching, visit Patra's (original) Place! (Please note that by clicking on any of the photos, they will be enlarged to fill your computer screen.)

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Location: Melbourne, Vic., Australia

I was married to Ken for 43 years, but he died in October 2022. So I am now alone with two cats, eight hens, and a few finches and parrots in one aviary.

Friday, December 26, 2014

Christmas Day.

We had a perfectly lovely day.  Just Ken and I with one of his cousins, who was on her own this year due to her siblings being elsewhere, so we invited her to join us.  I bought a turkey breast with bacon and sage stuffing at Coles and cooked that with the usual roast vegies.  We followed that with a pot of tea and some Christmas cake.   Here is Ken with cousin Ro, both of them pleasantly full of good food and apple cider!

I was given some lovely gifts again this year.  Ken gave me a GPS and a sapphire and diamond eternity ring.  I suggested that he wait until our 36th anniversary on January 6th but he wanted to give it to me as soon as he bought it, so there we were in the Greensborough Centre having a coffee, while he put the ring on my finger!  I felt like a teenager all over again, lol!




Other gifts that I received were a chook calendar, chook garden ornament, Xmas apron, Peacock cushion, a plant, and various items of food.  

Monday, December 22, 2014

Happy Christmas to all.


Best wishes to all who read my blogs, for a peaceful and safe Christmas, and a happy New Year.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Silly Season is in full swing again!

Some years nothing happens at all around here, it was just the two of us having quiet times at home.  This year is chaotic...by our standards, anyway.  It started out with the two birthday parties on the last weekend in November, that I posted about on this blog earlier.  Last week I was at the Embroiderers Guild on Tuesday for my last volunteer stint for the year, Thursday I was at Montsalvat for lunch, and Friday I visited a friend for some paper craft fun.  The weekend was pretty quiet mostly because the weather was crap, and we had a choice of going out, but decided to stay home instead.

Yesterday (Monday) I sewed furiously all day to try and finish some Xmas pressies that have been promised to friends. Today I had a friend over for afternoon tea and we exchanged gifts which was nice.  Tomorrow will be spent shopping, putting Xmas decorations up (not many, but enough to keep me occupied for a good hour or so), and finishing off the quilted runner gifts. After tea we will be going to the Avic.society Xmas break up party.   Thursday we are having two of Ken's cousins here for lunch.  Friday I'm having my hair cut in the morning, and we are having a cocktail party at 6.30 so I have a bit to do to prepare for that.  The occasion is to christen the new chook house.  At this stage there will be 8 people, but depending on who is available, there might be more.  Originally it was just cocktails and nibbles, but I now think it would be prudent to invite guests to stay on for some dinner as after a few drinks, they might not want to be driving home immediately!  I was planning on pizza takeaway, but am now thinking of cooking up a heap of chicken pieces in advance (do you think that will offend the chooks?), and having them with salad, bread, and fresh fruit platters.

There is nothing in the diary for the weekend, but the Eltham Farmers Market is open on Sunday morning, so I might head there to stock up on fresh fruit and vegies.  The following  Tuesday night we will be out to dinner with the Vintage Japanese motorcycle club, and Thursday is Ken's 72 birthday, and we are going out to dinner with his sister, her hubby, and some close friends.  A week later it will be Xmas, a week after that New Year, and a week after that our 36th wedding anniversary!  And all over for another year...phew!

Saturday, December 06, 2014

Chook house grand opening date confirmed.

After a week of nagging from a couple of my friends who are only looking for an excuse to hold a cocktail party, I have decided on the official opening date. Next Friday at 6.30 pm, allowing said friends to get home from work and get over here. We are going to have cocktails and nibbles and if anyone wishes to stay on for tea, I'll send out for pizza. I had decided on a name for the chook house, and have started designing the sign to be painted, but some friends dropped in today to have a look and on hearing the names that have already been suggested, he put in a new one: "Ken's Hens" Love it!! I had already thought of using "The Wilson Chicks" on the sign as a sub title, but Ken's Hens sounds much better!

 It has been a busy few weeks for me with lots of photos taken but as they are on my tablet, I'm not sure how to transfer them to my desktop computer so I can post them on to my blog. I think I can post them directly to the blog from the tablet, but it is messy (for me anyway) and I'd rather not waste time on doing that. I went to Montsalvat for lunch with a friend last week. I'd been to the cafe and gallery a few times in the past year or so, but never had the time to have a good look around. Ken and I went there when we first moved to Eltham 35 years ago, and we didn't think much of it at all, as it was really run down and grubby looking. But since then there have been a lot of changes in managers and funding, and today it is a wonderful place to visit. Fourteen acres of land with building dotted around - chapel, halls, galleries, studios, artists residences. Stunning views from the grounds, as well as vegetable gardens and other items that made the commune self sustaining in its early years. We spent two hours wandering around and I took about 20 photos using my tablet, but I haven't figured out how to post them here. The previous weekend we went out for dinner at the Diamond Creek Tavern for Louise's birthday on Saturday night, then on Sunday we joined Sandra for her birthday at the Studley Park Boathouse.

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