Its the bag lady! I know I'm having a real moment of making bags and you're probably thinking what do I do with them all well.......because I ride my bike the bags have to be floppy  so they fit in the basket and then things happen to my bags that cause destruction and so I need another one!! See, quite simple really so here's some more "recycled" bags I made this weekend.

First up my favourite fabric is denim and so I couldn't resist making a bag out of some old jeans, the handles are  cut off waist bands so they even have a natural curve!!

I found the belt at the op shop and I'm like...SCORE!  

Perfect finish for my bag I thought!

A lot of hand sewing once again but I found my thimble this time so it was much easier on the fingers!!


But wait there's more...........
I loved this strip skirt and thought here's another bag, this one was super quick to run up, just added a gusset in the bottom, some handles and whip up a tie and my trusty mobile phone covers had just the right shade of pink to finish off this bag!!

nice and simple but a happy bag - by the way this one matches my bike!!

READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!!

Thought I'd give you a little tour of the local newspaper -our only newspaper. It only comes out twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays!  It has taken a while to get used to not having a read of the paper on a Saturday morning with my cuppa and toast, its not the same to read day old news with your brekky!!  We seem to have have a lot of road accidents up here and for the past 4 newspapers its been accidents which is rather a shame but very typical of living out here a lot of single car accidents.

 

But Ray White did win some top awards which is a HUGE feather in the companies cap.

 

The obituaries- a total of 3 this week! I think its because there aren't many old people here in emerald so not many to die!  No one retires to emerald, its a working town so people have a plan and purpose for being here, they stay there 5 years and move on, smart move!!

 

 

And this is bit I have the most trouble with - the junk mail! I love reading junk mail but I've never known anything like it as its always MALE related!!!!  Every single piece is targeted at men!!!! I didn't think guys read the junk mail!!!! No jewelery, no clothes, no shoes its all men`s stuff?!?! Who wants to buy a generator, or esky!?!

This was Fridays junk mail and the top left is for bundergerg rum - special editon - $104 per bottle but wait for it - LIMIT 30 per adult!!! I kid you not!  

And if you're wondering how the horse is going - he's making himself right at home!!!

He does have issues tho!  He LOVES to look at himself!!! His reflection in the sliding glass doors has him totally intrigued and spends ages checking himself out!!!

Remember two things run through emerald, the river and the railway line so today we go clickety clack clickety clack..

The railway bridge over the river

Now this is under the bridge and I know its faraway but there`s a reason - people are allowed to camp under the bridge for free and its often packed, but I didn't want to get up close and snap photos then make someone angry, so I walked away and snapped one, mind you I do wish I could show you the camping styles, like the people in the ford laser, it was packed to the rafters with chairs, table, cooking stove, tent it was a mighty set up for a little car, the station wagons that look like they'd cease working after 2kms, the utes that have stuff piled high, its really quite the unusual collection of people. They all sit around under the shade of the bridge coz its too hot in their tents but I guess the price is right so they make do.

 We cross this railway line everyday, this is looking west then I turn and look east.

and this is the reason, the life blood of this area COAL

 Its sent by train to the the coast where it is put on a ship and heads overseas, there are trains constantly going back and forth but since the floods washed the bridge out its ground things to a halt and the flow on affects a lot of people because if the coals not moving they don't have a job.

Its super hard to get the length of these trains its not like you get round a bend and wait or get up high its all just flat straight lines out here very boring, but the length of them goes on and on and on

and if you have to get the coal from one side to the other you just build the conveyor built over the highway!

This is nothing to do with coal but it is transport - of a different sort!!  A bridal party's mode of transport here in Emerald!

I was going to show you another bag makeover but I could just hear you all say "ANOTHER ONE"!!  
So I'll save the bag so what I did do was shock myself and I scrapped two pages! I haven't scrapped since I left the shop so its been a while but when Jo sent me this photo from their anniversary I just wanted to scrap it coz it's a normal photo of Darren! He's worse than a kid when trying to get a photo, I have him pulling funny faces mostly and Jo is always looking lovely so to see them both smiling and normal looking in the same photo is rare! Jo your always lovely and looking great in photos.           I just cant say the same for your man!!!

Then I was like "this is fun I'll do another page"

Do you recognize the paper ranges?? I did have to blow the dust of them and when I looked it up I'm like you have to be kidding, Stella Rose My Minds Eye - wait for it....Feb 2011 !!! I don't know what's worse, that I had paper that old and hadn't used it or that I didn't think it was that old?!?!?! and Jo's page I used Pink Paisley Butterfly Garden and its just as old they came out at the same time!! 

More bags!

I know I have a thing with bag makeovers at the moment!  I was in the op shop and loved this skirt, its way to small but it got me thinking that I could recycle the fabric so I bought it $6 done deal.

Then I  attacked it

I cut a row off the bottom and used that to make the strap, I made another whole bag for the insert, crochet up some flowers for decoration and there you have it another bag!

Not bad for six bucks!! And it looks better as a bag than as a skirt!!!!!

9 to 5

Thought I'd show you around our work places seeing its what we do the most of up here!

Paul works at the new woolworths (safeway for the victorians reading this) they have literally plonked this new store in a paddock in the middle of nowhere, i think a report was made that the new growth area of Emerald would be out this way and so this is where the new store is, the population is yet to catch on to the idea!! But i must say its Emerald saving grace for retail therapy tho there isn't much least this little bit they do have is a bonanza to the town as people from outlaying areas come specially to shop here now that there is something to shop at! See talking about shops gets me side tracked!! 

Paul and work....here you go, his view out his back door and that thing in the sky isn't a bird its a crop duster

Here comes one of several trucks for Paul to unload

There's 34 pallets waiting for Paul to unload off that b double

This is the control center - Paul's desk

 Now Paul is known for stacking as many pallets as he can on up to the roof and they are impressed by the neatness of his stack!  I think its all the leggo building as a child that has paid off!!!

Now Paul works up a big sweat unloading all these trucks and its thirsty work and he's become quite ingenious at working out ideas to keep his drinks cool, this is his first cool drink model

He collects ice from the deli section and pops it in the foam box and put his drinks in it, the ice would melt and Paul would have to carefully tip the water out but then came along the upgrade

this is way better and has a tap so can drink the ice when it melts!!!
How many drinks does he get through?? - oh about a trolly full!!!

and its all so much better if there's something yummy to enjoy with your drink! Paul's the last stop before the bin so if there's something that looks appealing and not to out of date taste testing is required! you aren't allowed to bring anything home it all must be consumed onsite and consumed it is!

Now for my place of work right in the center of town on a roundabout

And I'm still putting out signs on the footpath!  I remember putting out or bringing in the one at the Imagination Factory was always a challenge!  Not the sign - the WEATHER!  many a time I'd be soaked from doing that job but up here its not even a consideration!! Some mornings I smile to myself and I think of the girls down there in Victoria and I wonder if they're soaked and here I am squinting from the glare off the sign coz its so hot!!!! hee hee

Here I am in my spot - its deserted coz its Saturday and all the sales team is out selling. Paul popped in to say hi and said quick take a photo for the blog!!! thanks Paul.

I don't have pallets to stack but i do have keys and you know i can still go to this cupboard and find the keys you want are missing!!  I do smile coz it was the same at Mitsubishi you could never find the car keys now we can never find the house keys!!!!  I think they go where the socks go in the washing machine - a very special place!!!

 And last but not least  Dave the worker man, he says hes the hardest working one here!! We can really see that!!!  I'll save Daves work  for another post as theres so much to show and say!

Lots have mentioned to me that they would like to see around Emerald and what life is like here on the edge of the outback so today is the first of the "cooks tour" otherwise known as Emerald through sues eyes!

Emerald is a town built at the crossways of two major highways (Gregory Hwy- runs north south & the Capricorn Hwy East West) and it has grown out from those four corners, two things run through the town, the train line and the river, so for today's tour lets go up river!

There are walking tracks along the edge of the river and are very popular with the locals. The water is this lovely shade of green and the only people I've seen swim in it are the local young people - there brains haven't formed yet!!!

The towns location to the river is close so when it floods there is no escape.

To get an idea here is the flood map of emerald in 2011.

           
As you can see there isn't much that isn't wet!
At work you are always asked by people looking for rentals they want a house that didn't flood,  I'm like what didn't flood in emerald!  About 1% of emerald was dry!

Its hard to get the idea of the depth of the water that has to come and do this to the town but 
I'm going to try to give you a visual these are the three bridges that lead to our town to the left is the railway bridge the middle is the old bridge and the right is the new bridge

the water goes over the old and new bridges!!  that's a mighty amount of water!!

So this is the top side there are those bridges underneath there!!

And this is in the supermarket its hard to see but above that tell us what you think sign is a silver plaque that says water level that was through the store

So there you have your Emerald river cruise! and the name of the river that runs through emerald? The Nogoa.

Got a little crafty yesterday and thought I'd share the latest creations.  All from the Echo Park for the Record 2 range of paper.