Catch up on Egypt and some thank yous (MK2)

We interrupt this transmission (well the Aussie Heroes 101 Series anyway) to pass on some of the thank you messages we have received and to tell you about my special guest today.


I hinted on Facebook that I would have some great posts coming up after the Series finishes and it seems that some of you just can't stand the suspense.  Don't feel bad - some secrets are just too good to keep!

--A little update on Egypt--

First up Nadene received a heartfelt thanks for the quilt she recently sent.....

Thank you very much for the quilt. it got here the other day and it is beautiful.


Please pass on my thanks to everyone involved.


It is a great pleasure to receive such a thoughtful gift from home. This was the first care package that I have received that was addressed to me personally by name after 3 deployments. Different from the ones that I have received from the RSL addressed to "a member that is serving" and now holds alot of sentimental value.


Again thank you so much and I don't think I can put into words how appreciative I am of yours and your teams efforts. I will treasure this item for the rest of this deployment and well into the future when I return to Australia.

Then I received this happy message from our point of contact in Egypt.  She has been absolutely great about letting me know when boxes arrive.

Good-morning Jan-Maree, Just a quick note to let you know 4 more quilts arrived today, along with what looks like hundreds of care packages.  The quilts we rec’d were from Erika (she sent 2) ,Stephanie from WA and Gail of NSW.  Our 2IC received one of Erika’s and was so impressed she has already sent Erika an email thanking her.

This is the message the 2IC sent to Erika.

Dear Erika,

How delighted I was to receive your quilt this morning – it is beautiful and I love it. I definitely think it is a piece of Art!!

It’s always so nice to receive presents from Australia and I thank you very much for thinking of us here in Egypt. 
As you may have been told here in the Sinai, Australia is a small contingent. The current strength of Australian soldiers is 25 in a large multinational force of approximately 2400 personnel. All the Australians are located at the main camp in the North of the Sinai Peninsula. This particular operation is considered a minor one but we do play an important role in supporting the MFO in monitoring the Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel.

I have been deployed here for nine months and will be returning home to Canberra in August 2012. 
I have been very fortunate to have had this opportunity and as you have probably noticed in the news, Egypt is experiencing a very tumultuous time since the Revolution in Jan 2011. The MFO is supported by a number of other nations including the United States, Republic of Fiji, Canada, Colombia, New Zealand, France, Uruguay, Hungary and Italy. Being able to work alongside such a multicultural force has been an exceptional experience.

Living in the Sinai makes me also appreciate how wonderful Australia is and as the mother of 2 beautiful sons I also realise how lucky we are to have freedom of choice. This part of Egypt is very poor and the quality of life is very different to what we have at home.

Anyway I must get back to work – thank you once again for your thoughts and the quilt – all very much appreciated.

Best wishes

As we stand at the moment we have got enough quilts in the mail or under construction for everyone in Egypt.  Well done everyone!  My plan is to start sending more quilts for the new team in Egypt around the end of July.  That way some of the quilts will be there waiting for them on arrival.

And now to my special visitor!  

You may or may not remember that I made these two quilts - 

one to hang in the Headquarters Building

 and one for him personally

And sent them off with loads of Chuppa Chups.  

At some point during our few  back and forth email he asked me if there was anything he could get me from over there.  My initial response was I would love a keyring - (more on that on my Cherry Red Quilter blog tomorrow night) but then I decided that what I really needed was some photos that I could show you all.  I know sometimes it is hard for the guys to email photos home  so I said I could wait till he came home.   Not only did he say he would get me some pictures he said he would bring them to me when he came home - yes, I did a happy dance!

Imagine my delight yesterday when, during our Aussie Hero sewing day, he called to see if I would be home  this morning - would I ever!  So at ten am this morning my door bell rang and there was this lovely man with.......you are going to love this.......his super cute little daughter - all of four months old!  I can't show yo a photo of him (that pesky protected identity issue) but I can show you a picture of the little darling!

How cute is she!

Once I knew he had a little girl and that he was going to bring her with him .......well what could I do?  I had to make her a baby quilt!  

 CUTE - CUTE - CUTE 

So I guess I really had TWO special visitors today didn't I?

Now there are two more Aussie Hero 101 posts to go and we are back to them tomorrow night and Sunday.  I just might take Saturday night off as Saturday might be quite busy.  More lovely posts next week, I promise!

Till next time...............keep spreading the word and happy stitching!