Grati-Tuesday 5 December

Hi All

Huge day yesterday... sat down to my laptop at 1030 to start answering emails for the request list only to find that I had no email and no internet... no idea why.... I know that bigpond was down but, why the internet as well?  Any, finally got it rectified by 830pm last night after having spent hours on the phone and messenger with other people trying to help me.  In the end found a GREAT tech guy who waited til I got to his office after 5pm and then worked on it til just after 8pm.  Really awesome service and he will now be looking after my laptop for a ridiculously cheap price as he picks a few charities  to support and we are now one of them.   When I have time I will find his details and put a thank you out there as he is an absolute life saver and very genuine to boot!

So, still catching up today but whilst I catch up, you can enjoy these thank you messages.

Hi there, just a great big thank you for your very kind and skilfully created gifts, look what they have done to my room. They’ve turned it into a palace, well almost, they make a massive difference. Thank you so much.

All the best

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Dear Jo, 

Wow, the words 'thank you' just don't seem nearly enough. 

On opening the box today I felt so honoured and very blessed to have received such an amazing quilt and laundry bag. It is everything I could have hoped for and more. I absolutely love it and will treasure it forever. I cannot wait to take them home to show my husband and children. I Skyped home straight away to show them, because I was so excited. I have also shown all of my colleagues. I am working with a number of people from other nations, who were all amazed and some even quite envious. :)

Thank you also for the gorgeous handmade Christmas decoration, which I look forward to proudly displaying back home on the tree next year. This year though I will place it above my bed, while I will use the others to decorate my office. Thanks also for the fantails I will enjoy them as will my work buddies, and we will also enjoy guessing the celebrity too. 

Thank you for making these amazing quilts and laundry bags for those of us lucky enough to be serving our country. Words can not express our gratitude and how much it means. Your son would be very proud. 

Yes you not only brightened my day, but my week and my month. I also love the photo on the card. It did bring a smile to my face. There is also a drive on the way to Dubbo from Canberra where there is this kind of paddock art,  and it is really a lot of fun. What a great idea to turn it into a card.

I wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic 2018. Mine will be very different this year, maybe there will be snow. 

Thank you again, from a very happy and proud owner of an amazing hero quilt. You are a very clever lady. 

Warmest regards,

.....

Good evening Jean,

Thank you for my laundry bag I really liked the design.
I was tempted to hang it on my wall for some decoration.

I am seeing a number of them in the laundry, its always nice to see the different designs, it brightens up an otherwise boring part of the routine.
I sent a picture to my family and they loved it, my daughter commented that it was so me.

Thank you for the magazine, and I did find time to read it.
Keep up the good work you do volunteering for Aussie Heroes.
Regards,

.....

I just want to say a massive thank you to the amazing Aussie Hero quilters, in particular Sandy C and her amazing team of ladies who put this beautiful quilt together for me, when I received this yesterday in the mail I was completely blown away, thank you so very much to the ladies who took the time to put this amazing quilt together for me, but also a massive thanks to all of the volunteers who make amazing things each and everyday, you are the true heroes and you sure know how to put a smile on each of our faces!

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Dear Ruth, 

thank you just doesn't quite seem enough! I feel so honoured  and blessed to have received my beautiful handmade, very Aussie, laundry bag. It was such an awesome surprise. Receiving mail is already such a treat and when it comes with such a wonderful gift then it is even more fantastic. Thank you so very much for making it and personalising it. I really love it and will treasure it forever. 

Thank you also for the lovely hand creams. I use hand cream about 5 times a day and am almost out so these will be very useful.

I will be spending my Christmas this year here in Afghanistan, which will be something quite different. I am hoping for snow. I am returning home to my wonderful husband and 4 beautiful children early in the new year.

I hope you and yours have a very merry Christmas and all the very best for a fantastic 2018.

Thank you again and warmest regards,

.....

Good Morning Janine,

I am the very proud recipient of an extremely beautiful laundry bag!

Thank you so much. The work that you did is absolutely beautiful and it all ways brings a smile to my face doing laundry seeing the little pirates.

All of us on Darwin were so touched by the gift from Aussie Hero Quilts, it was a real privilege and honour. Previously I received an Aussie Heros Quilt on one of my Middle East dpeloyments and treasure it to this day, as I will your my Laundry Bag.

This is my 12th year in the Navy, but my first on Darwin as a serving crew member. However I have a connection going back the First Gulf War, where my father served onboard a Warrant Officer Marine Technician. He died a few years back now, but my Mother lives in Victoria having recently retired there and I have a Brother, who just moved to country NSW to work as a Lawyer and Prosecutor, after 10 years in the Army.

As this is Darwin's final couple of weeks, I will be shortly  moving to NUSHIP Brisbane one of the new Destroyers being built to replace Darwin and her sisters.

I wish you all the best in your efforts to stitch a laundry bag a month, like me there will be some very lucky Soliders, Sailors and Airmen to receive one.

Thank you again!Regards,
.....

Dear Lisa,

Oh my goodness, what can I say?  How incredibly blessed am I to have received such a wonderful quilt today in the week’s mail!

Yes, I am an amateur musician, my primary instrument is actually French Horn, but it is just too big to deploy on Operations to Kabul.

Instead, I brought my trumpet, clarinet and flute with me.  

Being predominantly a brass player, it stands to reason that I am of course a big fan of James Morrison!

He hosted an intimate workshop in my current hometown of Wagga Wagga just a few weeks ago.  I saw an ad for it on the Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre website, quickly got onto the computer to tell my network, and three of my very musical girlfriends attended it (we are four-fifths of an all-female brass quintet).

They told me how absolutely wonderful it was – I’m intensely jealous of them and it’s such a shame I missed it!  So to have his signature (as one of my favourite musicians) on a panel of such a beautifully made quilt really is a “money cannot buy, once in a lifetime treasure”, and that I have been the recipient of this has left me humbled completely beyond words.

Can you please pass on my immense thanks and gratitude to Jacki for her assistance in collecting the signatures?  I am truly humbled.
.....

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

Jan-Maree  xx