Tuesday 24 November 2020

Grati-Tuesday 24th November 2020

How is your week treating you friends? Hope it has been a happy and safe week for you so far.

I am swimming in work and not much play lately but the break to Christmas is on the near horizon so I don't mind so much :)

Enough of my ramble, have a lovely afternoon, sit back, and enjoy the read.. Don't forget to leave a comment, like or share away on facebook. It keeps our message and support flowing :) Alex


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From the Facebook Page;

I would like to say a big Thank you to Raylene, who so kindly sewed me a quilt. Thank you so much, I am very pleased. 

Thank you for all of your great work team.


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Hello Jan-Maree,

I would like to extend a very humble and heartfelt thank you to Aussie Hero Quilts for the much appreciated and now loved quilt presented to me recently. I was completely blown away by the Quilt and could not believe all the silent workings in the background!

Please extend my deepest thanks to Kerri for quilt embroideries and to Bridget for the quilted effort and the logistics of sending this out.

I was not aware of Aussie Hero Quilts, but after being educated by yourself and Lieutenant, I think it is an absolutely wonderful support measure and mechanism for Military staff.

Thank you for your thoughts I certainly take comfort in being armed with this quilt for the future.

Thank you again, and please extend my gratitude to your fantastic team.

Kind Regards.


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Hi Clarissa,

I received my laundry bag today and love it. I love the colours and the design, thank you so much for all your hard work.

Thank you for your lovely letter, you are truly wonderful spending your spare time making quilts and laundry bags for serving members. These little treasures make our rooms homely and having personalised laundry bags is a lovely addition, and makes finding your laundry easier in a very busy laundry.

A little about me - I have been in the RAAF for 31 years, first as a Supplier then Clerk and now Nurse. I have a husband and 2 beautiful daughters. My husband works for Defence as a public servant. We have been married for 28 years and enjoy hiking, caravanning and traveling.

My eldest daughter is a paramedic. I haven't seen her for over a year due to COVID and now my deployment. That is probably the only negative about being deployed, not seeing your family.

My youngest daughter completed her degree last year but is instead following her dream of dancing. I have two beautiful small dogs who are getting old (15 & 12) who love to sleep and lounge around.

This deployment came at very short notice for me (less than 2 weeks) but it has been fantastic so far.  I was discharging from the RAAF this year but this has been delayed due to this deployment, I am now discharging next year. I will remain an active member of the Reserves and work on casual basis. One day I would like to be a member of the RSL and do some Advocacy work for them. I would like to give back to the Defence Community any way I can.

That's about it from me. I hope you and the family keep well and remain COVID free.

Take care, and thank you once again.

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Dear Marianne and WPH Ladies,

I want to thank you for the lovely quilt, not just from me, but also on behalf of other fellow serving members currently serving on missions at the moment. Gifts and presents, especially from strangers are always welcome reminders that people back home are thinking of us.

I am glad I could share my hobbies with you all, and it means a lot to receive something that you ladies have put so much love and effort into.

I will appreciate and cherish this quilt for years to come. It will remind me of my time on deployment as well as the kindness of strangers across Australia.

You are wonderful human beings and you make me proud to serve. 

Kind Regards.

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Dear Sue,

Thank you so much for my beautiful quilt. 

It is wonderful to receive such an amazing gift from someone who appreciates what we do. I've spent a total of 9 years at sea over my 15 year career with the last 3 years straight, on patrol boats while planning my wedding.

Thank you again, I love my quilt.

Best wishes

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Good Evening Rita,

I've been in the Navy since last year. I joined as a linguist and will be learning Mandarin next year.

I've just joined OP COVID19 for a rotation working at the hotels and so far, I have really enjoyed working with people from the other services.

A lot of my family members have been in the Navy including my parents, all 4 of my uncles and my pop.

Thank you again, for the laundry bag; my current one was falling apart. 

Kind Regards.


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Dear Jenny,

I serve in the Australian Army and would like to thank you for your generosity in making this incredible laundry bag. 

I was recently deployed to help with the Covid pandemic for a few months and am now deployed to Northern Territory for Oceanic security operations. Your laundry bag has carried that sense of community and all of us here appreciate it. Your time and effort is greatly valued here.

Covid has certainly been an interesting curveball for 2020, however the Australian community all looks out for one another, and will be able to strive in any situation. I hope you and your family are safe.

Once again, thank you so much for your efforts and generous gift. Thoughts to you and your family.

Kind Regards.

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Dear Bridget,

First of all, I just wanted to say thank you for using your own time to produce such a great Hero quilt.

A little about myself; I joined the military when I was 17, and am now 33. Deployed overseas nearly half the amount of time I have been enlisted.

I have a lovely wife, who is a teacher and an 8 year old son.They have done it tougher than me.

Again, thank you very much for the Hero Quilt.

It did put a smile on my face when I received it.

Thanks

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G'day Clarissa,

I just wanted to send a thank you to yourself and Paula, for the amazing quilt and laundry bag I received whilst here in Africa. Both are now being used every day, and very much appreciated.

A little bit about myself; I live in New South Wales (when not in Africa) with my wife. I'm originally from Victoria and have come to really enjoy NSW once I knew the places to go and see! My wife lived most of her life in NSW. We're big fans of Scuba Diving, Four wheel driving and heading to the beach.

Thank you again for the great items, and go the wallabies! 

Cheers!

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Good Afternoon Chris,

I received your beautiful laundry bag during my deployment from COVID Assist.

I'm married with 2 boys aged 15 and 11. I have been with my wife since 1997 and got married in 2005. My family life is mostly around the boys ten pin bowling comps, rifle shooting, camping, kayaking and going for walks.

My wife and I both come from Queensland and we finally got posted back there. I joined the RAAF as a supplier in 2005. In 2010, I changed career and started a plumbing apprenticeship through the Army school of trades. I was the 2nd group of RAAF personnel to complete this type of apprenticeship. I posted back to Qld in 2014. Since joining as a plumber I have been away a lot on exercises. I have built houses for Indigenous Australian's in Northern Territory, in Asia to build accommodation for their Army and supplied running water to hospital and village. I deployed overseas in 2017 for 7 months and now to the borders.

Thank you for your support with these quilts and it does mean a lot to us, when we get something like this.

Regards.

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Hello Thelma,

I would like to thank you very much for the amount of effort and detail you put into 'Skinny Fat Balls'. It brings such joy that you wonderful people do this for us. I love the name that you chose.

We have been confined to base for the entire deployment, and whilst trying not to go stir crazy, we try to look for every opportunity of normality that we can. Over here I am the Maintenance Lead for the Wedge Tail (Think Commercial passenger plane with a surfboard on top). It has been a unique experience and one that I will never forget.

My time here is almost up and I am enjoying that I get to go home soon. 

All the very best and thanks from the bottom of my heart.

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G'day Catherine,

Dad received his 30 year quilt today. Needless to say, he loved it and was even a little emotional. 

Thanks so much to Joy and Inge for their incredible work. To Jan-Maree, and the rest of the community for their tireless commitment to the defence community. 

Warmest Regards

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Inge and Raeleen,

I have received my quilt and am very happy.

Thank you so much.

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Hello Rita,

Thank you so much for the Dobie bag (that's what we call laundry bags), and especially the note. I will take this everywhere I go, I didn't have a nice one like this until now.

I have been in the Royal Australian Navy for over a year and a half now, most of that was just training though. My role is an electronic technician, we operate and maintain all the navigational and communications equipment onboard vessels. We also look after all the medium calibre weapons as well like missiles, torpedos and big gun on the front. The weapons side of it all is my speciality, so I guess I get the best and most fun job of all.

I have been on Operation COVID Assist for a short time in NSW and love helping people. That is one of the many reasons I enlisted in the ADF, to be able to help the community and those in need. I am on this task force for another six weeks, then I get rotated out with others. I was supposed to go to Victoria around March for COVID Assist but I never got utilised, I guess I was needed elsewhere.

I am originally from Queensland, and grew up there my whole life. I am 28 years old and have always wanted to join the Defence Force in one way or another, I just joined a little late really. I have had several family members in Defence, not the ADF but over in the UK as that is where my parents are from. So I am proud to be the first in my family to join the ADF.

Your family should all be proud of what you are doing for us, it's not just a laundry bag to us, it's also the thought that someone has put effort into it and supports us. I know I am grateful for what you are doing. 

The pattern stood out to me, and I loved it from the moment I saw it. I have always wanted to go to the mountains in the USA. I have been to a few states but I think I will definitely explore more of the USA on my next vacation (once everything settles down around the world that is).

Thank you so much for your efforts, as even the little things like this brings smiles to our face. I remember looking around the room, when we got given these and grown men were acting like little kids at Christmas. It was funny to see so please keep up your support. It is greeted by open arms here in the ADF.

Regards.

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Good Afternoon Hilary,

I was recently given one of your hand made laundry bags and wanted to write and say thank you, as well as tell you a bit more about myself.

My fiance, has been in the RAAF for 10 years now, he finally convinced me to join last year and I have just graduated recruits.

He was deployed to UAE in 2014 where he received his own laundry bag. I remember how, when we spoke, he was so excited about receiving it, to me what was a plain everyday item, albeit handmade. I know it meant a lot to have a personal gift from someone unknown, who put time and effort, care and thought into making it.

During my recruit training, he was deployed on his second stint of COVID19 Assist. This is where he selected the laundry bag you made, specifically for me. I am a huge fan of the band the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and my bag is a wonderful mix of bright red, yellow, orange and green vegetables. Chillis, tomatoes, capsicums and carrots. I love it!

I also want to mention that I have a connection with US. I went on University exchange and travelled around mostly the north, for about 3 weeks. We did a loop driving visiting geological sites and mines, and many amazing places. I loved my time there and it is one of the places I would love to travel to again.

My fiance is about to post back whilst I complete my training, and he will be taking his laundry bag with him, as he still does on every exercise / deployment that he goes on. I look forward to taking my new laundry bag with me, wherever my career may take me in the future.

Thank you once again, your time, skill and effort are much appreciated. I'm even going to attempt to sew my name onto the square!

Kind Regards.







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