Happy Tuesday Friends!
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Hi Sue N,
I have just received my quilt and laundry bag, and I can't thank you enough they're both so beautiful! I really appreciate the time, love and attention to detail you've put into making them, and particularly the hand painted pets. You've somehow managed to include everything I mentioned.
My sincerest thanks for my quilt and, on behalf of of those you've made them for over the last 10 years.
Best wishes to you and your family (including the spoilt cat!) X
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Good morning Toni F,
I am writing to say a big thank you for the lovely laundry bag that you made for me through Aussie Heros. The bag is awesome and it will get a lot of use when I go away both for work and with my family. I know my son will be jealous as he is a Star Wars and Marvel fan as well.
It sounds like you have had a very interesting and varied working life doing many different things which would have been very rewarding I gather. I too remember the days when we worked without computers. Things were a lot simpler back then. I remember when I first joint the Air Force in 1991 my unit didn’t have a photocopier and if the Unit produced a document we call Routine Orders, it was typed on a stencil by the Commanding Officers’ secretary and then we’d have use a Gestetner (duplicating) machine to make copies of the orders. If you had more than one page of orders it was an arduous task at time.
I too have a small vegie garden although it is struggling with all of the rain that we are receiving at the moment. My wife is of Maltese descent (her father was born in Malta in 1950 and immigrated to Australia with his mother and other 13 siblings in the mid ‘50s. Her mother was born in Australia but both of her parents immigrated from St Julian’s Bay just after WWII. I love Maltese food especially Ross-Il-Forn (baked rice), Imqarrun il-Forn (Maltese Baked Macaroni) Pastizzi (savory pastries), Maltese style Ravioli, Gbejniet (cheese) and of course at Easter Figoli (biscuits).
One day I hope to go and visit that little tiny island in the Mediterranean as it has so much history and looks to be a beautiful place. My wife has relatives who still live there (great Aunts and Uncles) and I dare say we wouldn't be short of a place to stay.
Again thank you for your lovely letter and fantastic laundry bag and I hope that the rest of 2022 is enjoyable and prosperous as well.
Kind regards,
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Hi Bev F,
Thank you so much for my beautiful quilt, it is so nice to have something so personalised whilst being so far away from home. I appreciate the time and effort that goes in to something as large as a quilt and admire your skills, I remember in year 12 I took home economics class and I found sewing and doing the measurement up for different projects always the hardest.
I am from Tasmania, a small very adventurous place, very good for tourists to visit, I am the oldest of 6 kids and the only one that has joined the ADF and moved interstate. Sometimes the distance gets hard, continuously missing birthdays and family events, especially at the moment being so far away but having the amazing technology at our fingertips like Face Time makes really makes up for it. Before I joined the Army I was a pastry chef, which was horrible and time consuming career, with horrible bosses and horrible pay considering the talent and skill that would go in to making all the desserts, pastries and sandwiches every day. One thing I have found over my years of working is that it is always the people you work with that really influence and a lot of the time get you through the rough and less than ideal days.
Being a school teacher would be so rewarding especially for children with learning difficulties, during my time serving I have grown fond of the idea of being a school teacher as I love teaching others, but before I know it, the year has flown by and it is always on my new years resolution. I did for semesters study event management but found juggling work, everyday life and studying overwhelming.
I love that you travel so much especially in an off-road caravan, I couldn’t imagine how rewarding and soul fulfilling that would be. I hope one day to that my partner and I get to do something like that together. My partner also is in the Army and loves to play golf, every weekend. Whilst the job security is amazing we are often left with minimal time together as one of us is always away for work. He was in Malaysia for three months before I left, I have not seen him in almost five months which currently make the days feel very long.
Thank you for sharing a small portion of your life with me.
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Good morning Sue-Ellen S,
First and foremost, thank-you very much for your devotion and service in providing these excellent quilts and laundry bags. My sincere thanks as well to all of the other members that provide these items to our serving and non-serving members within the ADF.
Please forgive my tardiness in replying and thanking you, these quilts, and the one you have done for me are absolutely amazing and I am always in awe of the work, skill and passion that goes into them and the accompanying letters as it’s lovely to hear the family background, stories and who these wonderful women are behind their sewing machines. I hope that you were all able to get to Canberra for the AHQ anniversary and be with so many like-minded and supporting volunteers to the organisation.
Reading of your letter, yes, I very much love the quilt which I now plan to hang in my office, something that warrants being on display and not stored away, I certainly get a lot of comments on how good it looks and is currently folded up on my desk.
To go over some of your letter; I am a Chief Petty Officer (Marine Technician – Electrical) have been in the Navy for 25 years come March next year; more than half my life and joined up at 21 after completing a Sign writing apprenticeship. I am currently posted to RAN Recruit School (down at Crib Point on the Mornington Peninsula) so I’m back to the place where it all began for me and so many others. I absolutely love the work here and seeing the extremely diverse individuals that arrive as civilians and leave as our newest sailors, it’s very rewarding.
We are very fortunate to live where we do, while it is within the Married Quarters precinct of the base, but off base, our house overlooks the golf course and there is plenty for the kids to keep occupied, playing at the several parks with their friends and they can almost be free-range as all the parents/other families all look out for them. We also have amazing wildlife in the area, birdlife, koalas, we have our local echidnas which come to our front garden and foxes sniffing around the rubbish bins at night.
We haven’t got out much in the way of seeing what this state has on offer but we definitely talk about it and but we just can’t seem to get to the planning and execution stages. Apart from work, I am not a world traveller and while we have been living in the area now for several years I am certainly not a fan of the cold and all the rain and after this winter being so brutal I find myself considering a move to a warmer climate but just so hard logistically with the family and schooling etc.
As you can imagine, with almost 25yrs of service I’ve been to quite a few places. Singapore has always been my favourite place and we took the family over there a few years ago for a couple of weeks and they loved it. Our family though has been also fortunate to be exposed to many other countries as while we lived in Cairns we would have Au Pairs stay with us helping with the kids when they were younger and it was amazing for them and us. Most of the Au Pairs we had were from Germany, also from Scotland, England, France, South Africa and Canada and we keep in contact with most of them, some of which have their own families now.
My family and I have been in the area since 2016 where I was the lead instructor for Electrical Trade Training before returning to Cairns for sea posting for 2yrs and then returning to our current location. My family remained here while I was at sea for their support and stability and this was all during the COVID pandemic so I only got home a twice in 2020 for a week or so, very difficult for my wife and looking after 3 children on her own(boy and girl twins now 10 and older boy now 12). I also have 2 older boys from a previous relationship, both in their 20’s, the younger in retail and the eldest is a qualified builder who lives with my parents and is ‘helping’ renovate their home. Your two sons looked to have amazing lives and careers and please pass on and let me thank your son for his service also. We are fortunate to be able to see and be posted to many places, Fort Benning must have been amazing. I have no doubt you have the understanding of the commitment and support that comes from serving members and equally important from our families and it is greatly appreciated. So my sincerest thanks to you all.
I hope this letter finds you well and thank you once again for making my quilt, and to have it personalised sets it apart from all the rest. To be presented with it by my Commanding Officer, with my wife and children present was a little bit overwhelming and emotional. I am proud and humbled to be a recipient.
Regards,
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Hi Lynn K
Thank you very much for your time and effort in making the laundry bag that arrived recently in the post. I love it and it was exactly what I was after, very Australian themed. It will be a "Must Pack" for the next trips away, and a great change form using a large plastic shopping gag for the dirty clothes.
It sounds like you are keeping busy in your retirement. That is pretty much all my wife and I talk about, as we are only a year away from retiring ourselves. We have both done over 30 years in the ADF and are looking at settling somewhere in SE QLD, probably up at the Sunshine Coast
Good luck with learning to play lawn bowls. I've had a few games over the years but I'm not very good and it usually ends up with having too many drinks, during and after. I had to google Pickleball*, as I had never heard of it, it looks a lot like tennis, another game I'm not very good at. Anyway I hope you have a great time with your tournament in Norfolk Islands, it sounds like it will be.
So once again thank you and keep up the great work you do for Aussie Quilts, as it is greatly appreciated.
Cheers
* according to Wikipedia (google) Pickleball is an indoor or outdoor racket/paddle sport were two or four players hit a perforated hollow polymer ball over a 36 inch high net using solid faced paddles. The appearance of the court resembles tennis, but the size is more like a doubles badminton court.
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Good morning Anne H,
Firstly, many thanks for a wonderful email and a fantastic quilt.
I recently received it from one of my colleagues who flew home to Australia from Lebanon. What a great parcel to receive!! The quilt is amazing and I love every part of it, especially the running person with your multiple meaning to the girl.
I returned from deployment in July, I was deployed for nearly nine months, spending most of my time in Lebanon. Since returning back to Australia, I have recently posted down to Albury/Wodonga way, fulfilling the role of a Staff Officer at Workforce and Training Group with Army Logistics Training Centre HQ. It is great being back home after experiencing some once in a life-time experiences with the United Nations. Albury/Wodonga is a beautiful spot, a big country town with some great wineries close by.
Many thanks again for a beautiful quilt and if you’re ever up Albury/Wodonga way, please reach out.
Have a great end of 2022 and all the best for 2023.
Kind Regards,
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Dear Bev F,
This thank you letter is well overdue and I hope you can forgive my tardiness. I received your beautiful patchwork blanket whilst I was posted to patrol boat HMAS Launceston last year. I can't tell you how nice it was to have a home comfort like that in your rack when you are out at sea. I served in the RAN for six years, qualifying as a medic during that time.
I recently discharged in February this year to pursue my commercial Pilot Licence - Helicopter. I hope to have completed my training by Christmas.
My most memorable posting in the Navy was definitely my last 12 months serving on HMAS Launceston (where I received your blanket). Some of the trips out were long but majority of the time we had a great crew and the port visits were fun!
I am currently living in a caravan with my fiancé whilst I complete my studies. My partner also served in the RAN, for five years, as a marine technician. He is a diesel mechanic by trade and now does FIFO (fly-in/fly-out) work in the mines.
I really enjoyed reading your letter. I can see the military runs deep in your family's history. I can only imagine what your husband, son and father have experienced whilst serving our country. I thank them for their generous service.
I also really enjoyed reading about your travels with your husband! You have certainly seen some places. I have the travelling bug. My parents did a lot of travelling and camping trips with us as kids. A very fortunate upbringing. I hope to do the same with my kids one day.
Thank you for sharing a little bit about your interesting life. I hope I have a marriage filled with happy memories like you had.
I trust this letter will find you in good health. Thank you for the beautiful patchwork blanket.
Best Wishes,
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