Happy Tuesday Friends!

I hope everyone had a lovely Mother’s Day on Sunday.  I managed to get a little sewing done so that was a great present!

Please enjoy todays messages and photos while you grab a cuppa, sit back and soak up some well deserved gratitude! 

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Good day Ellen N,

I firstly would like to thank you so dearly for the beautiful quilt you whipped up for me. I was happy when I saw the expression of interest for quilts on my boat, HMAS Broome. Before you made me the quilt I was using a ‘I Spy’ Quilt my Grandmother had made for me for Christmas 1999, it has been one of my most cherished possessions throughout childhood into adulthood. 

It unfortunately due to age started to shrink and my poor feet were getting cold as it was getting too short even for me at 153cm tall. Last year I asked my grandmother if it was possible to extend my quilt but unfortunately due to her age and health it wasn’t possible. Although it may not be a quilt made by my grandmother I can still feel the grandmotherly love which you put into making my quilt. I promise to love and cherish the beautiful quilt you have made for me just as I have my old ‘I Spy’ quilt.

Thank you so much for giving your time and love into creating works of art to put a smile on Defence Members faces. I know the time and dedication required to produce a quilt, especially an ‘I Spy’ quilt, so thank you for your service!

I hope you and your husband get to go on more grand adventures around Australia, it is a stunning country we live in and get to call home.

Kindest regards,

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Good Morning / Evening Ruth S

 

I am writing to thank you for your Laundry Bag you made me.

 

It is extremely impressive and had other guys and girls on deployment here amazed by the work and design. I appreciate it very much. 

 

I have seen and heard about others getting these items on deployments, however never got myself one until now. I will defiantly cherish and hold this item dearly.

 

 A small ironic detail is that it was posted one day before my birthday!

 

We all appreciate all the effort and thought people like yourself, and others do to support us from afar I wish the best for yourself and your family.

 

Regards 

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Hello Ellen N from the Middle East Region (MER),

Firstly, I wish to thank you for the wonderful gift of a quilt and laundry bag. The quilt you created for me was beautiful and very much appreciated. I have taken photo’s to show my work colleagues and also friends and family at home. They all agree that it is truly lovely and everyone agrees that the colours look amazing. That includes me – I think it’s wonderful and thank you for your time and effort.

This is my first deployment overseas and I arrived early March 2024. I am fortunate enough to deploy as a Defence Civilian, and we have a small team of four who look after the Contracts/Contractors supplying services to the Military members and VIP’s coming through. We recently had the Deputy Prime Minister stop in for a visit, and the Australian Ambassador and Defence Attaché has also visited (bringing family with them on ANZAC Day).

My usual work location is at Lavarack Barracks, Townsville in North Queensland. I started working for Defence as an APS in 2010, although prior to this I was a Defence spouse. My then husband joined the ADF after we married and during our time together we moved/posted to Wodonga, Darwin, Toowoomba, Townsville and Timor. After Timor we separated and the kids and I moved back to Townsville. My children had been fortunate enough to do the majority of their schooling in Townsville and still call it ‘home’. After reading that you had attended 13 different schools I’m sure you appreciate how lucky my children were.

I recently re-married and my husband is also in the ADF. He joined later in life and was encouraged to join by his son – who was already in the Army. My son-in-law married last year, and his wife is also in the Army. They have recently moved to Brisbane and just had their third child. My parents-in-law are also based in Brisbane so we try to fly down regularly to see them, and once we return to Australia (later in the year) we’ll be able to meet the most recent grandchild. My husband is also on deployment, not on the same Operation as me, but in a similar time zone – which means we can actually chat after work

Love that you’re doing the Grey Nomad path and travelling in a caravan around Australia! I’m sure you’ve seen some amazing sights and done some wonderful things. I love camping and every new place we moved to, we’d do the ‘tourist’ thing and find all the best places to camp. If hubby was away (which was quite a bit) I would go with my girlfriends and all our children. Great memories for all of us. One day my hubby and I will do the travel around Australia too – but when possible we try to get overseas too (while our bodies are still able). We have holidays booked for when we return – Canberra; across to Narooma (beaches around there) in Oct, Sunshine Coast in Dec, then Canada next April. Very excited about all of them 

Anyway, once again, thank you so much for the quilt, it is truly beautiful, and I appreciate the effort you made.

Kind Regards and Many Thanks

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Good afternoon Bridget R,

 

Thank you very much for my Laundry bag, it arrived this morning in the mail!

It’s exactly perfect and looks amazing!

I got sunflowers and border collies on it as that is my fiancé two favourite things and she personally travels more than me for work(civilian).

 

I am now coming up to my 3 months on Op Lilia and have enjoyed every moment. For my work I am an Infantry section commander specialising in direct fire support weapons posted to the 8/9^th Battalion the Royal Australian Regiment.

I call Brisbane home with my fiancé and dog Archie! When I get a chance I will try send you a photo of him, he looks a lot cuter than the border collie on the washing bag.

 

I hope to talk soon!

 

Kind Regards,

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Good morning Christine C,

A very big THANK YOU for the beautiful quilt that I recently received. It means so much to me and is far better than what I expected. The time and effort put in by yourself as a volunteer quilter is commendable. Apologies for not responding sooner.

I literally received your parcel from the postie 5 minutes before driving north to Currumbin for ANZAC Day. This meant I had time to open the parcel, admire the quilt you made for me, take a photo and then leave it home in Canberra until we returned.

Having departed Currumbin and travelling down the east coast, my wife and I are currently in Melbourne visiting our daughter, son in law and 2 granddaughters. We were blessed with a new granddaughter on 1 April and this is our first visit to see and cuddle her. Quality family time is so so important for both of us.

Since requesting a quilt, although retired, I have returned back working for Navy as a Reservist (3 days a week). It’s hard for me to let go of my second family which commenced in 1975.

It would be lovely to catch up with you personally to say thank you.

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Until next week keep your letters, emails and photos coming in. 

Tuesday’s would be so totally boring without them!