Back to Quilting and Donations.

Delys Rogers from WA has sent a large parcel containing 2 beautifully crocheted blankets and 2 teddy bears.

Dianne Daly has been very busy and has donated 2 large parcels containing items for Oz Comfort Quilts and Uniforms 4 Kids Victoria. Dianne sent 3 quilt tops with backings and bindings, 2 Santa Sacks, 2 beanies, 2 crocheted blankets, 67 soap pouches, 1 knitted blanket for a baby, 5 pair of booties, 1 baby beanie, 1 baby jacket and 10 small knitted teddies.

For Uniforms 4 Kids Victoria, Dianne also donated 21 pencil cases with pencils, 19 bucket hats, 7 large tote bags, 5 nappy bags and 4 pair of boy's shorts, all made by upcycling obsolete uniforms donated by Ambulance Victoria.

Many thanks for your support.

Hugs, Jan Mac xx
 

Highlight of My Trip.

 

I'm back from my trip to Sri Lanka and visiting a Buddhist monastery to deliver school supplies was one of the highlights. I thought that someone would just pick up the donations from my hotel but the head Buddhist monk invited us as his special guests and we visited the monastery for lunch as well as viewing special artifacts. Our tour guide is Buddhist and he received a special blessing so he was also very happy.

I would have liked to take more but couldn't fit more in my suitcase so will post more over soon. I took 45 sets of exercise books, pencils, erasers, sharpeners in drawstring bags; as well as 10 pairs of magnified reading glasses, some toys and 10 beanies for babies. Uniforms 4 Kids Victoria supplied 45 sets of coloured pencils and the remaining school supplies were provided by Jo Algie and her friends.

The Monk is responsible for 158 families living nearby and he provides food, school supplies, support etc as well as scholarships for 56 children. I asked what he needed and he said he doesn't like to ask for money and sending school supplies was an enormous help for the children and their families. The reading glasses were also much appreciated so if you have any glasses you no longer need I can post them over to him as many of the older people are unable to access reading glasses. He's a delightful man and it was a pleasure to meet him.

One of our tour members kindly stood in for the photo as the monk is not allowed to be photographed with a woman on her own.

Hugs, Jan Mac xx

Wrapping Up My Sri Lanka Trip.

From the highlands near Kandy we made our way down to the coast, staying at Mirissa for 2 nights. It's a seaside town, very pretty and with delicious sea food.

From Mirissa we made our way to the Dutch Fort town of Galle , staying one night, and then on to Colombo.

 I'm currently in Singapore waiting for the second part of my flight home. I can highly recommend Sri Lanka as a holiday destination and I  saw lots of lovely scenery and had some delicious meals. It will be good to be home tomorrow and catch up on sleep.

Hugs, Jan Mac xx 

The Highlands of Sri Lanka.

We're about half way through our tour of Sri Lanka and have now come up into the highlands where it's cooler.

We've visited a tea factory.

Our hotel in Kandy overlooked a beautiful lake.

Of course cricket is very popular here.

From Kandy we're travelling further into the mountains to see the tea plantations. 

It's an interesting trip and I  interact with the locals as much as possible.  I was a special guest of the head Buddhist monk in Kandy when I delivered the school supplies,  baby's hats and magnified reading glasses but will talk more about that when I can share the photos on my camera.  These are just a few from my iPad.

 Hugs, Jan Mac xx 

Sri Lankan Elephant Safari

I'm currently on an Intrepid tour of 70% of Sri Lanka in just over 2 weeks. It's a very scenic country and the people ate very friendly.  Whilst driving along a main road an elephant ambled past.

We went on an elephant safari in the afternoon and it was a wonderful experience, seeing over 100 in family groups with calves at foot. One baby elephant came right up to the jeep to check us out.

It's a busy day, leaving the hotel at 8am and often not getting to the next one until 8 or 9 at night but we're covering so much that we couldn't see it any other way. The food is delicious too.

Hugs,  Jan Mac xx 

 

A Visit to a Wildlife Park and Anuradhapura.

Our second day started at 8am and finished at 9pm when we finally reached our hotel. Thankfully we ate dinner on our way. We didn't see leopards as joprd for but saw lots of birds, spotted deer, water buffalo and crocodiles.

We're staying at the Heritage Hotel in Anuradhapura so we could visit one of the UNESCO Sites. 

We enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch but most of my photos aren't available at the moment until I can download from my camera.

It was a long day in 30 degree heat and with high humidity but it was a

So very interesting.  We left the hotel again at 8am, ate lunch after 1.30 and then reached our hotel at 3.45, after a quick stop at a supermarket for some snacks. I had my second cold shower here as hot water wasn't available again but it was refreshing and not a problem. Tonight will be an earlier night as we have an early start again in the morning.

Hugs, Jan Mac xx 

Adventures in Sri Lanka

I've been busy over Christmas getting quilts finished as well as preparing for my trip to Sri Lanka.  I needed to have quite a few vaccinations as well as getting donated school supplies ready to bring with me. I also managed to fit in 10 pairs of magnified reading glasses, some toys and 10 beanies for babies. I'm delivering them to a Buddhist monk in the highlands as children can't attend school if they don't have the required supplies.  I couldn't fit in all of the donations and the rest will be posted.

 

We stopped on route for lunch on our way from Negombo to a wildlife park.

We stopped to visit a Hindu temple en route.

Negombo fish market was very busy with workers preparing and drying fish so it can be stored for later use.

We arrived in Colombo at 11.30 pm Tuesday night and I stayed at Negombo for 2 nights. I arrived a day earlier before the tour started. On our first night we visited Lord's restaurant in Negombo and I ate a fabulous meal of Prawns, Crab and fish cooked in a coconut milk sauce and served with rice. It was absolutely delicious and will be a hard act to follow.

More to come.

Hugs, Jan Mac xx