Hello everyone! Hope you are all doing ok....I was doing a wee bit of blog stalking ealier while having a cuppa of tea and a bit of lunch - I know I should be working.... but for some reason I have no motivation for work this week! May have something to do with the fact that today is my last day at work for the week as I am taking a couple of days leave while the Catmax man comes around to re-install Oscar and Felix's outdoor playground. (They can't wait to get back outside in the fresh air again!)
With my 2 days leave and my normal day off on Friday, and the Public Holiday on Monday for Foundation Day, I will have 6 days off! Woo Hoo..... I feel a happy dance coming on... Just think of all those stitching hours that I will have!!!
Here's a little bit of WA history for you. The Public Holiday on Monday is a Western Australian holiday to commerate the founding of the first British Colony in the state of WA.
The first Europeans to visit the Western coast of Australia were Dutch explorers in the 1600s. Later a French party also visited the area. However, many early visitors were not positive about the land's potential so they travelled further. In 1826, the first British settlement, an outpost of the army, was established in Western Australia. During 1827, Admiral Sir James Stirling led a number of explorations along Australia's west coast and recommended that a permanent settlement should be established in the Swan River area. In 1829, he returned to the area with a navy vessel, HMS Challenger, and the merchant ship Barque Parmelia.
On June 1, 1829, Australia's west coast was sighted from the Parmelia, although the ship did not reach anchor until the following day. Later that year, more ships arrived in the area and Perth was officially founded. The area was known as the Swan River Colony until 1832, when it became known as Western Australia. In 1834, Stirling, who was the administrator of Western Australia, decided to hold an annual celebration to unite the settlers, masters, servants and Indigenous Australians within and around the colony. June 1 was the chosen date because it was the anniversary of the first sighting of Western Australia from the Parmelia and marks an important victory for the British navy over the French in 1794.
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| The public holiday on the first Monday of June is to celebrate WA's Foundation Day |
I am a very proud West Australian, although I was actually born in South Australia! My parents moved over to WA in 1966 when I was a wee little 'un, and we have lived here since then, except for about 18 months in 1969/70 when we went back to SA for awhile. But the call of the West saw us back here to stay.....
But, I digress - again.....
As I said when I started this post, I was having a quick blog stalk while having lunch and I noticed a giveaway that Krystaline at Relentless Stitching has going at the moment.... the giveaway ends on 3rd June 2011. So pop on over to Krystaline's blog and say hello....
Don't forget that tomorrow is the "New Moon" so it will be time to dust off the ORT's and upload a pic so that we can see how much they have grown over the month.
Til next time, happy stitching and may the only frogs you see be the ones in your garden!
