January 22, 2014

Helllloooooo, 

How are you all doing? Okay? 

Yesterday I sorted out some stuff I needed for my best friends kitchen tea party by buying more tea (& putting it in Eco-Friendly recycled jars). I took a photo of my tea collection which I will be sharing with about 60 people for the event! I added 3 new teas so that the collection will be big enough for everyone (& it's also awesome for me too)! 

You may notice I like T2 teas... I do! :) they are a tea specialist in Australia! And they are delicious! 

I also bought some cake stands and cupcake wrappers! But no photos of these so they will be a surprise for my beautiful friend! 

I also chatted to some people in the queue at a department store... Light & friendly conversation is often a little kindness but I enjoy talking to people! Everyone has lived such diverse lives! There is always something new to learn or another way of looking at the world! 

Stay safe and have a wonderful day! 

Luv Daena 

Busy time of Life...

Hey everyone,
I bet you are wondering what has been happening, as I haven't really had a chance to write much about whats been happening. So this is what has been happening... and here is what is coming up! :)

For the last three months or so, Mum and i have been volunteering and planning the community day at my dads nursing home. We have been making a whole range of crafts, baked goods, and decorated Lollies (Photos are coming up and i will include them as i update the monthly kindnesses, so you can see what we did along the way! I hope i took photos of everything though! :/

So last weekend was the actual Community day at my dads nursing home. Mum and I ran the cake stall (which also had preserves and decorated lollies). By the end of the day our stall had raised over $700! And the whole day raised about $3000 to help go towards extra equipment for the nursing home.

Table 1: The cakes, cupcakes, cookies, fudges, bananas in PJs, Candycane Reindeer, & Coconut ice and everything in between there too! More stuff arrived after this too... but i didnt have enough time to take a better photo! Someone also bought in Fresh Italian Canoli's (Oh My Goodness... delicious).

The 2nd Table: The Jams, Marmalades, Lemon Butter, Fruit cakes and everything in between!

I think there was only 4 jars of preseves left by the end of the day! And we ended up reducing it down to one table. Here is my nephew standing behind the table 

 
As the only family members who were part of the planning, we got thoroughly thanked with a bunch of flowers each and the WORLDS largest box of Chocolates. :) 1.134kgs of chocolate in a taster tray! But we had a lot of fun and were just happy to be able to do things we were both good at! Many of the families of other residents made and contributed in a HUGE range of other ways & there was all the paid staff that were amazing as planners and worked really hard for the Nursing home as well ... just don't want it to sound like it was all us! We only did a small portion! Our Kindnesses were Our time, crafts and cakes as they were all donations to the day and helped made it a huge success! :D

I also got to try out a whole bunch of stuff that I could make from the ideas I got from Pinterest! (I have a Pinterest page... so if you want kindness ideas I have some pins in a Kindness Ideas page- http://pinterest.com/daenamouse/kindness-ideas/ ). I will include photos later... and if you are really keen I can provide you with some web-inar links or pins for the things i have made! or just try and tell you how i made them... or something!

On a funny note, Dad is loving that we helped, because lots of the staff bought mums cakes and her delicious Jams and are telling him regularly how delicious they are... He is acting like a minor Celebrity! Its quite cute! :)

WHAT IS COMING UP:

NANOWRIMO - this is the National November Writers Month! They challenge you to write 50,000 words in the month. So I am going to be working hard to achieve this, both for this website and for a personal project I am currently working on.

Movember - okay, I'm not a man (obviously), nor a woman who can grow an exceptional Mustache... but funnily enough this is something I support regularly! I have several friends who participate and if it helps support Testicular & Prostate Cancer research and mens health in general.

Telethon 2012 - the weekend of the 10th & 11th of November. I will be doing something similar to what i did last year (Telethon November 2011). Last year I got to meet some awesome Sport, TV & Movie stars and had a lot of fun helping the Western Australian Children's Hospital Princess Margaret, and the Telethon Institute for Child Research! :)

Margaret River Holiday - That is right boys and girls, i am having a holiday! With some of my closest girlfriends! A well deserved one in a couple of weeks that should help me to relax! :)

Christmas -  Sorry to scare you but its only 2 months away! :)

TOP SECRET MISSION: I am hoping I might be able to implement a "TOP SECRET" event this year! Keep checking back for more details! :D


I hope you enjoy this update... and look forward to other things during this month! :D

Thanks guys,
Luv Daena x

GOBSMACKED? you should be... July Kindnesses

Hey Everyone,
How many of you logged on to the blog today, just to see if i managed to keep the ball rolling and post the July Kindnesses? (I did... but i dont think i count! :)

So there are lots of photos in this one... because i was a very busy beaver and did a whole range of stuff... from looking after sick doggies, to helping at quiz nights, to planning weddings, to baking cakes for everything, and singing.

So I hope you enjoy this fun filled installment of the 2012 kindnesses.

Here is

JULY 2012

July 1: Took Amber to the vet and spent the day and night looking after her.

Amber spent the majority of her time from when we started looking after her, on her dog bed. She was unsteady getting up and going to the toilet, so had to be taken out on a lead for the first little while that we stayed with her.

This is the rest of the "pet family" of Amber's, Her sister Ebony and her cat Spyder. I was hand feeding Amber when the other pets wanted to join in and spend time with me and Amber. They are such beautiful animals. (This is also me in my sexy Penguin Pajamas... thats right! I love penguins so much... they are even on SEVERAL pairs of my pajamas!).

 July 2: Spent more time looking after Amber. Took Amber to the vet and she was admitted for an x-ray and ultrasound.

July 3: I prepared a whole lot of stuff ready for a wedding soon. I even started to decorate some glass wear.

 July 4: Prepared fruit for making a wedding cake and Visited Amber in hospital (she lost a lot of weight but was happy to see us).

July 5: Clearned up the house of the friend whilst they were away.

July 6: Mum and I baked 80 cupcakes ready to help out at a quiz night. I also helped set up the hall for the fundraising quiz night!

July 7: Did a lot of work for the Quiz night. Including taking/iciing cupcakes, helping set up and singing in the guest band. Amber returned home from the hospital and we took up 4 hourly feeding rosters. 

This is me singing in the band for the Salvation Army quiz night (hence the shield in the back ground). It looks like i'm eating the microphone... mmmm... yummy! ;)

 July 8: Sent a thank you message to two friends who had bought me a birthday gift and helped friends get ready for their wedding. Got up early to do the early morning feeds for Amber (7am).

Amber was getting up and moving around by this point. She had very little energy but she and her cat Spyder came and vied for attention when i was sitting on the lounge chair... a sure sign of improvement.

July 9: Continued to look after a very sick dog. Feeding and getting her up to go to the toilet every four hours.

July 10: bought a cake for one of the craft ladies birthdays.

July 11: Did some full on wedding preparation, with another girl Em (she and i had been conscripted to do the afternoon tea for the wedding together). Bought more lollies, did placement plans for the afternoon tea and did a lot more glass decorating at my house. Then returned to the house we were house-sitting, and Amber's medications had to change so we had to start getting up earlier (6am) to give her medication before her food at 7am.

July 12: I did some washing, cleaning, vacuuming and pet care at a friends house.

July 13: Got the last of the lollies to pack into glass ware, waited for someone to drop off the key for the venue and also did a huge amount of packing and also finished creating trees out of dead branches. Did the final touches to the wedding cake. 

Why is it after you promise lots of photos that you realize the background is terribly messy. Oh well... The wedding had three sets of colours: Orange and Blue, Red and Yellow, & Green and Purple.This is just one of the tests we had for the colours. 

July 14 (THE WEDDING): Returned to my house for 9am to pack the last of the glassware, lollies and cutlery into boxes, 10am people came to fill their cars with boxes and take to the venue(Em took the key and opened up the venue and started setting up whilst i was still packing peoples cars). Then I left my house to get to the Venue at 11am. Decorated the hall completely with many helpers (thanks guys... you rocked). Went to the wedding at 1pm. (Whilst we hosted the afternoon tea – mum took the awesome cake to the reception venue with some help). Had the afternoon tea from 2pm-3.30pm. Then had to pack it all up again. Finished packing at around 5pm. Had a celebratory/exhausted pre-dinner snack at 5.15pm. Had the reception at 6pm. Party over by 11pm and I was in bed after taking Amber for a midnight toilet break.

This is the Orange and Blue colour scheme. I probably should have explained before that this was a candy store themed wedding with all the candy/glassware/bowls/cutlery etc in the colour of the tables. This made sorting M&Ms, Skittles and other multicoloured sweets a rather tedious task... but the affect was STUNNING!

The Green & Purple colour scheme was amazing because it had two shelving units laid on their sides to add extra height and give a different look to the other two sets of tables. This was also the central table, so to make it different we just used one set of ballons in the middle instead of two sets at either end like on the other two table sets.

The Red and Yellow colour scheme. I have to appologise for the quality of the photographs, but at this point i was in a bit of a frenzy, trying to make sure it all looked good before heading over to the church for the wedding ceremony.

These were the twig trees that i made to hang the bonbierre bags on, so people could get an empty bag off the tree and then fill it will lollies from the table thus making their own take-home-wedding-gift. Brillian Idea. The bride was a genious when she thought of this (alas, i cant take the credit for the idea... only the final product). 

This is the view of all of the tables down the middle of the hall. The orange and green was the first thing you saw as you walked into the room. It looked amazing. As you walked in, you wanted to keep walking and see what there was to offer. This also helped move people though the hall so there wasnt a bottle neck of people as they all came in.

This is a wider view of the previous photo and you can see the "trees" against the wall to the right of the photo. It looked amazing. I was so glad it turned out so well. We had lots of compliments. And the bride and groom loved it especially... which was a huge relief after all the work we had put in to it. 

 

This is the wedding cake that mum and i made for this wedding! It was just gorgeous. The only thing is, the beautifully hand made figurines on top of the cake went missing that night. So if anyone has seen these beautiful little hand made figures can you please contact me and let me know where they are. The bride and groom are quite determined to get them back, because they were made for them by a friend.

July 15: Looked after myself by having a “rest” day – but still kept doing the pet care regime.

July 16: Did the early shift of pet care so mum could get some much needed rest. Sent messages of love to a family who had just lost their loved one at dads nursing home.

July 17: Cleaned the house and make the house look awesome and cleaner that before we picked up the house owners from the airport. We did the best to make it look really clean and welcoming because they were going to have their own hands full looking after a very sick dog when they got home.

July 18: Helped a friend build an Architectural model and helped cheer up a sad friend.

This was the model we had to build. Sadly i cant remember what it is, or who its by, but i know its famous!? Im sure that is no help at all. If i find out what it is... I will update this.

July 19: walked a friend to her car in a dodgy neighbourhood late at night. Provided some friends with endless amounts of amusement because I got a fit of the giggles that last about half an hour.

July 20: I visited a sick friend and spent some time baking with my niece and nephew.

July 21: Organised some “feel good movies” for mum as she wasn’t very well.

July 22: Invited one of our neighbours in for a coffee and a chat.

July 23: Made a CD of my favourite songs and gave it to a friend.

July 24: did the washing up at craft and make cups of tea for mum and offered to do the same for the other craft ladies.

July 25: Helped a friend out by holding Blankets so she could photograph them before she sent them off to a charity,

July 26: Volunteered to help at a Community Day at my dads nursing home and attended an organizing committee meeting for it.

July 27: Baked over 120 cupcakes in preparation for an engagement party – Iced them late in the evening and also made and decorated a BIG cake too.

July 28: Took Big cake and cupcakes to the engagement party and made it all look very pretty! :)

These were the 120 cupcakes (the worse looking ones got kept as "just in case" cupcakes. there were two flavours chocolate and vanilla and the middle cake was a nice boiled chocolate mud cake (a receipe I LOVE).

I loved this cake. Not only is it heart shaped by it has crazy wiggles on it too... something else I love to do! :) The bows and icing hearts of sticks were great too... trying to match the colour exactly was a little tough... but the whole effect was spectacular! :)

July 29: Spent all day at my sisters house getting my Kindnesses in order and putting them all in a photo album to show non-technical/computer using people what I am doing and all about this project (Similar to last years scrap booking album).

July 30: Helped a lady when her baby pram fell over! Thankfully this happened just after (and possibly as a result), the baby was removed from the pram.

July 31: Bought a drink for a friend at a pub. I also started crocheting a friends birthday present (you will see the photos of it in the August Kindnesses).

NOTE (at present): Amber the dog is still alive and is miraculously doing better. She lost lots of weight and is on a very restricted diet. She is still on four-six hourly feeds but her attitude and energy levels have increased to the point that she can play and toilet herself. She has even been up to her old hints of mischief (much to the frustration of her human mummy). Mum and I keep cuddling her, when we visit her and her sister Ebony (and their cat brother Spyder). Amber, Ebony, & Spyder are like family to mum and I, we have known them for such a long time, the world would be a sadder place without any one of them. Even though it was tough to look after Amber when she was sick, and whilst her owners were away, we are in no way bitter about looking after her. We are glad she has survived, against all odds. She is such a special dog and she is cherished by us and by her owners. The owners appreciated our hard work and effort by showering us with gifts and gratitude. Which we indeed grateful for, but that Amber survived for her owners to see again, that was the true gift!

So, four times in four days (and yes, when i started writing this it was on the fourth day... although technically I'm pretty sure its a new day), is pretty good for me. I am almost up to date! :) HOORAY for small miracles. 

I hope you have enjoyed the photos, the stories and the kindnesses.I am glad i have been able to make peoples lives and special days that bit more special! :) 

May this find you in health and happiness, 

luv Daena X

You are so spoilt... Kindnesses for March 2012!

Hey everyone,
I guess you may be surprised by the fact that I am writing again so soon! I am! :) But i figured that if I was on a role, I should pursue that! :)

Before I go on, I just wanted to say thank you for your support over the last few years. In the last couple of weeks we have had an awesome increase with the Facebook page too. And I am just so happy that I can share my daily practices with you all. If you havent "Liked" the facebook page then you can do so here http://www.facebook.com/365daysOfKindness so you can get updated when there are new posts and photos/statuses from me.


 Anyway, so here are the Kindnesses for...

MARCH:

March 1^st, 2012: I did a couple of loads of washing with out having to be asked.

March 2^nd, 2012: I sent messages to a friend on her birthday, who was also having a really hard time.

March 3^rd, 2012: I did 6 hours of gardening in the communal garden.

March 4^th, 2012: I did 8 hours of gardening in the back yard (mum can't do it, so that leaves me... and it is one of those jobs that has been put to the bottom of the list a lot).

March 5^th, 2012: I made several phone calls to a fast food chain, on behalf of another family member, as they had lost half of our order. I always approach these as accidental problems that crop up every now and then, and am always as polite as possible.

March 6^th, 2012: Made mum lunch and a cup of tea

March 7^th, 2012: Invited some neighbors over for a cup of tea.

March 8^th, 2012: I baked several batches of low GI cookies so mum had some “healthy” options for snacks and also baked a cake.

March 9^th, 2012: I took books to a family friend to give ideas of what cakes we could make for her 40^th Birthday Party. I also took my niece and nephew for a walk and played I-Spy to keep the kids out of the room whilst their mum was having a doctors appointment.

March 10^th, 2012: Invited the neighbours over for a piece of home-make cake and coffee.

March 11^th, 2012: Sent a message offering support to a friend who needed some TLC.

March 12^th, 2012: Went to a store to get fabric for sleeplessness & ended up helping a stranger by picking up a role of fabric they had dropped to the ground.

March 13^th, 2012: Acted as a chauffeur for mum and also suggested mum buy a Starwars Lego book for a friends birthday.

March 14^th, 2012: Took mum to a mid-week church service, also a much shorter service, and helped her when she couldn’t sit down any more.

March 15^th 2012: Sent a message of love and encouragement to a friend having a hard time and offered to help out. (Wrote Blog Post available here)

March 16^th, 2012: Went and picked up cake decorating supplies for mum and I, so at we could make a cake.

March 17^th, 2012: Poured mum a drink for mum, for the anniversary of my Grandfathers death.

March 18^th, 2012: Volunteered to water plants for a friend going on holiday for several weeks.

March 19^th, 2012: Went and visited dad because he had had a fall at his nursing home. We calmed him down and supported the nursing home staff.

March 20^th, 2012: Took my mum to her bible-study and craft. Visited dad to make sure he was okay after his fall. Also made mum and the other craft ladies cups of tea.

March 21st, 2012: Took mum to church, made cups of tea (for morning tea) then helped with the washing up afterwards.

March 22nd, 2012: Visited dad and took him some of my home-made cookies. Pushed one of dads fellow house-mates (in a wheelchair) to the dining room for lunch. 

March 23rd, 2012: Drove mum to a doctors appointment. Made cake for a friends 40^th Birthday, AND also supported a friends 1^st full length play (that she wrote and directed) by going to see it with some of my friends.

March 24th, 2012: Dropped the cake off at a friends house, dropped mum off to my sister, and then drove for an hour and a half for an engagement party and acted as skipper.

March 25^th, 2012: Preached at Floreat Salvation Army – Promoting kindness. Sang in the youth band and set up the service. (Wrote Blog Post available here)

March 26^th, 2012: In a difficult situation acted positively and responsibly by acting with integrity against the perpetrator. (Wrote Blog Post available here)

March 27^th, 2012: Cooked dinner for my sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, friend and mum. (Wrote Blog Posts available here & here )

March 28^th, 2012: Babysat my sisters kids for a few hours after school. Made them snack and played with them.

March 29^th, 2012: Took my niece to school, drove to the children's hospital, acted as a chauffeur for my nephew and sister, and then drove them home after my nephews appointment to have the metal rods in his arm removed in surgery.

March 30^th, 2012: Made a cup of tea for mum to enjoy in bed.

March 31^st, 2012: Went to the Salvation Army fete and helped by cooking sausages and cleaning up afterwards.

*Please remember that there was also probably other stuff done on these days, but these were the kindnesses we were able to piece together after loosing all my kindnesses due to a technological glitch with my iPhone, TWICE! Needless to say, I have now gone back to using Paper and pen to record these kindnesses.

Well, I hope you enjoyed March 2012s Kindnesses. Thank you for your support on both the Facebook page and this blog (and in person/email), without your love and support I wouldn't be able to do what I do everyday. So thanks, you rock! :) 

Love and hugs, Daena x

January Kindnesses 2012

Hey everyone,
So I just figured out that the best way to update my monthly kindnesses is to just type it all in and you can see it quick and easily (even if it wont be quite so pretty as last years! :). I know it should have been a lot more obvious to do it this way to start with... but I like a little beauty and creativity. And quite honestly who doesn't? ;)

So when I figure out a better way (or prettier way) to do this, I will!

After loosing a chunk of this year already I have been piecing the year of kindnesses back together. This is another reason I am typing it up now... because I want to remember them and share them with you... or at least as much and as many as possible. So, if you can remember something I did... or told you I did.. or you saw me do... kindness wise... please let me know. I can always add and update this.

JANUARY 2012

1st January: I bought lunch for three of my friends! At this point I wasn't even sure i was going to continue for another year... but I found that i just couldn't stop myself! :)

2nd January: I sent messages of love and support to a friend in need.

3rd January: Helped made a cake for a friends surprise birthday (Its a train for a friend who is a train mechanic/engineer/cleaner type person).

4th January: Helped make a cake for my brother-in-laws birthday (Its a little RED car!). 

5th January: I saw a little old lady at a coffee shop that i frequent. And i decided i wanted to do something for her. so when we both happened to be paying our bills, I offered to pay for hers. She refused! But both she and the cashier were surprised and touched by my offer.

6th January: Dropped off some packing supplies to some friends moving inter state.

7th January: Helped set up and run a surprise baby shower for a friend.

8th January: Picked up some dinner for me and some family and friends (Mums kindness was that she paid for it). I just acted like a pick up and delivery service so that no-one else had to leave the air conditioning! :)

9th January: Helped a stranger by putting her shopping trolley away.

10th January: Bought a friend, who was financially struggling, dinner.

11th January: Sent messages of love, support & farewell to friends moving inter-state.

12th January: Held a door open for a stranger.

13th January: Acted like a beautician and gave my dad a manicure, so the staff at his nursing home didn't have to!

14th January (BALI): Waited up for my Bali-room-mate, as he was arriving on a later flight from Australia!

15th January (BALI): Took a friend for a "tour" of the hotel so he'd know his way around! Plus, I picked up someone-elses' rubbish whilst scuba diving. We got to feed fish underwater and had little plastic bags filled with bread... I collected the plastic bags and tucked them in my wetsuit and put them in a bin when we finally got to shore! :) 

This is me on the boat after scuba diving and taking the rubbish to the shore! We were on our way to go Para-sailing! That is something else I can cross off the Bucket List!

 16th January (BALI): I gave our taxi driver a big tip (in the local currency).

17th January (BALI): Helped out with some first-aid for different friends.

18th January (BALI): Helped out a couple of friends by lending them the correct currency to purchase suitcases with. This meant that they could buy the suitcases immediately instead of having to make a special trip back to the hotel to get their currency and then back to buy the suitcases!

19th January (BALI): Put away the dishes at Burger King for everyone eating with me.

20th January (BALI): Said "Bless you" to a sneezing stranger, and bought a friend a drink.

21st January (BALI): Put extra money in the "pot" for dinner so that those that didn't have the money on them didn't have to stress about it!

22nd January (BALI): Held the door open for a stranger at a shopping center and warned them of the slippery floors (after torrential rain). 

23rd January (BALI): I helped a sick friend at the airport by finding toilets along the path to the terminal we were leaving from. So she could make her way from toilet to toilet and not throw-up somewhere along the way. She had a very bad case of Bali Belly!!

24th January: Gave friends and family gifts on my return from Bali.

25th January: Agreed to house-sit my sisters house while she and her family were away for a couple of days.

26th January: Fed my nephews fish whilst he was away on holiday.

27th January: Helped Construct a table-tennis table as a surprise for my sisters kids. The gift was from the other side of the family (my sisters parents-in-law)! I also managed to get the legs around the wrong way! It was very funny! :)

28th January: Paid for a round of drinks for my friends birthday.

29th January: Did some cleaning at my sisters house in preparation for her and her families return from their holiday.

30th January: Sent a message of love, support, celebration and encouragement to a friend having a GOOD day!

31st January: Helped a lady get some milk out of a mass display of it. There was only a small amount of the kind she wanted and it happened to be at the bottom and at the back of the milk pyramid, so i helped her get it out!

Hope you enjoyed January 2012! I had a great time in Bali, Indonesia and loved celebrating the many family and friends who had birthdays in January too! :) was a lot of fun! :)

Look forward to sharing the next month very soon! Obviously there will be some holes in my recollection but I am still piecing everything together! :)

Enjoy,
Luv Daena xx

P.s. I tagged this posts Location as Bali, Indonesia... just need to clarify that I am actually back in Perth, Australia at the moment! :) But if you want to know where Bali is... you can check it out! :D