A House in the Country

Just need shoes.....

2012-01-31T19:27:00.000+11:00

...I told you that we have two weddings with four weeks between them didn't I..? our youngest son Chris is marrying the lovely Anastasia two weeks this coming Saturday and our youngest daughter, Sarah is marrying her handsome American, Matthew, exactly four weeks later......

this is all fabulous of course...well, it will be when I've made the total of seven cakes that will make up both wedding cakes, a four tier for Chris and Annie and a three tier for Sarah and Matthew and of course when I've sorted out what I'm wearing...!!

today I went down to Geelong to visit Dad and take him in to see Mum, so I decided that this jeans and tee shirt woman had better get some glam to wear for the first wedding at least..!! I had bought a gorgeous bag the other week when I was out with my bff Jen, and today I bought the first outfit....
..I still have to pick up the top but it's bought and paid for, they just have to get a smaller size for me....{insert very big grin at the thought of a smaller size}....so now I just need shoes....!!! the colour of the skirt is actually a pale chocolate/coffee/pinky colour and the gorgeous bag :o) looks lovely with it...it's nothing like the purple tinge you can see in the photograph. anyway, I love it! I'm really not a glam, bling type of girl and I do prefer an old pair of well cut jeans to high heels and diamonds (not that I'm wearing diamonds you understand) but you get what I mean don't you? So....shoes!! I'm thinking I want a pair of red, sling back, low heels? I know, totally impractical but then they'd look awesome with jeans later....yes?? Otherwise I'm going to have to go with black and then I'll have to change my bag won't I.....?? sigh!! it's not easy this dressing up business is it? and I'm doing it all again straight after this wedding..!

on the sewing front, I've managed to make a start on my Sue Spargo block in-between making cakes {two fruit down, five chocolate mud to go} and I'm hoping to finish it this week...

okay, I'm off to stitch some more of my block.....see you soon..XX

I am, you are, we are Australian

2012-01-25T15:35:00.000+11:00

....and I'm very proud to be so...I'll be off watching the kids (and grown boys) belly flop and bomb water out of the pool, once again toss a snag on the barbie take lots of happy snaps of my gorgeous grandkids and generally have a great Australia Day with some of my family tomorrow, so I just want to say 'have a good one Australia' it's going to be a perfect day here in Victoria....stay safe on the roads and remember to slip, slop, slap.... :o)

I'd better show you some other stuff before I get carried away in my patriotic fervour hadn't I.. :o)

...my rag rug-along is alonging nicely, it's not exactly oval but I'm not going to fuss over it as I'm enjoying the process and I'll be happy to have it in front of my wood stove this winter....

...this arrived yesterday...woohoo!! I've been looking forward to getting my new Sue Spargo BoM 'Earth 'n Twig', how are those colours....love it.

I have another project in the planning stage too, can't show you too much as I'm not sure where I'm going with it yet but as soon as I know I'll share of course...:o) the colours might just give you a hint as to the season it belongs in......

be good everyone, I'm off to cook some brownies (not very australian I know but the kids love them) enjoy your day Australia....
XXX

rug-a-long....

2012-01-21T14:28:00.000+11:00

I don't know about the rug bit, 'cos mine's not really looking anything like a rug right now! I guess it will eventually, but I'm definitely alonging...
Unlike Jodie who is cutting/ripping the fabric for hers and Clare who is doing hers from old clothing I decided to use a couple of the zillion jelly rolls I have (they multiply when you're not looking, prolific breeders are jelly rolls!!) so I don't have to cut anything......

...these are 'summers end' by kansas troubles quilters and 'oasis' by 3 sisters.......

...I wanted to have a good balance of light and dark in the rug........

I'm also not making mine round like the others.....I just love being different.. :o)

...I really want mine to end up as an oval..! (all suggestions/tips/helpful advice gratefully received) I want to put it in front of the wood stove in the kitchen (hope I don't set fire to it...;o) It doesn't quite look like much of anything right now does it..? sigh, hope it improves or else the dogs will have a nice mat in their bed..!!

If you're interested you can see some more in the flickr group here...

So I wanted to make another wool quilt....

2012-01-17T17:53:00.000+11:00

(reba, can't reply to your comment as you're no-reply, the fabric is Blackbird Designs 'Antique Fair' pattern # 2676)

...this was last November/December and I knew that the Sue Spargo BoM wasn't starting until this month. Around the same time a box full of Quilted Crow Girls patterns arrived at Millrose...well, what was I supposed to do I ask you...?

I decided to do the '1864' quilt, this one is designed as a BoM so ideal really, I can work alongside the Sue Spargo when it arrives..... :o)

Do I sound convincing?

I've also committed myself to another 'along' in the last few days, but more of that later...

these are the fabrics/wools I'm making this in...

..the background is 'Hometown' by Sweetwater, the red check is 'Antique Fair' by Blackbird Designs and the blue with red flowers is 'Vanity Fair c. 1892' by Nancy Gere..

..the wools are all from Weeks Dye Works wool fabric collection with the exception of the mustard, that's my own that I dyed a couple of years ago. all the reds are the same dye lot "Merlot" although different wool, the blue is "Deep Sea' and the last colour is "Thistle". The colour is truer in the first shot, I'm using this one for the leaves...

..this is as far as I've gone this week but it's hot here tonight so I might just sit in front of the box, air con on and stitch those stems down tonight....

So....the 'along' that I've joined is Jodies 'rug a long', braiding a rag rug. I'm cheating a little and using a couple of jelly rolls and I also want mine to be oval so that it will sit in front of my wood stove in the kitchen....we'll see how that goes, I haven't started yet of course ;o) but I will .... soon!!!

It's the weekend again........

2012-01-14T20:31:00.000+11:00

...yesterday I had lunch with Annie, Jodie and Bianca at Millrose Cottage and of course we had to have a little excursion next door to fondle some fabric....

...the face behind the brand new camera is Annie's, we had a little duel with camera's... :o)As usual, the food was awesome (risotto with mushroom, chicken and spinach for me....yummmm) and I was too busy eating to take a photograph. I bought a little fabric too, as you do, most of it was wool for my new quilt (which I haven't mentioned yet have I?) but I bought a sliver of this gorgeous linen to make this...

(apologies for the photo quality, I suddenly realised that I couldn't take the photo with MY camera....duh! So had to use the railway mans point and shoot....!)

...way back here I made a sleeve to go over my camera strap. I've always disliked the way the strap is just an advert for Nikon, Canon and the rest are the same too, names blazoned across your neck and chest...not my style I'm afraid, so hence the sleeve. It just slipped over the original Nikon strap and did the job but it was never long enough for me. I've never carried my camera around my neck, it's just plain annoying, so I would always end up with it slung over my shoulder which isn't really the safest place to carry it..! Last week, Leanne did a post about the strap she had made for her camera which made me think that it was about time I replaced mine too..! I did a bit of research and bought the fabric yesterday. Last night I decided to get it done, I had some photographs to take today and I just wanted to be able to sling my camera across my body and not worry about hanging on to it...!
After I had destroyed my Nikon strap I realised that I had to make it work otherwise I had no strap at all...!! I cut up a Katie's recyclable bag (it was white as opposed to the green of the supermarket ones) to make the tabs strong and stiff enough to carry the weight of the camera, the strap itself has iron on interfacing doubled and bamboo batting (because I had some strips already cut) layered in there. I stitched it down in four lines to make it lie flat and the tabs are actually stitched six times, over and over and over...! This baby is never going to give way! An hour and a half later I had this....

(once again apologies, it was really hard trying to get a photograph to show you exactly where the camera sits now)

it actually hangs right at the top of my thigh and the camera tends to sit slightly to the back which is perfect. it doesn't get in the way at all, is secure and is easy to grab and use without having to take it off my shoulder...I love it. I wore it for hours this morning while taking photos at the farmers market and it was so comfortable that I forgot I had it on, it sits so nicely, no rubbing on my neck! I love that it reflects me, myself and I and not a camera company!!

So, the new quilt.....well, it's a Quilted Crow Girls pattern, wool and cotton, I wanted to get it started as any day now my new Sue Spargo BoM is going to arrive in my mail box, great excitement I can tell you. 'Earth and Twigs' is the name of the 2012 BoM and I can't wait to see the colours, I really would like to keep up with the months but I'm not going to commit myself!!! There are things I'd like to get back into this year, I gave a few things up and put some stuff on hold while I was running up and down for Mum and Dad, I'm hoping that this year will settle a little, that I can still do some working days, move ahead with my photography, I've committed to doing another day at the Community house, so that's two lessons a week I'll be teaching..

I'll take some photos of the Quilted Crow one, although there isn't much to see yet, the fabrics are lovely though.....pale blues, reds with some mustard in there too....

Mum is settling into the home and I haven't been down since Wednesday, it was time for a little break from the road up and down the mountains. I'll see her again on Tuesday and hopefully she'll be settled even more.....

Right, need to stack the dishwasher, wonder when they'll invent one that stacks itself, and then it's in front of the idiot box for some mystery and drama I think....

See you all soon...

1000 paper cranes....

2012-01-11T18:56:00.000+11:00

...well I have 10 and that's a start! My friend Baukje from France was making them on new years eve and new years day and offered to send 10 (one for every 100) to anyone that commented on her post.....well I did and today there were 10 beautifully folded origami cranes in my mailbox.....

...gorgeous aren't they?

do you know the story of the cranes, I didn't until I read it on Baukje's blog, this is taken from her blog post (I'm sure she won't mind).....

"In Japan it is commonly said that folding 1000 paper cranes makes a person's wish come true.A thousand paper cranes are traditionally given as a wedding present by the father , who is wishing a thousand years of happiness and prosperity upon the couple.The thousand origami cranes was popularized through the story of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who was exposed to radiation from the atomic bombing in Hiroshima during the World War 11.Sasaki soon developed leukemia and, inspired by the cranes legend, began making origami cranes with the goal of making one thousand. In a popular version of the story as told in the book about Sadako, she folded only 644 before her death; in her honor her friends completed the rest and buried them all with her.In an alternate version of the story she completed the 1000 cranes before her death."

Sadako's short life has also inspired another sort of legacy: the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima. After Sadako's death , her classmates sought to honour their friend by creating a monument to mourn all the children who died from atomic bombing.

Beneath the pedestal , there is an inscription:

(source)

This is our cry. This is our prayer. For building peace in the world.

when I opened the envelope with my cranes in there was a little note from Baukje, it simply said..."some cranes for a better world, Baukje xx"

What a beautiful sentiment, thank you Baukje. I'm taking the cranes as a symbol for a better year for myself, now I have to learn to fold them, I can't imagine not adding to them. I don't know that I'll get a thousand made but if I can make 100 then I'll make my wish...!!

XX

Some sewing, some printing and some giving away....

2012-01-08T18:56:00.000+11:00

First off today I just want to say thanks to you all for your messages of support and friendship, I haven't replied individually but please know that I appreciate every comment, thank you.... xxx

I've been kept busy this weekend, our eldest granddaughter, Sam, has been staying and as usual she has to rummage through my fabric stash and make 'stuff'.....

she spent part of yesterday making this.....

...and this, pillowcases for her bed, with those seam joins she's going to be an awesome quilter one day... :o)

Then today she started these...

...disappearing four patch squares for cushions for Mum's room, I've finished them but she did a really good job on the tops. Only needed telling once how the cuts and turns go and she powered ahead.

I was busy messing around on the computer sorting some photographs to print and frame to help make Mum's room a little more comfortable. These are the one's I've framed already...

(oops, now you can see that my table runner hasn't been bound yet, I'll get to it soon I hope.... :o)

...and I've printed photographs of all 15 of their great grandchildren, they're all named so that the nurses can interact with them. I've laminated these so that she can have them pinned on her cork board and she can also carry them around if she wants to.....

she constantly puts things in her pockets and just wanders around holding onto things...I'll be there tomorrow with Dad so I'm hoping for a better visit than last Friday. Sam is going home tomorrow too so I thought that she should make herself useful once more before she leaves....

we decided to go low tech for the draw for the iPhone case....

....so Margaret, it's yours. congratulations I know you're going to love it, I'm sure I've got your snail mail somewhere but perhaps you'd better send it to me anyway, I'm not very organised just lately...

That's it folks for another few days, I need to get back to some sewing this week, I want to make a quilt for Mum, all the ones I've made for them are at home with Dad and I just want to make a simple, quick quilt that can be thrown in the washer and dryer without having conniptions about it. I just want her to have that comfort of a quilt on her bed or chair, they're such tactile things, quilts, that they are ideal for Alzheimer's/Dementia sufferers as they constantly touch things...
Time to clean the kitchen....sigh, Sam and I made pizza for dinner, very nice it was too but we're messy cooks...! She's on the macbook in the lounge so I guess it's my turn to clean....
XXX

A new beginning....

2012-01-06T19:36:00.000+11:00

today, this beautiful, much loved and once loving woman was transferred to her new 'home'. My brothers and I, along with Dad are happy that she is in a safe and secure environment, when she adjusts to her new surroundings our hope is that she will be as happy as her condition allows her to be, that she will be comfortable and well cared for. The care home we have chosen is, we feel, the best possible. The staff have been wonderful today, two lovely women/nurses staying with her all day to help her adjust, always one of them by her side, talking to her, reassuring, just being there. Calling to reassure me that she was okay a few hours after I left (in tears again) with Dad, telling me that they had taken her for a walk around all four wings to meet the other residents, that she had been talking to the two 'over 100 years' residents with gentle tenderness and patting their hands...
Making sure that she would get her chocolate coated ice cream that she loves so much after dinner each night and after being told that she loves a bit of Cadbury Fruit and Nut chocolate, making a note of it so that they could give her some in the times when she may be agitated or upset. Just the little things that make mine and my brothers guilt a little less.......

We know only too well that we can't look after Mum anymore, the task is well beyond us, she needs tender but firm care, delivered without the tug of emotion, she needs this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year....for the rest of her life.

Today was a new beginning for Mum, for my family and I too, a brand new phase of all our lives, we have to learn to live with visiting her in a home, learn to live with the fact that she will never come home again and finally I have to learn to live with the knowledge that my beloved Mum just doesn't know me at all anymore, that the person that told me off and turned her back on me today is not my Mum, it's a part of this terrible, terrible disease of Alzheimer's/Dementia.

I guess, as guilty as it makes me feel to say it, 2012 is the year I can start to think of me again....

I think I just want to say thank you to all of my blogger friends near and far for the support and love you've sent my way over the last year, to have been able to write down my fears and feelings on this awful journey and to have you send back waves of friendship and support has meant a huge amount...
so once again my friends, thank you for your friendship.....
XXX

Do you have an iPhone 4...?

2012-01-01T18:17:00.000+11:00

..because if you do, then you might get lucky as I'm giving a brand new designer cover away...!!!

A while back I bought a new cover for my iPhone, now this wasn't any old cover it was a very, very special cover because it was one of my youngest daughters paintings.

I've bragged about her talent to you before I know, but she is very good...

this is my phone, gorgeous isn't it? I love this cover, it's sturdy, colourful, unique and designed by one of my girls...

So the thing is this, there was a huge mix up and I ended up with two covers, the other one arrived the other day.....

lucky for someone, it's the same design...!! If it had been another of her paintings there is no way I'd be doing this....

you can see some of her other iPhone designs here.. Red Bubble

so I'm giving it to one of you.

you must have an iPhone 4 as it won't fit any other (it will fit all the 4's) and there are a few hoops to jump through.

I don't usually like jumping hoops but I'm going to ask you to check out Sarah's website and if you have a Facebook account then I need you to go over and 'like' her art page...

so hop on over here and have a look at Sarah's art work, (click on the orange menu on the left side) then come back and leave a comment here telling me the name of the piece that you like the best, that will give you one chance.....

if you have a Facebook account then you can click on over to here and 'like' her page Given To Art, come back and leave a comment after you've done that and you get one chance in the draw...

Does that all make sense? I'm not used to these hoops, click here, jump there..! But to be fair, I do want you all to look at her awesome work... ;o)

I don't mind where I post it to, local or international so have a look, you've got nothing to lose and a phone cover to gain....

Good luck, I know whoever wins will love it, I do...!

Oh yes, I'll leave it open until next Sunday, the 8th of January.....

http://www.giventoart.com/home

https://www.facebook.com/Giventoart

http://www.redbubble.com/people/GivenToArt/shop/iphone-cases

Christmas rundown....

2011-12-29T21:27:00.000+11:00

We had a really good christmas here at 'a house in the country', the weather was kind, not too hot but lovely and sunny. Christmas day saw us heading down the road (80kms) to our eldest daughters.

..the kids had their own table and entertained us with their mischief and wit, mostly from the teenagers and mostly from the teenage boy...

I managed to get the photos I wanted of Mum and Dad although they didn't stay for long, Mum was far too restless and disorientated....

I shall treasure this one taken by our daughter, it's a lovely shot of Mum, Dad and I...

it was hot enough for lots of this during the afternoon, uncles, dads and almost step-dads all become kids again when there's a pool to bomb and jump into, especially when they can manage to splash those sitting on the decks. little cousins just can't resist the urge to push a big cousin in....

..the American (on the left) had his first Aussie christmas and admitted that it just didn't feel like christmas but he was trying his best to enjoy it...!! by the looks of things, he did.. :o)

there were lots of these to cool me down whilst sitting next to the pool and apparently....

..I'm ambidextrous as I can hold my reindeer beer and play with my camera at the same time...pretty clever huh? :o)

Boxing day saw everyone at 'a house in the country' and the giant bubble containers I had put in the kids stockings came out to play in the sunshine...

the kids had a ball blowing bubbles and when the containers were empty filled them from my dishwashing liquid...!! A drop of cooking oil, a small amount of dishwashing liquid, topped up with water and it works fine...

left to right...Caitlin, Sam and Eden lined up making giant bubbles...

bubbles in the roses and...

...bubbles in the air...

our son-in-law surprised our eldest daughter with a DSLR for christmas, needless to say she was thrilled and now I seem to be getting caught on the other side of the lens... :o)

Dad checking out the wonders of digital and....

...another of Mum and I taken by our daughter again....These photographs and memories from Sunday and Monday are even more precious as Mum was admitted to the aged care dementia ward of the hospital on Tuesday night/early hours of Wednesday morning. They've done a barrage of tests and at this stage they think she may have had a mini stroke, tomorrow she is being assessed for long term high level care. Dad and I will be there to hold her hand even though she doesn't know me at all now...

I almost forgot to show you the railway man's gift finished and framed......forgive the light reflection, I had it stashed at Millrose and took the photograph there before I brought it home. he was suitable impressed and loves it, it now lives on our lounge room wall and looks beautiful if I do blow my own trumpet :o)as do these I must say......they were a last minute gift for our sons-in-law, the American of course was the recipient of the stars and stripes and the Brit received the union jacks, both were very pleased and both loved them which is always nice when you're giving hand made gifts to men...they look so good on my chesterfield that I might just have to make some for me, some southern cross ones too for good old Aus....

it's nice to be able to sit and blog again without feeling guilty that I should be doing something else, the quiet time between christmas and new year hasn't been quite as calm as it usually is for me, running up and down to see Mum and Dad has taken it's toll and I'm tired this week so I'm taking it easy between trips. I'll be back early next week as I've got a little new year giveaway for you but you have to own an iPhone and it has to be a 4, so if you do, keep watching...

wishing you all, friends near and far, friends old and new, a safe, happy, healthy and prosperous 2012, may you achieve everything you wish for yourself.....
XXX

It's coming on christmas.....

2011-12-23T20:30:00.000+11:00

Once again, the house is dressed and smells of christmas.......
gingerbread, cinnamon and cloves, the christmas lilies with their sweet perfume, new mown grass (the railway man cut it today), the warm breeze blowing in through the open windows and doors. Summer has finally arrived at this house in the country just in time for christmas.....

presents are wrapped beneath the tree and Miss Molly is behaving and not trying to eat them :o) The last minute secret sewing is finished, food is in the 'fridge, the turkey and ham hides in the darkness waiting for christmas morning, cakes and pies, shortbread, fudge, cookies and pavlova done and waiting to star, drinks waiting for the corks to be popped.

the railway man has six days off work so he gets to enjoy the whole celebration this year. We will spend christmas day at our eldest daughters with three of our four children and their partners, there will be six of our grandchildren from 6 to nearly 16 to entertain us with their singing, jokes, antics and love, lots of hugs and kisses for this nana. boxing day our home will be full of family and friends, chilling out with good friends, great food and wine...how much better could it get.......

did I tell you that I love christmas...? :o)

so, from my family...........

...to yours...

...from my country....

...to yours, however you say it...

Buon Natale, Joyeux Noël, Frohe Weihnachten,

God jul, Vrolijk kerstfeest, Καλά Χριστούγεννα, Nollaig Shona, Nadolig Llawen.

Merry Christmas

I'm planning on spending as much time as I can with this lovely lady over the next week, she no longer really knows me and her spiral into the black hole of Alzheimer's/Dementia has just about taken her away from us, it will be the last christmas she will be at home with Dad and I need to store the memories away so I can take them out in the dark days and remember that once, she knew and loved me.....

love you Mum, forever....XXX

this photo was taken Dec 2008, two days before her 80th birthday

I'll be back next week sometime I expect....

Have a good one everyone....

XXX

Traditions....

2011-12-18T20:10:00.000+11:00

When I did the blog post for 'thru the red door..' the other day, I promised I would share the recipe for the German Cinnamon Star cookies that I make every year. There are certain foods that are part of our family christmas, without which, well, it just wouldn't seem like christmas at all.
Christmas at a house in the country is all about tradition, the things that I grew up with, the things that we have done over the years as a family and the new traditions too. As each generation grows and does things differently, so these too become a tradition...

We have a few nationalities in our family now, you know of course that I was born and raised in Great Britain and came here with my family as a 19 year old, the railway man too was born in England but came here as a two year old. Our children were all born here and are proud true blue Aussies, beyond them we have eight second generation Aussies in our grandchildren. Our son-in-law is English too, then we have our future daughter-in-law Annie, she's Greek by birth and a proud Australian and she and our youngest, Chris, are being married in February. Now of course we have a new family member this year. Matthew is American and he and Sarah are getting married in March, he's still coming to terms with wearing T shirts and shorts in December, you can't do that in Minneapolis...:o)

Having this tiny melting pot within our home has brought different traditions and food to our celebrations so we're creating new family traditions which are a mix of all of us... I'm not quite sure where my German Cinnamon Star cookies come into this mix, but we have had them every year for the past ten years or so, they do take a little time and patience but they are well worth it and they are delicious...

Gather together for the cookie base.......
200g plain flour
480g ground almonds
390g caster sugar
320g icing sugar
15g ground cinnamon
5 x 60g egg whites

For the royal icing.....
1-2 egg whites, at room temperature
350g icing sugar
1-2 drops acetic acid or lemon juice

make the royal icing first by putting the egg whites in a small bowl. Add 2 spoonfuls of the icing sugar and beat for 2 mins by hand or until the mixture is combined. Stir in the acetic acid or lemon juice a drop at a time, beating well after each addition. Add enough icing sugar to reach a 'soft peak' stage. Don't overly fuss with the royal icing, it's going to be cooked....yep, cooked! Cover with a damp cloth and set aside.

Line baking trays with baking paper. Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until a solid dough begins to form.

If the mix is too dry add some more egg white and if it's too moist add extra icing sugar.Remove from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to approx 1cm (1/2") thickness.

Spread royal icing over the rolled base and put in the 'fridge for an hour to harden both the dough and royal icing.

Preheat oven to 180c (350F). Using a floured star cooker (or any shape you want really) cut out stars and place on prepared cookie tray.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 mins or until the icing begins to turn a golden brown.

Now you end up with this left...

..don't waste it, I just put it on a tray and cook it, the kids love the little squiggly bits, they taste exactly the same....

These are just delightful, a delicious hint of cinnamon with a soft and chewy almond base and a sweet, crisp, crunchy icing topping....
Enjoy..
XXX

Busy days...

2011-12-17T21:50:00.000+11:00

on thursday, my community house sewing group had our christmas lunch at The Boatshed in Ballaratthis was Vickie's lunch, she and Lin had an entree of a tasting plate, thinking it was going to be a smaller meal....it wasn't at all, it was huge....

Jill had the pizza which she said was yummy....

...I had this pasta with basil pesto, prosciutto and tossed cherry tomatoes..

...and it was 'alright', not amazing, just alright..!! I was a bit disappointed with that but the day was fabulous, the location was wonderful and the company was awesome, so I can live with that...

I should have just had dessert and got them to give me my halo back.. :o)

before we went for lunch, Karen (no blog) and I went to millrose for the morning tea and show and tell....we couldn't stay for too long but being the 'official' taker of pictures for millrose and thru the red door, I didn't want to miss out...

I lent Karen my point and shoot and she was taking photos of the photographer taking photos.. :o)

yesterday we went down to our youngest daughters in Geelong for a bbq, she has friends from Western Australia staying for a few days and it was lovely to catch up with them again.

I needed a photograph for my flickr group 'prompt me' and the word this week was 'festive' so I had all the kids (and a couple of adults that think they're kids) put on santa hats or reindeer antlers...

Ryan was a very festive grandson wearing hat and beard...

but this was the one I was looking to get....

notice the railway man..? can't jump when there's a dog to pat and talk dog talk to.... and not a lot of jumping effort from the santa with the beard either!! Young Matthew at the front has got the jump action going though......

...and speaking of dogs....

this little lady was doing some gardening again the other day, she's getting quite good at it you know..... :o)

hope you're all being good this week, I've seen the naughty and nice list and as far as I can tell, we're all in the 'nice' column, so lets keep it that way.....at least until the big guy in the red suit gets here .. ;o)
XXX

10 days to christmas day..

2011-12-15T20:17:00.002+11:00

...oooohh, I do so love christmas...

I haven't been keeping up with my blogging just lately I know but when I get emails that ask where I am and how come there's nothing to read, then it's time to take back a little control...!!! It's been a little frantic in this house in the country for a few weeks, so I'll show you my home decked out for christmas then we'll have a chat and I'll catch you up with all the gossip from my little patch on this planet......

the kitchen all lit up for the next couple of weeks, please excuse the basket of washing (yes it's clean) sat on the chair

the revamped lounge/sitting room with the new window, hallway and doors finished....finally!! It looked like this from the outside way back in july...

looking through the door into the kitchen from the lounge room and finally....

the tree...it's not a real one this year so no spicy smell of pine, it's also up on a blanket box because a certain four legged fiend thinks all those sparkly, glittery, shiny things hanging down are just wonderful to chase around the floor...!!!

For those of you interested in the techie details of how I did the lights shots....
nikon dslr
iso 1600
shutter speed 1.30
f4.5

one morning last week I had come back from my morning walk/run early, like 6.30am and I found this just sitting on the gate into the house garden...

I just love dragonfly's, they flit around here all summer long but I never seem to be able to capture them really, so this was just too good an opportunity to miss. I must have taken 100 shots of this beauty but I will restrain myself (I can hear you sighing with relief :o) and just show you a few...

So, what else has been happening that I've neglected to tell you about since my battle with the plague the other week and thank you by the way, for all your get well wishes, it cheered me up just reading them. I was tempted to deliver punishment to the oh so generous germ laden grandchild of washing dishes for a month or something, but, oh well, I survived and I still love them to bits....

If you're a regular visitor here to a house in the country you'll know that my beloved mum has Alzheimer's and her condition is of course never going to improve but she's rapidly sliding into dementia and it's been a hard few weeks for me. She no longer really knows who I am, she just talks and thanks me for coming, has started becoming paranoid about things and is very agoraphobic, for which we are very grateful as it means she won't wander for the next little while. She has though been wanting to go home to her Mother and Father and has been quite upset with dad and I when we won't give her keys to get in their house....sigh, it's such a terrible and wasteful end to a long and productive life you know. To watch her is more painful than I can tell you but I made myself a promise that I would stay cheerful and happy for dad, his life is so much more trying and he's determined to keep her at home for as long as is humanly possible. It must be so heartbreaking to watch the love of your life slipping away after all these years. They met one another when mum was 15 years old....she turned 83 last Saturday!! That's a long time to be together, they are no longer two, they've been one for many, many years....

I know in my heart that this christmas will be the last one with any semblance of knowing who and what is happening for mum and it is so, so sad....

On the gift buying/making front, I picked up the railway man's present from the framers today but I can't show you as I've stashed it over at Millrose, there was no way I could get it out of the car and into the house without him seeing it (he's been home for a few days) so next week, when he's back at work I'll go pick it up and take some photographs to show you...I will just tell you though that it looks fabulous (just a little self trumpet blowing) I was very, very pleased with the way it turned out... :o). I've still got some gifts to buy and a few cushions I want to make for gifts and all the food shopping to do, baking to start, gingerbread houses to decorate, dogs to the groomers....sigh, did I say 10 days...??? Oh and I haven't posted my christmas cards yet....!!!

Oh well, it's all part of the magic isn't it, the last minute rush, wondering if you've got enough food, did you buy what the kids really want, will they all like the things you put all the time, effort and money into.....

ooohhh, I love christmas :o)

I love this last one, the filigree of her wings, nature is such a wonderful designer isn't she...?

I'll be back in a day or two (I hope) with some photos of my sewing groups christmas lunch today and the morning tea at millrose...right now it's time to sit down and just chill for an hour then bed...

be good and see you soon..
xxx

Christmas giveaway....

2011-12-13T22:08:00.000+11:00

There's a really good christmas giveaway over at 'Thru the red door...' right now, you could win this delicious bundle of christmassy loveliness ....

I know because I just finished doing the post... :o)

So click on over there and see how you can enter...

I still live here....

2011-12-07T19:50:00.001+11:00

...really I do, I've just been so busy as well as being quite sick with the Bubonic Plague...!! Well, that's what it felt like anyway, an overly generous grandchild endowed me with some germs and laid me low for 10 days AND as well as that, my desktop PC died..!!So the guy that lives here (aka The Railway Man) agreed that I should buy one of these....I still have my little macbook but I find it really difficult to play with my photos on a tiny screen...my advancing years I expect...anyway, I bought this iMac and I'm thrilled with it, just have to learn to use iPhoto I think, I've always used Windows Picture to store in (as well as my numerous portable drives) so a small learning curve needed I think!

I took the day off from everything last Friday as I had no voice at all, spent most of my time coughing and feeling sorry for myself so I started to put up my Christmas decorations, I've finished in the lounge room but still haven't got the kitchen lights and decs up yet, better get a move on before it's all over hadn't I..?

I was thrilled to be able to put my Crimson Tweed quilt up this Christmas and I love how it looks....

...please don't look at any of the mess that's hanging around through the kitchen door..!!

The header picture is from last year, I love my kitchen all lit with fairy lights, sparkly baubles and gingerbread men, although I am going to have to do a bit of a rearrange this year as we haven't got the island bench anymore and the table is in the kitchen now...!!

I've been taking some photographs for Millrose and Irene Blanck of Focus on Quilts too.

I can't give you Irene's website as it's not up and live yet, but as soon as it is I'll give you the link and you'll be amazed at her quilts, a lovely lady with lots of talent.... Hopefully I'll be able to do a post on 'Thru the red door..' in the next day or so, it's so hard catching up with anything at this time of the year...

I did manage to get the railway man's Christmas present finished though, it's at the framers now and should be ready by the 21st... :o) I know, I cut it close didn't I, it's going to look fabulous I think and I'll show you as soon as I get it back, I'm really excited to see what it looks like.....

okay, time to go and chill in front of the box for an hour before I hit my pillow and liaise with Mr Sandman for a while....

..be good people and I'll C U all soon...
XX

The Girls....

2011-11-21T14:31:00.001+11:00

Two posts in two days....haven't done that for a while have I..? I've got a little time to fill in before I head off to teach some people how to upload digital media to their computers so I thought I'd show you this shot of the girls....Pat said in a comment yesterday that it's been a while since I showed them to you.....taken on Saturday just after they had been to the groomers, they've suddenly decided that they like sharing this bed..!! It's plenty big enough when it's not full of teddy bears, squeaky toys and pull ropes and yes, Miss Molly has been teething on it.. as well as my sneakers, any bit of fabric she can steal, boxes..oh we love boxes they rip up so well then she can scatter them everywhere and watch while we pick up the pieces...!!! I want to spray this bed white but I have to wait until she's outgrown the chomping on everything phase, shouldn't be too much longer now.....fingers crossed..!! She's well and truly outstripped Miss Martha in size, much longer, not too much taller but weighs a ton I can tell you!! They're such good friends now, well until Miss Molly decides that she needs to sit nearer to me than Miss Martha then we know exactly who's top dog....one little growl from Miss Martha and she's gone... :o) Aahh, they make me smile all the time....well, until she eats my sneakers again anyway.....

I have been sewing....

2011-11-20T11:04:00.001+11:00

...really I have!!

That time of the year when everything starts getting frantic and it's been full on with Mum for the last couple of weeks, so up and down the mountain carrying food etc....Anyway, yes I have done a very small amount of sewing, I know I said I'd show you this after Christmas, but hey, the Railway Man just doesn't read my blog at all so I'm pretty safe....For as long as I've known him, yep, since the dinosaurs ruled, whenever anyone mentions getting older or worries about their age he's always said, and I quote......"age is just a date on the calendar, it makes no difference to who or what you are..." So when I saw this in The Summer Gathering book by Lisa Bongean & Carole Charles I knew I had to make it for him...I've altered it a little (as you do) but I'm loving it right now, it still has to have the rest of the leaves stitched and there are two black crows that will be sitting on the branch. When it's finished I'll have it framed to hang on the wall, rustic frame I think..?

Apart from everything else I've been busy taking photographs, I told you that I had a lot from the farmers market last week, have a look here, I'm very flattered that they chose to use my photographs for their website... :o) I'll put the rest of them on my photography blog sometime today.

These first two are part of a series I took for a flickr group I belong to, each week is a different challenge, last week was 'my town'..........This one is the Celtic Hat Shop owned by our local eccentric, a gorgeous old converted church which they live in and run their business from..The local catholic church, as you can see it was very foggy yesterday, warm too after the heat, wind and storms of Friday...

Earlier yesterday I took the girls (Miss Martha & Miss Molly) to the groomers in Ballarat and had a couple of hours to fill in so after coffee and a muffin (an excellent Spinach & Fetta with cream cheese :o) I took my camera for a walk down to the lake.......there were plenty of these around.......some that were definitely only a few days old, but plenty old enough to call out for Dad when this human with a black box in front of her face got a wee bit too close...

...papa was not happy... :o)

Time to leave them alone and now it's time for me to go photograph some quilts while the sun is shining, hopefully they'll be up on 'Thru the red door..' sometime this coming week...

C U soon, have a great week...

Giveaway winner...

2011-11-13T10:30:00.001+11:00

Sorry, I'm a bit late with the draw for the 'thru the red door...' giveaway. Had a busy day yesterday and I'll be back to show you some photos later....

So I spoke to Mr Random and this is what he gave me.....

and number 28 is Chris so congratulations Chris, send me your snail mail thingy and I'll send this little bag of sweetness off asap....

I've popped it into a cute little Millrose bag for you...

I'll be back maybe later today with some photographs from the Farmers Market yesterday...

C U later, be good...

Remembrance Day...

2011-11-11T09:33:00.001+11:00

They shall not grow old,

as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them,

Nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun,

and in the morning,

We will remember them..

11/11/11

A brand new blog and a little giveaway....

2011-11-03T18:35:00.001+11:00

Added Sat. 5th
I'm sorry everyone, for some reason I've had a huge amount of trouble linking the Millrose button below to the website plus the link itself stopped working...who knows why! Not me for sure, blogger has a mind of it's own just lately......anyway, both are working now, or they were 2 minutes ago :o)
Thanks for your patience and thanks for going over to visit 'thru the red door...' and all your lovely comments......

I think I told you that I was designing and setting up a blog for Millrose, my local quilting store...? Well I finally finished it..sort of...today. Still got a few things to do but here you go.....

Thru the red door....

Click on the link and it should take you there.

Go on in 'Thru the red door....' and have a look around and grab the button while you're there. I was there today for Sit and Sew and putting the finishing touches to the blog and who should come in but Bronwyn from Whippet Good...lovely to see you again Bronwyn and enjoy the retreat..

Okay, so the deal is, click on over, follow the Millrose blog and spread the word around our lovely blogging community, leave a comment on the Millrose blog (not this one) and I think I might just have three or four French General fat quarters and a few other little goodies to give away to somebody that Mr Random Generator might pick out sometime next week....lets say...Saturday, Nov 12th Aussie time...

So, off you go, have a look and be nice, it took me ages to set it up... :o) The more comments and followers we get, the more I might add to the surprise bundle, it really was time I had a little giveaway anyway and what better to do it for than a new blog....

Have fun and be good my friends..

XXXX

More Quilts...

2011-10-31T09:38:00.000+11:00

Here's the last of the photos I took at the Ballarat Quilt Show on Saturday...

'Greek Key Log Cabin Quilt' by Dawn Ruddick

'Birds in the Forest' by Jenny Bacon

2nd Prize for Traditional Quilt at the Sydney Quilt Show 2010
3rd Place for Hand Quilted Small Quilts at The American Quilters Show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania 2011

'Never Again' by Anneli Hamilton
Quilt as you Go, double sided....no wonder she called it 'Never Again'...!!

'Antiquilted' by Liz Dyer

'Starry Roses' by Karen Pior

'St Patricks Floor' by Thelma Wilson
This is based on part of the floor in St Patricks Cathederal, Ballarat.

'Jacob's Ladder' by Jennifer Mitchell

'Why I live Where I live' by Trish Lemon
This one was my personal favourite and the one that got my vote for viewers choice, here is what Trish wrote about her quilt..
"This quilt is a personal representation of the view from my dining room. Each element holds personal meaning , from the sunrise, to the drought-drenched property that is our country home. The tree representing the passing of our first family dog 'Flopper' and the chatter of the Silver Eye Finches in amongst the flowering Pincushion Hakea."

I was totally mesmerised by the colours in the quilt....

..I think too, the thing that made it for me was the fact that it wasn't traditional, it was made with love for the place this lady is in now. Pushing the boundaries of normal, I quite like that at the moment...

Oh look, who's that....?

It's Jill and Gudrun..!! We had a great day of course, great quilts, great friends, fabulous trading tables, lunch was pretty 'blah' but that's okay the rest of the day made up for the terrible lunch service.......

Take care my friends, I'll be back in a day or two...
xx

Apologies for photos and text being all over the place, seems blogger is still not playing nicely..!!

At last some quilts....

2011-10-29T19:20:00.000+11:00

....but not mine..!!

Jill, Gudrun and I took ourselves off this morning to the Ballaarat Quilters Inc. 2011 Quilt Exhibition in the old Mining Exchange building in, of course, Ballarat. What a great little show it was. I think there were 120 quilts (please don't quote me) on show and a half dozen trading tables, including the lovely Corliss from Threadbear and our own Sue and Julie from Millrose.

I didn't quite photograph every quilt, but it was hard not too, the quality was excellent, the colours and variety were fabulous....
So here are some of my favourites, all the descriptions and names are taken from the information cards on the actual quilts...

"Eureka" by Suzanne Lyle

"This quilt has been made as my interpretation of the "Battle of Eureka"

The Oath: "We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties."

The oath was taken by hundreds of miners under the flag of rebellion in Ballarat on 3rd December 1854.

The spiral of Southern Cross stars of various sizes depict the various soldiers and miners that fought in the battle. A small droplet of blood on the quilt represents the blood that was shed during the uprising, resulting in the death of 30 people.

The flag itself was held in high esteem to represent the battle of "Eureka", and pieces of the flag were cut off and presented to visiting dignitaries as a symbol of the stand taken by the miners of the goldfields over rigorous mining licences and taxes. "

"Whimsical Stars" by Suzie Hipke

"Red Robin" by Jan Watson

"Music of the Spheres on 45 RPMs" by Noȅl Nicholls

"Friendship Stars" by Trish Lemon

"John's Garden" by Noel Nicholls

"Spirit of Arizona" by Dale Ann Gordon

"Kylie and Shane's Wedding Quilt" by Ruth Symons

Blogger is not playing nicely tonight...at all!! So I'll post the rest later, probably Monday now as I'm off to work tomorrow, gosh it's hard, going to work at Millrose... ;o)

Be good people...
xxx

It's been a while but I'm still around....

2011-10-25T16:10:00.001+11:00

Gosh, it has been a while hasn't it. I've been lurking around reading some blogs but I don't think I've even been doing much commenting really. Lots been going on what with up and down to visit Mum and Dad, I've had some personal issues to work through, family stuff happening, doing a few days work here and there and now a new term has started for the computer classes I run. Stuff happening here, there and everywhere really, I haven't been doing much in the way of sewing either but I've been slowly working on a couple of things. It's that time of the year again isn't it? Everywhere I visit in blogland there's secret stuff going on, things being made that can't be shown, little secret things stashed away awaiting the big guy in the red suit...!! Ooohh, I love Christmas... :o)

Anyway, a little while back I left a comment on the gorgeous Abbe's blog and how excited was I when a week or so later Abbe sent me an email to say I'd won her rainbow giveaway...

..a short while later this amazing rainbow of loveliness landed in my post box...nine gorgeous pieces of solids in a rainbow of colours, thank you Abbe..! I love them, they're sat in a metal basket on my dresser throwing out warm sunshiny colours every time I walk past them... :o)

I did the last block for my online bee too not long ago, Viv sent a baggie full of Kaffe strips and virtually said...make a block!! Well, there was a little more communication but she did give us a huge amount of creative leeway!

We normally only do two blocks each but there was a fair bit of fabric left and after adding some Kaffe I had too, I was able to put another two together...

They are square I promise, they just don't look it...bright aren't they?

I've been doing a bit of my own secret sewing too....
...the Railway Man doesn't usually read my blog, but you never know do you, so I'll show you after the big guy has been in December. I will tell you though that it's not a quilt and it's destined to be framed..!!

We had a HUGE storm here on Saturday last, now I'm not a lover of storms, thunder and lightening just don't do anything for me and I find them downright scary! The dogs and I are in agreement that the best place to be during a storm is under something...you know...a quilt, a sheet over the head, even a pillow at a pinch and I will confess to actually hiding under the table once many years ago. We were staying at Mum and Dads when they lived in this little seaside town on the south coast of NSW, the kids would have only been young....anyway...they had this Labrador called Brandy at the time and Brandy just didn't like storms, he was a trooper with rain, the surf, the kids (and they could be a trial I promise) anything really....except thunder and lightening and when a storm hit he would find the nearest person to cower behind. This particular time we were there, it was late at night if I remember correctly, and a really big, noisy, scary, horrible storm hit. The kids were all in bed and Mum and Dad were out so Brandy and I had to 'weather' the storm together...Mum and Dad couldn't stop laughing when they got home not long after and Brandy and I were under the table together consoling one another, honestly, I don't know who got the most comfort out of it me or the dog...??? :o)

Sooo, we had a huge storm here on Saturday and the only good thing about it was the 'raindrops on roses' shots I took after the scary stuff had gone..........I'm not going to bore you with all of them but I did particularly like this one. This Rugosa Rose is always one of the first to flower and it's a lovely single flower when it's open.

Keep an eye out in the next week or two (I hope) for a new blog, I'm working on it now and it's for the gorgeous Sue at Millrose, so expect lots of loveliness because there sure is a lot of that over there..!!

I signed up for the new Sue Spargo BoM for 2012 and I'm super excited about that, I've been wishing that I'd done this years so I'll just have to get it as a pattern later I guess. The really exciting thing though is that she's going to be doing a workshop in Tasmania late 2012 and I'm going to be there.... WooHoo!! I missed out on last years in Melbourne as I was in Perth at the same time she was here, so I'm in early this time...

Well, that's it for today I think my friends, I'll try to not be quite so long between chats next time....
Be good...

Oh and Gudrun, this one is just for you.... :o)

Going to Houston....sort of !

2011-10-07T13:23:00.000+11:00

Way back last December I recieved an email from a lovely lady called Susan Rhudy from Southwest Missouri in the United States. Susan told me that she loved my photographs and wanted permission to use one to make a very special little quilt...

When I found out why Susan made these special little quilts I told her..go for it, take whatever pictures you want.....

Susan's Mum suffered from Alzheimer's disease before her death and Susan makes quilts now for the AAQI, the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Please go and have a look at the amazing works of art that go for auction to raise funds for research into this insidious disease...

This is the photograph that Susan chose to use for one of her little quilts

...and this is the quilt she made....

Isn't it amazing, I love it, little Mali from Melbourne Zoo, imortalised on a little quilt that will help to one day find a cure for this killer of memories....

Susan called the quilt... 'A Girl Just Gotta Have Fun..' and this my friends is the dedication on the quilt...

Dedication: This quilt is in honor of Lizzie's mum. Having gone through Alzheimer’s with my own mom, my heart hurts for her and all those who love those afflicted.

Read more: http://www.alzquilts.org/7970.html#ixzz1a3amjkTj

I shed a few tears the day Susan first sent me the link to the AAQI and her quilts displayed for auction there. But today I recieved another email from Susan to tell me that we're going to Houston!!! Well, her quilt is, how exciting is that? It's been picked with another of her little art quilts and lots of others to go for display and hopefully raise lots of money at the biggest quilt show in the world. I am so incredible moved by the work and dedication of the AAQI because as much as this is not going to benefit my Mum here in Australia now, this is a global disease and I know that whatever ground is broken will be broken for the benefit of all those that live in this global village..

This blog has given me so many priceless friendships with women I'm never ever going to meet as well as a few I have met, this is my global village where we share the good with the bad, the sadness with the celebrations, the fun with the boring, where I know you are all there to listen when I come and tell you how hard it is to lose my Mum one brain cell at a time. You give me things to laugh about again, you give me words of wisdom and down to earth common sense and for all that and for what I know we will share in the future, thank you.....
XXX

Go here to visit Susan's blog and tell her how gorgeous those toenails are.... :o)

I'm in the garden again....

2011-10-03T10:35:00.000+11:00

Where do you go when you really need to think and clear your head of all the detrius flying around in there? I take myself off for a walk in our garden, granted, it's not quite your average suburban plot, it's over 4 acres and after nearly 10 years, it's mostly all garden now..

This is looking back down the big driveway towards the house, you can just see it hiding there at the end.

From my sewing room window my view is to where I'm standing to take this shot...

No wonder I don't get anything done some days is it..?

Here's part of the old chook shed, derelict and forlorn, no chooks or ducks now. Mr Fox is just too cruel and I can't deal with the carnage he leaves behind...

The first of the tiny Pink Clematis is in flower, this one is climbing over the bridge that the Railway Man built over one of his ponds..

Very fond of ponds and bridges is the Railway Man...

Sweet little buds waiting to burst open....

...not quite the fields of blue from my lost youth, but a swathe of forget-me-nots under the trees at the front of the house.

We can leave them here, everywhere else they have to be pulled out so that the sticky seeds don't get on the dogs, they're a nightmare to get out but fortunately the dogs don't go around here...

Daisies, any sort of daisies are always gorgeous, but white daisies are my favourite flower and these tiny, perfect Seaside Daisies (Erigeron glaucus) are just so sweet...

They tend to pop up all over the garden and I just love their delicate leaves and flowers...

This is what we've always called the dry creek bed, we built it a few years ago. You can just see the driveway we use all the time on the other side of the big rock and before the bridge beyond..

That's the little bridge with the Clematis on. Very pretty with the new leaves on the weeping Willow just out...

I could wish that there wasn't any water in there though, that would mean that the weather was warmer, sunnier and far more amenable than it's been just lately....

That's it for now I'm afraid, I'm hoping to have some quilting related things to show you soon...that would be different wouldn't it? It would actually mean that I've been doing something other than walk around the garden, head in the mists of time again and camera in hand........
Have a great week...

Back on the Hill again....

2011-09-28T21:32:00.000+10:00

Yesterday we took ourselves, along with Sarah, Matthew and the four kids to Sovereign Hill here in Ballarat. I've shown you photos from there before but you'll have to suffer through some more today....sorry :o)

The Hill is a tribute to the early gold miners of this country, the goldrush years were full of tales of hard work, tragedy, hearbreak and triumph, the life of a miner was hard and thankless for the thousands that didn't strike it rich. We were a Colony of Great Britain, well, I guess we still are, an outpost of Colonial England...!

Anyway, these were everywhere, proof that the Colony belonged to the Mother Country, belonged to a Sovereign...The Union Jack, flying proud. Being a 10 pound Pom myself, I find that the Union Jack can still pull my heartstrings, evoke memories of my home land, land of my birth...I still have people that mean the world to me, people that I love living in the 'old country' and the sight of the Union Jack flying in the wind brings them close again...

Samantha was of course with us and as usual became a willing model for this grandparent to indulge my passion for both my beautiful grandchildren and taking photographs and really, how could you not want to photograph her? Oh yes, I know, totally biased, but you've got to agree with me haven't you? She's on her way to Perth tonight to spend the holidays with her Dad, so, have a great trip gorgeous girl, see you when you get home....

These guys were entertaining the crowds with their music but the base player in the red shirt was even more entertaining than the rest! I was standing on the other side of the road taking these shots with a long 300mm lens and he spotted me then started winking, really, winking at me.....what a flirt..!!

Troopers marching down the street caused a rush of photography, very grand they looked too...

oh and look, there I am, framed for posterity

I liked this little vignette, inside one of the houses, just a little still life sitting in the dusty sunshine.....

...and I couldn't have a day taking photographs without a flower in there could I? You know I can't resist a single flower shot...

the local goldfields constabulary, ever alert for miners without a licence...

...and finally, just because I've promised myself that I will, when I leave this world, leave photographic evidence that I did exist, which of course means appearing on the other side of the lens every now and then.....

...here's one Samantha took with my point and shoot Olympus...me, moi, myself and I...

Hope you've all had a great week so far, stay chilled....
XXX

A little more of Spring...

2011-09-21T18:09:00.000+10:00

Spring has really taken hold in the garden since we had that short burst of high 20s temperatures a few days ago....

The first Alistair Clarke rose, this one is climbing up the willow tree and it just keeps reaching up to the sky, even in the shade..

We've still got some daffodils in flower, especially these pink trumpet ones, they're always one of the last to flower...

The lovely little buds on the Dogwood tree, a few weeks and it will be full of it's delicious pink flowers...

...and the last one for today....

..this Rhododendron is the loveliest deep pinky red when it's out....

Gotta love rebirth after winter....

XXX

Just to prove...

2011-09-18T16:29:00.000+10:00

...that I have been doing some sewing over the last few weeks....

..not much I know, but some. One of the blocks from the Crimson Tweed quilt I finished earlier this year, totally different colourway for this one though... I'm loving the burnt oranges and aqua's.. The weather is amazing today, the sun has been out all day but with warmth to it, it's been wonderful to let the fires out and wear T shirts. Just feeling that warm sun on your arms is so uplifting after a long cold winter.

A few days ago we had the most magnificent sunset.

I'm not usually into taking sunset photos much, they always seem a bit flat really and never, ever as spectacular as the real thing, but I couldn't resist this one when it turned the trees to gold..

...and because I just can't seem to get enough of the spring blossom...

Looking forward to the school holidays next week and especially looking forward to getting together with the lovely Jen (my best of the best friend) on Wednesday for a big catch up, it's ages since we got together..

Have a great week everyone...

xxx

Missing in action.....

2011-09-08T09:21:00.001+10:00

...again.

I've been MIA, AWOL, off with the fairies, looking for my mojo, oh and yes, working. So really, I haven't just been sitting around contemplating the state of THE world, just my world in some spare moments...

I like to keep this in my kitchen just so that I can remind myself sometimes, just who lives here. It's the initial of my given name, so it serves to remind me of my mother many years ago saying my name with such meaning. You know don't you? She would always say.."Elizabeth...." with such a huge emphasis on the whole word I would know straight away...Oh Oh, trouble... I'm sure I was a terrible trial to her in my teen years........I so wish she could remember what a terrible girl I was now. For her to say...'do you remember....?' is a thing of the past and the day when she looks at me and asks 'who are you..?' is approaching much, much too fast.

I haven't taken any photos this week either, well the few that I took with the point and shoot out of the car window really can't be classed in the art of photography, they were a means for my computer pupils to learn how to upload digital media into their hard drives. Blurry shots of Canola in the paddocks on the way to Geelong, shame, shame on me... ;o)

I did take some photos last week though, specifically of these young people. I told you of course that this gorgeous young lady was 14 last Thursday. I love that these kids are so full of confidence and assurance in self, that even when this doting, but persistent, grandparent takes shots of her with her fingers covered in chocolate cake and a party hat from her little sisters last party on her head she can tell me that she loves it.....

...and as for this boy...? What can I say, he towers above me, is a handsome, talented and intelligent young man...

me, biased, I don't think so... ;o)

This young lady is growing up too quickly too...

She's the next one to turn 14, not until November though.....

I hope they never lose their youthful exuberance, their zest for life, their joy of life I suppose...

When was the last time you threw neon hoops around the garden and jumped for the joy of it..............???

...and I'm just about certain that it's been a while since you let anyone take a photograph of you doing this...?

Life, and memory, is too short, so go kiss your man and jump for the joy of it....!!!

I'm hoping to get some sewing done very soon, I think my motivation is due home from it's vacation shortly...

XXX

Last day of Winter...

2011-08-31T16:04:00.000+10:00

Well, officially, on the calendar it's the last day of winter today. But I keep waiting for the sting in winters tail, I can't believe we're going to creep into spring with mild days just yet..?

I spied this little baby in the garden the other day...

...it was so tiny that I was looking for its mama, but no, out in the big world all on it's own. Would you look at those tiny ears, so cute....!

Good job the girls didn't see it, they would have been so excited, running around in circles, chasing their tails barking their little heads off. Poor little rabbit would have had a heart attack.

Good job The Railway Man didn't see it either, they eat his baby trees and shrubs..!!

Nothing much in the way of sewing going on around here this week, I've been out taking photos and playing with Photoshop again..

I'm getting in some practise, there's a rumour going around that I might be teaching it (Photoshop) next term, so I'd better be sure I know what I'm doing...

Besides, I need to do my spring header! I'm tired of the snowy one up there, didn't get any snow this year again and I find that I'm ridiculously disappointed. After all the whinging I did about the rain, wind and cold, you'd think I'd be happy? Nope, no pleasing this woman lately...

I went for a walk yesterday, around Lake Wendouree in Ballarat, it's so good to see it full of water again after years of being dry in the drought. The birdlife is abundant again and there were a huge amount of young swans on the water.
Lots of gulls too, always plenty of those around.

I finally seem to be getting the hang of this new layout, I like being able to place my photos with words next to them...? Is it too confusing do you think?
Takes me a huge amount of time though...great time waster my computer, no wonder there's no sewing getting done...!!

Ok, time to make the dinner, if you'd like to check out the rest of the shots I took yesterday, they're on my flickr page here...

C Ya round like a fruit loop.... (kids used to say that all the time............when they were kids that is :o)

Hmm, it's so quiet here I can here the girls snoring in the lounge room, had haircuts and blow waves yesterday so they're all sweet smelling again, well, for 5 minutes I suspect..
XXX

Life....

2011-08-27T15:36:00.000+10:00

It's been a strange week this week! I've had things on my mind, things to sort out in my head, things to do, places to be, people to visit, decisions to make...
Have you ever been so sure that something is so much the right thing to do, that you worry that it won't happen..?? Do you ever wonder what made you take a certain road in life? One decision that changes your path? Do you believe in fate?
These are quite rhetorical questions, I'm not expecting you to bare your soul, to analyse your life or mine for that matter. More a putting down of thoughts, a bit like speaking things out loud I guess! I often find myself speaking my thoughts out loud, especially when I have to make a decision about something, it just seems to be clearer really. Words spoken out loud can't be taken back can they? There's no delete button for words spoken is there..? Like Pandora's Box, don't open it unless you're sure you want to let out what's in there...!!
Very philosophical today aren't I? Perhaps it's the approach of a changing season, renewal, new life, rebirth....

Spring is ever so slowly creeping in, next Thursday is the first day of spring here down under, it's also Miss Samantha's 14th birthday...

They're all growing up so quickly, how can I be a grandparent to teenagers, four teenagers and another counting down until her 13th birthday next year...?? Yesterday was our eldest daughters birthday, her pupils, aged around 8, all sang happy birthday, gave her small gifts and home made cards and one of the more 'forward' boys asked her how old she was, quick as a flash she told them she was 26 and even quicker came back the reply...."Hmm, 26, well that's not too old, I thought you were older than that..." I wonder what they would have said had she told them her actual age of 38..??
This girl on the left, Sam, can't wait to grow up, they're all the same. Her cousin, Caitlin, is 3 month younger and doesn't turn 14 until November and last night told us that she can't wait and it is of course 'not fair' that they spend 3 months of the year not being the same age and more to the point, 3 months where her cousin is older in the writing of her age..??

I want to tell them to slow down, enjoy these years because they're fleeting, gone before you blink it seems. They're good years, the young teen years, the boys, the music, the friends, all memories to be treasured and stored away, ready to pull out and remember when you're working hard for a dollar, finding money to pay the mortgage, bringing up kids, shopping for groceries.....!!

They would of course laugh, life is never ending when you're 13 going on 14, don't have time to stop and remember the smell of the roses and really Nana, the roses will be back again next year and then we'll be 15....!!!!

Spring, visions of sunshine, blossom, daffodils and new green leaves. I bought myself some beautiful yellow roses today, I decided that I deserved them after such a strange and thoughtful week.

The house is already full of daffodils and for me, they're the smell of spring, not so much a perfume, Daffs don't really have one do they? But it's just a hint of something warmer, something sunnier. Last year was the first year that we could actually pick the Daffodils to put in the house and still have lots outside, they've multiplied in the house garden really well, now it's time to start planting them out on the acres.
I want to see a sea of gold........."a host of golden Daffodils..." I want to see the blue of fields of Bluebells to remind me of my forgotten English youth...!!
Perhaps that's what it's about, all this pondering of life! Someone special told me this week, that things that come out of the mists of time make you sit back and think...!!

My motivation seems to have vanished into the mist this last week too, so I'll be back later to tell you what I'm going to be up to. If you find it hiding somewhere, my motivation, give it a little reminder that I'm waiting for it, somewhere back here with my head in the mists of time....
xxx

ps. stay safe and out of the way of Irene, I'm thinking of all my friends in her path...
xxx

Some more...

2011-08-20T19:57:00.000+10:00

There have been quite a few comments about Little Brown Panda, the fact that he's been released from being nothing in a plastic bag for 10 years, the fact that he's very cute and the fact that he's a Panda of very small stature..!! Well, you will all be pleased to note that Little Brown Panda has gone to live in a house in the bush!! He's gone to live amongst the Gum trees, I don't know if there's any plum trees but I do know that there's a clothes line out the back...!

Okay, sorry, iconic Aussie, but he's gone home with his new best friend....

I've got a couple of other little fellows (and girls) to show you, these are some of the dozen or so that I have left of the ones I made years ago..

This little lady is only 2" tall and used to be a Woodland Fairy, she did have wings but I'm not quite sure what happened to them ..!!

She's happy to just sit on a tree branch in the sunshine now..

..her partner in the branches is this little ballerina bear below. She's got her warm up jumper on with her lacy tutu and tiny leather ballet shoes... Yes, I really did make tiny pink leather shoes for her....sigh! I must have been really insane back then as opposed to just plain silly now.. :o)

Now this fellow is one of my very favourites..
Just before I packed everything away and left bear making alone, I was trying to develop a realistic Polar Bear, I got this far and I love the Polars that I made then. This one is about 6" standing up straight, but head to tail he's probably 4" long. In my box of little bits and pieces I found a couple of double jointed Polar Bear heads, hmm, I might have to pursue that some more..! Sounds like a challenge!!

...another little favourite, soft dusky pink and creamy white. She's about 21/2" tall so a big girl next to the others... :o)

This little scrappy guy is just over 3", scruffy and worn...

I'm waiting for a parcel to arrive, just the bits and pieces I ordered from Gerry's Bear Making Supplies. I can't really do anything until I have some joints and eyes, but I'm itching to cut out some Mohair and make another little bear...

Here he is...

2011-08-18T09:25:00.000+10:00

There's been a lot of concern over little brown panda living the last ten years in a plastic bag, dismembered no less...!! Well fear not, he's now a whole little bear......ready to take on the world.
Please do excuse the grubby window and the flare from the flash, it's another dull day here this morning..

I had forgotten though, quite how difficult tiny, weeny, itsy bitsy noses are to stitch..! Have to find a little bell or key for him I think.

Now I just have to get on with the others. There was purpose in choosing this little bear to finish first, a gratifyingly quick finish spurring me on to do some more.

I had a little online trip to Gerry's Teddy and Craft Designs to pick up some little eyes and joints.....oh alright, I might have bought a couple of pieces of mohair too..!! It's not quilting fabric so it doesn't count in my fabric diet ;o)

Patchwork group today so I better go get out of my pj's and sort myself out....
xxx

Ooooops, I forgot a title.....

2011-08-17T11:17:00.001+10:00

(edit: I just noticed that, hehehe, gotta have a title.....)
I've been pottering this week! You know how it is, can't settle to anything serious, so you end up just doing a bit of this and a bit of that..? I seem to have been driving most of the week too, up and down to Geelong to check on Mum and Dad and I still managed to forget about a medical assessment appointment they had and I wanted to get to..! Luckily, my brother was able to get there so at least one of us knew what was going on. It's hard to get out of them what's said and what they have to do so if I can be with them it's easier.... I felt incredible guilty when my brother rang to tell me what happened, but realistically, I'm not superwoman and I can't be in more than one place at a time, even if I like to think I am and I can.. :o)
While I was pottering I made some new cushions for the sofa....

Our sofa is a leather chesterfield that we've had for ever, well it feels like forever anyway! We love it but it does tend to look a bit dark and quilts and throws tend to slip off, so I thought I would just fill it up with bright cushions, now I just have to figure out how to stop the dogs making a nest of them..?

When I made my pincushion the other week I rather thought that I could enjoy making a couple of little bears again, so I've been rummaging around in storage boxes looking for what supplies I had left. I did sell all my mohair, eyes and joints as well as a huge amount of small bears but I knew that I still had some bits and pieces somewhere..

I found this tin full to the brim with little bits of bears..!!

UFO's of the furry kind!!!
Poor bears! Some have no ears, some have no legs, some still can't see as they have no eyes. Some just need all their bits put together. I think there might be about six or seven bears in there...!!

This poor little fellow on the right, has spent the last 10 years or so squished in a little plastic bag waiting to have all his minute pieces put together and to get a nose..!! He's only going to be a scant 2" tall, so I guess I should finish him first ....

The weather is cold, wet, very windy and positively horrible today, but I have to venture out to do some grocery shopping. I did think about not doing it today, but it's not going to go away, we'll still need food in the 'fridge tomorrow and tomorrow is patchwork day..!
Priorities people.. :o)

XXX

Looking for the sun...

2011-08-11T20:06:00.001+10:00

Just wanted to share this shot of a bunch of Daffodils all looking for the sun.. It reminds me of the ducks and geese in the paddock, all sticking their necks out quacking and hissing, busy telling the world what's happening.
Daffodils...!
Must mean spring is on the way.......yay!!
It's been such a long winter this year, I'm craving sunshine and warm winds and roses and sitting outside and feeling the kiss of the hot sun...sigh!!

I got to play here again today, Millrose is alway such a warm and friendly place, gosh it's hard working here....;o)

I love this quilt by Michell Yeo, she has classes here for any of her quilts...

..I seem to have a passion for quilts with black backgrounds right now..

There were Roses and Tulip buds on the table in the classroom and I couldn't resist taking some photos..

These tulips will be open in a day or two but I just love the hint of bright pink, almost teasing, showing some of the colour to come..!

..and the pink roses, gorgeous. The weather was bleak and very cold today, a chill, biting wind blew in with every customer, but the roses and tulips brightened the space and gave us all just another tiny glimpse of summer pleasures to come...

XXX

Changes..

2011-08-10T10:51:00.001+10:00

I've been making some changes with my blogs this week, you noticed of course..? :o) I've been using the Blogger in Draft version for a while now for posting and now they've got a whole new look, fonts and templates so I decided to bite the bullet and have a changed look. All the little gadgets, pictures, buttons, logos and lists are now at the bottom of the page. There will only be one post on a page 'cos you know how carried away I get with photo's and such...
It just seems the easiest way to do it and I do love the clean uncluttered page. My photography blog Photographs I Heart, was the first one I changed and I just really loved the clean lines and the way the photographs are the focus of the post. So this is the new me....again, and because I just can't do a post without a photo...

...a little early morning magic in the Silver Birch...XXX

Sometimes.....

2011-08-02T20:14:00.002+10:00

....just sometimes, I forget how incredibly lucky I really am!! I have an awesome family that I don't see quite enough of, I still have my Mum and Dad with me (every day that Mum still knows me is a huge bonus), I have some incredible friends both online and in my bricks and mortar life. I live with a wonderful man who indulges my passion for creating things, a man that never complains about fabric coming into the house (no you can't have him, sorry, but just don't tell him quite HOW much fabric comes in will you :o)
Today, this man that I live with, aka my personal Gardener but better known to you as The Railway Man, suggested I go for a walk..!
I took this suggestion in the spirit it was given as I've been whinging and whining about the weather. You know how it goes....I wish the rain would stop.....I'm over this mud......why can't we live somewhere where it's warm all year.....yada, yada, yada....!! Well for the last couple of days the sun's been shining on this little patch of earth we call our own and being the last month of winter here down under, things are starting to stir...!! Don't get overly excited for me though, this time next week it's likely to snow!! August is usually our coldest month here in the hills, but I digress.....
I promised my man I'd take myself and my Nikon off for a walk to get some shots of his beloved garden after he left for work in the Metropolis.

So, why am I lucky, well, this.....

..is our backyard..!
This is where I get to spend every day.
This is our home..!!
This, my friends, is why I'm lucky..

You don't usually see the view from this angle..

This is looking back up the big driveway (on the left of the photo) towards the house (hidden behind the big Cyprus trees), back towards the view I usually show you from my window. So, come for a walk with me around the paddock..

Gum trees, I just love them, especially when they can grow and do their own thing, such character. This is one of the trees that line the big driveway....

The old...

..and the new flowers on the Banksia's, also along the driveway. I just love that you get flowers in every stage at the same time on Banksia's, the bees love them too..!

This Birch was a victim of the drought and we just haven't taken it out yet, I'm so glad we didn't pull it straight out, I wouldn't have been able to get these shots if we were tidy gardeners...

..and..

...and..

...then there's this..

this is pretty cool too..

Are you bored yet? Do you need a break, go get a cuppa, I'll wait..
Ready, cool...

Late winter in Victoria is Wattle time...

..and if you've ever watched our athletes and wondered why Australia wears green and gold..

there it is, that's the reason, the green and gold of the Australian bush in spring..! I don't think I know an Aussie that doesn't love Wattle, well, if you're a hay fever sufferer you might not be that keen :o( but it's awesome isn't it?

Little fluffy yellow balls of pollen, I love, love them. We have three hay fever sufferers in the family and I feel for them but I love Wattle, makes me feel happy just to look at it..

Look, embryonic Gum Blossom, can't wait for this tree to flower later in the spring. It's blossom is deep pink and gorgeous..

Kangaroo Apple, I don't know it's indigenous name but I could live without it, the birds drop the seeds in their...well...droppings and it grows everywhere. The Cockatoos love it, doesn't stop them chewing on the daffodil flowers though :o(, they just chop them off. A bit like 'off with their heads' and leave them on the ground, they don't eat them, just leave them...sigh, b&%#*&y cockies!!

I love the gum nuts from last years blossom, always makes me think the ghost of May Gibbs is hanging around to check on her Gum Nut Babies :o)
From the truly Australian Gum Nut babies...

..to the quintessential English country garden, Bluebells just breaking out of the ground..

Look at the colour of this Hebe, isn't it just gorgeous, I know, it's purple and I don't do purple, but this is nature at her brightest isnt' it?

Another view looking up to the front of the house, can you see the man's stone wall? He loves that bridge...

Hazel, isn't it graceful..

This is a huge post isn't it, I guess I could come back tomorrow and blog about the rest of our walk then, but I think I'll keep going, we might not want to do the exercise tomorrow....

..Native Hibiscus, purple again :o)

..Flowering Quince, such a sweet little flower..

Hellebore's, sweet and shy winter flowers, how lovely are they..

This is a Magnolia bud, isn't it soft? I love the halo of light on the tiny hairs...

One of the things I love about living here (in Australia) after growing up in the UK is the colour of winter, the fact that in the middle of a cold, wet and miserable winter, we still have colour and life in our gardens...

I desaturated this photo and just left the bee coloured so that you could see it?? Can you see him? I just caught him before he landed on the flower...

This is what took me out in the first place today.....Spring...awesome!

..and can I do a blog post lately without this little Miss in there somewhere? The dogs haven't been allowed in this part of the garden for weeks, it's just been too wet. So today it was roll in the long grass time and did they enjoy it...

ps: Do you like my new watermark? I thought it was about time I updated it and started using a watermark again. I love this one...

And the winner is...........

2011-08-01T19:30:00.000+10:00




I wish I had something to give to all of you, I've had a fabulous time checking out all the blogs that were new to me, but this time the winner is...











Kylie G said...: WOW that machine makes it look sooo easy. I would choose the Go Circles, GO Star and GO Hexagons. Thanks Kylie

Congratulations Kyle, I've sent you an email requesting your address for Accuquilt to send your GO! to, I know you're going to love it...

Road Trips, friends and renovations...

2011-07-26T21:59:00.000+10:00

(if you're here for the giveaway GO! here)

Where we live, about 2kms outside our lovely little village of about 450 souls, we have rolling hills, wedge tail eagles soaring overhead and only one neighbour! Idyllic you might say? Well it is.....most of the time!! Our one neighbour is an ageing rocker and insists on playing his music in his shed..every second week. I listen to the thump thump of his ageing band trying to retain their misspent youth and I find myself getting angry, upset, stressed and a whole range of other emotions. We've been down the road of negotiations and compromise and yes, every second week until 11pm at night IS the compromise. So the puppies and I turn up the telly and stay up until 11pm (or usually 20 past eleven 'cos he really loves to push my buttons I think) and put up with the noise.

There is a reason for the telling of this riveting tale so bear with me...

Last week, the ageing rockers better half knocked on our door and told us that said ageing rocker would be celebrating his 50th birthday with a party on Saturday night, so we might need to turn the telly up a bit higher. I can tell you that the palpitations started straight away, it's just like a panic attack for me, I get so worked up at the thought of all that noise that I find I can't breath at times..! Anyway, this would be the last weekend of holidays for the Railway Man so we decided to pack the puppies and some clean underwear into Ruby and take off for the weekend...

..they were happy to be on the road and protecting their car and people from any and all invaders while we turned the car north, up the Sunraysia Highway to get here..

Finally we got to give Sue her quilt, third time lucky getting here. Do you remember last time I got caught in the floods and had to turn around and come home? Just as an aside, they've actually only just got some parts of the road repaired..

Anyway, I don't have photo's of my friend Sue to show you, I didn't take any photo's even though I took my camera with me. I knew as soon as I walked in to her room that I wouldn't have anything to show you, if it was me lying there I wouldn't want the world to see me, so I left my camera in my camera bag on the floor. Sue was overwhelmed and a little tearful, communication was difficult as it's hard for Sue to form words. I was terribly sad and a little heartbroken to see my friend like this. However, Megan, her daughter put the quilt up on the wall opposite her bed, where she can see it every day and between them they read every card and note that everyone had sent with blocks. I had put them all in a little fabric bag so that Sue could read how your love and good wishes came from every corner of the world...

I took this photo off Megan's facebook page, so thanks Meg....

After my visit with Sue we drove up the Calder Highway to Mildura, well we actually stayed at a very nice little 'pet friendly' unit in Wentworth which is just over the NSW border.
Sunday morning saw us walking the dogs along the banks of this...

..The mighty Murray River, just gorgeous and look at this...

...Sunshine, actual sunshine....Oh it was so sweet and warm and comforting.....sigh, it was lovely....

..these three were loving it of course....

...OK, me too. This was taken at Redcliffs at Big Lizzie, I promised the kids that I would get Railway Man to take a photo of this Lizzie with Big Lizzie...!

Look...

...they even left directions....hehehe.
I'll have to tell you about Big Lizzie in another post as this one is impossibly long already and I still want to show you the new doors and window..

We still have a fair bit of work to do, trims to put on as well as the screen doors. We still have to decide about paint, the doors are nearly 100 years old so they need some more work done. We can't decide whether or not to paint or seal them and the weather boards have to be painted and finished. That has to wait though, it's far too damp and cold to think of outdoor painting right now..!
Can you see the pair of eyes peeping over the bottom of the door?? Miss Martha can just jump up and see out......only just though! Funny girl...

I'll put the rest of my photo's from the weekend on my photography blog here later in the week...

We were very glad with our decision to go away for the night when today a friend said that there were so many cars and people he couldn't get near our gate when he dropped in to see if we were home..!! He said that the noise could be heard a kilometre away...!!! Best decision we've made for a while I'd say....
xxx

Baby GO! Giveaway...

2011-07-21T09:05:00.003+10:00

August 1st: This giveaway is now closed, please check back tonight for the winner.......Good Luck to everyone.

Accuquilt have given me a Baby GO! to giveaway to one lucky reader...

No hoops to jump through 'cos I'm not good at hoops.
Simply click on the photo above to go the Accuquilt website and pick 3 dies that you would like to receive if you won. Remember to pick die's that are suitable for the Baby GO!
Leave a comment on this post telling me which ones you chose.
That's it!
You can spread the word if you would like to but one comment per person please

Please make sure that I have a way to contact you if you win. If you're set to no-reply and you don't leave an email address in the comment, then you won't be included, sorry but it's just frustrating trying to contact someone when there's no contact details..

I will use Mr Random to pick a winner on August 1st Australian time.
Good luck...

Love those curves...

2011-07-18T17:05:00.000+10:00

You know of course that I was lucky enough to get a Baby GO! from Accuquilt, I think I might have mentioned it once or twice... :o) ! Anyway, it looks just like this one....

(Click on the picture to go to Accuquilt.com)

Well anyway, today I finally got to play with it. Samantha (who is nearly 14) unpacked it yesterday afternoon, marked the die's with a black texta for me, then proceeded to raid my scrap fabric drawer and cut out a pile of drunkard path pieces..!! That's how easy this is, really it is. She set it up, put the scraps on (well truthfully I saw some charms in there too) and cut them out.

..and this is what she ended up with...

So this morning I put them together for the start of my scrappy drunkards path...

Of course I needed to do some cutting myself, couldn't let her cut out all my fabric, although this girl would, she just loves cutting fabric out...quilter in the making?
Anyway, back on track! I decided to try the other dies out. I chose the curved and circle dies because I normally cut them by hand of course, you can't imagine how quick it is to cut them without trying it, really..!

I cut four at a time and honestly, I could probably have doubled it..!

I chose some Christmas fat quarters I had in the drawer and thought I would put them all together later for a table topper...
I used my Curve Master foot to stitch them so it was easy peasy...

Look, done in no time (OK, I did have to reverse sew one seam...ssshhh!!)..

I did try one other thing with the Baby GO!, you know I work with wool a lot and I bought the circle die for exactly that reason. Well, would you look at this...

Perfect circles in less than 10 seconds....sigh, I'm in love. Now I just need Accuquilt to bring out a die with lots of little circles on the one die...!!! You know, berry and grape size, how good would that be, being able to cut a dozen at a time..
I have to tell you that I wasn't quite sure whether or not I would get enough use out of a Baby GO! to justify having one, well I can honestly say that I don't think I would use anything else for curved pieces again, it was just so easy AND quick. I can see that I'll be cutting drunkard path pieces as the scraps come to hand and just stashing them in a box ready to just pick up and sew..!

Click on the picture to sign up for the newsletter and to receive your free patterns..

OK, off to do some cleaning up from the renovations...sigh!!

xxx

Look what I made Margaret...

2011-07-17T19:29:00.001+10:00

(edit: just so you know, the title shouldn't read 'look what I made FOR Margaret', perhaps it should be 'hey Margaret, look what I made..' ! This baby is all mine)

Not the best shot, the weather this morning is atrocious, cold, wet, grey and misty so there's no way I can get a decent photo without going out into the misty, drizzly rain..
Just to explain, Margaret has shown some of her gorgeous pin cushion collection a couple of times but in particular I've been lusting after one like this, scroll down the post and you'll see what I mean. Anyway, in another life I made lots and lots of Mohair Artist bears, I used to sell at all the bear shows around the state then, as you do, I moved on. As it happened I went back to seriously quilting again, I sold just about all my bears, mohair, makings and such, to fund my photography obsession and bought my big gun camera and lenses with the proceeds. I did keep some bears though, mostly little ones, well they were all mostly less than 9" right down to a one inch bear and yes, I still have that..! So for a long time I had a couple of little bears that sat around my computer desk, on my keyboard and generally hung around. I also had a bag full of little fellows stuffed in a cupboard. I saw Margaret's little rabbit on the pin cushion and had a serious case of lust, then when I checked out the website, I had already been there and bookmarked it so I think I was destined to make one. I love it, it's big and squishy and sits on the arm of the leather lounge without moving, I half filled it with Shellgrit, you know, the stuff you give to budgies, and then topped it off with wool stuffing that I had from somewhere. I didn't stuff it firmly though as I wanted it to look and feel old. Love, love, love it... I've still got quite a few little bears in the bag in the cupboard, hmm, what will I do with them..?

Can you tell that the puppies enjoy having children here.....

...not hard is it? We just don't get a look in when the kids are here and this weekend they had a child each.. bliss! They've gone home now, the children that is, so it's a bit quiet and the dogs are knackered, fast asleep. I don't think they will move now until tomorrow..
Samantha helped me unpack the GO Baby Cutter while she was here this afternoon and proceeded to cut out a heap of scraps using the drunkards path die..!! I did manage to snap a couple of pics while she was doing it and I'll show you tomorrow, but it was so easy she worked it out herself and she had a small pile in no time...!

Of to sit in front of the box and watch Masterchef then an early night I think, I do love having my grandkids here but boy oh boy do have they energy...!!
See you tomorrow ...

Phew...!! What a week....

2011-07-15T17:41:00.001+10:00

The Railway man has of course been on holiday and the renovations with the doors and hallway are just about finished, but we had a little side issue earlier this week.....
So from my window the other day, this was the view...

My Facebook friends will already have seen these, our driveway looked like a Mazda dealership on Wednesday afternoon. We had been thinking about changing cars for a little while, I had always wanted the Mazda 6 Station wagon so we traded in my little white Mazda 3 AND the man's MX5 (it had sat so long in the garage that it had a flat battery and in 15 months he'd put 1000kms on the clock???), a bit of a sad day but we (read me) ended up with this....

..she's beautiful, Ruby Red outside and all black leather inside so I reckon she's a bit of a tart, to be forever more known as Ruby (thanks Dzintra). The dealer delivered it to the door for us so for an infinitesimal time we owned three Mazda's and a smelly dirty Ford Ute. We still have the smelly dirty Ute, but he does love it and thankfully I don't have to drive it, I just get to drive Ruby..!

So, the next exciting thing was this morning, on the way to pick up these little people...

..who are spending the weekend. Would you look at how tired that boy is, they all four of them spent 5 days in Sydney with their Dad last week and I don't think they've caught up yet!!
Anyway, on the way down I stopped at the Post Office to check the mail and this was waiting for me...

I was so tempted to go home and open it first but I didn't, I'm a good Nana. Stopped in and saw Mum and Dad, a quick stop at eldest daughters, had a cuppa with youngest daughter while the kids got all their stuff together. Drove home, gave them lunch and then finally got to open the box............phew!! I don't think I've ever waited so long to open a much anticipated box...

This is as far as it's going to go though until Monday. Having a six and nine year old in the house for the weekend isn't going to give me much chance to play so I'll wait until after the weekend then I can play to my hearts content..

I have managed to get a little sewing done this week (how hard is it when there's a man in the house .......constantly!!!) I've been doing a wee bit of wool stitching, this is a block from Crimson Tweed but I've changed the colours, hopefully I'll have more to show next week...

This little girl.......

...just fell in the fish pond while chasing the kids around the house garden..! It's not deep and she can stand up in it but the water is very cold at this time of the year, so she's looking a bit sorry for herself, don't suppose the fish and the frogs are too pleased either..! Notice though, she's picked my quilting chair to 'dry off' in, talk about comfort..

Hopefully, I'll have some photo's of the doors and windows to show you next time...
C Ya
xxx

Are you going here....

2011-07-05T09:15:00.001+10:00

Edit: Looks like Friday is the day, noon in the food area. Look for the balloons..
See you there then..

I'll be there a couple of times I think so I thought we could have a blog meet..? Does that sound like a good idea?

Saturday @ 1pm?

Let me know if you're interested, could be fun I think.......
xxx

New look..

2011-06-29T12:30:00.000+10:00

I've had this little table top ironing board for ages now. Mum gave it to me last year and as you can see, she got good use out of it. I think they had it in the caravan back in the day..! Anyway, there was no padding, just a really thin piece of foam and the blue cover that's been on there forever I think. It's really handy to sit on the top of the table near my machine but I've been wanting to recover it since I've had it....

I was doing a little 'secret' sewing yesterday, just a friendship block really but I can't show you as it's a ...well, secret..!! But I was using some jelly roll strips of Fresh Flowers by Deb Strain for Moda. Bright and cheery, which was what was called for and as I was pressing the block I thought how 'bright and cheery' would my little board be covered in flowers.....

..so I did..cover it that is. Quick and simple, honestly, I don't know why I didn't do it ages ago. I want to leave it on the table now it's so happy looking, reminds me of summer too which is always good in the middle of winter..!!

This is a photo of our verandah way back a couple of years ago I think, yep, April 2009.

Well it hasn't changed much over the last two years.....until yesterday..!!

I have to laugh because Miss Martha has only moved a few steps in two years.... !! She does love to 'survey her kingdom'..
Anyway, the Railway Man took everything off yesterday afternoon and this morning he's starting to open up the wall where the doors will go. Which is staight ahead on the wall next to the small window. The glass doors you can see on the right are the ones coming out and being replaced with a window...
Messy, dirty, dusty and a bit cold in here today BUT I'm loving it...!! I can't wait for those ugly doors to be gone....
Stayed tuned for the next episode.....
xxx

From my window...

2011-06-28T11:28:00.000+10:00

...this morning..

...heavy wet mist which made for awesome photo's of this..

..and this..

It's clear now, deceptively sunny and cold.

The Railway Man has just rung to say he's picked up our new doors, the one's we won on ebay on Sunday, they really are lovely and we think that the doors are around 100 years old, the screens are obviously a new addition..

..heres the photo from ebay, I'll update it when we start to put them in this week. I'm really excited to be finally getting rid of the horrible aliminium and glass sliding door that was here when we moved in nine years ago. Because we're on acres we never ever actually use our 'front' door and the glass doors at the back lead straight into the lounge room. It's going to be fabulous to have a small hallway area with the doors to the verandah, all those cold (and hot) winds won't blow straight into the room anymore...awesome...

Just a chat...

2011-06-26T13:21:00.001+10:00

Somebody recently described me as a 'chatty' blogger..! It's not the first time I've been labeled as such and I have to tell you that I'm good with that description..
I guess I am really, I love blogging, love my blogs and the time I spend flitting around the globe visiting you all. The Railway Man is very tolerant, if he's looking for me he looks in my sewing/computer area first, he knows that housework comes a distant fourth or fifth to other, more interesting and creative pursuits..
I've even been known to forget all about cooking a meal because I've been wrapped up in something, phew, thank goodness I have a very well stocked freezer full of home made meals. That really comes about because of the hours he works and the fact that I've never got over cooking for a family of six!! You know I take meals down to Mum and Dad every week, so I do 'tend to put the extra leftovers in containers, pop it in the freezer and Bob's your uncle (well, my brother actually) but you know what I mean..!
Anyway, I thought I'd just pop in for a chat today. The Railway Man is outside pulling weeds, he's on holidays for the next four weeks so the garden should be just about weed free when he's finished. We're not going anywhere, just maybe a couple of day trips with the puppies, visit some markets and country towns perhaps. There's some work we (I use we as in the 'royal we' of course, I will supervise :o) want to do in the house. Put a new front door in and take out the sliding glass doors, we're waiting for an ebay auction to finish this afternoon for some beautiful French style farmhouse doors, keep your fingers crossed for me 'cos I really want/crave/need/love them...!We want to create a little hallway, close in part of the verandah so that it's usable for most of the year, a couple of trees have to come out in the gardens, etc, etc....
So today the sun is pouring in through my window, it's really windy out though and the weather channel says the temp is 8 but the chill factor here is -3, so the best place for me is here talking to you...
(oh don't worry about the Railway Man, he's well wrapped up and there's hot soup on the stove)

I've been stitching my random blocks, I really like the one above and I might put some embellishment on this one, we'll see..

I started this one the other night, it's only 6" square and it's from Sue Spargo's 'Flowerbed' pattern, very cute..

Some friends and I went to the Creswick Woollen Mills on Wednesday, we had a great day out, lovely lunch, then ended up at Gails Patchwork in Sebastapol. I've never been before, even though it's not far away. What a fabulous shop, full of fabric, trims, ribbons and heaps more....
I'm on a diet, did you know that? Noooo, not a food diet, I couldn't do that, but a fabric diet..! I'm trying really hard to not buy anymore fabric until after the end of this year...sigh!! I did buy some little things, not fabric, but some ribbons and wool thread..

I've been wrapping my ribbons and bits of cotton lace on bobbins so I added the new velvet trims I bought. I'm going to run out of bobbin room soon I think..

I've been sorting all my hand/home dyed recycled wool into containers too. I've still got another blanket out in the laundry waiting to be dyed too. Hmmm, I might have to look at selling some so that I can make room for some more.. :o)

I want to use some of this lovely linen in these quilts too, there's a red too, I wonder where that is? Told you I couldn't food diet didn't I, mini Oreos, yum mm!
Oh yes, knew I had something else to tell you! Go and visit my niece Kylie here, she's a new quilter this year and she's already finished a couple of lovely quilts. I'm sure she'd love to have some more encouragement, we can all remember starting (well I can't, I'm getting old you know) to quilt, and especially looking out for comments so that you know you're not talking to yourself when you start blogging..tell her I sent you, thanks :o)

I'd better go and look enthusiastic about the weeds hadn't I..?
Make some lunch for the worker..?

It's GOing to be a great birthday month...

2011-06-23T21:48:00.001+10:00

I got an email this morning, right out of the blue, totally unexpected and I had to read it three times before I decided that it wasn't spam or a joke....! It was from Carolyn at Accuquilt telling me that my blog (me, moi, myself) had been chosen to receive one of these....

....I know, I know, big time exciting, I can hardly believe it myself, really how lucky can a person be. It's my birthday next week, do you think the girls at Accuquilt knew? What a fabulous birthday surprise!! I've seen them around blogland, who hasn't, and I've entered giveaways to win one. I even had a look at the Accuquilt stand at AQC back in April and now I get to own and use one.... WooHoo!!

I got to choose three dies with it and I decided that I would go for the circles first, I use a lot of circles in my applique so this is going to make them so easy to cut out and I chose two others that are tricky cutting shapes, apple core and a small drunkards path block. Great for scrappy quilts!! But wait, there's more...!! Isn't that what they always say on the telly, well this time there is more....
The best bit is that I get to give one away. Yep. Giveaway a GO! Baby Cutter, oh gosh I'm so excited, did I say that already. As soon as the GO! Baby Cutter arrives (how awesome does that sound) I get to try it out and show you all how it works, scrappy quilt coming up I think!! Then we'll have a giveaway and the fabulous people at Accuquilt will give one to the lucky winner. How easy is that, how exciting is that, how generous are they?? It's definitely a 'pinch me' day for me.....

Stay tuned 'cos you know how excited I get......

Woolly Weekend...

2011-06-20T11:35:00.000+10:00

I've spent the weekend playing with wool...

...and fabric too of course....

..I'm not quite sure what these are all going to end up like..

...I do know that there will be a Christmas theme running through...

...but I don't really want it to be 'obviously' Christmas and nothing else!
I told you that youngest daughter was desperate to have my Crimson Tweed? Well, no, she's not having it (not until I'm out of here feet first so to speak!) so I thought that I would just potter around with some wool and fabric and see what comes out of it in the end. I do have to make enough blocks to make several (four actually) woolly Christmas quilts, so I thought I would make blocks until I have enough for four wall quilts, then put them together...somehow! That way I won't get to the finish of two and really not want to do anymore, plus all four will have some of the same fabric running through, a connection that somehow will link them all together even though they don't all see one another or all speak to one another for that matter! I'm using some of the bits of left over fabric from my Crimson Tweed as well so there will be a connection back to my quilt too, does that make sense??

I finished two more of my online Bee blocks before the weekend and I'm really, really happy with these two. This is for my Flickr group and Sue wanted everyone to make her 'snowglobes', she sent the hand dyed background fabric and the fabric for the snow globe bases and asked everyone to develop their artistic side and put something novel in the globes...!
These are mine...

I don't have any novelty fabric so I decided to applique something that was relevant to me in the globes. I was happy that I found the snowflake fabric hiding in my stash, I think it works and Sue is happy with them so that's all that matters. Going to be an awesome quilt Sue...

Cold wind blowing today and I'd like to stay home but I've got my computer lesson to teach this afternoon, I've made the dinner already, Shepherds Pie ready to pop in the oven when I get home at seven tonight, will just need warming and the cheese on top melting...yum!

Ta Da...................

2011-06-16T16:38:00.000+10:00

Finished, except for the label and hanging sleeve. I'm so excited to have this finished and I just love and adore it.
I backed it with Maison de Garance by French General and bound it with Rural Jardin also by French General. I love the traditional colours of Christmas so this seemed appropriate and it seemed to hold all those amazing colours of wool together.
Thank you Sue for a fabulous pattern, I want to make another now (I might just have to as youngest daughter is desparate to have it...!!) but I need to do something else for a little while.
Just think, if I hadn't tried to chop off my leg a few weeks ago, I wouldn't have had an enforced 'sit down' period and I probably wouldn't have it finished yet...good things do come from diversity after all...!!

I sandwiched and basted my Japanese quilt at patchwork today so I'll start quilting that tonight I guess, gotta keep those fingers busy......
xxx

Playing catch up...

2011-06-14T17:05:00.000+10:00

This girl has been here for the long weekend...

..and as you can see, we spent a fair bit of it baking and cooking, as you do..! Cakes and choc chip cookies to take home for school treats for the rest of the week. We also made lots of soup so she's taken some of that back too, lovely and warming after school, especially when it's just in the 'fridge ready to go..!!
We also did quite a bit of this...

..her Mum wanted some new pot holders so Sam decided that she would make them. She's made a couple of things before when she's been here but this was the first time she had to line up seams. Her first attempt turned out like this....

!!!! I told her once how to butt them together and off she went, she just 'got it' the first time, I can tell you that I was rather impressed...

..so was she when they were finished obviously! I did do the binding for her, didn't think we should spoil the euphoria by trying binding too..!!
We (read me) made woolly wrist warmers for her and one of her sisters, plus cut out another pair for Caitlin which I'll finish ready to give to her on Friday, forgot the photo's but they are just plain navy felted wool (black for Caitlin and green for Eden). They had to be plain and in school colours so that they could actually wear them to school. The mornings are cold and wet, if not frosty too, so they need them first thing, they like the 'armies' or wrist warmers as they leave their fingers and thumbs totally free. Got to be able to text you know...!!!
So anyway, her Mum and Matthew (and the other three kids) came up yesterday to pick her up. They were all impressed with her potholders and of course very impressed with the cookies and cake, the soup was just 'so so' according to the kids. Sarah was happy to have a couple of meals that she doesn't have to cook anyway..

After they left yesterday I built the fires up, parked myself on the lounge with my feet up on the footstool. Turned on the TV to Lifestyle Food and spent the afternoon quilting my Crimson Tweed (big news coming later this week.....eeeekkk!!) and watched The Little Chocolatiers for four hours, sigh, I had a really huge craving for chocolate when it finished...!
So, catch up?? Today I decided that I just had to catch up with all my bee blocks. I've been so bad lately, so today was it...

This one and ....

this one, which really isn't an insipid washed out colour, are for Emma from my Flickr group bee. She sent some yellow fabrics and asked us to add some of our own for two random blocks, they really are lovely yellows, today's such a crappy day for photo's (I'm blaming the volcano in Chile, everybody else is).

These are for Melina, her month on The Bee Balm was May. She asked us to make her double Ohio stars in greens...

..and yes, they're lovely greens too! I had a layer cake of I think 'Love Me'? Anyway, the ones' with the trees and cupcakes and it just worked out that the colours were right for both lots of blocks..

I've still got Kate's block to make for June and Sue's fabric should be here this week too, so I feel that I'm back on track 'cos it's still June (isn't it?) and I've only got those to go...phew!! So I can go back to the TV, the fire and Crimson Tweed. Soup's made for tea (I think we've got enough for a week) so I don't need to do anything else but sit and sew......sigh! Are you jealous?
xxx

We've got mail Jill..

2011-06-09T17:46:00.002+10:00

Jill is a bricks and mortar friend here in the our little village and about 10 days ago we ordered some 'stuff' together and today it arrived....

...sigh! It's beautiful. Thank you Erica for your excellent and quick service. Jill hasn't worked with wool before, I sort of helped move her along in that direction :o) just very gently of course..LOL!
Anyway, we ordered this bundle of wool in half yard cuts, now we'll cut it in half so we'll each have a quarter yard (except for the natural, we've got a half yard each of that). We shared the cost and the postage and it worked out really reasonable..

We're excited......!!
I shall keep you up to date with what we eventually do with it of course, but I know that I'm going to be doing some folding, fondling and just plain loving for a little while...
xxx

From my window this morning....

2011-06-08T09:27:00.000+10:00

Cold, early morning winter sunshine on the trees and can you see, snow on the hilltop...
It's not a great quality photo I'm afraid, Railway Son borrowed my big bad 300mm zoom lens, so all I'm left with is a little extension zoom thingy..!! Hmm, I think he's in Mt Isa (North Queensland) today so he'd better get some good pics is all I can say..!
I thought we might have had some snow on the ground this morning, it snowed yesterday and I know it snowed on and off overnight, but obviously the ground just wasn't cold enough for it to settle yet..
I think I have to get The Railway Man to cut that little Pussy Willow back to the ground again, we do it every couple of years as we don't want to lose the view of the hill. It's a willow so it just grows back and we treat it as a shrub. He'll pop the cut branches in the ground along the boundary fence and eventually we'll have a hedge of pussy willow trees right around the 4 acres..!!

I'm making great progress on my Crimson Tweed, do you want to see, hang on and I'll go take a little pic....

..or two..

...or three..

I'm loving quilting this, you can see that I chose to go with the Perle thread in a slightly icy blue colour. It blends well with all the different greys...

Brr, I had to come back in quick smart as it's still only zero degrees out there and I'm still in PJ's..! The sun is lovely coming through the Birch trees though so I couldn't resist just snapping this....

Diamonds of light sparkling in the Birch tree...sigh! Winter just has so much beauty of it's own..

OK, so my feet are cold 'cos they got wet out there so I'm off to warm up..
xxx

Another top finished..

2011-06-01T18:06:00.000+10:00

I seem to be firing on all cylinders this week. I finished my Japanese top today, I think I told you that three of us are making this at my Thursday patchwork group....

..the colour is really terrible I'm afraid, it's gone 5 in the afternoon and nearly dark so I had to use a flash. I'll try and get a better shot tomorrow at the community house, the lighting is certainly better than here...
Did you spot the little Miss curled up on the chair? This is my hand sewing/quilting corner of my sewing room and last night it looked like this...

...ooohhh, I do love that quilt but boy, oh boy it's going to be hard to hand quilt. I don't know whether it would have been better to cut away behind the applique..? But doing that would have taken away the lovely built up effect that the layers of wool achieved..! I decided to go with the Perle thread and I'm glad now that I did.

The girls had a bit of a spat today, the first time they've actually done that, over a couple of bones of course! Miss Martha thought that she should have both of them and stood over Miss Molly, intimidating her, after she was told off and the offending bones disposed of she retreated to here...

..it was almost a 'so there' thing. You know, I can't have what I want so I'll take something of yours..!!

Are you tired of seeing outside my window yet? I took this late this afternoon...

...another glorious day, well it was the first day of winter, freezing this morning at well below zero but the sun shone all day and this was just as it was setting behind our hill. A deep golden colour with the haze of smoke from the chimney's, I'd just put wood on the fires and it was drifting past my window....

So, I'm off to put dinner out. Big bowls of soup, potato and leek for me, zucchini and vegetable for the Railway Man who's been home for the week after a close call on the train on Saturday night. People that decide to stand on railway tracks and wait for the next train to hit them have no idea what they are doing to the person who might be behind the controls!!
XXX

ps. he (the railway man) is fine and no, he didn't hit her, he managed to stop the train just short of her, which I guess didn't make her day, but hey....tough luck!!

From my window today....

2011-05-31T13:20:00.000+10:00

...I can see this...

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited that my Crimson Tweed is sandwiched, pinned and ready to start quilting....!!

The bonus being of course that the weather today is amazing and I was able to get outside to photograph this...

Today is the last day of Autumn for us here and the sun is warm, no wind on a perfect day...

Ok, enough photo's of the quilt (it is lovely though isn't it?) This little Miss was watching me while I was outside...

..and from the other side...

Oh dear, I think I need to clean the windows...
Ok, I've got some catching up to do on a few Bee blocks before I can sit down and start quilting. I haven't fully made my mind up how I'm going to quilt it yet! Perle or cotton thread? I know I want to outline the applique and quilt snowflakes down the two empty grey borders!! I'm leaning towards a silvery grey Perle thread at the moment..suggestions...??
xxx

Morning Tea....

2011-05-27T18:28:00.000+10:00

...yesterday was this..

..and it tasted even better than it looks..!!
I didn't get a photo of us all (I think about 50 something) standing outside with our vanilla slices! All holding them up to make a huge line down the road, but the photographer from the local paper was there and I hear the photo will be in next week, so I'll show you then! After tea and cake some of us trooped next door to Millrose Quilt shop for a sit and sew in Sue's fabulous room. A huge cup and saucer sat on the counter for donations for the Cancer Society and the day was well worth the donations I made...

..ladies knitting, crocheting, sewing on the machine and hand sewing of course..

..how could you not have an amazing day when you are surrounded by this..

..new bolts of fabric waiting to be catalogued and put away..

...and here's Karen..

..she's trying to get her quilt quilted before she heads off on her adventurous holiday trecking Italy in a few weeks (nurses tape makes good line markers obviously?).

Did you notice that I've changed my header -again! I know, I know, you just get used to one and I change it again....sigh! But I've been doing a mini course with Kim Klassen, I love textures, really I do.....

Right, I'm off to stitch the yellow and red balls on the Christmas tree on my Crimson Tweed quilt and then guess what...? The top will be finished...!!! I sat yesterday and stitched the tiny aqua dots on the holly leaves and then the last 60 red berries on at the sit and sew. Borders are finished just got that tree to finish (velvet baubles, fun) and then I can sandwich and quilt....! I'm ridiculously excited!!
Back to the docs tomorrow and probably more antibiotics I think. My leg is improving but so, so slowly. Still infected and very, very tender. I'm over it now, really I am, I just want it better and get on with things......
xxx