Aus Rose

The end of the week...

2012-02-17T17:31:00.006+10:30

...is here once again! Haven't stopped much since the last post! But not to bore you with the details, so will jump ahead to Thursday Craft Group!!!! We had a visit from the lovely Cynthia from Cynthias Ark with her delightful fabrics. (Cynthia on the left) It was then time for me (after I had emptied my purse) to move on and do some egg making in time for Easter. (I am not in this photo! ) This was my effort for the morning.Today was a wonderful day spent at the South Australian Wine Centre for a Breast Cancer Network Australia function. Great day, met lots of lovely ladies and their husbands. Myself and two colleagues were there to promote the YWCA Encore program for this year once again. For those of you who dont know, it is a mild mobility program that is free for women that have had breast cancer - just go to the link if you would like to read or know more about it.
So now its time to put my feet up, after cooking the tea of course and vedge-ing out for the night before the delightful crew turn up tomorrow for another Farmers Wife Get Together! Have a great weekend everyone!

Its nearly Valentines Day...

2012-02-11T20:12:00.006+10:30

...not that that means much in our household! I think that after SW being with me for nearly 28 years has been time enough to not worry about Feb 14th!!! LOL

Anyways.....since my last blog, we celebrated my cousin-in-laws 40th Birthday with her and her family. Really nice afternoon.We also celebrated my brothers birthday by dining out with all the family...once again a nice time was had by all. (The one to the left of the front is the birthday boy!) Because he (Ray) is a bit of a handy man and is kept busy around the house - I managed to find some "Mr Fixit" fabric - some with a cream background and some with a brown background. Did not manage to get all the quilt in on this picture (will have to visit to re photograph). This was the front and the back was in the darker browns. I decided to make it into a Quillow - brother was very happy with the effort!As some of you know, I go to a Craft Group on a Thursdays - we have been doing a Friendship Grandmothers Flower Garden. There was no pressure at all on the women to do or finish their quilts - however....one of the ladies was rather miffed (in a nice way!) that her quilt had not appeared on this blog yet....so here it is SHEILA!!!! in all its 'nearly finished' glory :)))
Only another 20 blocks of flowers to attach and a million borders! So anyways.....a couple more of the FGFG quilts were finished in the last few weeks...so here is Margaret's one.This one is Mary's - she is happy about the finished product even though she may not look it!Jean has been doing some wool embroidery on a baby blanket.The end of the week was in celebration once again - we had called into a friends to find their friend was having a birthday - which of course we had to help celebrate!

For those that have not seen this one....

2012-01-30T16:40:00.003+10:30

on another website - take a look and take note - and be aware!

The Madness has begun...

2012-01-21T00:52:00.006+10:30

...yep...finally...The Farmers Wife quilt has been started! We were all (well almost all! Except for Lorraine that is)!!! ...busy working our little fingers to the bone today.This was my effort for the day - must say - its true....they are addictive!!!!

Look whats coming up...

2012-01-09T11:09:00.001+10:30

...later this year! Take a peak over at the AMQF blogsite - mark the date in your diary - save your pennies - and see you there!

Happy New Year....

2012-01-08T19:20:00.004+10:30

...hope it brings many a nice day for you all!

Just before Christmas, the Encore program finished and all the lovely ladies joined in an end of term coffee together. One of the ladies does Pergamano, a type of paper art. She brought along a few of the projects that she has done (and won awards with! - and like most of us, does not think her work is good!!!! lol and roflmao here!)A beautiful fan.And how about this set of underwear?! All paper!!!!Yesterday, we had a bit of a flash storm go through Adelaide. Apparantly we had 14mm rain in 15 minutes. Quite a noisy storm and quite scary to say the least. One of my friends got caught in an area of rain that was nearly window deep on her car - she is fine but got a little shaken! Because it hit so quickly and quite violently it put the power out at our house for 2 hours in the evening, so SW and I did some Lego building via torchlight! LOL Well, today is better weather but there is a bit of damage around the place, so I guess clean up is on the agenda for a few people!

I am off now to get some of the Farmers Wife project together ready for our next get together!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2011-12-25T19:19:00.003+10:30

This was our Christmas Lunch Table today! Was absolutely fabulous that we had the family and friends here for a great lunch - much talking, eating, laughing, eating, slothing, eating, snoozing and of course eating was done! Thank you all for making it a great day.

Phew!

2011-11-26T22:27:00.008+10:30

....what a wonderful day it has been! Tiring but good :)) A delayed birthday celebration was had. This wonderful cake was made as a gift from my friend Beth - who also did the catering. Beth managed to encompass a lot of things in my life - my cats, miniature houses, fairies, and quilting (the mat and the patchwork path) Thank you Beth xx I wont bore you all with all the pics that were taken (as there are quite a few) Most of you know Quilty Gal and saying she is my BBFF I thought she should definitely be on here.Bumblebee stroker aka my hubby - David also should get a pose on this post.Another of the gifts I received was the "Balladeers" coming to sing for a couple of hours. They were fantastic and the crowd enjoyed the late 50's and 60's songs.They certainly got some of the folk up and dancing and clapping to the beat.
So, just to finish off this quick post - thank you to all my family and friends for coming and sharing my day with me!

Only 4 weeks....

2011-11-24T22:54:00.006+10:30

...to Christmas!!!! Some of our lovely Thursday Craft ladies have been busy getting there bits and pieces ready for that special day. Jean has got these door Santa's nearly ready.Many of the ladies have been making these cute Christmas trees - they are recycled Women's Weekly magazines (300+ pages ones) believe it or not!There is even an angel to go on top a tree - altho I think she would be rather large for these trees! LOLAnother of the Grandmothers Flower Garden friendship quilts is nearly finished. This one is Jeans.Lorraine has nearly completed hers too. She is very happy about it believe it or not!This one is Netty's - I think it is about one of her first quilt projects! Well done!
I attended the Lyell McEwin Hospital Volunteers Christmas B-B-Q at the weekend - guess who should turn up???And to end this short post with a note to say thank you to Nancy and Peter for the beautiful welcome home flowers!

...the second part of this week....

2011-11-12T16:40:00.002+10:30

....our Thursday Craft ladies have been busy this year doing a Grandmothers Flower Garden Friendship Quilt. Started off with a few and then when the others saw what we were doing, they all decided to have a go and get to it!

This is Norma's quilt completed. Well done Norma! Looking forward to seeing the others come to the finish line later this year.At the end of the week, I attended a Breast Cancer Network Association forum at the National Wine Centre, Adelaide. This was the first visit I have made to the centre and I must say I was rather impressed! The forum had a few speakers talking on breast cancer - one of which was the very inspirational Raelene Boyle AM MBE, Olympian and breast cancer survivor - managed to score a piccy as you can see! I was there partly as a representative for the YWCA Encore and partly as a guest. Great day - thanks BCNA!

Where did last week go?...

2011-11-12T14:18:00.009+10:30

...oh yes! I remember....most of it was at Carrickalinga! LOL Fab time had by all. A very much needed R&R was definitely the order of the four days we spent down there. The weather was fab and then awful and then fab again. The shopping was kept to a strict minimum...????dum de do!

First night there was just right temperature wise and the sky was rather nice and clear.We settled in for the night...Lorraine was very busy working on her star quilt while Lynne was whittling the fingers away on a stitchery.Glenice had done some knitting so was rather occupied with her stuffing, while Claire looked on bemusedly!Sunset the second night was just beautiful.Just to prove that we ate good healthy food for the weekend - this was the lunch serving!More knitting....Oh! forgot to tell you that Lynne brought her portable wide screen TV phone to ring home on! LOL...some reading (or perving maybe eg centrefold???) was done...Lorraine made a good effort - she cut and sewed this lovely little Log Cabin topper - its not Christmas fabric but we all decided it could well be a nice table piece for that time of the year.Claire had nearly completed her Gail Pan Berries & Bluebirds quilt top - looking lovely!Almost finished! Lorraine completed (or so she thought) her Star Quilt, but once she had the binding on we all decided (as we do!) that she needed to echo her cable on the border. Good effort to Lorraine and what a gorgeous quilt!I will leave you on this post with the last sunset we saw for the weekend - just cant beat the colours that are natural can you?

And finally....

2011-10-30T23:52:00.002+10:30

...the jet lag has subsided!!! Thank goodness say I!!! Back to the grind of normal life now...quilting...stitching...friends...chocolate...(giving that one up tho :( )

Tis nearly time for the bi-annual Slobs & Snobs weekend away. However, this time there will only be one partial Snob and 4 Slobs as part of the clan are unable to get away for the weekend - they will be missed - never the same when the group are not together as it should be!

And I will leave you with the thought ---- there are less than 60 days to Christmas!!! LOL

Local week...

2011-10-22T15:39:00.008+10:30

.....as the trip comes to an end, we spent most of it saying farewell to family and friends - its quite funny really - you go away and spend the first half of your trip saying 'hello' and then the second half saying 'goodbye'!! Never the less, it is something you have to do! Pity we just cant 'beam me up Scotty' and be there whenever, where ever!!

Anyway...this is my cousin Peter and wife Margaret. My cousin Lillian, her hubby George and daughter Rachael.
Lisa - a long time family friend - and partner Paul.Davids cousins, Dorothy and Joan with their Johns and Dorothy's daughter, Janet.
A new member to Davids side of the family - Lacey.Some more long time friends of the family, David with Alan, Valerie, Joanne, Maureen, Lawrence, my dad.
David and his 4th cousin Alfie.
Dad, his brother John and his wife Yvonne, their daughter Alison with her brother Gary in the back and his partner Sarah and me!John is NOT a Newcastle supporter - hence the cake for his birthday! LOL - got him a matching card too - couldn't resist the stir.After a 24hour delay on leaving England, we finally arrived in Singapore. However, because of the delay most of the time was spent sleeping in the hotel and very little sightseeing. These orchids were in the main foyer, the colour was just stunning.
The Holiday Inn Atrium was our venue and this is the view of the lifts going up inside the hotel to the various floors. Magnificent hotel, worth the stay.
Back at Changi Airport and more orchids.
Well folks, 14 different beds have been slept in, 7509 kms in the hire car have been driven, one train journey to London and back along with several bus and train trips short distance, many miles done on the old feet, a reasonable amount of chocolate eaten (of course!), visited with lots of friends and several family members, had a great time but now we are back home to our own bed and shower (no matter how good the others are, you cant beat your own can you?!) So now its back to the grindstone.....

So 50 came and went....

2011-10-11T00:46:00.015+10:30

...there was a small urge to have a blue rinse and perm done! Also the thought of purchasing a frock while I was in London...but thought I might leave that for my 60th!! LOL

Anyway, the birthday week was spent in London. Lots of sightseeing and walking and dodging lots of other sightseers in the process! Our first stop was the British Museum.Lots of things to look at here and lots of pics were taken, but will not bore you with too many! As in previous places we have visited, there were miniatures of buildings etc to be seen. Here is a miniature of the Parthenon as it would have been when completed in 432BC.Dad measuring up with one of the statues in the museum.
The Roman section had some fab mosaics on the walls.Night time fell and we strolled around London for a while, the Queens Theatre have this lovely rather large show on their roof advertising a long running show there.
Next day it was Madam Tussauds. Packed with visitors was an understatement. I have to say that I thought Morgan Freeman was one of the best on show.Then it was off to Ripleys Believe it or Not. Some very strange things here to be seen. Here is one of the shrunken heads that were on show....and yes it is real!A tiny, fully working camera.After lunch Dad and Dave went on the London Eye. However, due to my lack of interest in heights, I had this view! LOL The hot chocolate in the cafe near was delightful though :)We took a cruise up the River Thames. Very interesting commentary from our steward on board the boat. There is lots to look at along the Thames, including Dame Helen Mirrens house, Michael Crawfords house (they live opposite each other), David Bowies house, the 'boat' owned by the chap who owns Tottenham Hotspurs Footy team - it is said to be worth £1million per metre!!!! This next pic though is of the oldest pub in London, 'The Prospect of Whitby'. Quite quaint against all the high rise apartments and development that is going on along the Thames.This is the OXO building and is a very expensive place to dine out so I am told - cousin and wife went there and it cost them £170 for two for lunch!!!!
At the end of the cruise up, we got off at Greenwich and had a walk around the area. We stopped to watch the 12.55pm clock go off - this is where Greenwich Mean Time is marked. The ball on the 'T' spire is at the bottom of the pole and works it way up till it gets to the top which is then 1pm and then falls back down.We walked through the Queens House - and of course there was a miniature of that to be shown.
The staircase inside was magnificent. It houses art work on the walls and was quite interesting to walk around.
This picture was just fabulous!!!Birthday night!
The Imperial War Museum was on the agenda. Very good, but too much to see!! The Science Musuem was great too, but once again, way too much to look at. This clock was very different, don't know if I would like one in the lounge but was worth a picture.There are many sections to the Science Museum, and of course I took many pictures, but thought this one was one to share. It is a miniature room box of someone giving birth in the Victorian era ----I know, I am a sick puppy!!!
Harrods was next!!! Who could resist???? This is a resin model that was for sale of the Hogwarts Castle.The Christmas section in Harrods opens rather early in August and looked magnificent as always.The last morning in London we walked around the park near our hotel, and guess what??? There was this cute little grey squirrel waiting to have his pic taken! LOLOn the way to catch the train home we met up at Libertys with a friend for lunch. Very nice little store with heaps of atmosphere...and the lunch was great too! This is Tinks, David and Dad.
Well, back to the home town now! It was Davids Auntie Eleanors birthday while we were away so thought it would be nice to celebrate with her when we got back. Her choice of eating was one of the award winning fish and chip shops in South Shields - 'Colemans'. I have to say it was award winning food!
Well, here we are at the end of another posting. So till next time, happy reading!

And the celebrations have begun...

2011-10-02T23:49:00.004+10:30

...yes folks, the big 50 is approaching and the party has begun!!! Peppa Pig was even there!!!

You cant really see these cup cakes decorations all that well but it is edible glitter!
The next few pics are of the family and friends that helped start my 50th year off with a bang.
Rachel.
Simon.
Kevin and Myrna.
Dad, Jim and John.
Louise and Bryan (Tommy hasnt come out yet!)
Gloria, Marion and Louise.
Autumn and Alfie.
Next stop....London!

This weeks places...

2011-10-02T21:19:00.022+10:30

...were quite close at hand and easy to get to! We finally tracked down my dads brother, John, and paid him a visit. My dad is not a big man, but uncle John is very small!We took a trip to Whitby, which is about 1 or so hours down the coast from where we are staying in the North East. Beautiful seaside resort, had the BEST fish & chips there! (Cod, fresh, yum!!!) Most of the streets in the main part of Whitby are old and as they were pretty much when they were built (except for electricity and running water I would say) This was one of them and thought it was really cute.This red building is where Captain Cook lived while doing his apprenticeship.We walked up to Whitby Abbey, this is the view of the beach and surrounding countryside.Whitby Abbey, some of the gravestones can not be read, but we found a few that dated back to the late 17oo's.
This is John Freeman who has been painting for many years and does the most wonderful pictures of the Whitby area.Another of the streets of Whitby.You certainly would not need be tall to live here comfortably!!!
On the way home we stopped at Hartlepool and were crossing the road when this unfortunate chap lost his rear wheel! It missed us by seconds!!! Someone had loosened his wheel nuts in the car park of McDonald's just minutes before. Very lucky no one was hurt.Next day was a beautiful day of 24oC (the locals didn't like the 'heat' tho), so we took a trip to the local beach and Marsden Rock. Here I found Beach Henge (LOL)Marsden Rock to the left in the distance and Marsden Grotto on the right.Inside the Grotto. It is an old smugglers lair and has been many things over the years. Now, as it has been for quite a long time, it is a cafe and restaurant.Then it was off to walk the pier at Shields. Alas, it was closed cos there were divers doing their work :( But this is the Little Beach at Shields looking back from the beginning of the pier.Next day trip was to Cragside. (This pic from the Northumberland Web as I could not get a good one of my own!) It was the home of Lord Armstrong who was a great inventor)Of course! a miniature house was to be seen inside.The formal gardens were a delight.Tiles were the order for some of the hallways. Another quilt coming on???This pic is a little yellow because of the lighting. It is red work on a cream and is very old.This quilt was made around 1870. It has a fine net over it to keep it together along with a radiator and temperature gauge to keep it at the right temperature.This Grandmothers Flower Garden is made of 100% silk. 95% of the items in Cragside are original to the house.The pool room was as great as all the other rooms in the house. However, you are allowed to play on this table if you wish!!! So Dad and John had a go.The Rock Garden.There is a Labyrinth in the gardens which was a pleasant walk around with many carvings on the way.
This 'little' toadstool was hanging off one of the trees - it must of been about 10-12'' in diameter.
Back at Gloria and Johns and it was breakfast time - little Springer having his bran flake!
Gloria's mums ashes were to be sprinkled at sea, so we took them up to one of the local beaches at Seaburn. This was an opportunity (?????) to have a plodge in the North Sea....it was a warm day - another 24oC - but the sea was freezing and this is as much as I wanted to get wet!I will leave you for now with the sun glistening on the beach....

A relaxing day....

2011-09-26T21:07:00.017+09:30

...but lots of walking for us all. We took a trip to Wallington Hall. Lovely place to walk around. Couldn't decide if I liked the house or the gardens better!Here is the Bumble Bee Stroker at it again!
One of the rooms in the house is full of miniature houses (could be one of the reasons we went there?)
And of course lots of tapestries and cross stitch that was very old was on view too.
Next day was a disaster in the morning --- we toddled off to Holy Island, only to get there to find out it wasn't open till 12pm (yes, we had looked on the web to find out the tide times and opening times but no mention of the opening times on this day). So we trotted back to the village, thinking we would look at the Priory and the Church...guess what? They are owned by English Heritage and they wanted a fee to see each of these things - Holy Island is National Heritage so that would of been another fee. So we said sod off and waited for the bus to take us out to the Castle but that was another fee and we would of had to stand!!!! So we went back to the car - where we had another fee for parking - and headed off to Bamburgh Castle instead!!!!
This is the view of the Farne Islands from Bamburgh Castle. It is not owned by National or English Heritage and apparently never will be.
The gun handle below belongs to an old musket from the 1700's and is inlaid with mother of pearl and is just exquisite.
The curtain was enormous - couldn't get the whole lot in the pic. The pieces are no bigger than half a centimetre and seem to be some sort of felt.
I would say this was the under garment for chain mail - as it is hanging in the armoury room. It is a quilted tunic - very worn to say the least.
Went to visit one of our friends and her new cat Lilly. She is very small and cute !!!Dad and Dave in the bandstand at the local park. This dates back over 110 years.
We took a trip to Birmingham NEC at the weekend. Got a great deal at the hotel. This is the front entrance. Tried talking the concierge into letting me have the light fitting and carpet but he said it wouldn't fit in my bag :(
Sunday was Miniatura!!!!!
Didn't take many pics to put on here of the show, but this one was well and truly worth the share. It is handmade by and English chap. Didn't buy one - didn't have enough money!
This lovely chap was not for sale so was allowed to take a pic~!
Well, off to do the washing now....

Addendum...

2011-09-18T22:59:00.004+09:30

I forgot to put this little pic in one of the earlier postings! Thought I should to remind myself that I had been here!!!! LOL Unfortunately, like many places in the UK, it was not open the day that I visited - what a surprise - I don't know how one is supposed to see everything when they are only open on certain days - never mind, got a pic over the gate though...LOL So at least I can say I have been here. Ha hahahahaha

....

A stop at last!

2011-09-17T18:20:00.023+09:30

Thursday we were off for the day to a place called Beamish. We have been there before 5 years ago, but it was nice to go again and see some changes and new things. If you go to the link you can read all about it and probably take a longer tour than is on here. One of the shops is a drapers and clothing shop. These old shoes are a wonderful collection of what the women wore in days of old.In the drapery there is a section for quilters (funny about that) so thought you would like to see what they had available and the cost.
In the Masons Lodge, young Sam was sitting patch working ready to show her piece on Saturday (I think she might have to stay up all night to get it finished though!)
I was chatting to this lovely lady in the stationers, this is her piece for the quilting section on Saturday. It is made out of silk - so I think she must of been a rather well to do lady of the time!
Of course there was the obligatory miniature house on display for us to see. It didn't have a date on it but I think it is quite old.
There was an agricultural display at Beamish with the Flower and Veg section. Would love to be able to grow carrots this big!
David managed to stroke this cute little ferret called Damson - but only the bottom half - no where near the teeth!Adam from the Gordon Highlanders was on hand to encourage young people to join the ranks - however couldn't get him to throw his kilt up! LOLThis is Inn Washi age 2. She is a Stellas Sea Eagle - they often eat seals so that might give you an idea of her size.
Quilters hard at it! The girl on the right had only been a quilter for 20 minutes at this stage!!! LOL You have to start somewhere don't you?
This delightful cross stitch was done in 1842 by a 14 year old girl! It has been restored and preserved wonderfully. Can you imagine many 14 year olds today doing this sort of work???
One of the nice little houses in the village near where we are staying - I think hubby feels a new miniature house in the planning.

We caught up with some friends last night -Derek, Dorothy and David last night at the pub.
Myself and Lisa at the pub.
Now for a relax for the rest of the morning before we head out to visit cousins!

...how many miles?????

2011-09-15T04:22:00.064+09:30

3129 miles so far!! (About 5000kms for the metric minded). Have been previewing the pics that I have taken and thought I would share this one with you just to prove that it isn't always rainy and grey in the UK. This was on the ferry coming back from the Orkney Islands - about 5.30pm. We had just seen a sea lion floating about and I missed it by a tick of the clock!
Anyhow, back in to the car (some of you may like to notice the number plate here)
While were visiting in Leswalt, we were invited to a miniature show by our friend Flo. The group that meet are a small group of several women. Because they live a little remote from the city and the only way to purchase a lot of items would be over the Internet, they tend to source whatever they can from their own household or friends homes!!! How wonderful is this idea? Even though the display was a small one, it was one of extreme finesse and delight - thank you Flo and friends for sharing this day with us.

The women do their projects together during their meetings. These room boxes were one of the projects.
Then they decided to do a 'charity' display. Each box represents a different charity that the 'seller' supports.Then there is the little shops!
And a shadow box.David even got invited to display one of his houses that we had brought over!!!This fine picnic basket would be a delight to take out for the day.Later that day we took a walk in a wet land area, here is the SW just after he had managed to stroke a bumble bee!!! (Thick do you think???)(You can see it flying off to the right of his hand)Ernie, Flo and Dad on the coast, it came in rather blowy and rainy just after the pic.We then went to see some friends in Stranraer who we met through Ernie and Flo. Raymond and Pat are also into the 'little' things in life.This is a fab diorama of a dry dock. All done by Raymond.He has won prizes in the UK for his workmanship and has been published on a regular basis in magazines. Here is a train called the Darjeeling - from an era well past. Raymond makes 99% of the parts himself by milling and engineering the items from various metals.This is a close up of one of Pats wonderful miniature pieces of work.One of the customs in Scotland from days gone by is 'keeping a shoe in the loft to ward off evil spirits' apparently. This shoe is the one found in Ernie and Flo's loft. It is well worn but in good condition for the age of it.We stayed in a lovely little pub called The Blue Peter in Kirkcolm, Scotland.Time came too quick to move on yet again and we headed east across to England again. On the route we came across a gem museum in Creetown, Scotland. There were many delightful pieces of rocks and crystals there. One of the best pieces was this giant crystal tree!!!Some shopping was done on the way down England (of course!) at the factory outlet at Gretna Green. Bought the brightest pair of pink sand shoes you can imagine. Our next stop for the night was in Lancaster where we found a nice Motel and pub called The Scale Hall. Very friendly people - the publican showed us pics of the real Robin Hoods grave! Tis kept a secret so it wont be desecrated though and if I tell you where it is I will have to kill you!!! LOL Anyway, the carving at the back of the bar was interesting, I believe the previous owner had purchased it and had it as the top of the bar, so the new owner placed it at the back of the bar to preserve it as it comes from the Lusitania.Next day we were off again heading this time down to Wales. On the way we made a stop to a shop called Glassblobbery. Very interesting little shop. We watched the glass blower make me a cat (will blog that when I get it, as it had to be tempered and sent up by post).

I was blown away by the size of the thistle in this garden! By now we had arrived in mid Wales and had spent most of the day with Whitney and Nathan. I am happy to say that I am going to be a great aunt!!!! Congrats to the happy couple and great news for the family.
Unfortunately we only had two days with Whitney before we had to move on again. It was off to south Wales this time. We took a dive off the road to see a castle ruin 'Ogmore Castle'.During the visit down south, we went for a walk and we thought this sign outside one of the pubs near the shopping centre was well written.We visited with friends while in the south of Wales, then it was time to move again. The next visit was Castle Drogo. A fairly modern castle built in the early 1920's. Very interesting in the sense that it is completley different to any other castle that we had been to.This tree was just a magnificent colour and caught my eye quite easily.Then it was off to Lands End, we stayed the night in a wonderful B & B which had a luxurious king size bed to lounge in.Here we are at Lands End, and it is the end! Very cold and windy to say the least. (and it looks like I have a very droopy pair of boobs!!! ahahhahaha)Once again, there is a little village for us to see - this is at Lands End too.We then headed off to Eastleigh to our friends Karen and Keith. They were babysitting their sons lovely little cat Humphrey who did the craziest spins on the carpet.During out time in Eastleigh, we took a trip to Beaulieu Estate. There is a castle and a car museum there. Last time we went the James Bond collection was on display as it was this time along with a Top Gear display much to our delight.
The gardens of the estate were abound with wonderful colourful flowers such as these below.

And this georgeous little robin popped out of the shrubbery to sing to us and have his photo taken - twice!
Pendon was the next place to visit. We have also been here before, but worth a second visit. Dad was astounded at the detail and workmanship of the displays. These are about N scale (railway size)

And of course we had to go to Portsmouth and see the man with one arm, one eye and one ambition! Lord Nelson and the Victory of course!!!The ammunitions museum was on the agenda at Portsmouth.Another part of the museum was the submarine display - not a job I would take on.As a lot of you would know, I cant sit and do nothing at night, so I have been knitting an aran jumper. Here it is.....1/12th scale of course!!! LOLOver to Hastings now to visit with one of Davids cousins and their new daughter Lucy. A real cutey.Dover was next on the agenda - only because we were going to France but the bag at the P&O counter wasnt very obliging with the times and costs so we decided to stay in England and spend our money here! And of course another miniature - Dover Castle this time. Great place to see and meander through, especially the secret tunnels.Back to Karen and Keiths for a wonderful dinner with some of their friends. Lovely food and lovely company - thank you to you both for a great stay once again.We then headed up to Royston to another overnight stay. We met up with John and Gloria so that we could go to a miniature outlet and do some damage to the finances!! A christmas table was set up ready so who could resist?One of the mini houses on display at Maple Street, Royston.
We all then headed further north to Dartford to visit with another cousin, Nell, who kindly got most of her rather large family together to meet with us. A great afternoon was had by all and it was nice to meet with the family face to face. Thanks Nell and Bob for a great time.Back in South Tyneside now! Today we went for a trip around our old town of South Shields. And guess what???? Yes another miniature display at the venue we visited - this time Arbeir Roman Fort in South Shields.
This was the house that Dad was brought up in - good to see its still there.
Another fine miniature we found in a place of interest...this is Souter Lighthouse, this is in the north east of England (just round the corner to where we are staying really)
Well, that was a long blog to say the least!! So I am signing off once again for a little while, see you all later!

Here we are again.....

2011-08-28T18:24:00.035+09:30

...at one of our favourite places...taking off at Adelaide Airport for our trip to the UK.

Singapore was our first port of call for a few hours. So while here we went to see the beautiful butterflies in Changi Airport Butterfly Garden. They are rather large to say the least. As you can imagine, very humid.A bit smelly too as they have many of the insect eating plants there and they are very large too!

We had a bite to eat in the airport where SW had a raspberry jam donut, had to take a pic and show you all cos he reckons its the best donut he has ever had.

When we began the journey I suggested we have a competition on who would meet up with someone they knew first...guess who won??? Yes, SW...here he is in Changi Airport with Ann from one of our local hardware stores.

The plants and greenery are rather amazing in the airport.

They even have a little indoor Forrest!

The orchids are fabulous in size and colour, this is one of the pink ones, but they have many green and cream ones on show too.

We arrived in South Shields safe and sound and one of the first ports of call was the local Minchellas Ice Creamery. Raspberry sauce is the flavour that they are known for as well as the wonderful creamy ice-cream.

Then it was off to visit with one of the relies and meet Alfie, the 2nd newest in the SW side of the family. You can see he was rather happy with his 'woof' that we took him. LOL

We then took a drive down to the sea front to view the Wouldhave Lifeboat. This is said to be the first life boat to be invented.

Bonnie Scotland was the next port of call. The border between England and Scotland and what beautiful weather!

Blair Athol, Scotland was a must for a stop - being the Bells Whiskey Distillery. Unfortunately we missed the tour so went on to Dalwhinnie instead. Not a whiskey that I enjoyed, too bitey.

We decided to head up to John O'Groats and stopped at a place called Brora near Inverness. Indian was the order of the day for dinner....and just to prove that Dad ate it, I took this pic! What fantastic Indian though, the best we have ever had.This was the first B&B on the trip at Brora. Built in 1828 by a man who apparently was from Adelaide. The owners are in their late 70's and keep a wonderful place and fab breaky too!!

We took a trip over to the Orkneys on a ..... yes .... ferry! The Orkneys played a large part in both world wars and there is a lot of history around the place including many sunken ships.On Mainland, Orkney we visited a cathedral in Kirkwall. This cathedral was built by the vikings many hundreds of years ago. It belonged and still belongs to the people and is non-denominational therefor it survived the reformation of Cromwell and his men. A very interesting place with beautiful floor tiles.....I think I feel a Celtic Quilt coming on!!!

Orkney is a very old place, Neolithic ruins all around, so it was on the cards that other strange things would be here. As opposed to crop circles there were crop lines and just outside the area was a strange looking creature...some thought it was alien in manner but it turned out to be one of the local goats!!!

Dad and Dave on Orkney.

We went on a visit around Skara Brae very interesting place to visit indeed. There is a large mansion called Skaill House that is on the site which was inhabited by the laird of the area.
Of course wherever we go there seems to be something small that catches our eyes! This stone cathedral was inside the bedroom at Skaill House.

Beautiful pink heather on the hills of Orkney.

One of the mysterys on the Orkneys, the Ring of Brodgar. There are many stones in this ring but no one really knows why as each stone is from either a different island or area of the Orkneys than where they are placed. I think it could be a sister city to Stonehenge! But bearing in mind that this area is Neolithic - so a very old area of settlement.

Dad and Dave at John O'Groats - the furthers north point in mainland Britain. On our way back from the Orkney Islands.

Time now to head off back down to the south part of Scotland but this time over on the west coast. On the way we went for a cruise on Loch Ness, there were some monsters about - one was sitting opposite me on the boat :) I think this might be a shadow of Nessie - but I think she was too shy to come and say hello :)))

This is Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness. Built in the 17th Century.

Some of the scenery driving through the Ben Nevis area of Scotland - as you can see the weather is superb! as is the scenery.

Have arrived in Leswalt! On a previous visit to the lovely part of Scotland to visit friends, we brought a little 1/24th scale victorian for Flo (you will see her face in a previous post from 2008) Well, Flo has been busy making furniture and decorating her house as you will see below.

Well, thats all for now till the next installment!

Flip the page...

2011-08-19T12:42:00.002+09:30

to see what I have been up to over the last weekend!

We had our annual Festival of Miniatures, so you might like to go to

S.A.M.E.

and have a look. There are too many pics to re-post on here.

Double.."oh my"!

2011-07-30T01:18:00.002+09:30

I have been wondering why there were no comments appearing lately on the posts...DOH! didn't realise there had been a bit of a change in the formatting on here! So had these posts waiting for moderation - didn't realise I had this turned on - hopefully it is back to normal now and comments will appear asap :) Sorry folks about that - I wont let it happen again :)))))

Oh my!...

2011-07-29T23:44:00.008+09:30

Its over a month since my last post! How slack is that?? And how slack is it that I don't have many pics to share with you all??!! So...what have I been up to then?!? Well, I went to a workshop to learn how to make miniature flowers! This is the first workshop in miniatures that I have attended - great fun and great company and the finished product wasn't too bad either I thought. Started off with these...which turned to these...which eventually became these! Lovely spring daffodils.I then decided to have a go with what the other side of the table were working on...which eventually became these! Very creative Iris's.So how cute do you think they are?!

Of course not as good as a friend of mine....she entered the Interflora competition for South Australia and won in the bridal section!!!! Well done Lynette! So if anyone is looking for a good florist, just pop along and see her!

Here is some of Lynnette's beautiful work...and the winning entry - the bridal piece...Of course we have been very busy at our Thursday craft group too! The project has been (and still is!) a Grandmothers Flower Garden Friendship Quilt. It started off with only a tad of enthusiasm, and only a few of the group doing the hexagons. Then I explained how a friendship quilt works and how I would like one....the numbers swelled to 25! Looking forward to getting the blocks shared among us now, but we are being diligent and waiting till all are finished! So hard though when you are eager and want to make up the quilt! Here we have some of the rather eager members working away!Anyway, the ladies have been doing other projects in between the hexagons. Teena has made two of these lovely quilts for her family. Her husband and herself belong to a hot rod club and designed the quilt herself which is terrific because she has only been quilting a couple of years!
SW's brother and wife have been busy on an overseas trip. When they returned we were treated with one of SW's favourite lollies 'English Maltesers' YUM. Needless to say they did not last long in his hot hands! Their trip consisted of visits to places like London - Maltesers, keyring, Amsterdam - clogs, Austria - cow bell and Germany - steins and keg (fit beautifully into my mini bar room!)Well, I guess that's about all for now...listening to the rain splat down on the roof at the moment - at least it has kept the freezing temperature away for the day! Certainly looking forward to the warmer weather.

And a short note for some of my friends who are not well out there, I am thinking of you all and wish you wellness quickly xx

Planking...

2011-05-27T18:05:00.003+09:30

....well, we just had to have a go!!! So some of the Snobs & Slobs thought vertical planking was the safest way to go!!!

Fundraiser Give Away....

2011-05-22T02:22:00.008+09:30

I would like to invite all you local readers to come and attend a fabulous fundraiser day (as stated below in the advert). I am giving away a Mystery Prize (mainly cos its a mystery to me at this point in time! LOL) Seriously - it will be a package of some lovely items for the quilter!

You need to leave a comment AND re-post the advert on your blog. Give away closes on the 24th June 2011 - good luck!

Looking forward to seeing you at the venue with your needles and thread!

Has summer come back?

2011-05-21T19:04:00.015+09:30

Here we are in the middle of autumn and it seems like summer is here again! Today 25oC !! Weird - oh well, have to make the best and enjoy before the rains come....and it has just started :((
Since my last blog - gosh that was a while ago! I have been busy doing the usual bits and pieces a quilter and blogger does :) Quilty Gal and myself got invited to Tara's place for a chinwag and sewing day. We had a wonderful day, sharing our likes and dislikes. Claire and I were in awe of the beautiful quilts Tara has made, not to say the least the one on the wall....a Dear Jane quilt! To top it off, Tara had made us a beautiful gift....a belated thank you Tara for a fab day! Hope to have another soon.Last term at The Thursday Crafties, we have been working on a Celtic Knot item. A few of the ladies have finished their pieces - Lorraine decided to make hers into a little footstool (don't think anyone will be allowed put their feet on it though)Margaret had made her Celtic Knot into a lovely cushion - with thoughts of doing another so its not lonely :)Jessie has been working on her project this term, a Rose of Sharon Quilt. Absolutely beautiful job!I am very proud of the work that the ladies do on a Thursday - they are very inspiring and most are happy to give most of the projects a shot. This term we will be working on a Grandmothers Flower Garden friendship quilt. Will keep you posted as we go along.

This next item is something that one of the Thursday ladies has been doing at another workshop, just thought you might like to take a look and see!To top this Thursday off, it was a special birthday for Lorraine! Happy 70th!!!! May you have many more healthy ones. xxMay is the time of the year for the Snobs & Slobs bi-annual trip to Carrackalinga. So the bag was packed.......the car was packed........fabric shopping was done....lunch was had....we arrived (our view from the house).......and the pj's went on!The days were spent as usual....stitching......an embroidery to commemorate the marriage of Will and Kate......the sweat-shop was set to go........the worker put into place........and the product started being churned out........more stitching in another corner of the room....(yes Gail...its your pattern...)....and yet more stitching........Lorraine was let out the sweat-shop to lay out her wares for the evening...(and get tea ready)...we all went for a look......and the nearly finished product was looking good - cant wait to see it finished! Next time we think we might tie Lorraine to the chair then the project will get finished (but then we might not eat?)...some even managed a jig to celebrate....In between the sweat-shop and the meals, Lorraine managed to get quite a bit of quilting done on her Florabunda quilt - beautiful!...my effort was these stitcheries....(pretty pathetic really!)By this time, it was time to leave. We headed off for lunch on the way home to the local gaol......where one managed to get incarcerated!Lunch was at the lovely Normanville Hotel. The lead light windows and doors alone are worth going to see, never mind the food!!!And to end this post, a pic of a beautiful rose that I received from a dear friend - how nice is that?

Cravendale - Cats with Thumbs

2011-05-01T17:29:00.000+09:30

Free Hugs, Sondrio, Italy - Just beautiful

2011-04-30T10:51:00.002+09:30

Was reading Khristina's blog and just had to re-post!!!

Happy Easter to you all....

2011-04-24T18:28:00.012+09:30

The weather has been terrific here this Easter Weekend, except for the nights - they have been rather cool. Since my last post, we have had a couple or so of birthday parties! All been good!!
Blake celebrated his 18th.....One of the Snobs & Slobs - Glenice - had her 70th!!!Cos she is a quilter and sewer, her wonderful daughter Dawn got the theme of sewing happening throughout the room, including these lovely decorated cup cakes with fondant buttons on them.
You might notice in the background there was bobbins of thread and tape measures hanging around the place.
Glenice with her hubby, daughter and grand daughter.
As I mentioned earlier - tis Easter, so Claire and I headed up to the Barossa to stay with Lorraine. On the way there we encountered a rather large loose rabbit in the street. These people were obviously trying to catch said rabbit, but didn't seem like they were having much luck. Fortunately it was the only one we saw on the way out of town!

A craft fair at Angaston was on the days agenda - so off we trotted.....and guess what???? There "just" happened to be a fabric vendor there!! What a surprise that was :) LOL. So of course I made a promise that I wasn't going to purchase any fabric this weekend...............hmmmmm!

Back to Loz's for lunch and of course STITCHING!!!!
We then turned the cement mixer on, plastered our faces, changed our clothes and hit the town! Well, Saltram Wines in Angaston to be exact! Went to see Libby O'Donovan to be exact. What a laugh that was...not exactly as we expected, but thoroughly enjoyable from the beginning to the end of the show.Spent a wonderful night in the Hotel Loz. Woke this morning to a beautiful bright blue sky and Rose banging on the door to be let in.....this pic is nothing like the ones Loz takes of her...couldn't quite get her to keep her head still...LOL

We left mid morning to head home and for me to head off to a family birthday party. You can see that the two children were having a good time...as were the rest of the children (Easter Eggs abounded) and the adults too!

Tomorrow is Anzac Day for us here in Australia. A moment to reflect and remember.

Lest We Forget... 2 all the fallen Soldiers that died for our country I thank you 4 what u did to help build this amazing Nation we call Australia..... To 3000 Soldiers OS now I hope your tour is safe and we as a nation welcome you on your return.. I have total respect for what you do as to take another mans life must be one of the hardest things in the world to live with.. Bless you all..

Some people make you sick!

2011-04-17T00:51:00.004+09:30

Just read Quilty Gals blog and am going to post her post - in the hope that what has been taken can be returned to the rightful owner!!!

The lovely talented

Nicole

was at AQC promoting her

new book

when this bag was stolen

We are flooding the internet with the picture

hoping to either find the bag

or worry the hell out of the person who took it

to maybe send it back to Nicole......

Go to Nicoles blog to read further about this

& how it has affected her....

Basically it stinks....

GOSH!!!

2011-04-02T17:44:00.006+10:30

Where has this year gone already??!!! I cant believe I have been so slack on the blogging side of things :( So, to bring you all up to date, things I have done since the last decent blog.....made a quilt for a friend....
Applied for a new job....and got it! (Well... I didn't really apply for it...my name got put forward...had the interview....and got accepted!!) So it was off to do a Senior First Aid course for two days - very tiring having to concentrate for that length of time at my age! Passed that :) Had a Police Check done...passed that :)) And then it was off to Sydney for 5 days training...and of course...passed that. Was totally exhausted at the end of the 5 days. I had a wonderful time though, meeting up with the other women from all over Australia, we laughed, some cried (she admits to be a sooky la la) and worked hard for a good end result. So you ladies know who you are out there in cyber land - THANK YOU!
So now you're all wondering what my job is....YWCA Encore Facilitator , so if you click the highlighted link you can have a read on what we are about!
Plenty of excitement was had on out 3rd night in the hotel - just about to turn the light out to get some shut-eye and the fire alarm went off. So off we trot from our 6th floor room down the stairs to the street at 10.30ish pm in our nighties and pj's. Gladly it was a false alarm. But we did get some eye candy to make it worthwhile when the firemen arrived :)))))))And of course a visit to Sydney is not complete without going to see the icons of the area. One of our colleagues was from Western Australia and had not been to the big city before. So two of us decided we would take her around a bit and show her the sites. So off we trotted (or walked I should say and stumbled back!) to the Opera House....

...the Harbour Bridge....
....Circular Quay....

.... The Rocks, shopping, dinner and then a trot up Oxford Street. For those that don't know, this is the street where the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is held. We missed it by a week I believe. Our friend was in awe of the whole city and we loved showing her around as best we could.

So then back to a reality check....quilting....always good for the heart and soul I think. Brings you back to grass roots level :)) (Said with a grin) (Cos if you ever get the chance to be in a group, especially ours....you get to discuss ALL sorts of things that go on in this world - and most of them are things most people only think and do not say)

This week I was fortunate though to have two quilting days consecutively --- one with the Snobs & Slobs - of which I took no pics this week. It was a quietish???? meeting as one was on an appointment, one was sick.

Then we had a bit of a blogger get together with Lorraine, Shay, Claire and last but not least Kris. I did take some pics today, as you can see they are not all serious ones! However we did sort the world out - which is something us quilters seem able to do quite easily.

So, now its off to sort some bits and pieces out ready for my day tomorrow - a 2 year old birthday!!!!

This lady is truly awsome! She is blind!!! You just have to watch :)

2011-02-28T23:49:00.001+10:30

Gosh....

2011-02-08T14:46:00.003+10:30

.....I cant believe that it is February already! So far this year has just flown by and I have done very little in the way of any personal quilting or stitching! Better pull the proverbial finger out I think!!! So having said that, there is not much to show on here today. But taking a step back a month or two, to the Christmas break - Dad, Dad-in-law and myself went to visit some family for an hour or two. There is nothing like little children to make you smile - and we certainly did that in their company. We came out of there with aching faces due to the antics and things they said. Thank you girls for a lovely afternoon!! xx
One of our friends recently turned 50 - much to her disgust I believe - so I made her a quilt. Do you think she liked it?! LOL The pattern is called Trade Winds and was a freebie on the web, easy to do and went together very well.
Last Friday night was spent at a trivia quiz for one of the local Zonta groups. We came equal last (seems to be a trend for us at these nights) but we had a great laugh. Our friend 'Nev the Echidna" is playing Heads and Tails - we didn't win at that either. However I did win a bag (unfortunately I already had three of these in the cupboard at home) and fortunately one of the friends on the table has always wanted one so it got passed down the table to her - so all was happy.
Saturday was spent catching up for lunch with some quilters that Quilty Gal and I have known for a number of years. Great catch up and chat.
Then we toddled off to one of the local beaches for a mooch around a community market. The weather was absolutely beautiful on the beach front. The goods and chattels that were for sale were nice to view too. We managed to find some wonderful tea "Chocolate Marmalade" - no preservatives etc and made by a local company in the Barossa Valley which is great!! Very nice flavour to the tea too!!! Amongst the stall holders there was Leanne and Amanda who had some beautiful bits and bobs for sale. Then we met up with Granny Loz and her friend for a coffee and chat, which was delightful. Always nice to catch up with friends and have a relaxed chat.

So now its back to the grindstone for a few days or so till the weekend rolls around again!!

A friends thoughts...

2011-01-21T19:15:00.003+10:30

that I would like to share with you!

Today I saw a friend at the shops. I was telling her about the lady that won the quilt yesterday and how thrilled she was at receiving such a lovely prize. My friend said she knew how the winner felt. I had given her a lap quilt last year. It is one of the all over scrappy heart quilts that I have made. She got the quilt at a moment in her life when her own heart was rather fractured. Today she said that every day she gets up and before leaving the house - looks at the quilt and decides which heart she is going to take with her for the day! Isn't that just a beautiful thing to do??? I was very touched and honored that someone thought that much of one of my quilts. Makes it all worthwhile. Thank you Helen xx

Mid January already!

2011-01-21T00:55:00.006+10:30

Where on earth has the last month gone??? Well, Christmas came and went, as did the New Year. Sadly a couple of SW's family members decided to leave the planet within two days of each other. Very sad. But they are in a happier place now :) We had a fairly quiet time of it all though. Summer has been strange for us in Australia this year, extreme rain and flooding in many parts of the country - and for SA very strange cold to hot days next to each other!

Anyway, on a happier note....today I had the pleasure of handing over a 1st prize that was won in a raffle that I had sold tickets in!!! The lucky recipient was very happy with her winnings!! Congratulations Ella!This raffle was to raise money for a program called "Encore" which is run by the YWCA and is for women who have experienced breast cancer. The quilt was made and donated to the cause by some wonderful women in the Salisbury Stitchers Group - so thank you from me ladies!!

The other nice thing that I was stoked about was my Ginger Plant flowered!!! woohoo!!! I am not a green thumbed person so this was a great achievement to see the flower - so of course have to show it off here!!!

My thoughts...

2011-01-15T11:19:00.003+10:30

....go out with sympathy to all the people and animals in Queensland at the moment. May the waters soon recede and the rain dry up and that life can begin again.

Seasons Greetings...

2010-12-24T09:26:00.002+10:30

...to all my friends and family. May you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May 2011 bring a great year for all of you.

Take care, enjoy the season and see you all soon.

Hugs

Christmas...

2010-12-08T18:09:00.003+10:30

I was sent this poem - by whom, I cant remember. But found it on the web again today. So thought I would like to share it with you all and particularly those that have lost a dear one this year. I read the words and try to put into perspective the thoughts. Hope you enjoy it and take comfort in the words.

This poem was written by a 13 year old boy who died of a brain tumor that he had battled for four years. He died on December 14, 1997. He gave this to his mom before he died. His name was Ben.

My First Christmas in Heaven

I see the countless
Christmas trees
around the world below
With tiny lights, like Heaven's stars,
reflecting on the snow

The sight is so spectacular,
please wipe away the tear
For I am spending Christmas with
Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs
that people hold so dear
But the sounds of music can't compare
with the Christmas choir up here.

I have no words to tell you,
the joy their voices bring,
For it is beyond description,
to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me,
I see the pain inside your heart.
But I am not so far away,
We really aren't apart.

So be happy for me, dear ones,
You know I hold you dear.
And be glad I'm spending Christmas
with Jesus Christ this year.

I sent you each a special gift,
from my heavenly home above.
I sent you each a memory
of my undying love.

After all, love is a gift more precious
than pure gold.
was always most important
the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other,
my Father said to do.
I can't count the blessing or love
has for each of you.

So have a Merry Christmas and
Wipe away that tear
Remember, I am spending Christmas with
Jesus Christ this year.

End of term...

2010-12-05T20:08:00.007+10:30

has come around again! Seems to happen quicker and quicker as the years go by. This last term I decided to learn to decorate a cake - at the Thursday craft group that is! Even though I had to work for a couple of the days and missed out on the lessons, I managed with the help of our wonderful teacher Beth, to complete my cake for Christmas!!!! Every one did a splendid job and I was extremely happy with my finished product, so thank you Beth :)
All the completed cakes....
My cake - like me, plain and simple!! LOLEnd of term also saw the completion of two wall hanging quilts that I had been asked to co-ordinate for the Craigmore Christian School. It was their 30th Birthday in October of this year, so we were a little late in completion (for various reasons). The hangings were handed over to the Head Mistress - breath was taken - and then we could breathe! as they turned out wonderfully. The blocks were worked by the ladies of the Thursday Craft Group, the Creche children and some of the pupils, classes, students and ex-students from the school. I must say that I was thrilled with the hangings and was proud to hand them over.
The theme was ' What does this group, school or area mean to you?'
This weekend saw SW and I take some time off from 'normal' life - and spent some time doing almost nothing at all!!!!!!! Except eat, drink and be lazy!!!! It was SW brothers 50th Birthday and we all headed up the river for a couple of days (Murray River that is). We had a beautiful house to stay in, lots of good food to eat and lots of laughs and chats. So THANK YOU!! Michael and Denise for a great time.

The house....
The birthday boy and cake...Some of the breakfasters.....Some of the local wildlife...One of the toys that we played with.....which I got tossed off and into the very cold water!So now we are back home relaxing and looking forward to another busy week!

Gosh!!

2010-11-19T23:23:00.010+10:30

A month since my last post!!! Well, since then we have had a couple of birthdays in the family...which were all nice ones to celebrate. I have been working for a few days - that's been a nice bit of money before Christmas! And of course one of the highlights that happens every 6 months is the Snobs & Slobs bi-annual getaway to Carracklinga. We celebrated Angela's birthday while we were down there, so I baked a cake and put a candle or two in it for her to blow out.Then we had a lovely dinner to celebrate again that night. Our friendly family of Magpies came for a visit and feed again.There are some new houses being built up the street so one of the Snobs and one of the Slobs took a stroll in their pj's for a look!On the menu for the weekend were some very yummy looking dates that were a bit large to fit in the mouth in one bite - as Lynne can attest to...Believe it or not...amongst this madness and mayhem...some sewing did get done by all!!! Kay and Claire did a Cathedral Window each.Lorraine did some stitcheries. Angela did some hand quilting.
Glenice did her nails!! LOL
Glenice did do some stitching tho seriously - just didn't get a pic of her doing it!!!!
On the way home we stopped in at the Alexandrina Cheese Factory - and Claire had to have a play...So did Lorraine...And while we sitting having a drink there, a little Blue Wren popped by the window for a look at the monkeys on display!!This week we have had some sunshine believe or not! And one of the days allowed my dads cactus to bloom..... shame they only last a day tho :(
Now the count down starts for Christmas!!!

Three days to go.....

2010-10-16T23:45:00.002+10:30

...and I get to see by BF QuiltyGal again!!! Hooray!!! Cant wait to see her as I have missed her a lot. So if you are reading this Claire, have a safe and sound journey home. Hugs till Tuesday xx

And after the sun.....

2010-10-15T22:27:00.005+10:30

....even more rain!!!! and cold!!!!! and windy!!!!!!!!!
But never the less, there is nothing we can do so we just have to plod on :)
I have to share this pic of these lovely roses I received last week from a friend of mine. The peachy ones are called Florence, and the green ones are really green!!!! and not dyed.Last weekend was our youngest great nieces birthday, so we all trotted off for some coffee and cake. Happened that the weather was absolutely beautiful, so we sat outside and enjoyed the sun. One of the children there, had her 'baby' with her, so just HAD to take a pic and share it with you all. Sadly she is not as cute as the baby I posted on here last week. But her 'mother' loves her, so I guess that's all that counts!!! LOLSo that you all are not too traumatized after viewing the above pic, I will leave you with another pic of my flowers!

A busy weekend....

2010-10-05T12:37:00.003+10:30

was had by all!! I attended the first AMQF (Australian Machine Quilting Festival) here in Adelaide. I cant put any of the pics up of the quilts but I can tell you it was a wonderful display.
I can show you a pic of one of the teachers there - Pam Clarke from the USA - lovely lady!!! I was fortunate to be her "Angel" for a couple of classes so was able to sit in for the lesson. If you ever get a chance to go to one of her classes - don't hesitate! Very patient, knowledgeable and funny teacher. I was also fortunate enough to catch up with some friends from the past, meet lots of new friends and bloggers. This Festival was about machine quilting, whether it be domestic sewing machine or one of the larger long arms. Another will be around in two years time - so keep your eyes and ears open for the venue :)During the course of the weekend, there was a young couple who visited the show with their little baby. And of course I just had to take a pic!!!! The little one slept like this for the few hours mum and dad were viewing and walking around - wish I could sleep like that!! How comfortable she looks :)
Earlier this week I was able to deliver a shadow box to my friend who is involved with the Volunteers at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. There was a handout of several or more boxes earlier this year and the recipients were left to do as they pleased to decorate. I chose movie themes. Very simple but I think effective. These boxes are going to be placed around the hospital later this year. The idea is to for the boxes to be a bit of a light entertainment while visiting the hospital.
Well....of to do some work now, so till later, stay safe!!

PS We actually have sunshine and warmth finally in South Australia!!!!!!!!! Yeh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just had to put this on the blog!!!

2010-09-30T17:26:00.002+09:30

May be we could all learn something from this clip?

http://www.slide.com/r/hD6DvyAOxD9ClUhvUpVcUMABW9QzpGnQ

I can now show you....

2010-09-27T01:29:00.006+09:30

...what the earlier mess in the corner of my workshop was about!!! As you all know QuiltyGals daughter got married a couple of weeks ago, well the mess was in the corner from making this little Double Wedding Ring Quilt for the happy couple!
I decided to embroider some words of "wisdom"?? on the back so if they wanted a change of scenery they just have to turn the quilt around.
Last week SW and I took a trip to one of our local shopping centres - haven't been there for a while - and since the last time a new shop (I am sure one of many) has popped up! An English, American and Australian Sweet Shop :))) We had a bit of a splurge indoors there..will have to curtail over the next few weeks now :((
This weeks craft finishings include the two following quilts. Both by ladies who are beginners.
The first is Teena's candlewick quilt - she wanted to use up some of her lace so did a really wide border and sashing which just finished the whole thing off lovely. Excellent work Teena :)
The second was Sandra - beautiful job Sandra!!!
One of our friends daughters celebrated her 18th just recently, so I thought she might need a quilt to go with the rest of her gifts.The other night SW and I were coming back home from a trip to the Adelaide Hills. The sunset was so magnificent I just had to stop and take a pic. Unfortunately the pic does not show how red the sun was while setting. Last night two very dear wonderful friends took SW and I out for dinner to a lovely restaurant in the hills - Windy Point. We had a fab meal (even have quite a lot of gluten free food there too!!) and when dessert came we just had to take a pic to share with you all what we had in front of us to eat - its a hard road but someone had to do it!!! LOL

And finally, for all you quilters out there that live in Adelaide or near (or those that would like to travel here) there is a quilt show happening. It is the "Australian Machine Quilting Festival" and is being held at Endeavour College, Mawson Lakes. Go to the link for more details :) Hope to see you all there.

The newlyweds....

2010-09-12T03:19:00.005+09:30

My best friends (QuiltyGal) daughter Whitney and her new husband Nathan aka My Little Pony (as named by his dad when we were in Wales a few years ago! lol)

...and even more rain!!

2010-09-11T01:03:00.005+09:30

I just found out today that 'they' ( the weather people) say it is going to be raining right up till Christmas!!! Might just have to go overseas till then :)
Talking of overseas...here is Quilty Gal and Quilty Man awaiting their departure from Adelaide to go on a journey that will take them far, far away to the land of Daffodils and Leeks!Also travelling with the pair is Quilty Child (well, cant really call her a child anymore saying she is almost 21 !!!)As we left the airport even more rain came down, but we plundered on and went to see some friends who have a brand new baby - let me introduce you to Maya - soooo cute (I tried to smuggle her under my jacket but I was caught out )
She is only 3 1/2 weeks old here but is very alert and quite a strong little girl.
Then it was back out into the rain again - nearly got lost in the council strip as it was so sodden with water. Oh well, lets hope this means no water restrictions this summer!!!

Oh my goodness....

2010-09-03T19:07:00.012+09:30

......rain, rain and yet more rain!!! I know we need it but.....enough is enough!!! Anyway, onward and upward as they say!
Since my last post I have not done a lot - due to the fact that I managed to spear tackle myself in our lounge and ended up with some fractured ribs :((( rather sore unfortunately!
A lovely lady brought me some flowers to cheer me up - really nice thing to do saying I had only met her the week before!!
However, I have managed to get to the Snobs and Slobs bi-weekly meeting (only wild horses keeps us away). This lovely quilt was completed by Lorraine - unfortunately the picture doesn't do the quilt a lot of justice - the colours are quite stunning in real life.As you all might know, we had our miniature festival last month - one of the items I bought was some little shoe boxes and shoes - I had to make them up and was quite pleased with the end product. Now just have to think where they will go!Some friends had their first baby last month - a beautiful little girl called Maya. This was the little quilt that went her way to keep her warm in this awful cold winter.The back was a bit different than the front - and quite different for me to do! (colour wise that is)
SW and I were invited to a friends 50th Birthday Party also last month (quite busy really when you look at what we did in August and here I was thinking it had not been much at all!!)
So here is Louise on the right and Debbie (the hostess on the left)
As you can see the theme was Western - cowboys etc. The cake was a wonderful effort and was a banjo.SW and the host, Neville. Looking really happy don't you think???

Speaking of cakes.....this delightful piece was done by Debbie's daughter as a trial type cake. How cute is it????Last month, Norma from the Thursday craft group, finished a little quilt she started a few months ago. Once again, a job well done Norma!!The Snobs and Slobs do a quilt for whoevers child in the group turns 21. This month it is Quilty Gals daughter, Kayla who turns the key of life. So in our group tradition, we made her a quilt! (How about that then??? LOL) I think you can tell by her face that she likes it!
Tomorrow SW and I are off to the airport to wave a short goodbye to Quilty Gal and co - as they are off to the UK. Hopefully the wind and rain will hold off for a short while till they get in the air and settled in to the flight!

Well folks, it is still blowing a gale and raining heavily....so I might go and make a hot chocolate and plant myself in front of the fire for the rest of the night!!

It came and it went...

2010-08-12T20:56:00.005+09:30

Our 25th Festival of Miniatures that is!!!! If you would like to take a look at what we had on display please lop on over to S.A.M.E. and take a look - its quite a long blog, but worth the look :)

So not much has happened over the last few weeks due to the fact that we have been preparing and finishing off our projects for the Festival. However, I still got along to my Thursday craft group.

Jessie made another of the quilts that we did in group this year - this one I believe is going overseas.
Norma made a lovely little hexagon quilt from a book that her family bought her just recently.
Well done ladies!

We visited the relies last week and the Maddy the middle girl decided she was quite comfortable in her dressing gown over her clothes and of course had to top it off with her sunnies - and I just thought she looked so funny and cute, I had to take a pic!

August is almost here....

2010-07-29T16:38:00.004+09:30

...so that means its almost time for our Annual Festival with the SA Miniature Club. It is our 25th Anniversary this year, so as expected the theme is silver. If you have time - please come along and see what we do in the 'little world' we often live in :)
Besides the 'little' displays, there are traders, demonstrations and of course scones and tea (and coffee and cake and sandwiches and an array of other delightful foods)

And the winner is....

2010-07-18T15:23:00.006+09:30

well almost a winner!! We have had the Building and Home Improvement Expo on in Adelaide this weekend. Part of the show had a competition run by Interflora and my friend Lynette entered (as she is a florist :) ) and she took out two 1st prizes and came Overall Runner Up!!!! I was so thrilled for her. She won a lovely trophy - and money which is always handy. So if you want some nice flowers sent to someone or for yourself, just go and see her at Roses of Elizabeth and you will be sure to get a wonderful arrangement from a winner!!!Here is Lynette with her trophy and employers - Rob and Karen.

Well done Lynette!!!

A run out.....

2010-07-16T15:21:00.005+09:30

and a bit of money spent!!! I know, I know....my friends! that I said I wasn't buying any fabric unless I had a project for it.......well........who could go past this great bargain???? SW and I took the Dads out for the day up to Strathalbyn and of course just HAD to go into Kirkbride Quilts!! These two beautiful packs were for sale, so they had to come home with me. One of the packs will be used in a project that is on the table at the moment and I am more than sure I can find something for the other pack!!! Anyway, Sally at Kirkbride, has now got a lovely cafe happening at the shop now - so not only are your eyes sent into a spin with the fabric delights but now your nasal passages are sent on a dream too!!!

Not much on the home front....

2010-07-11T15:53:00.011+09:30

....even tho I say that, I wonder what I do with my time??? Friday was Snobs and Slobs Day at my place. Quilty Gal and her sister were doing some crocheting - this was the product at the end of the day!! Quilty Gal had been teaching Sis to crochet for the best part of the day - then we found out that Sis had previously been to lessons for said craft!!! We wouldn't of guessed - LOL!!!Last weekend SW and I went to a friends 80th Birthday - very nice indeed!! This is me and Yvonne (the 80th lady)

Then I went to a Baby Shower....looking forward to the baby coming along next month (or earlier according the mum-to-be).
I have been doing some sewing, but can only show you the mess I made making the quilt (as the finished product is a secret at the moment:) )This pic is of the last of my roses for the season - lasted over a week in the vase!! Amazing...for any of my flowers to last long!!!

We also had a lunar eclipse last week - took a pic of the moon before it happened - but it doesn't really show how bright the moon was - it was soooo bright that you couldn't see any stars in the sky!!! Anyway...made a wish so just waiting for it to come true now :)A friend has two guinea pigs - girls...then one turned to a boy.... and this littlie is the result!! How cute?Well, better go and get the tea prepared - celebrating my Dads birthday today :))

Go to this site....

2010-07-03T22:09:00.004+09:30

'Stash Manicure' - lovely to visit for a read and they are having a wonderful giveaway :) (Just click the pic) Be quick cos it ends on the 4th July 2010!!!

Roll on summer...

2010-06-20T20:30:00.007+09:30

is all I can say!!!! Have I told you all before that I dislike winter???? LOL
Never the less.... more finished (or near finished) work by some of the Thursday Craft ladies.
This quilt is made by Teena and is her first attempt!! A terrific effort.This is Una with another of her Heart Quilts - love the colours.One of the Margaret's (there are a few in the group - the rest are called Mary!! LOL - been calling one of the ladies Mary all year only to find her name is Jan!!!) has just about finished a lovely bear quilt stitchery.Quilty Gal (one of the Snobs and Slobs ) has made this lovely quilt top - using only what she had in her stash! Well done Claire, lovely quilt.

Well I am about to move from the computer desk to the sewing table to complete some tops, so see you all later.

How I hate the cold winter....

2010-06-09T22:54:00.011+09:30

but at least we have had some reasonable rain!!! Tonight our cats decided that they would help out and with our hobbies - Rose thought SW needed some guidance on the computer while Tiger was busy supervising the sewing! They are so funny at times - usually Rose sits and waits for the SW to finish and promptly jumps into the warm seat :)
Last Thursday many of the Craft ladies finished their quilts off - so here are some more following from previous postings -
Norma and her green quilt - going as a gift to her sister who is in aged care. Jessie's lovely brown quilt - also going as a gift to a sister. And a pink one that I think she is keeping. Ella finished quilting her lovely quilt and it is now finished!There are still a few ladies who are working on their quilts so stay tuned for the rest!!!

As you might know from previous years - we (SW and I) belong to S.A.M.E and our annual show is coming up in August (more in future posts). The club has been gathering our bits and pieces and getting ready for the show :)) One of the things we do is have a raffle for several room boxes over the duration of the weekend. Here is one that has been completed and ready to go - it is in 1/24th scale so is quite small. (Keep your eyes posted for more to come)Well, I am off to try and warm my feet up before they drop off with the cold!

More nearing the end...

2010-05-27T21:37:00.009+09:30

...of the wonderful quilts that the Thursday ladies have been making this year.
Dianne with her Blue one
Margaret with her Green one
Mary with her Pink one - Mary has added another 3 of her own blocks to make this a larger quiltClose up of the bottom centre blockI took my machine along today so that the ladies could see how to do free hand stippling and little patterns themselves on the quilts. Jessie had to be prised off with a chisel at the end of the morning!!!! Guess who might finish her quilt first????

A winner!!!!

2010-05-27T21:25:00.006+09:30

Tonight our local Spotlight store had a market night - so off Quilty Gal and I trotted, quilts tucked neatly under our arms. They were having a bit of a competition as well as the market so we thought we would give it a go and see how we fared this year. So....guess what???? I won!!!! woohoo...a big THANK YOU to all the folks that voted for my quilt and thanks to Spotlight for the lovely voucher of $100 to spend - after having vowed this year that we (both Quilty Gal and I) weren't going to buy fabric we would just stash away, we relented and spent 2/3's of the voucher:)))The quilt that won is "Florence's Floral Folley" - so thanks mum!!
Pic is with Janice who organised the comp and Nathan, the store manager :))

Rain!!!!!!

2010-05-25T00:23:00.002+09:30

but where did it go??? We had a little thunder and a bit of lightening and then some rather large raindrops....and now a cricket chirping in the window!!!!!!!!This year at our craft group we decided (or I decided!) that we would do a Mystery Quilt. Some of the ladies are now getting near the completion of the project top. So here is Ella with her purple top.

Lorraine with her green top.

Una's almost completed quilt - Una added three blocks of her own to make it a larger quilt.

One of the Snobs put together her 'scraps' and came up with this lovely quilt top. Lorraine said it just grew and grew and didn't realise how big it was till she finished sewing it all together. I think it is absolutely beautiful - as are all Lorraine's quilts!

In a previous post, I uploaded some pics of two quilts, well now they are finished!! Yeh!!!! The first is called "Sew Many Hearts", this is going off to our local hospital cancer unit for raffling next week along with a small settee that my Dad has made.

The second is the hexagon quilt made with my Mums fabric - 'Florence's Floral Fancy'. I quilted it with the pattern called Florence, which is a flower pattern and am thrilled with the finished product. My dad cut the hexagon papers and fabric for me so it was a joint effort. Tried to get him to tack some of the hexagons, but at the end of a nights work and only having 5 hexagons 'tacked' (speaking loosely here) he decided that it was a good job he was not on piece work and getting paid, so he gave it up as a bad joke. Anyway, the quilt will go to him once I have done a couple of show and tells!

I am hoping to be able to get a bit more sewing done this week - got the yukky stuff to do next - taking up hems on men's pants and fixing some other bits and pieces up :(((

So till later, stay warm!

The sun was shining brightly.....

2010-05-19T21:02:00.014+09:30

still!!! Its winter and we have hardly seen any cloud or rain :( However, we did have a wonderful S&S weekend again as usual. We were very good food wise - as you can see, there was very little junk food this time round :)

We did have a dessert on Friday night tho, Kay made a lovely rice pudding.

Claire took her machine down this time and she cut and sewed her lovely fabric finally - we have had the packs since Christmas!!! The pattern is called Bread and Butter and looks good enough to eat.

She (Claire) also found a new friend down at the house - so she has a pet rock for companionship when she is feeling lonely.

Kay put some of her hexagons together and so far the quilt is looking lovely - and getting bigger and closer to the end day by day.

We were very good tho in regards to shopping for fabric on the way down - we called into Tricia's Discount Fabrics - and we ONLY bought what we needed to finish off projects!!!! How good is that????

Then of course Sunday afternoon came and it was back to reality - called in to Spotlight on the way home - but guess what??? We didn't buy a single thing! I think a trip to the docs might be in order for us now tho :( must be something wrong when quilters don't buy fabric!!!!!!

Oh my goodness....

2010-05-11T14:31:00.003+09:30

I can't believe it has been sooo long since I last posted!!! Well now, whats been happening??? My dad had his knee replaced several weeks ago so he has been the main agenda. However, I have managed to get some hand sewing done in between docs visits etc. I have buttonholed about 250 hearts to be made into a couple of charity quilts..

finished hand sewing a quilt of hexagons that you might remember seeing on an earlier blog. This was my mums fabric...so have put them together and have called it "Florence's Floral Folly". The quilts just need to be quilted next!!!

and even went on a wine trip to the Barossa Valley with some friends! It was the first time I have been in a stretched Limo!!!

The quilt below is the first quilt one of the young ladies at the Thursday morning craft has completed :) Well done Shelley :)))

This weekend is our bi-annual Snobs and Slobs weekend away, unfortunately through different circumstances there will only be one Snob and two Slobs this time. However, we shall endeavour to have a good weekend nevertheless!!!

Happy Easter to you all

2010-04-01T00:42:00.001+10:30

Am I deaf????? Can I walk????

2010-03-15T22:31:00.002+10:30

Only slightly! and not properly!!! But what a fab day yesterday at the Clipsal - Holdens Rule!!! The weather was cool. The drinks expensive. But!!!!! The view was THE BEST!!! Who could ask more but to end a wonderful day with a wonderful view????? I know, youre asking what is she raving on about???...............Jon Stevens of course!!! It has been 14 years since I last watched Noiseworks with Jon perform and it felt like it was only yesterday...did they belt out the music and it was just the best. And of course there was Mental as Anything - ok. Ian Moss - great. Status Quo - do they rock!!! But you can't beat Jon. And for all out there that might be interested, it was mentioned there is a possibility that they (Noiseworks) will perform again towards the end of the year...woooohooo.
So anyway......today is back to reality and nose to the grindstone :(

V8's here we come....

2010-03-13T00:21:00.008+10:30

LOL!!! Tis the Clipsal 500 weekend here in sunny, warm Adelaide. My friend and I will be terrorising the track and field this Sunday :))) So anyone else that is going that might be reading this...look out LOL Tomorrow I will be dropping SW and Bro off so they can have their day at the track - which is good cos then I get a whole day to myself!!!!!!!!!!

Well today I spent a lovely day with Kristina and Naomi, sitting chatting and stitching. Thank you girls for a very nice day. Looking forward to the next one :)

Some of you might remember (or take a peek back to 2008 UK trip if you don't) my hubby was nicknamed the 'Squirrel Whisperer' after he had 'tamed' a wild squirrel while we were visiting our friends in Wales. Well....the little fella (or girl) has grown up a bit and has come back to visit the abode! Our friends seem happy the squirrel has returned and are kindly feeding it some lovely seeds and nuts. Next blog should have some pics of my new pieces of furniture - dont hold your breath those that know me personally - but......I have FINALLY purchased a china cabinet!!!!!!!!woooohoooo after only 25 years !!!!
Getting delivered next week, so I guess I might have to do some dusting of ornaments and hoovering at some stage.........maybe I wont either hahahahahaha

Whats new pussycat...

2010-03-02T01:19:00.009+10:30

whoa whoa whoa :)) LOL This is my latest bag!Which was inspired by this bag below. The picture is surrounded by lots of buttons...its a great way to use up all the odd ones in your collection and looks great too. So thanks Sandy for the pic of your bag xx

This little house was sooooo cute, I had to share it with you. It is one that SW has just finished. It is not living at my place unfortunately tho :( It is only small so you can tuck it up under your arm and go off and play !!
Adelaide has the Fringe Festival on at the moment, so last Friday a friend and myself thought we would go and take a look. Sadly we were ill informed about the times. So off we trotted to town only to find nothing started till 5pm!! So we had lunch in a lovely Chocolate Bean Cafe in the East End of town then went to Amoccoco ( a very large non jumping castle type thingy!!) This was a pic from inside. Very interesting place to visit - specially saying it was only $2 each to get in!! Then we chuffed off to a local hotel and had a beer (something I haven't done for a VERY long time) and then up the Mall we went. We were very good tho, didn't buy any shoes on this trip LOL
Friday night SW and myself visited with some friends who had friends over from interstate and the UK. Lovely cool night outside, great company and good drinks. Thanks Brian and Glenice and Co, we had a great time.

A few weeks down the track....

2010-02-18T00:17:00.012+10:30

..and I thought it was time to put a post on here! Thank you to all the lovely people in and out of Blogland that sent their kind thoughts to me and my family after the passing of my mum. I would like to share a little happening that occurred after mum passed away. On the day that we were going to get the flowers for the funeral (a friend is a florist, so said friend did a beautiful job!), my monthly quilting pattern arrived - this is like a magazine subscription, you never know what you might get. When I opened the packet, I found the pattern was a floral one, but the name of the pattern blew me away totally...."Florence"..... which was my mums name!!!! So make of it what you will!!!Anyway, here is my new project....the fabric is out of my mums stash....all shades of purple/lilac. My dad helped me cut out the paper for the hexagons and then he cut out ALL of the fabric for me!! Couldn't get him to sew it tho :( LOL This is one of my brothers doing his impersonation of Gene Simmons of KISS fame - with a slice of jelly!!!!
More food here yet again....my friends daughter had her friend come to visit Adelaide a few weeks ago from interstate... so we took them to Bracegirdles at Toorak Gardens for afternoon tea. We had a yummy lollie/chocolate fondue. I think we waddled out of there a little waddlier than we waddled in!!!
The SW's cousin had her 70th Birthday celebration in January, so I thought I would make her a Double Irish Chain quilt. Her mother was Irish and she loves greens and creams to thought this would be quite appropriate - I think the face tells how surprised she was at the gift.

One of my long time friends had a new addition to her family in December, so she asked my dad to make one of his famous chairs for the new great grandson. We went looking for fabric but couldn't find anything that we thought suited the moment...then I remembered I had purchased some car fabric some time ago....as usual it had been put in the cupboard for 'later', so I dug it out and presto! we have a uniquely covered chair for a little boy. (His dad has an old Holden so it fitted the bill very well.)

Last Saturday several of us quilters met up for a surprise lunch. We all had a lovely time catching up with each other (it has been several years since we had been together) We ate and chatted and promised to do it again but sooner the next time!!We have had a landing of a different kind in our kitchen!!! No...its not an alien spaceship - although I thought it was when my SW turned it on!!! Its one of those little ovens that cooks very quickly without much fuss or mess. Well, in the couple of weeks that I have had it, I have cooked nearly every night in it and it is wonderful!!! Very little heat, less cooking time and the flavour of the food stays in the food! Don't know why I didn't get one earlier!!!!
Well, tomorrow is Snobs and Slobs day again ...... seems like an eternity since the last one even though it was only two weeks ago! So I guess putting the world right will be on the agenda again!!! Cant wait.....

Rest In Peace...Mum

2010-01-14T23:02:00.004+10:30

This beautiful lady has been the main reason that I have not been doing much of anything lately. Sadly she passed on into another realm last night after a well fought battle. Courageous and strong till the end.
Love you forever Mum. xxxx

Happy New Year to you all...

2010-01-02T22:17:00.010+10:30

Lets hope that 2010 brings everyone a good year all round.

I have finally got some time and inclination to blog!!!! wooohooo!!!! So here is the lovely SSCS that arrived for me to open on Christmas Day - all the way from the lovely Tracey in the USA - THANK YOU Tracey for such a lovely parcel.
During the short time from Christmas till now, one of the lovely Thursday craft ladies has finished another quilt!! This one is by Ella, well done girl, great job!!! We now have break till the end of January - we will be doing a Mystery Quilt, so stay tuned for the end results!
Christmas Eve was spent at my brother-in-laws with all of his family. We had a good evening, especially when it came to giving our great nieces their gift. SW and his father had a joint effort in constructing the said gift - I think the girls were a little overwhelmed by the size of it tho!!! It didn't take long, they were soon opening the house and putting their dolls etc inside.

New Years Eve was rather quiet, we went to SW's cousins place for a BBQ - but we were home by 11pm. I did stay up and take some nice pics of the full moon tho!! We get two full moons this month and another two in March!! Aren't we the lucky ones??? lol

I haven't managed to do any sewing or stitchery much this last month, so there is nothing to show you this time :( So till next time, best wishes for 2010

2009

2009-12-25T00:59:00.003+10:30

I would like to wish all out in Blogland a Very Merry Christmas Day !!!! Hope you all have a good day XXX

I have a question for you all!

2009-12-09T16:37:00.010+10:30

Do you have Fairy Light Pixies living in your Christmas Boxes???? I am sure I do!!! I carefully packed the lights away last year and then carefully took them out this year to go on the tree, only to find they were in such a twist - it took me nearly 1/2 hour to untangle them!!! hmmmm....anyway the tree and decorations are up at last, so it feels a little like Christmas now.Yesterday my SCSS arrived!!! Wow what a loaded parcel, I am really looking forward to finding out what is inside the wrapping. I was allowed to open the Christmas Ornament - a lovely stitched heart. So a BIG THANK YOU to Tracey - hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas.The year has finished for the craft group that I go to - so here are the last few pics of items some of the ladies have finished. Mary did this lovely large cushion to compliment two smaller ones she had made earlier. Audry made several wall hangings as gifts for her children for Christmas.Jessie made this lovely stitchery more or less all by herself!! LOL So well done all you lovely ladies at Craft. Looking forward to the projects next year.

I also have to share with you all the next pic. One of my friends is a florist and she entered a competition two weeks ago. Unfortunately she was pipped to the post by one point - by her boss of all people!!! But it has given her encouragement to enter more in the future. So if you ever need some flowers or arrangements that are different just let me know and I can forward your request to her!!!

At least it is cooler this week!

2009-11-26T01:49:00.015+10:30

There have been a few days of late that have been rather disgusting heat wise to say the least. However, we manage to plod on to another day. Last weekend was the bi-annual Snobs & Slobs weekend away - and how fab it was!!! We were all hanging out to have some time-out from our usual humdrum of life. Of course we managed to fit a couple of quilt and fabric shops in - wouldn't be right if we didn't!!! Ate some chocolate (which we weren't going to do but couldn't help ourselves!) (but it wasn't the amount that was consumed 6 months ago on our last trip) The wine was also reserved this trip too. However, the comments from some of the group were as bad as ever. I really wished I had started taking down notes in the early days of our trips - could of written a book by now!! Most of the time I spend laughing at the innocence of them all and if this blog was X-rated I could probably share some with you .... but will just have to let your imagination go with the flow. But one I can share and did laugh at for a while "it was shrump up and felted"!! Now this was said with a clean mind, so how you read it - it is up to you!!!Us at Mick Shea's at Hackam, lovely place for food and drink.Some of the projects done over the weekend.Sunset on Thursday night - it was magnificent.Just to prove that we did eat healthy this time round.Theres a knob in every group - and I am afraid in this group its me!!! Looking for a wedding outfit!Us!!!!
This week saw the Secret Santa Swap get posted to its new home:) The Inchie Ornament swap also went off along with the PIF from earlier in the year. So nearly all my UFO's are done and dusted (those that I can find that is!!!!)

How I feel old!!!!

2009-11-16T20:45:00.004+10:30

Last night Quilty gal, her daughter, a few other friends and myself went to see Sweet at one of our locals. There was a 70's/80's DJ on first so being as that was our 'era', we hit the dance floor (and today it feels like I definitely 'HIT' the floor) then on came a good reggae band, so we stayed on the floor. By the time Sweet came on tho, we left the floor, body not the same as it used to be!!! Nor are the eardrums!!! But a great time was had by all, and its nice to know that we still 'have it' to get up and have a move around.
I don't have any pics to post today - mainly cos I haven't taken any this last week!!! But the coming weekend is our bi-annual Snobs and Slobs weekend away at Carrakalinga, so I would say there might be few in the offing!! I am sorry in advance to disappoint anyone, but there wont be much (if any) chocolate there this time. Some of us have had the winter catch up with our girths, so fruit will be the order of the weekend!!!

Before any one says I should get a life.....

2009-11-08T23:31:00.014+10:30

...I do have one!!! In between visits to various medical facilities I do manage to get some work done, even though some might say "is that really work?" To prove it, here is my little bucket of Inchie Ornaments ready to be put together :)I must say that I have really enjoyed doing these little "quilts" and look forward to sending them to the appropriate recipients!!!
I also managed to finish of a few UFO's this week. This is "My Renaissance" by Michelle Hill. I hand appliqued all the pieces on with lovely matching rayon threads. Thanks Michelle for another lovely pattern to make up!These two quilts were started some time ago, but finally got quilted and bound!

This week I also received another birthday present! Aren't I the lucky one??? They are a pair of stones painted in 3d of cats - the pictures don't do them much justice. They fit beautifully in with all my other cat things - thank you Bev and Cliff (aka my adopted parents!) Today some of the Snobs and Slobs and one ring-in went to the Adelaide Craft and Quilt Show. I would like to say thanks to all the people who had a quilt on display - it was a good show and I feel rather inspired for another year!!! I believe if you go to the following link you will be able to view some of the quilts on show. http://saquilters.org.au
However, I can show you what I bought today....was rather restrained this year (mainly cos the Snobs and Slobs are off on our bi-annual trip to the coast in two weeks so am saving some spending for then!) I was quite happy with my purchases, and of course there had to be something to do with cats there....hopefully I wont take too long to make up the fabric with them on - cos its Christmas stuff!!!!I thought it might be nice to let you see what is growing in my garden at the moment (yes!!! growing!!!) (not a green thumb!!!)This is my fernery and I am very pleased with how it is coming along - lovely to look out on from my stitching room too.The yellow rose is a beautiful one - dont ask me the name of it cos I dont know - and my pot of naked ladies has made a great show this year. So I have to enjoy them the best I can before the heat gets too much and they start wilting.

And I thought I was doing well!

2009-11-02T11:44:00.015+10:30

Here we are at the beginning of November and I am half way through my Inchie Secret Swap, thought this was pretty good for me! Then mine secret swap arrived last Friday!!!!!! Lovely package from Alesandra from Italy. Thank you very much Alesandra (if I have spelt your name wrong let me know :) ) Since my last post, many of the ladies at the craft group have finished off their quilts that we started at the beginning of the year, some have gone on and started and finished other small projects. They are now waiting next year to come with a little bit of anticipation. I have decided that we are going to do a mystery quilt!! These ladies are quite new to quilting for the most part and most have not experienced doing a mystery quilt, so the outcome should be quite interesting (the journey through the year should be interesting too, with the questions that will be asked no doubt!) So here is Ella with her beautiful Christmas Stitchery quilt. Then we have Margaret with her lovely pink and green (don't they go together well?) stitchery quilt.Lorraine has finished her quilt and moved to doing a cushion with candlewicking. Margaret 2 also did a lovely little cushion in candlewicking.My mum finished her Christmas stitchery quilt also - great job mum!!!I had made this quilt for a friends birthday but Jessie decided that she might claim it as her work :)School holidays were here a couple of weeks ago so our craft group close for the holidays, so I decided to have the ladies over to my place for the day. There is always lots of food, laughter and chatter to see us through (not a lot of sewing gets done tho!) So the world got righted again till the next holidays!!!!The next photo is of a wedding cake that belonged to a friends daughter in Western Australia. Couldn't resist taking a photo of the photo of the cake - just reminded me of a patchwork quilt. What a great idea tho for a cake - saves on cutting it up later for the guests!And last but not least for today, a pic of the lovely Pigs Face plant at my parents house. The plant puts on a lovely show every summer and looks so bright and cheery and certainly says the weather is getting better here!
Well, I better get off and do some Inchie things and get my other Christmas swaps done and sent off!!

Birthday week!!!!

2009-10-05T17:25:00.012+10:30

ccaYeh!!!! Another year ticked :) Got to be happy with that - unlike some who don't like having birthdays....I do...I love them :)))) Had a good day at home with friends dropping in to say hello and later the fossils came over for tea. I got a new pet called Pepe - he is a Perfect Petz and does nothing but sleep all day - all I have to do is brush him from time to time....Some beautiful flowers and a bear called Valerie!!! Received a beautiful book on friends from Quilty Gal along with a lovely piece of fabric that will go perfectly with the next William Morris quilt.......a really cute jigsaw with quilts and cats from my brother-in-law and wife along with two jelly rolls, cake and an English Mars Bar......another cuddly bear, a Christmas doll and some more flowers, some soap and hand cloth, lottery tickets!!! How lucky am I???? This week I managed to get a couple or so quilts made and completed. The first is a quilt for hubby's relies daughters christening (only a couple of months late!) Its a crazy patch done with whites and various types of fabric. I do the stitching all on the machine using the different stitch designs. The second is a pink log cabin - this is for a friend who will be doing a raffle to raise funds for herself to go to Africa. She is going with the school and will be working and helping build an orphanage - "challenge" to say the least!So now its off to the cutting table to get going with some Christmas finishing off stuff....

A baby is born....

2009-09-22T17:19:00.005+09:30

....and how cute is it?! I would like to introduce "William" to blogland. For those of you who might remember, my friend Angela lost her little friend Winston along with her house and belongings earlier this year in a fire. Little William is Winstons half brother and was born last week, so we were able to go and pay the first visit to see the little fellow. I love cats and it was very tempting not to come home with one or two of the little fellows - I don't think my two would like it though. Here is William with his three brothers :) Sooooo cute Another of the Thursday ladies has completed her quilt, and here is the pic to prove it :) Well done Norma. Norma has already started on her next project, which I cant show on here as I think it might be a bit of a secret?

Almost hump day....

2009-09-15T23:47:00.005+09:30

nearly the middle of the week! The weekend came and went again - very quickly as usual - however, I managed to get a visit to one of the local Antique Shows that are doing the rounds here in SA. You will never believe what I bought???? Out of all the china, silverware, crystal, old jewellery etc........yes!!! a quilt pack....LOL. It was the only one there and the lady that sold it to me said she would never get to do it so decided to sell it on, lucky for me - it was less than half the original price!!! woo hoo - another item to put in the cupboard for posterity.An update on father-in-law...he is doing really well and very much on the way to being back to himself again. Thank goodness :))

Hmmmm....

2009-09-11T22:34:00.004+09:30

warm weather at last!! But alas..along came some very strong winds too!!! Was nice to be able to wear a short sleeve top again today.
Contrary to some beliefs - I am not a freak!!LOL Just to prove it ..... I haven't finished anything this week, other than frame the cross stitches that appeared on my blog last week!!!!
However, I do have another 'star' to add to the growing pictures of finished quilts. This lady is one of my group that has been learning to do stitcheries and quilting. This is her first quilt!! She adapted some of the embroideries to suit her needs, added a bit and took a bit off and then did a wonderful job of putting it together. So well done Lorraine!!!

Its still cold here.....

2009-09-07T00:12:00.008+09:30

but as long as you stay inside - you can stay warm! This weekend saw Father-in-law come out of hospital :) Still quite fragile, but coming along nicely - so thanks for all your kind thoughts this last week. We also had Fathers Day here in Australia - so I cooked lunch and trotted off to spend the afternoon with the Fossils.

Last Thursday I was given a little cross-stitch beading kit as a very early birthday present. It was a delight to make up - just got to get a frame for it now. Mill Hill do the kits and are just lovely to say the least. The stitching area is about 5" x 5" so it is not too big a project to tackle. I was very happy with the finished item as you can see! Last Friday was Snobs and Slobs day again (or the bi-weekly de-briefing session as I sometimes call it) One of the Snobs found this lovely apron in an op-shop recently. We all agreed that perhaps someone did not realise the age of the apron - it is embroidered with the Royal Crown and GR - which means it was probably embroidered during the reign of George who was crowned in 1937!! So we now look forward to the Snobs and Slobs day at said Snobs house and be served upon by a Royal looking tea lady!!! LOL This is the current state of my sewing (???) table. Things have been piling up a bit saying that I have been here and there of late. So the goal for the week is to have the items finished (they are cross stitches that need framing) hung on the walls and ready for the next bout of work to be done. You may of seen this book that Quilty Gal bought recently...well.....it was the Puffins that did it! I just had to have one, so mine arrived on Wednesday, so have been looking and looking and reading (mainly in the littlest room in the house) to see what project I will do first.....got to be the Puffins really!!!

Here we are.....

2009-08-30T16:09:00.006+09:30

...at the end of another weekend! Father in law is still in hospital - not sure how much longer at this stage - depends which Doc you speak to :)
Anyway, I have managed to get a couple of things finished ready for piccies!!
The first item is a Christmas cross stitch that I started last year! Finally finished and ready to be framed in time for this Christmas.The second item is another cross stitch that I started earlier this year. It is done with one colour of the gold variegated thread and was real easy to do. Not sure what the finished product will be yet though. Either make centre piece for the table or frame it??? The last item is a little wedding dress that is knitted and is only 5" long (for a 1/12th scale doll) Only got a few beads to add and make the veil and the gloves next!
Today the sun is shining but the wind is still cold. Till later, happy blogging xx

Hmmmm...what have I been up to????

2009-08-25T22:52:00.005+09:30

Well...not a lot of anything really! Other than working a little, staying warm and going to the hospital. The weather has been soooo cold here lately - one would of thought one was in the Arctic Circle this week. Altho, last Thursday we did hit over 20oC for the day, but alas it only lasted one day.
Unfortunately father-in-law has taken ill, the powers that be at first thought it was the dreaded Swine Flu, but turns out he has a multitude of things going on.... RSV, mild heart attack, blocked arteries and the list goes on....but they are doing their best to get him sorted out and back on his feet.
On a happier note, some of you might remember that I have been showing some ladies to do some stitchery and quilting this year? Well, this is one of the finished items - the lady is the picture is very happy with her finished product - it was her first stitch and quilt that she has done! So well done Jess!!! She barely got it finished and has started her next project...so wait to see what she does next:)

Its a kinda magic!!!!!

2009-08-09T23:45:00.007+09:30

Well - what a weekend it has been! Firstly we had the South Australian Miniature Enthusiasts annual show. Very good one it was. Hopefully some bloggers managed to get out and about and pay a visit. For those of you who didn't, there is always next year. Our theme this year was a French Chateau - quite magnificent. Here are a couple of pics of some of the rooms.
There was amongst many of the lovely and wonderful items on display - a little shoe shop by Shirley from Western Australia. Tonight Quilty Gal, her youngest daughter and myself went to see Queen - Its a kind of Magic show. Absolutely fabulous!! The whole group did a justice to the original Queen - so if you get a chance to see them - take it!!! The group sat down for autographs and pics at the end of the show - you don't get that very often these days. Thanks guys for a great night! (me and Craig Pescos alias Freddie Mercury:)

Aus Rose

The end of the week...

Its nearly Valentines Day...

For those that have not seen this one....

The Madness has begun...

Look whats coming up...

Happy New Year....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

More than one post....

Phew!

Only 4 weeks....

...the second part of this week....

Where did last week go?...

And finally....

Local week...

So 50 came and went....

And the celebrations have begun...

This weeks places...

A relaxing day....

Addendum...

A stop at last!

...how many miles?????

Here we are again.....

Flip the page...

Double.."oh my"!

Oh my!...

Planking...

Fundraiser Give Away....

Has summer come back?

Cravendale - Cats with Thumbs

Free Hugs, Sondrio, Italy - Just beautiful

Happy Easter to you all....

Some people make you sick!

GOSH!!!

This lady is truly awsome! She is blind!!! You just have to watch :)

Gosh....

A friends thoughts...

Mid January already!

My thoughts...

Seasons Greetings...

Christmas...

My First Christmas in Heaven

End of term...

Gosh!!

Three days to go.....

And after the sun.....

A busy weekend....

Just had to put this on the blog!!!

I can now show you....

The newlyweds....

...and even more rain!!

Oh my goodness....

It came and it went...

August is almost here....

And the winner is....

A run out.....

Not much on the home front....

Go to this site....

Roll on summer...

How I hate the cold winter....

More nearing the end...

A winner!!!!

Rain!!!!!!

The sun was shining brightly.....

Oh my goodness....

Happy Easter to you all

Am I deaf????? Can I walk????

V8's here we come....

Whats new pussycat...

A few weeks down the track....

Rest In Peace...Mum

Happy New Year to you all...

2009

I have a question for you all!

At least it is cooler this week!

How I feel old!!!!

Before any one says I should get a life.....

And I thought I was doing well!

Birthday week!!!!

A baby is born....