JACARANDADAZE

Dog Cat and Needle turn

2011-02-24T09:57:00.003+10:00

Our guard dog, a.k.a. the doorbell, ever alert, keeping a wary eye out the window for 'visitors'
Others, knowing they are totally protected and safe, just loll back and just take it easy.

GET OFF THE COUCH!!!.......just got me one slowly opened eye and totally ignored. Back to snoozville.

Progress so far on the needle turn adventure, I would really love to finish Val Laird's 'Consider the Lillies' free BOM, but........not sure needle turn is for me....this is the third needle turn method tried, it's from Esther Aliu's great tutorial on freezer paper applique, I get how to do the sides, and it kind of works, but the pointy ends definitely need more work. Beryl gave me some great pointers (if you will pardon the pun) on points yesterday, and I think the point on the leaf I'm working on is a little better than the others.......but.......well in praise of the block I guess you could say a blind man would be pleased to see it.....possibly.

Oh and one thing I really did learn, the little pattern pieces?, those little suckers are numbered for a reason!, and thinking you can just 'give it a go' and start here........not a good idea Tonto, got my flower stems crossed the wrong way! oooops!!

T.G.I.Monday

2011-02-21T09:24:00.005+10:00

We have palms by our front stairs, palms in flower at the moment, lots of lovely pollen laden flowers with bees busily harvesting.

After making the sad and late discovery that I had been snapping pics of a wonderful weekend with a dirty camera lens, popped out to the palm for a test run of the cleaned lens and snapped this pic. Quite pleased with it really.

We certainly did pack a bit in this weekend, lots of shopping, both real time/real stores as well as the net, The eldest Grandie discovered another wonderful site to shop to the limit of Grandmas Credit Card. Sunday Lunch was prepared by the Youngest Grandie, he had a bit of a challenge perfecting 'the claw', the best way for anyone to slice, no chance of a bit of nail or digit joining the dinner with the 'claw'.

He has his own little step ladder for 'kitchen helping', just the right thing for our smallest Chef.
And this is what he came up with, lovely tomato basil sauce. We grilled some Pancetta, grated a mound of Parmesan and served the lot layered in a dish with mini penne pasta. Major yummo.
The day was hot so after lunch we watched a movie in the air con but as soon as the shade hit the garden, the boys and Grandad constructed their own putting green and had a bit of a golf game, followed by some Archery practice - our target was a bit home made (dogs mat draped over a clothes horse - whatever - it worked)
And Grandma was presented with a couple of sea daises, with a little visitor attached.

Now, to get organised and try version 3 of learning needle turn applique, version one was less than successful, and version 2 was just a mess. version 3 - I'm going to follow the wonderful instructions and video that Esther Aliu has posted on her blog http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/

Wish me luck!!

Burying Threads

2011-02-18T08:42:00.005+10:00

Its been 8 months since I last posted, I used to get so much enjoyment from Blogging, not to mention Quilting and of course Cooking and of course blogging about same.

What happened???

I guess as others before me have said, Life Gets In The Way. Well it's a new year, a new (stronger) attitude and lets just get on with it.

Did a little mini tutorial on how to bury threads the K Grace Howes way for my Patchwork Group's blog and thought I would pop the same on here......a simple first step back into blogging

Grandies are coming for a sleepover this weekend, we will be very busy, there is the Library to visit and change our books, Croke (Croquet) has been promised, the construction of a putting hole in the lawn (Dunno how Grandad will feel about that) with putting to be practiced, Tennis in the back yard, and a cake to be cooked - with 3 handfuls of choc bits for extra chewy chocolaty-ness. Lots of Fun to be had.

Crazy Patch Thread and Needle Carrier

2010-06-07T17:27:00.005+10:00

Spent the day stitching this, its supposed to be a thread and needle carrier, supposed to be, it has a bit of an oopsie though....

I'll tell you how I oopsied.....

My patchwork group is having a crazy patch theme for this years Challenge, we have had lectures and tutorials, well I am not a great embroider, and found the whole crazy patch thing a bit daunting and was going to be a piker, but last night, while writing up the notes for the in house workshop we had on the thread and needle carrier workshop of last week, a brilliant idea surfaced!! Why not do a crazy patch thread and needle carrier!!!, too easy, tiny project, not too much embroidery and I could shorten the flap to make even less work......yay! ... (just proves - self praise really is no recommendation).

I'm sure you have seen the problem........by shortening the flap there is no way you can store the needles..........so I have a thread and one small needle only carrier....

So here is the bottom view and back view of my thread and one needle carrier!........who needs lots of needles anyway!

This is a pic of the finished carriers from our workshop. See the nice long flaps for the needles!

Maybe I could call it a lipstick carrier......perhaps.....ah well, its not gonna get a twin I can tell you that! the wretched thing took all day!......told you I'm no embroiderer.

Changes, lots of 'em

2010-06-03T11:37:00.007+10:00

Things have been a bit hectic in our neck of the woods, 3 weeks ago, our youngest visited friends in our old home town of Melbourne for a few days, came home and announced that he wanted to move back, he promptly got himself a couple of job offers, including his first choice, packed, moved to Melbourne and started work today!

We miss him dreadfully, and that empty flat downstairs wasn't helping, so decided to move my treadmill and other exercise stuff out of my sewing room and into the flat. Gets me more room in my sewing room and gives me a bit more room to exercise. So because it will probably never be this tidy again, I took piccies.

The above is taken from the double doors leading from the Verandah. The sewing desk/cutting desk/sandwich table is an old office desk with an extension built by DS2 onto the front to hold my Janome 6500 - lovely to have a continuous flat surface to quilt on.

Everything in my little room is multipurpose, there is an old singer treadle machine under the desk above, its shoved as far to the right as possible, on top of the old singer is a slide out deep shelf, in reality a piece of press board with tiny handles that I store my cutting mat and some rulers on, just grab the little handles to slide the lot out and onto the desk to cut.

The two pics on the left below show some shelving -common cheapie garage type - with pink plastic storage in the shelves and more storage stacked on the top, also shows part of DS1's old study desk on the right of the shelves, with quite a few of those little plastic storage drawers, books, boxes and files on top. The two pics on the right above show my sewing desk with the computer desk at right angels to the machine. Running along the side of the desk, resting on an old chest of drawers that I store my fatties in, is my ironing bench, again courtesy of DS2. I made an ironing pad to measure and bought a 2 yard length of teflon pressing sheet for the top. Plenty of storage between the ironing surface and top of the drawers for small cutting mats and rulers. The final pic is from the same angle with more of the bookshelves and a glimpse of the lowboy in the corner. Both the chest of drawers and the lowboy were bought for the boys as babies.

These two pics are the top half and the bottom half of the only full wall in my room, lots of plastic drawer stacks on top of the study desk and the wardrobe....All those drawers are labeled, not pretty but functional, I use a black marker and can erase easily if I (heaven forbid) finish a project or want to re-organise something. No more searching for this that and the other, I don't have to remember or second guess, just read the labels........saves me hours.......not to mention the frustration...

So I hope you have enjoyed seeing my space, not pretty to be sure, but it has just about everything that I need or want, including I can play free to air tellie on the computer screen.........or movies.....don't know how it works, just click an icon and up it comes. Gotta love having a techie Darling.

Photo of the Day

2010-05-22T16:30:00.005+10:00

A bit of a drizzly early morning, perfect for snapping this little sea daisy.

and catching a few raindrops on the leaves of the snowball bush.

Settling in for the night......

2010-05-10T20:09:00.004+10:00

Just before dusk I found this little beauty clinging to a plant. He really didn't want to fly away, just moved around behind the leaves a little as I approached, giving his wings a tinsy flutter and reavealing just a hint of hidden colour.

What Ever Happened to Diana Trask?......

2010-05-08T08:21:00.007+10:00

Well, some pretty amazing things actually, but at the moment she has just launched a new C.D., Country Lovin' with 12 newly released songs.

If you were at the recent Caboolture Urban Country Festival you may have been lucky enough to hear Diana sing 3 of her songs at the Main Concert.
Last night we went along to the Noosa Booklaunch of her Memoir 'Whatever Happened to Diana Trask', held in the Coffee Club, we sat up the back....duh.....which explains the pic, too far away, night lighting and of course one could not be so rude as to use a flash!

Diana is a lovely warm lady and witty speaker, she capped off a wonderful introduction to her book by singing 'Oh Boy' to the group.

A few of us then trotted off to the Noosa Springs golf club for a lovely meal, (I had a salmon pasta dish......major yummo), and more stories from Diana

The book promises to be a facinating read, have only got a little way in so far but am thoroughly enjoying it. Diana has had a very interesting life with singing being only one of her careers, but I guess like so many others I have wondered whatever happened, why did she, at the peak of her singing career, suddenly disappear from the music world?, the book answers the question, basically for love.........love for her husband Thom, but I shan't spoil your read, I shall let you discover the answer for yourself.

Photo of the Day

2010-05-07T10:35:00.006+10:00

Snowball bushes are just coming into bloom, in a couple of weeks these will just be a mass of white.

The bush on the right had a rather radical prune season before last, we had a gardener who would only do what he wanted and he wanted stalks with fluffy tops, pruned everything with a chain saw!! No amount of discussion or demonstration worked. Anyway, Snowballs being so forgiving they have grown back.....not so lucky with some other plants.

The flowers are really tinsy, it is the white bracts that make these bushes stunners.

Foxtail Palm Blossom

2010-05-06T04:24:00.005+10:00

We have a couple of Foxtail Palms by our front stairs, and for the first time one of them has grown a rather dry looking seed pod that has literally taken months to mature to the stage where these rather unusual looking blossoms burst forth.

As you can see, there a masses of little pods and I had imagined a beautiful showing, but no, these open almost one at a time, with very few flowers being on view and then quickly dropping to the ground

They do attract a lot of bees for the small number of blooms and funnily enough a lot of flies, now that's a yuck!, and I guess this is why, not only do they have pollen laden stamens, but also a sap drips from the center stamen.
Good thing they have nice foliage, or they might find themselves on the Darlings list...a list that is shrinking as more and more trees and bushes bite the dust around here. Yep, its time for a gardening overhaul.

Action Packed Boys Weekend

2010-05-03T07:56:00.005+10:00

Almost too much fun this weekend, the Grandies and I started off with a bit of a shop-a-thon, visiting the lolly shop, row upon row of bulk lollies to scoop up into buckets, then of course a visit to the $2 shop to gather up some games to play, lay in a new supply of caps (boys just gotta have noise) and water pistols and then home to find we had visitors, Sis and her DH had arrived with chain saw and hedge trimmer to attack some wayward plants...........so there was a bit of this....

while the youngest kept Grandad busy tidying up after a whole lot of this......

which provided a lot of entertainment for these four footed funsters.....

After lunch it was time for a scoot around the local park, where the youngest came a real gutser, skinned palms and a knee, no tears - brave little soul, but a good rest in Grandma's sewing chair watching a movie on my computer was a needed treatie at the end of day.

Sunday got off to a bit of a false start at 4a.m.....but I sent the youngest and his partner in crime, the smallest dog back to their beds to at least wait until the sun came up......then we were off at a rush, the eldest cooking bacon and eggs, the youngest (with just a bit of help) cooking pancakes for a huge breakfast. The rest of the day was just fun, fun, fun, we managed to visit the Cottage for the Lavender, Lace and Letters show, purchasing a few goodies for a certain Mum (Mothers Day next Sunday), then down to the skate park for a few hours of scooter fun and practicing the art of 'grinding', Lunch on the beach was followed by a visit to Bellingham Maze, where we got lost, and lost, and in the end gave up (some of us with a lot of relief) when someone caught sight of the 'give up and escape' gate. Arvo tea and then some wonderful games and puzzles at the Maze cut all too short by a call from Mum and Dad, they were home, waiting - where were we??

Photo of the Day

2010-05-01T04:11:00.004+10:00

Cotton Tree Park, and a little of the everchanging cycle of life.

Parcel and Post

2010-04-30T12:57:00.004+10:00

Remember that sad little post about the weevils?, well I was a little ticked and phoned Barilla.
Today this arrived, well more than this actually, replacement of the 5 boxes plus....
a sauce, a pesto and these....

Chocolate Biscuits........now who doesn't love a treatie?

My complaint was handled professionally by a very nice lady. Commiserations, an explanation of how it can sometimes happen..........without any snide allusion that it was my fault (as so often is the case if you dare complain in these times) a request for the batch number to 'lodge an inquiry' and a promise of a replacement. Easy and painless. The letter that arrived with the goodies even went on to thank me for bringing the problem to their attention. I'm now stocked up with my fave Pasta and no worries about buying in the future.

Then the postie delivered this.......

a Kaye England pattern, a scrap quilt she calls it, I looked through my stash and decided that as this quilt is a 'keeper'.......well it will be if I get it done ....it deserves more that what I can come up with in the way of scraps, so off to the Fat Quarter Shop to buy some jelly rolls.

e-mailed them for some advice which was cheerfully given and decided on a couple of Bali Pops. Now just gotta wait for another parcel......

Better get some of the pile of UFO's and WIP's delt with before I start.

Photo of the Day

2010-04-28T12:06:00.002+10:00

We have lots of retaining walls around our home. Over the 10years since installing them, the cement blocks have mellowed and various mosses have made a home. I love the way the sunlight brings out the brighter greens in this velvety specimum.

A Beaut Idea......

2010-04-26T11:58:00.000+10:00

That poor Disappearing nine patch flimsey, that I am determined to turn into something a tad more useful than dusters is still in the pipeline, but a solution has been found, Quilts for the Cubby! Brilliant! (even if I do say so myself)

This rather talented Guy has built a wonderful retreat for two Grandaughters, little Miss C, not yet old enough to know about the Cubby.

and Miss L, showing off her new teeth and wearing my glasses, what is it with kids and glasses?, do yours pinch your glasses?

Sis, Nan to the above cuties, visited yesterday to launch the project, unstitched the flimsey at the halfway point, creating two smaller sections, we bought some pink and green homespun and are in the process of bordering each quilt with same. Decided on a sprinkling of Friendship Stars in the diagonal corners. Sis, a non quilter, was not impressed when I started her off on H.S.T's, meanie arn't I?

The third star is still in the works for this corner, and how about that pink! vibrant!, it's not quite that bright in real life, but to try and tone it down affects the green - probably a way to fix that.....but....

Lunch was my very own creation, assembled from the usual, you know, what could be found in the fridge! Based on chicken, bacon and basil with a dash of sundried tomatoes, what was not to like?,

Well let me tell you what was not to like!.............poured the pasta into the pot of boiling water and surprise.......lots of these little bodies floated to the top...weevils, ugh!

I love these little mini penne pasta shapes and use them a lot, never buying just one packet, usually 5-6 at a time, and storing them in the freezer, this is the second time this has happened with this brand of pasta, and of course I have the receipt to return them -not.

Was so upset and distracted, not to mention just a tad ticked off, that I forgot to take a pic of the finished dish for the food blog, just managed to scrape the last of the dish together before someone dived in for that last helping.

We needed a bit of a relax after that, so coffee and a good read was in order, Sis bought along these two cookbooks for us to drool over

......they have gone on the list of what I want to buy soon.......sigh..its a long list.

But before you feel too sorry for me....I got this one yesterday anyway

Donna Hay's newest, chock full of wonderful dishes, I feel a bit of a cooking splurge coming on.
I'm down to supply arvo tea at the cottage soon, am tempted to make this beauty.

Lemony Peach Cake, how yummy does that look, or maybe the berry cupcakes....endless possiblilities.

Of Cherry Juice and Fabric Dyeing

2010-04-12T09:25:00.000+10:00

There is a bit of a thread going on in QDU -online quilting group-, about aching knees and stiff joints, Linda suggested Cherry Juice concentrate, Sue came back with where to get it in Oz........there was a little blog link line at the bottom of her post.......popped on over and found this astounding piece!

Sue is a member of the group AQAW and end of March was the unveiling of their first challenge of this year, Sue's entry, her 'Flora-Ficifolia' quilt, was done by discharge dyeing.

Sue made the whole procedure sound ever so simple, pop over to her blog 'Quilt Without Guilt' to her 31st March 2010 post, to soak up the info., pick up some great tips and directions and of course, to view her quilt.

Oh, and don't forget to check out the Art Quilts at AQAW, lovely and so innovative.

Continuous Band Prairie Points

2010-04-12T03:04:00.003+10:00

Faye, from Faye's Place has this wonderful tutorial on a continuous band of Prairie Points.
Prairie Points have never grabbed my imagination, all those fussy little bits of fabric, all wanting to go somewhere else........this tutorial would make them achievable.

Faye came across the original instructions about 20 years ago in an American magazine, but modified the instructions to suit her way of doing things.

Pop on over to Faye's blog for the full instructions and more photos. Just love the sharing of bloggers....

Easter Fair 2010 at the Buderim Craft Cottage

2010-04-05T09:34:00.000+10:00

Another successful Fair Day at the Cottage on Saturday, so many lovely things to see and be inspired by....

All bought about by the efforts of the Cottage members and the Lions Club volunteers, to see more lovely goodies, pop over to the Buderim Patchwork blog at http://buderimpatchwork.blogspot.com/.

Grandies at Play

2010-04-05T09:26:00.000+10:00

We had a wonderful day together, first there was some quiteish time, playing games while I tidied up, and then we were off, grabbed a basketball and down to the Cotton Tree half courts, D shot some baskets while the youngest scooted around the court on his scooter,

then there were lots of trees to climb, the dog thought that was pretty clever.....where did you go??

Then off for a walk (scoot) for some along the Maroochy River until we found the boat ramp, what a nice protected little beach, just the place to build a couple of sandcastles and lots of bombs for a great game of 'bomb the castle'

Then they were off.............bombing the castles and then a great game of bombing each other, no, didn't end in tears, amazing!!

Then time for a quick dunk in the drink to wash off and home for some more computer, dinner and a good lie down.

The Ginger People - just how cute are these folks

2010-03-30T20:56:00.002+10:00

As some of you know, we are partners in a Ginger processing factory in Caboolture..........no, not Buderim Ginger, we are smaller and have a completely different process, retaining more active properties.

The logo on a lot of products features this cute little guy, in all his different guises, here he is on the ginger chews,

and here, dancing around the crystalised section,

Our American partners do a lot of trade show promotions, and this year for the Natural Products Expo West in Annaheim, Abbie came up with the idea of using face painting, based on these little guys for the promotion, and WOW!, how fantastic did this turn out to be........

Here is a pic of Christie, the Master of Ceromonies for Ginger Town for the day - doesn't she just fit the bill??

...........for some unashamedly home town boasting go to this YouTube video
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D2ThGLk1ga60&h=bc05b61b5d927c52bf978c9ec923fafb
or just click on the Vid below, but be warned, as this is the first vid I have ever embedded there is a little flaw, (isn't there always???) the Video plays 'widescreen' but my post only allows standard screen, so you loose a bit off the side.........ah rats.........another learning curve...........off I go to google the solution..........Enjoy the video.

Another Flimsey.......

2010-03-30T09:23:00.000+10:00

........oh dear, another one for the pile, this one needs borders and then quilting, but am not sure what design to quilt on this pink and green ummm thing.........well, its not a monstrsity but its not cute either. It's had a rather - if you will forgive the pun - checkered start.

The poor thing started life as a collection of 9-patches from a green and pink 9-Patch block swap, and I guess I must have been feeling a bit soft, probably soft in the head, I sashed the blocks in pale pink, which just looked wishy washy, so another round of sashing was added, half the blocks in stronger pinks and half in greens, with two slightly different checked fabrics forming H.S.T cornerstones.
I just couldn't leave this poor thing alone, talk about prolong the agony.

The result was a bit like looking down a bunch of square holes, the bright idea occured, why not give the disappearing 9-Patch idea a whirl?!, and here we are, you will just have to take my word for it, this looks better that it did, but is it worth the cost and time of finishing it. Probably not, but it is the first thing on the YOU WILL FINISH THESE before you start another project list, see the quandry? will I break my promise to myself - a promise I might add that is not even a week old, or will I see sense and just turn it into dusters?!! .........time will tell.

A Joypatch Pattern Giveaway......hurry to join in

2010-02-19T17:17:00.000+10:00

Joy from Joypatch has a giveaway on her blog, it is the cutest bag pattern with pretty little pleats around the sides, held in place with beads, the imagination can run riot with the beading combinations. I haven't got a piccie for you, but believe me, it is the prettiest and most gorgeous bag. One version has lovely braided handles while the other version you can make your own handles.

This bag is hot off the presses, Joy hasn't shipped it to any stores or even put it in her own internet stores as yet, there are 3 chances to win a free pattern.

Just click on the round Joypatch button in the sidebar, and leave a comment at the end of Joy's post, the drawing is on Sunday 21st February, so hurry along for a chance to win and Good Luck.

A generous offering from Quilter Lyn Brown

2010-01-30T13:59:00.000+10:00

Lyn Brown, a Californian quilter, Instructor and Lecturer has compiled a book of 18 quilts that she designed throughout 2009 and is offering them as a free e-book for a couple of weeks only
Each quilt can be made from a Layer Cake Pack or indeed from your stash.

Lyn posted the free e-book on 12th January, so speed is necessary, download and save or print this wonderful offering now.

Lyn has posted the above quilts throughout her blog so if you sadly miss out, a visit to her blog and some searching will no doubt uncover these lovely quilt patterns.

Lyn's Etsy shop also has a great collection of patterns and kits available, most reasonably priced - read cheap, IMHO.

And if that isn't enough from one very sharing quilter, Lyn also has a Free Baltimore Album quilt on offer, so far there are 3 blocks available, Block 1 - Crossed Laurel Leaves, Block 2 - Mexican Rose, and Block 3 - Pat Nixon Rose.
Lyn offers a new block each Saturday (Sunday for us Aussies)

The Supply List and a pic of this wonderful Baltimore Quilt is here

Bellbirds and Aquisitions

2009-12-23T06:51:00.000+10:00

We scooted up to Noosa yesterday morning to collect the Darlings cuz Di, and her best bud Di, -two Di's, can you imagine it! We were off to listen to some Bellbirds, Di, who in a previous life was Diana Trask was rather keen to revisit the delightful sound of Bellbirds from her childhood.

Firstly we cruised into Eumundi for a lovely browse through the BerkelouW Bookstore, where on Di's recommendation I purchased 'The Wheatgrass Book', it has some great sounding juice ideas.

This pic borrowed from the BerkeloW site. - no camera,.... rats.....

While paying for my new old book, the shop assistant and I got chatting about wallets, mine is having a bit of a sad, one of its seams is splitting, and there is absolutely no way I am going anywhere near a shopping centre at this time of the year to get a new one. The lovely lass suggested I pop down a couple of stores to visit Schmuttas............Schmuttas?!, not at all convinced I wandered down a couple of doors to find a wonderland, starting with their doorstep, tiled in little dark blue tiles, gosh, where was the camera???

The store is chock a block full of beautiful and unusual goodies, there were storage tins in red with white dots and white with red dots, beautiful, beautiful satin bags with bows, shoes galore, such unusual shoes, clothing to love forever, bracelets, bangles, beads.........ohh I could have stayed there for hours, but the Di's and the Darling tracked me down, but not before I fell in love with this

an Olga Berg wallet!, isn't it to die for??. The Darling recognised that glassy eyed look and bought it for me! and.....it has a silver lining, too cute......

so back to the car, me to pat, pet and admire my new lovely while the Darling transported us off to Kenilworth for a nice lunch.

We sat out on the deck under shady umbrellas while the thunder clouds rolled around overhead, and eventually we were blessed with a little shower as we finished off some excellent coffees.

We then headed off toward Imbil, passing through some beautiful scenery and eventually arrived here.........

the Bellbird park, we sat and listened and wandered around the tinsy little pocket of land, listening to the silvery tinkiling song of the Bellbirds, Di, being a songster herself, idly wondered at the note, and came to the conclusion of high C she thought.

I took this shot of the sign standing on the main road verge, and you can see the Forestry road running up to join the main road, mainly what you see above is what you get..........this tiny pocket of land, surrounded by forest and bordered by a road is a natural habitat, a tiny fragile habitat, of an endangered Australian species.

The birds are tiny, and hard to spot, there are quite a few youtube videos, but not too many with a true Bellbird, this short clip has the sound, and a flash of what the photographer believes to be a bell bird. After quite a few trips to this tiny sanctuary, I cannot claim to have ever seen a Bellbird.

Eventually, it was time to leave, and so continued on to Imbil with a brief visit to Borumba Dam and the Imbil lookout with it's stunning views

then on towards home through the beautiful Mary Valley, arriving at Noosa at the perfect time to relax on Di's verandah and enjoy a lovely glass of wine while listening to Di's soon to be released new C.D.

Photo of the Day

2009-12-22T07:02:00.001+10:00

I've shown these tinsy little flowers before, if I was that tinsy (wish........) I think I would surround myself with something beautifully vibrant too.

and here they are opened, these little flowers are about 1/8" across, the vibrant bracts are actually the Bouganvillia leaves. Clever Mother Nature!
We are off to the Bellbird park today, a long drive, and there is a ham to be readied before we go, so thats all for today folks...........

Photo of the Day & Noisy Blogs

2009-12-20T05:43:00.000+10:00

Its all about red today, snapped these pics last week when we visited Mary Caincross Park in the Hinterland, had a wonderful time, we managed to see more on this trip to the Park than at any other time.

Diana claimed it was all her Karma, and she could be right.. We were entranced by these hanging pannicles of red flowers, not a leaf in sight, the guide inside told us it was the Red Cedar, but nothing I can find on Google supports that. So really I can't claim they are Red Cedar flowers, you know how its so easy to get your wires crossed sometimes when asking for information.

This is another, closer view of the flowers, so it anyone can help identify these I would love to know.

The Grandies are here for a sleepover, one had a nightmare and by the time I got him settled I was wide awake at 3a.m., so what to do?, well go catch up on some of the wonderful blogs that I love to read and be inspired by, lazily following links and fully enjoying myself, I happened on a blog that suddenly errupted in a blast of loud music............arrrgh.........why do some blogs do that? If I want to listen to music I will play my own, at my own volume, ---- well enough of that whinge.

I stitched 3 aprons yesterday afternoon, 2 for Miss Lil, who has gone from the girliest of girls to a bit of a tomboy, and one for a little lad who is having a bit of a sad time of it.........don't know if he is a budding chef or not but perhaps it will come in handy for messy play if not.

Mr Cute himself has come to see what I am up to, barely awake he tells me he needs to feed his pet on 'Club Penguin' so I guess it's off the computer for me and Club Penguin for him..........hmmmm perhaps a coffee would be in order.........me not him, he can have milk.

Photo of the Day

2009-12-19T07:52:00.001+10:00

Captured this Hibiscus opening at 6a.m., soft early light, the Hibiscus are flowering well for the first time in their lives, but everything else is dying for want of a drink. We could really do with a spot of rain round here, -like everywhere else.

With the water shortages is Brisbane (thanks to non action by the Government to put in enough infrastructure) water from our Dams will be pumped to Brisbane and we are facing severe water restrictions, hence not actually watering the garden........it will have to live or die on its own and it is heartbreaking.

A closer look at the stamens before they unfold. Such beautiful flowers and they only last a day.

The Book Depository and Frans Biccies

2009-12-17T08:41:00.002+10:00

Grandies came for a visit yesterday, they arrived as I was taking pics of some of the aprons that I have been sewing, so they went to see what they could find, Yay, more of Frans biccies, they were so excited. Love Frans biccies, lovely buttery shortbreads with a cherry center. Yum.

there was lots of sewing (the eldest) and glueing ( the youngest) who also discovered the magic of quilting pins!, he was so entranced that he cut 2 reasonably square pieces of fabric and pinned them together in one corner to make a 'book' - a gift for his Mum, that she duly admired when gifted with it.

The eldest had his first lesson on cleaning out the bobbin race, as I had just finished quite a sewing run there was lots of fluff down there so it was a good lesson. He then went off to his little fabric stash and using the cutter/ruler - a wonderful invention that allows younger folk to cut their own fabric- he cut and stitched some lovely sequined fabric together to make a table topper for his Mum for Christmas. Needs more work and finishing off but that can happen next week or on this weekends sleepover.

Near the end of the day he asked for some books for Christmas, so off to the Book Depository site to place an order. He had as much fun being in charge of the mouse and doing the ordering as anticipation in receiving his books that he has wanted for quite some time.
I have been using and recommending the Book Depository for a few months now, they seem to have the cheapest prices available, if only by a few cents, BUT and its a big but, they have free shipping worldwide, which makes them the cheapest hands down!

So imagine my consternation when Mum comes back from shopping with the same books for him! - what to do? - shot off an e-mail to the Book Depository, asking to exchange and settled down to await a reply.

This morning I got the lovliest little note (if you can call a business e-mail a lovely little note, but to me it was) from Richard White, their Customer Advisor - no can do the exchange of titles but he very kindly cancelled the 4 titles that we had doubled up on. One more reason to shop Book Depository.

Book Depository now back on line, it was just one of those hiccipy things.

This Quilt is Stolen!

2009-12-15T07:38:00.000+10:00

Can you imagine how you would feel if some unpleasant person did this to you?

Ann Ferguson from Quiltopia Design had her quilt stolen from outside the doorway to her shop in Maleny last Sunday.

Ann's delightful little shop is at the end of a short arcade at 39 Maple Street, and well worth a visit, with lovely ranges of fabrics, Moda fabric packs and threads with beautiful quilts throughout the store.

Pop over to Ann's blog to read her story, and if you see this quilt or know of its whereabouts, please, encourage the return of the quilt to Ann, after all what enjoyment could you possibly get from looking at or patting a quilt that can only say one thing to you, I am stolen!

I never cross post from this blog to Buderim Patchwork blog or the other way around, but this is such a shattering thing to have happen, and its something that seems to be on the increase as we hear stories more often of quilts being stolen from quilt shops and displays.

How cute is this face?.........

2009-12-12T12:59:00.000+10:00

well yes, its very cute, but let me tell you it is also very expensive...............he came to me late last night to tell me he was in pain, needed lots of pats and love, but he was obviously in quite a bit of pain, tried to settle him and find out what could be wrong, but without any luck.

Thought of phoning Sis the vet nurse, but it was getting a bit late, so roused the Darling and off to the Doggie ER., where he was poked, prodded, stretched and squeezed.
The verdict, "Well he's certainly in pain but I have no idea of where or why"-- "That will be $165.00 please"

3a.m. and he still hadn't settled, so phoned the ER and the Vet suggested a dose of Mylanta, did it work? or was it just exhaustion? 4.30 he was settled and dozing under my computer desk, I snuck off to kip on the couch, woken by the Shitzu at 7.30, looking for breakfast................Pets!......why do we have them? I think I've forgotten.
Poor little Rudie is still not happy, not as bad as last night.......but not happy.........I can see an ultrasound on the horizon.

Photo of the Day

2009-12-10T23:59:00.000+10:00

Basil.............

gosh, don't you just love it.............even when it bolts and starts to flower?, took these pics and then snipped off the heads so that we would have basil leaves for just a little while longer, ahhh.....basil, tomatoes, pasta
...Heaven

Christmas Party

2009-12-10T06:44:00.000+10:00

Wednesday was the Patchwork Groups Christmas Party, full on affair organised by Group leader, Sheila, who I didn't see sit down for a moment.

Each table got to ~~pick on~~ elect one of their friends to decorate as a chrissy tree, we chose Heather, the red 'tree' in the center.
Heather has been off caravaning around for a few months and bought me this cute little thimble as a souvenier from Soverign Hill

That pattern in the background is one I bought yesterday (busy day yesterday) to attempt to make my own shirts, as its not possible - well not in this neck of the woods its not - to buy ladies oxford shirts, and although they may be as boring as bat s--t when you wear them day after day, they are the only item that I can successfully wear to help controll sun exposure. Have you priced a pattern lately?.........20 bucks! what with that and the plain - read cheap - cotton chambray, buttons and thread it was well over 60. This had better work.

No sewing in this neck of the woods....

2009-12-05T08:00:00.001+10:00

Spent the day catching up on cleaning house.........ugh!,

Oh and a little bit of pattern patting and drooling, bought a notebook pattern from Vikki over at Sew Useful Designs, the cutest little snowman and robin redbreast, all very 3-D, would also make a wonderful seasonal wall hanging for the younger set. Clever Vikki sent the pattern as a download, miss not so smarty pants, downloaded the emotiocon and deleted the pattern file................ooops.
Didn't realise at first what I had done but a simple e-mail to Vikki and she sent me another file..........how about that for service! Thank you so much Vikki.
Have now turned on my little black box, outside the computer, record keeping thing-a-ma-jig so won't loose it again.
The Grandies are coming for a sleepover, I feel a trip to Spotlight to buy some supplies and a bit of a workshop coming on.

Also bought this cute little bag pattern from Del at the Scquilters lunch the other day, there is a great post with piccies of the lunch and a tutorial of the lovely fabric beads that Del makes. The log shaped one with the stars is the bead Del very kindly gave to the youngest Grandie who had joined us.

Photo of the Day is becoming a bit erratic, not so much each day, not so much rain and flowers are a bit sparse, will have to go further afield.........hmmm.........
Today its a Bouganvillia bloom, well it the coloured bracts around those tinsy little flowers that haven't yet opened

Agapanthus - Photo of the Day

2009-12-03T14:31:00.000+10:00

Its that time of the year, Jacarandas have finished blooming, and as it ~~creeps~~ well rushes up to the end of the year, its time for the Agapanthus to begin blooming. This little bud is just bursting forth.

This flower is a little more advanced but still not in full bloom.

I took these pics just after a rain shower, this bloom to be looked rather cute with the water droplets and the unopened buds, each one becoming more colourful as they move towards burstin into full flower.

Bees with Blue Stripes??

2009-12-02T16:52:00.002+10:00

Thought the extra activities of the past couple of weeks had been the last straw when I found this little lady crawling around the stairwell, a bee with blue stripes?? am I halucinating? picked her up with a bit of a leaf and took her piccie, she was quite happy posing and I got quite a few shots, took her outside and continued vacuuming, then found a second, larger bee,

not doing half so well, took it outside and then took a couple of snaps, don't think this one will make it,

seemed to be too weak to hold on to anything much, and took a fall from my glasses - being used as a platform to carry her outside, in desperation I nudged her with the camera strap, she clung on like billy oh, wouldn't let go for ages.
Of course Google came to the rescue, they are a native Australian bee, Amegilla, and are attracted to blue flowers, like the Geisha Girl Duranta by the back door.
For some great info pop over here to 'Aussie Bee' http://www.aussiebee.com.au/blue_banded_bee.html, lots of different links, piccies and info, but if you really want to lighten up your day and have a good laugh at the antics of insects in the wild, go here and watch this u-tube video.
http://www.aussiebee.com.au/video-blue-banded-bees-1.html
starts off with a bee collecting nectar, fair enough and rather cute, but then there is a shot of bees trying to be top ~~dog~~ err, bee on a twig and the antics of warding off a new comer.
Enjoy!

Bit off almost too much to chew,

2009-11-17T15:14:00.000+10:00

so pardon me while I just swallow that last mouthful. I really didn't think it through when I agreed to sew some Bali Flags, the solid blocks of time that it would take, so its been busy, busy, in my neck of the woods the past few weeks which is why I have been away from the blog world .

Yesterday I finished the last of the current batch, leaving me 2 days of blissful time to to catch up on necessary things like house work and laundry, and more importantly, sewing...........hang on, I hear you say, isn't that what shes been doing?, well yes, but when sewing goes from creating something to being paid to sew, suddenly it looses a bit of the sheen.

Anyway, I hope to get some more of my Hot Pink Aprons made, using these cute trims that I found while waiting to be served at the Fabric Store when I was getting flag stuff.

Now I don't want you to think there has been no play at all 'round here, while checking up on blogs, I came across this post by Jodie from Ric Rac, Parsley and Beet, just had to order the pattern and some of the beautiful soft wool fabric that Jodie dyes.

It is going to make the most wonderfully soft little elephant, will it be Parsley?, or Beet?, perhaps Parsley, with a hot pink apron over her little frock. Oh yes, there are patterns for clothing included in the pack, Jodie is more than generous and to prove it, guess what else was included in the package? this wonderful Pyjama Day pattern and a beautiful gift card with some of her soft toys pictured on front. With Christmas coming up fast, and pressies needed, check out Jodies blog and her Etsy store for more of her wonderful patterns. No time to sew, got the answer, Jodie will be one of the stall holders at the up coming Daylesford Makers' Market on Saturday 28th November, starts at 10a.m. (what a reasonable time to start a market)

Check out the link above and if you are in the area, treat yourself, go visit and be amazed.

I also ordered myself a pinking blade from Punch with Judy, what a wonderful little accessory it is, but the most exciting thing I had arrive in the post was this, pretty mysterious huh?....

.....does this tell you more?

What's so exciting about a teflon mat you ask, we all have one, some people even have 2, well what's so exciting about this one is, it is a yard long, yes a yard! and entire 36 inches x 18 inches wide and all it cost was $20. One of our sons, when he made the sewing table extension, also made a long ironing board to go on my chest of drawers, the teflon sheet fits nicely, and will be easy to use for larger projects.

Of course postage ups the ante with a charge of $11, but of course if you order in multiples then the postage shrinks, get a couple of friends together to order.
Oh, and all those odd drawer knobs? well that is where I store my fatties and the knobs are colour coded to the fatties. Too easy!, of course the knobs I really, really wanted came from a site in London, and at over $60 per knob, and being glass, I just couldn't come at it, but oh to dream............'Jewelery for your furniture' the spiel said...........

But where to get the extra long sheets? Melody from (strangely enough Melody) talks of Extra Large Teflon Pressing Sheets on her blog, under Helpful Stuff in the sidebar. The teflon sheet link above will take you to a Valerie Hearder supplies page for the sheets, or go visit Valerie here.

It's good to be back in blog land, now, a decision, Photo of the Day or Free Motion quilting practice..........think it will be the practice.

Photo of the Day

2009-10-29T16:55:00.001+10:00

There is always one or two of these flowering under the stairs but how about the eggs under the variagated leaf to the right? Wonder what little creapy crawlie will hatch from those.

Photo of the Day

2009-10-28T10:59:00.001+10:00

Yep, another one, another pic of a Jacaranda flower, this one a close up of one from our tree.

Photo of the Day

2009-10-27T16:30:00.001+10:00

Busy, busy, in my neck of the woods for the past couple of weeks. Hopefully now back on track.

Remember last month when I showed you the beautiful Bahinia bloom?Such a pretty bloom, on a tree with lovely butterfly shaped leaves, well now look.....

Kinda got hit with the ugly stick, these seed pods are a pest and a real mess maker.

Fabulous Hand Dyed Giveaway

2009-10-27T13:52:00.000+10:00

Trish from Trish Alan Designs is having a giveaway on her blog

2 packs of matched colour blends with an extra surprise, could that surprise be one of the beautiful hand dyed threads? What bliss to be one of the lucky winners, go on, pop over and leave a comment for a chance to win.

Trish's site is jam packed with all sorts of info and goodies, more tutorials that I have ever seen one one site, lots of info and Craft Classes. I have just spent a most enjoyable hour or so and given myself a severe attack of the 'I wanna do that, and that, and that' and now its time to get back to the sewing machine. I do hope your enjoy your visit to Trish's site.

So what do 2 Grandies and a Grandma do when....

2009-10-14T20:39:00.000+10:00

.........Daddy, Mummy and Grandad are talking business..........well we took off, there is only so much a couple of boys can do after dinner in a restaurant, especially as their Uncle had already left, taking his interesting self and toys off home with him.

The youngest decided that taking pics for Grandmas blog would be the way to go, so here we have "a sticky thing like I got at home"

and a white flower, which on closer examination turned out to have a 'face'.

The eldest took his turn at the camera and composed this little pictorial story.

Firstly the bud emerging, then the full bud exposed,

followed by the unfolding bud and lastly the full flower, face and all.

and the last pic for the night, a very exciting find, a red leaf. We live in the subtropics and a red leaf is something special. Gotta think about taking these boys to see some Autum colours in the not too distant future.

A Spiders Dinner??

2009-10-13T12:31:00.000+10:00

Playing around with the focus options on my camera and when I went to view the pics I was amazed to see this spider.
Hadn't been aware of him at all while snapping away at the bud, sure, saw the ant, how could you miss an ant playing at 'king of the castle', but the spider? Nope.
I later found he came from a very fine web down amoungst the leaves.

The spider crawled up past the ant, turned, snaffled the ant and crawled away behind the bud, gee the life and death struggle that goes on around you without you even noticing!
And that small Hibiscus bud? well its full of all this........

Hibiscus flowers go in for pollen production in a major way.

Really, I should be sewing...

2009-10-13T10:06:00.001+10:00

not day dreaming and drooling over this lovely free stitchery from Joy of JoyPatch.

There will also be two other designs that Joy will reveal on her blog in the next few weeks, so its a must to visit often........great excuse huh?

Joy is one of the amazing Gum Tree Designers, her design is the second freebie that these ladies are releasing over a 9 week period, so pop over to Among the Gum Tree Designers to get this delicious stitchery or go via Joy's site above.

Nose to the grindstone

2009-10-12T20:43:00.006+10:00

Busily stitching vibrant hand painted tablecloths today, and taking pics for a tutorial on mitre corners that I will load in the near future, now I know that close ups show everything, every little flaw, dust mote, stray hair or strand of doggie fur, so I carefully polished everything, even using rainex to polish off the odd tacky bit here and there, but did I think of checking the machine foot?, nope, not a thought, after all, just one tablecloth prior I had given everything a thorough clean, changed the needle, etc, etc. you know the story!

Well imagine my astonishment, and lets not even go near the embarrassment part, when I loaded all the pics and found not only this horror, but many others of the same ilk. Dirty, dusty, fluffy bits all over my foot.....Ack!

O.K., gotta go get some pretties, so out into the garden and was lucky enough to capture this little cutie, well yes I know, it's a weed, but heck, every weed is a pretty somewhere else in the world.

We have an open stairwell at the front of the house, with various mainly leafy plants and a couple of interesting lilly types growing underneath, and now this little guy is trying to find a foothold, go little weed, go.

A New Chair for the sewing room

2009-10-12T06:14:00.001+10:00

After another dumping from the beastly second chair in my sewing room, resulting in a bit of a meeting between my moosh (face) and the edge of the sewing desk, the Darling got involved and encouraged me ( with a rather heavy subsidy) to get another chair. As you can see there isn't a whole lot of extra space in my sewing room, and on the other side of this work station is where I sew the bali flags.
To move the sewing chair from one side of the room to the other should be easy but in reality isn't, especially when the grandies are visiting and have claimed the best seat in the house, so to speak. Which is how come I was on the beast. The new chair is a bit upmarket from my usual sewing chair with the addition of a 'lift' lever that allows the seat of the chair to tilt forward. Perfect for freemotion quilting. Can't wait to try it out.
So there are now 3 chairs in the sewing room, the beast is a cheapie students chair and will be safe and appreciated by the youngest Grandie, he will now have a chair instead of draging the folding footstool around to sit on.

Photo of the day for Saturday, taken in the driveway of our Eldest and the new Brides home on our last visit.

Jacaranda at Wesley

2009-10-09T01:29:00.001+10:00

Really, it's half a Jacaranda, the train line runs close on the right of this tree and to say it is heavily pruned is a bit of an understatement, the road passes on its left and between the camera and the tree is a roadside carpark. This tree is under siege and yet still manages to bring beauty to the world. When the blossom falls there is a thick purple carpet and then the light feathery leaves will clothe the tree through summer, shading innumerable cars and people.
Our youngest son has had a really tough time of it in this past year, with 2 microsurgeries and many visits to the hospital near where this tree stands, so for his sake I am hoping not to see too much more of this tree, but I am grateful for it's beauty and what it has given to me.

Photo of the Day

2009-10-06T21:04:00.000+10:00

Hydranger for a new born little girl.

Lasagne Dinner

2009-10-05T03:13:00.000+10:00

Got a phone call, the eldest Grandie, with a little help from his Mum, had made a dish of Lasagne and invited us over to sample his most excellent cooking.

I offered a salad, so after a quick harvest in the garden and making sure there were plenty of his favourite olives and cheese included, we arrived and found a rather excited Grandie, hosting his first dinner party. He was a little unsure about the success of using that spatula to serve, so Mum stepped in and did the deed.

Uummm yum, a lovely lasagne dinner, greatly enjoyed by all. Thank you sweetie for a wonderful evening.

Photo of the Day

2009-10-05T03:12:00.000+10:00

The Geisha Girl is in full bloom, and there are bees by the dozen busily collecting pollen. I used the Darlings camera while hanging out the upstairs window to take this pic, the focus is on the closer leaves, leaving the bee and flowers a little blurry.
October really is a month of purples with the Bahinia, Jacaranda, Lavender and Geisha Girl all putting on a beautiful display.

How long is that Water Dragon?

2009-10-03T17:59:00.001+10:00

Linda asked how long that Water dragon is, well the retaining wall he is sitting on in this pic measures 19 1/2" high and other pics of him on top of the wall show him almost as long from nose to beginning of tail as is one approx 10" brick, so as a rough guestimate I would say about 22" long.
Thanks for your lovely comments Linda, Water Dragons are also found as far south as Sydney and there is also a 'Gippsland variation' hope you get to see one in the wild on your upcoming Aussie visit.

Run up your leg?

2009-10-03T11:38:00.003+10:00

Its been a bit of a week, what with one thing and another not so much achieved. This morning I decided to take the Darling up on his offer of trying out his camera, a wee tad more upmarket than my beloved Pentax. The bright idea was to use the one card and swap it between cameras, so off I went to take some closeups of the few flowers in our rather parched and now sad little garden.

While bending down to get this pic,

heard a rustle amongst the dry dead leaves and felt something brush my foot. Now being the extremely brave soul that I am, I froze, stopped breathing already, and ever so slowly turned my eyes to behold this little guy. He was as shocked as I, he had been chasing a flying bug for brecky, and must have lost sight of the extras in his surroundings, me and the Shitzu. The Water Dragon just sat there and enjoyed his buggy breakfast, the Shitzu wandered off to the other side of the garden, and I started breathing, then ever so slowly turned my camera on him, after the first million shots or so, while he paraded around, even climbing up the retaining wall and posing on top, I realised the battery was getting a little low, so slowly, ever so slowly, I backed away and grabbed for the Darlings camera, not taking my eyes off the Dragon for one second, those little guys can run like the blazes and I didn't want to be caught wandering around the back yard calling for him, a few quick fumbles and the card released from my camera, but I had to have a small peek to seat the card in the Darlings camera, looked up and the Dragon was gone!

I was devestated!
A small rustle in the leaves and I looked down right into his beady little eyes peering up at me, he was about half and inch from my toes. (thats just over 1cm. for the metric folks - and yes, we Aussies are, but as a quilter I still think Inches) I had the overwhelming and uncanny feeling he was considering running up my leg. Oh no, that was not going to happen, so I ripped the head off this...

and dropped it in front of him and made a hasty retreat. Gee, excitement and danger in the 'burbs.
In all honesty Water Dragons are not dangerous, just look a little threatening and this one is a juvenile, there is a much bigger one that I came across sunning itself by the front steps the other day, and not a camera anywhere close.

A New Little Girl

2009-10-01T17:54:00.000+10:00

In honour of the beautiful new little girl who arrived into our family last night, todays Photo of the Day is all about budding new life, first buds on the Camellia, barely noticeable but starting to grow.

A swollen bud protected by a hard and furry outershell, about to burst into life

Beautiful new Camillia bud, just opening and full of promise. What will tomorow bring to this little bud? Hopefully balmy weather and no agravating dusty winds. Perhaps tomorow a pic of the fully opened bud.

We will be off on a Brisbane visit to meet our new Grand Niece on Sunday. So looking forward to it, have seen pics and she is adorable.

Mary Caincross Park and Rose Leaf Raspberries

2009-09-28T18:32:00.000+10:00

Another dust storm on Saturdaynight/Sunday and although it was longer lasting it wasn't as heavy, still there was a film of dust over everything, again, and the smoke from the bushfires mixed in with the dust made for a rather uncomfortable night,even the dog had trouble breathing and came looking for some comfort .

Sleep-over Saturday night for the Grandies, up early Sunday, with the youngest a little disappointed we didn't get to see the sunrise. (It was a case of nose to nose - and a little diget assisting an eyelid open so some real focusing could take place) With all the dust and smoke in the air I guess it would have been spectacular but I was glad for the 6a.m. sleep in.

They were convinced that a long drive would get us away from the smoke and dust and wanted to go to the park on the way to the yoghurt place (Maleny Cheese Factory) Plenty of dust and smoke still around but they forgot their woes on this contraption at Mary Caincross Park, could barely make out the shape of the Glasshouse mountains across the valley from the Park for the dust/smokey atmosphere.

This was just before the littlest came a cropper, slid off but kept a very firm grip, and got drug around in a circle. Much consternation and rushing to stop the contraption, but he jumped up with the biggest grin on his dial and whooped 'That was fun' He would have gone again but someone said nope! no way! not gonna happen! hope Mum can get the dirt stains out of the new shorts. ooops!.

Then off for a walk in the forrest, the littlest was the first to spy this sign and demand a reading.

Well it was prickly, and yes there was a bush turkey lurking, but a bit early for chicks. The raspberries looked delicious, but we resisted the temptation. Didn't want the ranger after us! We made do with ice-creams and coffees from the Kiosk, and a very disappointing $2 spent on the telescope, couldn't see a thing! thought that the telescope would see through the smoke. Sometimes a little guy just has to have the experience instead of taking someones word.

Perfect one day, a wee tad dusty the next.

2009-09-24T03:26:00.000+10:00

'Queensland, Beautiful one day, Perfect the next' was an old tourism advertising slogan that has stuck around for years. Well today was not so beautiful and certainly not perfect.

Like so much of Australia today, we had winds, strong winds, and with the drought leaving so much of the country bone dry, tonns of topsoil became airborne. All I can smell and taste is dust. The floors feel slippery underfoot with the superfine coating of dust.......dust dust dust. It is going to be one heck of a clean-up and frankly folks, I'd rather be quilting!

This is the sun, taken at my local shops about 4p.m. this afternoon.

Star Twinkles Restaurant in Nauru

2009-09-22T11:58:00.000+10:00

Just found this pic in my e-mail box, sent by the Darling, talk about bring back memories.

Many Many Moons ago, like way back when dirt was mud just about, we were expatriates in Nauru, a tiny little Island just south of the equator, about 34 miles south from memory.
Our second son - you know, the father of our Grandies - was born there, so yes, it was awhile ago.

On Nauru there were only 2 places to go for a meal out, one was the 'Club' where just about everyone went for Sunday lunch and the other was 'Star Twinks' a lovely little Chinese restaurant, yeah, yeah, I use the term loosley - very loosley.

The big trick was to arrive after dark, so you didn't notice dinner in the form of Mum and Piglets running through under the tables and of course, or maybe especially, you didn't notice the cemetery next door. Right next door! Yes that Coral rock 'fence' along by the sign and track is the cemetery fence.

We enjoyed many a meal either as a family or with friends at Star Twinks and there are a plethora of stories, from mildly amusing to downright hilarious, but my first Star Twinks story was at the 'welcome to Nauru' dinner where I sat next to a Teachers wife who ordered a Gin and Bitter Lemon to drink, the waiter kept querying the order, he couldn't believe it, and when the drink came we could see why. She took a sip, thankfully a sip and not a mouthful, it was gin, just gin and floating in the top was 'a bit a lemon'

The pic above comes courtesy of the Darling who was sent the original slide to be scanned and photo shopped by a chap who also was an expatriate around the same era.

Blood

2009-09-22T07:58:00.000+10:00

How hard can it be for heavens sake.
Have to have some blood tests done, fasting blood tests, and each morning in the wee small hours when I awake, what do I do, well make a coffee of course, still half asleep and there goes the fasting, well I think I could get away with the coffee, its the biccie I have with it that blows me out of the water............perhaps tomorow, perhaps post it notes on the jug, the coffee, the biccie barrel, it certainly didn't work on the bathroom mirror!

Quaint and Colourful Photo of the Day
A walk along the Maroochy River and you will see several of these little private jetties, all locked up, just waiting for someone to fish from them. Some of them are held together with fencing wire and very little else.

I promised to tell you of some goodies that came in the mail to help with the Free Motion Quilting, Leah Day whose tutorials I am following, sells and recommends the Machingers quilting gloves and the Supreme Slider. Have had a go this morning, in the wee small hours of this morning, and I am sold.

Would take a piccie to show you but the youngest Grandie was using the camera last night and gee, strange as it may seem, the battery is flat - so if you would like to see these wonderful gloves and slider, pop over to Leahs shop http://www.daystyledesigns.com/quiltshop.htm, they are the first two products featured so not hard to find.

Re-did day 1 'Shadow Waves' and am very pleased with myself, well, I was very pleased with what I did for the first 3/4ers of the sample, then things got very sticky, if you will pardon the pun, drat!.

My sewing desk is actually an old Office Works cheapie with a sewing table extension that our Son built onto the front so that I could recess my machine, unfortunately there is a tiny lip between the two surfaces, not much, but enough to catch the sample, double drat!, it will have to be fixed somehow, not sure how, but will ask the Son, he will know, he always has an answer, Mr Practical, Mr Fixit will fix it. I am confident.

Beautifully Decorated Boxes

2009-09-21T16:42:00.051+10:00

It is school hols, you know, that time when Mum's search - sometimes desperately - for activities to keep the kiddies occupied. These two have had a ball decorating boxes.

There is a tiny pot planter on my kitchen window sill, with small shells that I collected a long time ago that the youngest Grandie has always loved to play with.
Would pop him up on the bench while his brother & I were cooking up something delicious and while drawing breath from multiple asks to use the largest and sharpest knife, he would amuse himself with the shells, with us only occasionally having to fish them out of pots and piles of chopped vegies. Not sure if that is what started him off or not but he has been collecting shells each time he visits the beach for awhile now.
Last weekend Grandad gave him this rather useful port presentation box that he had scored for his birthday, sadly the bottle is in the re-cycling bin now but it was lovely while it lasted.
The eldest didn't have a box, so a visit to the $2 shop was a must, and this is the result, two rather special boxes for the keeping of those special bibs and bobs that little boys collect and treasure.

They stayed for dinner and 2 movies last night, another run of those Peter Pan faves and an introduction to strawberry frozen yoghurt. Now that was Yum.
While scoffing down the yoghurt the eldest spied a young praying mantis, so as pic of the day, here he is, preening himself on a New York street, or rather on a pic of a poster.

And the Free Motion Quilting? well that had to take a back seat to the days events, but the youngest Grandie did find something in the mailbox that will hopefully be helpful for the free motion quilting. Will tell you all about that tomorow.

Free Motion Quilting and Photo of the Day

2009-09-20T18:44:00.002+10:00

Day 2 of my Free Motion Quilting Adventure

You can see more of Leahs Day 2, Etch 'n' Sketch here http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2009/08/day-2-etch-n-sketch.html

Off to Brisbane for lunch today, so while the Darling had a shower I practiced, men really don't spend that much time in the bathroom do they?
If I am going to conquer Free Motion quilting I am going to have to put in more time, perhaps after dinner each evening, you know, the wine thing.

Lunch was lovely, an antipasto platter on the deck and for dessert? Mulberries!, freshly picked from the tree at the bottom of their garden, bit scarry at one or two points, there was a ladder involved - nuff said.

It was lovely to see the beginning of the Jacaranda trees flowering, just the odd panicle here and there, as you whizzed past the trees, a promise of the showing to come when every where you turn you are treated to a vision of blue lovlieness. I'm kinda fond of Jacarandas, just in case you didn't know.

Photo of the Day

2009-09-19T21:26:00.000+10:00

Captured this pic when we took the Grandies home. There are several beautiful lavender bushes by the front gate. We had to interupt our game and skedaddle back home because their Dad needed a little help.

There is a move a-foot to go a-camping and their Dad had the new tent laid out on the back lawn ready for a test run at erecting the tent. Gee it was hard to find just the right words to get that meaning across. It was a bit of a hoot all round, got a squillion great piccies.

Free Motion Quilting Designs

2009-09-19T10:31:00.002+10:00

Leah's Day 1 exercise and my first attempt.

Bit hard to tell who's is who's don't you think?.............oh for heavens sake, get up off the floor. I will do better tomorow.

A Cunning Plan,

2009-09-18T10:36:00.005+10:00

is coming undone..........Decided that I needed a bit of a break, best way to get that is to take a break from cooking, the one thing that takes up most of my daily time and effort, well thats the way I feel at the moment, and that fussy Shitzu who will only eat fresh cooked with cheese on top isn't helping.

Oh yes, I can hear you thinking he will eat when he is hungry, why that was my thoughts exactly but really, 4 days, can you imagine it, 4 days with a little dog's tummy grumbling so loudly that he would wake you up in the middle of the night!

So I drew up a menu, shopped, drug it all home - and this is where I should have had a bit of a wake up call, it was hard to stuff all those ingredients into the fridge, but I thought not to worry, it will soon be dinners in the freezer, did I look in the freezer?, are there bears on the Moon? No, I didn't. And now I realise that I am not cooking for us for a week, its more like a batallion for a month.

I think I shall have to phone the Darling to buy me a freezer on the way home, you can do that right?, Just pop into K-Mart and pick up a freezer, I'm sure I've seen them sometime or other.

I'm gonna take a break and visit some of the Gum Tree Designers, just for fun.
I popped all of their individual blog buttons in the sidebar as well as the Gum Tree button, why not, gotta have an adventure every day, and I don't like my adventure so far today.
Oh, and for a pic of the day, the Bahinias are in bloom. Arn't the colours gorgeous?

A little lusciousness and a quilters helper arrived in the post

2009-09-17T14:16:00.000+10:00

Some months back one of my fave blogers, Gail from Gail Pan's Designs at http://gailpandesigns.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/07/quilters-harvest.html

was introducing a new blogging duo, Del and Shirley from a quilting store in Warracknabeal in Victoria.

Del and Shirley were launching their 'Mystery Small Project' Club, a quick trip over to Quilters Harvest http://quiltersharvest.typepad.com/quilters_harvest/ and I was convinced to join the Small Project Club, so now each month I find a little squishy package from them in my mail box.

Del and Shirley choose a beautiful small project each month for your enjoyment. They provide the pattern, all the fabric, ribbons, floss and whatever else is needed to complete the project and pop it into the mail to you, and today this little gem arrived. Just what I want, even the candy stripe on the pattern front adds to the feeling of decadent spoiling of oneself and this pattern can be made into either a notemaker or a glasses case. gee, decisions, decisions!

The fabrics and notions choosen by the girls for the Note Book or Glasses Case, I think I will make the note book, how pretty to have this in your bag to just pull out anytime to jot down a note or an appointment.

This little lot, although not nearly as pretty, certainly got my pulses racing when it arrived yesterday, courtesy of fellow Scquilter Lorna. As we Aussies know, Press 'n' Seal is no longer available in Aus and if you are in the middle of using this product to quilt a design, its a bit of a feat to change tactics half way through, Thank You so much Lorna, your fatties are winging their way to you in exchange.

The practice squares of free motion quilting are progressing, sadly not as well or as fast as I would like but heck, at least we have progress!.

Photo of the Day

2009-09-17T07:33:00.001+10:00

In the not too distant past, took the littlest Grandie to the nursery, he had a ball, so did the patrons and staff, he kept them entertained with his running comments on everything green and all the flowers but his fave was the different fountains and water features.

He bought the house down when he spotted the Strawberry plants, with his description of the efforts he and his Mum have gone to to grow strawberries and failed. So could we buy some huh Grandma?, as the Gent across the table said, it just had to happen and so it did.

I have the plant sitting on a stand on the back verandah, yep just one plant - that is enough to be a worrying about, I have had to inspect the leaves on a regular basis for little grubs that were chomping through them, water it every day and feed it and still the berries are not all that chock hot, but I hope a small lad will think they are grand. Sent him this pic via his Mum's e-mail, just in case the birds, lizards or any other disaster befalls the berries.

Its almost too much........

2009-09-16T14:23:00.002+10:00

but not quite..........Yesterday while surfing for just a few minutes I found a site that posts everyones freebies and BOM's, and then I lost it!, silly me didn't bookmark the site before wandering away, but this morning Vikki, from Zen of the needle and thread at http://zenofneedle. wordpress. com/ posted a list of freebies, including the ones I found yesterday. Bliss! so now all I have to do is turn the chair around and stitch instead of spending time on the computer, the joys and traps of having a L shape setup in the sewing room.

So for your viewing pleasure - yes and mine - there are some new lovlies and links in the sidebar.

Photo of the Day

2009-09-15T21:41:00.001+10:00

Taken just after sunrise this morning from the front veranda

When we planted these 'Sheenas Gold' Durantas they were reputed to only grow to 1 meter high, well they are way past the first floor and still going. Not sure if that is the rich Buderim Red soil or as so often happens with nursery purchased plants, we were sold the wrong variety.

The new foliage is a pretty goldish green and they do have pretty orange berries.

In copious quantities, and they just hand around until they eventually turn a yucky dry brown,

Weekend Lunches, Sunday in Noosa and Monday in Malany

2009-09-14T16:27:00.000+10:00

Ooooh, what a bunch of gadabouts we all were this weekend, firstly Saturday lunch with the Eldest and his bride, we then went off to a Rheumatology Lecture, they to a movie.

Sunday was a small family luncheon at the Waterfront in Noosa with our youngest and the Darlings Cuz.

We have been to the waterfront several times before, it is in a wonderful location on the river just off Gympie Terrace and they have the most amazing food including fab pizzas, now I can hear you cringe right there, pizzas - fine dining - has she lost her mind? No it's true, they have the best Tuscan menu including lovely light pizze, cooked in their wood fired oven, and folks I am not a 'Pizza' lover, not even a pizza liker really, but these are rather special.
To check out the restaurant and their menus follow this link and check out the gallery of restaurant photos while you are there http://www.noosawaterfront.net.au/

The Noosa boat club is next door, and as you can see in the background of this pic the Noosa River is just a short float away, so you are treated to an endless parade of rivercraft, tinnies to luxury and a lot in between.

Some people, knowing just how yummy the dessert menu is, shared a pizze and lovely Mediterranean roast vegetable platter just so they could share this. Heaven, Bliss, Yum.

Today we decided that a trip to Maleny was a 'must do' to stock up on our yoghurt supplies, they have the most luscious yoghurt at Maleny Cheese Factory, not to mention a lovely array of cheeses and other gourmet goodies.
We stopped off at the Maleny Pub before the Factory for a quick bite, they do rather a pleasant steak sandwich that I always enjoy and the Darling enjoyed a bowl of pasta.

While we were waiting for the food to be served I snaped this pic of the Carnations on our table for my Photo of the Day, no fragrance but a pretty soft pink.
When the food arrived we were so hungry - that's the worst of a late start to the day - we tucked straight in so no piccy - sorry!
But this is will make you envious, beautiful fruity creamy thick yoghurt, something that is wicked and good for you too.

The yoghurt is so wonderfully thick and creamy it lends itself beautifully to a low fat dessert topping instead of cream. There is a Naturally Sweet version that is my fave and goes with everything you could think of dessert wise. That spoonful was lifted from the tub and turned over to take its time to drop. Now that's thick and creamy!
The smaller tub is for the Grandies, not allowed to get the giant economy size as someone, who just loves the berry yoghurt, will eat until its all gone! No restraint that 5 year old!

A little too much wine for a little green bug.

2009-09-12T06:42:00.000+10:00

On the way to the dining table, this little chap landed in my wine, he did look rather pretty with his gossamer green wings floating on the surface of the wine, but he wasn't on the menu so I flicked him out onto my napkin, where he did a bit of wriggling, or maybe that would be writhing,.... how drunk was that bug? was he poisoned? gasping his last gasp? I left him to it.

Imagine my surprise at end of dinner to see the napkine vacant, where was he?, found the little bug on the side of the table, trying to unstick the last pair of wings, in pretty short time he took off for the ceiling, hastened I suspect by the camera light, it really did seem to upset him, waving his ever so long feelers around every time the light went on.

Wonder how he is feeling this morning?

Photo of the Day

2009-09-11T17:15:00.000+10:00

Viola Seedlings, the flowers will be lovely on top of summer salads

Variation on Photo of the Day

2009-09-11T11:52:00.000+10:00

Photo of the day is supposed to be something lovely and inspiring, well this is far from lovely, and more frustrating than inspiring, but... I'm reasonably pleased. My first attempt in a very long time at free motion quilting.

Found a very interesting blog by Leah Day here at http://www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/

Leah has a project, to create a different free motion design for every day for a year. So far she is up to day 27. There are quite a number of videos to show you how and extensive tutorials on each design. Each days post has a difficulty level, an explanation on directional texture and suggestions for use. I've got myself a little stack of sandwich samples and plan on practicing a little each day, who knows, maybe one day I will be get a few of those WIP's turned from flimsies to quilts. Ohhh, the dreams one has.

Photo Of The Day

2009-09-08T10:31:00.000+10:00

Quite a bit of rain last night and these delicate blooms got a bit knocked around.

Someones house stayed dry and snug.

Photo of the Day

2009-09-07T17:49:00.000+10:00

Can you be just a little legless I wonder? I guess so.....

Photo Of The Day

2009-09-06T20:33:00.001+10:00

Not a good day, so for a cheer up two pretties from the side garden.

Photo of the Day

2009-09-04T15:17:00.000+10:00

Quite a few butterflies flying around the yard today, dozens of these little guys, well it would have to be guys and gals from the butterfly dances that were taking place, very pretty to watch but they didn't sit still for more that a few seconds, I was just lucky to get this pic.

Then this beauty, the only one I saw of him/her with beautiful vibrant colours.

Now I know that as a pic it leaves a lot to be desired, but it was the best I could manage without any help from the wretched butterfly.

Firstly it insisted on staying up high on the bamboo, even gently bending the bamboo closer to the ground didn't work, anything near 6' low and off he flew. I got this one by standing on the trailer and pointing the camera on full zoom, the whole thing was a bit of a feat that I don't want to repeat.

If you squint at it, with your head tilted just right and possibly your tongue in just the right place, you can make out his little lime green body and a couple of legs, or maybe thats just wishful thinking.

Strawberries, the promise of lovely spring days

2009-09-03T15:57:00.000+10:00

Just oven dried these little beauties, some for dinner tonight.

Photo Of The Day

2009-09-02T16:23:00.004+10:00

Margurite, one of the Patchwork Group, grows beautiful Freesias, she bought these in today to cheer up our little table.

Took this pic at end of day, after the tablecloths had been removed so Fran popped one of her hexagon blocks under them. Thank you Frannie.

Photo of the Day

2009-08-31T18:36:00.001+10:00

Finished my projects, it was a bit of a marathon but I'm so pleased that they are all ready to roll out the door.

It's now too late in the day, read dark, to take a pic, so I'm using one I took some time ago, back in May.
Now off to feed the furry and fluffy tribe, then after a quick wizz around with the vaccum and a duster, kick back and relax. It really does feel good to be back on track and achieving in the sewing room. Maybe I can get a few dozen quilts finished, well a few would be good.

Log Cabin Blocks and Bali Flags

2009-08-30T17:43:00.000+10:00

It was barely day light when I started cutting out 1" strips this morning, this was snapped after I turned off the lighting. I have not been able to sew and am way behind, so need to do a couple of days of just sewing, gee, isn't that hard to take.

And what, I hear you ask, do you do with a whole bunch of 1" strips, well if you are not nuts you don't cut them out to begin with, but I have a project, a row x row that has to be finished by Wednesday and it has to be log cabin and I really want a particular design, and it will only work with 1/2" logs.

All I need is 30 something of these little suckers, so far I'm about 1/3rd of the way into them, so am hopeful of finishing them on time.

The other big thing I have been working on is sewing these Bali Flags for a lass who sells them. Don't they look cute, just imagine them hanging properly from poles, not just draped over my veranda.

Of course the Grandies want one, one each that is, I think I will have to become a customer.

Photo Of The Day

2009-08-30T05:33:00.000+10:00

Photo Of The Day

2009-08-29T06:52:00.000+10:00

Missed it yesterday, busy day catching up after almost 2 weeks of not being able to move too well. So here is this mornings sunrise through the curtains above my computer.

Have been struggling to sew Bali Flags, but will blitz them today and then on to the log cabin for the last row of the swap. Will post pics of the lovely hand painted flags later on today

Thursday 27th August Photo Of The Day

2009-08-27T22:12:00.004+10:00

A few days back the 7yr old Grandson called and asked for a shoebox, he needed one to make a diorama at school, he chose Cockatiel's as his subject in honour of his new pet, Saffron.
He proudly showed me his finished work of art after dinner tonight, it includes a bird bath made from a matchbox and some blue cellophane that he wet and folded to get an interesting effect.

Cockatiel Flying

One of many Cockatiels feeding, yep that is real bird seed, donated by Saffron his pet.

Another Cockatiel feeding, bit hard to see his beak at this angle but its there, buried in more of Saffron's donated seed.

Lastly, another feeding Cockatiel, with a shrub in the background. This is the best Photo of the Day ever and will be hard to beat.

Wednesday 26th August, Photo Of The Day

2009-08-26T10:38:00.005+10:00

A vibrant burst of colour.

Calliandra bud.
Each little bud bursts open to form a tiny white feathery flower and long red stamens.

Calliandra Bloom, Bud and dying flower, the flowers loose shape and dry out then fall to the ground.

Cumquats and Limes

2009-08-26T10:23:00.006+10:00

Did some fruit preserving this morning, Brandied Cumquats, the beginning of Cumquat Syrup and a preserved Lime.

A change from the usual marmalades and pickled cumquats.

Tuesday 25-8-09 Photo of the Day

2009-08-25T14:49:00.006+10:00

While harvesting the cumquats yesterday, I noticed that the lime tree has blossoms in various stages.

Unopened Buds and one at the top just starting to open

A fully opened bud

Tinsy little limes forming, more visible at the bottom of the pic

And lots of fine small spiderwebs, wonder if I should do something about that or just let live?.
maybe I should google it?

Another scandal - is this the death of (a) football?

2009-08-24T20:38:00.003+10:00

Another scandal - is this the death of (a) football?, originally uploaded by dgt0011.

Our eldest DS has a wicked sense of humor and is a bit of a wizz with a camera.

I was particularly taken with this shot from his recent flickr posts and thought you might enjoy it and his comments too.

His comments on the flickr page read as: "I had no intention of creating an image that was a social comment on the current state of football given all the current scandals - but as I was wandering around the grounds I stumbled upon an old ball that's seen better days - and with the storm coming through - it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Granted - the ball wasn't in the spot it was photographed - I must've looked a sight, wandering around the stadium, dead football in hand....."

Facebook malfunction

2009-08-24T20:00:00.004+10:00

Oh dear, who can't get pics to load on Facebook. So am loading a couple of the gentleman in black for DS. Pat needed, now would be good.

Dogs are so juvenile, sitting over there with their tongues hangin out, anyone would think it was hot, oh thats right 35degrees C is hot.

Just hangin loose after a good pat and roll on the concrete.

Cumquat Harvest with a rather lovely black cat

2009-08-24T15:45:00.004+10:00

Have been waiting for the cumquats to ripen, and noticed that one had fallen from the tree, so off to harvest, tomorow there will be cumquat marmalade, brandied cumquats and pickled cumquats, which by the way are just delish, mashed into butter and used on steak or grilled chicken.

While out there, I had a little company, DS3's cat, he is a bit lonely at the moment as DS is touring route 66 in USA and from all the pics on facebook they are having a great time.

Our dogs get a bit jealous of the pats and attention the white whiskered gentleman gets, but puss lords it over them and just stalks around with his tail in the air.

The fastest reverse stitcher ever

2009-08-24T08:51:00.004+10:00

Stitching some beautifully coloured Bali Flags and made a mistake way up the end, blast, the whole line of stitching had to come undone. Time to grab my trusty Wahl.

I first came across this very handy little sewing room extra on Ami Simms 'Through The Eyes Of A Quilter' blog at http://amisimms.wordpress.com/ and being a bit of an Ami Fan I just had to try one of these little handy dandy's out.

Of course, here in Aus. it wasn't the bargain buy that Ami Simms was recommending, but I managed to track one down that wasn't an arm - leg - mortgage the house option and I have to say its a little ripper........er pardon the pun.

The stitching threads get cut by the little teeth, much as pet fur does, which is what the Whal Pocket Pro Pet Trimmer is designed for. As with all things magical, it has its little personality traits, the fabric has to be kept flat and the stitches at a firm tension to allow the little teeth to slide in.

And these are the little extras you get in the pack. Guide combs, cleaning brush, oil and even a battery, oh and that black square at the top........not a clue, just came with the piccie. You can get them from Amazon or any Vet.

One of those 'how did I live without this gadget' type of things, just make sure you research the price.

Aww, do I hafta?

2009-08-12T10:49:00.003+10:00

Time, yet again for this fluffy fella to get a short back and sides, he loves the end result but isn't into standing for long periods of time. Laid him on the grooming box, in the sunshine and guess what, as I clipped I became aware of a low kind of rumbling noise, Is he growling at me???, a quick check of the other end and nope, he was fast asleep!

Strawberry Roses

2009-08-11T13:28:00.003+10:00

The littlest Grandie and his Mum came to visit yesterday and bought this beautiful bouquet of roses and chocolate coated strawberries as a get well for someone who had a bit of a scare over the weekend. Everything turned out fine, but this little man wanted to come and say "Hi"!, well those chocolate strawberries were yum and not easily resisted, especially for a strawberry aficionado, so a big Thank You to everyone for your care and concern.

Patty Cake Tower

2009-07-26T23:05:00.003+10:00

Look at this for a birthday cake, a tower of Patty Cakes with a quilting theme, the top cake is a pincushion, complete with needle and thread,

A Kaleidoscope and a nine patch 'blocks'

Cute little pincushion with a button on top, a collection of all those little 'ears' that get trimmed from the completed blocks. For a non sewer this lass did some serious research.

Stars, a snatch of a nine patch, and another flower and button pincushion

Another 9 patch, and down the bottom a pinwheel

but just look at this one, cotton reels and thread! Talk about detail!

and finally, a close up of the pincushion with needle and thread. I heard that there were some cakes that got a stern talking too about conforming to shape, and I believe it, this is an amazing job, Thank You DDIL, the table decorations, balloons and such a special cake went a long way to making this such a wonderful day

A Wonderful Birthday Dinner and Pressies Galore

2009-07-24T12:12:00.005+10:00

After a well earned nap, collected the eldest Grandie and home for a few minutes, just enough time for him to disappear into my sewing room where he made me a little gift, a mini version of the cushions he and his brother made themselves a few days ago.

Then into the car and toddling on down the hill to his house for one of the best meals I've had in a long time, cooked and presented by DS2 and DDIL, everything was delicious but two things really stood out, the roast potatoes and the caramel sauce, now they were to die for.

The occasion was of course, a birthday, one of those that only comes along every now and again and ends in 0........eeek, am I that old?

Well yes I am, and although there have been tough patches and bits I don't want to re-visit, even in memories, on the whole it has been an interesting and fun journey.

The Darling and I were blessed with 3 wonderful and very different Sons who grew into the Men we are so proud of today. Our little family of 5 has increased almost 2 fold, with the inclusion of 2 very special Daughters - in - Law and 2 Grandsons that keep us young...........and 'zorsted'.

We started the evening with strawberry champagne, and then the wonderful Chilli Chicken on Won-ton pictured above, a real explosion of lovely fresh flavours in your mouth.

Divine, but more was to follow.

The tomato and bread salad may be a classic but it is a wonderful side dish for this.....
a succulent roast chicken, stuffed with lemons and herbs and roasted with bacon lardons.

The bacon and the most delicious crispy but fluffy roast potatoes ever, but e v e r.

My meal, fit for a gal who has seen lotsa birthday dinners, even had a little gravy on my salad, oopsie!

All of this was followed by

Dessert!.........yum, a light sticky date pudding with the richest caramel sauce you could ever imagine, praline divine and a strawberry, all of this accompanied by champagne and a dinner wine, I am one very spoiled lady.

This was just part of my Birthday Celebrations, I have to tell you having sons is just the very best!

The littlest Grandie is right..............

2009-07-24T09:31:00.005+10:00

.........Grandma is zoorsted.......(exhausted), well definitely pooped.

Day started off early with a visit from a friend bearing a gift of lovely choccies, then off to pick up the littlest for a bit of one on one time, he hates shopping, so of course we went shopping, firstly to the toy shop where he got himself an addition to his Mutant Turtle collection, then as we were so close to eckersley's we popped in there where his little mind nearly went into overload, he had never seen such an array of crayons and pencils, he choose a marker in the shape of a dog for himself and Grandma got some pastel dye sticks that he was eyeing off. He can see real possiblilities there.

Then we went off to buy a cake pan to make a cake for Grandad's lunch, well he sulked in the car all the way there, and drug himself along the pavement with quite the crabby little face, all the while muttering about hating shopping and rolling his eyes.

The cake pans were right by the door and the perfect one was on top, so 30 seconds and we are ready to go, but no, those rolling little eyes are now just about bugging out of his head, he couldn't believe all the goodies in that store, all the time the sales assistant was chatting to him, pointing out such a pile of deliciousness, it cost a fortune and took an age to finally drag that little boy out of that store.

Talk about clever merchandising, all the little things all at little eye height, he got a mini silicone basting brush, new word for him, a mini whisk that he is giving a test run in the piccie above, a meat baller (melon baller), a gift for Dad to make little meatballs, 2 funky egg cups, one for his brother and a long handled spoon, and I haven't a clue what he wanted that for but want it he did.

Then we went to the cafe for lunch, where among other things he had a strawberry milkshake with pink marshmallows, it was definitely time for us both to have a nap after a quick trip to the $2 store, and so home for him and home for me. What a wonderful birthday morning.

Japanese Doll Bookmark

2009-07-21T09:42:00.006+10:00

Knowing I was to make and send a bookmark to an member of an online book group, when I spotted this Carol Saunders pattern at the recent Textile Show, I snapped it up.
Couldn't get my head around one of the instructions so 'phoned Carol, what a lovely lady, she set me straight in no time flat and off I sailed into making this little lady.

I changed things around a little when attaching the head to the body, pulling the "hair" down at the back of the head a little lower and affixing the body to the head slightly differently.

I hope my Swap Sister likes it. Guess time will tell, am off to post it now, its due to be posted by the 25th, so finished just in time.

A lucky shot...

2009-07-12T11:55:00.003+10:00

Its our Quilt Show this weekend, and with the usual feelings of frustration of so many quilts, so little time, along with being a little overwhelmed by my decision to post a pic of absolutely every single quilt on display, a bigger job that I had hoped, I was a little flat on my way back to the cottage this morning.

On the way out the driveway I just glanced over at the parking bay and saw this butterfly just sunning himself, set the camera up and not really believing I would be able to get close enough, I crept across the gravel, as you can see, he/she, just continued to sit and sun...........It's a magical day!
All tiredness just seeped away.
Its truly the little things that are priceless.

Book mark Swap

2009-07-10T09:07:00.004+10:00

This beautiful Hardanger bookmark arrived in the mail last night, isn't it gorgeous?. I am so in awe of anyone who can do Hardanger, its not going to be something I will be achieving in the near future, so that makes it even more precious.

It is a secret swap, but with a clue in the card, so I'm pretty sure my swap partner is Sharon Humphreys, from south of here, N.S.W. maybe........gotta go do some research and thanking, just wanted to share the pretty.

A Pretty Cake and some Success.

2009-07-08T09:33:00.008+10:00

Invited to share in a delicious lamb stew for dinner last night, yay!, deliciousness and no work, how good was that.
When we arrived the youngest Grandie met me at the door with 'did you bring your cambera'?, no I hadn't, he was disappointed and the reason why soon surfaced, he wanted to take a pic of the pretty cake 'mine Mum' had just made. Isn't it just the prettiest thing, and how cute are the ladybugs!.

Well Mum, aka DDIL, said we could have it for dessert, but the main was too yummy and we all stuffed ourselves silly, and here is the best bit, as we were leaving, already laden with a bag of lemons - lemon butter to come, and a sheet of perspex - soon I'm gonna have a light box, DDIL offered the cake to take to my Patchwork group that is meeting this arvo, yay and yum, no lunch for me today! DDIL is interested in cake decorating and every book advises her to practice, practice, practice, so I'm sure there will be more cakes in Patchworks future.

And the success?.........well a couple of weeks ago my second screen gave up the ghost, and I am now used to using two screens, so I scratched around and unearthed my old screen, googled how to connect a second screen, god I lurve.....lurve google and off I went.

It didn't work, oh the disappointment, so in defeat I went off to make a coffee, and as I flicked the switch to turn on the kettle, a little switch in my mind also went off, I rushed back to my room, pressed the 'on' button and lo and behold......success is mine. Two Screens!!!
I cannot tell you just what a sense of achievement this techno -a- phobe is feeling just now.

So now I'm off to the cottage with a lovely cake to do a little more skiting

Exploding Frypan and a Delicious Salad

2009-07-04T18:38:00.014+10:00

The day was all planned, the menu sorted, the food packed into the esky and off we went to Brissy to our eldest DDS and DDIL (formerly the new bride - well its been a couple of years so hence the new title).

I had planned a lovely sounding Ginger Steak Salad from Ree over at The Pioneer Woman Cooks an amazing new blog I have recently come across, http://thepioneerwoman.com/,
This is a pic of Ree's fabulous salad, because of the kerfuffle later on I missed a pic of my salad, but I followed Ree's recipe to the letter and it was divine, so have borrowed her pic to show you how great it was. Go visit her blog and have a drool or two, and while you are there, get yourself a romance novel fix by reading High heels to Tractors, the story of how she met her Darling. Ohh steamy..

It was a two fold plan, celebrate the eldest's birthday and watch a slide show of the amazing photos they took on their recent Tassy holiday, some of which can be viewed here on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgt0011/

We took the trusty cast iron frypan with us, the idea being that there would be no muss, no fuss and the dirty dishes would come home with us. Hmmmmm good plan.

Now the eldest and DDIL have one of those ceramic electric cook tops and I think this may be where I came undone, and undone in a most spectacular way.

I have been using these cast iron frypans that you get from a camping goods store to cook steak for quite a while, heat the pan, add the steaks and sear them, then unscrew the handle and into a 220 deg oven for 5 - 7 min, easy peasy and beautiful steaks.

This time though there was a little surprise, while heating the pan there was a huge explosion and half the fry pan shot backwards off the stove to the bench and the other half shot forwards off the stove top, and landed on the floor, where it sort of skittered around in circles but still travelled across the floor.

The DDIL and I looked at it, looked at each other some and looked at the pan again. Neither could believe what had just happened. We were so lucky not to be injured and that no damage was done to anything else. I picked up the frypan and popped it into the sink. What else could I do?? faint?? - and I can tell you, it was a bit of an option there for a second or two.

Sunrises...........ya gotta love em...

2009-07-02T21:38:00.007+10:00

specially when a smaller..well slightly smaller person ( gee....what kinda fertilizer do they put in kids food these days???) in your life wakes you 2 entire hrs before the sun was due to raise its sleepy head.....O M G not sure I wanted to do this, so we staggered off to visit Grandad.

"Honey? are you awake?"...gentle sorta snore kinda woofy sound........read as NO AND GO AWAY, .....awwwww...he's still sleepin'

SCHMACK!! on the edge of the bed, "Honey? are you awake?...........we kinda wanna know what time the sun comes up?"

Well, we got the info on the winter soltice, how far we were into it and daylight and sunset times..........whatever, this couldn't be right, surely,.........hey, it was early - right!. I am not a morning person.

So, lets go google it, prove to the Grandie that bed was a good place to be. Yep, Grandad and Computer agree, Sunrise at 6:38 A.M. by this time it was 4.45A.M. so we staggered, well one of us staggered back to the warm clime of quilties and soft spots to lay one's weary head.

Oh goody goody, my fave position, reclining watching movies on the back of my eyelids, but wait, something is pulling me back.....and its not just one thing................sigh!, I slowly open one eyelid, just a smidgen, but its more than enough, they know I'm awake, the Grandie and the Shitzu, both with eyes just peeking over the edge.

So, I gave in, made hot drinks all round, yep, one for Granddad too ( even though he was right) and we packed ourselves off to the beach to watch the Sunrise. Grandie 1, me and the Shitzu.

This pic is really badly focused, but it shows the park lights pooling on the grass and the first light peeking over the horizon.

Well we were outnumbered from the get go, my god, don't people sleep anymore??, there was a group exercising on the lovely flat surface of the H.M.A.S. Brisbane memorial, there were groups, bouncing and running and stretching all along the paths and in little groups by the B.B.Q shelters.

A little more light and colour coming along, oops, who stayed in their P.J.'s for the big trip?

Focus still a problem.

and then the Birds arrived...the feathered kind that is!, Ibis and Bush Turkeys, and tinsy little flitter from tree top to tree top kinds of birds, ye gods, even if you squinted your could barely see them.
Anyway, we got some great shots and just so we could remember this day for the rest of our lives, well for a while at least, we decided on Maccas for Breakfast, my goodness, doesn't a bacon and egg mcmuffin fill you to the gunwhales? and as we scratched around the car for more change, and by the way, a big thank you to the very and I do mean v e r y patient chappie taking our order, one item at a time..........'really, its only that much, well lets see what we have here'....... we finally arrive home and surprised Grandad with a Maccas brecky. And a Shitzu who fancied himself as a bit of a world traveller, shared his with the Rudie the Sheltie, and all was happy and harmonious........well for a bit at least.

Staring Bird.......

2009-07-01T21:48:00.004+10:00

We just got a new baby cockatiel, we called him Nibbler but we are thinking of changing his name.

He always flips his wings and he goes mad. But now he is learning to fly. Today he flew from the lounge room into the kitchen, but not very high. He likes to chew on paper and he poops a LOT...

He always goes aggressive about my Mum's rings and trys to chew on them

Written by Grandie 1. who should be in bed snoozing. Nite Nite.

Cancer Fundraiser

2009-05-27T16:44:00.009+10:00

Our quilting group had a fund raising afternoon tea today, lots of donated gifts for a rolling raffle, great fun, and I won, would you believe it, another tape measure! a little mauve one. I think I'll start a collection

I was inspired to peer into the little draw where I keep this odd assortment of measuring tapes and a few memories came rolling back of early sewing days, the oldest measure is the white one with the faded red numbers. I got it when I was about 18, way back when dirt was mud, it was the newest must have, a fiberglass tape measure, guaranteed to last, tick that one, and guaranteed not to stretch, another tick.

Boy, that tape has seen a few projects, sewing for myself before I was married, making babies and kiddies clothing when we were in the Islands (Nauru and Solomons), all the way to current days where I use it to measure quilt backs and wadding.

But the tape I have used most in the last 10 years, yep, the builders tape!, got that little sucker when we renovated, needed it to check everything from the size of mouldings to tiles to timber lengths and beyond. Every gal needs a builders tape, its even got my name scratched into the back, 'cause the tradies kept on asking for a 'lend' - or maybe they just wanted me to stop measuring stuff ...

These beautiful orchids are grown by Inga, one of our members, she bought them along to pretty up our tea table and then they were raffled off to a very happy lass.