Movement.....

There has been craft happening at my house! The board,ruler and cutter have been taken out of retirement! and fabric has been chosen, ironed and cut. The sewing machine has been given warning that it is on duty tomorrow and hopefully by this time tomorrow night there will be finished articles to be displayed!

Braces!

Guess where we have been today??? The 'horsey' one finally has her braces! A little sore and sorry for herself tonight and made me promise not to post a photo!

Bad Jimmy!

Jimmy has been up to 'no good' again!!! I woke this morning to the noise of velcro and racing out of bed found the remains of one of 'the horsey one's ' riding gloves. There is only the wristband left, no fingers , no hand...... all now in his tummy! Luckily they were not her good ones, they were a pair she won in a dressage competition and being mauve were worn for early morning rides to protect against the cold. As Jimmy found them on the bedroom floor (and someone had been asked to move them for a few days) she who shall remain nameless has been told she will be paying the vet bill should we need it!!! Luckily there were no ill effects from the glue stick he ate over the weekend!

More post!

I was lucky enough to win a giveaway from Cheryl at Willowberry Designs. I won a pattern for her 'Pin Pillows'. They are so cute and my size and doable!!! There are 4 designs in the pattern. I couldn't get a good photo of it without shadows and light etc, sorry , but pop over to her blog and have a look. You will all be wanting to make them. Thank you for a great prize Cheryl.

More mail but not for me!!!

SH received a parcel in the mail today from the USA. Quite unusual because it is normally me receiving the parcels. This was from Jack who was on the Kimberley trip with us in May. He was travelling by himself and was just lovely. He realised that SH loved baseball and the Angels (maybe because he had numerous Angels shirts!) and offered to get him a shirt when he got home. (SH has tried to order direct from the Angels before but the amount of postage they charge is ridiculous) We hadn't heard anything and had actually forgotten all about the offer, we know what it is like returning to everyday life!! but today a great tshirt turned up. There are some very special people in the world and I have a very happy husband!

A new favorite!

While at Aldi yesterday getting the vegies for the Sunday roast I found some new chocolates. Yum - Werners Original Chocolates with a soft caramel filling. I can highly recommend them, not sure that the rest of the family can - they may or may not of got to share!!!!

PS Catherine, we got the tv! They had got another load of them in.

Cute Peter!

What a weekend! and I can't believe Monday is just around the corner..... I worked at the boarding house for the weekend finishing at 9am this morning. I always come home and need a sleep, I don't sleep very well when I am there, I always have an ear open!!! Today SH managed to clean the gutters and mow the lawn while I have baked a roast dinner - yum! - so we have managed to tick a few jobs off the list. Precious Pete didn't extend himself too much and enjoyed sunbaking on one of the beds!! Isn't he cute??

Election Day 2010!

Today Australia votes for a new Prime Minister with a federal election. It is compulsory to vote here in Australia and as much as this time it was tempting to make a 'donkey' vote I take my responsibility seriously, I figure you cannot complain in the future if you have not taken advantage of your vote. Because I am off to the boarding house to work this morning SH, HS and I voted yesterday afternoon. It was HS's first time to vote and I am proud to say him and his friends discussed the issues that affect them and he made a decision about how to vote, very different from when I first started voting and you automatically voted the way your parents had!!!

My first quilt!

I had to make up the spare bed today for a visitor tonight and as I was making it I realised I have never shared my very first quilt. Not long after I was married (we were given my sewing machine as a wedding present from SH's grandmother) I did night quilting classes at an Adult education centre with a friend. We were not very good at doing our homework and at the end of the course I had a bag of squares to show for it and not much else!!!It was quilt as you go and a sheet was cut up for the backing. The colors are quite dated, green and pink! A few years ago Mum offered to see what she could do with them and managed to put together a small quilt and a pillow! She did say it was a true labor of love!!! Hopefully my quilting has improved since then but it will always hold a special place in my home!


While making the bed I had a helper! Peter spent most of the time hiding under the pillow and just poked his head out to say hi! He is very cute!

Best friends!

Another cold, wet day and getting home from work I found Jimmy and the 'horsey' one sharing a chair and a cuddle in front of the computer!! How cute!!


Even with the cold and the enormous amount of rain that we have had our pot of cyclamen are still flowering. We have had this pot for a lot of years and I'm ashamed to say it gets no tender loving care. It always brings back memories of my 'Nan', it was one of her favorite plants. When it is flowering it always feels like she is close and looking over us.

Secret shopping!

Sssh.....don't tell SH I got a parcel in the mail today. Even though it isn't in the budget I bought a pattern. I saw these little 'lucky' owls made up on Cardygirl's blog and thought they would be perfect for the year 12 girls at the boarding house as a gift before exams. I can't wait to make them and think I may steer away from the traditional Japanese fabrics and go for brights and spots etc. It seemed a shame to buy just one pattern so I bought a sashiko sampler and some red thread to stitch it with as well. Oh I am looking forward to the weekend!!! Just wish I wasn't on boarding house duty!!

A Hat and a Moose!

I got a parcel from a very special friend today. I met Catherine (Calidore) in blogland and have been lucky enough to meet her in 'real life' (remember the axe murderer story??). She sent me a handknitted hat to replace the one naughty Jimmy ate. This one may not be possum wool or from New Zealand but it is so very precious and appreciated. It fits perfectly. Thank you Catherine, I can't wait till we catch up again.

The 'horsey one' and I headed off to Mum's town this morning for an Orthodontist appointment. It was very chilly when we set off and after hearing on the radio it was 3 degrees no wonder it felt cold!! The 'horsey one' was having spacers in preparation for having braces fitted next Friday. The appointment went well, we think! He put some spacers in her bottom teeth and we thought she was only having top braces at this stage!!! Oh well I'm sure he knows what he is doing and we will find out for sure next week! The best part of the day was catching up with Mum and seeing what she has been creating. She has almost finished the Christmas Quilt (a Hatched and Patched pattern) and is well on the way with Irish Birds (think that is what it is called, a Lynette Anderson pattern). She has also completed this Christmas moose! He is so cute and I can see a lot more being made closer to the silly season. She said he was quick and easy to create. I cannot remember who the designer is but can ask Mum if anyone would like to know.

Cupcakes galore!

We held our RSPCA cupcake morning tea at work today. It was a great success. I think we raised about $80 which is fantastic. Two other staff members contributed and when I arrived at work Tammy had a tablecloth on and two bowls of beautiful camelias.

She had made these yummy chocolate and cream butterfly cakes with some mini m & m's for decoration. They didn't last long.

She also made these Lemon Diva cupcakes, inspired by the first season of Masterchef. I was lucky enough to enjoy one of these.

Tammy has made these before so when they appeared they were in great demand, butterfly cakes with jelly and cream.

Bob had his daughter home on the weekend so she made 'frog' and 'pig' cupcakes for him to bring in.

I made two plates of these cupcakes with sparkly sprinkles and the cupcake toppers that I had made.


These are my flowerpots that I think were my favorite. They were so easy but the end result was great.


How cute are these 'beach babes'???? I just love them!


I also made these clown faces, perhaps my least favorite but still cute and popular.


I was able to bring home a few cupcakes but it was amazing that out of 10 dozen cupcakes there were not a lot left. A few Mums took some home with them at the end of the day, what an easy dessert!!!

Feeling weary......

What a day! I have been in Warrnambool all day with the 'horsey' one at a competition. I jump judged so sat in the cold wet and wind all day. I am starting to thaw out now - just!!! It was a good day with the 'horsey' one and Henry coming 2nd in only their first grade 3 competition. Since getting home I have decorated 62 cupcakes for tomorrows morning tea, clowns, beachbabes, potplants and sparkly sprinkles. I am now eating the beautiful roast dinner SH has prepared and going to bed!!! Photos tomorrow!

A little project!

On Monday at work we are having an 'RSPCA cupcake day' morning tea fundraiser.One of my colleagues and I are supplying the morning tea and as I'm out for the day tomorrow I have tried to get organised today. SH has agreed to bake the cakes in the morning for me and I will decorate them when I get home. Today I made some cupcake toppers. Not perfect but I am pleased with my first attempt. I found some very cute animal stickers and by joining two identical ones over a toothpick got the result I was looking for. (Sorry not a very technical explanation there!!). I am looking forward to using them on Monday. I'll share my other cupcakes then!

Even fewer words Friday!

I have been sitting here contemplating and wondering why I have nothing to say? Am I just that boring? or is my life that mundane? and decided that there has to be at least 10 things I am thankful for today! Here goes.......
1) It is Friday , the end of the week and I didn't have to work today and I still have the weekend to tick everything off my list that was missed today!
2) Fresh sheets on my bed, there is nothing nicer than snuggling in warm, crisp sheets.
3) Having coffee with friends, always good for the soul.
4) A waxing appointment, my eyebrows can be seen in public again!
5) I managed to do some Christmas shopping today and my sister's parcel may even be sent on time by sea mail!
6) Chatting with a wonderful friend on the school steps, solving the problems our year 12 students face together, knowing we are not alone.
7) I am very grateful the house didn't burn down when SH left the hotplate on at lunchtime and that I found it in time!!!!!
8) My Gilmore Girls DVDs, I am up to season 3 and still loving them, especially when there is still no tv at our place.
9) Homemade Baklava from a very dear friend who knows how much we love it.
10) The company of a sleepy cat, something very comforting about that!

Thought I might struggle for a little while there!!! I am thinking over the weekend I may finally work on the rest of the posts for our US and our Kimberleys holidays, then I can finally get our photo books organised for them as well before they are just a distant memory.
I apologise if the contents of this blog are not always crafty or interesting but I am trying to use it (especially posting each day) to document the little things and the real everyday things of mine and my family's life.
Thanks for dropping in!

Few words Thursday!!

I never thought my life would be such that I would struggle to find something to say each day!!!! (Has anyone noted that I have been posting with remarkable regularity lately???)
This is the first sign of spring in our garden and survived the weather yesterday. Spring can't come quickly enough for me this year!!

More destruction!

We woke this morning to a terrible storm with heavy heavy rain. It has been like that all day with terrible winds as well. Around the area paddocks are flooded, there have been a lot of accidents and when SH was out of town he had to drive through a substantial amount of water to get home. While I was ironing this morning the tv all of a sudden lost reception, this happens occasionaly in bad weather so I turned it off and thought nothing more of it until I turned it on at lunchtime to watch a little 'Ellen', nothing , not a thing, so I looked out the window and in the storm we lost our huge ginormous antenna!!! Oops, no tv today, hopefully someone will look at it tomorrow and who knows how long until it is fixed!

Very hard to see in this photo but you can just see the crashed antenna on the left!

This is the second piece of destruction for today, if you guessed Jimmy you are right! This was my favorite, my only winter hat, so soft and comfortable, possum wool brought back as a gift from New Zealand for me. To say I was cross is an understatement, it is a wonder I could not be heard from the other side of the world!!! Oh well I will have to go hatless for the rest of winter now! Jimmy luckily is being allowed to live!

I bought this magazine last week and had no intention of confessing to it! To be honest when I saw it was for a 'beginner' quilter and came with an instructional dvd I had to have it. I feel very inadequate with my quilting knowledge which is probably why I do a lot of stitching and rarely finish anything. I am also not great at asking for help! I was thrilled looking through the magazine to see it had 12 projects , each focused around one technique. Of the 12 projects only 2 of them don't interest me but that doesn't mean I won't attempt them. I thought I may work my way through the magazine giving myself 1 project a month to work on. In theory this will take 12 months (yes I can do math!) but I am planning to start in September so I can get fabric for the first quilt when I am out of town later this month. Let's see how I go!!!!

A new favorite!

We have a new family favorite for lunches, white chocolate and raspberry muffins! Yum!

Pies and destruction!

I forgot to show you two of our purchases from Costco yesterday! These looked amazing and just happened to find their way into our trolley.
This is a 2kg apple pie that had been recommended. All of our family loves apple pie and although we normally make our own this was irresistible. We are having it for dessert tonight with a choice of custard, cream or ice cream on the side. Anyone care to join us??? There is plenty to share! (don't panic , there is not a chance we will eat it all so I plan to freeze individual slices for after school or sports snacks!!)

This is a pumpkin pie (1.7kg if anyone is interested in just how enormous it is). We have made them before and they are a favorite of HS (in fact he has as many favorites as the horsey one is fussy!!). How could I say no when he asked for it ever so nicely fluttering his eyelashes?? I think he has this earmarked as for him only but SH and I will be tasting it so we know whether to buy it again.

This morning I woke to be greeted by Jimmy's latest destruction! Honestly this dog must have a gut of steel. Overnight he destroyed / ate a tube of 'Pawpaw ointment' (can be used as an antiseptic, lip balm etc). There was definitely no ointment left only a mangled mess of red plastic and not even enough of that to make up a whole tube!!

Out and about...

Today has been a long day. SH, HS and I headed off early to Melbourne to attend the open day at William Angliss College. With HS in year 12 we are trying to keep as many options open as possible and explore lots of different possibilities. I managed to get a little knitting done in the car (don't be too shocked, crafting 2 days in a row!!) on the vest that both Catherine (Calidore) and I are knitting. I have decided I am a very slow knitter and I will be in the nursing home by the time it is finished!!Oh well baby steps!! Before going to the College we quickly called in to Prahran Market to buy fresh pasta (the horsey ones favorite - she is a very fussy eater) and fresh turkish bread - yum. We also went to Essential Ingredient, one of my very favorite shops where we stocked up on our Lindt chocolate (white and milk) chips that we use for cooking. They come in 2.5kg bags and believe it or not are cheaper than buying normal choc chips in the supermarket and twice as yummy. Biggest problem is finding a hiding place from the kids or they become an after school snack! The college was well worth visiting. We took a tour and then did some exploring by ourselves, attending a few information sessions as well. Lots of nice 'tastings' of foods and drinks.There was an ice sculpture demonstration, these beautiful swans were just blocks of ice when we arrived. This large chef greeted everyone on arrival - put a smile on our faces!! Maybe, just maybe we have found an area of interest for our boy! After this a quick visit to Costco to stock up on our cleaning and laundry supplies. We seem to be able to get there about every 3 months and save so much money on these items. We were also able to pick up some fruit and veg today as we were going straight home which was a bonus. Think its time to read the paper in bed before having a reasonably early night, Monday again tomorrow and the start of another busy week!!

Proof!

I know these are really bad photos, I had a lot of trouble getting them any clearer but I wanted to prove there has been some stitching happening!!!! I have spent the day working at the boarding house and managed to stitch while I talked to the girls. It is a Fairy 'Princess Diary' pattern by Brenda Ryan which is supposed to be made into a pillow. As I am doing it for my niece in the UK I think I will put mine on a bag instead which will be a little more postal friendly. I am using a 'Cottage Garden' thread in Tulip and doing it all in the one variegated thread. I am really happy with how it is growing and am actually itching to pick it up again. I will be spending quite a few hours in the car tomorrow so have my knitting ready ( I can't stitch in the car!)

(Both this pattern and the Cottage Garden threads are available to purchase at www.orangedaisy.com.au)

An evening at the theatre!

The 'horsey' one and I have just got home from the final production of this years school play. This year the production was 'Charley's Aunt' a classical and very funny comedy set in Oxford in 1892. There were only 10 characters but they did such a wonderful job and kept the audience well and truly entertained and laughing.

My boy!

I am so proud of my HS, he has received notification that he is now a Level 1A Referee for basketball, one of only 3 in town. He has worked hard towards this and it is a great achievement.

Off to the show!

Yesterday SH and I visited Sheepvention for a few hours. It is a sheep show and associated events that is on annually for two days. It is renowned for wet and muddy weather!!! and this year did not disappoint. In the past the schools have all had a day off on the Monday but in the Shire's wisdom they now have Melbourne Cup day!!!! There are sheep on display and for sale, working dogs competing (one of my favorite things to watch), machinery to inspect, an amazing fashion parade of wool garments with a competition for young designers, local food and wine showcased and lots of shopping opportunities. There was even a 'Nundle wool' stand. I think they had a good show as they didn't have a lot of stock left. We enjoyed our annual 'lamb burger' for lunch and met up with lots of people we haven't seen for a long while. A great outing but oh it was nice to get home to the warm!!

A gift from the heart.

SH arrived home from his weekend trip to Sydney for the football late last night and brought me a gift, the Lindt cafe was next to their hotel and knowing my obsession with Lindt chocolate and macaroons (determined to conquer them this year!) I received a box of 6 Lindt macaroons. He was disappointed that they are a little crumbly after the trip but I have assured him that the taste and enjoyment will not be affected!

Gorgeous Jimmy!

Thought it was time for a Jimmy update! As you can see he loves comfort! curling up on a knee for a cuddle whenever possible. He got a lovely new coat for winter which is keeping him warm during the day when we are at work and school, only once has he chewed it but luckily it was mendable. Has he been into mischief? oh yes, in the last month he has eaten a pin cushion and a hockey sock!!! He was very lucky they did not cause a trip to the vet. He still doesn't sleep at night, never before have I known a dog with insomnia but we are working through it. He certainly has got under our skin (even mine!) and become a much loved member of the family. We are still looking for a friend for him but waiting until the perfect companion comes along.