I Can Actualyy See

 

where I have been and what I have achieved over the last few days!!! How good is that! Saturday saw me cooking for Karah's 11th birthday party that afternoon. I know I know I know - you do not get up in the morning and start cooking a birthday cake - most people don't anyway!

 

 

Well I did end up taking the icing with me and finishing it off at City Park!! here she is with her friends trying to get the candles lit in a brisk breeze!!

 

 

They were successful eventually!! The flames lasted a few seconds - I think.... she managed to be able to blow them all out together!! maybe the breeze helped!

I have never cooked a marble cake let alone a cake with the requested colours of purple, green and blue!! Nor di double a mixture very often. But there is the proof - I did it all on Saturday morning, as well as cupcakes, fruit platter, carrot/celery/cheese stick platter. I took along 2 loaves of bread, butter and 100s & 1000's (we couldn't keep the fairy bread up to them!!), drinks and we had the makings of a great party. City park has great climbing domes, flying foxes and a water area. Three hours later I waved off 15 happy friends and cousins and went home and collapsed!!! (not really, I did put my feet up and had a well earned cup of coffee and some more birthday cake!!)

 

 

Sunday saw a very different day for me. Mum  has been wanting a big garden bed out the front of her house where the lawn wouldn't grow properly. So Greg and I went in and marked it out, Greg sprayed it with round up then we laid thick cardboard on it.

 

On top of that we laid a thick layer of Lucerne, then soaked it for a couple of hours so it stays there!! This is the view towards the street from the from mum's house.

 

And this is the view from the street looking to the front of the house. My grandmother gave mum a pine tree 42 years ago to plant in the front garden - it won't grow very big she said - haha - yeah right. Just as well mum planted it right at the boundary near the driveway - it is huge - but a great shade tree in the summer. The bare bit in the bottom right corner is about 12 feet from the tree (nothing will grow there) so I have left enough room so that we can continue to park our cars there in the summer!!

Next to come are the rocks to border it with and then a load of beautiful red sandy loam from my sons farm, then a layer of rice straw. After that I can begin to plant it up. I have been gathering plants and cuttings and bulbs for a little while - I am going to fill all the beds at the front of the house as full as I can, put in a sprinkler system on each bed and hopefully mum will have some lovely colour and shapes to look at in the spring!!

Tomorrow Greg and I are off to Wagga for a pre-op clinic for his hip surgery which is at the beginning of May. We have to be over there at 8.30 which means a 60.30 departure at the latest. I am off to pack a few small sewing projects because I will be sitting filling in time waiting). And for the first time ever I just don't have the urge to go shopping - I must be getting old, am really tired or just simply don't need anything - such a change!!

Have a great week everyone!!

 

 

 

 



A bit of This and That Amounting To Not Much!!!

 

Oh Dear!! It is 1 month since my last post. Time is just flying by this year - and just so busy with life that I am not getting done what I want - that is craft/sewing and yard work!! I have done some sewing or rather started a few things but haven't finished!!!

 

I have managed to keep up with my blog reading so I am up to date on what everyone is doing! So much going on in everyone's lives - I don't know how you all fit into your days what you do!!

 

Some photos of the projects I have started!! Teapot Cosies and Pot Holder -
 these were started for the Group handcraft judging for CWA - now they will be finished and ready for next year!!!

 

 Karah and I had some success in the Group CWA Land Cooking judging - Karah got a first with her Crunchy Topped Lemon Cake - I am a proud ma-ma. It is the first time she has made a cake from scratch (no packet mix) and she did it on her own. She has had a big grin for the last 2 days!!! And it is a delicious cake - we will be making it again for the morning teas!!!

 

I got 1st place with my Moroccan Tomato Relish and Microwave Kiwi Fruit Jam. The Relish is lovely but I will pass on the jam - just not my thing. Now we have to have them ready again in May to go to the State Judging!!

 

I have been working on my 2015 SAL blocks for March. Two more to go and I am finished - then I will start on the April blocks. I have prepared all the blocks for each month so I can just pick up the bag and take them with me to dancing and tag training.

 

 The local quilt group - 'Murrumbidgee Country Quilters' - had their biannual quilts show a couple of weeks ago. I popped in with a friend and Karah - some really beautiful work on display. I didn't take many photos but here are some of a few of the quilts!

 

This is one of Karah's favourites.

 

I liked this one because it was simple and was all plaids - something a little different.

 

Don't know why this one appealed to me - it just did!!

 

 

I loved this one best of all - I have been wanting to do a lap quilt like this for a long time - guess it is time to label a container 'YoYo Quilt Scraps' - otherwise I will forget about it!!

 

 

last week my Aunty came for a visit (she is 87). She is an aunty by marriage on my fathers side. The photo above is of Mum, myself, Aunty Daph and Charmaine (sister) in the front; and at the back is my cousin Nerida (Daph's daughter). They were here for a few days. Mum really enjoyed their visit and went out in the car with them each day.

I have had a couple of up close and personal visits with my dentist. Some of my front teeth had broken (well they were one third mine - the other two thirds were porcelain or whatever they make teeth from!!). I also had some other teeth that had broken. So after the initial consultation to see what I could have done I was back there yesterday for step 1 - removal of 2 whole teeth and 4 broken ones and some shrapnel. Not fun. My dentist really makes sure my mouth is numb (about 6 needles) and works very fast - but a couple of them didn't want to come out. So after all that I then went on to nearly fainting at the end of it all. Half an hour later after he and his assistant had fanned me, kept me flat on my back, checked my pulse every couple of minutes, I was gradually raised upright in the chair and allowed to wait in the waiting room for my sister to come and pick me up. Then I had to track down Greg so he could go back into town with my sister and drive my car home!! Feeling a bit better today, have eaten some soft food by putting it at the back of my mouth where I still have some top teeth!!! and keep telling myself that I now have 6 less teeth to worry about and only two more to come out. The next visit I will have someone drive me there and wait for me!!! Then I will have a plate with lovely straight even teeth with a beautiful smile!!! That is what I keep telling myself anyway - I have to talk myself into going back to the dentist somehow!!! I am the world's biggest SOOK - I wrote that on the top of my patient form on my first visit to my current dentist 20 years ago - he is the first medical type person who has my complete confidence and trust!!!
 

That is certainly enough for me this post!! 

Have a great week everyone!

INITIAL HEART SWAP 2015

 

This the 3rd year I have participated in the Initial heart Swap organised by Cheryll.

 

My swap partner to make for was Lyn who lives in New Zealand. What to make???

 

 

The light bulb switched on when I was getting blocks ready for SAL 2015 - I had pages of the pattern instructions everywhere on my table so I went and got my pattern folder (a gift from another swap last year) to put them all in and I decided that I could do with a few more of these; that's when I decided I would make one for Lyn - surely every crafter needs at least one!!

 

 

The inside.

 



 

Extras - a FQ and some butterscotch.

I really enjoyed making the pattern folder for Lyn - I used to do a lot of Crazy Patchwork ponce but it is several years since I have done any!! I was in my element stitching away and embellishing (found I need to get some more beads etc).

I know that Lyn has received her gift and is very happy with it so another successful swap for me!!

Just A Little Creative Over The last Week

 

No sewing done this past week but I have been creative in another way - crocheting!!

 

I have joined a CAL (crochet along) on facebook with Jodie (Jellywares On Marshall) from www.jellywares.com #rainbowCAL - using up all of my double knit yarns (and a few others that aren't too thick) to make a random rainbow rug!!! The squares have 3 rounds and are join-as-you-go. This could be a queen size blanket by the time I get through all the double knit yarns that I have - but I am determined to use it up (I can buy some nice new yarn then!!). I am trying to do 10 squares a day, which I have been achieving - a couple of hours at night in while watching television (I can't hand sew under night light anymore - that is a daytime thing now) and it is slowly growing.

 

This is a knee rug that I have made from some yarn 20% wool / 80% acrylic yarn that I have had sitting in a tub for a couple of years and I wanted it gone. It is really bulky and I used a 10mm hook - which my right hand didn't appreciate at all. I am pleased with how it came up and very happy that the tub can now store something else in it!!!

 

 

Yesterday morning we woke up to this!!! Rain, cooler temp - just a great day to wake up to. That all changed within a couple of hours but at least the temp stayed at a comfortable level!!

 

 

Then yesterday afternoon this appeared - WOOT WOOT - there was a huge storm blowing in!!!

 

 

Coming in from the south, dark and promising of an absolute downpour!!

 

haha - the joke was on us - we watched it go around us - towns 30 mins and 40 mins away from us copped a really bad lot of wind and rain and hail!!! And us - about 3 minutes of heavy rain and then the sun was shining again!! very grateful for the rain early in the morning!! Thankfully there was a cool breeze that came and stayed because today (and I just knew it was going to happen) we had a hot, humid 39deg Celsius AGAIN. Go away summer - I have had enough of being a sweaty wet blob - and I want to go outside and do some gardening and I want to feel alive again, and I HATE summer.......

And we have a week of mid 30's and higher - and as usual the weather report said it was 34degrees today and our thermometers here (all outside in shade) said 39degrees - I get so frustrated with that!!! We just add 4 degrees to the predicted temps now.

Enough of my moaning, time to get some shut eye - another week begins (and isn't February just flying by!!!).

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK EVERYONE!!

 

 



Grow Your Blog Party Give-Away Winners

 

Vicki from 2 BAGS FULL hosted the 3rd GROW YOUR BLOG PARTY which started on January 25th 2015. And what a wonderful party it has been - around 400 bloggers have taken part - so many from all around the world - such interesting, talented beautiful people from all walks of life - I have had myself a fine old time visiting so many great blogs.

 

My post for the blog party can be found HERE. And for the party I had a Give-Away - prizes for 3 lucky visitors that left a comment on the GYB party post. So, in no particular order, are the winners of the 3 prizes:

 

Lisa from http://lisavslounge.blogspot.com.au

Cherie from http://northyorkshirescraftguru.blogspot.com.au

Sharmane from http://countryfragrance.blogspot.com.au

 

Please email me ladies at creations.1@hotmail.com with your snail mail address so I can send your prize on it's merry way!!!

 

THANK YOU to Vicki for once again hosting this great party, and a

HUGE THANK YOU to all of my followers, both old and new, and to everyone who has visited my blog from the start until now - it is always a pleasure to read your comments and to be able to visit your blogs and share a little of your very own corner of blogland!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!!!



Dirty Work That Someone had To Do

 

But not me........well, sort of not me.......I was there flitting about the edges, putting my two bob's worth in!!!

 

 

 

Last weekend on the Saturday, my 4 sons met at mums and emptied her garage/shed - it was dad's, he passed away in 1996,  and it hadn't been cleaned out since years before then. Mum had given her son-in-laws and grandson bits and pieces over the years, but a really good cleanout it hadn't had for probably 30 years.

 

 

Dad was a collector and an inventor - it was his generations thing

he could always make it cheaper than buying it - well..... sometimes

but he was always busy in that shed, and he did make a lot of very useful things over the years - most of which had been dished out to the inlaws and grandies - so we were left with the not so good and the extras that had been put in there since 1996!!

 

 

well on the way to emptying it out - this was about half of what was in there - luckily we had some muscle or it would still be in the shed - mum and I do not have the strength or stamina to move any of this in one haul!!

 

 

This told us we were making progress. Six hours it took us - the boys doing the hard stuff and myself sorting and directing (I am good at that). And the trailer was loaded, we all took some stuff home.... of course.... keepsakes and 'it might come in handy one day stuff'!!! Me included - those preserving jars and sauce bottles will be used very shortly, and the electric spinning wheel I found (mum had bought that for me a few years back). It's all done now and mum is very happy about that. And there is 5 shelves of things left for anyone else in the family to go through and take what they want!!

 

 

Some had the easy job!!! Mum and Bobby waiting for the boys to get the action going - a cuppa always helps pass the time!!

 

Mum had a great day sitting in her chair in the shade being the supervisor - the boys (being typical males) were stringing her along with silly comments; reminiscing about the things that pop used to do (usually breaking every law known to man), putting rude comments on some of the things they found and didn't know what they were for - mum couldn't keep a straight face when she was chastising them!

A good day had by all!!

 

GYB Party Give Away is being drawn tomorrow - pop back to see who the lucky winners are!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Sewing For A 10 Year Old!!

 

After a very busy couple of weeks I had a tools down day on Sunday - I think my body knew that my mind had decided I was having a sleep in on Sunday morning - it sure did - I did not lift an eyelid until 10.30am. And continued to have a lazy day. I am thinking this could become a regular thing on Sundays - it is supposed to be the day of rest isn't it??

 

Yesterday was back to school so an early rise, this granddaughter of mine does not like getting out of bed!!! (Our eldest son says she is just like her grandmother - meaning me - the difference being I do get up early when I have to!!). I then spent the day doing the boring bits of life (washing and cleaning) interspersed with some sewing.

 

 

A diary cover (because ma-Ma has one and was making some for gifts) and 2 drink bottle bags (the other one was in her school bag). She has 3 drink bottles for school and after school activities and I was tired of my hand towels getting lost. So I took 2 towelling face washers from a box in my sewing room and 2 fat quarters and made her 2 bags. The inside is lined with the face washer so the condensation is absorbed into it. I have one more to make for her and then make 2 for myself - I take my own cold water with me from home when I go anywhere - I got tired of paying for bottles of water!!

I have also been doing the hand stitching on the blocks in part 1 of the SAL that I am participating in - Natures Journey by Anni Down's - I hope to have them finished by the end of this week.

Tomorrow is a day with Ollie - dad is sleeping and mum has to work - Ollie picks the days dad is on night shift to not have a morning and afternoon sleep. We may be doing some gardening at nanny's tomorrow I think!!