Autumn is Here!

Hooray! Autumn is here, which is probably my favourite season. There's still a little warm weather around-low 30s tomorrow with a fire ban. Hopefully, a last hurrah before some cooler temperatures.

Family-wise, it's been busy-ish. Luke has started uni, and seems to be enjoying it. He also turned 18 which he celebrated quietly-a family dinner, and dinner with his friends. Dell has started year ten at OAC (Open Access College) which in on line study. Work has been ongoing as usual for Ron and me. We celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary last week, which coincided with the arrival of our new car. It's a Holden Calais, replacing our other car for towing. Ron's softball team made it to the grand final last Saturday, but unfortunately didn't win this year. We have decided not to head to Barmera in the Riverland for Easter this year. It should be a good break as Ron has taken time off between Easter and Anzac Day.

I also got to meet up with a new on line friend Cassie who loves quilting, which was great as we have quite a lot in common. More meet-ups are planned!

On the crafting front-I finished something-I know it's been a while, but this was cross stitch, which can be on the slower side. It's 'The 12 Days of Christmas' by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.

I haven't framed (or ironed in this picture!) it yet but Christmas is a long way off ;) This is the only item I've got for this month of OPAM but I'm glad to have it done. 

I've received my first quilt block for the Modern InstaBee-it's from Letitia, and I love it-it should be a colourful quilt when it's finished.

I can't show you the block I made yet, as the recipient wants a surprise. I was quite pleased with how it turned out, although because I didn't read the instructions properly, some of my seams are extremely bulky, and a few of the points don't line up as well as I would like, so I may end up making another one for my partner.

I've got a few things on the go, or in the pipeline, but I'll talk about those another time. The rest of this week will include some costume sewing as Dell has plans for a new costume for Comic-con. I'm sure it will be a challenge as garment sewing isn't my forte and it tends to be sewing without a set pattern-definitely a challenge!

To finish, here's another cute cat photo ;)

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Summer is Hot

Just thought I'd state the obvious, but still.... We've had some very hot weather, with many days around the 40C mark or over (I think we got nearly to 45C one day?) which is 104C-113F for those who use Fahrenheit. Even though it should theoretically mean that there should be hours of time spent in front of the air con crafting away, this doesn't seem to be the case. I think that the less than usual deep sleep has something to do with it.

Consequently, there hasn't been a lot of crafting, or indeed anything major happening. It's all been about conserving energy, keeping cool, and when it does cool down, catch up on things. I did go to see 'Saving Mr Banks' which is (roughly) the back story of Walt Disney getting 'Mary Poppins' made into a movie with the permission of P.L. Travers. As a lover of both the books, the movie, and the musical, I enjoyed it a lot. There's a fair bit of 'poetic license taken with the story, but nonetheless, I enjoyed it a great deal.

I've signed up for two 'a-longs' this year. One is the OPAM, or One Project a Month, where the aim is to try and complete one craft project a month. The other is the Australian Modern Instabee, which is a bit like a stitching round robin. We will all have the same book which has quilt designs especially written for quilting bees, choose a design, and then each member of your bee will contribute one block for your quilt which you assemble yourself. I think it will be a lot of fun, as well as a great learning experience. I have some great girls in my bee, and can't wait to get my book and choose which design I want.

 

New year, new post

I've been reassessing my blog recently, after neglecting it for another six months or so. We have been struggling and working to cope with our youngest's mental health, and many things we once took for granted have been affected. At this stage, I don't want to go into too much detail, as this is a public forum, and I don't think it is fair on our child to put it all 'out there'. It's a hard decision, as so much about mental health is not talked about, and I may talk more about it in the future. At the moment, we are waiting for our appointment with a specialist psychiatrist which will have taken five months when we get to see him. We are still going with Open Access College, possibly with a reduced subject load-we will play it by ear. 

In other family news, Luke has completed Year 12-he was doing the International Baccalaureate, and did exceptionally well- ATAR of 97.9 out of a maximum of 99.95. He's been accepted into the courses he applied for- Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Bachelor of Computer and Mathematical Sciences at Adelaide University.

My plan for the blog will mainly focus on my craft, with a bit of family updates here and there. I'm starting with an initial plan of a weekly post at this stage. I've had some finishes and progress, but I'll have to go back over my photos for the last six months to find them all. 

Halloween Sampler by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

Finished Jelly Roll Race quilt-first finished quilt, hand quilted

Finished charm square quilt-hand quilted.

Jelly Roll race quilt-fabric Boho

Jelly Roll Race quilt, basted ready for quilting

'Old Yella' ready to head off in the Bay to Birdwood Rally-car restored by Ron

 Finally, I'd like to introduce the newest member of the family, my birthday gift, secretly bought by my lovely husband.

 It's not the best picture, but it's the Janome 6600P-I'm loving it so far, and have started quilting the above quilt on it.

Hopefully, I'll have some more craft progress in a week's time-we have another hot week ahead of us, so there should be plenty of quiet time near the air-conditioner.

I finish something, and a weather report

 

I finished something! I need to start using my sewing machine on a regular basis, as I need the practice to improve my skills. This pattern is called 'Little Wallet' by Valori Wells Designs (I bought it from Ballarat Patchwork) and it turned out well-even for a novice like me. I used fabric from my stash and even used some vintage snaps I picked up somewhere. The pictures aren't the best, but winter really isn't the best for taking photos, and I invariably decide to take pictures when it's dark! I have other small patterns stashed away, as well as ones earmarked on the Internet, and I plan to start trying them out on a regular basis.

Today was strange weather, with the temperature up here getting to over 20C, before thunderstorms, rain and hail moved in. I managed to get into the garden before the weather changed (and the temperature dropped 10C).

A 'helper' in the garden

The change moving in

I have other WIPs on the go, but I'll update those another day when I can get better photos-and maybe have another finish to report. I'm enjoying watching the Tour de France, although I usually watch a lot of it the next day when I watch my recording. We've had a fairly quiet school holidays-only a few days to go, and Caitlin and I are planning to head to the city tomorrow. 

Late April Wipocalypse Update

Well, March seems to have slipped by... We have had a busy time, including Luke's 16th(!) birthday (he's going to take his driving learners permit test tomorrow), our Tasmania trip, our 20th wedding anniversary, and our long weekend trip away for Easter. It's currently school holidays and just the perfect Autumn weather-mild, sunny days and cool, crisp evenings with the wood fire. I'll do some other posts with holiday pictures another day, but for now will just do some craft updating.

Here's the socks I finished earlier in the year-finally a photo! The pattern I used is a free one from Ravelry called Charade, using a self striping yarn from Spotlight, I think.

I took The Bramble and the Rose with me to Tasmania, and did work on it a little as well as when I got home.

 I've also made a little bit of progress on the Wiehenburg Mystery Quaker Sampler:

 Here's my few hexie flowers-I do have lots of hexagons ready to sew though so I hope to get more done on those soon too.

I also got some (not many) into my Chatelaine's Medieval Town Mandala-I really need to get stuck into these leaves and gates so I can get to the next, less fiddly part!

I have also started a pair of socks for Luke-they were ideal car/plane knitting while we've been travelling. I've finished the leg and heel flap on the first sock so far-no pictures though.

I've got a new start planned-it's Lizzie*Kate's Less=More sampler and as it comes out in parts it's a kind of monthly stitch-a-long.  I'm using Butter Creme 32ct Lugana from Stitches and Spice and Naomi will send me new patterns each month. Here's the fabric, first pattern, and most of the threads (a couple are on backorder).

I think I'm going to have to come up with some kind of rotation or plan as I seem to flail around deciding what to work on instead of having more progress. The cooler weather is also giving me the urge to knit more, and I want to get some quilting done too... I think a craft room sort out is on the cards too! School holidays should be the perfect time to get organised, right? ;)

Happy New Year!

Well, December seems to have come and gone without a post, but as it tends to be for many of us a hectic time of the year, I'll let myself off the hook ;) 

Some of the highlights since I last posted include the end of the school year including the end of primary school for Caitlin and our official association with the school, and Christmas day which included all of Ron's family here in the evening (I think the count is currently 32!).  We had a quiet new year, and next weekend we are off to the South East (of South Australia) for a family get-together with my side of the family.  Luckily the weather looks like it will be kind to us-we had a nasty heat wave last week with temperatures peaking around 42C (108F). 

Looking at my craft goals in my last post-I did actually work on a few of the things on the list.  I restarted the cross stitch, worked a bit more on the sock, and I did piece the jelly roll quilt top.  I got as far as trying to quilt it, but my basting wasn't up to scratch, so that's on the to-do list.  The 'Favourite Things' quilt has been put on the back burner-I've pulled out of the quilt-a-long, but I did try needleturn applique and was quite happy with it.

I know that many people make resolutions at the beginning of the year, but I prefer to make goals and plans ;)  To help me with my crafting, I'm joining the 2012 Wipocalypse.  I'll be working on some older WIPs and I'm sure there'll be new starts as well.  I'm still working on balancing stitching, knitting and now quilting but some of that will happen naturally as I'm not going to be knitting on big garments in summer, even with airconditioning! 

For the moment (i.e. until I change my mind) the three stitching projects I'll be focussing on will be Fred & Albert (HAED), The Bramble and the Rose (Ink Circles), and 2008 Wiehenburg Quaker Mystery Sampler.  I have quite a few other WIPs and I'd like to get back to working on one (or more) of my Chatelaine WIPs and perhaps to add some Christmas ornaments along the way as well.

At the moment for quilting I want to work on my Tis The Season quilt, the hexagon quilt, and to finish the quilting and binding of the jellyroll quilt.  I don't plan to do a lot of knitting during the summer, but the socks I'm working on at the moment are my travel project, and when they are done I may start another pair.  When the weather cools down, I'll come up with a list I want to work on.

Just to liven up all this writing, and because I need to take some photos of my WIPs, here's a picture from a recent beach visit.

We Made It

Well, we made it to the end of October, and hence Blogtoberfest. It does feel like it's been a close run thing. As I've been getting better, slowly, Ron of course manages to pull both quad muscles at softball. He is not a happy chappy to say the least-he's never a good patient as he hates being sick or out of commission. Lying around doing nothing (ie getting better) is not his cup of tea.

My plan for tomorrow is keeping cool (we've been getting some 30+C weather), doing minimal housework, and some reading, knitting and/or stitching.

To finish up, here's a photo of Caitlin dressed up for her Brownies disco-in case you don't realise, she's dressed up as Doctor Who-complete with sonic screwdriver and Tardis.

Now With Added Photos

Look, a photo! Actually two of them. It's our Hawthorn tree (I think so anyway-I did some searching on the web last time it flowered) and our ornamental cherry tree. Spring is definitely here-it was warm today, and should be 36°C on Sunday.

Otherwise-quite a good night sleep wise. Had some more sleep once I had got the kids off to school and had breakfast, coughed up a lung and had some more medicine. Had a quiet afternoon. I'm finding that towards the end of the day I'm getting the tickle thing in the throat which sucks, but generally I am getting better-slowly.

Tomorrow I would usually spend the morning at the primary school helping with the newsletter, and then going to knitting in the afternoon. I have a feeling that I may have to give both a miss, as they are both social events and involve quite a bit of chatting which seems to irritate my cough...... Luckily I can stay at home and read or knit or stitch.

The Post Without The Mini-Series

A bit late with this post-I've just been watching "The 39 Steps" on ABC IView (I love IView-especially since we get it unmetered with our ISP). A most enjoyable adventure movie with nice sets and an even nicer leading man.

Since it's a bit late, I won't write a long post-nothing too eventful happened today, but then I was going to reminisce about Australian historical TV shows and mini-series but I'll leave that for another day. Bet you can't wait. So-today:

• Caitlin stayed home-now the virus has moved to her ears and she's developed a cough-I'm hoping for improvement after tonight's sleep.
• Ron had a rough day with a gastro attack, but now seems on the mend. He won't be home until Wednesday afternoon.
• It was sunny and warm.
• I had a phone call from a friend from Melbourne (we've been friends for....31 years) and we are hopefully catching up for coffee here in Adelaide in a couple of weeks time.

Tomorrow-depending on Caitlin, possibly grocery shopping and the library (newest Terry Pratchett book is on hold)-was going to pop into Spotlight for some knitting yarn (cotton) on sale but the sale doesn't start until Wednesday. Or, it could be a doctors visit, and a visit to the local IGA for emergency items. I'm hoping for the first list of options, for all our sakes. Speaking of our local IGA (it is fairly new-we had no supermarket), the picture above is a coffee in my new favourite mug, picked up there-for less than $3.

Sunny Sunday

Ah, the sunshine! And 25°C tomorrow (although we do get 5°C overnight). The chooks (Copper and Ginger) both enjoyed the warmer, drier weather with a nice dirt bath.



I've got a picture of my new start, "Tend Your Garden' by Prairie Schooler. I was not really happy with the lack of contrast between the two greens. The second picture shows more stitching but with a lighter green. I think it looks better.



I am hoping that tonight I can finish up a sock, and start another, so that I have some "pick up, put down" knitting.

I'm not sure if Caitlin will be going to school tomorrow-we will see how she progresses. Ron has pretty much finished the setting up he needs to do, but still has to train someone, and hasn't yet sorted any new flights.

Off to sort out dinner-beef casserole from slow cooker, served with mashed potatoes-yum!

Another Plan

My stitching plan seems to be working fairly well, although I didn't get as much done during the school holidays. I made a new start yesterday-not the one with the fabric problems. I'll take a photo when I've got a bit more progress. I'm currently stitching with two shades of green, and I'm not sure that there's enough contrast. I'll do a bit more before I decide if it's OK or not.

The other plan I am referring to would be, of course, a plan for my knitting. Now this is not as detailed a plan. I tend to have several projects on the needles, as some need more concentration, and some are better for travel or times when concentration isn't possible. Now that summer is (allegedly) here or arriving soon, the heat is another thing to take into account. Items like blankets and woolly jumpers and cardigans are no fun to knit in the heat, even in front of the air conditioner. An ideal knitting project for the heat is socks. They can be as simple or complicated as you like. I've decided to participate in the Southern Summer of Socks. I have two pairs of socks already on the needles that I want to finish (both have practically one sock finished) and then I would like to knit another two pairs. So that's the plan-I will also work on other WIPs that aren't socks.

Further news on the Dalek washcloth-Caitlin received a thank you note from her friend at Brownies tonight, as well as a photo of her with the cloth. Her mum told me she just loves it-she's a 7yo Dalek fan!

I think a hot chocolate is in order before I head to bed in preparation for a fresh morning watching the summer sport of softball (with my coat, scarf & fingerless mitts).

A comment on my Blogtoberfest effore so far: I haven't missed a day (except for the scheduled post that didn't work, and that was totally not my fault). So far, so good.

Look What I Got

This is what got delivered to knitting group this afternoon for me. Long-stemmed roses from Ron-no "special" day today-just that he misses me-aw! The added bonus is that he supplied some photo fodder for the blog. They are safely in water now.

It's official-I am done with winter. This cold, grey, dreary, rainy weather needs to stop. We need spring. We might get some nice weather next week, but I'm thinking that the coat, scarf & mitts will be needed for the first softball game on Saturday.

I gathered some threads up for a couple of new projects I want to start soon. Maybe even tonight. We'll see-I should also put a thread or two into the Christmas ornament I've got going.

Tomorrow will be an "at home" day excepting for ferrying kids to and from Brownies & Scouts. I also need to go shopping for food for Ron's parents 50th wedding anniversary BBQ on Saturday. Let's hope the weather is better than today......

The Boring Post

I have no pictures. I have no craft progress. I have little news.

It rained (a lot) last night, and one of our gutters got blocked, so I got Luke to climb the ladder and clear it (there's got to be some side benefits to being the grown-up).

I went to the dentist. I have an appointment for Tuesday week for the first stage of the root canal. I could have had an earlier appointment, but only if I sacrificed my knitting group (i.e. went on a Thursday), which was not on. The dentist was very nice, and explained things well.

Caitlin went to her birthday party, but as the birthday girl didn't open her presents at the party, we are unsure of the reception of the Dalek washcloth.

I have hit a snag with my stitching. One of my new starts has been delayed due to the fact that piece of fabric I thought would fit the design is, in fact, too small. I don't have anything else in my stash to suit (which is hard to believe) and since browsing online, I am more confused than ever. Tomorrow will be busy (morning at school and afternoon at knitting) so I won't get to any stitching until tomorrow evening.

I have done some investigation into the matter of scheduling posts, and have found that it is not me that is the problem, but Blogger. It is a "known issue" and may be fixed eventually.

So, a quite dull post and well done if you made it to the end. I am thinking that heading to bed with a book might me a good idea........

When is a Root Canal......

........not a root canal? When it's a root canal consultation. That's what I've got tomorrow, so in one way it's good news, as I have to get Caitlin to and from a birthday party after school tomorrow, and Ron is in Perth. In another way it's bad news, because it will be longer until I get the tooth fixed.

It has been very windy and rainy here-we've had over an inch here in the last 24 hours with more to come. It's also been quite cool (max 13°C) so when it does heat up it will be a shock to the system. {also-do you see the degree symbol there? Luke taught me how to do that the other day-you can teach an old dog new tricks!}

The Dalek washcloth is finished. I hadn't sewn in the ends when I took the picture, but there was some rare sunshine, so I snapped a photo while I could.

I have to say that I am not terribly fond of bobbles. I think they are the equivalent of french knots in embroidery-they are not as neat and uniform as I would like.

I also finished my 5 hrs (actually I have no idea how long I actually stitched-it was very stoppy/starty over quite a while) on my Mystery Quaker Sampler. I didn't take a "before" picture, but I did the motif on the right hand side.


Before I get to choose my next project to work on, I have to do some mending. Because of the wintry weather, it's too cold for Caitlin to wear her shorts, and since she has a hole in her winter trousers, I get to patch them up. There's no point buying new ones as who knows how much taller she'll be in 6 months time-that's if I could actually find any in the shops..........(because we all know that the warmer months start in July).

Round (and round) the garden

I did no actual gardening today, but decided to take the camera out around the garden while it is still green here and take a few snaps. It's been so wet here that our local reservoir is full and they've been letting excess water back into a river (sadly not the Murray). I am sure that when we get some finer/warmer weather everything will dry off, and the wetness and greenness will seem a distant memory.





There's a selection of flowers, including my last dutch iris, my vegie seedlings (Roma tomato, basil, chives) and Copper (a very curious chook who wanted to know what I was doing and did it involve anything edible).

Tomorrow-food shopping, washing (scout camp went well, but as with any camp=washing), knitting a dalek washcloth (Caitlin has a friend from Brownie's that is a big Dr Who fan as well, so this will be part of the gift-pretty sure it will be unique).

Cindy-I wanted to leave a comment on your blog, but it wouldn't accept it. Any ideas what I was doing wrong? I just wanted to say that perhaps rolling hills would look nice on the cardigan( or maybe a fox stalking....or maybe that would traumatise the poor child).

Shopping Score

We survived shopping. I am not one who looks forward to shopping for the sake of it. I do not say "Let's go shopping!" as a rule, but we needed things. As is usually the way, we found some of what we were looking for, didn't find some of what we were looking for, and even found something we weren't looking for.

The one thing I "found" but didn't even know it existed, is this:



It's a (sideways-thanks to Blogger) ticket to a talk & book signing by one of my favourite authors, Diana Gabaldon, at my local library (sorry that the picture is so dark, but it's laminated, and it's very dark & gloomy here today). It's the only one she's doing in the state-I don't really know why it's going to held there rather than anywhere else, but I'm not complaining. I'm going to be doing some rereading of her books (although I have the first three on audio book so I can craft at the same time) so I will be up-to-date when I get the new book.

Tomorrow is a free day, and hopefully better weather so I can spend some time in the garden, before stitching or knitting whilst watching the Japanese Formula 1 Race. Maybe I'll take some craft photos as well-maybe......

Winter Welcome

I'm not sure if I'm welcoming Winter, or welcoming anybody who might read this in Winter. I quite enjoy Winter- the sound of the rain on the roof (we've had rain!!), the wood fire, the ability to do things without suffering heat-stroke....... One thing I don't enjoy, and that I tend to forget about when I am longing for cooler times in the heat of Summer, is the gloomy grey skies we get here in the Hills. Of course this is usually a prerequisite for rain (which is good), but gloom does not always equal rain.

Now I encounter the dilemma of the blog writer who returns after (let me go check) 3.5 months-do we try to update what has happened in the time elapsed, or do we pretend there was no break and just take up where we are...

Let's see-how about I do a quick summary of things that stand out at the moment

• kids are surviving school quite well
• both keep growing at an alarming rate-I will be the shortest in the family again sooner rather than later
• Caitlin's softball team squeaked into the Grand Final, and then won-she plans to play next season, and the "dads"(including Ron) are planning to make up a Men's B Grade team-should be interesting
• Luke broke his arm playing tennis at school about a week before the school holidays
• this was not ideal as we went to Lake Bonney at Easter, and a lot of the activities he likes to do involve water-we all had a good time nonetheless
• Ron has been hither and thither for work-usually short trips, and just within Australia
• we got our bathroom renovated (I actually forgot about this and had to go back and add it)-more details and pics another post
  

No doubt there has been other happenings, but nothing that comes to mind right now.

I finished the model stitching, and am currently finishing up some more, now that I've got more thread that I needed. Unfortunately with model stitching there are no pictures, but there is stitching happening. I did have a finish-a UFO that was started quite a few years ago-called "Random Thoughts" by The Drawn Thread. Here's a picture.


There has also been knitting-once the cold weather kicks in, the urge to knit warm, woolly things is strong. I had an urge to knit gifts for Mothers Day-a neck warmer for my mum, and fingerless mitts for my mum-in-law. Both were finished on time (although Aust. Post let me down) and appreciated. I'm also working on a jumper for me (back & front done-now on sleeves), a shawl and a baby cardigan (for friends). I need to take some pictures (both for here and Ravelry).

Well, back to winter-need to put some more wood on the fire, check the soup in the slow cooker, and maybe squeeze in a few rows of knitting before I need to get dinner ready.

February Dragon*

It's been about four weeks since I last blogged, and the main reason it's taken so long has been the bushfires in Victoria. Our worst natural disaster, the current death toll is 210 people, and at least 7000 are homeless. Fires are still burning in Victoria weeks later. There are stories of great tragedy and great heroism as well as wonderful generosity which outweigh the stories that might make you despair of the human race. Being too far away to help out in a physical way, we've donated (over $100 million has been raised so far). Just about every school, business and group seem to be raising funds-I've never seen anything like it. There are also various initiatives in the craft/blog world to make handmade things for survivors as well as restash our crafting friends in Victoria. At the same time as the bushfires, around 60% of Queensland was under water. What a country we live in. We've had similar conditions to those in Victoria, but have been lucky so far to avoid any major fires. We've still had no rain (the odd shower) since the middle of December, so it's extremely dry here.

On to other things (briefly)-I've spent the last 4 weeks stitching on the model. It's mostly done-the magazine has it for photography for the next issue (it's being released in parts), and then it will be back to me for a few more days stitching. I'm planning on using the next few days to go through my WIPs (both stitching and knitting) and work out which ones I want to be working on in the near future. Maybe I'll even take some pictures.

To finish, here's a picture of our Easter Lily. This was planted in a garden bed that is basically dirt-no other plants (they had been moved) and consequently hasn't been watered (I think we forgot that there was anything else planted there). A couple of days ago I noticed a shoot, and it's now flowered. Ideal plant for there conditions, really.

* February Dragon is a novel by Sth Australian author Colin Thiele about a bushfire (aka the February Dragon)

Hot

That says it all, really. The South Eastern area of Australia has been extremely hot (5 consecutive days 40C (104F) and above, with the hottest here in Adelaide at 45C (113F) ). We have been lucky here in that we've suffered no power loss (there's been power off in various areas) and so far South Australia hasn't had any majow bushfires. It's not looking good in Victoria with a big bushfire east of Melbourne. It certainly wasn't the ideal weather for the first week back at school. Both kids seem to have settled in fairly well-only 10 weeks to go until Easter and the next school holidays.

We have a new addition to our chookyard. She's been named "Copper" and has coped surprisingly well, considering the heat and new surroundings. The older chook was quite indignant that there was a stranger in her yard, but has adapted. Here's a shot of her on her first foray out of their yard, trying to keep cool on the back veranda.


I've been stitching on the model sampler this week, but took a break to start Dark Cherry which is a HAED QS which is one design that quite a few stitchers are trying to finish by the end of the year. We are getting pages every second month, and there is a monthly SAL. I'm a late starter. and won't post a picture yet as I've only done a 100 stitches or so, but it's nice to have a new start.
I'll also be stitching a Christmas Ornament next month-I will wait to see the poll results before making a decision on which one.


Speaking of new projects, here's a picture of my new knitting project. One of Ron's workmate's wife is due to have a baby in the middle of next month, so I'm knitting the cardigan (they know it's a girl) but since I've only cast on, there's no picture of that either.

Before I go, I promised on my craft stash that I wouldn't post Luke's "first day at high school photo", but I didn't promise not to post any other photos. This photo was taken on Australia Day at a local breakfast. I forgot to mention last post that he is now officially taller than me (I'm 5'4") and he takes mens size 10 shoe (Ron takes 8s).

RIP Pecker

.....Pecker being one of our chooks, if you didn't know her. She was put to sleep by the vet after suffering from a virus and complications. She was one of our family for over 4 years, and will be sadly missed (I know she was only a chook but she was a nice chook!). A new addition to keep the remaining chook, Ginger, company is most likely to arrive tomorrow-hopefully the place she will come from will have some tips about integrating a new chook with an old one. The picture provided was one of the few I could find, and was taken and modified by Luke years and years ago for a school project.

Going back a couple of weeks, I celebrated my 40th birthday with a bbq with family. Unfortunately, both my Mum and my brother and his family were unable to attend due to illness, but we still had a lovely day. Here's one of the few photos from the day (artistically shot by my daughter).


I've been getting some crafting done also (tennis and cricket season is ideal for this) and here's some finishes. The advent calendar was finished in 2008 (not the best photo, but I was wanting to pack away Chistmas decorations). The other two were ornaments I started in 2008 but finished this year.

This is "Sing Noel" by Primrose Needleworks from The Gift of Stitching Ornament Issue 2008. I changed the colours somewhat to make them less pastel.

This ornament is called "Christmas Delights" by Cats Whiskers Design Studio and is from The Gift of Stitching Ornament Issue 2007. I used a Needle Neccessities green (#139).
There should be many more ornaments here during the year as I will be trying to stitch an ornament a month-starting next month, so I'm working on finishing up a few I started last year. I will also have a finishing spree, where I plan to actually make these into something.
I've also re-entered into the model stitching world, now that I feel my arm can withstand stitching to a deadline. I'm currently stitching on a mystery sampler for The Gift of Stitching magazine, so I won't have any pictures anytime soon on that.
This week looks ideal for crafting of any kind as the forecast temperatures for the first week back at school are for 41C, cooling down to 39C on Friday-blah! Uniforms are organised, shoes are bought, stationery has arrived (it gets home-delivered and didn't arrive until about 2pm yesterday) and hairs are cut. I just need to label Luke's books and we should be ready..........well except for the early mornings-just as well it will be a short week!