Anzac Day and some pics

Today is Anzac Day here in Australia (reminds me-must go check if I have ingredients for Anzac biscuits that I have promised to bake). We went to our local Dawn Service-first one for the kids. Caitlin wasn't over keen, and complained about how sore her feet were (quietly thank goodness!). Our town is fairly small but there was quite a large turn out-it was cold but not too bad-lovely & clear. We also went to the local hall for breakfast-toast(with Vegemite), coffee, and Anzac biscuits-very Australian! (and you could have Bundy Rum in your coffee-v traditional, but I declined as I imbibed enough Bundy in my Uni days to keep me going for the rest of my lifetime-ahem)
I have also finally got some pics for your viewing pleasure-the Easter ones are still on the camera, but I've got those foggy cow pics (doesn't everyone??) and a couple from our childless weekend away (how long ago that seems! - reminds me of a post I will make in the future, musing on childbirth, kids, school holidays and shopping during school holidays-bet you can't wait!!)














The cottage above was divided into 2 1/2s but was very nice & cosy. The other picture shows the street we were on-note the slate drywalls-there is a slate mine nearby and it is everywhere! The cow pictures above are taken from our back yard looking into the paddock next door-we get the pituresqueness (note the new word!) without the hard work!

Well I must go and think about baking biscuits (with my oven from hell) and doing some more stitching (on the model). Suffice it to say that I am way behind where I would like to be but am getting there.............more stitching/knitting chat another day-I have rambled imparted enough news for one entry.

Back Again........again!!

We made it back from the Riverland yesterday, so I thought I'd just briefly pop in and post a quick entry. Had a lovely time-the weather was pretty good considering Easter was quite late this year. Kids had a great time swimming (!) and fishing, etc. We do have some pics but I haven't downloaded them yet-still catching up, finishing the unpacking and washing. Hopefully a more interesting entry with pictures will be available soon!!

Back Again (for a little while.......)

We are back from our kids-free weekend.............it was lovely, quiet, and restful. Now we have 4 days to get organised and packed for Easter. Each Easter we travel ___ km (I have no idea-takes us a couple of hours or 3 to get there towing a caravan?) to the Riverland where we have a caravan site on the edge of a lake. We usually end up staying about 6 days so a little organisation and packing is required.

On the stitching/knitting front-yes I have done some-no, I haven't finished anything! I will have to put "taking pictures of WIPs" onto my "To-Do List" (yes, I have on started for this week). I usually get some stitching/knitting done at Easter time too (small lamp is on my list already!)

Yes, I'm Still Alive.........

........haven't been on the computer much for the last few days....week?? So it's taken me a while to catch up with emails, reading blogs, etc, etc. Let's see-the Commonwealth Games are over (enjoyed them very much) and I didn't reach any of my goals. Problem was that I set some goals willy-nilly (as I am wont to do) and didn't really plan how I was going to actually achieve them. Quite a lesson there really. I am still working on the model (struck a hitch at Guild tonight as I realised I had left my pattern home-luckily I could ring Ron and get details of part of the border that repeats so I could get some done tonight!) and have done very little on the sock. I had to start a babies beanie for my new(ish) nephew.

Ron & I "celebrated" our 14th wedding anniversary on the 28th. I say"celebrated" as we have a weekend away to ourselves in just over a week's time, so celebrations as such have been postponed. And yes, time does go fast-life is such a cliche sometimes (and if someone knows how to type with accents over letters can you let me know? I'm sure it will come in handy sometime)

Well, I am going to get some more of the model done-page 1 is almost done so if I get cracking we might get a photo tomorrow sometime.

Finally a pic

post started 19th March..........

Well, as promised, here is a pic of my model WIP-finally! My wrist/arm seems to be better-although I am trying to alternate knitting and stitching to make sure I don't overuse any tendons/muscles. My sock is coming along nicely-it's still taking a bit of getting used to juggling all the needles, but I'm getting better! Oh, and I finished Caitlin's scarf too so I only have 1 knitting WIP (we won't mention stitching WIPs LOL).


OK, well, since Blogger was having a fit over trying to post a pic, I decided to finish my entry at a later date which is now..............

I have obviously done more since then-am off to Embroiderers Guild tonight so hopefully will get even more done.

Oh, and Autumn seems to be in its Summer phase-we've been having max temperatures around 30C or a little higher-although the nights have been quite cool. We had a lot of fog the other morning-I did take some hopefully pituresque photos of the cows amongst the fog in the paddock next to us so I might post some of them another day-but don't hold your breath!

Getting Better!

Thanks for the good thoughts! They must have worked cause my wrist has been improving daily-still not sure what caused it though. I have done some stitching and knitting the last few days (actually I sent Ron to Lincraft to get me some dpns today as I didn't have the right size for socks). I need to get stuck into the model too-I promise to get a pic up soon-really!

Luke turned 10 a couple of days ago-my, that decade went fast! lol We had a nice, fairly quiet day (which he prefers) and one of his favourite things was that since it was a public holiday, he didn't have to go to school.

As it looks like my wrist will allow me to knit/stitch I have been musing on my Commonwealth Games goals (I have made a Pittman comeback!) and after finding out exactly how many days it is (12) am getting an idea of what to set. I'm thinking to start & finish first pair of socks, 2 pages of model done (well, approx-some motifs spill over so I may not do exactly 2 pages), and lose 1kg (I go to WW on Wed so that will be a 14 day challenge). I will also finish Caitlin's scarf (that should be done tomorrow-nearly done) and I may possibly assemble some of those knitted things ie poncho, baby cardigan, etc. Note I said may.

I will probably work on either the model or cast on and start socks............or maybe both?! Need to go do housework kinda things so I can settle down later and stitch while commenting on all the countries outfits.........maybe trying to knit on 3 needles will work perfectly for this (depends on horror factor of outfits..)

Ow! *sigh*

I'm just posting this as an update on my wrist/arm/whathaveyou as I suspicion that I shouldn't be using the computer..........I am guessing that I have some kind of tendonitis or similar (not that I have much knowledge in this area) but as it's Sat today (and Mon is a public holiday) it will be a few days until I can get to my GP. I was bad yesterday and knitted for a while.......but it so sucks that I really can't stitch or knit.......and I really wanna!! Maybe I should change my name to Jana Pittman or Ian Thorpe-my Commonwealth dreams of glory are fading fast.

Foolin' Around

Since my wrist/arm is sore I am fiddling around on the computer (trying to stay away from stitching/knitting)
Let's see if this works

You Were An Owl

You are stealthy and secretive - no one knows the true you. You are a seeker of freedom, and you are comfortable with your dark side.

What Animal Were You In a Past Life?



There are lots of fun quizzes at this site......so if you have an hour (or so) to waste spare, go for it!

Bargains and other things.........

I picked up a bargain today........I figured I would go to my local Salvation Army shop to rummage for knitting supplies. I ended up with 6 pairs of double pointed needles for $3.50 (one was a bamboo set). Since I have never knitted socks I wasn't sure what my tension is like so I got what looked like a lot of different sizes-if I end up with duplicate sizes, I will just have spares!

At the weekend Caitlin decided to start her cross stitch kit that we bought in the summer school holidays........I wasn't sure how it would go as she can tend to be a perfectionist and is not always known for her patience or attention span. She's worked on it in small bursts (she's 7yo) and took it to school today for show & tell. She's using my 6" Q-snaps at the moment, and getting the idea pretty well (oh, and the design is a purple dinosaur-she's not into a lot of "girly" designs). We'll see how she progresses........

I've finished knitting the poncho-just need to sew it together now. The model is coming along nicely-I will post a pic soon, but the camera is sown in my stitching room and I can' be bothered right now. I am musing on giving myself a Commonwealth challenge a la Yarn Harlot's Olympic challenge......not sure what form it will take and also the CG are 10 days from memory.

Oh, learnt how to do a new cool thing. Of course, it helps when your almost 10yo son is a computer nerd expert. And it's using code. Maybe you can teach an old dog girl new tricks?

On another totally different note, remember the "Healthy Eating" committee?? Well, the meeting for this term is tomorrow............. And as we have a state election in a couple of weeks (groan) healthy kids has come up as an election policy/issue. If the current government is re-elected they will legislate against any junk food in canteens, etc...........So much for a quiet little committee! (and it's ironic that I am the convenor for this committee when I attend WW, gym, and have one child who eats a very limited number of foods)

Well, Mythbusters is about to start (when I was a kid we watched The Sullivans and Sale of the Century as a family...........but times change!) and I've rambled enough for now.............

Welcome Autumn!

Today is officially the first day of Autumn..........hooray! I'm not over fond of Summer, and I do like Winter (except for the cold mornings).

Update on craft-model has arrived so it has been started-love silks!! I'll post a pic probably tomorrow sometime. I've also been working on the poncho-nearly done-should probably get the knitting finished this afternoon-ideal to work on when kids are around and have friends over. I'll have to work out how to assemble it tomorrow. I also got stuck into my stitching room yesterday-it needs some more work but things are at least in the boxes/folders etc that they should be-yes and a dust and vacuum wouldn't hurt either.....

Things I have learnt about knitting on the web in the last week or so:
1. There are lots of knitters out there
2. Sock knitting is taking over the world
3. Bamboo/wood/plastic needles are better than metal ones.
4. There are lots of entertaining blogs out there devoted to knitting.

Also regarding knitting-I have in the past noticed that my tension is somewhat tighter than the norm (not that I have ever bothered with tension squares etc! lol) but in my tidy up/rummage yesterday I found a Patons "how to knit" book and it actually had a pick of how to hold the needles..........and it is not the way I do it.........and I take my right hand off the needle to wind the yarn..........maybe this is why I am slow and have tight tension??? I am going to have a practice on Caitlin's scarf when I am done with the poncho. Oh, I also found 1 baby's cardigan (with cable on front) and a toddlers jumper both finished except for the......finishing.........my MIL (mother in law) is coming over Sat afternoon so I might rope her in to help me/do it for me. Not sure who will actually get these garments but at least they will be done.

It's hard to believe that it's March already............Luke will be 10yo later this month and we also have our 14th wedding anniverary. We've got a weekend away early April (as in kid free) up to the Clare Valley so that will be our anniversay celebration.

I have another day at home tomorrow so I hope to get lots of model stitched in between housework...............

I've become a blogophile

I can't seem to help it............people have links on their own blogs to other blogs, where there are more links, .............. It's a vicious circle, or do I mean a slippery slope? Thanks to some hints, and major hand holding from Mel (in Dubai), I have got my own Blogroll. When I have some things to ignore (ie housework) I will update my links too, now that I have some small inkling of what I am trying to do.

I decided to work on my Patchwork Sampler on Tuesday-didn't get a whole lot done, but I have remembered why I decided to start this so hopefully it will get some more action in the near future. I also have been rummaging through my knitting.....stuff........for the want of a better term. I have ditched several UFOs that for various reasons will never be finished (ie half of a mitten first started for my son who now has hands almost as big as mine, and also started without checking my tension so it was likely that I wouldn't have enough yarn anyhow). My knitting WIPs now consist of a scarf for Caitlin (daughter) which will resemble when finished an electric blue feather boa, and a poncho for myself (kit from Spotlight with spec. yarns and using elongated stitch which is new to me).


I have materials for a model (cross stitch) on their way to me. It is a sampler from The World of S, and Australian designer and will be stitched with Dinky-Dyes silks. Here is a pic of the sampler. I will be working on this for the next 6-8 weeks or thereabouts-I have only done some smaller models so the timeframe is hard to estimate. I'm thinking that I will probably alternate the model sampler with another stitching project, and some knitting. Not sure what the "other" project might be. I had some urgings to work on The Storyteller (Teresa Wentzler) which hasn't been stitched on for.........well over a year. And there's also MTM which (since I saw someone's-Carol's I think, with Pt 5 nearly done) has been whispering for some time. Who knows?? I certainly don't!!

A Quiet Day

..........today. Well that is the plan, anyhow. Yesterday was busier as I went to gym (still enjoying), and did grocery shopping and other such mundane but essential things. We had our school Governing Council AGM last night (wine & cheese incl.-yum!) and I get to be the convenor of the "Healthy Eating" sub-committee. Not a truly onerous task, but could be interesting as there are rumblings about what the canteen sells, etc, etc - maybe riots later in the year?? LOL Oh, and I put Ron onto the Grounds committee (he was SO pleased).

Let's see stitching-wise. Did nothing yesterday at all, although I did look at WIP list and rotation that I wrote up but didn't actually get to start............story of my rotations really. It was MTM that disrupted it I think. I have actually decided to give the rotation a go from today so that means I get to stitch on either the Nun (Convent's Herbal Garden), Watergarden, or Patchwork Sampler..........
I am going to see if I can put pics in here-hopefully we should get a pic of the Nun-I have done more than this........

Tomorrow is HAED QS SAL day so I get to work on Snowflake which I have been enjoying the last few days. Thurs I can continue with Snowflake if I want or MTM or Owl & Pussycat. Thursday night (I go to Embroidery Guild) I can take whatever I think I can concentrate on-much talking goes on there..........possibly Celtic Autumn. Friday is either back to MTM or continuing on with Thursday night project if I am on a roll. Weekend is supposed to be MTM but this might only be for some of the time as it's on my floor stand in my stitching room (yes, I have a stitching room). If you are confused, well, never mind!! LOL It looks clearer on paper. The main idea is that I have a focus piece (so I see some good progress) but also stitch on some of my other projects-and I have a built in option to have a couple of days when I do this as I hate to just get into one project & have to change. We will see how it goes.

OK-so the pic thing worked-here is my MTM (Medieval Town Mandala) up to Pt 3.........I have started Pt 4 (just! lol) Oh, and just in case I decide to work on it-here is my Patchwork Sampler (by Jan Houtmann) too . I'm pretty sure I have done more than this also but it's so long since I stitched on it...... Now to choose which one to work on!

An Introduction

Well, since many of my friends (Mel W, Annette, Mel, and Sooz to name a few) have started up blogs, I thought it was time I jumped on the bandwagon!

Let's see.............I have 1 husband (Ron-been married for nearly 14 years), 2 kids (Luke-nearly 10, and Caitlin-7 1/2) and live in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. I am currently what is termed a Stay-At-Home-Mum (or Mom if you are from the US!). I am involved in various ways with the kids primary school (a member of governing council and social committee with latest venture being a breakfast to farewell Queens Baton last Tues morn-very early start!).

I also have several interests or hobbies: reading, cross-stitch/embroidery, with a dash of knitting and beading..................I also like gardening (well, the non-weeding part) and love watching sport on TV (just about any sport-the ones that are less engaging are perfect for cross stitch or other crafts as any really good (or bad) moments get replayed.

I have recently (within the last week) joined a local gym which I am really enjoying-it is a friendly place and the owners are so nice & helpful. I am planning to do a session 3 times a week, and after a month or so (when I am fitter) adding in a class..........we shall see.

I will need to work out links, pics, etc but I will work on that maybe in the coming week.