i ondered why the bird bath was having to be filled four times a day.
i did a bit of stripping yesterday ...these are all repro fabrics and i subscribe to a fabric club and all these little fat 16ths were doing nothing so i decided to make 1inch strips and make them 180cms long.
my dear friend pat and i went out for lunch in freo [fremantle ]and were amazed at how many cars had these cute little flags on their windows..
my grandchildren stayed over and asked for porridge for breakfast so i thought i would make it a little more special and sprinkled rainbow colored sugar over the top ...
ufo no 2.. the chevron scarf ... this knitted scarf is from knitted gifts and is knit in the gorgeous koigu yarn ...this yarn has to be on my favorite yarn of all time list ...the scarf measures 265x15 cms or 105''x6'' ..so you can see why it was a ufo for a little while.....
ufo no 1 ...done and dusted .this pattern is from roosteryarn book one.the pattern is slightly different as i have changed the flowers.i plan to make a group of them in different colors for the bed or chair or chaise who knows !then ,wait for it , i had a flash of inspiration and voila another project entered my head and i only need another 1500 flowers for this project give or take a few...so although i completed my ufo no 1 i have started ufo no ???? anway who is counting i read somewhere that if you finish all your ufo's ...you die... i think i'll give that one a miss thank you...
oh no ..i went out this morning and this is what i saw... judging by the teeth marks i think the culprits are the alpacas .. l will be devastated ..i might have to hatch up something [like going to the market and buying one and placing it somewhere where l can find it] as do not want to dampen my 7 yr old gdaughter enthusiasm for growing things..we have a saying here that if you cannot find out who did the deed we say 'dolly did it '...another sweltering day today in the high 30's and although the fremantle doctor visits every day... after a fortnight of these temps you start to wilt a little..for those who don't know the fremantle doctor is the sea breeze that brings cooling wind from the indian ocean ... off now to search for a matching watermelon...geez what us nanna's do for love.......
this is a watermelon patch ..i throw the girls [chooks ] a slice over in the hot weather [ today is another scorcher ] they devour it in seconds..woof and it's gone.. but this year the recycled seeds [get it ?]have germinated and are growing little watermelons all over the place ...i must have a lot of female flowers out there ..fine by me... a friend of mine is not so lucky as all her flowers are all male! my grandaughter [ we shall call her l ] strokes and measures the melons with such care and fondness it takes me all my time to tell her ..they are not ready yet... the largest one and the most coveted is about the size of a large football ...i am still amazed how i can grow these exotic treats here in oz..on a sad note ..one of my girls had to be euthanised at the vets today..the rescued girls have had so many problems with their little egg door ...you still can't get used to the circle of life..r.i.p...
yesterday we had a quilting day to make up quilts for the ladies who are undergoing treatment for bc .there were a lot of us there and we also celebrated a milestone birthday for barb [ check out julias place for pics of the event] it was a wonderful day and many thanks to dear teena who organised the whole thing from start to finish thank you teena you were a perfect hostess with the mostess. unfortunately my battery was no good otherwise i would have taken more pics .i lost my dear mum at the age of 52 with the disease so i know only too well what bc means to all who come into contact with it. thinking of you mum xxxx....
these are the three main magazines that i love to read ...in order of the most fav is english country living then coast then aussie country style.. the ecl takes me back to my roots and i truly escape back for a short time..and coast does the same ..in this months mag a feature on scarborough[i married a scarborian] and also the old ship inn in saltburn which goes back to smugglers time.. my daughter was born in saltburn and both children shooled there i have so many fond memoriesof dear saltburn. magazines inspire you don't they ..whether it is a quilt mag or a lifestyle mag .. but the lifestyle mags do it for me ..they press all the right buttons my only grumble is i have to wait a full month behind as we are in australia and they don't subscribe to here. just a quick note , because of the heat we are having at the moment[ high 30's ] i have been to the movies three times this week but the movie that had it all was not australia but the teen movie twilight ...it was absolutely fantastic...it will be a long time before the sequel but i''ll be there will bells on ....
this morning saw these beans ready for pickin and the egg had just been laid with a great deal of noise from one the hens. it's so rewarding picking your own i have fond memories of picking our own strawberries in the uk they tasted so sweet not like the mass produced poor excuse for a strawberry that you get in the supermarkets.another grumble - i don't like supermarkets , i much prefer the hands on personal service that sole traders provide they have so much knowledge about their produce ,they know where it comes from and always a little bit of banter that goes with it.in the uk we lived in glaisdale on the yorkshire moors and would have a butcher who we knew by name and became a great friend and the little corner shop that sold everything but the kitchen sink .the little post office was another meeting place and said conversations would be had while waiting in line... the little brass bell that would tinkle when you walked in the door hmmm i'm off again thinking thinking....
my friend pat enlightened me that the trees i spoke about are the flowering red gum not the australian xmas tree that i thought they were. Ufo's , how many are guilty of having one or two hahumm.... as you can see i have more than a few ..let me try to explain.. you see i am an aquarian.. a free spirit that cannot and will not be controlled .. i do not like repetition of any shape or form so i easily become bored [as you can see] but i love what i create ..i bond with whatever i make ..i suppose that it is probably due to the time i spend making it ...i also have what you would call a third eye.. i already know what it looks like even before completion ..so in my minds eye it is already finished .does that sound like gobbledygook? anyway i have made up my mind to finish the little pile of ufo's before i get a flash from above to start another thing! as you may well try to understand i can put on the washing ...decide to iron ...as well as doing the vacuuming.. and while i'm doing all these boring domestic jobs i will bake a cake!!!! a domestic goddess i am not!!
we have lots of these australian xmas trees on our block and this is the first year they have flowered.. they are truly beautiful and absolutely teaming with bees frantically hopping from blossom to blossom. i wonder where these bees go?all you can hear when you approach is a soft drone it is quite soothing.yesterday i forgot to explain for dear myra that a goanna is a type off lizard , the one i saved was only about 10 inches long and the largest one we have here on our block is about 2metres long.. needless to say kitty did not attack that mama and i kept well away as they can move really fast .we also have venomous snakes here .. i would rather we didn't.... the two types we have here are the dugite and the tiger snake..both highly venomous and are lethal. but they are shy creatures and because we have constant movement around the place with the alpacas ,they tend to keep away.you have to be vigilant though and i don't let my dog [elsie] sniff around the bushes . my neighbour has lost three dogs with snake bites but her dogs lived outside .i remember my first encounter with a baby jugite.. i went to sweep the floor and did a doubletake at the brush and saw a tiny snake wrapped around the base of the handle.i totally flipped as i knew the babies were more venomous than the parent.. i called a neighbour who swiftly came to my rescue and disposed of it and then informed that the little dugite had about THIRTY BROTHERS AND SISTERS around .we never found them thank goodness but for months i looked in the bed everynight just in case ....
well another day in paradise... 37degrees today and after three days of these figures my friend and i went to see Australia the movie in blissful air conditioning. the movie was great and well entertaining and hugh jackman ..what can i say ...not to sure about nicole though! we came away feeling pretty good and like i have said so many times the white man has so much to answer for..
happy new year to all of you....may it bring health and happiness to everyone. this year promises to get off to a good start as the plans have been put in to the shire to enable us to build a small cottage
