birthday picnic at the beach

what great day we had at the beach ...

daughters 32nd birthday ..so we took off to the local beach and sat by the indian ocean under blue skies and a pleasant 28 degrees celsius...

we lunched on home made free range char suei chicken ...organic fruit salad ...and a biodynamic salad with biodynamic sheeps fetta cheese...all topped of with a good cuppa tea ...steaming hot from a flask...no wonder we feel regenerated ..i would highly encourage such weekend behaviour..

lots of laughing and talking ..only downer was my son couldn't go into the sea due to a 8 stitches surfing gash sustained yesterday at th surf beach in scarboro..
if you click on the middle photo you can see a pelican which landed not too far away from the grandchildren...

the scent of summer..

ahh ..the scent of summer.

honeysuckle and roses...you bet ..can't beat that scent to say summer is here

my climbing cecile brunner rose has never had so many buds on the branches..

me knows it was due to the nibbling of the alpacas who sadly no longer do the tip pruning for me.

so i must enjoy the little beauties while i can ..

off for tootle today with a friend...have a wonderful weekend..

new stuff...

i love recieving new stuff in the post..

it sends me off on a tangent..

i look at the colors and have a flash of inspiration and i drop whatever i am doing and give it a go

i made these flowers as soon as i looked at these shade cards so i figure what inspires is the color and then i go off and ferret through my stash..a bit like a deranged squirrel looking for pre buried nuts!..and come out with the yarn i want to use..

so i am happy crocheting along at the moment..

and the other day some friends and i met for a leisurely lunch by the river as it was a warm sunny day and one needed to be outdoors getting ones daily dose of vitamin d..so we did and then i remembered...ahh... this is why i came to oz..

liberty quilts..

well it is all official calicoandivy has moved address...well we crossed the road to the sunny side of the street..

we are now at no 10 glyde street..

the new shop is much larger and has it's own yarn room [which i could happily live in ].

deb and the team worked so hard and the logistics were huge ..but everything is ticketyboo and new and fresh and what a lovely place to work..

yes..really ..it is not hard waking up and going to work i can tell you..

you never know what delights await you when you get there..

then i was taken aback when deb wanted my liberty quilts to hang in the new shop..i was literally blown away and humbled at the same time..

without the encouragement of friends i would never have finished them ..

i thank them all from the bottom of my heart and made some wonderful memories along the way.

i have however made a decision ..i will only work in liberty fabrics as they bring me so much joy

and i must finish the one i have in the wings..as well as knitting ...crocheting..and of course a sock or two or three...

did i mention?....

did i mention that i love to collect vintage china...well here are few i rescued the other day while opshopping with my daughter.
i love that they have a few bruises here and there ..
if i have to choose a favorite ie would have to be the one in the right hand corner with the most divine pattern of little clovers all around the edge..

on my needles at the moment

on my needles at the moment i have a another pair of socks..

crochet flowers..

and a mens cardi using rowan bamboo yarn in a silvery mushroom color..

i have wanted to use this yarn for so long and thanks to erica knight i have the perfect pattern and i am soo in love with this yarn..

also i washed my finished liberty quilt..

when i look at this quilt i feel such an overwhelming sense of pride and satisfaction..

i connect with times and places where i purchased the fabric and the the friends i have met along the way ..

thank you danielle for finishing the binding for me ..you are a marvel..i will treasure you always ..

and thank you pat who made me driven to finish it even when i wavered ..

well i'm off to wash my second one now as it is a lovely drying day..

blue haze..

what a sight to greet you when you come up the drive ...

a beautful blue haze of wisteria ..and the fragrance is delicious...wafting as you walk by.

i always find it unusual as the flowers appear before the leaves.

i am training this little beauty onto an arch made from sticking a starpicket on either side of the doorway and then pushing a large reticulation tube[the black thing] over the top making a big beautiful arc ..which one day ..i figure about another two years..will be an arch of wisteria..

can i wait that long ? ...

yeah sure..