A Little Sewing Project.

This Christmas it was Kindle readers all around in our family. Husband, Son in law, Sister in law and Daughter all got one! I don't read enough to make one worthwhile for me. I do listen to audiobooks though and find it a very convenient way of 'reading'. Anyway, that is degressing from the point of my post. My DD decided that she wanted a cover for hers so she chose some lovely butterfly fabric and got all the little beads out of mothballs and began her project. She got quite a way and then discovered that she had sewn the wrong butterfly! She was devastated and defeated. She threw it on the table and said 'blow it'! (no she didn't!) In fairness she was struggling with sleep deprivation (her 17 mo son is still waking through the night for a suckle) a headache and stomach cramps SO I offered to finish it for her. It was actually quite fun to do. I haven't done any beading for ages (which is probably quite apparent from the finished product).
Anyway I thought you may like to see it.

Here is the padded 'envelope' Kindle Cover. 

If anyone is interested I will post a pictorial 'how to' hopefully in the next couple of days. This will be for the making of the little envelope, not the beading.
I made one for DH too but didn't bother to photograph it. It is very 'blokey' and boring, just as he ordered it to be! ;o) They are simply for storage to stop the screens from getting scratched.

The Kindle in the pic is too big for this cover, just in case you were wondering. But it shows you what I'm talking about. The Kindle simply slips into the 'envelope' cover and the flap buttons shut.

So there we are; a tiny project but so nice to get something pretty done so quickly. The cover measures about 5" x 7". I was surprised at how quick the beading is to do and as I said good fun too!

Dogs, Spiders, Butterflies and an Apron!

Today is Harry's 1st Birthday. Can you believe it. He is one already. 

He has a plateful of turkey and for dinner is having a meat and cheese pie. Lucky boy.

Harry Scally Waggus Barton

Below: DH Trying to coax Harry up onto the trampoline for some birthday pics.

Not jumping up on that Trampoline and that's that!

 The Spiders:

We have 'seasonal' spiders, would you believe. Last year in early spring they arrived - and there was an unbelievable display of the entire grass area (paddock) covered in webs. These webs would show themselves in the morning when covered with dew and elegantly string out their long, long wisps as the howling October, Korumburra winds blew relentlessly across the valley. Their owners would hide, for the most part, in the matt of grass below but some of them, way too many of them, would hang around the house and 'fall in' through the doors whenever they were opened. Fortunately they were not big spiders but I would find them everywhere around the floor on kids toys etc. which was a bit yucky. They didn't climb though so I wasn't too bothered.

This year the spiders came but this time about a zillion of them set up house on my barn. This appeared to happen overnight. I'm not sure that it did as I'm not the most observant person in the world BUT it sure did happen fast. One day the barn was normal the next it was spotty. What a mess. Anyway it's a job for the Spider broom and the Gurney for the ones that are too high.

Every vertical face of the barn covered in webs

Every bolt, rivet, window, door etc. encrusted with webs

The Butterflies:

Another seasonal phenomenon we have which is a lot nicer than the spiders is the brown butterflies.

Common Brown Butterfly - far from a common sight in their hundreds around the garden.

We have hundreds of them every January. They frolic, flutter and float all over the garden and the grass.

One of my old pics. Couldn't take any pics today as it's too windy.

The Apron:

During November I bought myself a very cute apron panel from Spotlight, but didn't get around to making it up before Christmas. Then for Christmas my SIL gave me the same panel as part of my pressie. This made me very happy because I knew that I would have trouble keeping my panel from my DD - - - - so now we can both have one. 

I decided to make the lining a reverse apron and used some fabric my MIL had given me, to keep the owl theme. This way it can be used all through the year, not just at Chrissy.

The Owly Christmas apron - (please forgive the 'Granny' hair, I'm trying to grow it)

The other side with more owls - I love owls and aprons

Well there it is. A very long post. Hope you haven't been bored. Took a while to get to the sewing bit. Have a great Wednesday everyone.

Happy New Year in my January garden!

I was up early, on account of having a rotten bug for several days and clearly getting way too much sleep! So now I'm back to normal and only feeling really tired when it's extremely inconvenient, like just before dinner time. Oh boo-hoo, get over it - you would quite rightly be saying just now.
Anyway I was up and thought I had better get the blog updated for the new year and I had a thought about taking a pic of the particularly unusual purple hydrangea outside the window. So .... I grabbed the camera and stepped outside just as I was - light cotton nightie and new summer slippers.
I thought to myself - Oooooo, self, ooooo just lookie over there at that shattering orange rose sker.. reaming to be photographed too. Now, self, the grass shouldn't be too wet, it was a warm night... So out I step and discovered that the grass was a little wet, um well perhaps wetter than I should be walking on with my new slippers, um too far now, oops better remove slippers.
So there I go on the very wet grass barefoot, camera in hand, tip-toeing around the bees on the clover in the grass in my skimpy cotton nightie feeling very grateful that the building is now finished next door and that the new owners are away. Rose after rose called to me - "Look at me!" How could I resist?
So here are the pics of the particularly unusually coloured hydrangea (hereafter know as the Puch) the vociferous roses, some pansies and dear penstamon not hitherto mentioned but none the less one of my faves.

Here is Puch - Labelled Strawberries and Cream! Ha!

This is labelled Strawberries and Cream also! Very odd.

My recycled wheel barrow full of pansies etc.

The shattering, unlabelled, sideways (succumbing to the Easterlies) orange rose.

Rosa Mutabalis - So many colours on the one bush - gorgeous.

Beautiful Tiffany my 1954 release rose.

Playboy - Wow this looks like a painting

Peace - delicate perfection

Oklahoma - colour and perfume sensation

Pom-poms of frilly bicoloured gorgeousness

Delicate penstamon - (will grow quite large)

Another penstamon - very hardy, pretty and useful plant

I hope you have enjoyed your early morning stroll around my garden. Come by anytime!

Next post I will fill you in about my spiders and butterflies!

Happy Reminiscences

An email, this morning, reminded me of this Christmas being 'bitter sweet', as the author put it. She was referring to the absence of my dear Mother who passed away in October aged 90. I hadn't given it much thought up to now, being so busy, but yes it will be (bitter sweet).

Mum with her trusty note-pad and Small; one of her many, many pussy-cats over the years.

I am beginning to remember Mum in flashes now as she used to be. which is wonderful. I very rarely see her now as she was in the Nursing Home. I often hear her voice saying something as I say it, her little quips and one liners. Haha a chip off the old block eh?
My sister gave me boxes of Mum's photos to go through and as I did I was amazed at how joyful, not sad, it made me. I found myself laughing out loud as I was taken back to those happy times with Mum and Dad. It is  a pleasure to see Mum's infectious smile again and look at her with life, and naughtiness, in her eyes. In some of these pictures I can even hear her laughing, a sound not heard for a long time.
So this Sunday will be sad with the loss of a generation from our Christmas table but what is really lovely is that there are newbies to sit in the empty seats to make their own places of importance in our family, as indeed they have already.

So I thank my Mum and my Dad for all the wonderful happy memories given to us of Christmas' past.
And I thank my four beautiful grandchildren for the promise they give of so many wonderful Christmases to come. AND I am sure that Mum and Dad will be watching from somewhere with beaming smiles.
Merry Christmas everyone! xxx

So much fun!

Today my daughter and I made our first Gingerbread House.
It was great fun. We had a couple of anxious moments but it worked out just fine and the finished product is very cute.

Stage 1

The mixture started off very soft but after being in the fridge for a while it was fine and much easier to work with. We used silicone molds which were fabulous. We rolled the dough and laid it in the molds and then packed it full to the top of each one to make sure the walls would be thick enough. It worked extremely well. After cooking it was left to cool in the molds.

April working on Stage 2

- We had lollies and sticky icing from one end of the joint to the other! Haha there was much licking of fingers (and then washing of same!) and eating of rejected lollies - Well really, you just can't put one back in the pack if it's too small or broken - can you?

Finished!

Da Dah! Complete with little Freckles and Musk Sticks Mushrooms. Sour sticks on the windows. *Marshmallow ropes around the roofline and on the corners of the house (*a wondrous find in the supermarket) A pile of Jersey Caramels in the yard for hay bales. Licorice logs beside the house and with Jaffas along the path and White Choc discs for roof shingles. There are assorted marshmallow bits and pieces around the house including the Santa on the left.

The Cooks Extraordinaire!

We look very pleased with ourselves don't we! Haha. It was great fun but I think we will both be suffering from our excessive sugar intake today. Ughhh!! April's off to training tonight - good on her - I'm NOT!

Favourite Christmas Decorations

Have to start with the Christmas Tree of course. 

 

 

We got this huge tree for our other house which had very high ceilings but it fits in the new house thank goodness. The new LED lights are WAY brighter than I thought they would be and when they flash, it appears from the other room, as though the nutty professor is busy in his laboratory!! 

The tree is covered in long tinsel which HAS TO BE placed on individually. This is the kind of Christmas fanaticism which has, apparently, wounded my children for life and I suspect secretly labelled me 'Gestapo Christmas Mum!' Haha tough, it looks so good when it's done properly.

Applique Snowmen Wallhanging

I made this wall hanging a few years back and just love it. 

All the little mittens hang over buttons sewn on the quilt.

Another wallhanging which is a Spotlight Panel - easy peasy

On the right is my tin Santa. I really splurged when I bought him but just couldn't resist!

His Toy Sack comes off his back as do some of the gifts inside. He is quite large at about 30cm

Debbie Mumm Wallhanging

I bought this wallhanging from the Debbie Mumm Store. 

It was made by her to photograph for the pattern and signed by her on the back.

It is approx 60cm square.

Two gorgeous Snowmen

Snowman on the left was given to me by my SIL and the fellow on the right was made for me by Melody from The House on the Side of the Hill. They are both a little rustic and I love them.

Softie Santa and friends

This is another decoration that I splurged on, can't remember where or when.

Cute little Santa tea-light holder

Tea-light Christmas Houses

These two little houses look so quaint with the candles burning inside. 

They weren't expensive and are definite favourites.

So there it is. I hope you have enjoyed seeing the things that give me some Christmas joy.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Lovely Photos for Tuesday Treasures

My very clever daughter just sent me these photos she took yesterday of her kids.
I just had to share them as I think they are just beautiful photos, and kids of course!
The oldest is 16, middle is 9 and bubba is 16 months.

Gorgeous Kids

My Big Brother

Tickle time with Big Sister ... someone's not impressed

Just lounging around - very comfy big sister.

Ah, feelin' the lurve!

Please take a look at more wonderful Tuesday Treasures with Melody at
The House on the Side of the Hill