Friday Night Result

A good thing I got a head start Friday, not as much time Friday night for stitching as I would have liked.  August Bear had to wait for today to find his head.

Busy busy in the kitchen this afternoon ... roast dinner and vanilla cupcakes for dessert. Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads and father figures xx

Grrrr...photos aren't loading!  Edit:  Sorted 👔👞🎁

A Beary Nice Day

Yesterday was a lovely relaxed day spent with this beary huggable mumma and her two cuddly cubs ...

Together with her Bear friends in Michelle's Calendar Bears.

Of course yesterday being Mother's Day, a chocolate mud treat was the order of the afternoon ... yummmm!

Hmmm, still half of May left. What shall I find to work on at night?

A Christmas Scent

Yesterday my kitchen had the 'smell' of Christmas ... Gingerbread!  Icing was a bit rushed and needed a smaller nozzle but it still tastes great!

Just had to try out these animal shapes for Grandson J.

Whipped up a batch of shortbread first.

We had a little visitor last weekend so it was time to hang his bauble on the tree xx

Thinking now that it's time for a coffee and maybe I need to taste test ... again.

Enjoy the Season

FNWF - Mudcake or Brownies?

Oh the dilemma! First I cooked brownies, followed by a choc mud cake before popping a lasagna in the oven now that the weather had cooled down enough to even consider turning the oven on.

Brownies and a milo ....

Then back to business ... putting the final stitches into this sweet pattern.

Thank you Cheryll for another lovely Friday Night with Friends xx

After all that beautiful rain and some amazing rainfall totals in neighbouring areas, all that water has to go somewhere. Taking most things in it's path.

This road is the one I travel on to get to work...once the river is high enough to spill over the dam spillway, water backs up the creeks.

If it's flooded ... forget it!

This weather also plays havoc with my internet. Just to post took ages so not much blog hopping happening ... most times I get "error loading" and then nothing happens.

All In One Week

I can't be sure but I think it was last Monday I got around to making some Tomato Relish. This was my first batch in many years ... so long in fact I rang mum to ask for her recipe and she said she uses my recipe which was my mother-in-laws ... ooops! Forgot about it but now that I've tried some the memory returned ... delish even if I do say so myself.

Mid week hubby and I attended Farmfest which is a huge agricultural display, but not before Fiona and I arranged to meet up. We chatted like old friends over a coffee and then had a quick stroll through a few sights. Time went way too quickly and as the evening showers came over it was time to say goodbye. Many friendships are made through blogging and it's extra special when we're able to catch up 'in real life'. If you pop over to Fiona's blog you will see how alike we are when it comes to footy stuff and stitching.

 

I was also spoilt with some lovely goodies ... thankyou Fiona.

The weekend has been back to reality with all the washing (ironing yet to be done as I've had more important ironing to do - see below) and putting things away. Throw in not feeling 100% and showery weather and I decided some sewing would be the best remedy. Not before some serious un-sewing for the second time on this particular block. It started out as 4 pieces and reversed back to 16 pieces ... now it's ONE!

Block #1 - Workshop Mystery Design

 

We have a public holiday tomorrow so I feel another block finish coming on and maybe even more?

 

Happy Sewing  >^..^<

 



September Wrap

This month seems to have lasted so much longer, possibly because I've bee super busy, squeezed a lot in and have only now just realized that today is the last day of the month.

On looking back at my goals I'm happy to say that I achieved both. Yes I only set 2 goals :o)  Another wash cloth for my 1 Xmas Item and the TTS Block 'Santa and the Christmas Goose'.  I even finished the stitchery started at Highfields. Now I'm wondering what to work on while the NRL Grand Final plays out on the TV ... they'll be kicking off soon  ... should I get a head start on 1 Xmas Item for October or the last TTS block?  Refresh my crochet? Continue on another stitchery I have started? Or catch up on some zzzzz's after DS's 21st party last night?

I shall report back tomorrow as the Calendar rolls over to a fresh new month.

Getting back to baking my own bread, this one hit the top of the breadmaker.

Happy Sunday

Slow Cooker Soup Day

I'm joining Chookyblue for her Slow Cooker recipe weekend.  If this weekend isn't perfect for some slow cooked beef and vege soup then it never will be ... brrrrrrrr!

I recently found these soup mixes and have already made a chicken soup and a pea'n ham soup. With the chicken soup I added a whole chicken and shredded the meat off the bones once cooked. I added some almost finished ham on the bone to the pea'n ham soup and also flaked the ham to add more body.

I had some beef neck bones in the freezer so I've added those to the country vege soup today for an added beef flavour with chopped carrot and onion. Might throw some frozen peas in towards the end of cooking time. Yummmo ... soup for dinner tonight!

What do you have on the menu?

Where Did That Week Go?

Actually I do know what happened ... a heatwave!  No energy and no desire to sew ... just trying to find somewhere to cool down and only doing those jobs that had to be done. Thankfully by Friday a cool change had moved in and now the rain has arrived. Nothing nicer than a wet Sunday spent indoors sewing and preping.

I did manage some prep work on 'Tis The Season' cutting all the border strips and have squares of the white spot fabric ready to trace for the embroideries. The borders are sewn on my 'Stitching Round the Block' ... just need to do the finishing touch. I was beginning to feel like nothing would be crossed off my January list of goals but I'm a little more focused now.

Saturday I did some stitching on block 16 of 'Because I Said So' while sitting by the window enjoying a cool breeze. Yesterday the stitching was finished and the sewing portion completed.

Then it was on to tracing blocks 17 and 18 of the BOM and a start on my Christmas Item for January. Throw in some GST ... sadly not the Generous Sewing Time sort but the bookwork version ... and finally I felt like I'd made some progress.

Just to finish off a productive day a quick fruit cake was in and out of the oven in a short time ready for packing in lunches today. I came across a link on Fiona's blog which led me to Bev's blog where she shared the recipe and it's now my go to recipe if I need something in a hurry. Thanks for sharing ladies.

More bookwork today and I really must get another quilt onto the frame ... I keep putting that job off.

Quilty Wishes for a lovely week.

Welcome to an Aussie Summer!

AND THE WINNER IS ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

OK, so the way I did the draw was to put numbers in a container to coincide with each of your comments.

Then I asked DD to draw a number from the container . . . and the number was . . .

# 2

So CONGRATULATIONS goes to Chook (Beth). I'll be contacting Beth by email.

Thanks to all who left a comment, I've enjoyed visiting your blogs in return and hope you continue to visit mine.



WOW, Summer is here in all it's glory. While some are busy mopping up after the

fierce storms and flooding rains, others are still waiting for the first drop to quench the burning ground. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have giant hoses to deliver the waters from flooded areas out to those who are still bone dry.

We had a lovely surprise visit from my parents on Friday afternoon. Mum brought along her box of goodies she received from Sharon Z all the way from USA for ALQS2. She is so thrilled with her little quilt and now that she's finished showing it off, it will be going up on the wall at her place. So from Margaret to Sharon, a huge THANKYOU!

While they were here we had a scheduled power outage most of Sunday so Dad, DH and DS worked outdoors while us girls did what girls do . . . shifted furniture around. Well only one piece but it was my china cabinet which was of course full of STUFF!

Myself, Mum, DD and DS's GF removed everything, cleaned everything, moved the cupboard and replaced everything. Then it was on to Christmas decorations. I usually wait till December but we were after all only one day early so now on the 1st of December we are ready for Christmas. I still have room for a couple of new decorations though.

Once the power returned, DD decided to make some Gingerbread People to take to work.

Meet Mr and Mrs Gingerbread. She made 8 couples and perhaps one left over, then some stars and Christmas Trees.

Aren't they all just so sweet! . . . and yummy! Well we did get to sample some.

Quilting Wishes

A Break In Sewing

Wow, life seems to have stepped up a gear or two lately and there has been no sewing what-so-ever. I barely have time to check a few blogs now and then. I do have the plan for my ALQS2 in my head and an idea for my October postcard up there to, just need the time. Perhaps this Friday when I can get a few hours at patchwork group.

Wednesday afternoon while feeding the chooks, I noticed the moon and grabbed the camera. Two shots and then the batteries went flat.

Thursday afternoon I grabbed a moment to head outside with the camera (after recharging the batteries) while waiting for the storms that just went around us. My two girls like to wander about with me and race up the trees just because they can.

DS surprised us with a visit this weekend so this morning when I wasn't required at the cattle yards, I did some baking. DS takes one cake and some biscuits back with him for the week, and I've made up a care package of biscuits to send to DD at Uni.

When I finished the ironing, I pressed some pieces of fabric ready to cut into 2.5" strips for a table topper I'm making. If I'm lucky I'll get those cut this afternoon. Another busy week ahead.

Quilting Wishes

A Quick Pic

I've spent several hours trying to iron out hick-ups with my computer and camera and now have my camera card in my sons camera and still haven't finished with the computer ...... so ......




here is evidence of the cooking DD did Sunday night (sorry bit blury) and i've yet to take some photos of the fabric I purchased last Saturday. The mocha cookies are super delish and the chocolate squares are always a treat.

I've just come across some lovely Dear Jane blocks that http://stitchinfriends.blogspot.com is giving away.

I'm playing catch-up with everything at the moment so roll on weekend.

Quilting Wishes