Breakfast on the Hop

We've been trying to keep a strip of green grass around our home. Not only does it make the hot dry weather a little more bearable, but it's a buffer in case of fire.

This family plucked up their courage and decided to dine out yesterday morning on our green grass. I snuck out onto our verandah with camera poised ready.

They're not the only ones taking advantage ... a pair of hares have been spotted and also several wild ducks. As evident by the quantity of deposits (droppings) left around the ground, this is not their first visit either ... oh well.

>^..^<

Happy 25th ... It's 1 Xmas Item Time

So who was it that turned the switch on the "wheels of life" up to Full Speed?  I'm looking forward to a little down time over the weekend to catch my breath ... after the overflowing washing basket is emptied and I give the house a quick tidy ... look out dust bunnies!

Just came home from a shopping day in town and raced outside with my Christmas Banner to take a photo before the light faded. Of course I actually had it finished at the start of the month but didn't get around to taking a pic till tonight. This will be going up in the house on December 1... when do you like to start your Christmas decorating?

I bought these cute buttons recently and added the sleigh to the left side and a reindeer between each letter.

Sometime over the weekend I'll pop over for a visit to see what my fellow elves have been creating this month. It's always fun to see all the beautiful gifts and decorations...thank you all for sharing.

Happy Christmas Sewing ... It's not long now    >^..^<

FNSI and Dust Bunnies Be Gone!

Finding relaxation in the evenings with wool and needles.  These 3 dust cloths were knitted from the 1 ball of varigated "Giggle" wool ... love how each has made it's own pattern.

Not sure where all the days are going but I just know that they're sneaking past me at a rate of knots. I missed the link to FNSI at Wendy's but luckily for me my knitting needles were in action Friday night. Working on another dish cloth this time. I'm using 2 balls of a varigated 4ply because I couldn't find an 8ply cotton...lucky the varigation in the colours matches up.

Gotta dash ... the sun has set and I've lots to do to get ready for another working week.

Happy relaxing     >^..^<

FNwF Result

A lovely night with bloggy friends, enjoying a little knitting. More dust clothes getting ready for stocking fillers.

Thankyou Cheryll for a relaxing evening.

We had a great day yesterday at a big family reunion. Dad has 3 brothers and 4 sisters so when everyone sat down to lunch with sons, daughters, inlaws, grandchildren and great grandchildren there was a sea of happy faces. I'm also thankful tomorrow is a public holiday as today seems to be a go-slow day.

If you're glued to the NRL Grand Final tonight...may your team be victorious. I'll be knitting :o)

>^..^<

Family, Friends and Fun

Monday after lunch hubby and I had a lovely surprise when DD and her Fiancé arrived to visit for a few days.  Then on Tuesday lunch DS and DIL also arrived for the afternoon and we all enjoyed a lovely family BBQ that night.

 

Wednesday was patchwork day for our little group so while I'm on school holidays, the ladies all came over to my home for a sewing day. It was so lovely to catch up with everyone as I haven't been able to attend our patchwork days this year due to work. I even surprised myself and have completed my Christmas Swag but a full reveal of that one will have to wait till the 25th for One Xmas Item A Month but here's an 'almost there' shot.

 

Wednesday was also mail day and I found a lovely parcel in the mailbox all the way from Peg. I was one of the lucky winners for August OPAM and get to have fun with these sweet goodies. Thankyou Peg and Kris for hosting OPAM...it's a great motivator to keep on sewing on :o)

Along with my prize parcel was another envelope containing some cute Christmas buttons I recently purchased. Santa and his reindeer are already stitched on to a project.



 

Today, Thursday, has been hot and sticky with the forecast of storms. Like many others we are getting desperate for good rain...the grass is crisp, the dams are getting low and our rainwater tanks are limited. I'm sure I could find some sewing to keep me inside if it's too wet to go out.

 

That must mean tomorrow is Friday and being the first Friday of the month it's time to join up with Cheryll and all her friends for . . . . . . .

Given that any plans I've made lately are more likely to be turned upside down, I'm hoping to get the knitting needles out and start on some more washcloths and dust cloths for Christmas.

Hope your weekend includes family, friends and fun.

>^..^<

Chillin'

What does one do when the temp is rising to heatwave levels?

Chill on the verandah with your sister of course. These two are rarely this close to each other except at meal times ... so this was a rare photo opportunity to get them both in the one picture.

And watching one of the dogs run past. No dog dares venture up here!

Rusty and his girls also get extra free range time when the weather is hot. We've been trying to keep a strip of green grass around the house with dam water. They love to pick and chase insects through the garden.

Rusty's a silkie and NOT showing his best angle.

As today is the last day of September I've taken a progress shot of my Red Delicious block. With some catching up here and there I have managed to equal one thread per day plus a couple extra.

Should be done and dusted by the end of October. This little tortoise keeps plodding on.

Happy Stitching     >^..^<

The 25th......Already?

Yes, it's here again. Time to shake the tinsel out and share your One Christmas Item for this month. I've scraped in again putting in some marathon stitching over the weekend to finish my last letter for the swag. Now to make up the last 4 letters and join them all together.

How did everyone elf go this month? I look forward to seeing all the lovely creations all ready for Christmas ... getting so much closer now and I've already noticed some countdowns about.

If you could leave a comment here when you post, or drop me an email, it would be very much appreciated. Then I'll add this months pictures to the One Xmas Item page for everyone to share.

Happy Christmas Sewing

Lost in Time

Where have I been?  Nowhere ... just plugging away at the daily grind. Get up; go to work; come home. Weekends are spent catching up on last week's chores and getting ready for the next week. Been hanging out for the school holidays as an 11 week term seems to be the worst ... everyone gets tired.

I thought Spring was the season between Winter and Summer but we seem to have jumped straight into summer ... a hot, dry summer after a warm winter.

This is the view from the end of our verandah. We've never been this dry going into summer, the trees are showing their stress and our rainwater tanks are almost empty. The lows of rural life.

On a brighter note, I have managed to squeeze in some sewing of a little gift for one of our teachers who is getting married on the weekend. I thought she might like somewhere nice to keep a spare pair of shoes.

Also this little teddy bear card will be on it's way shortly to welcome a beautiful baby girl into her loving family.

My challenge to work on my Red Delicious has been up and down. I started off ok the first week and by the end of the second week spent a catch-up night and was on track again by the 17th. Time for some more catch-up me thinks.  There's also been some last minute embroidery for One Xmas Item which I shall share tomorrow. I have been missing visiting bloggy friends terribly and hope to do some catching up here and there over the next 2 weeks. I'm also looking forwarding to having our patchwork girls visit my home for our next patchwork day.

May your needles stay threaded.   >^..^<

OPAM and a UFO

Just remembered it's the last day of the month today.  Not only that but it's also the last day of Winter, if you could call it that...it's been more like spring for weeks now.

I finished this scarf last Sunday night but am only getting around to taking the regulation finished item photo. One more ball of wool that didn't make it to the 'lost' box.

Tick for OPAM August, yippee!  Thankyou to the lovely hosts Kris and Peg.

Last night while deciding on what to stitch next, this particular UFO popped into my head and was even easy to find so ....

Red Delicious - Part 7 has come out to play. This particular quilt was commenced in February 2009 as a free block of the month by Esther Aliu and I still really like it, just never seem to work on it much. You can find a progress pic on my UFO page. 

My Challenge:  There are 12 'scrolls' and last night I blanket stitched the first 1. So I'm setting myself the task of stitching at least one length of thread each day until this part is finished. Check back in at the end of September to see how far this tortoise has advanced. (1 thread doesn't go far)

Happy Spring Days   >^..^<

August One Xmas Item

UPDATE to Elf Check List:  Mardi Meanderings has also added to her stash each month but was unable to post last month. Well Done!

Wow! A whirly wind just wizzed past and now it's all quiet again. A bit like my sewing really. Last weekend I was in a whirlwind of sewing and this week there's been very little to show.

Thanks to the movie 'Madagascar' on TV last night, I managed to put the last stitch in my letter "S" for my Christmas Swag.

Just one more letter to stitch and then the final 4 flags to be made up before joining them all together.

This past week would have been perfect for ice skating around to visit all the One Xmas Elves to see what you've been creating this month. Our temps dipped as low as 1 deg. C here and I heard that Bundaberg had their coldest August morning in 17 years. I took some photos on my drive to work.

 

 

 

Happy Sewing    >^..^<