Blink and its June!

I'm sure all you have to do these days is simply blink and your already in another month! Here we are midway through June and thankfully FNSI reminded me of such! It was on Friday just gone but before I share what I managed to get up to I best share the prize I received from joining in back in April! I received a $30 gift voucher from Kitty Rose cottage but I wanted to wait till the package turned up so I could share with you how I spent it! I ended up using it to get a pdf pattern, some Hanky Linen which I was keen to try, some stabilizer.  Our 7month old puppy Lucy is forever finding my tissues and spreading them with great glee into thousands of pieces throughout the house, and since I'm one of those who often needs a tissue, I've decided it might be time to head back to the old fashioned hanky! Hence I'm going to try out some of my cottons, but also the hanky linen to see what works best so stay tuned for that over the next couple of months (since my list of things to make and do is quite the long scroll at present!). Thankyou Wendy and Kitty Rose Cottage!

Friday night joining in with FNSI I had decided I was in major need of another apron. I use them

everyday when in the kitchen to protect my clothes and sometimes whilst I'm cleaning as well.  I'm down to just 3 and I prefer my tried and true apron pattern I made up back in the 90's which has served me well. Unfortunately I was unable to locate my pattern so I had to use one of my current aprons to trace up a new paper pattern on some Christmas Wrapping paper which was close at hand lol  I'd already picked out fabrics from my stash earlier in the week when I drew up the pattern, so Friday was just about sewing it up!  Over the next couple of months I'll get around to making another couple so I can have at least 5 on hand - although I'm aiming for 7 - 1 per day enabling me to wait a week before having to wash all the tea towels, kitchen hand towels, crocheted kitchen cloths and the aprons!

So, now lets catch up on a few other things lol ...... like the long weekend at the start of June.  Stacey made a trip up from Melbourne again to spend some time out crayfishing with Pete on the Saturday  - (great to see him finally out in his boat again, although its taken him a week to recover) ......and to head to the big annual Rutherglen Market.  It's the first year I've not had to wear a big coat, and still been cold!  Hard to believe this morning with our current temp outside of -1 degree C.  I picked up a couple of nice scarves/wraps which are super soft and nice and warm and a few other day to day items that took my fancy.

I'd made sure to have the crocheted rug finished for Buttercup so it would be ready when Stace came
up.  She sent me a short video and some photos when she got back home and it seems that even a few weeks on the crocheted rug is still Buttercup worthy !

Lucy has 2 crocheted blankets that have become "hers" lol  I don't think there is anything quite the same as a hand crocheted or knitted blanket made with love and prayers to snuggle up in!

The other excitement for June was my sister Kathy from New Zealand came over for about 10 days.  They had put there names down on a house sitting site and a house in Mulwala (about 30mins from here) got in contact with them to see about house sitting for 3 months initially - but that was a bit much so Kathy came for 10 days and the whole family plan to come back to the house again in September. It allows them free accommodation and use of the vehicles (needed when they are 30-40 mins drive from here).  So Kathy was able to spend time coming to see Dad which he enjoyed.  It was great to have some time together and for her to understand  how he is going these days. And with that I best get this posted as its taken yet another week to get the photos to download to the blog!

 

Birthday and Celebrations

 

We are well into May now!  Such a busy month its been with lots going on! May is my birthday month and it seems like I've been able to have extended celebrations! I'm catching up here on quite a bit so feel free to skip down to other bits that might interest you, including FNSI ......

 I was invited to a girls weekend down at Phillip Island, and my friend Karen surprised me with tickets to see the penguins parade up the beach!  I've never actually been to Phillip Island and have always wanted to see the penguins - unfortunately photos of the penguins coming up the beach at dusk are prohibited in order to stop them getting blinded by multiple flashes from cameras and such! We did a few walks and I had a great time!

The scenery around where the penguins come in is quite spectacular

This area is known as the Knobby and in the photo below you can see out to seal rock

Yep - Cold and Windy with a slight bit of rain so Karen and I were well rugged up

Heaps of Cape Barren Geese were walking across the roads and everywhere

Definitely worth the visit and a trip I won't soon forget

The following week I posted out for the Tea Towel Swap that Jennifer from Elefantz  was running.  I can show you what I made and bought (you had to hand stitch one and purchase another) as I know my parcel has been received (according to Aust Post) and the lady I had to swap with doesn't have a blog.  I chose to use some variegated thread and did a little embroidery that also included her name on the tea towel - I do hope she liked it. I'll show you what I receive when it arrives.

Yummy sodas

Stacey came up for Mothers Day last weekend which is only 2 days before my birthday this year.  Petewasn't feeling up to going out so we got to have a mother and daughter outing to Beechworth for the day!  So much fun visiting the Lolly shop, Beechworth Honey, Billsons Brewery (soooo many different cordial flavours to try) and lots of those little shops that are fun to spend time in!  

Inside Billson's in the cordial section with all those flavours! I came home with several: Portello; Creamy Soda; Lemon& Ginger; Spiced Apple and Cola which are now lined up on the cupboard

The Goodies I purchased: A new lunch bag; a baking kit from Beechworth Honey; Lollies; new scruber brush and a little penguin to make up to remember my trip to Phillip Island. 

Stacey and I totally enjoyed the ice cream sodas with the cordials from Billsons at their Soda Shop.

I was blessed with lots of different gifts from family and friends ..... Stacey included a jigsaw puzzle and we made a start on it before she had to head home. 

 It's been many years since I've sat to do a jigsaw (not since the kids were at home) - Quite interesting my different reactions to it over the week its taken to finish - including the frustration of wanting to get it finished so I can clear the table LOL - something that quite surprised me but no doubt due to the endless list I seem to have of things needing to be done and the time I was spending working on the puzzle as I kept getting distracted by it LOL  I finished it just before I started this blog post (something that's been put off all week as I worked on the puzzle ) But it is such a beautiful puzzle and I love the gumnut babies.  I need to find a specific table for future puzzles.

I joined in again with Wendy for FNSI  .......  I was pleasantly surprised to find  I had won a gift voucher from joining in the April fun, so I'm looking forward to that arriving and sharing what I end up purchasing.  This month I needed to work on a crocheted blanket for Buttercup (Stacey's pet rabbit) ..... I had some help from Miss Lucy which helped pass the time Friday night as I tried to untangle the mess to continue work on the blanket lol

Over the weekend I opened up the baking kit from the Honey shop to make the Honey, Banana & Walnut loaf.  The kit had a nice new loaf pan, a nice thick oven mit, a vegetable bag which was filled with whole walnuts to use, the recipe card and a large 950gr jar of honey! I just had to add bananas which I had on hand, butter and flour!  I also made an apple pie using some of the apples I purchased at the market on our way back from Phillip Island.  So far it's been quite a lovely month!  But now I best head off and get the roast into the oven for dinner tonight!

April FNSI ….. and unexpected fishing

 I was all prepared for joining in with FNSI when hubby suddenly decided that he was feeling up to wanting to go with the fishing club on a local camping/fishing weekend!  I’d made an early start with some stitching on Thurs morning ……which never got any further than this ….. and I managed a bit more knitting if my sock when we came back home Saturday night to sleep! I’ve yet to make it around the other blogs to see what everyone else worked on.

It’s the Anzac Day long weekend here ( although that’s unofficial given today isn’t a holiday but tomorrow is the public holiday).  It was quite the process pulling out the camper trailer which hasn’t been used for close to a year ( last time by hubby alone) and took quite a few hours to get it out and down to the camp ground then back the next day with the boat.  We only managed to sleep at the campsite for one night as it all caught up with Pete (5 weeks post his big op no surprise!).  But the fishing was relaxing and Lucy got to have her first time in the boat!!! We took her basket  ( her safe place when we travel) - but when we were tied up in the river in the early morning sun …..well, I think the photo says it all lol  and now for all the unpacking and cleaning up lol ……I’ve decided a good clean out and organised camping stuff is on the list!!

For those wondering we were on the Murray River between Corowa and Mulwala ....... enjoy the photos .....

Safety in her basket when other boats went passed and rocked us lol

It was just sooo beautiful on the river  and lovely temperature

This is a Murray Cod - but undersize so he had to go back into the river!

Wearing my "Ingonish" handknitted jumper (another Laura Aylor/Fogbound Knits pattern available on Ravelry) - extremely warm.  This was the 2nd morning out on the river

Photo from the campsite - our green boat in the photo looking up the river towards Mulwala

Miss Lucy - loving the boat and sunshine, while watching all the birds up in the trees

What Mum??

Our campsite

FNWF - a Quick Post

 It’s been such a long time since I’ve linked in with FNWF ……. I lost momentum for that when I was having soooo much trouble with Blogger and unable to leave comments on other blogs!   I discovered that Google had decided to use an old email account (from when I used to sell my soaps) as the main identity so until I actually deleted that email (ensuring I had my sharmshere@yahoo account listed as a backup) ...... well, it seems things are working again!

Anyhow, I started Friday by trying to get my knitted top finished which thankfully I did - still to sew in the ends and it definately needs a block so once that's done (raining here and no fire going yet), I'll show you the finished photo.

Catching up with a few other blogs, I was enthused to get back working on my Daisy a Day blocks ..... I sewed the edges around the Sundaisy block - so one completed (I'm a little behind)

After doing a few gardening chores, laundry and cleaning ...... I really wanted to get started on another block.  These will come together to make a lovely little quilt that I plan to have hang over my rocking chair in my letter and reading corner. .........  I was ready for a cuppa by then and so the Mondaisy Block seemed the obvious choice with its kettle ........ by the time I'd traced and cut out bits and been distracted by several things going on ....... it was late afternoon and the cuppa was replaced with wine lol ...... I'm not usually a Red girl, but I was introduced to Merlot before Christmas and I actually quite like it and find I drink less of it than when I have a glass  or two of the white

What became very obvious during my time in the craft room is that I need to continue on with cleaning and clearing out this space!  As you can see, my little table in the centre of the room barely enabled room for cutting ..... and the sewing machine area is the same! Anyhow this is a short post - mostly for the link up with FNWF - follow the link to see what everyone else got up to.

Easter Blessings and summary

 Easter for 2023 has almost come to an end!  The weather has certainly cooled off here with Good
Friday being a very rainy day.  Weather since has been cloudy, bits of sunshine, bits of rain and much cooler temps ……we haven’t yet started the fire, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be too long before it’s time to get it going!  Like many areas it’s Autumn Burn off for many of the farmers…….it was a rush by many of them to get paddocks burnt off before the expected rain over Easter.

With Pete on the mend, I’ve taken some time to do a few other things ……. But I started Good Friday by baking some scones which started disappearing the moment they came out of the oven!  Yummy! 

 Friday was definitely out for walking which Lucy was not all pleased about!  So when we had breaks each of the other mornings I took her out for her daily walk.  I have to admit that some days I wouldn’t go out walking except for asking,  Ute I’m always happy to be out there once we get out the door! 

I was keen to work more on the Sundaisy block and I’m pleased to show some good progress although I’d secretly hoped to have the block finished and bordered …….but in order to do that I’ll need to be able to get to my sewing machine so I also had to spend some time clearing some of the stuff that had been dumped in there from after Christmas!  I still have a bit to go on the room ……but here is my block progress ……

Tomatoes came out of the freezer ( once we start picking a good lot of them I cut off the tops and then freeze to use later as the skins c9me off super easy after being frozen).  I used up 3 kgs of them to make relish and still have more in the freezer …… not sure if I will make them up into more relish …… I may use them for a batch of soup and some kept whole for stews over winter!  It’s so nice to have home grown produce to use in cooking throughout the year! 

I had hoped to finish knitting my top …. Towhee by Laura Aylor from Fogbound Knits.   I’m using a
fingering weight held double - likely too heavy to use as a tee shirt here - but my plan is to wear it over the top of a skivy.  I ran out of Sultan and wanting to use up stash I decided to add in this red which is also Wollmeise yarn since I only had about 12 rows to finish on the main section and a couple of rows I think on the sleeves ……I hope I might get the main section finished tonight! 

Easter Sunday I took Lucy over to visit Dad and she put a wonderful smile on his face!  I’d taken him over a strawberry thick shake which is his favourite these days as well as a chocolate Easter rabbit to enjoy.  We actually had a bit of sunshine while we were visiting which was also a bonus!

I made good progress on my crocheted top which is turning out somewhat bigger than I had expected so guess we shall see ……..I’m also wondering if I’ll be playing yarn chicken with this as well!  I sure hope not …..it’s been a bit slow with the constant yarn changes every row! 

Time out reading this book which I’m finding good, but a little slow in parts but over all it’s been rather enlightening as well and remembering what many women went through in the days prior and during wartime …… and understanding why women were so desperate during the 60s to hang on to that independence.

Of course I made up a batch of Rocky Road today which put a much needed smile on a certain man’s face!   He is counting the days / weeks to when he is given clearance to drive again.

As I pulled out my Grandmothers bible from the bookshelf in my craft room, I flicked through and stopped on something she had highlighted who knows how many years ago ……. But it was the gentle reminder I needed after these past few weeks of nursing Peter, doing my chores, the chores that he can’t do right now, see to Lucy and look to the needs of my elderly Dad as well as the usual  …….  I had a lovely enjoyable and productive Easter ......I pray you all did as well 

“ And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men”.  Colossians 3:23

It's a Sundaisy Day........

 

Its Sunday here and the first day back of NO daylight savings!!!!  That's always a plus in my books as I really dislike daylight savings. It was sooo nice to wake up to the sunrise and take Lucy for her morning walk ..... it was a bit shorter this morning as I'd seen a note from Chooky  advising of a very quick zoom for bloggers to catch up ..... a breath of fresh air after my last few weeks!  

Before getting on, I decided to head out and pick some mint and Lemon Balm to make a nice herbal tea .... it's been a while since I've done this and it was just perfect (in fact I ended up having a 2nd cup of it).  I'm hoping by having the Lemon Balm in a pot I can keep it going over the winter months, and as you can see, it also has some chamomile in it as well.

It did help to set the scene for my Sunday .... I took Pete out to the Corowa Market where he managed a
quick short walk around and catching up with a friend before heading back home for a rest and watching the car racing for the day. 

 I meant to show you this lovely gift a lady gave me.  I met her a couple of months back when I first started walking Lucy (she has a 3yr old cavoodle named Bailey)...... she felted this for me and gave it to us when we returned from Melbourne! She made it from memory of how Lucy looked about a month ago when she was tending to go a bit blonde around the snout!  I can't believe how talented she is.

Meantime I headed out to the Garden ...... Even though it is need of lots of weeding since getting back
from Melbourne .... the garden is my place where I've always felt closer to God, nature and at peace - although a it can also help when you need to burn off some energy!!!  The garden out the back area is now starting to take shape as well with the plantings around the pool starting to grow, and the pots doing well.

I've spent quite a few hours in the vegie garden since returning from Melbourne - it was totally out of control as far as the weeding goes .......... I kinda left the vegie garden to Pete this year since he was planting it up with stuff and I had no idea where anything was ....... he's not really into weeding ........ It's a work in progress, and I am gradually making some good progress.

The long grass in front section is hiding the rockmelon vine which is still producing - so leaving that weeding until its finished.

He did cut a barrel in half before the Melbourne trip so I could use both halves to take some of the strawberries out of the vegie patch and into them.  They seem to be coming on quite well and I'm in the process of moving the other strawberries to another area where they might not take over so much!

Strawberries, Mint and Lemongrass - the other half wine barrel is the other side of the fence

After an hour or two doing that it was time to come inside and sit with a cuppa and the book I recently borrowed from the library.  A friend recommended it recently in a letter she sent (Lynda also has her own blog which you might enjoy visiting).  I'm really enjoying it.  It's rather nice to be able to have a library in our little township and I was even more surprised to find they had this book.  Lynda had recommended another but alas - its not to be found here as yet.  Our library does link with a few others in the district which means books can also be ordered in from those libraries.

Yesterday I decided to begin some sorting of the craft/study room and I happened upon the bag with
some fabrics that I had bought back in November last year when I had signed up Daisy a Day with Jenny from Elefantz.  

 It's a paid subscription and I decided I best check through my 10,000 plus emails to find them and print them out ....... which I did ........ which then had me cutting out the backing fabric for the stitcheries ..............

 So today I was inspired to Just simply Stitch and enjoy doing some stitching Just for Me!  I decided to go with the block Sundaisy since today was Sunday and it was such a "Daisy of a Day"....... it feels like its been simply ages since I sat and stitched and it was just soooooo lovely and brought me such joy as sat at the table with the sunlight coming through looking out over the pool and garden area!

And now I'm afraid it's time to tend to the roast I have on (unfortunately the oven has decided its not going to work ...... so into the covered frypan it's gone).  I hope you all have a lovely week ahead ..... I'm currently not working as I left my job so I could take as much time as was going to be needed with Pete - given he is not allowed to drive, or lift anything more than 2kgs for 5-6 wks post surgery!  I couldn't deal with the pressure of giving time frames for how long I needed off considering I had no more than a couple of weeks leave up my sleeve.  So for now .... I'm kinda retired in a very loose sense of the word.  I'd be very happy to not return to work, but we will see how that shapes up over the next few weeks or so.

Until next time ....... Hugs, Sharm