In the Kitchen...........

What a busy week we had last week!  Australia Day last Wednesday saw Pete and I head to Lake Hume in the boat for a bit of fishing and enjoying some time together that didn't involve a whole lot of work!!  It seems all the time together in the past months has mostly been working on getting things done around the house or helping Dad at his place.

We had a great time out on the water with a few bites and we both caught a few fish, although most needed to be thrown back - but we did end up with 3 keepers which was a nice couple of feeds!

 

 Anyhow, the vegie garden has been supplying like its making up for us not having a vegie garden for the past 4 yrs!!!  I spent all day Thursday in the kitchen getting a bit of our produce made up.  Since it looked like rain, it was a tad cooler than it had been the previous few days (at least to syart with it was lol). 

 I managed to get cucumbers pickled (a first time for this), a new marmalade recipe I've had for some time from a friend (thankyou Lyn), and the usual tomato relish, and plum jam to add to the strawberry jam I'd made last month.  

Lyn also asked me about my Japanese maple that I have planted out in the front garden so I said I would share a photo of it here on the blog ..... it was in a pot for the last couple of years keeping watch over Scruffy who is now buried beneath the tree (we just kept the pot but cut off the bottom of it before popping it into the ground. It's a rather busy garden now as things have grown well over the past couple of months and the little blue wrens are beginning to visit now.

But back to the kitchen .................  after spending all day Thursday standing on the hard floor tiles (I did have a kitchen/bath mat I was using to stand on, but let me tell you - its old and I had no idea it was as thin as it is till I had to stand on the tiles for so many hours of peeling, cooking etc etc) - It was time for a new thicker kitchen mat!!!  A trip to Spotlight didn't produce anything significant so I decided to

have a go and make my own!!!  One size 12 crochet hook and a pile of yarns that don't get used for anything much at all (or are left over from other projects) ...... and I have a nice squishy mat for the kitchen floor!!!  I was lucky to have some chunky cotton yarn in my stash left over from some big cushions I did a year or two ago and this made a big difference to the squishyness of it!!  I think I could use with making a few more of these but will either have to find some more of the chunky yarn as a base or cut up some old t-shirts to use.   I haven't blocked it yet, so it's looking a bit out of whack, but I really wanted to just be able to stand on it and figured I can block it into shape when it has it's first wash!!!  I need to make one for in front of the stove top and another to have to swap over when this one is in the wash as I figure it may take a bit of drying time!!

Now I had hoped to get this post written up on Friday ..... and then the weekend ....... but - internet issues with my laptop - not the phones so it wasn't the modem this time, but my laptop would not connect to the WIFI or any internet and went on strike from Friday till just now - having had to take it in to get checked and waiting with the tech for 15mins before it decided it was even going to start .........oh dear!  Yep, its a few years old, it was cheaper one at the time purchased from Office Works which I later regretted to no end as after the purchase there is no assistance with anything going wrong!!!  So I came home with a new laptop which I'll work on setting up later this evening - for this post I already have photos saved so......... and it's suddenly connecting to the WIFI now, but it's s l o w ...   I'll be treating it nicely while I get all my files and such transferred or saved.  Anyhow, I best keep moving with other things to do ......... catch you soon!

FNSI

 I joined in with a number of other crafters and stitchers on Friday night for FNSI hosted by Wendy from Sugarlane Designs.  Friday night I managed to finish off my Northwind Cowl .  Now that we are back down south I'm working to get a bit of a winter wardrobe in place as a few of my handknits got eaten by silverfish and moths whilst we were up in the humidity and moving houses for the past 3 years!!

Yesterday after spending some time in the garden and pottering around - I'm working on various outdoor spaces trying to get them looking nice, useable and workable spaces.  I'd like to have outdoor areas where we can relax and enjoy sitting, but also have areas that are productive in one form or another and I'll share a bit more of this over the next couple of weeks/months. 

 It's actually hard to believe we have only been here 3months with all that we have done so far.

The veggie garden and worm bin with the very productive Orange Tree

Anyhow, I had an issue with my sock knitting ...... my first ever attempt at socks and it was sent to the naughty corner to sit out the past week whilst I looked at it in disgust each time I walked past ........

 after finishing the cowl I decided to read through the pattern again (the sock one that is)......... and then considered the fact that perhaps I'd been missing doing the last stitch instruction every 2nd row for the entire 3rd section!!!!!  

There was nothing else for it but to frog back ........ which took a good couple of hours with a couple of breaks ................ finally last night the 3rd section of the heel was completed and it worked!!!  Thank goodness!!  I'll have to be sure to watch out for this with the 2nd sock!

This week gone I also had to take Dad up to Albury to meet with the new cardiologist (now that Dad is down from Brisbane )  He really enjoyed the drive and seeing some of the old buildings in the town....... and even better still the Cardiologist has reduced some of his medications which he is very excited about!!

With all the produce we are now getting from the garden I need to get to and get some of it put up into relish and jams and such to have ready over the next few months when the garden will have finished.  No doubt many of you are in the kitchen doing the same type of thing!    Have a productive day ......

Hugs Sharm

It's beginning to look a bit like .......

 OUR home ...... and how things used to be ...... things are getting organized and I'm feeling sooooo much more settled than I have for a few years now which is soothing for the soul!  After sorting out sewing stuff last weekend, I'm pleased to report that I finished off that little bookmark that Jenny had to start the year off with.   I'm glad I started with this one as its been such a long time since I've done anything like this I made a few mistakes and it's def not the best sewing!  In fact after finishing the embroidery I sat at a bit of a loss thinking how to make it into a bookmark!!! 

 I'll be making the next of her bookmarks, but next time I hope to have a nicer finished bookmark!  This is a book I picked up a few weeks ago and I've just started reading - so far I'm enjoying it ......

We had a terrible storm on Friday night with a huge lightning strike that took out our internet - because we are in a bad reception area, that also meant limited mobile phone coverage - I spent the day Saturday trying to get hold of "Belong" and it seems they need to come out here tomorrow morning to fix whatever needs fixing!  Luckily I'm able to log in on another network for a short time to do a few things.  

I took advantage yesterday of having to sit next to my phone and worked on some of the embroidery for my table runner and made some good progress!  This is what it was looking like when I pulled it out to start some work on it 

Before

And here is where I'm up to on it now.  There were quite a number of "details" that needed completing, but I now only have 1 edge left to go and 2 corners to complete

Also got some more work done on my knitted socks (although I'm not exactly sure it's working out how it's meant to ....hmmmmmm), but the cowl is coming along nicely and hopefully should be finished by the end of the week.

Today I got out in the garden early and got a huge amount of weeding done in the flower gardens out front and then in the vegie garden out back.  Then it was into the kitchen where I made some biscuits, a zucchini slice using some of our produce from the garden and juiced up a pile of oranges from out tree - 8lts of juice!!!   I'm afraid Ihave to cut it short here ...... fingers crossed our internet gets fixed tomorrow!!!

Have a great week,

Hugs Sharm

A Simple Weekend

 Cheryl was hosting the first FNWF on Friday and with Pete away for a few days fishing with his mates, I decided to make the weekend into a weekend full of simple enjoyment with craft, reading and watching some girly movies. 

 Friday night I was tired and decided to just do some knitting on a cowl I'm currently working on and then Saturday I would sit and do some sewing of some sort.  The cowl is Northwind by Laura Aylor and can be found easily via Ravelry.

2 quilt tops to make up 

  I had to take a trip to town Friday and while there I bought a new book .... which after a short read,  I really wanted to make a little bookmark.  I knew that Jenny had posted a new embroidery one on her blog and I knew the fabric I wanted to use (actually gifted to me by Jenny when we caught up a few years back).................. 

 And so the hunt began ...... where exactly were my "Country Threads" embroidery cottons, where was my container of ordinary embroidery threads and where was that piece of fabric so carefully put aside!!!  

A bunch of blocks I may or may not keep

 It was the perfect opportunity with Pete away for the whole weekend to be able to pull out the several plastic tubs and sort through them so I could actually find things, know what I actually had and decide on a place to keep them ............ and sort I did!! 

 These are the UFO's I discovered that I've decided to keep (I put aside 4 for a friend and another 2 went to the opp shop).  If I don't get these finished by January of next year then they will be going out as well!!  

These will be used for either a table runner or some head rests for the chairs

I need to try to find where this little wall quilt pattern came from to finish it

Xmas items to work on

Lots of various sized hexies I'm not sure what I'm going to do with yet

The Woodland Table Runner I must get finished

Xmas / Cushion covers/ Embroidery Quilt from Jenny of Elefantz

The size of this quilt won't work so I'll be making it into something ........ not really my style but it while I had the fabrics I wanted to use, the pattern was a mystery (stack & wack) - to say I was devestated when I realized what it was turning into - so yes 

 And here is the "Down the Rabbit Hole" Quilt - which has grown quite large as you can see it laying on our QS bed.  There are 2 side panels left to go to finish the embroidery/applique sections and then the border and quilting.  I still have this sitting in the lounge room with its tub of associated fabrics so that I can work on cutting out all the applique bits for both panels and then I'll be able to sort out that box of materials and get it out the way and just work on the last panels a bit more easily (at least that's the plan). 

Finally, late on Sunday afternoon  I sat and worked on the little bookmark ..... It's a very long time since I've done any of this type of work and I realized I've actually never made a bookmark before so its taken a bit longer than I anticipated and I need to still finish sewing the contrast material on and the ribbon.  I'll finish it off after work tonight.   (I did start this post yesterday morning before work, but internet was in and out so it didn't get finished .... and when I got home from work Pete was back - thus ending my plans of more

The UFO's all sorted for the year

sewing last night as we caught up with neighbours that dropped by - so perhaps tonight the bookmark may get finished and perhaps this post will be ready before I leave for work ...... it seems to have been quite a long one).  I'll post a photo of it once it's finished!  I think one of the biggest joys was when I finally located my threads to hang on my special holder that Pete made me!  They were not in any of the tubs and it took more searching through other boxes before locating them in a nice safe spot lol  Well I'm off to finish getting ready for another day at work!  Take care my friends.

My lovely Country Threads - They make me smile

Hugs Sharm

HELLO 2022!!!

 Welcoming 22 with open arms, an open heart and many plans, projects and aspirations  ......... May everyone have an improved 22!!

I've made a good start on getting the crafting/study room in order (not quite there yet, but many tubs have been unpacked and lots of paperwork is being sorted out) ......  Little spaces in there are starting to look ok ......  Pete put up my embroidery thread holder (for the country threads) - hopefully I locate them before too long so they can go up!  It would be nice to pull out some embroidery and get back to working on it again.  I'm looking forward sooooo much to being able to have the time to get things made for our home - I'm one of those soles that much prefers to see handmades around a home.

I've found sooooo many WIP's and I'm hoping to make a good inroad into those over this year ahead!  Something I did find - was the 2 hexie blocks sent by Jo from ButterZ  back when I was doing the tablecloth and which I blogged about last post - and in doing so realized  Jo was missing from it!!!  I'm not sure how that happened exactly, but during the making of it we had an interstate move and 3 local moves so stuff ended up in all sorts of places and I'm only just opening some of those tubs that have been tightly shut for the past couple of years! I remember that Jo's went missing in the post and so she told me she was sending another one (which was diverted to a couple of different addresses) and I'm pretty sure that was why they got separated from the others :(  My plan is to add them onto the tablecloth on a current hexie.

 There are other things I want to do as well - after starting a bit of a list I decided to just use my blog and set up an extra page to try and put the planning/WIP/UFO's for both sewing and knitting on (and possibly other things, who knows lol).   We have been using the pool quite a bit over the past couple of weeks as the weather has warmed up quite significantly ....... 

this has seen our vegie garden growing like mad and we've already been picking lettuce and I've had 3 Zucchinis in the last couple of days!  It's only been in about 10 wks and while the tomatoes, lettuce, capsicum, were from seedlings - the corn, zuchinni, peas, cucumber, melons were grown from seed.  The strawberries that came from friends have been producing a few and I've had to net them to stop the blackbirds eating them!!

It seems like you may have to stand on your head for this photo lol ..... Chooky hosted another zoom meeting on Sunday our time where many from the previous week dropped in and out .....  I was able to pull out one of the UFO's to work on ....... This will eventually be a cup and saucer pin cushion

I did manage to finish the Blanket Cardigan which I started late last year when I was excited to be down here and had just pulled out a pile of my yarn.  I was pleased to be able to use up quite a bit of my stashed yarn for this one which is going to be super warm come winter!!  Yet to put the inner catch and a button on it.  The front is like a double layer with the top section folding over on top of it.

Then I started a test knit for Laura Aylor of Fogbound Knits for this cabled cowl in a bulky yarn.  I got it finished early this morning and decided to beat the heat and dress up the top bit of me for a different type of photo lol

I don't know about everybody else but I badly need to work on my weight which saw an increase over the past 3 years and needs attention.  I'm currently using the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet which will give a refund if you can possibly meet the required criteria by the end of the 12 wks - the weight has certainly been up and down over the Christmas /New Year period lol ...............  anyhow, watch this space I guess!  Well, I'm off to cook dinner and then a bit more sock knitting!

Hugs 

Sharm