It’s May

 

Sunrise across the paddocks at Boorhaman

I did have something organised to put on here for the end of April but just never got to completing it.   So lets do a quick check in on where we are at here in May – my Birthday Month 

I managed to finish off the Bridal Shower Booklet for Stace which I will give to her in June when I am down in Melbourne next.

 

The wood Heater had the last bits finished off by Pete whilst I was at Scrub Stitchin

 

And is now busy chugging away keeping the house nice and cosy – although the weather is really quite mild for this time of year!

I’ve become quite involved in the HPKCHC Group in Ravelry and it’s been very busy with lots of projects getting worked on.  For the most part I have my plan of attach with what projects I want/need to get made and then tend to fit those into the various “classes” and things – its all for pretend points for the “Houses” but works as great motivation and comradery.

I’m currently working on several projects – no surprise there lol  

I’ve managed to get a little knitted coat made for Abbie for her first birthday (One of Stacey’s best friends - Carly’s little daughter – who is becoming our unofficially adopted granddaughter).  I’d love to be making things for little Mila, but alas, until our eldest son gets over whatever it is we don’t get to see her – It is what it is and best left in God’s hands!  Anyhow, I will get this to Abbie in June when I’m down in Melbourne!

 A start and Progress on This which will be for Stacey and John’s house warming when they get settlement on their
very first house at the start of June …….  

 

I’ve started working on the Fusion Quilt which will be made using Tilda fabrics – There will be 100 completed blocks to make up and join together.  It's been quite the process which began with collecting Tilda Fabrics from last year and this years Sewing Retreats and a couple of other "Girl" Weekends which included visits to Fabric shops lol.

I think I'll share a separate post for this project once I get a bit more completed but here is the very first finished block - I wanted to see if I would be happy with the pink crochet edging so decided to try it on a blue block - I'm very happy with the results and think it should work quite nicely!

And I've started working on a pair of fingerless gloves ....... This is yarn that came back from Ireland - the green came from one friend on a visit to her family and the white was brought back with another friend who travelled over to Ireland for her 60th a number of years ago - finally they are getting used!

 

Last week saw me getting tangled up with the next door neighbours cat that seems to spend more time at our place than where it should be – long story short it bit me which resulted in a trip to the emergency room in Wangaratta hospital the very next morning where I received IV Antibiotics and had an orthopaedic surgeon remove the infected tissue from the bite areas and give it a surgical wash out! Not impressed at all and yes, the neighbours were told and even though they are nice neighbours I have to say I'm Very disappointed in the overall  response – meantime I at least took my latest book with me and got quite a bit read ...... this sequel seems to be a bit slow getting going .....

 I get the sutures out this

coming Friday – my Birthday!

That was also Mothers Day weekend and my lovely Son, DIL and Grandchildren from Townsville sent me a delightful package which I’ve been enjoying. Stacey and John have

given me a gift voucher for the Annual Chrysanthemums which I will pick up when in Wang

during the week.

I'v'e been enjoying drinking the Breakfast and Afternoon teas so far ....... yet to sample the Earl Grey...........

Sunrise from our front garden

I’ll talk to you all again very soon

Hugs

Sharm

Happy Happy, Sewing Time

Wendy hosted FNSI on Friday and I'm truly grateful to her as it really got me into the sewing kind of head space I needed to get going on some things ....  Note the several projects all on the go on the dining room table as I joyfully moved from one to the other depending on what was going on around me .........

 First I finished off the crochet squares in the "Glacier"  colour for our Crocheted Veranda Throw - its now sitting in a plastic tub while I wait on an order from Bendigo yarns, and an order from Deromores (UK) . I would have preferred to use all Bendigo cotton for this project, but unfortunately their colour selection is somewhat limited.

Next on the agenda was to begin doing something with the lovely little Elephanz embroidery..... I had to do it twice when I made a bit of an "oh dear" when I forgot the pen I had not used for such a very long time didn't actually erase when you ironed it ...... nope, apparently I should have wet it!  Oopsie!!   So I got some practice doing a second one!

Moving on, and by now it was Saturday afternoon and I was itching to get back to the sewing ....... so,  as you might have read, I'm taking part in the BOM, "down the rabbit hole " by Sarah Fielke which I had seen on another blog (oh how I wish I could remember who else was doing this and where I saw it???  Is it you?? Whoever it was - a big thankyou as Sarah explains things so well in her videos as well as having the pattern sheets!) .... anyhow, she also includes little surprises as part of the BOM we pay for apparently and sent through a lovely little "Hussif" pattern with video instructions for making it up.  Although it certainly wasn't compulsory, I just couldn't resist when I saw the carrot pincushion in it!  I've still got a tiny bit left to finish it off, it's been such a while since I've done much sewing and I first had to dust out the sewing machine and give it an oil,  but here is a snippet .............

 I'll show you the rest once I get it completed,  which I would have done, if I hadn't been blog hopping on Saturday morning while having breakfast ....... 

Val Laird had a post about a lovely wall embroidery  over 12 mths which she is doing as a freebie (check out my sidebar for the link), and it really spoke to my heart.  It will be a good reminder as I stitch the verses and it  will then make a perfect little wall hanging for our new home!  So since I didn't want to go and buy anything for this one, I had to stash dive in the fabrics I'd unpacked the other day - I really did not want to have to go and undo that box again  (thankfully when I pack boxes I number each one and have a book with the list of the main items in each box) ........ instead I had to undo a different box  (number 26 ), to pull out my cutting mat and ruler lol  ......... Why did I ever think it would be a good idea to pack up the Beehive with all my crafting goodies???  Still, I surely have more than enough to keep me occupied for a while!!!  Naturally I had to get creative with the fabric scraps I had and try to work out how to get the amounts out of what I had ....... this ended up taking way longer than I had ever intended it to take, so I've yet to begin on the actual embroidery yet!  But I do have the pieces all cut now (except for the "cream on cream" ones) and in little plastic sandwich bags!

 

I don't think the sewing smile left my face all weekend!   The table sure has been covered in sewing goodies - Hubby just smiles and nods appropriately......    It's all going to have to get cleared away this week as we have an open house here on Saturday ...... fingers crossed and prayers please for a house sale!
Have a great day everyone!
Hugs,   Sharm

Relaxation equals projects

The horse wagon did numerous rounds past the house over Easter 

Easter really was overall quite a nice restful time ........   I spent quite a bit of time sitting on the verandah or in the bee hive working on knitting or other projects, watching all the people walking by, and the horse wagon going past several times (rides were being done from the Pub to help raise money for the royal childrens hospital appeal).  Bundalong had a nice community  fundraiser afternoon going which we attended before heading over to Boorhaman for the annual RCHA auction which we have attended every Good Friday since 2003, except for the one year when we were living in Townsville.

I did get a tartan/ reversible project sack made up for the knitting project starting on 9th April that I mentioned in my previous Easter post .......  It's very simple, but it will be good to pop the knitting project into to keep it nice and clean.   I may end up making some more of these simple sacks for Christmas .

And I also managed to get a good bit of weeding done in the garden ..... even started work on what will be a major makeover for the pond area.  Stage 1 involves the weeding of all the "memory herb" (remember it's invasive!!!) and all the other weeds, covering the lower section (which overflows when we fill the pond right up ) with plastic sheeting which will then be covered with rocks and stones and perhaps some sand as well to give it a kind of "beachy" feel .  The chair will then sit on the edge of this to make it easier when mowing.  I'll also be digging up all the bulbs and smaller plants - way too difficult to keep the grass and weeds under control in this area.

Pete managed to get an armload of apples from a roadside tree, which were promptly turned into a large apple pie for desert and a few

smaller ones that he could take with him this week while he is working away again.  Last week he got to take blackberry puffs with him as I'd "found" the container of stewed berries I had put in the freezer a few months back.   I had planned to make some more batches of plum jam from the 3kg of plums I bought at the farmers market on Sunday, but after they sat on the kitchen bench we discovered they were full of fruit fly - I was and still am rather unhappy about that!!!  Not only is it the fact of $, but this would have topped up my current supply to give us a good full year supply with enough to give to family and friends.   Anyhow, it happens - luckily this year I have a decent supply of our own tomatoes that I have chopped and frozen ready for the next batch of tomato relish!    And now unfortunately, it's back to work I go! 

Friday Night Sew In

Although I haven't always managed to meet the monthly Friday Night sew In, it has proven to be very helpful in getting projects worked on.  This time, I'm happy to say that I have finished the little lap quilt for my daughter in time to get it under the Christmas tree!   I've incorporated items on it from 4 generations......brooches, earrings and a baby hair tie ( that is now 24 yrs old) have all been added in some way to the shoes I've appliqued to the quilt!  I'm really happy with the way it has come out and since I know she does not visit blog land at all, I feel confident I can share it with all of you and you will keep it secret till she opens the parcel on Christmas Day!

Clutter, stash busting

this was part of my stash........ That is needing to be tidied up, used up or gotten rid of.......... So, you guessed it, it has been cut up into a couple hundred squares, which are currently being sewn together to create my Clutter buster quilt!....... Progress will be cut for a bit, as hubby & I head to Perth on Saturday to celebrate our28th wedding anniversary!

Ps, totally unsure how this will post as its my first time from the iPad, that hubbie gave me for Christmas

Material Scraps........

Is there anything better than homemade I wonder?  Yesterday afternoon/evening I got into my sewing and used up some fabric scraps, turning them into pot holders.  I'm really pleased with how they've come out, since I tried a couple of different ways.  I have a few to post out to a few ladies whom I doing a "pot holder" swap with.  I also managed to get a few more aprons made up..... some for me,

 since I really need a couple of new ones, and a couple to go into  the gift box.  It always pays to have a few bits and pieces on hand for gifts :)  I use up pieces of material from my stash to make my aprons - a pattern I did for myself a number of years ago with a large pocket at the front.  These pockets will hold ALL sorts of items from eggs you might be collecting, baby chicks that need to be rescued, childrens toys, vegies from the vegie patch....... Yep, my aprons don't just get used when I'm baking - they get used whenver I think I need to protect my clothing (so I can be ready to head out the door, but with the apron on, I can achieve a variety of tasks first and not have to get changed again!)

Anyhow,  That was about the time my sewing machine decided it wanted to play up...... so I headed to my basket of wool, picked up the crochet hook and managed to get 54 crocheted hexies done to add to my crocheted grandmothers garden lap rug (which IS going to be finished in time for winter...... this year!!).