Back on the Bus

Today is a very much needed "not at work day" ...... which essentially means I'm based at home,

seeing to the home chores and errands that need to be done here ..... a nice way of saying cleaning, washing, groceries etc!  And thankfully no medical appointments for Dad today either.  Life has been a little chaotic of late and its nice to be able to take time to smell the roses!  I did actually have yesterday off work, but apart from the washing, and spending time chatting with Dad, I don't believe I managed anything else except to pick this lovely bunch of roses from the garden to put on my table.   I do like it when I get to have Fridays off - the house can get done just before the weekend hits and I can then use the weekend for spending time in the garden and in my craft cabin sewing or crocheting or just taking time out.

And this being the 3rd Friday of the month, its time again for FNSI with Wendy!  Join in with other bloggers from all over the world as we virtually sit together and stitch, sew, knit or crochet.

For those who might be following along with the Spice of Life Crochet Blanket - Part 5 is up ....... I hope to get it printed out today, although I still have another row to finish off part 4 yet.  Apparently it is quite a large section.  I always think it would be good to get the bigger sections done in the first part when everyone has the momentum and are hanging out waiting for the next bit, but oh well I know I will get it finished ....... I may even start another but in fewer colours - the photos I've seen of some of the variegated shades look fantastic!!

The past few months the weight from all the yummy winter eating has decided to stick to my hips and stomach!!  A shocking state of affairs to find my summer clothes are either  too tight or .... ahem.......not able to be done up ......... something needs to be done about that - And I don't mean buying the next size up, since we all know where that leads!!!  So its back on the bus for me ...... I've decided another hit of the 12WBT is the way to go since I managed to go from 85kg to 69kg with it previously ...... It looks so good when you put that down in writing and I was only 2kg away from my target weight when I allowed various forms of stress and family crisis situations to take over ....... basically, I put me at the bottom of the list, something women tend to do to themselves too often - we forget that if we don't have good health, energy and room to breath then our reserves continue to deplete!  So remember girls to look after yourselves so you can look after those you love and care for!   This time I have 5.8 kg to make my goal weight this time, but mostly it's about finding my mindset to book Me time to stay fit and healthy and enjoying life.
Big Hugs,  Sharm

Sunny Sunday Arvo

It's a lovely peaceful, restful sunny Sunday Afternoon here at the cottage in Bundalong!
  It rained
all morning and so the sun is extra enjoyable this arvo with the birds out singing. 

 I've pulled out my Spice of Life Blanket to work on ....... Part 4 is almost complete and come Tuesday evening, the next section of the pattern will be released by Sandra of Cherry Heart.







Yesterday was busy with cleaning the house, getting the washing all done and then doing some work in the garden. 

With Spring everything is growing quickly, including the weeds, so I'm trying hard to keep on top of the gardens I managed to get cleaned up before I had to drive to Brisbane last week.  I'm sooo pleased I got so much accomplished before I left as the gardens are looking quite nice and Dad is really enjoying them!  I'm coming up with a few ideas for replacing the gardens that had to be pulled out when the front fence was done and also the fence around the chook yard.

While its been a busy week getting on top of appointments needed for Dad, things are beginning to find a rhythm.  Hopefully that rhythm continues to hum nicely as I head into my normal work hours this week.  I hope everyone else manages to have a nice week also!

 

 

Hugs Sharm

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I had put in to take a week to 10 days annual leave for last week in order to get the house and garden in order!  With all the sickness and other things that have been going on this year, the house was desperate for a good Spring clean, and the garden was more weeds than garden!  The place was making me feel quite depressed in it's untidy and rundown state.  So I've been busy weeding and cleaning up the garden, and had made a good start on the house - actually, I'd already started the decluttering and cleaning process a couple of weeks ago - which was when I realised I could use a good straight run at it all to get it sorted out quickly, rather than trying to fit it in here and there between working!  I'm sure you working gals know exactly what I'm talking about!!
Last week the Spice of Life Crochet Blanket started the actual process of making those first

stitches, and there have been photos everywhere of lovely blankets starting to come to life!  part 1 was getting all the supplies together which I blogged about earlier, this is where part 2 took us......
And now part 3 has just gotten underway. It's a fun and easy little blanket this far and I'm considering making a couple of others to put in the gift box ....... After I get through finishing some WIPs ........ Yep, Stonehaven and Park Slope are still on the needles, with slow progress....  Also a bit of gift making has started........

However, Dad had a couple of falls with the last one seeing him in hospital for a week while they managed to get his blood and iron levels back up.   Thankfully, no broken bones! He's about 2000 Kms away and no family really close that is able to help while he recovers, so he is down here with us for a few weeks.     I'm sooooo pleased I had already taken this time off work and managed to get most of the house and garden in order!  
 I  had intended to get this post out a week ago, but things are pretty busy around here and one week seems to be piling into the next........... so for now I will finish here and hopefully get to work on another post shortly ......... By the way, Scruffy says thankyou for all the lovely birthday wishes

Friday Night Sewing.......

Its that time of the month when FNSI has come around again! A big thankyou to Wendy from

Sugarlane Designs, who takes the time to host this for us!  I was lucky enough to have both Thursday and Friday off work this week which meant I had plenty of time to get all the cleaning, groceries, washing and errands out the way and sit down Friday afternoon to make a start!  I had seen something that got my interest on FB earlier in the day ...... Chair Socks!  Have you heard of them??  I thought they could possibly be the perfect solution for our timber chairs on our timber floors (I'm sure you know what I mean by that) ........  They are a crocheted item and although there are a couple of patterns out there, I ended up doing my own to fit out chair legs (they are all pretty similar).  If you think you might like to make some up (I'll need to do some for the rest of our chairs now), I'll put my pattern below for you to use.

Super easy - ch 3, join with a ss. 
Round 1: dc 6 into the circle you just made and join with a ss. ch 1.  (If you lay your yarn end around the ring and crochet over it in the next row you won't have to sew it in later.)
Round 2:  then 2 dc into each stitch - (12 stiches) and join with ss.
Round 3:  ch 1,  ( 2 dc into first stitch, dc into each of next 3) repeat 2 more times giving total of 15 stitches and join with ss.    This now forms the base or pad of the sock.  If you need it bigger, then do another round increasing again as in Round 3.
Next Row ch 1 the dc into each stitch.  Continue rounds until you reach desired length.  Sew in end.  I chose to turn mine inside out to pop onto the ends of the chairs as I preferred that look.
I used a size 4mm hook and dk / 8ply  acrylic yarn, but a worsted weight yarn/ 10ply would work very well.  Terms are in English.  (US:  dc = sc)

Friday night also saw a bit more progress on the jumper for DH ..... its slowly getting bigger!!!  I decided I would continue on this morning with some sort of sewing ....... but first I wanted to see what was in a container I had seen in the bookcase in the room our son has been using since he moved back home ......... Well, it turned out to be all the blocks (some complete and some not started) plus the pattern and design and such that I had put together for our snail mail group a few years back.  With all the upheaval around here since we moved in, I never did get the chance to get back to it.  I thought this morning I might sit on the veranda  with my morning coffee and do a bit of it once I'd checked my emails and FB ............

Well, as it turned out I had an invite from one of the girls who used to be in the snail mail group for a sew along about to start in an hours time!!!   Amazing!!   Turned out a couple of other girls that had been in our snail mail group were also invited to the FB sew along and they recognised the block I was working on as part of the quilt we had all been making lol   Seems I wasn't the only one to have put it to one side for a bit lol    The magpie family stopped by to check out what I was up to and have a bit of breakfast as well ...... they turn up most mornings before I head to work, and again in the evenings.
This actually sparked the interest on it a bit more, so after a bit of gardening during the day ..... weeding actually! ......... I worked on getting the basic applique cut out and pasted onto 4 more of the blocks ready for some hand stitching!

  And here is that block all finished :)

So thanks to both Wendy and to Janet ......... quite a bit was achieved between  Friday night and Saturday afternoon!    And before I forget ....... our pooch, Scruffy turned a ripe old 13yrs of age today! .....  he was not in the mood for photos today!  Happy Birthday Scruffy xo

Who Can Resist...........

I was wandering around the Ravelry site when up popped such a colourful crocheted blanket I had to go and have a bit of a look ...... especially when I saw it was being done as a CAL (Crochet Along) and being run by Sandra from Cherry Heart Blog .  I mean, just look at it.....

Who can resist all those fun stitches and colour ....... which equals stash busting!!!  Before committing to this CAL I took a walk out to my cabin and had some fun playing around with all the dk (8ply) yarns I have there.  I mostly like to be able to have my lap blankets so they can be thrown into the washing machine and hung in front of the fire to dry ....... I like to use them, and I like them to be easy to look after, so I usually use acrylic yarns, or superwash yarns in my blankets.  I have most of the colours I want to use,

 but I really, really, really want to use some lighter, brighter colours to make my lounge room a little lighter and brighter next winter ...... which kind of meant I had to order a few extra yarns.  I've heard a lot about the stylecraft DK which seems to have good feedback from most people who have used it before with blankets.  The best thing I think is the fact it has 61 colours to choose from and unlike Spotlight or other stores, these colours and this yarn seem to have stayed around!! It's so frustrating to need a bit more of the same colour, but you can't get hold of it again!  Anyhow, the actual blanket making doesn't kick off until the 22nd September (which may be the 23rd here in Australia) ........ so time to hopefully get a good amount done on some current WIP.......  Give me a yell if you are also planning to work on this CAL, it would be fun to work it with you :)

Yep,  this is Stonehaven for Pete in the navy colour (Classic Yarn by Bendigo Woollen Mills 0,  which I feel like I've been working on forever!  Looking back at my project notes I started it on 4th May and it is an extra large size .....
and Park Slope for me which has been an on and off project inbetween lots of other projects (using Wollmeise in Ballerina), and some fingerless gloves that may or may not progress!  I also have a few other projects on the go including the Tundra Fern Scarf and a few sewing projects as well!

Other news around here is all about getting a start on the Spring Cleaning!  With everything else going on over the past few months, the poor house has been sadly neglected and as well as the dust from having the wood fire going all Winter, there is also piles of this and that .......... and a really good, for real declutter needs to happen around here!    So for now I'll leave you guessing with something else that I'm trying hard to work on at present ......... perhaps this pic can give you a bit of clue ..... I'd like to think I weigh that much :) 

Pincushions and FNWF

There's a bit of a showcase going on with a showcase of pincushions at present, being hosted by Ida over at her blog ......
So I thought I'd show you some of mine since I do love pincushions, especially those that are a bit different ...... These are a couple I've made and kept ( soo many I ve made seem to have gone as gifts - the mice have featured in some of the Christmas in July Swaps) 
 
And these are some of the ones I've been gifted over the past few years

Friday Night With Friends (FNWF) was on again this week - a good incentive to get onto some crafty business. 

 
 I was lucky to be a winner of some 100% qiviut yarn and a pattern to go with it, (I blogged about this on another post), so I was able to make a start on that.  The colour is called Artic Blue and is a real Navy Blue colour, and lovely to work with even though its only 2ply!  It is tending to "fluff" up so it will be lovely and snuggly to wear.  

So that was what I concentrated on for Friday Night ...... but of course I do like to try to extend these occasions into a the weekend (and after all, Sat our time is still Friday on the other side of the world ).  So as Saturday dawned and it was Sunny, I had to get the washing and cleaning, groceries and such seen to first ..... but I did notice I needed a new floor mat.......  time to head to the cabin and dust off the sewing machines that have been gathering dust all winter long.

  I used an old towel as the backing as I find these work well for floor mats (soak up any wetness, don't slip on the floors, easy to throw in the wash).  I went stash diving to find this piece which fit the bill and the towel width quiet nicely!  I tend to border my home made floor mats with check gingham.   I no longer got it down on the floor before I turned around to find somebody approved of it!

This morning before writing this post I thought I'd best get a bit more knitting progress made on the jumper for DH.  Yes, this is still Stonehaven (by Laura Aylor), that I'm working on ...... this section has to be 15 inches long (for DH's size), before I get to the next bit of the pattern ....... its a very, very l o n g 15 inches!!!  Prob no doubt due to it all being the same colour (dark, not good for night knitting). 

Anyhow, hopefully I can get a bit more done on it as I would love to be able to say it is completed, rather than still a WIP.   I seem to have a number of those at present, and a huge list that has knitting, crochet and sewing !!  As the weather starts to warm up, the sewing machine will become more active and the knitting somewhat slower I expect!
Its overcast here today ....... I'm hoping we don't get any rain as the yard can't cope with any more.  Its so soggy now, this is what it looked like the other day when it was raining........

Well, enjoy your Sunday
Hugs, Sharm

Brisbane, Townsville, Melbourne ......

Whew!!  It's been so crazy around here since getting back from Bendigo!  I came back from there

with only a week before I had to fly up to Brisbane to help my Dad who lives way out the back of Brisbane and was having a procedure but had no supports or transport to get to and from the little town where he lives at present.  He used to live in Wynnum and really misses it, more so since his wife passed away in December ......so one of the days before I left, we went for a drive down there and enjoyed some fish and chips on the bay!  This is Dad standing at the Wynnum pool - first time I've seen it empty in years!  It was built during the depression years by those on the dole, and fills when the tide comes in.  
 Unfortunately I came down with another bout of sickness which started with the loss of my voice the day before I flew back home!  There seems to have been a lot of things going around this year with our much colder winter!  Luckily I recovered in time to be able to fly out with hubbie to Townsville for our sons 30th Birthday Bash....... a villain fancy dress party!  We arrived Thursday night, in time to watch our eldest grandson Jarryn run in the interschool sports on Friday morning

Followed by watching his soccer match on Saturday just before the party.  Our son Jaron coaches the team, and I'm pleased to say they seemed to be a really great bunch of kids!!  Then it was time to get ready for the party........ Jaron had been growing his hair specifically to dress the part of the Joker ....... I think he did a fantastic job of it too  - Look at this!!

I used the Pirates of the Caribbean for inspiration for my costume and we had lots of fun with everyone there!  It really was a great night!  

 

The entire weekend was so enjoyable, especially seeing our grandies who we hadn't seen in 2 years!

Backyard Cricket - What Else with a family meet up!

A week later and Jaron headed down to Melbourne for a footy weekend -   So while the boys went to the Richmond Match on Saturday, ..........







The boys looked so good all dressed up (in order to be able to enter the Members Section ),we just had to take the opportunity for a photo..... I especially love having Flinders Street Station in the background lol

 


 Stace and I had a girls afternoon shopping and going to the movies, before we met up with the boys again to head  off for dinner.   

Sunday Morning I really wanted to hit the Vic Markets, and wasn't disappointed ....... I picked up this ......... Totally different, one of a kind (for now)........ which I think will end up on my writing desk (once I clear it ...... again!!)

So as you can see, between all of this and work,  there has not been much time for any knitting, crochet, sewing, soap making, blogging ....... or cleaning (those with wood fires would appreciate just how bad that means my floors and everything else is lol).  And that my friends is pretty much August in a Nut Shell!