Weekend Wonders

Dad and Scruffy on the new seat

A while back Pete and I found a couple more old style wheels, and after some discussion it was decided they would become a new garden seat.  I'm so thankful that Pete is handy like this.  While the seat was finished a couple of weeks ago, being on wheels it wasn't safe to sit on until he was able to stabilize it .... which also meant we wheeled it around the yard a bit finding "just the right spot".  The right spot seems to be in front of the water tank with its grapevine.  Dad and Scruffy were keen to try it out.  I can see myself grabbing a cushion and laying along it while reading a book in the Autumn sunshine!
I also wanted to show you this......  Sheryl from Sewing after Seven sent me this gorgeous

embroidered hexie together with a craft magazine from Spain!  No, I don't speak the language, but I'm loving looking through it at the pics, and it has lots of projects that you can work out what to do from the photos.  I'm sure if I get stuck I can just take a photo and ask Sheryl for a translation lol   later this week you will get to see how the hexies are working up.





It seems to have taken ages to catch up on the 


Mail Box at the Finley John Deere Shop

mowing.  The grass grew so much during the time we were away I was beginning to wonder if we might end up making hay!  Of course it might not have gotten quite so long if the battery didn't always need jump starting, which is quite a process on your own with a ride on.  Finally on Saturday while we were out we lashed out on a new battery for the ride on ... Hooray!  I had to stop and take a photo of their mail box at the front of the shop! 



The 3 chicks all have feathered feet

The yard always looks so nice after a hair cut doesn't it?  The chooks seem to love it too, and they
were let out while I got around to doing some inside renovations on their pen.  Its only a small shed, which was already here when we bought the house (minus a proper roof, or shades, or door ).









  I decided to use a couple of pellets to lift the nesting boxes off the ground, and also added a couple of "new" nesting boxes since lately nobody seems to be wanting to lay eggs in their house!  Well, here it is Monday morning already and I'm off to work shortly - have a great day everyone!

Busy Bee ..........

I seem to be buzzing around as busy as a bee of late.  I wonder if it's because Autumn is here
(although we are still having summer like weather) and I'm just trying to get things "in hand" before Winter descends ?  Something else I've noticed is that I still don't have an actual "name" for my little cabin where all my craftwork is stored, other than "the cabin".  While I do have a nice stash of fabrics and a couple of sewing machines in there, I also have a wonderful large - ish stash of yarn, a spinning wheel, wool winding gear, and then of course the soap making stuff and beeswax is also stored in here (ok, so I still have a drawer and a couple of small tubs and a basket or two of bits inside as well - but we aren't talking about those just now lol).  

 Although I love chooks and often get referred to as the chook lady when it comes to asking about chook related things, we already have a real chook house up the back .......










I was musing over "Sheep Shack" for a day or two when I noticed all the bees busy on the garlic

chives that are in flower and just outside "the cabin" ......... it occurred to me that I'm just as busy as they particularly when it comes to all my craft and the cabin is overflowing with crafting bits and bobs (honey) ......... perhaps calling it "The Beehive" might be a better name.   The more I think about it, the more I'm loving it ........ and as you can see it's slowly being surrounded by pot plants and flowers.  The back of it is where I'm planning to make a kitchen garden (since our big vegie patch was pulled out by DH a couple of years ago due to gum trees having grown over it).  The window still needs to be painted (and not that dark colour somebody started doing it in lol).

  So.......... what do you think??

Bye Bye Annual Leave ....

Tuesday this week I finally had to head back to work (the paid type of work that is), and I have to tell you it was tough! It's been nice being able to take some time to get back to some of my embroidery.   The 3 weeks  "annual leave" I took has been a pretty busy time, even with that little holiday away in the midst of it all.   Before I get started on all of that I want to say Thankyou  - a couple more "signature hexies" have arrived........... well, almost hexies, lol the lovely embroidery has been done and I'm more than happy to sew them into the hexie!  Thankyou to Lynda from By the River , Jo at ButterZ  and Ruth at Green Twiggy 

 

  The start of the leave gave us a few days to begin to get things done around the yard and home, and 2 days post arriving home from our holidays I had to fly out to Brisbane (yes, it was all previously organised).  The plan was to fly up  on the Sunday to help Dad who had the removalist booked for the next day (well, admittedly I had done the booking so everything would be streamlined ...... and it was thankfully).  Dad had decided he didn't want to be up there on his own anymore, so is buying a little unit down closer to us.  I helped him with the last of the packing, cleaning out his retirement village unit and then we drove his car back down here.  We had a pretty good trip all up (I'm sure we had somebody watching over us, as we didn't realize till the end of the first day when we pulled into Narrabri that the fuel gauge was faulty!  We made it to the town with around 3 litres left in the tank and gauge showing half full).  We made it the rest of the way on the 2nd day, even with a detour due to an accident on the highway.  Dad will stay with us for a few weeks until settlement on his new unit, which also gives time to sort out all the bits and pieces involved with an interstate move, and some medical bits and pieces.  He seems to be very pleased with the decision he has made.

Once home again I was able to get stuck into the garden, and also have a good look at our 3 new chicks!  You may remember the 2 chicks we purchased at the market a few months ago ..... that grew into roosters.  When the first one started his crowing - the stripey one who grew up quite lovely ...... I noticed he had a passion for Scarlet the white Silky hen and constantly demonstrated his love for her!  I managed to get away with keeping him for about 2 wks before I had 2 crowing roosters that I knew would create bad neighbour issues - lots of suburban type blocks around here with city attitudes (Roosters crowing - No!  Boat, Motorbike etc noice - no prob!)  Anyhow, both the silkie and Henrietta went broody a couple of days after the roosters went to the freezer - I had been keeping the eggs from the Silkie to "try" ....... 3 wks later and Henrietta (red hen) had 1 chick and Scarlet (white silky) hatched out 2 chicks ...... they all stick close together and the chicks seem to be almost identical with the yellow  bodies and stripey wings.  Sure hoping they grow into hens ....
In the kitchen I managed to get the plums and tomatoes out of the freezer to get some jam and relish made up.  The tomatoes are still producing, but are almost finished.  I should get another nice big batch of relish from them.   We also got 11 Jap pumpkins from the vine that started with some pumpkin seeds Dad was drying out on his last visit here ...... they blew into the garden and we left them to see what would happen!   Hope you have an amazing day!  Hugs Sharm

31 Years

On 23rd Feb Pete and I celebrated our 31st anniversary!  We try to ensure some time away around this time of year - our "time out" so to speak.  This year we did it a little different by organising a week with another couple (the couple we met last year!).  Since Pete was keen to get going, we left a couple of days early and headed to Cowra where we stayed for the first 3 nights ....... In Cowra hubbie dropped me at the patchwork shop while he went to check out the fishing shops ...... turns out I got the better deal since he got "lost" in a little jewellers shop and I ended up with a lovely ring!

Driving around the town we went to the look out and then down to the remains of the POW camp from wartime.....

Talking to locals we were told of an old fellow who has a collection (around 50) old, and some rare cars in a township not too far away .. Canowindra....... so we headed out there for a drive and to see if we could find the old timer "sitting outside his shop".  He doesn't advertise his car collection and so while Pete stood chatting I went to explore the old township.  I figured he had a better chance of getting to see the cars if it was just him there - unfortunately his phones camera wasn't working:(
Meantime I wandered around finding a wonderful 2nd hand bookshop that has a dog that comes to greet you as you walk in the door lol     I was super happy to find one of the Diana Gabaldon books from the Outlander series I've been trying to find.
Australian Patchwork and Craft enthusiasts might be interested to know that I also stumbled upon  yet another little patchwork shop called "The Plague and I" owned by Debbie Guihot.  Debbie is

known for many of her wonderful quilt designs over the years.  She was just so lovely and I stood and chatted with the her for ages before finally coming away with a couple of fat quarters and my name on a list for a design she is in the process of putting onto paper (The Snowman Quilt).  She also allowed me to take a photo of one of her fabulous quilts she designed herself which gave her a placing in one of the APC challenges. (this type of work is her personal downtime, so she doesn't have a pattern written up for it).  The wonderful Blue Bee Quilt that is featured on her facebook page, is a delight, and Debbie was amazed as she began to explain how blue bees do exist, that we actually have those Aussie Bees come to our garden on occasion.  I had thought I had a photo on my ipad to show her, but you never can find the one you want at the right time lol  Thanks Debbie for such a lovely time visiting your shop!

With Cowra being so close to Bathurst, we took one day to head there for a bit of a look. 

As most Aussies will know, its the home of the Bathurst 1000 Car Racing.  Mt Panorama is a public road, so you are allowed to drive around the circuit (at 60 kph with speeding cameras placed all the way around the circuit lol).  Even at just that speed, Pete still had a great time driving it and we got to appreciate just how tight some of those curves are for the race car drivers!

On the way back to Cowra we passed through a little town that was having their annual Country Show ............


Love the old tractors - 3mph!!

An Unusual Gladioli

Then it was time to head to Wyangalar  Dam with our friends ..... I had planned to do some 

Wet hat and crazy photo as usual!

blogging from the Dam, but found we had No phone or internet reception at all!!  Hence my blogging fell to having to wait till we got home.   Lots of fishing, ...... Our friends also had their fishing boat, so lots more time in the boat for me this holiday (kind of good, but I did miss having my quiet morning times of sitting knitting and reading - some knitting occurred of an evening while we were all sitting chatting), and I did get to use my kayak one day.  Unfortunately the cabins were located far from the water on a big steep hill which was not going to make pulling the kayak to and from the water an easy thing!

heading up the trail

looking out over the dam from the top

  Since I didn't get as much walking in as usual (I often go for walks during the time Pete is out doing his early morning fishing trips), I did get to take one of the short bush walking trails one morning -  which gave some fantastic views!

Looking out over the Village near the dam wall

And from the water looking back to the "hill" I climbed on the bush walk.

  Just 2 more photos to show you the Dam wall  before I sign off from our holiday post!

   

Weekend Crafting

On the 3rd Friday of each month, Wendy from Sugarlane Designs hosts FNSI (Friday Night Sew In).  I'm really trying this year to get myself back into a more simplified home life, and for me that includes being able to work on homemade items for us, our family and our home.  With that in mind, I'm trying to take advantage of the various blog links that might just help me to keep on top of my list of items.   I have a couple of knitted items that I am determined need to get completed - and I'm aiming for the end of February ...... The Stonehaven Sweater for hubbie, which I really would like him to be able to use come autumn has been one of those projects that just seems to drag along.  I'm a few rows short of completing one of the sleeves, which will just leave the other sleeve and the collar to have it finished.  I'm so vary thankful its one of those patterns that knits up with no sewing involved, just the yarn ends needing to be woven in.

Georgetown at the top & hexies in front

I'm also aiming to get the Georgetown Scarf finished ready for when my Dad moves down here in early March.  Coming from a warmer climate, he will need a couple of scarves for the colder months.

I've managed to cut out some fabric ready to make up a few hexies for my table cloth. The plan is to get to these in the next couple of days, and to also get a few more cut out ready for sewing up into hexies.  I'm really thankful to those who have said they will be happy to make a signature hexie for this project.  If you want to know more about it check out this post. 



Atlas in the front on the slide

This weekend we also got to celebrate a birthday ....... we have a couple of wonderful "(new/step)  grandchildren (our eldest son and his partner) who were sooooo excited to see hubbie and I arrive at the splash park for the 7th birthday party! 





Well, I'm off to get a bit more of the knitting done.  DH and I have just started a couple of weeks of holidays - a few things to get done around the home over the next couple of days and then we will head off for a bit of time away.........  take care

PJ (son) & Pete (DH) watching the kids at the splash park birthday party.

Swap Meet

Swap Meets used to be all about old cars and car parts and tools ...... and they still are to a degree, which is why DH loves to head to them and takes me along with him ........ now they also have lots of old things - everything you could imagine and more!  Also ....... the Fabric Van started to show up a few years ago ....... and as you might imagine, the wives are all very, very happy to accompany hubbie to the swap meet ........  This year I only bought a couple of fabrics as I'm really, really trying to use up some of the stash that has been there for such a long time!!  I really need to get into that stash and work out what's happening with all those smaller bits!  I somehow see lots of hexie projects ... or maybe some applique ??? 

So what else did we get from the swap meet?  The first find was this preloved little pot belly firetool holder.  I thought it was going to be much lighter till I went to pick it up and discovered its cast iron, so it won't be falling over and will look very cute next to the fire this year.  

 The next find was this meat grinder.  I do have a bigger one, but it's very rusty and although I've tried several times to oil it over and remove the rust so it can be used, it just does not give clean minced meat.  This one was still in its

original box would you believe, with the stickers on it.  With the ridiculous price of mince at the supermarket, I'm keen to give this baby a run........
Moving right along with the kitchen theme and ancient gadgets this glorious little wonder cried out to me.  I didn't think I would really be able to get it since I'd kind of reached my spending limit, but hubbie did a wonderful deal and while I was busy looking at other bits he managed to get this and surprise me ........ it's a very old coffee grinder ......and as you can see, he has even managed to get it screwed up on my kitchen wall.   What a bonus that it's in the cream and green which is a bit of a theme in my kitchen (see the old salt holder - it was purchased at an antique store in Tassie on our 20th anniversary - almost 11 yrs ago).  I also am lucky enough to have a whole set of cream and green canisters that we purchased from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland when we were on our 26th or 27th anniversary).  On the 23rd of this month we will have our 31st anniversary - so I guess this coffee grinder will be the item :)
Naturally with all those old tools and such, it was only natural that the garden would not be left out ........ yep, picked up this little old plough!   All in all, I'd say we had a fun morning.  We also managed to pick up an early birthday gift for eldest son (new power tool, which he was very happy with) and an old fashioned hand flour sifter for his partner (and newest member to our family).  She had seen one just last week for a hefty price, so was pretty excited to be presented with this today!

Hexie Power Friendship

You may remember that just prior to Christmas I mentioned I was about to start on a table cover for my craft room.  I decided that I wanted to have my blog name feature in the midst of it as a celebration of sorts since my 6th Blog Anniversary was on the 5th of Feb and we will have been in this house 6 yrs on the 26th March.  But as we all know, blogging is also about friendships - old and new.  So I thought it would be rather awesome to have some of friends (blogging and non blogging ) feature on that cloth with a hexie from them that becomes the centre of each hexie flower I make to add to the cloth.  So far I've had 2 lovely ladies send me a hexie - This one arrived on Friday from Anthea of Hibiscus Stitches.  I can't wait to have it surrounded by petals.  Anthea also hosts an EPP (English paper piecing) linky on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month ...... I seem to have missed finding the linky for this fortnight, but hopefully will be there with the others the following one.  I work every Tuesday, so I'm usually either too early, or a bit late to the party ........ one day I'll make it lol

Latest friendship hexie from Anthea of Hibiscus Stitches

Hopefully there will be some other friends who want to help to make my Hexie Flower Table Cover - I understand it's a big ask with no "prize" attached, but that's kind of the thing - you see, I want it to represent friendships that are not based on getting something or winning something.  If anyone is interested in making up a hexie - here are the details:  The finished hexie needs to be 2.5inches along the finished edges.  Embroider your name, your blog (if you have one), and the town, state (if in Aust) or the country  if your are outside Australia .  Since the hexies are the centre of each flower, I'd love if you could use either a white, cream, calico, pale lemon or pale yellow fabric ....... please!  This way they will all work together rather nicely. I'm Looking forward to putting these friendship flowers together ....... leave me a comment or send me a private email (sharmshere@yahoo.com) or send me a message on Facebook if you are interested .  Before I go, I thought you might like to see a bit of progress on "Georgetown".  I've added a 2nd ball of 12 ply Cleckheaton Artistry, although it's a different lot of shading, but I think it will work, especially once it gets the border colour on both sides of it.  I was originally thinking of using Grey as the border, but now I'm tending to lean towards a blue tone.  This will be for my Dad who is moving down here next month and will need a warm scarf for the winter.  Any thoughts on border colour??  I'm thinking a soft grey which I have in my stash might just work up nicely....      Sure hope to hear some of you are keen to make a friendship Hexie ......... Have a great day!