Pages

Saturday 16 July 2011

One Swap Over...Another Begins...

The second Mug Rug Swap Adventure has come to an end.

Here's what the postman delivered to brighten up my day:
Isn't that just the cutest birdie?
And look...dress form fabric and some swirly fabric goodness...yummo...
A HUGE thank you to Carla of  www.halfdozendaily.wordpress.com
you've made me a delightful mugrug...I love it...thank you...

**************************
I've joined in the next Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap...signups close Wednesday 27 July. Go here for information and here to sign up.
The theme for this swap is bloom - and I have spent the last few hours looking for blooming great ideas!
It's a bit addictive...so you can't say I haven't warned you.

thanks for taking a peek over the fence...

Friday 15 July 2011

For The First Time in 20 yrs...

...the ski fields at Thredbo were closed...The weather was atrocious...and, of course, it had to happen when I was there!

This is a tale of the weather going downhill fast!
(sorry about the dreadful pun, my head is still frozen!)

Day 1: Just glorious.
Blue skies...
 We arrived the day after there had been snow falls for the previous 3 or so days...
 Snow covered picnic tables...
 Looking out over Friday Flat...


Day 2: Started out sunny, but got a little windier as the afternoon wore on...those clouds are actually the wind whipping up the soft surface snow...
 Later in the afternoon...see how much windier it is up the top...
Still there were plenty of sun, smiles, lovely top cover and picturesque snow covered trees...
 ...and loads of soft, knee-deep snow for chucking at each other at the top of Merrits...


Day 3: We arrived at the Thredbo at 8.45am...to blizzard conditions and everything was "on hold". The quad chair at Friday Flat was eventually opened and the Merrits chair lift as well. The Skiers had their 2 hr lesson (although much to Miss Bee's delight (below), their instructor gave her group "an early mark"!! (The white streaks in the photo is snow blowing sideways!!!)
Long queues for the quad chair...huge wind gusts...horizontal snow flying at you...feels just like having your face scraped with sandpaper...
...I'm all for getting out of here!!

And we did. We left at 12.30pm instead of our planned 3pm.
Just as well.
We later heard that the ski fields had been closed and extra buses were being called in to help move people off the mountain. 2 buses got snowed in at a nearby ski field and at Perisher (across the valley), almost 100 cars were damaged and windows broken,  when the wind whipped up gravel in the car park.

And what crafting did I get done, you ask?: one very sad, floppy, embarrasing pom-pom for Meet me at Mikes pom pom make-a-thon.
I will have to get my pom-pom technique right if I'm going to get any done by the August deadline!


thanks for taking a peek over the fence...

Wednesday 13 July 2011

The Last Installment...

I'm just a little tired today *yawn*.
A few weeks ago I agreed to go to see Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 with two of my girls...the midnight screening...and we had to see Part 1 immediately before. So I got home at 3 AM (yes you read right!) *yawn*. I spent 7hrs at the movies - I must be nuts!

One the way there the girls were talking about the "end of an era" for them. My youngest looks at the publication dates and marvels that the earlier books were printed before she was born! They have grown up reading the books and eagerly awaited the next installment of both the movies and the books.
They have enjoyed reading so much because of the great stories and characters. We've had fun working out the historical, literary and mythological references that have been cleverly peppered through the books.

When the first book came into our house and I whisked it away to read, when Ms Pi had gone to bed.
As each little quilary got older, I would read them a few pages in the evening, until they were old enough to read the books themselves.

It makes me smile. My childhood memories are of the the Narnia books that my father read to me. Of voraciously reading as many  Enid Blyton books as I could get my hands on.

I like knowing that they will have their own shared memories of this series as they get older, and will pass this on to their own children....

thanks for taking a peek over the fence...*yawn*

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Want to be a quilter...?



...do you?
...need a sewing machine?
...some tools?
...a start to your fabric stash?
Stash Manicure
See that button over there on the right? Well StashManicure is gearing up for a HUGE giveaway in August and you could get yourself some lovely prizes.
There are a few rules  - like you have to be NEW to quilting
or in the words of Madame Samm
"What constitutes someone as a WANTOBE QUILTER..?

They do not have a machine, tools, notions, stash as in fabric...
They may have made a quilt with a MOM, sister, friend, niece, aunt, grandma,
but they DO NOT HAVE THEIR OWN TOOLS!"
Send me off and email with your details and I will enter you...
...that's all I know...but take a look over at StashManicure and you'll know that this is legit...


thanks for taking a peek over the fence...

Wednesday 6 July 2011

The difficulties of going away for a weekend…

Well it's that time of year when we deliberately chooses to freeze ourselves, when all instincts are urging me to rug up and keep as warm as possible.
Yes – it’s time for the Ski Trip. We are so organised that we have a spreadsheet that lists what each family member should pack, as well extra items like games, phone chargers, cameras etc
I have pulled out every warm item of clothing I own and still wonder if it is enough.

On everyone else’s list there is ski goggles, boots, ski socks, gloves, inner gloves etc. I don’t worry about those - I don’t ski, I like the use of my arms and legs too much.
What I end up wondering is “is it easier to knit, crochet or embroider with bulky gloves on?”, and “how long could I do any of the aforementioned crafts, without gloves, before I could be classed as having frostbite?”. Oh, the difficulties of going away for the weekend.

On a brighter note…lookee what arrived the other day:
Yippee, the new plastic insert for the sewing table that I'd ordered at the Sydney show...isn't it excellent?
Such a lovely flat, level sewing surface!
Just recently, I was in a mug rug swap and I was just a little bit late mailing it off, so I included a bribe surprise of two fat quarters of the latest Denyse Schmidt from my local Spotlight. Hope they sweeten the deal a bit!
Just another gratuitous shot of the sewing table!

Finally, I have been working on the sadly neglected Paisley quilt. Rows and rows of chain sewing. It's amazing how fast I can sew when the table top is level!
(Oh look, there is another picture of the sewing table insert!)
Well, I suppose that I should go and pack, wish me luck!

thanks for taking a peek over the fence...

Tuesday 5 July 2011

@#$$%%^%^ Blogger

anger,angry,cartoons,creatures,emotions,fantasy,frustrations,mad,metaphors


That feels better - I needed to get that out!
Are you having issues with blogger?
I am...
It seems that people can't comment on my blog.
So I did a little bit of research...

I often head off to blog posts through Google reader. That takes me straight to the individual post on each blog, where I find a link that says  post a comment...or a box to write in...which makes it really easy to post a comment!!!!


However, I peeked around a few blogs and I couldn't find the words "post a comment" at the end of any of their posts.
On most blogs, at the end of the post,  there is a line that says:
...x number of commenters/lovelies/chatters/peekers said...
In order to see the comments or to actually write a comment, I have to click on that line/link and get taken to a comment box, or maybe a separate page, where I can comment to my hearts content!
How confusing is that? 

  • Go to the blog and you have to work out how to comment, 
  • or go to the individual post and it's easy as pie...

I'm only moaning because this is the first time I have noticed that peculiarity. I think it is something to do with all the "improvements" that are being introduced. Plus I've been feeling a bit "nelly-no friends" *sob* *sob*

So please Blogger - get your act together.
Just standardise the way to comment on blog posts - whether they are viewed on the whole blog or as a separate post...
....or I might just jump ship (can you hear them trembling in their boots at that threat? No, me neither)...

thanks for taking a peek over the fence...
I hope you can find out how to leave a comment!

Monday 4 July 2011

Good Mail...Good Friends...

A good mail day...

The cute little Penguin pattern that I'd ordered arrived...with some unexpected extras!!!
Clare from Clares Craftroom had a "guess my new pattern" post on her blog ages ago...who'd a thunk a crazy guess of a penguin would be right? Thanks Clare for the lovely surprise J

I had a great visit from one of my lifelong friends, Margaret. We usually get to the craft show together, but this year we couldn't co-ordinate our "timetables".
On this visit she kindly helped me with my paisley addiction...
 my magazine addiction...
 and my fabric addiction...
ahh that's what friends are for!!!!!


thanks for taking a peek over the fence...

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails