What a difference some rain makes!

 

 

Hi everyone,

Although the drought is not over and we are still on level 5 water restrictions.

We have had rain and everything looks so much greener!

 

However, the green grass, 

makes it so much easier to spot the dead trees.

 

Conifers and pines have not done well.

I'm still doing the following..

1/ turn shower on and get wet

2/turn shower off shampoo hair

3/ turn shower on to rinse hair 

4/ turn shower off again for second shampoo

etc. ect.

 

Below is a time line over the last several months... (some of which I've posted before).

 

Well, with the rain so came the weeds to cover the bare patches. 

There is a succulent issues all over the NSW Tablelands.

Which, I am reliably informed, is natures healer after a drought. 

It will nourish the soil and protect it from soil wash-aways  in heavy rain

and will die in the first frost.

Teddy's only a Tiny Teddy. 

He can't find his precious throw toy!

 

These weeds grow 30cm overnight!

I kid you not..

 

 

Graham bought a ride on mower.

The above pic, I took 20 minutes ago. 

Its taken him all day to mow the lawn.

But, the roses are loving it

and they all survived, although are a bit messy and need a prune.

 

Bonica, Scentimental and a David Austin rose (that I can't remember the name of) in a vase.

 

Next quilt! 'Hakuna Matata'

 

 

 

Hello Dear Readers.

 

Well hasn't this been a great quilting start to the new year?!

 

Two more quilts finished and gifted away!

 

This one is called 'Hakuna Matata' . You know, The song from the Lion King.

 

 

Hi Mum's Dear Readers, it Miss Lizzy here to tell you that an awful lot of Hakuna Matata was listened to on Spotify and sung along to by our Mum. It seemed to be necessary for the production of this quilt. I bet you have that song in your head for the rest of the day now!

 

Really! I leave the room for 5 minutes and the doggie takes over.

 

 

Right, after that doggie interlude time to get back to telling you about this quilt.

 

This one is a gift for my admin officers new baby.

 

 

 

I bought the middle panel fabric a number of years ago, 

The middle is actually a pillow panel so I have 3 more 

Simba panels to do something with.  

 

 An original design with the help of EQ7 program.

As an aside, did you know that my grandmother name is Kimba?

Have you ever heard of the Kimba vs Simba Controversy?

Basically, Disney stole the idea from the Japanese 60's cartoon, they even have similar ears....

Now Sandra, my my magnificent quilter, 

has done herself proud with this one.

 Its AMAZING!

 

The quilt pattern is called 'In the jungle'

I posted this off to the quilters last November, hoping to have it finished before the bub was born in January. He was a surprise as he arrived before Christmas!

The best bit is his name...

 Baby LEO!!!!! 

(I'm proud to say that my inner psychic child is very in tune at the moment)

I'm sending 'Mr Blue Sky' to the quilters next, but will wait 

until the weather is cooler to start the binding.

Then I have a surprise quilt for a friend that has been really challenging. 

(The quilt was challenging, not the friend,.... However, there's a thought there....) 

And, I'm also working on a wonderful quilt, using the 

most glorious aboriginal fabric, for another new bub.

 

This quilt is finally finished! 'Leaps and Bounds'

 

 

 

Hi, everyone and welcome to 2020

I'm sorry I've been a bit slow getting some posts up for the New Year, I've been a bit busy, but I do have some future posts planned including one to celebrate this blogs 10th anniversary this year. I was trying to pick my favorite 10 photos from the last 10 years and so far I have a short list of at least 40 to choose from, so lets see how that works out!

 

Anyway, this post is actually about my latest finished project. 

Its a wedding quilt for Sean and Rose and its called 'Leaps and Bounds' after the Paul Kelly song.

You know the one..

I'm high on he hill looking over the hill to the MCG

And way up on high the clock on the silo says 11 degrees

I remember, I remember,

I go leaps and bounds, I go leaps and bounds

Paul Maurice Kelly and Christopher Langman 1986

The quilt design is called 'Conversation Hearts' and beautifully 

completed by Sandra at Art n Quilting studio.

 

You know, like the sweeties!

I cheated a bit with the date. I dated it 2019, although it didn't have its official last stitch (always a grand moment), until the first week of January 2020.

 

It was so hot, and trying to sew the binding of this big quilt was exhausting.

 

I also seemed to have developed arthritis in my left wrist and thumb so I had to pace myself and only do the binding an hour at a time. I know I'm right handed and that one uses the needle and thread, whereas my left hand grips the edge of the quilt and holds the binding in place. This is a bit of sad news for a quilter, I'm going to have to get a wrist guard or something!

 

 The block is the traditional 'Road to Oklahoma'.

I used lots of country prints, in fact I bought a charm pack, I think it was called 'Feed Sack'.

A charm pack is a collection of about 42 x 5inch squares, all from the same fabric line so they both coordinate the colours and the theme. Easy!

Of course, I then added a dozen or more fabrics from my stash to add a bit of zing.
A touch of Fairy Frost fabric and a couple of novelty prints.

I first blogged about the quilt in March 2018, and put a lot of other stuff aside to finish it. I am still up to my neck in UFO's (unfinished objects), including this quilts baby brother which is a 17x20 inch quilt. It is an exact copy of fabric and block, but the blocks are only 2 inches. 42 x 2inch blocks!

Christmas Part Four- At Home with Miss Lizzy and Teddy

Doggie Christmas greetings to My Mums Dear Readers!

Its me! Your favourite doggie blogger Miss Lizzy here,  

to tell you all about our Christmas day adventures.

 

Firstly, I had a present! 

A squeaky toy from Nana. I broke the time on my previous destruction record.

2.5 seconds is my new benchmark. 

But as mum says it was 2.5 seconds of total doggie joy.

("and excuse me but you also got a very expensive 'Cool Bed' 

and lots of treats that you seem to be enjoying"  replies  Kim)

 We were all on our own this year as everyone else went elsewhere....

I was sort of glad we didn't have to avoid the new bicycle terror! 

(in Victoria, picture below).

The advantage of having no doggie tails that she can not run over them, snigger...

Mum and Graham had a cheese platter, followed by prawns and oysters.

Their dessert was Aussie Mess. 

(Eton Mess:- meringue, cream, yoghurt, with bananas, passionfruit

and a flake on top = deconstructed pavlova). 

They are cruel,

All the people food was just out of our reach.

Teddy wants to know if the ducks that visit our backyard 

are the Orange Duck Pate variety.

Mum says no, because these are the type of ducks you boil 

with a rock and when the rock is soft 

the duck will be ready to eat... ha ha ha.. you are silly Mum

And then on Boxing Day Mum and Graham spent hours 

throwing boxes into the recycling as they cleaned out the pantry!

We had a moth problem, although for months Mum kept referring to it

as 'tiny grey fairies, how cute'. 

She gets a little delusional like this sometimes.

Mum even invented a song, sung to the 12 days of Christmas tune.

On the first day of Christmas my true love helped me

 to evict the moths from the kitchen pantry.

Then it continued with

Two Tins of Cocoa

Three packets of spaghetti

Four bags of out of date SR flour

Five - packets - of - cous-cous

and it could have continued up to the 

Nine bottles of vinegar

("Hey, hold on, that's plain, red wine, apple cider, balsamic, rice wine vinegar, etc 

and I also gave 2 packets of Weet-Bix to the ducks, they'll be 

very happy inedible ducks now" snorts an indignant Kim)

A female Moth Fairy the 'Faie Dubious Intuitu'

Merry Christmas and lets hope everyone 

has a fairy moth free 

and a wetter than average year in 2020! 

From Miss Lizzy and Tiny Teddy.

Until next time..

Love and wet noses 

from Miss Lizzy

 

 

Christmas Part Three - With Work

Lizzy, Jill, Me, Hellen, Irene, Elle, Mary-Anne and Martin

The Clark Centre Christmas get together was this year held at the newly renovated 

art deco Tattersalls Hotel. 

We're closed now until early January. 

We acidently booked the restaraunt rather than the usual outside Garden Bar.

Which was serendipitous as below is our backyard earlier that day. 

Smoke due to bush fires...

It use to look like below. 

2019 is an awful summer already and its only just started.

 For Christmas this year all the staff and friends received a bag

Of Jelly Belly, ice cream flavoured Jelly beans.

Chistmas Part Two - Family BBQ

Above - here is the traditional camera on timer photo, beep beep beep, everyone smile quick!

As EVERYONE is going to be elsewhere this year on Christmas Day we decided to have a Christmas catch up before they all left.

Mel and the kids were a last minute apology because they were sick.

Rose and I share a birthday, which is the week before Christmas. So Mum and Dad usually try to come up that weekend.

Small Children dropping food on the floor, I can't imagine why there 

wasn't more of a mess to sweep up afterwards.

Kimbadale was closely inspected by standing on a chair.

And the wrapping paper mess.

The most successful present was a music box that Mum and Dad gave to Edith.

You know one of those ones that ballerina pops up when it opens and plays music.  

 

Here's Edie  the following day still in ballerina mode.