Fuschia gum and me

We went to Adelaide today and had hair cuts and John thought I was worth photographing, I am not sure that I am but here I am with 'done' hair. Some how I dont think I look as old as that, but obviously I do.
I saw my mother and then we had lunch at McLaren Vale and this lovely fuschia gum had flowers on it, actually the tree istelf looked pretty tatty but the flowers are lovely, a Western Australian it grows well on alkaline soils so doesnt like me.
I think I got taken to lunch because this morning John managed to break two of my collection of owls and I was pretty cross, I mean how can you put a towel away about 4 feet from where he managed to break them on a shelf at about 5 feet high. I think he must have swung it around at great speed. I rather like my owl collection as they come from all sorts of people and I know who most of the people who gave them to me are. I know one that was broken I had bought myself and think one of my daughters gave me the other one.

TAST Drizzle stitch

The scan isnt all that good but I had fun with this one, it looked awkward and not useful but it was relatively easy and fun. The smaller is done using perle 8 and the larger ones using 4 ply wool of various descriptions.
We had another foal this morning but its mother wont let me see what it is, but it is a lovely foal whatever, bet its another colt.
I have been inside for most of the day and not doing house work which rather desperately needs doing but as it it Adelaide tomorrow and again on Thursday I dont know when it will be done.
My little angels were painted today and unfortunately one has a purple face so am now trying to paint over the purple!
I am sewing and doing more sewing but nothing much to show.

Interesting colours

I have been playing around with some foiling techniques that Purple Missus has had on her blog, and this is fusible vilene with three colours of foil adhered to it and then some dark acrylic washed on to take away the white of the vilene. It looks better in the flesh than on the scan.
I am going to play with it tomorrow, she has a very good tutorial on how to do it and how to make a heart from it.
I should have done my drizzle stitch but I am afraid that with such a busy week end I havent yet and today was equally as busy, we sold a gelding and Sarah has just put up a web site for Rivington Stud, the web site is
http://www.rivingtonstud.com
and I hope it comes up, it looks pretty good and her photos of the ponies look fabulous. Now I have to try and get it into the links, wish me luck!

Waterhouse Club Picnic

Today was the Museum's fundraising arm, the Waterhouse Club's Picnic, always an event to go to and wait to see what wonderful things will be found for people to buy and speakers to listen to.
the first is my plastic fruit bat that I bought and who was part of our table's center piece and the second photo is of the roof of the marquee we were in and part of the table decoration, minus my bat. They had cleverly put bat outlines all over the roof.
It was a wet and wild and woolly day and we were late getting up there, mostly because John was trying to reorganise water from one tank to another as we had had rain and were expecting more.
Anyway we arrived and the theme was 'A touch of bat black' and the speaker was the museums authority on bats, he had two live ones with him, a fruit bat who we dont exactly have here,yet, although a few have been seen and no doubt more will arrive as Melbourne has a thriving bat colony in their botanical gardens. the other was one of the tiny ones and they are quite rare but have the most extraordinary male appendiges, no idea why but we had sculptures of them. they were to be auctioned but not the live bats.
So that was my day today, I didnt drink the food was good but I drove home through the wind and the rain. the car said the outside temperature was 8 degrees, its cold.

Happy 95th Birthday

Here is my mother at 95 cutting her birthday cake. My niece Amy is to her left and my niece in law Cathy is on her right.
We had a great day, Mummy managed it very well and was thrilled with all her presents and all the attention.
None of my children could make it but they all sent cards and flowers or something.
A long trip to Adelaide for us and home again and we have to do it all again tomorrow. Ghastly weather at the moment, dust, wind and heat but we are supposed to get rain soon. I hope so.

My 500 post, playing with the embellisher

Perhaps I should put up a champagne glass for my 500th post on this blog, instead I have these bits that I have been playing with on the embellisher.
The one I had done before I had bonded the organza to the felt that had put the gilding on but this time I just ran over the organza with the embellisher and got these wonderful rusched bits. I am not sure what I am going to do with them next, the red one has some gold organza embellished from the back but I just love the second one.
Probably do some fme and burn back. I have to make some covers for some books and although these are too small for that I can cut them up and use them as adornments. I really am having fun with all of this.
At the moment I am also painting little faces and stuff for my Christmas gifts.
Warming up today, hotter tomorrow but John has his millet seed to sow so I hope we get the promised rain.

Thinking of Japan

I have been thinking about Japan today and I went through some of our hundreds of photos, and more may appear on this blog. These were taken on about our second trip I think and are on the Island of Shikoku and around the castle at Takamatsu. We had gone over on the train and wandered around there was a lovely garden around the castle and also a garden centre and as was usual when we were in Japan in October a display of chrysanthemums, absolutely huge ones like these pink ones. I quite like the Bonsai but I really got carried away with the little mountain scenes that are portrayed in the first photo. If you click on the photos you will see them larger.
I loved my trips to Japan and really hope to go there one more time.

Painted fabric

I am aching in my joints today so I opted for a bit of easy stuff, which wasnt really as easy as I thought. I decided that some of the cloth I had dyed with the dylon dyes was not very strong so got them out and cut them up and on the one with hearts on it stamped the hearts on using the pebeo shimmer paints and on the others I wet them and then added drops of dyna flow paint and screwed them up before heat setting them. I dont know why I dont get the colours I want, I think I will have to get out the proper dyes and have a go at that.
Oh and my finished Painted metal washers are in my boots and sketchbook blog which is in the links.
I am also trying to get some stuff done for Christmas but they are surprises so I cant do anything with them yet.
Not sure what I will use this fabric for.
I stupidly did a long walk this morning and have paid for it all day.

Another small cardigan

This little cardigan is finally finished, I have been a bit slower on these and apart from a few pairs of bootees I think I have almost finished the knitting for the moment.
I want to do some other stuff and with Christmas not far off I have to get onto the things I make for that.
We had a lovely rain 13 mm and it is still cool and damp. A bit late for crops but never too late to put water in the tanks.
I have Tabby and the girls coming for dinner tonight so have to be a bit more organised than I normaly would be.
Thank you to every one who told me what the odd little tool I had found was for, it is as I suspected for rug making and is a punch needle tool. You never know, I may make a rug for the dolls house!

What is this? and painted washers

I have these photos in the wrong order, oh well. I have been playing with a new blog look and lost my things that said what I belonged too, I may never get them back, I think I am getting less computer savvy than ever.
Back to the photos, These are the washers that I have been painting, they are not finished yet but I had to find the Utee and stuff and then ran out of day, also it is raining, YES RAINING! so I couldnt get outside to do them.
the other is a photo of something I picked up in a box of odds and ends and have no idea what it is, if any one knows I would love to be told, the bent over bit at the top has a small hole in it, I wondered if it was for hooked rugs but doesnt have a hook, the silver bit at the bottom comes off and you cant see the metal bar that runs down the wooden handle, it has holes in it. Says made in england on the metal bar.

TAST 42

This is twisted satin stitch and anything I can put a bead on I love and I really liked this stitch, after last week's disaster it was lovely to have something I could play with.
John and I left relatively early this morning to go to McLaren Vale for their cheese fest, we bought some lovely cheeses and had a plate of oysters and a glass of wine followed by a very naughty lemon curd tart and coffee.
As it was so hot we were there just as it opened and left at about 12, an early lunch.
Came home to find another mare had foaled, with guess what, another colt. Still at lest we are not tempted to keep colts.
A really horrid day today, windy and very hot, unbelievable for October and the promise of a bit of rain, if we happen to be in the right spot.
I am still painting metal washers with glass/metal paint, tomorrow I will get out the utee and see what happens.

Flower power

I promised a photo of my clematis and here it is, I was so pleased with it and the number of flowers on it this year, a bit hidden but those who know have seen it.
I have had a day of playing today, I finally got some new transfer paints and had another go at using them and loved the idea that Digital Gran had of using paper flowers to decorate on fibre and stitch. I only did a bit as this was an experiment but it is fun.
I also had a go at sun prints but I think my fabric needs more on it, and the paints I used didnt come out very dark so I have very faint lizard shapes from some plastic lizards I have.
It is really hot here again today, you would think it was mid summer and not October. I had hoses on early but too hot now to use them.
I am about to go and paint some washers John bought me this morning with the pebeo vitreus(?) paints as I saw in a Cloth Paper and scissors of a few months ago.

To go on cards

This is the fabric that I wrote about the other day, taken more or less from Purple Missus blog of layers done on the embellisher, which I did and then added some free motion and some flower stitched rings. I also embellished on some gold cord.
Cut it all up into ATC sized pieces, cut out using a punch some flower shapes from some fabric paper and stitched them on with some beads and a few little sequins.
I will end up using them on cards.
I was really pleased at the way the fabric paper flowers came out.
I do need to edge them on the machine. I had thought of hand sewing but it is so rough with all the organza and stuff i think it will be better done on the machine.
Fun to do.
Cooler today, but no rain, I have also found I have some clematis flowering in my plum tree, another thing I should not grow but this one has been with me for a couple of years now, I took its photo this morning so will put it up a bit later.

In my garden

I thought I should take a few photos of the garden while I still have one. The top one is the Rhododendron that Paddy gave me a few years ago and is still in a pot but its roots are through to the ground, I am terrified I will lose it. the next is a gorgeous hanging pot of pansies and the third is of the guelder rose and climbing peace on the far side of the walled garden.
Today it is blowing a gale, dry and hot winds are just sucking all the moisture out of the soil, very depressing, so I am cleaning the house, not sure why except it is the only day I have to do it, but the dust will be back with a vengeance and there is no rain in sight.

At Glenelg on Monday

These are some of the photos I took on Monday in my wandering around, there are more of houses that took my fancy to come.
These are the beach and jetty, the marina where I had lunch and the memorial to the pioneers of this state who made their first landing here.
Today I have tidied up for most of the day, watered the garden, the pots that were looking very miserable after a couple of hot days and wind.
At least I can water at the moment but I am being very careful about what gets done.
I have also played with a bit of fabric that I am turning into ATC size bits to go on cards, I need a few things to have on hand and I also need to think about Christmas presents, I have an idea but needed to tidy up my work space before I can begin.
Sharon b in her minute ago blog suggested we had a de stash challenge next year and weighed our stuff. I had to laugh as I think I would need a truck and a weigh bridge. I like the idea of the challenge though to use up stuff and not buy any more. I have been trying to do that for ages but there always seems to be something I would like that I dont have!

TAST41

These chicken scratches are supposed to be Lace Border Stitch, I may have got one or two right but I had awful trouble with this stitch, I kept loosing the scroll stitch when I went up and over, or some such thing. Any way it is up but I am not at all happy with it.
blogger wouldnt let me put up photos either so it as not been a good day.
We were in Adelaide yesterday and today, saw my mother and saw the dentist today and ache all over.
Yesterday I walked for about 4 hours, will put some photos up tomorrow.

Making stamps

I have been making some stamps cut from fun foam and stuck to mat board and today I did some more, I needed some bird stamps and here is one, there is another on my other blog.
Out to lunch, Adelaide tomorrow until tuesday some time, busy busy.

Embellishing fabric

Purple Missus had a bit on her blog about using velvet and organza on the embellishing machine so i thought I would have a try, green velvet, no idea what sort, but not panne, painted vliesofix, snippets of threads and organza with organza on top, oh and some foiling in the middle, embellished on top and then added strips of different coloured organza embellished from the back. It really didnt look like much so I distressed it a bit with the heat gun, now for some more thread play on top, I am thinking of using the flower stitch foot, I will see.
the foal born yesterday appears to have a growth on its neck, you always find these things over week ends, but I think it is not growing so we will see what the vets say on Monday, when of course I will be in Adelaide.
Poor Sarah will have the job I suppose, she wont be pleased.

the cot quilt

Well it is finally finished and I dont want any criticism from any of the quilters out there. This is as good as my quilting gets!
I had a busy day, another foal this morning, a trip into Victor for the weeks shopping, a friend out for the afternoon, a phone call from Robin in McKay (playways) and from Alison in Canberra( 5 kms from home) who is waiting for her sister to have a baby and then we can meet. I am looking foreward to it.
My sister rang who is just back from the most incredible trip half way around the world in a small plane, she loved it but didnt want to come home.
Then John walked in from a Doctors appointment with a new digital lcd tv which took ages to set up and now we dont know what we are doing and the screen although small (or so he assures me) looks huge.
Feel confused, so am I.

Sewing machine play

I have been re reading some of Maggie Grey and Val Campbell -Harding's books and having a look at the instructions in my machine book and found some interesting things I can do.
I know this isnt very interesting but I had no idea i could lengthen or shorten built in patterns, until I found the instructions in one, distort to stitch I think, so I have been playing with that.
I have also almost finished the machine quilting on the cot quilt just the final edge to go, and I think I may hand stitch that.
We had 2 mm of rain last night, not enough for anything really but more supposed to come tonight I think, hope.

Birthday flowers

When I was given these for my Birthday they were all buds and now they are almost all out in the lovely vase that I was given as well.
A short post today as I am aching after my trip to Adelaide but my mother was looking good and sparking well today which was really positive.
I have walked around the mares this evening, I dont think any one is looking very imminent.
John is off for a meeting so I am trying to think of something nice for dinner (I cant!)

Celina and the Bluff

The computer did not like me yesterday, problems from my server rather than blogger this time I think. Any way yesterday I had my grand daughter Celina staying with me and we walked along the bike way from the mouth of the Inman to the Yilki Store. Had an ice cream and walked back with a few stops on the way. this is her on the playground in Kent reserve and the second one is of the Bluff from one of the seats we sat on.
We had a lovely day and I really havent had her for so long it was a delight to have her.
Another colt foal born early this morning and I am heading up to Adelaide to see my mother. I hope my knee holds up, it didnt much like the 5 km walk yesterday.

TAST 40

I thought I would try for a bit more movement in my sample of linked double chain stitch . I really liked this but I dont know how well the double bit shows up.
I had a boring day doing the cleaning of this house, if I hadnt I think we would have gone under all the cat hair, Oscar is shedding.
John went fishing so all the things I was going to do I didnt. He came home tired too but he had caught some fish and at least he got out.
I finally sat down for a rest and to do this stitch at about 5 pm.

The garden and new foal

These photos were taken this morning, I dived in to get the camera and then the sun went so not as good as I had hoped. The geraniums are looking terrific at the moment and I love the contrast with the grey leafed succulent, actually I am really fond of that succulent as it has nice pink flowers and doesnt seem to be affected by frost.
We are still thinking of a name for the new foal, I rather like Errand Boy but I guess the girls wont.
Very tired and achy today, had an awful night with an aching hip, and it has been cold and a little bit damp so perhaps that is the problem. Hardly any rain, just enough to tantalise and not enough to measure.
I have managed to get all 14 hearts onto the quilt and it is all pinned, now for the scary part, trying to quilt it without making a mess.
I have resorted to the op shops for books as they are so expensive to buy, only problem is the choice is a bit limited. More lust than anything I think.

Fractured heart

Ok the Birthday is over and it was a lovely one. thank you so much to all of you who sent best wishes and to my dear friend Virginia in Germany for the lovely e card, I love those cards, and a hilarious one from Darlene in America.
I am still making a cot quilt and I am no quilter, for the new grand baby so I had a practice with the same material but with a fractured heart from the ones I was playing around with in black paper and this is the result, it is very small and I have left the back to see if I think I should bind it or just run around with a zig zag stitch. I am a bit inclined towards the zig zag.
I loved this material and I have used it in the quilt for the hearts, but they are not fractured, I wouldnt inflict that on a baby.
Shopping this morning and then as John was at a mini conference type thing at Whalers went along there and had a coffee overlooking the sea in the sun. Lovely. Sometimes life is good, but oh dear I do wish it would rain and rain and rain. Then life would be extra good.

Happy Birthday to me!!

Well I was born 68 years ago on this day, but I dont know at what time. Scary isnt it to think it was that long ago and the birthdays seem to come around quicker and quicker.
These photos were taken at Horseshoe Bay at Pt Elliott just as we were going in to the Flying fish for lunch and this is the view we had with additions of children and parents on the beach. We had a magnificent sea food lunch, ate too much, drank too much and I am about to collapse on the bed for a mid afternoon sleep.
I have tried to get these photos in order but I am not sure how well I did as one disappeared while I was loading them.
A new foal born this morning, another wretched colt but at least he is safe and well.
A lovely day that began with phone calls from friends and children and a gorgeous e card from my friend Virginia in Germany. I am so lucky.

Morning walk

Oh dear, I thought I had done this yesterday, oh well, this was Monday mornings walk (it was a long week end), two views of the same group fishing near the Inman River mouth. I was swearing about the camera as the new digital was hopeless again as I cant see a thing through the LED on the back I do hope that the camera companies come to their senses and put view finders back on them. They are fine for anything but bright out door sunlight.
Any way we had a nice walk after I had had an awful night and early morning with John's pasta repeating on me and almost hadnt walked but I am so glad I did as it was lovely.
Oh dear I lost half this post so I will tell you about today which was a funeral for a friends 97 year old father over at Pt Elliott, a nice funeral and a lovely little church. But I had a great morning as the local craft store had a 50% off sale, Rivers had an opening sale and the op shop next to the church was open and for about $10 I got a lovely old teapot, a scarf, some lace, two buckles, a book to alter if i feel like it and some hook and eyes on their original old cardboard. I was so pleased with myself.