Sunday, October 31, 2010

A QUIET WEEKEND

Hello my blogland friends, how was your weekend?
We had a quiet one here which is nice now and then.
On Saturday we were up at 6:00am ( an ungodly hour I know on the weekend ) and off to the markets to get our fruit and veg.
Then home to pack them all away.
Before settling down with the Saturday paper I decided to whip up a batch of scones.

The best thing about scones is they don't take long.



Here's the recipe for you if you would like to try it.



Remember not to handle them too much, it makes them tough.

I just cut the whole thing into squares. Can't be bothered with rings.

Then into the oven .....


and just time to clean up the mess and put the kettle on.




Now.... time to settle down and read the Travel Section and dream......


Later we put on this DVD


Very interesting and enjoyable.

Next time we visit the UK we'd like to explore that North Yorkshire coast, it looks so pretty.
After all Captain Cook is an important man to Aussies and he hails from there.

As I said ..dream !

Cheers.

A UNIVERSAL PROBLEM

When I read this post by Mrs Pyjamas about toilet rolls it struck a chord.
It seems the residents of my house and hers exhibit similar behaviours.
There is this inability to replace the used up toilet roll with a replacement.
The empty roll stays on the holder while its replacement is on the floor
or on the vanity,
waiting for SOMEONE ELSE to do the job.

But today I realised that this problem is universal.
It happens in houses all over the world.

I came to this realisation when I saw this photo on a friend from New Zealand's Facebook.


Enough said !!

Cheers.

Friday, October 29, 2010

FAVOURITE THINGS FRIDAY

I'm joining  Mrs Pyjamas today for FTF.
If you'd like to join in please follow the link and tell us about one of your Favourite Things.

These are my favourite things today...


Baker, the Border Collie....


and Dash, the Australian Cattle Dog cross ( better known as the  Blue Heeler).

In about 2002 Sally asked us to mind her dogs for her while she went on a two year working holiday to the UK.
She stayed away for five years !!!


Then she lived at home for the next year before moving to a small inner city flat with absolutely no room for dogs.
Of course by this time the dogs had become OUR dogs.
The pets we hadn't planned on having as we wanted to start to travel overseas a little
and leaving pets for an extended amount of time in kennels is far from ideal and very expensive.

But where ever we are, they are not far away. 

Helping with work in the yard.....

or relaxing ......( NOT supposed to be on the bed !!!)


"watching" TV.




They are very lovable


and give us unconditional love.

(Baker has one blue eye and one brown eye)


So now we wouldn't be without them.
 
Cheers.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

NEW PROJECT TAKING SHAPE

My second quilt is coming along.
Most of the blocks are finished and now comes the hard part of trying to place them in rows.


Here they are all spread out on the spare bed in the guest bedroom.

These are not my usual colours and I 'm not really overjoyed at the resulting blend of colours but these colours are very "in" at the moment.


Wouldn't you know I'm one block short and I've run out of material so it's off to buy some more before  I join up the rows and columns!!

Cheers.

Monday, October 25, 2010

KIDS ! - HOW DO WE SURVIVE THEM ?

I know why our hair goes grey as we get older.
It's caused by our kids !
Just imagine how much money we could save if our hair retained its lustrous , rich colour instead of going grey.
No need for rinses and dyes to keep us looking young.

But no, off they go to all corners of the world....
out of reach when anything goes wrong...
and you're not close by to help.

Across the world to the UK and Europe is a long way away from Australia.
We thought that was bad enough.......
but now Sally's in  Nepal !


Trekking !!!


Like these people !


Mostly out of touch - only satelite internet rarely.


Aiming to reach here -  


Everest Base Camp !...

where just breathing is difficult without having to hike .....
and Altitude Sickness is a constant threat.


So if I'm a bit distracted ......

it's because I'm watching for emails...

pouring over itineraries...

and ticking the days off the calendar!

Cheers.

All photos today from the Internet

PS. If you want to see where she has walked today watch this short video taken by some other young people earlier this year. These people are doing exactly the trek that Sally is so we are able to see what she is doing even though it is not her in the video.

Friday, October 22, 2010

CRAFT AND QUILT FAIR #2

 Get ready for a feast for your eyes.
Yesterday's visit to the Craft and Quilt Fair ended with a visit to the quilt section where quilts were entered in various competitions.
The collection of quilts was magnificent.
Here are a few for you to marvel at.

Made with tiny hexies.

dazzling colours...

complicated New York style.

Then came the appliques and they were amazing!

Australian wild flowers




each flower made up of many pieces of material  - Bottlebrush


then embellished by stitching -  Banksia

Wattle

Waratah

Look at this clever idea -  a holiday memories quilt


It looks like a strip of film with holiday photos from all over the world.

Each photo is hand appliqued and  embellished with hand stitching.




Each of these rocks in the wall is individually hand appliqued.

The next was an  astrology quilt displaying all the signs of the Zodiac.



Virgo ?

Libra

Pisces

Aries?

Scorpio

and finally this was the Overall Champion quilt.

Absolutely stunning.


Completely hand appliqued


and HAND QUILTED !!!


I can only imagine how many years this took to complete.


I am in total awe of the talent that was displayed here today.


Hope you liked them too.
Cheers.