I’ve had the Photoshop elements disc sitting under my desk for months now & tonight I finally got around to installing it so I can play with my photos.
I’m no professional… but hey this photo was taken on a moving boat – Gotta take some credit for clarity - right?
right?
I don’t know if it’s the feel of spring just around the corner, or it it’s the fact I’ve not managed to kill any of my new plants… either way, I’m really enjoying this gardening gig! Today is all about the fruit trees! When we moved in we planted 8 fruit trees and an olive tree. 7 out of the 8 survived and seven years later we are still waiting for our olive plant to bear fruit… :(
We have a lemon, orange, Mango, Avocado, mulberry, grapefruit and Lime tree. The lemon tree is always covered in fruit. The others a little more hit and miss. Right now everyone of them is flowering and I see the bees are busy pollinating those flowers!
~ go bees ~ 
~ the grapefruit tree & a lone fruit ~ 
~ yummy mulberries… this tree is covered in them, guess who’ll be baking a mulberry pie this summer??? Wonder if there is a recipe for mulberry pie? 
~ standing Guard…en gnome ~ 
This little feller was only $2 at Woolworths the other day, he came home with us to stand guard!
A wet, cold & miserable week has passed me by and between the depressing weather & stress filled days at work, only to come home to a burnt dinner and try to deal with an inconsolable crying toddler (who incidentally this week, thinks “crying” will get her own way… think again my little sweet pea – mumma’s onto you already ;) it’s been a tough one.
Crafty endeavours few and far between… except these few pages!
Prompt 8 – go to clothes 
Prompt 9 – Book cover 
Prompt 10 – book list 
I am loving this last page, I printed a contact sheet of book pictures I have finished this year as part of my 50 book in 2010 challenge… needless to say it’s not finished yet – but love how it’s come together ;)
A few weeks ago at the shops, little Miss K picked up a bag of marbles and started poking holes in the netting bag… next thing I know loose marbles are escaping every which way across the floor of the shopping centre & I decide to buy the said marbles due to the whole “you break it you buy it” although we didn’t technically ‘break’ the marbles…
So home we came with a bag of marbles that are years too old for my little 3 year old… but today I finally found a use and an excuse to use the Marbles!
Marble Pictures!
So messy and so much fun! These will be turned into cards for Christmas :)
I’m attempting a weekly photo post – using only photos taken with my good camera (the Canon DSLR) because all too often I find myself just using my point and shoot as it’s so Quick & Easy! This is NOT helping me improve my skills with the DSLR. Sometimes my blog feels a bit mediocre as my photos are hit and miss…
~ Old Garden, New flowers ~ 
~ The Dahlia ~ 
~ Helping hand! ~ 
Please be sure to tell me if that flower is NOT a dahlia, I’ve put the empty pots and tags up the back shed already… to far to walk and double check ;)
A recent burst of sewing has me back in the groove and I decided to sign up for a swap.
This one is a Christmas Swap… a Great Stocking Swap to be exact and is being run by Selina! Go check it out – I know you want to (SKIP!!!)
I’ve got until 1st November to get this one completed and posted :)
Now to decide whether I can find the time to do the EB Doll Quilt swap once more… should I???
A gardening update ~ surely that means I’m doing something right???
Although my last update was of withered lavender plants, I’m pleased to say that with a whole heap of TLC AND Water ~ they have bounced back! But not only have the bounced back… but they are starting to flower :)
Proof below they are now upright!
Our Daisy’s are going strong & are so pretty to look at!
And look at this – I bought home & planted purple pansies now they are sprouting purple and yellow flowers!!! So pretty!
And lastly – a few weeks back my daughter & I planted some “sweet pea” seedlings, surprisingly her “flowers” sprouted almost immediately (note the fake flowers on either side, that she waters diligently every day ;)
After several weeks and no signs of life, I figured that it probably would have been helpful to actually give them some water from the get go and had all but given up on them, so I took a cutting from my favourite Hibiscus plant (I think it’s a Queen Ann) to see how it would go and after spending the week actually watering this plant (and the fake flowers ;)
What do I see this morning…
a teeny tiny seedling… can you see it??? It’s definitely there!!!!
Lastly a question for the gardeners out there… have you ever seen a jade plant flower like this?
I’ve had this jade for years (it’s about the only thing I never managed to kill) and after a few years of being bright green and lush as, it turned a crinkly reddy brown then started to wilt away. We moved it to a full sun position and it never seemed to do much until recently it started sprouting all these white flowers all over it.
The question is, do I pinch off the dead flowers, leave it as is or what???
And now I’m back at work, there is NOT enough TIME to do all the shopping I want to do :)
On the plus side – being back at work, means there is more money to spend ;) LOL
Yesterday my folks came to visit and convinced me to take them shopping (they totally pushed me into it ;) so off we toddled and after a big breakfast at the Coffee Club, we wandered around the shops!
More Books ~ because I totally needed more to read on my to be read one day shelf ;) and some cheap acrylic paints, at $2 a pop I couldn’t go past these!
A new notebook for all that writing I just don’t ever get around to doing :)
And after a quick trip to local fabric store that I never knew existed until Kirsty in Melbourne emailed me, I walked out with these gorgeous 30cm cuts and some plain white homespun – because I totally want to do the current Homespun Block of the month “celebration of life”
I’ve added some of my existing fabrics to them to give it a bit more depth… what do you think???
Now it’s time to go do some cutting and sewing ~ YAY!
A very un-crafty week has passed me by (well apart from cutting out a pile of fabrics on Wednesday arvo, which I’m hoping will be turned into something tomorrow!)
It’s been a week of toasts!
To my late Nan who would have turned 86 ~ we raised a glass and I finally got over my aversion to drinking Guinness especially for her!
Surprisingly – not bad!
~ Happy Birthday Rosie ~
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It’s also been a week of Doggie Hospital (well only a day ;)
This poor little man just arrived home after a little op!
He’s fine, he had to have a growth cut out off his eyelid and while he was under, the vet took some fatty lump deposits from his chest area…
With shaved belly and shaved legs, walking around doped out & putting on that super sad face (seen above) only when we are looking though… he’s pretty darn cute!
He’s doing well considering he is pushing 12 – tough old bugger!
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Stay tuned – I’ve been SHOPPING today! I may or may not have bought some fabrics for a certain block of the month running in the Homespun magazine :)
Tomorrow is sewing day! Bring it on!!!
I am so far behind in this class it’s not funny!!! I’m hopeful that they make a new award for the slowest of slow journaller… cause for sure I’m a shoo-in!!!
Prompt3 – Altered Images (this page was so much fun!)
Prompt4 – Happiness
Prompt5 – It’s all in the details
Prompt6 – Your Choice
Prompt7 – Thankful for…
Stay tuned, I’ve written a list as long as my arm and I’m not afraid to attempt it… there will be LOTS of crafting over the next few weeks as the approach of spring warms my bones and brings me out of hibernation!!!
We had a christening to attend in the city today. We aren’t church goers, but I had to take some shots of the church as this is the church my Late Nanny got married in, back in the 40’s!
After the service / baptism was over, we wandered around taking photos and I ran into my year 9/10 home economics teacher! She was mildly surprised shocked to hear that I have been sewing over the past few years… I wasn’t her most diligent Home Ec. student!!!
After several years of sewing, I find I still am not confident at either buttons or zippers.
My new coffee wrap from here! This was seriously so quick & easy! & it stops you from burning your fingers!!! I’m seeing a few more on the horizon!
but zips…
Even a $3,000 sewing machine cannot help you, if you never grasped the concept from the get-go.
In hindsight… perhaps not the best idea to use black thread!
They say practice makes perfect… I am still years away from perfection yet.
Is there an easy way? Or is it all just an urban legend.
I’m off to unpick (again) and hope I can make this presentable enough to gift… otherwise it will be going in my collection (which is not a bad idea… I do love the colours!)
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See that gorgeous black fabric used in the dubious creation above (supposed to look like this here, & trust me it WILL after I unpick and sew it again LOL) anyhow I got the gorgeous wool felt in a giveaway Island Kylie did a couple of years back. It sat in the cupboard for ages before I found this pencil case tutorial and it’s been sitting half cut out for ages. Yesterday I got stuck in & started piecing it together, I got to the part where it required 2 x 3.5” squares of the lining and the outer fabric which of course I DID NOT Cut originally & I realised I could NOT find the rest of this fabric anywhere.
An hour spent searching high and low. Going through every box / cupboard / shelf / bag in my sewing room looking for it. I knew there was some extra left over but couldn’t find it anywhere.
This morning I up ended the yellow “scraps & whatnot” tub that was overflowing with old “did not” work in progress, as well as fabric I’ve used and not bothered to fold away neatly (or fabric my lovely babe pulls out and I don’t have time to re-fold away neatly) so I spent another HOUR sorting and folding the contents of the tub, it is now empty and the dining room table is covered in piles of folded fabrics, to be packed away NEATLY in the sewing room. After NOT finding this piece of wool fabric in the tub, I went back to the sewing room and spent the next 20 mins going over the cupboards and boxes and bags and still couldn’t find it. Despairing that I’d never finish this pencil case. I opened one more cupboard and on the top shelf on top of the boxes is the fabric I’m searching high and low for. RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES…. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… It appears it’s time to do a spring clean and a spring work in progress list!
Last weekend we had a yard day and that meant venturing into the back shed that is bulging with boxes of stuff we cannot bear to part with. I knew we had a few boxes of books from my childhood and was wanting to get them out and put them in Miss K’s (already bulging) bookshelf so she too can enjoy some of the same books I enjoyed as a child.
I found one of those boxes and lugged it down and after dusting the books off went through each of them and was excited to see some great titles and more excited to be able to read them to the girl and have her asking to re-read them each night! There is Enid Blyton, ABC, Dictionary books, The Monster at the end of this book, Never talk to strangers & 2 boxes of vintage Golden books (the bigger volumes that must have been a special edition at once point in time) to name a few!
Then I found these. Uncle Arthurs Bedtime Stories.
A whole set of 6
And judging by the year they were published… perhaps they were mum’s LOL! 1964
The illustrations are delightful!
& they are in perfect condition too!
I love that my parents obviously taught us kids from an early age to look after books, as apart from the occasional tear on a page and us practicing our name writing on the inside front covers – most of these books are relatively pen free! I just hope I can pass the same values onto my daughter and who knows… perhaps one day she will be passing these same books to her children.
“Lavender is hard to kill” says Mum…
“Lavender is a pretty safe plant to have and it is hardy” says Kirsty…
If this is so… then why, oh why are my 2 Lavender plants looking very miserable?
What do you think? Multiple Choice!
a/ Too Dry
b/ Too Wet
c/ Too shady
d/ I suck at gardening?
As my regular readers would know – I really suck at gardening! However I really do relish the thought of a colourful garden, home grown vegetables and a sense of accomplishment. Yesterday I met up with my folks for their birthdays up a big cold mountain top (& I mean COLD – it was only 12 degrees driving up there at 9:30am :o ) they of course have a very bad influence on me & talked me into buying some plants and telling me there is no possible way I could kill them ;)
Really? Seriously?
Remember the fiasco of the last vegetable garden…
No – vegetable gardens are NOT my forte…
Then they reminded me of my roaring success with my little Kangaroo Paw plants. They exclaimed that they’d never seen anything like them before, nor had they seen them grow so big… I came home & pulled out the old film photos & just had to share!
They were pretty awesome huh?
Zoom in… see that top one in the middle, it was actually higher than our house roof!!! They were like what I imagined day of the Triffids to have been like.!
So convinced that I do have some sort of green thumb (albeit with brown edges) I bought some flowers and decided to start small.
What once was a lot of grass and weeds, is now home to some pretty daisies, pansies and geraniums (to deter the snakes of course!)
Wish these Luck!
And of course – who could go past the lavender plants & cheap pots!
This time – I am NOT going to kill them!!!
