The broken arm update.

This is the arm in question. Miss 16's cast is just along the bottom part of her arm. This half cast has reduced her pain considerably. She has cracked her bone in the socket part of her elbow. Not badly, fortunately. Had it been more damaged she would have had to have an operation. She feels very lucky to have avoided an operation. Generally they don't treat this kind of break. They treat the elbow instead because this kind of break causes stiffness in the elbow and requires physiotherapy to get the arm moving again. Because Miss 16 had so much pain she gets to have a cast for a week and then it has to come off and she will start physiotherapy. Generally it takes about 6 weeks to get the elbow moving properly again. So she gets to rest for the rest of the week and then the work will begin. The sooner her elbow begins to work the sooner she can get back to her basketball. She's motivated! (She loves all aspects of basketball)

Smile!

My boys made faces with dinner napkins. Mr 7 found some in the pantry and was fascinated with them. He wanted to spread them on the floor which he did for a while and then decided to make some faces. Mr 14 joined in too.

Sewing and a Miss 16 update

Yes! I did some sewing! Friday, as part of my tidy the sewing room adventures, I sewed a cover for the snap press. The snap press comes in a particularly ugly cardboard box and the lid won't close so it gets dusty. Not anymore! I'm really pleased with this cover. Bradley was a little surprised when he saw it. "Is that quilted?", he asked. "Why is it quilted?". Umm..... because it's pretty like that!

I planned to spend Saturday in my sewing room too, but took Miss 16 to the hospital again instead. Her elbow was still extremely painful and the heavy-duty painkillers she was taking were not making much difference at all. Despite having eight children this is only the second bone break we have done, (Up until a couple of years ago my boast was even better - no broken bones!) but the one we have done previously was not as painful as Miss 16's. So her pain seemed out of the ordinary to me. I was so glad I took her back because she got a back slab cast put on her arm (half a cast bandaged onto her arm with a crepe bandage) and she is in so much less pain today. It's hard to believe what a huge difference the back slab has made! She goes tomorrow morning to see the orthopedic surgeon to have her arm reviewed and to find out exactly what they plan to do with it. So Monday morning will be full of doctors and the hospital. I must make sure I have some stitching to take with me!

Miss 16's break!

Miss 16 played basketball at school this week and fractured her elbow. It is in a sling and she is miserable! Of course only she would injure herself during the last week of school. She doesn't like to miss school under any circumstances and only stays home during the holidays because there is no-one else at school. The injury meant a visit to the emergency department. A much more satisfactory emergency department visit than last week's visit. (Different hospital!) Miss 18 had an allergic reaction last week and had to stay overnight in the emergency department. Along with five other patients in beds. A couple of days later I heard the minister for health in our state government talking on the radio about how great the emergency departments in our state are. That's right, six beds in the emergency department waiting room overnight, that's a great way to run a hospital!

So I have been having a busy month. Waiting in emergency departments and at doctor's offices. (For related and unrelated doctors visits!) It all takes so much time. As we were leaving the hospital last night we had to make an appointment to see a doctor at the fracture clinic next week, and it turns out that next week is October! I mean, I knew that, but it's still surprising! Roll on October!

It Came! It Came! (my bag swap bag!)

The postie brought my bag swap bag today. It came in a box from Arizona and was most exciting. I think the excitement was added to because my swap partner got her bag yesterday too and I had been reading about that on her blog. (More about that later) It's beautiful, isn't it?

This is what I saw when Bradley opened the box. (He was the only one in range with a pocket knife.) A pretty package and a card. A hand made card! From Jo-Anne.

I took off the ribbon and this was the resulting bundle. I liked the colours of my new bag straight away. When I picked up the bag I realised that there were other goodies inside.

This is the sweet card that Jo-Anne included. I loved the card because it told me a little more about her. Despite the fact that Jo-Anne comes from Tuscon Arizona she has an Australian connection because of her Australian mother. (Like me. I have an Australian mother too!) She is also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! (Like me!)

This is all the goodies from the parcel. So many beautiful hand made things and a book to write in! I think I will write lists in the book. One of my favourite things to do is write lists! Miss 11 asked if all the bag swap bags had to have suffolk puffs on them, because I put them on the bag I made too! Miss 22 loved all the bugs on the bag (charms) and that's kind of crazy because I am in the middle of embroidering bugs too!

And, shockingly, it was a bit like a "two for one" because this cute bag was in there too! I am going to put sewing projects in my new bags and then hang them on the wall. (Hope you're reading this Brad, because I need some hooks put up!) I can't wait to use them. I checked out Jo-Anne's blog and when she received her bag she said she would use it to take projects to her daughter's volleyball games. Well Jo-Anne, my new bags will be going to lots of basketball games with me. And basketball training! Thank you Linda for organising this swap! It has been so much fun!!!

Finished stitching the bugs stitchery!

I finished it! One photo without the flash and one with the flash. I don't know why I never finish anything in daylight, but I don't! The heart is beaded and I put a few beads on the butterfly as well. Mrs 24 (picklesticks) saw my blog post from last night and said that she enjoyed the post, but she felt it was much more beautiful in real life. (Just felt you should know that! Modesty! It's what I'm all about!!!) I'm really keen to get it made up into....... whatever I decide it's going to be. Oh! Just a little more information about my inspiration. I have recently discovered a blog called White Clover Stitches. Mary does beautiful stitching and beading and it is her work that inspired me to include some beading in my stitching. Thank you Mary! You are an inspiration!

When the 7 year old cuts hair.

Mr 19 came home from work on Saturday and asked who wanted to cut his hair. Usually he has at least one willing volunteer, but had no luck with his request. When Mr 7 realised that no-one else was going to pip him to the post he volunteered. Miss 11 took some photos to immortalise such an historic event.

Mr 7 got out a step ladder and began cutting. He completely looked like he knew what he was doing. I guess he had watched me and his older sisters cutting hair dozens of times and he had all the actions down pat. Of course, what he didn't have was the stamina to endure to the end of the haircut. (Generally he doesn't even have the stamina to sit through his own haircut!)

So Mr 19 went on with the haircut and got a sister to help him finish off. That's what happens when the 7 year old cuts hair. It's fun for a while and then you get to finish it off yourself!

Stitching

I have been having a great time stitching in September. This is another Bronwyn Hayes design that I have been wanting to do for ages, but just kept putting it off. I am enjoying the swaps I am doing immensely because I am doing all kinds of things I had only planned to do before! The photo is a little dull because I couldn't wait till day to photograph it. In my pattern book this stitchery is part of a bag, but I'm not sure what I am going to do with it yet. When I bought the pattern I planned to make a pastel blue and pink bag. I traced it out last month with the same thought in mind. But on the weekend I suddenly decided to make the stitchery all about monarch butterflies and my colour scheme turned into orange, brown and black. I thought about getting some fabrics that matched the new colour scheme (they are colours I don't generally buy because they don't usually appeal to me. My stash has holes in it colourwise because I tend only to buy fabrics that immediately appeal to me.) and as we travelled home from seeing Miss 16 win an umpiring award (she is so clever!) we drove past a quilting shop that was open and I not only found brown and orange fabric, I also found butterfly fabric. So my decision was made. I'm going the whole monarch butterfly thing! I borrowed a book from the library last week about beading on fabric and decided that this stitchery would be my first experiment in this technique.

So, this is what I am working on. There is also some sewing room tidying happening and some grandson clothes sewing. (He is growing like a weed!) I am also thinking about other stitching projects to fulfill my swap commitments. Stay tuned!!!

Busy, busy!

This is what made me so busy. This is Miss 22. She came home last Friday afternoon from her mission (for the church) on Temple Square in Salt Lake City Utah. She has been unwell and wasn't due to come home until February, but received a medical release last week. This is the moment that she met her nephew for the first time at the Adelaide Airport. She was gone for 13 months so there have been some changes. Grandson wasn't even invented when she left!

Mr 7, Miss 11 and Mr 14 have changed the most. Miss 22 was blown away by Mr 14. He has grown about 7 or 8 inches in height since she left, and he now has the deepest voice in the family.

She was so happy to see her sisters. Fortunately all of our kids are pretty close and I think all of them count each other as friends. This is Miss 22 and Miss 18 holding hands! Miss 16 was on a school excursion that she had committed to before we knew Miss 22 was coming home. They caught up with each other after school.

We spent so much time upstairs that Miss 22's luggage was almost the only luggage left. So, our house is a little fuller than it was. A little louder than it was. A little sillier than it was. I guess that's the way we like it!

A Package!

Some time ago I signed up to be an Angel Stitcher. I was very excited and started planning which three projects I would sew for my partner. This is a little sad to admit, but I have been wanting to sew some stitching accessories for a few years now, but never seem to get around to it. I figured that sewing for someone else would prompt me to do those things which I had put off doing for myself. Anyway, it hadn't really occured to me that someone else would be sewing for me too. I received an anonymous email from my Angel Stitcher - that was pretty exciting - and once that had happened I wanted to find out who she was. Eventually I discovered her. Julie from Julie's Blog. Last week I received my first package. Thank you so much Julie!!! I am the proud owner of a 'chicken' (pin cushion)! Julie included some quilt postcards, fabric and a sweet little Debbie Mumm tin with needles and thread inside. I was out when the package arrived and Miss 18 called me on my mobile phone, full of excitement, to let me know that a package had arrived. She described the box and said it looked like it had something good in it. I asked how she could tell? She said she didn't know. Maybe it had something to do with it being the cutest box ever! I just loved opening my package and that very act has spurred me on to send my partner's first package. I will be sharing some sneak peaks soon!

Bag Swap Bag and a Winner!

Last week was a crazy-busy week. I had so many things on! I worried that I wouldn't get everything done, but I pretty much did. I did finish my bag swap bag and send it off. I hope my swap partner likes it. I was pretty happy with the end result, despite my quandry whilst making it.

It turned out to be quite big and I ended up putting a fabric covered cardboard base in it to give the bag more shape and create a flat bottom.

Of course I also included a zippered pocket inside the bag. I like to have a zippered pocket in all my bags to keep little bits and pieces in. The inside of the pocket has the fabric that I based my stitching pattern on.

The back of the bag is quite plain.

Another reason for very few posts last week was that my camera is STILL at the fix-it shop. It's been there for 4 weeks now, and I kinda think that if they can't fix it in 4 weeks then maybe it just can't be fixed and they should just give me a new one! Over the past 4 weeks I have been borrowing my kids' cameras. Fortunately I have a lot of kids, but last week they all wanted to use their own cameras! Imagine that! Using their own cameras! So this very artistic bag shot was taken by Miss 18. She's studying photography at Uni this semester so I was very privileged to have a "professional" photographer take these photos of my bag.

Now, back to this bag! This is my first ever giveaway (in 213 posts! I mustn't be your typical generous crafting blogger!) and it has been so much fun that I'm sure I'm going to do it again. One of the funnest parts of having a giveaway is visiting the blogs of everyone who leaves a message! I even got to google "random number generator". And the winner is: Sarah! From If only I had chocolate. Congrats Sarah, I will email you later today and request your mailing details.

Happy 200th Post and a Giveaway!!! (Well, actually 213th, but you get my drift!)

Yes, this is finally the Giveaway post! I have decided to give away my herb garden stitchery drawstring bag. So, if you would like to have this bag at your house please leave a comment and I will draw someone's name next Sunday. It is lined with the green and white spot and the back of the bag is pieced with little squares just like the top of the front. The stitchery is a Bronwyn Hayes design. Making this bag was very fun. Especially because I was busy avoiding the bag swap bag. That's right! Didn't have time on the weekend to finish that one, but managed to make this entire bag instead.

I have really enjoyed this blog of mine. Over the past 212 posts I have meet so many wonderful people and seen so many great ideas. Even after all this time I am still finding 'new' blogs and 'meeting' new people. When I started blogging I had no idea how to do it (thank you Mrs 24 who taught me everything I know), and was definitely in the creating doldrums. Having this blog (and reading other blogs) has inspired me to create so many more things than I would have otherwise. It has broadened my horizons. I started it in an effort to find my happy place and this little corner of the internet is it! I plan to keep blogging forever (or as long as it is fun!) and you should all stick around for another 87 posts to enter my 300th post giveaway! Good luck!

The end of the week.

This week has flown by. I am feeling much better, but just about everyone else here feels worse! There is much coughing and some people have even lost their voices. We're a sick and sorry lot. I have been working on my bag swap bag. The photo above shows you what I did with the suffolk puffs. It's that texture thing. The bag is not finished yet, but I am going to finish it off tomorrow and then send it.

Yesterday I made this wheat bag. The wheat was in an old wheat bag that had a hole in it. I made a calico bag to put the wheat in first and then used some flannel scraps to make a pretty cover. I love it. I did have lots of other things to sew, but just needed to finish something quickly so I didn't feel so hopeless! You know, sometimes you just need a little encouragement.

And I was encouraged. I managed to finish the curtains for our living area. Well, okay, not finished completely. I still have to hem the curtains. That's scheduled for tomorrow too. (My living room looks dreadful! The kids had just sorted the clean clothes when I decided I wanted a photo.) So, almost all of my goals achieved this week. The last goals I will be concentrating on on the weekend.

Something I have been thinking about.

Some of you may have come across this blog recently and already heard this story. It is a story that has captured my attention and I am reading "c jane enjoy it" so I thought I would put her button here on my blog (in the sidebar).



Once upon a time there was a girl called Stephanie Nielsen. She was married to a lovely man called Christian and they had four wonderful children. Stephanie was very lucky because she also had a blog (called Nie Nie Dialogues) and lots of blogger friends. She was very happy. One day she and Christian went flying with Christian's flight instructor and were involved in a terrible accident. Christian's flight instuctor (a wonderful man with a family of his own) was killed. Christian and Stephanie were badly burned, but alive. Stephanie's sister Courtney rushed to be with her little sister and watch her children. Courtney had a baby of her own (finally), after struggling with infertility, but decided to take on Stephanie's children while their Mum and Dad spend months in the hospital recovering. Courtney's blog "c jane" is the story of her changed life and details Christian and Stephanie's recovery process. Courtney also is raising money to help pay the hospital bills which will be substantial (healthcare in the USA is so expensive). So, if you want to find out what happens next, click the button on my sidebar and go "c jane".

Another new blog!

Jane Green is the owner of my favourite Patchwork shop. Ever since I started my blog I have been encouraging her to start her own blog. It's not because I'm naturally bossy (of course not!), but because blogging is so much fun! The Patchwork Apple is in the main street of Woodside in the Adelaide Hills. I first met Jane about 14 years ago in her newly opened shop in her home at Lenswood. I went there with my tiny little baby (Mr 14) who is now 6 foot 2! It was a long time ago. Jane and her sister in law Annette were so welcoming that I came back to their shop often! Sadly, Annette passed away in 2000. (I think of her every time I visit The Patchwork Apple)

Jane's shop is very pretty and it has a lovely atmosphere. I think that is due to the fact that Jane is a lovely person. So rush over to her new blog and welcome her to the blogosphere! (I keep telling her that you are all some of the nicest people I have ever met!)

Monday's Stitching

This is what I have been working on today. Inbetween coughing and napping. These flowers and leaves are destined for the bag I am making. I have the design for the bag floating around in my head. I haven't put it down on paper, so I'm kind of making it up as I go along. I love doing that! It's so much fun letting the design flow, letting the fabric dictate where it wants to go. Hopefully it will be beautiful!

Stitching September!

This is the bag I carry my stitching around in. It was made for me a long time ago (Probably 10 years ago.) by Mrs 24. It has fantastic pockets inside and really fits a lot of stuff in it.

It's September! I'm running out of 2008! It's quite a wintry day here, my best kind of day! I am still in bed (now my secret is out! My laptop is kept by my bed!) having finally given in to this cold. I have been laying here thinking. About grey clouds and windy days (why do I like them so much?). About 2008 slipping away so quickly (how is it that it is going so fast and why am I not doing more of what I want to do?). And about September. I've decided to rename it "Stitching September" and I'm going to "stitch" every day this month. I'm using the word "stitch" in the broadest sense of the word. I will spend a significant time this month embroidering, but any old sewing will classify as "stitching" for me this month. This idea has brightened my day significantly and I'm going to get up in a minute. Let the stitching begin!!!