Today I fell in love.

With this book.

Today the boys and I joined the library and I discovered Mary Engelbreit's Home Sweet Home. It is so beautiful. I have included a couple of my favourite things from the book. I think I am in love with red rooms at the moment. I think I need some red in my life. It is truly a wonderful book. The library doesn't want it back until April, but I think I will still want it in April! I'm going to have to buy one for myself I think.


It's hard to believe that today is the last day of February. I have lots to do in March. I'm looking forward to it!

Snappy Friends Challenge - starting with Y

Young.

Starts with a"Y"

Check out the Snappy Friends blog for more.

Sewing at my new house.

This is my sewing room. The room is quite nice. It's just the furnishings that leave a little to be desired! I have my little sewing machine (The one I take to classes. We all have several, don't we?) and my little iron. I have been sewing with a camping chair, but managed to pick this one up from Kmart today for $8. Much more satisfactory. Not as low as the camping chair! I also picked up a fat quarter pack of flannel from Lincraft today and I'm in the process of making a shaggy flannel bunny rug.

That's just like a shaggy flannel quilt, but without the batting. Eventually, this will be a very nice sewing room. Once I put all my good stuff in it. Well, maybe not ALL my stuff. This living without stuff makes you think that maybe you have too much stuff. And maybe you will be careful about what you put in your house when the stuff actually gets here. Maybe.

Baking today.

I'm baking today. Banana bread. I thought I had everything I needed. Then.

No salt.
No scales.
No loaf tin.
No cake cooler.

Hopefully it will taste good despite the deficiencies! (Hey, I had bananas! I think they're most important!)

Home again

My Bradley and I drove home to Melbourne on Tuesday. It took all day because he had some work to do on the way. Some work on the shores of Lake Alexandrina (it was such a pretty day) and at Wellington in South Australia.

These flowers were just so pretty. Like jewels. Like something old fashioned that Rachel Ashwell would put in her "shabby chic" home. I spent a lot of time taking photos and stitching while waiting. Oh. And getting sunburnt.

It was good to be home again after 5 nights away. All my Melbourne kids missed me and told me individually yesterday that I should never go away ever again. Of course, I did miss them, but it was good to visit with my Adelaide kids. (I got to see all four of them and their families.) Yesterday I spent the day washing. Sounds humdrum, but it was a pretty thrilling day for me. I have been without a washing machine since we left Adelaide so my Bradley and I picked up the washing machine just before we drove home to Melbourne. We have all our things in storage in Adelaide and are "camping" in our house in Melbourne. It makes for an interesting life. Last night I was cooking stew and it wasn't until I was reaching for the pantry door that I realised that I didn't have any cornflour to thicken my stew! I so miss my "stocked" pantry! Something we usually just take for granted. Hopefully we will have our things in a month or so. Until then, we improvise! (Or send Bradley to the shops!)

Snappy Friends Challenge - Brown

If you must know (truth in blogging here) I skipped a challenge. Chookyblue tells me this is not exactly kosher. She pointed out the word "challenge" to me. Ahh yeah. Animals. There are none round my house. Brown, however we had in spades. So here it is. Brown.

(Yeah, check out the rest of the Snappy Friends stuff. They take amazing photos!)

Today.....

Got up at 4am this morning in order to catch a plane to Adelaide. Tired now, but it has been a great day. Watched Miss 18 and granddaughter do things like this. Going to do that some more tomorrow too.

..... and from the back. (And an adventure)

I think his tail is very cute!

So, today's adventure in Melbourne involved a quilt shop! We have been here in Melbourne for some time now (a month? ish?) and I haven't been to a quilt shop. I have googled quilt shops and looked in the yellow pages and had not really "found" any quilt shops. I asked someone in Spotlight if they knew of any ...... and they didn't. I asked someone in Lincraft about quilt shops and she did know some. In fact she was very helpful. She wrote the addresses of three on the back of my docket. Very helpful. But I didn't "know" the areas of those three and whilst I am very adventurous for the kids (Lab coat needed? Oakleigh? Sure I can find that! Text book supplier? Hawthorn East? Yup!) I couldn't quite talk myself into it for me. I was discussing my plight with Loz via email the other day and she gave me a link to a shop's blog. When I checked it out (Foothills Fabric and Threads) it turned out it was on a road I often travel on! Of course, it was some 10 kilometres further down that road, but I felt brave enough to find it. So, I have been to a quilt shop. Thank you Loz! Whilst I was there I picked up the book for the latest Chookyblue stitchalong and am planning to stitchalong this year! I can't wait!

make it bunny

This is the fellow I was stitching in the tent. I finished him today. Hmm..... just realised that this is a pretty scary photo. A bunny on a stove! (It was getting late and the stove had the best light!) Rabbit pie anyone? I bought this kit from Spotlight because I really wanted some stitching to do. He was great fun and I even have someone in mind to give him to, so a win/win situation all round. Oh! Just realised I didn't photograph the back of him, and it's the cutest part!!!

Progress

I have been making progress. My stitching from the tent is almost finished. I have taken Leanne's advice and bought some glue to baste the hexies so I can get more sewn. (It's working a charm Leanne. Thank you for the link you sent me!) And I have been creating some fabric to make a bag with. (Photos of everything to come)

We are getting settled into our new house. We not only hear Kookaburras singing in this new house but also frogs, and last night as I hung out the washing we saw bats flying overhead. We are also beginning to discover our new area. We visited the Heide Museum of Modern Art yesterday. I really liked it and think I will go back again. So many truly beautiful things to look at there! Today we visited the Queen Victoria Markets and Lost and Found Market which Miss 18 fell in love with. She wants to move into that market and live there!

Not sure what tomorrow will bring. I want to stay home and sew. We'll see!

Saturday night at Bunnings

We were in Adelaide last Saturday night and went to Bunnings for a bit of fun. (Bunnings is a hardware store and Mr 16 has a gift card to spend there) We walked up and down every aisle until I noticed this wonderful sunset happening over the timber yard. I stopped to admire it and Mr 16 and Miss 18 wandered up and down without me.

Snappy Friends Challenge - Water

Rain at our new house last Thursday. Then Friday it rained enough to cause flash floods. I missed that rain though because I was driving to Adelaide. See more of the challenge here at the Snappy Friends blog.

February? How did that happen?

I took these photos last night in the tent, but was too tired to post them. Tonight we are sleeping our first night in our new house in Melbourne. Weird, huh? I did some stitching whilst in the tent. The new house is different and strange. There are some lovely things about it. Tonight we heard kookaburras. We are right next to a creek and the kookaburras are, hopefully, the sound of birds to come!