Tonight, on February 29

Ikea had a sale, to celebrate February 29th. (It doesn't come around that often you know. One of my friends here in Melbourne has a son celebrating his 11th birthday today. Well, he's 44 really.) I had already planned to buy a table at Ikea today and then they were having a sale! My table ($150 worth) was not on sale. However, one I had hankered after, but given up on, was on sale. It was $100 more than the planned table, but also $100 less than its usual price. So you see, I couldn't lose. I did spend $100 more than I planned, but I also saved $100 so I came out even. (Don't ask me to explain this again. It's gets all fuzzy the more I explain it!)

So I got a table AND I worked on the blouses some more. They are all finished except for buttons now. So tomorrow I will be sewing buttons!

And yet more blouses...

...are now finished. Five down and three to go, all of which are started and shouldn't take long to finish.

Ahh! Wrong photo! Must be blogging entirely too late tonight!

And then my sewing desk this evening right before I packed up. 

 

 

Not sure that I will finish them tomorrow though because I am off to Ikea. (Who can resist 29% off 229 products for Family Members? They are celebrating February 29!)

Sewing blouses

I have been sewing blouses. I have three finished now with another five to go.

I managed to spend most of my day sewing today which makes me very happy and I plan to do the same tomorrow. It is still raining at my house after a grey and rainy day, the best kind of day.

It's raining!

After a hot weekend, it's raining at my house. Our last Adelaide house (2009-2010) was on a main road. We had never lived on such a major road before, but we didn't mind it at all. In fact there were some things that I just loved about living on a main road. Well, not the carpark that it became in the morning peak hour traffic, but I really did love our main road when it rained. I love the sound of rain. Rain on the roof is such a soothing sound I think. I also love the swoosh sound of cars driving by and there's more of that swoosh sound when you live on a main road! Our new house here in Melbourne is not on a main road, but it is a busier road than the last house and I am enjoying that swoosh sound this morning as I sit in my sewing room. Rain on the roof, cars swooshing by and I'm sewing. What a life!

view from a window

Saturday Baking

Minnie Mouse muffin cases

choc walnut muffins

lemon and poppy seed muffins

 Remember Saturday night? Remember how exciting it used to be? This is what my Bradley and I did with our Saturday night. I made muffins. He made jelly with fruit in it. Delicious, but not exactly exciting!

Finished (almost) One Blouse

This is what I sewed Thursday. A blouse for a granddaughter.

It is from a pattern I bought 27 years ago. (Oh gosh that makes me sound old!!!) I have made lots of these blouses for my little girls, from Mrs 27 through to Miss 15. And for my boys too. With a few alterations this blouse pattern becomes a nightie pattern just right for tiny babies in winter! Now I am stitching it for granddaughters! (One of whom is having a birthday next week and the other who has just mastered the art of pulling herself up on furniture!)

And these are the buttons which make the "almost" necessary in my blog post title. Off to sew some buttons on!

I'm sewing! (By stealth)

Even a few days ago I never thought I would get here, but today I am sewing. (I must admit to mending last night. Something that needs to be done from time to time and which involves using a sewing machine, but really - who actually considers it to be sewing?)

It feels great to be sewing! I am sewing by stealth today. That is because there is still a lot to do to organise the house. So, here's how sewing by stealth works.
Sew a little
Work a little
Sew a little
Work .....
You get the picture! "A little" differs depending on your day and reasons for stealth. Sometimes I work by stealth, you know, when you would rather just be sewing (every day, right?) and you slot work in between sewing. Of course today I would rather just sew, but I have a goal to get my laundry completely unpacked and organised too. (The laundry room here is much smaller than the last house so after I get the washer and the dryer in there's not much room left for my bench - try sorting and folding 6 people's clothes without one - or for storage. The shoe polish, the cleaning products, the tea towels and cloths - no room in the kitchen for that, the lightbulbs ..... the list goes on!) So I sew a little, then sort in my laundry. Eventually it all gets done and I don't get sick of any one project. Today my sewing by stealth is accompanied by Tim Gunn and a little "Project Runway". Gotta love a sewing show to inspire you!

So, back to the sewing! (Pretty sure blogging wasn't included in the model above. Wonder how I fitted it in?)

Melbourne.

I did get home safely yesterday. Miss 19 took me to the airport yet again and I arrived in Melbourne to be met by my Bradley. Once home I promptly managed to nap the afternoon and evening away and woke up feeling great. I do really suffer from Dorothy syndrome ("there's no place like home") and was very glad to be back home today, even with all the unpacking I have yet to do.

twilight at a friend's house

My plan for this week is to spend it sewing. Starting this morning. That didn't happen, but I did empty five or six boxes which I was pretty happy with, and I'm sure I will start sewing tomorrow! 

It's never as bad as you think...

Sometimes it's worse!

I had a wonderful day yesterday. I got to catch up with my best stitching buddies yesterday at their Farmer's Wife stitching day. It was a wonderful afternoon!

I also got to visit my Mum and Dad, my boy (Mr 23) and his wife, and my girl (Miss 21) and her bloke. A busy, but fun filled afternoon! Then I drove to Mrs 27's house, farewelled her and her husband, Miss 19 and those gorgeous grandchildren whose photos I love to show so much here. (Here's another one!)

Then it was off to the airport where I was told that my flight had been delayed for an hour which meant that I would not be home to my very own bed until 1:30am. I was pretty upset because I was tired. It seemed like an unpleasant end to a good day. After two hours of waiting we were informed that due to Adelaide Airport's curfew restrictions our flight had been cancelled. See, just when you think things are bad, they get worse.

So later this morning I am off to the airport to try again.

Hopefully I will be home this afternoon.

In Adelaide...

I have been looking at this...

And this...

And this...

It's been a fun couple of days.

Q. How long does it take to drive from Melbourne to Adelaide?

A. It depends how many roadworks you have to drive through!

Just in case you didn't know, today was National Roadworks Day. Well, that's what Miss 19 and I dubbed it. In the end we wished we had been counting! Who knew there were that many workmen and/or trucks in Australia, let alone spread out along our journey today!

In the end though we got here safely and so did the goldfish, seen here with two admiring grandchildren.

Today

Moving was hard work, and I am still not completely unpacked. (This is hard to admit in public!) Anyway, enough of that nonsense! On with today.

Today Miss 19 and I went for a wander along main street at Croydon. Isn't the florist there pretty? I love that shopping strip and we were there for Miss 19 to farewell it because tomorrow we are going for a little drive. After having her stay with us all summer she is back to Uni again!
*sigh*
I am just making it a flying visit this time. Just long enough to hug those three grandchildren very tightly!!! See you soon!

My new sewing room...

... is in there somewhere! It has been a busy three or four days and we are coming to the end of the "moving" bit.

Of course, there is a lot of unpacking to be done and we still have to clean the "old" house as it has been dubbed by the kids. They have all been a great help. Mr 17 has been big and strong despite having sinusitis. My Bradley and the other guys are doing the last trip right now but Mr 17 has had a shower and crawled into bed. We offered for him to take that option at lunchtime, but he wanted to carry on helping.

Mr 11 is surprisingly perturbed by the disarray. Aren't teenagers meant to thrive in such a situation? I suppose technically he is a preteen, but he is almost taller than some of his adult sisters so I think he has already hit the teen mark. And I guess he is one of the tidier children! Looks like I will be busy for a while yet!

Can't believe it's February!

Not only February, but it's the third already!!! Well, that's what happens when you are toiling away in the salt mines, I mean moving house! It was not our intention to move house, in fact not our plan at all. We have only had our furniture and been unpacked at this house for six months so as I pack I am very disgruntled. Everything I put in a box I can remember taking out of a box and I keep wondering why I am not psychic! Life would be so much easier if I were psychic. We are in the inbetween phase of the move. Some of our stuff is there, and some here. "There" is just two streets away. Some of the kids are really keen to walk there whilst carrying something to the new house. I am of the opinion that it's not that close! (It's not!!!)

Meanwhile I have been ignoring the blogosphere (and all who sail in it), but woke up this morning feeling distinctly uninspired and feeling a need to catch up with all the latest. And the latest is just lovely! People have been making little blankets of love, showing off their January accomplishments, their flimsies and their newly finished quilts! There have been more monthly milestones met in the Some Kind of Wonderful stitch-a-long and my flickr groups are bristling with new things to catch up with! Life isn't so bad after all. I can't wait till this move is over (Monday night?) and I'm possibly not worth speaking to until then. So, here's something lovely to look at until I can be civil again.

My baby the uncle, Mr 11 with grandies!