Happy Birthday!

Mr 8 became Mr 9 today. (Technically, he turns 9 in a few minutes. He was born late in the evening on October 21.) Here he is with Mr 20's girl on the left and Miss 19 on the right. (He picked his best people to sit next to!) What's more fun than blowing out your candles? Lighting them yourself! He had a wonderful evening with all his brothers and sisters (and in-laws and his nephew). Time flies, doesn't it? Seems just like the other day that Mr 9 was born. He was the latest baby I ever had. He was 5 days late which seemed like forever to me! He was 11 pounds and 4 ounces (one of the big ones) and so very, very sweet. At 9 he is a laugh/riot. I guess growing up in a household of teenagers and adults sharpens your sense of humour. Happy Birthday my ashman!

Don't Look Now at Hettie's Patch!

Just setting the scene for you here. While I am writing this post Miss 23 is playing the piano in the background. I love to hear the piano! All of our girls can play (wish I could!) and the boys know the basics too. So I am having a lovely relaxed day which is perfect for this post!

This past weekend I attended a workshop run by Kellie (Don't Look Now) at Hettie's Patch. Kellie does such beautiful work! Go take a look if you are not familiar with it. Everyone had the best time and we all produced some great work! Thanks to Kellie, Lorraine, Leanne, Karen and Kate who worked so hard to give us an excellent workshop. If you ever have an opportunity to do a class with Kellie, don't hesitate. She is a great teacher with so many hints and tips that I found really valuable.

We had the opportunity to watch and listen to Kellie.............

..........and then it was down to work! At some stages during the day it was so quiet in the workroom! Just the hum of sewing machines. Of course, it wasn't that often, but we were all really inspired by Kellie's work!

This was my result. I love it, and whilst my work is not at Kellie's standard, I can see that if I practiced I would improve! I feel like I have the techniques I need to know to be successful. I think I will turn this practise piece into a pillow cover and I am going to practice on a couple of quilts this week to keep my momentum going!

Yesterday I drew this froggie on some calico. She sure is happy! She is based on one of Bronwyn Hayes' frogs from her "Chicken Little Feather" book. (Sweet book with lots of patterns and stitcheries for babies! You should rush out and buy it!) I have been thinking about things to make for babies cause Mrs 25 is pregnant and I am going to be a grandmother again. (You know you're old when you're a grandmother. You know you're really old when you are two grandmothers!) The frog's dress might give you a clue as to whether we think this baby is a girl or a boy! I think she will end up on the front of a bib!

Busy, busy!

So, I have been busy. One of the things I have been busy with is sewing machine shopping. My Bradley and I traveled far and wide in the search for a new machine for Rosemary Hill. (Yes! Despite our recent move we still live at Rosemary Hill. I have planted the requisite rosemary bush and am sticking with the "Hill" despite the fact that we now live on the plains! For those of you who don't know our city, suffice it to say that we now live close to an airport so it must be flat!) I checked out all the beautiful piecing/quilting machines that are on the market. (Gosh there's a lot these days!) Some were just perfect, except for the price! Others were just perfect, except for the colour! (Hey! We quilters are very sensitive to colour. I couldn't look at that colour every day!) It was a very confusing business. In the end I chose the Janome 6600.
Isn't it pretty! It has all sorts of features that I am really enjoying. Like a knee lift (new for me). And it sounds so pretty when I sew. Members of my family come to listen to it when I sew!

One of the reasons I went with the Janome was because my previous machine was a Janome and it was familiar. So, now that I have the new machine I must get sewing!

October?

This year really is zooming by. It is school holidays here (we're halfway through two weeks of holidays). This is what Miss 17 wore to school on casual day during the last week of term. For most kids casual day signifies a day to get out of school uniform. For Miss 17 it is a costume opportunity. She went as Wally from the "Where's Wally" books. (Waldo in the US I think) She spent the day being "found" by everyone at school! I have been busy continuing to get organised and just being busy. I have been watching re-runs of "Project Runway" on Foxtel. Not re-runs to me though, because I have never seen them before. I looooove "Project Runway"! Foxtel is partway through season 5. I find them all so inspiring. Not sure if I love the show so much cause I just like seeing people sew (What??? Sewing is my best!) or whether I just enjoy creativity - even vicariously! The show makes me think I can design clothes, so it definitely is inspiring! I have a day of sewing ahead so I must get to it!

Royal Adelaide Show

It was off to the show today. Misses 17 and 12 had the day off school today so we went to the show. At the moment I can hear the fireworks in the distance. I took the kids during the day to do all the daytime things at the show and my Bradley and I swapped this evening. So I am home and he is at the fireworks with the kids. (Fireworks are not really my thing. Actually, I don't mind fireworks. It's more that sitting on wet grass for hours is not my thing!) It rained this morning, but once we got to the show there were only one or two very light sprinkles. We were very lucky. I noticed a very dark sky whilst Mr 8 was on the dodgems. We were standing in sunlight with a dark cloud in the background. You can tell we are true Adelaidians because we would have been happy to be rained on, but it didn't come to that. Ahh........ now that commitment is over I can begin the sewing!

Daisy Days

It was a lovely day here today. We had a great father's day with all the kids coming over for dinner. Mrs 25 along with her bloke and grandson, Mr 20 and his fiance and Miss 19 and her boyfriend all joined Miss 23, Miss 17, Mr 15, Miss 12, Mr 8, my Bradley and me for a meal. My Bradley had a lovely evening and we rounded it off with a game of Celebrity Heads! Lots of fun and laughing. The photo above is what we get up to with spring in the air. Miss 23 and Mr 15 decided to turn our porch light into a daisy chandelier. They didn't get very far with it. The sunshine and balmy air called them to something else before they finished the chandelier! Hope your week is wonderful!

Op shopping

We went op shopping this week and bought some old books. Old books to draw in and paint on. And Miss 23 got some mohair yarn to dye and knit. (She loves to knit!)

September already?

Wow! This week has gone so fast. This is Mr 8 doing some cartwheels at the girl's school while we waited for them to finish on Tuesday this week. We had just been to the patchwork apple (wot fun!) where I got some fabric. (surprise) It feels like spring to me. Actually it is spring, but it even feels like spring! The air gives you the feeling that summer is just around the corner. I am a huge fan of winter, but I'm looking forward to this summer. We are now living much closer to the beach and it will be interesting to go to the beach in the evenings more often in summer. I have been doing a little more unpacking and sorting this week. More organising. We have lived here for two and a half months now and I figured we'd better get serious about the unpacking and organising! More fabric has been unpacked and I intend to sew up a storm next week!

As the light ebbs out of today I am grateful.

I am very glad that this day is nearly over. Even with such a pretty sight as this visible from my verandah I have had enough of today. My week has been busy and long and seemingly unending. I haven't done much of any consequence. Taking Miss 23 to the hospital each day to have her wound dressed was tedious. Fortunately she doesn't have to go so often now. I have spent most of the week doing migraines. (Why? I'm not sure. I should have chosen not to do the headaches I think.) I am so glad when the sun goes down because light hurts my head so much. I should be more cheerful than I am because all the kids and my Bradley have helped me out all week. They have cooked meals and cleaned the kitchen. Vacuumed and picked up aroud the house. Washed clothes, hung them out to dry and brought them in again. Pain seems to make me be an ingrate! Fictional girls seem to learn so many more lesson from pain than I do. Both Cousin Helen and Katy from "What Katy Did" were much better people after having studied at the school of pain. I, however, just seem to whinge! Of course there is an upside to having a dreadful week. Next week can only be better, and I am looking forward to it! We weeded the garden this week and now we are thinking about what to plant in the garden beds in place of the weeds we grew so professionally. I am also planning to grow some fruit trees in pots. I love planning and thinking about the garden. Roll on next week! It's got to be better!!!

Block of the month number 6

Where did this week go? Not sure. This is what I managed to achieve. Block of the month number 6 finished and number 7 begun. I have almost run out of thread though so I won't be able to finish number 7 until I get more thread. Miss 23's wound has become infected so we are spending some time at the hospital each day. It is just a superficial infection which is the better kind of infection to have! I have mending to do today so I will get to sit in front of my sewing machine. (I enjoy any kind of sitting in front of my machine.) As for anything else getting done, I wouldn't count on it! Hope your day is full of your best things!

Block of the month number 5

Whilst I was busy sitting last week I managed to stitch block number 5 of my Rosalie Quinlan's A Redwork Christmas BOM. So much for photography classes! I took quite a few photos of this stitching and this was the best one! Oh well, don't think I'll become a professional photographer any time soon! I am really enjoying this BOM. Sometimes I get a little redworked out, but after a a week's respite I'm good to go again. This week I'm starting on block 6.

Busy Week

I have had a very busy week! Miss 23 had her operation on Tuesday morning. I've included this photo of her favourite piece of equipment in the hospital (her PCA button, Patient Controlled Analgesia button! It delivered pain relief after her operation) because in the background it shows the chair I spent a lot of the week sitting in! Her operation went really well. She had a vertical cut from her bellybutton down to her pubic bone (24 staples worth) through which a large external fibroid was removed. She was up and about the day after her operation and came home on Saturday morning. She is so happy to be home. Hospital is not really a comfortable place - even the best hospital in the world! (Which she declared the Women's and Children's Hospital to be!) She was busting to get out because she felt so much better physically with the fibroid removed. Before the operation she felt nauseous and tired and had lots of discomfort. She has to take it easy for about six weeks which is going to be difficult I think because she does feel so much better.

On my bedside table

Ten posts away from my 400th post. (And the required give away! Thought I'd give you a heads up!) My, doesn't time fly when you're having fun! This is what I have on my bedside table. My dvd player helps to while away those awful insomniac hours early in the morning. It also helps me go back to sleep. If I can't go to sleep I put on "As Time Goes By" (BBC comedy) and I drift straight off. I love that series. In fact I wore out the videos I had. The dvds have been much more robust than the videos were! I guess it's just familiar and I go to sleep. Hmmm..... I should be asleep now. Goodnight!

Moon

The moon last night was beautiful. It was big and yellow and not at all how my photo shows it. I am fascinated by photos taken in low light. I am fascinated by the way light affects colour. Our eyes are pretty amazing. We actually see in low light really well. Our eyes perform much better in low light than cameras do. I am fascinated by light and colour in general. It is one of the reasons I am so interested in patchwork and quilting. It also manifests itself when you draw or paint. You know how people often talk about how evocative smells are, well for me light is the same. That quality of light that would happen when I lived in Brisbane at the end of a warm day, just before a thunderstorm erupts. Occassionally I have seen that light here in Adelaide, but it feels so Brisbane to me. I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm really hoping to stitch!

Photography

Went to the first of two photography classes last night. Miss 12 and Mr 8 came along with me. We each had a camera and took lots of photos. I also now know a little more about my camera and how to use it. (Of course I still managed to take blurry photos! What is it with me and blur?) Next lesson is tonight. Perhaps with all these lessons I will leave blur behind!

Sewing

I love to sew! Today I spent some time unpicking squares and re-sewing them together. Unpicking is not one of my favourite things, but I was unhappy with how I had put the squares together. I thought I'd never finish them until I had made them right. I decided to turn the squares into doilies. They are all pastel and floral - just right for doilies! Tomorrow I am hoping to finish them. We will also go to see the anesthetist. Miss 23 will be having her operation next week and tomorrow's visit is the last thing we have to do in preparation.

Out my front door.

Trees

Trees at my house this morning.

Flowers in Ballarat

I heard a comment on radio last week that I really enjoyed. An Adelaide musician was being interviewed. He said that he didn't get any work in Adelaide, people obviously just didn't like him. Later he was asked how he would describe Adelaide. His answer: Adelaide is Ballarat with a car race. Having recently been to Ballarat I don't think he was wrong! These photos were taken in Ballarat. They are part of my photo a day contribution. Hopefully I will get more organised and take my camera with me each day so that it really will be a photo a day!