Binding... and some other things.

I'm up to the binding on that quilt. Not sure if it will get done tonight. I'm a bit tired. I had a busy day at church teaching two classes. The binding is happening though.

the investigator

That's granddaughter number two investigating. Now that she is crawling she has to check everything out. (Of course!) Hard to believe that this time last week I was in Adelaide with this little girl. She is so lovely. A real Mummy's girl, but if you work very hard she will pretend to be your girl for just a moment. (We love to work very hard to get her attention!) Now for the other things. This month (May) saw my fifth blog anniversary. It seems like just the other day (and a hundred years ago) that I started blogging. I remember just how strange it all was and just how uncomputerliterate I was. (Sorry, but that's definitely a word spellcheck. No matter what you think!) I haven't turned into a guru or anything, but I mostly know what I am doing these days. Anyway, in order to celebrate my blogiversary I am going to have a give away. I will have to think about what I can give away. I'll get back to you on that!

OK. Back in the land of the living - blogtober.

I'm still sick, but have been pottering around at home this week. I felt I really didn't have anything to blog about, but Mrs 27 (picklesticks), who is still visiting with us, figured I should blog this. In fact she even took these photos. (Thanks Jess) This is three month old granddaughter 2 wearing the new dress I managed to finish for her this week. I also managed to finish sorting and tidying the sewing room and the lounge room revamp is just one area away from being finished too. Actually you can get quite a lot done pottering around I think. My Bradley celebrated his birthday this week and I decided to make him a sticky date pudding in lieu of a birthday cake. I had never made one before, but managed to find a most delicious recipe which was also extremely easy to make. It was so easy I made two of them and we have been enjoying the leftovers. Mr 11 has a birthday party with his friends coming up and he has requested the sticky date pudding as his birthday cake for that event. (I know! You know your kids are all grown up when your baby requests a sticky date pudding for his birthday cake!) Anyway, back to the sewing. I have another little dress cut out so will try to finish that tomorrow. Hopefully I will be feeling much better then! (I needed two naps today to get through the day. Bring on tomorrow!)

grandson showing his sister how to smile for the camera

Oh. And notice the Tis the Season quilt. That's what we have been doing with those quilts this week!

Going for a drive

Everytime we go for a drive through Melbourne we see hot air balloons. This time we were ready for them and managed to capture them just before they were out of sight.

And this is what was waiting for us at the end of our drive. Picklesticks with granddaughter(s).

And Grandson with Jane's birdbath in the front garden of the "new" Patchwork Apple at Lenswood. It was such a pretty day today and we had so much fun!

Some April cuteness!

It's shocking that it is April already. In fact it's so shocking it's taken me a couple of days to register this fact. Three months of 2011 have already passed. So, what does April hold? A lot of sewing I think. That's my plan anyway.

April started while I was in Adelaide watching this cutey. Do you like my granddaughter's gorilla nest? We spent lots of time watching her and her brother. Back home again now. Home and busting to get into the sewing room!

The Crochet Rug for Her

I have been crocheting. A rug for the new granddaughter. As soon as I saw this on my camera screen I knew the colours were wrong. Yes, it is orange, green and yellow. Just not quite this saturated. I am having fun with this. I have kind of thought that I should perhaps be making something more useful for this baby, or possibly even for the grandchildren that are already here and will feel the winter when it actually begins. When that thought comes to me I just think, "Yep. As soon as I finish this." This rug is so much fun and I am so enjoying it! I am a crocheter from way back. I crocheted when it wasn't trendy. (My Mum taught me how the last time it was trendy. Remember the 70's?) Just as it became trendy my hands ached every time I picked up a hook. My doctor diagnosed arthritis. I stopped crocheting. Well, this rug has been in my head for about three months now so I thought I might just get it out. As for my hands? So far so good. I am not crocheting as fast as I used to. Maybe going slowly will be the way I can work it out. For me it is a happy week. For crochet, it just may signal the beginning of the end as far as it's popularity goes.

November!

I was woken up this morning by Mr 10 coming into my bedroom to turn my calender over. He has taken the job of keeping our calenders current this year very seriously. So my first thought this morning was, "It's November!". Wow! This year has gone so fast!!! November means the Christmas Pageant if you live in Adelaide. Read about it here and here. Wow! November!

I have been busy sewing my layer cake class quilt today and visiting Picklesticks and kids. Grandson spent time cooking in his kitchen and granddaughter sat at the table and chatted with Picklesticks and I.

I think November will be an eventful month for us. We are planning to move to Melbourne this month or next and we are busy house hunting long distance. (It's about 750 km away) We will be sad to leave our family behind, but we need to move for my Bradley's work. I am hoping to get a house in which we can have a guest room set up so that all our best Adelaide people can come visit us. (You know you want to!) And we will be coming to visit them in Adelaide too. So, roll on busy November! Big changes are afoot!

Yesterday's project.

My new favourite tool is our staple gun. I have been using it to attach fabric to the inside of our glass cupboard doors. I loved my Ikea Billys before, but now they are so much more beautiful!

So nice not to see the stuff in the cupboard! As you can see I haven't finished them yet. (Mr 16 doing the teenaged veg thing!)

Grandson hanging out with his uncle. He loves his boys! We had a great day with Mrs 25 and grandson and granddaughter yesterday. They are so much fun to hang out with.

Here is granddaughter in Miss 24's arms. She was pretty tired by this stage! So, a zombie but a really cute zombie! Hope your weekend was fun.

Being an uncle when you are still a kid. (It's great!)

We had the joy of spending the day with Mrs 25 and her family this week. We took a vote. Granddaughter is the most beautiful baby in the world. Mr 9, Mr 15 and Miss 13 are all madly in love with her. Miss 17 is just as head over heels, but I didn't manage to snap her. They all vote that being an uncle and aunt is the best ever.

Of course, this new arrival hasn't dampened our enthusiasm for Grandson. He is a walking, talking genius! Every time we get to spend time with him he does something new that amazes us. We all play and play and play when he comes over. He makes sure of it! And he loves his new sister with a passion. Being a grandmother is pretty darn good too! (For those of you who have asked, my Bradley and I are Ma and Pa to our grandchildren. We tossed around all sorts of ideas, but decided to make ourselves Ma and Pa. Possibly after Ma and Pa Kettle - we do have a lot of children. Or maybe after the Larkins. (Ma and Pop) Who doesn't love "The Darling Buds of May"? Right now grandson calls us both Ma. We are an interchangeable unit obviously. I like being considered to be the same as my Bradley!) So, indulge me and look at these photos of my children admiring my child's child!