I’m in awe…..

of all the Mother’s out there who are working fulltime.  I have to admit, I hate it.  Not working, just working fulltime.  I signed up for a part-time job and in the past 3 months I’ve worked 30 days with overtime (full days instead of half days).  This week was a mission.  Lilly and Nathan have earned a few dollars babysitting, and Cam has spent the afternoons with his best mate – everyday!  Some days he’s asked me if I can drop him off, but I can’t even do that when I’m working.  Some day I worked late (unavoidable) and hardly saw him.  I think all in all my kids have had a pretty sucky Summer holidays   Me too.

No sewing is happening, I’m too brain drained after work.  I have more overtime next week, but after that hopefully I will have 2 full weeks of working normal half-time hours.  I hope so.

Owls

My first “start and finish” of 2012.

Nesting Owls by Saffron Craig.  Backed with gorgeously soft flannel, quilted in an all over stippled, interspersed by Owls.

Geeking

Enough computers?  We have so many computers in this house!

Save lives, give blood

I was a good citizen on Thurday.  I had an appointment up in Masterton and happened to notice the blood bank were there, so I stopped in to donate.  I haven’t donated for quite a few years, due to things like surgery, pregnancy, breastfeeding etc, so I felt pleased to be able to give some blood.  Having had a transfusion in the past I really know how important it is.

Unfortunately for me, I gave a litte too much and managed to bleed all over my nice white work shirt. Bugger.

  The blood bank were nice enough to give me one of the t-shirts they give to frequent donators.

So, if you get a chance and fit the criteria, give some blood!

Lend me your quotes

It’s probably going to be while till we redecorate around here, so in the meantime I’m doing some of my own redecorating (I can’t wait to get rid of the green walls!!)

I started out with some of the high frequency words that Cam was learning at school (6 weeks with no school is a long time), so he would be able to read and remember some of them. 

Then another spot seemed a good one for some inspiring quotes….

some of the other walls will get movies quotes, lyrics or quotes that I’ve seen in media.

It’s all a work in progress, and will not be permanent, but I’m sure the walls will be a lasting memory.  So if you know a great quote, please let me know in the comments, I’d love to add some more (nothing too soppy please).

Day by day…

Yesterday, just for a change, we made Sushi for lunch.  Some time last year I bought the Tupperware Sushi making set, but once I had it I had second thoughts about using it.  It just seemed like it was going to be way more complicated than it looked.  Well, I’m so surprised and pleased to say that  it’s not. I made some Sushi using the Tupperware set and some without.  The set makes it so easy and makes much better Sushi than I could on my own.  The smaller bites size rolls were better than bigger ones too.  If you think I’m exaggerating I’m not, Nathan and Lilly made some of the Sushi in the pic as well.  It was a blast, and tasted great too

The weekend was so windy.  That’s the biggest downside to moving the house, we are now more exposed to the wind (which was gusting about 120kph).  Ian and Cam didn’t seem to mind it as much as the rest of us.  The bonus was that while sheltering inside I managed to start and finish 2 quilt tops.  I was a little inspired after an offer to have some of my quilts in a shop for an upcoming weekend fair.  I’ll show pics of them once they are basted and quilted.  I had to go out to today to buy backing fabric, I never seem to have enough on hand when I need it

I’ll leave you with a photo I took last week (might have been Wednesday or Thursday) when I woke at 5.30am, instead of going back to sleep I thought I’d get up and do something constructive, so I made a cuppa and did a bit of sewing.  While I was up i managed to get a photo the stunning sunrise.  For me it was a big deal.  I’m not a morning person, so it’s not a very regular occurrence.

Another one of those times……

when I find it hard to blog, because I have so much to say, most of it just random ramblings though.

Sadly we had a local tragedy yesterday.  A hot air balloon (which frequently flies directly over our house) went up in flames and 11 people were killed.  So devastating.  5 were locals and 6 were tourists.  Hot Air Ballooning is a big tourist draw in our area.  It was such a terrible accident.  My heart goes out to those affected.

I’ve been busy with work and still have another week at fulltime hours.  Luckily I’ve been able to send Cam and Lilly to my Mum’s place while I’m working.  It’s good to be able to relax and get on with work knowing your kids are in a safe place and being looked after by someone who has similar values to us.  The lovely people who usually look after Cam after school are all on well deserved holidays  

Nathan had a great birthday on the 5th, had to believe he’s now 16 (definitely not sweet).  As Ian and I were both working he went into the big smoke for a few days to stay with his big brother and was thoroughly spoilt by Matt and his flatmates.  Champagne and cheesecake for breakfast would you believe.  Movies, bowling and Yum Cha.  Lucky boy! 

Ian and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary on the 3rd.  Actually celebrated is not really the right word, I forgot (as is usual for me after the rush of all the birthdays and Christmas), Ian remembered and put a photo of our wedding on his Facebook page (embarrassing).  My mum remembered, as she usually does, Ian’s mum didn’t, she usually does too but maybe age is catching up with her now   As we are typically financially challenged after December, we will try to go out for dinner on Valentines day.  It would be nice to go on an actual honeymoon for our 20th anniversary.

Cameron finally learnt to ride his two-wheeler bike.  He could have before now, but had no desire.  I’ve promised him a bigger (16″) and better one for his birthday this year now he can ride.  It is a bit of hard work to learn to ride when there is no nice smooth ground.  Our place is just lumps, bumps, mud and gravel.

First bike ride

I’ve almost finished our “Love” quilt.  Thanks to having a nice rainy day to sit and sew.  I sewed for a while, then took the kids to the movies to see the new Tin Tin movie.  It was awesome!  Well worth going to see.

On the home improvement front the fencers have been back to finish off the paddock fencing (man, they are super efficient, great service!) and will be quoting for the front of property fencing too.  Ian planted out new veges, corn, beetroot and lettuces.  Hopefully they will grow well, it’s a bit sad having almost nothing to eat in the garden.  I have tomatoes in, but they are doing poorly, as well as some pumpkins, squash, chillies, and basil.  None are doing fantastically well The bright side of the garden – the apricot tree is laden and they are just starting to ripen.  Some should be ready to eat very soon.

I think that’s all.  There’s lots I could moan about but my new year’s resolution is to think of the glass as half full as much as possible

Happy New Year!

To all my fantastic readers, friends and family who come over here to read and sometimes comment, I hope 2012 is a fantastic year for us all.  I wanted to say thanks for all your comments, I read everyone one and I apologise when I’m too lazy to reply to any of them, rest assured they are much appreciated.

Today I finished block number 25 for the “Love” quilt.  It might even be my favourite block yet

After mucking about a bit I managed to get the skull quilt sandwiched and ready to quilt tomorrow.  It was hard to find enough space on the floor to lay the quilt out, as Cam got additions for his train set for Christmas so he’s taken over the lounge (he has a very small bedroom).  Quilting day for me tomorrow!

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas :-)

Phew, I’m glad all the stress of Christmas is over. Sometimes it just seems like so much hassle.  We’ve unanimously decided that instead of present next Christmas we’ll try to save for a family holiday (maybe Sydney).  The big kids’ are keen on that

I managed to get a wee bit of sewing time in.  I’ve finished blocks 21, 22, 23 and 24 for our”Love ” quilt.  I’ve made it a priority to get this finished before April if I can.  I’m going to be batting this with wool and backing it with “Love” flannel so it will be extra warm and cosy for the coming winter. Just one block left to make then I will be cutting sashing, borders and binding.

One of the great presents I got for Christmas was a new camera, it’s nice to be able to take pics again without a big black spot in the middle of the camera

Hope everyone had a great Christmas etc, I’m back to work tomorrow No proper leave for me till at least April.

2011 in quilts…

Well I never thought I’d end up making more quilts this year than last, but I did.  25 last year including some mini’s, 36 this year plus 2 mini quilts and lots of quilt blocks, cushions and other stuff.  Not much in the last 2 or 3 months though.