Food, not friends

At our house roosters are food not friends.

Out of the 12 chicks we had hatch it looks like we ended up with 4 rooster and 8 hens, which is much better odds than I expected.  The year before we had 1 hen out of 6 chicks.  3 of this years Roosters are now gone, but I’ve kept 1.  The remaining rooster is a gorgeous pure white Leghorn, so as long as he has a nice temperament he’ll stay.

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Not much to say

Trying to get into routine for buses and getting ourselves to where we need to be.  Today I took the bike and trailer up to town (4km away) for Cameron’s swimming lesson.  It was something I’d been dreading all week, but really it was worse in my head than the actual reality.  The was only a bit of a breeze, took me 19 minutes there and 15 back (it’s slightly downhill on the way home), so not too bad really.  I had planned to do my grocery shopping online, with Ian doing a pick up in Palmy, but I mucked about and it was too late.  I forgot that I would have needed to order the day before.  I’m just not that organised yet.  So I will have to waste a whole Saturday morning going up to Pak n Save.  Stink.  Hopefully I can get organised for next fortnight’s shopping.

I got a wee bit of sewing done this week, not heaps, but I made a start.  Just clothing this week, no quilts.  I needed to replace Cam’s wool jacket as he had outgrown it, so it was good to get that done.  It has been pretty cold on a few morning walks down to the bus stop.  I even managed to make it reversible

The Enormous Crocodile Jacket…

Still buttonless at the moment.  I’ll put some temporary ones on.  I’m getting some handmade buttons made up for it.

I made Cam some pants using a new pattern too.  The fabric was just a bit of corduroy I was gifted.  They are a bit long at the moment, but I’m sure they will shrink a bit (as I haven’t prewashed the fabric).  The fit is good though.  I think I’ll make him a couple more pairs like these.

So, that’s all the sewing this week.

In other news, I planted some broad bean seeds, and harvested a chicken tonight.  One of the roosters (not quite old enough to crow) was continually jumping the fence, so today when he got into my herb garden (which is a long way from anywhere that chickens should be) it was the last straw.  His number was up.  I didn’t bother with using the whole chicken, I was feeling too lazy to pluck, but we now have a nice pair of small breasts for tomorrow nights dinner.  Risotto I think   Still another 3 that I’m pretty sure are roosters in the pen.  I can see a few more meals there.

My $1 reserve quilt is closing tomorrow morning, so if you want to bid there is still time.  Check the previous post for links.

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$1 reserve quilt

I finished another quilt this morning, ready to list in the shop.  So I decided to list the one that’s been in the shop the longest on TradeMe for a $1 reserve.  Go on, grab yourself a bargain.  You know you want to

Any funds over $50 will be donted to the Red Cross Christchurch Appeal.

Listing here

I’ll be back later with pics of the gorgeous boys / unisex quilt I finished this morning.  I just need to list it in the shop first.

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I wish I were wise.

A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren’t we like that wise old bird? 

 

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I’m so freaking excited !!!!!!

I’m going to Handmade.  I sat here for a couple of days are finding out it was on (jeez I must be living under some kind of a rock, lots of people knew about this months ago), knowing I have to save for a new car.  Then I thought “damn it” I’m going to go. I’m calling it “professional development”.  Yes it means an extra 2 weeks for saving for the car, but this is a once in a lifetime (or at least once in a few years) event, so I logged in today and made my reservation.  There were so many great workshops to choose from, I wish I could do more of them!

I’ll be doing an all day quilt workshop on the Saturday with Kathy Doughty of Material Obsession fame.  I can’t wait.  On the Sunday I’ll be taking classes on Cheesemaking, Making a wooden Sorter Box, Preserving and Jam making and Oriental Book Binding.  I really wanted to do the Soapmaking too but it clashed with the Cheesemaking, and in the end I thought it more likely that I will come home and make cheese than I would be to come home and make soap.

There are still places available in lots of great classes if you’re interested.

Add to the awesomeness, Next Sunday I’m taking a learn to crochet class.  About time I woke my brain up aye??

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Flattered.

I was approached a few days ago regarding the possibility of some advertising on my blog.  It’s nice to be considered as a regular blogger in NZ and I was flattered to be asked.  I have to say the thought of having some free samples to share with my readers was tempting, but in the end I had to politely decline.  Not because I’m anti-advertising (I’m on the fence about the integrity of that), but because it would have been hypocritical.  The main product from the company who contacted me was disposable nappies.  I’m a staunch supporter of cloth nappying.  I’ve been part of the forum over at The Nappy Network for about 4 and a half years now.  Even though we are well out of cloth nappies I am still active.  Many of the people on the forum have become good friends and you can get great advice on almost any parenting subject.  Lots of the Mum’s are my customers too and there are many TNN babies and preschoolers out there with a lovely Sew Vivid quilt (including quite a few I’ve donated).  The Nappy Network really is a great place, so if you need some advice regarding parenting that isn’t supplied by the 2 main disposable nappy companies in NZ, they are a fantastic alternative. There’s also the bonus fo a lot of crafters there too!

In other news, something I created is being published very soon.  I can spill all the details in a few weeks, so stay tuned   I’m so excited !!!

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A yo-yo day

Some days are so up and down at the moment.  I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels like that, but it would be nicer if it was more up, than down.  It’s not like I even have much to complain about, just a few things that I’d really like but can’t have for various reasons.

I did have something really nice happen today.  My neighbour who I get on with really well, but don’t see that often, heard that we are without a car during the week, so she phoned me up this afternoon and said ‘I don’t need my car tomorrow, I’ll drop the kids off at school and you can have the car for the day’.  How awesome was that?  After being out in the nasty weather today, it’s nice to know that tomorrow I can take Cam to kindy, go do my cleaning job, visit the bank, post all my parcels and pick Cam up again, all without having to catch the bus. I’m extremely grateful.  I have other lovely friends who have offered to pick us up and drop us off when needed as well.  Cam loves catching the bus !!  The downside of taking the bus – it’s more expensive than taking a car.  I can’t believe that petrol was costing me about $20 a week to do the run to Kindy and back, but taking the bus is between $32 – $40 (depending on how many days we go).  Sad eh?? I can understand why so many people don’t use public transport.

I got a wee bit of sewing done today, some toiletries bags made for a customer, and a couple for the shop (but I haven’t taken pics of those yet). These are lined with PUL, so they are waterproof on the inside.

I actually did more than a little sewing, but can’t show pics of some of it yet because it’s for a special present

Another good thing …

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Considering there’s not a lot happening in the garden, it was lovely to have dinner last night with mostly our own produce.  The Feijoa tree is still dropping heaps of fruit each day, not bad considering I though we were going to have a poor harvest.  We have really good spuds, and still some more to dig up – Yay!  I have loads of Silverbeet too, so much that I can eat it several times a week.

And one more good thing …

A good book to read.  I picked up this book at the 2nd hand shop for 50 cents.  A complete bargain.  This book was such a good read I couldn’t put it down.  It’ definitely one of Minette Walters best books in my opinion.  As it was such a bargain and I enjoyed it so much, I’d like to pass it on to someone else to read.  So if you’d like to read it (and you’re within NZ) leave a comment and I’ll send it out.  May as well share the love

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Weekend sewing

I was lamenting the lack of sewing last week.  Circumstances conspired to deprive me of my regular 4 hours a day of sewing time on several days (although there are days that I do squander a few of those hours online), so I was feeling a bit grouchy.  To make up for that I was able to sew most of the day on Sunday and also had an hour or two on Saturday. After that I was feeling much saner. 

So as well as finishing my big Park Slope quilt i managed to make up a cot quilt top using just scraps and a half metre of fabric from my stash.  Yay.  I really love all the bright colours and can’t wait to sit down and quilt this top so I can get it in the shop asap.

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A long time in the making…

It’s done ! This quilt has been a hurdle on my quilting journey.  It’s my Park Slope Bear Paw quilt. It hard to judge size by the pic, but this quilt is 85 inches by 85 inches (215cm square), for me this is a huge quilt.

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Really it’s my learning quilt.  Back when I started it in June 2009 I had no idea of the difficulty level and preciseness required for this quilt.  If I could do it all again I would have been far more accurate with the half square triangles, which is really the key to this quilt.

  I can’t remember the precise number, but this quilt required a lot of cutting (somewhere in the 800-900 pieces) and a lot of sewing.  I really wanted to get this quilted by a long arm quilter, but with saving for a car this was not an option, so today i got it out of my WIP drawer, basted it, quilted it and bound the edges.  Now it’s on the bed   I’m pleased that I had to quilt it myself, it gives me immense satisfaction to know I did the whole thing myself.

I hope it won’t take me another 2 years for the next big quilt.

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A quiet week.

In terms of blog posting that is.  Not really what I’d call a quiet week here.

Hey, thanks to everyone who left lovely comments on my last post for Mother’s Day.  I hope you all had a great day too.

So this was the first real week of no car.  It’s been hard to get used to.  It’s definitely easier in theory than practice.  Even though the bike trailer is a great idea, it doesn’t seem that great when you have to lug and extra 25 or so kilograms behind you.  Needless to say I’m feeling that pain of it now.  My back is not enjoying the extra load.  I made sure I dosed up of anti-inflammitaries and pain-killers before having to do any physical work today.  Next week we’ll try bussing it a bit more and maybe only cycling once a day.  Lilly has had to cadge lifts home after sports, Nathan can not miss the bus after his maths lesson and we can’t go up to the park after school, we just don’t have enough time (or energy) to get there.  So all in all a bit sucky I have to say.

I had the fun tonight of Nathan coming home to tell me he has an important assignment due tomorrow and he’s not done it. He had 5 weeks to get it done.  But whenever I ask if he has any homework he says no.  What’s a parent supposed to do?  Some of the teachers email me if there is something coming up due, but there has to come a time when they become responsible for themselves.  So we are doing it the tough love way (aka Nigel Latta) and Nathan now has no laptop till the end of the month.  Not that it will help much I suppose as now I have to put up with an angry, sullen teenager hanging around, stirring up trouble all the time.  *&%$&^!

Matt really seems to be enjoying his driving lessons.  We are waiting on the government to put some funding back into training for the unemployed so Matt can see if he can go on the Limited Service Volunteers course run by the Army.  Matt is really keen to do it, but not keen to join the Army fulltime, doesn’t wanna get shot ya know.  I don’t blame him, I wouldn’t want to get shot at either.  Reality is that even NZ soldiers get killed.

So I have got a wee bit of crafting done.  Not even half as much as I’d like but I am making a bit of headway on some swap and presents that need to be done soon.

I forgot to show you pics of my lovely, clean and tidy sewing room…

All my quilting cottons… Seems I have a lot of blues and greens.

I inherited this baby Singer from my Mum.  Cam keeps trying to steal it from me.

All my backing fabrics and clothing fabrics…

The final result…  took me 4 hours to clean up, sort and create some new space.  I am pleased with it.

That’s all on the storage side of the room.  The other half of the room is the working side, which i keep pretty tidy anyway.

I finished off a curtain for the Kindergarten.  It was decorated with handprints from all the kids, which I then quilted around.

Made some Feijoa Jam…

Made some briefs for Cam (thanks Jen for the plane fabric)..

And made lots of slippers…

So that about all for me. Be sure to come back to see if I’m still sane in a week :-0

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