Choc Cherry Milkshake.....

My kids aren't too bad when it comes to spending time in fabric stores. I think they worked out pretty quickly that it was fait accompli and they just 'had' to either put up with it or get into it!

R quickly determined that she liked any fabric that was pink and brown and constantly asked when I was going to make something with these colours. She didn't know that I'd been secretly stashing.

This is another quilt for her....lucky girl. I'm calling it the Choc Cherry Milkshake. (Mind you, having seen the peach blossom in the background, I could have called it just that!)It uses the Lemon Drops quilt pattern which is free over on Faith's site. I've added another row down the side to make it square, roughly 63" x 63" at the moment. The top features pinks, browns, Kona Snow and varying mixtures of the aforementioned colours. Looking it now I have one HUGE regret. I wish I'd used the mega polka dot as a big square and not as a border. It's really lost its impact now that it's been cut up. Oh well....that's quilting!

Blitz......

The grass at the shack must be mowed before the Summer season hits otherwise there are Council fines and a risk of bushfire.

We usually employ a contractor to give the block a big mow twice a year but he's moved on.

We haven't been to the shack since Easter and it hadn't been done then. So given the rains that this Winter has delivered (albeit much needed rain to our drought stricken State) .... and recent sunshine ....when we arrived very early this morning we weren't surprised to be met by extremely long grass and weeds. Look at the mower, it's almost buried!

The plan was to get up at normal weekday time, leave home by 7.30am (well it was 8am), get to the shack, do the deed, hit the bakery and be back in town for L's swimming lesson at 1pm.

Yeh, well. That's roughly how it worked. Add in a 1/2 hour delay, pop petrol in the car, a take-away coffee stop for Joe and copious amounts of grumbling from the kids. Seriously, you'd think we'd asked them to do the mowing!

Apologies for not taking an after shot. I must have been so pumped about Joe finishing the whole block in 2 hours and me weeding the garden bed and getting back in the car on time, that I totally forgot to prime and point the camera!

But I tell you....for the rest of the day whilst the family was grumbling about how early they had to get up on a Saturday and how tired they were, I was looking for the next thing to be tidied.

Guess what it was?

My fabric cupboard.

Oh my. It was bad. There was fabric all over the place.

I pulled it all out and sorted the colours. Now it's all back in nice neat piles of story and colour.

And I learnt something about myself. I don't buy yellow or purple fabric.

Now I don't see this as a negative. No. It's an opportunity!

See you up bright and early at the fabric shops!

Farewell to the 'Finger'.....

No there hasn't been a rotary cutter accident. (touch wood)

It's a farewell to one of my all time favourite bands Powderfinger, who after 20 years of touring and recording have decided to call it a day and pull up stumps as a band. Last night was the first Adelaide concert of their national Sunsets Farewell Tour. This one sold out so quickly, that another is scheduled for November. But alas, now also completely sold out. If you have tickets for November or for any of the remaining States, you won't be disappointed. The show is awesome and if you're my age...which happens to be the roughly the same as the band, you'll get the sentimentality of the backdrops....and even the Alby Mangles t-shirt worn by Jon Coghill the drummer!

Our tickets were on the flat of Memorial Drive. Being only just average height made it difficult to see a great deal clearly....but I knew every song and loved every minute. And of course, the support band JET were amazing....again daggy ol' me singing along like a teenager!

Powderfinger sure knew how to play to the audience, adding a fantastic element of surprise and popping up on a small stage at the back of the flat which meant that for the audience that were further back like me were suddenly very close. Good on ya boys! Thanks so very much.....I'll be out walking in November and might just sit on the banks of the Torrens for another listen.

(I love this shot. It's the last one on my camera - the boys say farewell. Sniff)

Too cool for sandals......

And that's because....we can now tie our shoe laces. We're working hard. With a little help, it's Converses today and school shoes tomorrow!

Full swing Spring....

It's September, spring time and the garden is about to burst! Look what a couple of sunny days after the rain can do!

Quince

Fig

Peach

Peach blossom

Flag Iris

Golden Elm

Italian Lavender

Bonica Rose (look how much rain we've had....there's even moss on the ground!)

Thursday night dinner magic.....

As a working mum I constantly worry about what to cook for dinner each night. It has to be quick and it has to suit everyone.
I know I'm not alone in this daily dilema.
Sometimes I wake up immediately wondering what we're having for dinner (tragic). Most mornings I can make a decision before I leave for work. Take something out of the freezer or work out what needs to be purchased from the supermarket. If I haven't sorted it in the morning, I start thinking about it again around lunchtime. If it's not sorted by 2pm, I start getting anxious. Sometimes I fantasise about telling the fam to 'get yourselves sorted'....but that's pure fantasy and quite frankly not worth the angst! But the reality is, the pressure of having to make a decision can bring out the best. Tonight was one of those nights. An absolute winner in the dinner time department.
Tucked in the freezer was a kind of UOIT....unidentified object in tuppaware! I took the lid off and it looked awful. Kind of, no....exactly like, brown and blobby meaty stuff. However, I took a smell and it was divine. Left over beef stout casserole. But a really small quantity. Not really enough to feed a family of four by itself. However there were also a few sheets of puff pastry.
So tonight we had mini beef stout pies and when I say mini, I do mean mini. They were formed in the muffin tray. There was but one each along with a helping of creamy mash and vegetables.
The first positive was from fussy L...."can I have one of those?".
The next were the responses during dinner...."are there any more?". (....um....no...)
And finally, "that was great....can we have this again...?".
It's lovely when it works! Now to recreate the magic! Pass the stout.

Hexie happiness....

I have some hospital waiting room time and a long road trip coming up shortly. My hands have to be doing something so I thought I'd have a go at making some hand pieced hexagons.

I got myself organised with this downloadable template and sorted through my scraps.

How much FUN are hexagons? And they're just gorgeous....even before they're pieced together!

I'm not that enamoured with cutting out the paper templates....it's just a little tedious but it's a fantastic way to use up scrap paper.

I found the process of making these little 1" hexies is just so relaxing and rewarding. I managed to put together around 30 in a couple of hours in front of Wednesday night television.

I'm so looking forward to putting a dent in the plastic bags full of scraps I've accumulated.