A Change of Pace

Our Boy makes friends with the locals......whilst on holiday near the ocean for a blissful four days. The break has really made us question why we live on the edge of the desert-particularly after two months of no rain and a run of hotter than average weather...

Garage Sale Fun Finds

We recently spent a morning checking out the local garage sales. Here is about $8 worth of my favourite finds. Some plastic dress up hats for my little boy, a wooden block puzzle, a few patterns and a 1985 Cabbage Patch doll who looks pretty good for her age. She was sunbathing after a ride in the front loader when this picture was taken.

Back in the '80's I was desperate for one of these somewhat odd looking dolls. Several weeks of odd jobs and pocket money later I had enough for a cheap copy, which I loved anyway. I still have her tucked away, with all the outfits my Aunty made for her, and she comes out to play if we have small visitors. Now she has a playmate, and I can't wait to sew her some clothes!

Wednesday's WIP shot!

Please excuse the bad lighting! Here is part of my first 'Charming handbag'. So far, so good. Just need to do minor repairs to my machine and then I can proceed a bit further on it! And here is a pic of my washing line the other day.
Makes me smile!

Better late than never!

Some months back my enthusiastic husband collected and dried the seeds from a capsicum while muttering loudly about the inflated prices and dubious freshness of what was available from our only supermarket.

Well, it has taken a while and we'd almost given them up as a waste of our tank water when suddenly we spotted this. It's currently as big as an egg, and there are many more smaller ones on their way too.

More experienced gardeners (ie-just about anyone!) tell us we should be able to collect the fruit until the first frost which will probably knock the plants about and put an end to our fun.

Last time we tried this experiment our chooks at the time got in and demolished the plants completely, but this time we have a better fence for the vegie patch and for the chooks!

Finally Paying-It-Forward!

New books-My long awaited Christmas present! I love it, thanks H!

A while back I saw this idea on Karen's Blog

Here's how it works...
I will send a handmade gift to 3 random people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week… LOL… but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

What a lovely idea! I decided I wanted to do it but it's taken a little while to get from thought to action!
I'm not sure yet what I will make for the random winners but it will probably be a little something from my new books 'Bend-the-Rules Sewing' or 'Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts' ...because I really need a good excuse to make some stuff out of those cute patterns!
Any comment on any post between now and 25th January 2008 might just win a prize.

So come on and be part of the fun, leave me a comment!

Last minute party outfits

We had a lovely few day visiting friends and COMPLETELY FORGOT about the fancy dress theme of 'Uniform' for a friends party until the morning of the party. Oops. Luckily I love a challenge and have an interesting collection of crap, I mean, bits and pieces, (stuff I save because it might be useful in the classroom) to help me out. Hubby was easy, his Kenny styled 'Splashdown' uniform was mostly out of his wardrobe. All that was needed was a VIP tag (Thanks Publisher) and a 'Splashdown' logo for his hat. (Scrap of black fabric stitched onto hat, words written in Puff paint).

My son was a bit trickier, but my easy pants pattern came in handy, and the sailor style collar was a bit fiddly, mainly because I didn't have quite enough trim. Dont look to close or it will become apparent the stripes are made from bias binding, ribbon and twill tape...lol. I even managed a hat but he wouldn't wear it!

And for myself, well by this stage it was 7pm and party time was in one hour. Take one old bedsheet, upsize the easy pants pattern, and create one very basic top requiring only side seams and a tiny bit of a neck facing and what have you got? Scrubs! Yay, so easy and finished within the hour. Accessories from the dress up box.

We all had a great night too.

Feeding the family

It's so very satisfiying (and economical) to feed your family from your own garden. This basket became a quiche. And later we used our lemons to make a mayonnaise. Oh yum.
And its nearly three monthe since our chooks arrived from the egg farm and its a relief to see them almost fully feathered again. Thanks for the eggs ladies, keep up the good work!