where is time going..

I can't believe another 2 months have gone by again....... time is really flying past us lately and the first term of the school year is almost over.....

We have been rather busy with the start of the school year and all the other sporting interests of our children and farm life in general so haven't really been too near a sewing machine for a little while......

I have however managed to make a couple of glass cases/playstation case bags...lol they have a spring based opening on them so nothing falls out.. along with a little carry handle.

Both my younger girls were recipients of one each for their psps and an extra one for the one who wears glasses for her own glasses..hehe and also one was gifted to my mum for a belated birthday gift..

I have also made 3 of these bags which have been sent off to a quilter in the Victorian bushfire area along with some knitted items which are all going to those who have lost so much already. The bags will be used as stash bags and filled with fabric and accessories for other quilters who have lost their stashes. All the knitted items have been handed out to help those in need now. I am lucky enough to have contacts on the ground so to speak who can get items of need to those in need rather quickly. I just pray that those of us in Victoria are now over the fire season, especially after the horrendous day we experienced last Tuesday.

The winds we got here were equivalent to a cyclone 1 strength and cut us off from our local town with trees downed on the roads which could not be cleared until the winds abated as it was too dangerous, trees were continually falling all over the area, the dust storms cut visibility to almost zero and was very eerie.. luckily for us all fires that started in the area were very quickly and aggressively attacked by the local firies... one good thing to come out of Tuesday is we all have enough firewood for the winter ahead.. and we got RAIN... yay..... being in rural Vic we rely on tank water for our survival and have not had rain of any sort since December..... the rain started off Tuesday night with a bit of drizzle but by Wednesday we had real rain...... such a fantastic sound to hear the rain on our roof again......and running into our empty tanks..... lets all hope we don't get too much more of the hot, windy days and fires we have seen since February..... even though we have had rain the land is still very dry and it still would not take much for a fire to take hold again...... we still have probably 7 weeks before we can relax.......

Our other lot of news is DS1 moved out of home mid January, much against his mum's advise lol with the economic downturn....... but he had to go out and experience life..... he was advised 2 weeks ago that he and another apprentice at his work were being laid off....... that seems to be the story everywhere around here at the moment.. so after a fortnight of speaking with different people about different strategies, as he is still completing his apprenticeship, he has decided to move home...lol esp as he now can't afford to rent and pay off a loan on no income.... we think at this stage he will be allowed to finish the schooling part of his apprenticeship by attending 'school' once a week and have his workplace side of his apprenticeship put on hold until things pick up... he is going to work for us here on the farm and we are all just hoping that some how we all survive financially..... we have put up for sale a couple of vehicles and also sold off our heifers and now it is just a wait and see what happens with the markets, it is out of our hands but we will get there......

I have been spending a lot of my nights knitting and have a bit of a stash of completed items which I will take pics of later and update on my other blog for those interested. I have joined an online group call Knit4charities which is a really great and inspiring group who does an amazing job of helping out charities here in Australia with in kind donations of goods. I have gained a few new contacts for charity goods to be donated to. It is such a good feeling to know that you are helping out those in real need and that the items are actually getting to the people who really need them.

I am off this afternoon to help cut out blocks for a QS quilt my local craft group are making for a raffle with all proceeds going to the bushfire victims here in Victoria.. as we only meet on a monthly basis now the majority of the work will be done at our homes and pieced together when we meet... so I can see that will be keeping me busy also...lol

Take care all and I hope it won't be soo long before I update again..hehe no promises though

My Reversible Bag and other bits..

I had a lovely day on Monday sewing. You guessed it, I made another bag...lol

I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am now in the mood for more sewing and 'me' time.

This is from the Grand Revival range and is a reversible bag. I did mess up the process and spent some time unpicking but then just decided to do it my way and I was happy with the way it turned out... lol I did use it today and sits really well on your shoulder and is very comfortable to carry..

Some other things I have been making are a xmas stocking, a thread tidy which I am yet to finish off..

also had fun today shopping... lol we went and visited a new (to us) P & Q shop..... it was heaven and had a great array of fabrics and patterns that are completely different to the other shops in the area..... I didn't really buy a lot, a few patterns and some fabric.... the girls each picked out some fabric that they liked and I will make it up into some glasses cases for them..

Happy New Year!!

Can you believe another year has already passed us by... it doesn't seem like 12 months have gone by already....


I hope everyone had an enjoyable christmas and wish all a very happy and prosperous New Year ahead full of good health and happiness.


I am hoping to get more time to spend in my sewing room this year and have big plans to enable this to happen...
These cute little flowers are a sample of some of the sewing I have been doing however...lol they are 2 different ways of doing a type of suffolk flower.... these are now attached to a pocket on a bag I have made for my dd for her xmas pressie.........

It was really sad to see when she came home to stay for a while that she kept and transported all her cross stitch supplies in a plastic nappy bag...... so I got the idea of making her a bag for her cross stitching. I will post a pic once I have given it to her so as not to ruin the surprise... lol as you can see she hasn't received it just yet as I still have to finish of the handles.....

I haven't forgotten either that I need to post a photo of the last bag I made.. it is on my camera and I will download it to the pc asap... I know I can be slack at times, also very busy and hectic with life..lol but I am going to make an extra effort this year to update my blog on a more regular basis with lots more pics... lets see how I do....

hugs to all

I have actually sewed something

LOL I can't remember the last time I actually used my machine to make something just cos I wanted to.... usually it is work or mending...........
but I finally got the urge to sew yesterday and made up a bag that I had cut out months and months ago...... it came together really quickly, it is all just from scraps of fabric I had left over from other projects, not my normal colours, blues this time but I think it turned out okay.. will take a pic later today and upload it... it did make me feel good to be back sewing and I hope to do more of it real soon...vbg..
Dancing starts again tonight for Tahlia so I won't have a lot of time and with their performance coming up in a month they have extra nights training etc.. but it will be all over soon and some of my time will come back to me....lol so here's to looking forward to more time for sewing.....hooray...

Okay edit to this post...lol here is a pic of Tahlia in her costume with a friend waiting backstage for their turn for the performance.. the performance was over three days/nights.. and was a very tiring time for all involved.. Friday and Saturday nights finished around 11 pm and then we were back again Sunday from 1pm for an afternoon performance.. i think we got home Sunday night some time around 8pm all exhausted.. the performance was astounding and a credit to all involved.. the girls and boys did an amazing job and made everyone proud..

Cricket season is upon us again!!

Well it doesn't seem like 6 months have passed since cricket finished earlier this year but it must have....
We started back into the local cricket season on Saturday which made for a hectic day all round with birthday celebrations happening as well..lol the boys did really well for themselves and won their first game for the season which was really pleasing as on Thursday night we were still scratching around for a team as no one yet seems to be in cricket season mood....lol
We have lost a few players from last season which always makes it hard for the next season.. we only come from a small community and trying to find players is very hard unless you can manage to recruit some in from the bigger towns around.. hopefully we will go okay and be able to fill our teams each week..... here's hoping anyway..
Lauren is still trekking backwards and forwards to Melbourne with State cricket training... weekly trips at the moment then next weekend we start Friday nights and Sunday trainings..... not sure how we will do that but may have to miss out on Friday nights and just do Sundays...
She has had to forego her womens' cricket locally for this month so we are hoping they can get enough players each week as her and another girl both play in the same team and both have state training in Melbourne on Friday nights......... we find out at the end of this month if she makes the cut into the actual team that will play in Brisbane in the first week of December....
could make for a nice holiday destination for us if she does make it...lol

1st birthday...

Our gorgeous little granddaughter turned 1 on Saturday and her mum nicely nominated to have her party here at our house, which I really didn't mind...
Well we had a ball, it is funny watching a young ones face and trying to work out what their little minds are thinking.. she was absolutely taken with her birthday cake which her other nan made for her and my dd decorated it.. with nothing less than horses...lol what else would a child of an obsessed horse mad mum get for her birthday cake...hehehe.. her daddy sneaked in an extra decoration though which made for a few laughs... he is car mad so just happened to place one of my hubby's miniature cars on the cake just prior to cake time....lol
Kaylee made a dive for the cake upon spotting it and thoroughly enjoyed her handful she managed to grab...lmao... her gran managed to wear quiet a bit of the cake all over her too....
I will put up some pics as soon as I download them off the camera... Okay have added the pics now...

On the left is the happy family together for Kaylee's 1st birthday..

and on the right is me holding Kaylee and her aunty Nikayla also waiting to blow out the candle...lol

The Winter Warm Project

Today whilst browsing the net I came across this website, www.winterwarm.org/ which is a relatively new organisation working towards helping those less fortunate. They are working towards a great cause, if you want to read up on them then I recommend you do.
I can't even begin to imagine what life must be like for these children in Afghanistan when winter sets in for them....
So I beg of anyone who can knit or crochet and is willing to help out pleeease give some of your time to make something for these children.. or even in the way of a donation of a brand new coat or jacket to help keep the freezing cold at bay for these poor kids...
Details are on the website for those who are interested. I know I will be making items and sending them on.. every little bit no matter how small all helps.