Just a few stitches

Here are a few more of my curbside pick ups. I just love baskets and could always find a use for these but first I will see if any sell in the garage sale. The reason they are in the bath is, well is, because they have had a bath of course. A bath in condyce chrystals to kill of any germs so I know they are okay to use. The puple chrystals stain my hands brown but do not colour the baskets at all. My mother used to use this method to kill germs on solid skinned fruit and vegetables she bought at the local market in Papua New Guinea when I was a child.




I haven't been sewing at all in the last few days - just dreaming of it - but I did manage to quickly make up this little cushion for the people I clean for before I went there on Monday.

For obvious reasons I call this my paradise material and so this is a paradise cushion.

Scrounging

I thought these were too good for the garbage truck so I brought them home and cleaned them up. Either they sell at next weekends garage sale or I will find a home for them on the verandah.

I particularily like the two front ones here - they are solid copper and have such a warm, homely glow to them.

And Pewter too! From Sheffield and Australia. Could you imagine these with some wildflowers in them? Too pretty to throw away.

Ta Daa!

Black pussies (er, that is actually black silhouettes of white pussies) on plain green backgrounds. Just enough!




Gone to their new home today and still looking great.

Black cats

Actually these are NOT black cats regardless of what they look like. They are silhouettes of white cats. Trust me! ;-))

To see where these pussies end up come back for the reveal which may be later today or maybe next week depending on when I get the emotional energy to keep going!

Finally some sewing

I am loving these red cushions. I made them in response to a request by an aged friend who had recycled her spare bed pillows by halving them for cushion inserts.


The request was for red and green and when I was cleaning their study I realised they would have to go with this lovely afghan so I borrowed it to make sure nothing clashed. I had a go at the green but was really disappointed in them so will try again. Red indian cotton from my stash was teamed with a fat quarter from the quilt shop and sewn in a simple envelope style with co-ordinating old buttons for the closure.

While searching the op shop for an appropriate green fabric I stumbled upon this perfect UFO in log cabin. It reminds me of some of my dresses from 20 or 30 years ago. Naturally, knowing the work that had gone into the making, I expected it would be at least $10 but was both shocked and horrified when the lady at the counter said the materials sold for $1 per metre and she figured it was less than a metre. Happy for such a bargain, I was nonetheless sad that all that work should be treated so casually.

I am not sure what I will do with it - maybe turn it into a dog blanket??

Only kidding!!

The Cutest Blog On The Block

No, I am not talking about my blog (although I do absolutely love my new background) but I am writing to let you know about a site I found yesterday. As the heading says it is called http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com .

If you go there you will have access to over 200 possible backgrounds and there are some very cute ones too. The downloads are cheap and easy to install, at least on blogger, but keep in mind that the are static -that is they do not move - your blog rolls over them. I found that have a background makes the picture colours brighter.

Please let me know if you find the background annoying or difficult to read over. And maybe I should suggest only spending two or three hours with this fun tool. LOL

The Great Ocean Road

Whilst in Melbourne we took a lazy day trip along the Great Ocan Road. We started at it's beginning near Geelong and went until the Twelve Apostles (there are apparently only seven left - one having fallen not long ago!). The day was slightly hazy with salt spray and the vistas very relaxing, giving me a feeling in some spots of maybe being in Scotland or some such wild spot (only my imagination as I have never been there). Please enjoy the following tour with us.

Home Again!!

Wouldn't you know it! I have actually been home for a week now but after all that relaxing I felt to stressed to post! (Only kidding. I have really been mucking about with my header and was too ashamed to show the world the mess I had made.)





Well it was a lovely holiday. I met loads of old friends and made new ones too. We shopped, o how we shopped. I enjoyed the company of my daughters mechanic far too many times but we still got to go sightseeing (and more shopping). The art museum in the Noah's ark size building was our main cultural experience. It is well worth a trip there to see how far advanced some nations were even thousands of years ago - a good argument in favour of creation over evolution.





Then there was the wedding, train and tram and bus trips and of course the ever faithful local library where I caught up with some books I had not read before. My daughters landlady gave me free Bowen therapy treatments leading to more freedom in my health and also shared her stash of new and not so new magazines with me so that I have discovered that Notebook is the only magazine worth buying. (It's pages are filled with real information not just gloss overs.





We had a quick peek down China town so DD2 could remember it.





On the return trip from Albury to Melbourne we got caught in that dust storm. Each drop of rain brought down zillions of orange dust particles and of course the water for the wipers had to run out at that time so we were just rubbing mud over the window.