GOOD WEEK, BAD WEEK.

A beautiful sunrise one morning this week.

TAKING STOCK.

Quick bit about my health and letting others know to find out as much as you can about your medications if you are not feeling as good as you did some months ago.  I've been unwell now for about 15 months and the pharmacist decided to do a check on what I was taking.  It seems blood pressure tablets can have quite a few side affects when taken for a long time, so this may be the root of all my problems and once sorted I may feel like my old self.  My high blood pressure is probably hereditary as I'm not overweight (being approx. 49 kgs and 149 cm tall), don't smoke or drink and was going to the gym twice a week till about 15 months ago when I started getting these bad chest pains.  Ok, you probably didn't need to know all that, but just so people have an idea of "medications" which are sometimes needed anyway.

This has been the strangest week.  On Wednesday two letters arrived to tell me my Dentist had sold his practice and moved on, my favourite bookshop is closing down and to top it all off, the Sister I speak to at my father's nursing home is leaving.  Why on earth all in one week.  I suppose the best thing was finding out the above and hoping to get that sorted.  We also have had a couple of nice sunny days, although the breeze was cold.  Oz has even had it's first decent snowfalls of the season.  I also received my Yorkshire Life and a parcel, which contained the 3 books below it, which I ordered way back in March from Amazon.  The Andre Rieu book my hubby found whilst browsing in our bookshop, which is of course having a closing down sale. I am a big Andre fan and we've been to two of his concerts when he's been in Australia.  I also love Celtic Woman and Helmut Lottie, which is probably a bit of a mishmash to most.

My lovely surprises.

Now for what I've been up to this week.

"Starlight, Starbright".
Changed the wall hanging in the hall at the beginning of the month for this one.  I seem to be remembering to do this little challenge so far.

A spot of baking yesterday resulted in a quick chocolate brownie and a 1 cup apricot cake.  This is not what I was originally going to make, but my kitchen scales had decided to die on me, so I needed to find recipes that didn't need ingredients to be weighed.  Notice my first snowflake in the little vase.

Today I will hopefully get some binding sewn on my "Lace Circles" and some cutting and maybe some piecing for the Christmas Quiltalong ready for next weekend.  I hope to get the writing onto my "A" is for applique block done, so I can start embroidering that.  I have also got 3 table runners on the longarm, with one already done and hopefully the other 2 sometime today.
At least I had a good night's sleep, so maybe today I will not be so tired and achieve these things easily.  Hubby is already at work and won't be home till late this afternoon, so the day is my own.
Have a lovely Sunday bloggers.

ANOTHER WEEK GONE.

My photos are jumping all over the place so this will have to be how they are.  Below are 2 little rubber beasties I bought for the grandkids at the Outlet shop (see below)  You jiggle them up and down and a little light flashes on and off. Just a bit of fun I couldn't resist.

I haven't been completely idle this week, but certainly haven't got much done except the first row on this quilt which I hope to finish off tomorrow (Sunday).

                                                                  GARDEN PHOTOS.

Spiderweb taken by hubby whilst I was out.

Bulbs appearing and violets.

An azalea braving the cold.

Nerines

Alstroemaria has become leafy again and has a few flowers.

One lonely bergenia flower.

Pieris with plenty of buds.

Where on earth has this week gone.  I'ts been frosty most mornings and cold all day, so again not much in the way of photos, although I popped outside today and took some in the garden.
At midday, today (Saturday) I took this photo from the front verandah.  The fog lifted a little by 3pm and as I start to draft this it is clouding over again.

Foggy view.  Notice that we can't see the hospital.

FRIDAY.

Hubby had Friday off and we were supposed to see a financial  advisor, but he postponed the appointment, and we decided on the spur of the moment to have a day out to Ballarat to go to  the Shepp Cannery Outlet to stock up on some tinned items.  On the way I stopped by Mill Rose Cottage in Ballan for a quilt fabric fix.  It is a lovely light and airy shop with an amazing amount of fabric.  I did buy a few pieces.
After lunch we went to the Outlet, then Hubby wondered if Gail had rebuilt her shop after a devastating fire a couple of years ago.

The shop with house above.
This is the beautiful stone shop and house Gail and her husband built many years ago and have now rebuilt after the fire.  I have known Gail since 1986 when we lived in the Ballarat area.  We only spent 18 months there before moving to Tasmania for some years, but I used to catch up with her if we were on holiday and near the area.  She started her shop in the garage of her older home and had a board on top of the billiard table and a wall of bookshelves to hold the fabric.
Yesterday when we visited, and I must admit I'd not seen her for some time, and she looked up and exclaimed "OMG"  and gave me a great big bear hug, and then we probably chatted for about 30mins before I went off and bought 3 pieces of fabric and she got on with some other customers.  It was a lovely day all up.

Sign on front fence.

Well that was my week and this coming week looks like it will be busy again, so hopefully once some of the appointments we have with financial advisors, doctors, blood tests and the osteopath are over, I may get back to normal.
Thanks ladies for your comments and hopefully your weekend weather is a little brighter and warmer than ours.
Susan.

TAKING IT EASY

A King Parrot sitting in my leafless Silver Birch.  We very rarely see these in our garden, although they  are  often seen in our area.  They are absolutely beautiful and I wish we could have got a better picture.

This last week has seen me taking it easy, trying to get on top of the back pain and anxiety.  I've been working at a slower pace but not completely idle.  Saturday saw hubby and I head out to look at project homes and cars.  We are going to downsize, but not ready for a retirement village, we are sussing out what we can get.  Sunday morning I made hubby a black fleece neck warmer to wear when he is riding his motor bike.  It's not too flash, but wearable.  Sunday afternoon, I decided to bake a couple of slices.  I made an easy shortbread slice and a new recipe (white chocolate and ginger blondie).  Now the new recipe seemed to be easy enough, but the ingredients sounded way too much for the tin they advised, so I cut it back to 3/4 and it still overflowed whilst baking. I cleaned up the oven , and have decided to only make half the amount next time, as it is quite yummy.
I have made a start on "A" is for applique block that I am doing along with "Lucie the happy quilter".

This is Home is where the Heart is block.  It still needs to be appliqued and have the embroidery  done.

At night I have been finishing this rather old embroidery I found lingering in my sewing basket and am now crocheting around the edge.  Not sure where it will end up.  I have been alternating this with hand sewing the binding on my Dahlia quilt.  Also this week, I received a parcel. which was Gardenalia that I ordered as we could not get it here.  I love it.  The Quilt Sampler (which is one I still buy), appeared at the newsagent.  I allow myself this one as it is only published twice a year.  The other I have a subscription for is Quilter's Companion.

Well that has been a part of my slow week, and now I am going to try and put some backing on the machine, ready to  get another one of my UFO's completed.  I'll post pictures later in the week.  It has not been a good week to take photos as it is so overcast most days at the moment.
Have a lovely week bloggers.

MOTIVATION

I wasn't going to mention any of this on my blog, but after reading Lucy at Attic 24's post this morning, I will tell that all went well with my heart test and the pain I've had in my chest area for the last twelve months or so, is more than likely referred pain from my back and anxiety.  Funny how we all try so hard to look like we are doing great, but may be struggling with something.  I just need to get some motivation back and definitely some energy.  I do manage to get things done, but the steep slope of our garden means that is something taking a back seat and then I feel guilty, so we are going to downsize to a smaller, flatter block and I am also going to declutter.  I'll take it in small doses so I can still do some crafting and as I work from home on other people's quilts, that will still have to be done.  Watch this space as we try and achieve this.

Now for what I've been up to this last week.
We delivered Gs "L"s quilt on Saturday and he loved it.  Daughter loved it too and now has to bind it.

On Thursday night  Daughter is going to teach some crocheting.  Her church is holding a "Knitting Night" and some said they would love to learn to crochet and as she is very good at it, she offered her services.
Below are some samples she made up.

Another thing we did whilst I was there, was to make this little felt bird (unfinished as yet).  We decided that it was awfully fiddly and very small.  Daughter's was bright pink.  I have photographed it beside my rotary cutter so you could gauge the size.

Little Bird.

Lastly, the customer's quilt that has just come off the machine.  Very simple with some hand appliqued sheep.  She loves to do naive type quilts and struggles with triangles and measurements.  She also loves all-over patterns best, so that is easy for me too.

Sheepish Quilt.

Japonica quilt pattern from Kerryn Emerson.

That's about all for now.  I will post again later in the week hopefully with what I am doing next and try not to be so painful.  Thanks for all my lovely comments and well wishes.

AFTERNOON JOBS DONE

I've just realised that the post I did this morning says Tuesday and it is actually Wednesday here and now nearly teatime.  I did manage to get some backing pieced and the borders put on GD "E"s doll quilt.
I was going to put the backing on the machine, which is enough to do 3 table runners, but a friend who I do some quilting for rang and said she was bringing a quilt round for me to do.  I'll do that as it is small and easy, then next week some time get mine started.

Doll quilt.

Pieced backing.

This morning I forgot to thank everyone for their kind comments on my daughter's car quilt.  She made it with hand blanket stitched vehicles and I quilted it.  She will then bind it.
Best go and get on with our tea, so have a nice Wednesday ladies.

CAFFEINE FREE 24 HOURS

At 10 o'clock I will have my last coffee until tomorrow, after a medical test.  No tea of coffee allowed for 24 hours and although I usually only have 1 coffee per day, tea for brekky and lunch, then either ginger or peppermint in the afternoon and chamomile at teatime, I must not have any, as they might contain caffeine.
I've picked a couple of lemons and will have hot lemon & honey to get me through.  At least I can have a bowl of porridge and juice for breakfast.  Luckily I drink plenty of water through the day anyway.
Now, what have I been up to this week.  Not a lot, but with the Christmas Quiltalong challenge (no red or green allowed)  underway and somebody joking about purple and orange, it got me thinking.

I've pulled this lot from both my stash and scraps, and an idea is brewing.  Something might be revealed next month.

Unusual choice?

I had thought I could cheat a little when I first knew that the CQA was happening again this year, until I saw the rules.
No red or green, so no cheating.  While working on last years CQA, I also made this little quilt that I designed to use the pink bauble fabric.  Not quilted yet, but it is definitely on the green side.

Criss-cross Xmas Geese.

Hopefully today, I may piece some leftover backing strips together and put them on the machine then lay out the many table runners I have made over the years and quilt them all at once.  It is an idea I got from Bilbo.
Some were made just because and others to try out an idea.  One was made from a design I saw on a "Fish & Chip Shop" floor.  I sketched it on a napkin, then worked it out when we got back to the caravan.  We were away on holiday, so ideas pop up in the most unusual places.  Once they are done I will post and show what I quilted on each one.

Above are the said table runners, mats and maybe a cushion cover.
Well, that's all for today as I think maybe I should take it easy until tomorrow has been and gone.
I'm off for that coffee and biscuit.  Have a lovely rest of week.
Susan.

A COLD SATURDAY

Today started out frosty, so I decided to get my Grandson "L"'s quilt onto the machine and get at least a few rows done.  Well, I did the whole thing, so below is the progress from start to finish.  We will take it over next Saturday and my daughter will put the binding on.

On the machine.

Little cars and loops.  It was a pattern from "Designs by Vickie and called Cars Bug. 

Off the machine.

On Friday I went out to the garden to see if there were any flowers for the house.  I managed to find a few bits that hadn't been flattened by the heavy rain we had earlier.

Said flowers, 1 nerine, 1 camellia, 1 spray of alstroemaria.

They are sitting on my old treadle sewing machine and above is my quartet of Leeds watercolours.

On Wednesday after an afternoon appointment, I arrived home to find a small parcel on the doorstep.  Inside I found this lovely tea towel, sent by my penfriend "G" from Yorkshire.  She and her husband had been showing their jeep at Beningborough Hall and she spied this and thought of me.  Wasn't that lovely.

My lovely tea towel blowing in the wind.

Not a lot else has happened this week, so I will now go and work on some designs for A is applique and the Xmas Quiltalong.
Enjoy your weekend bloggers.
Susan.