Finishing what was started

A treasure trove of squares

I have three sisters who are each very talented in their own way, but I am the only one who inherited my mothers craft gene, so when mum passed away five years ago it was decided I should be the one to have all her craft supplies.  At the time my life was very busy and so the boxes with mum's things were just packed inside a cupboard.  Overtime I have often thought about looking through these boxes but then I became unwell and once again they were left in the cupboard.  Five years have flown past and I have been feeling very guilty that I have not looked through mums things.  This morning I decided I would open one of the boxes that contained mums crocheting and wool.  She was part of a group of ladies that knitted and crocheted small things for the hospital Auxilliary, little things like babies jumpers, cardigans, bootees and shawls. The left over wool was then crocheted into small squares or flowers to be used at a later date. Once I had looked through what was there I found a lot of squares of the same colour,  there was enough for me to be able to finish at least two small blankets.  I hadn't used a crochet hook for a number of years but it has been easy to pick up and now I feel good that I will be able to finish what mum had started.

Missing stitches

Tyler and Casey

  A short while ago I was speaking to my dad and told him of Tylers return visit to the vet tomorrow to have the stitches removed from when he was desexed  two weeks ago.  Dad started laughing, and then told me about a puppy he had when he was younger, this little puppy had been born with an inverted eyelid and dad took it to Lort Smith Animal Hospital to have it repaired.   He was asked to bring the pup back in a week to have the stitches removed. Dad went back the following week, the vet took one look at the puppy and asked why dad was there  "to remove the stitches" said dad "what stitches" replied the vet.   Dad hadn't noticed that the puppy or it's playmate had removed the stitches.  Dad said he felt like an idiot as he took the puppy home.  This got me wondering,  so I called Tyler over to check his wound and,  guess what, no stitches, he had removed them himself.    I have just phoned the vet to cancel the appointment. oh, clever dog.

Craft and good company







Cars glued and waiting to be sprayed blue



Yesterday was our second family craft day, we had decided this craft day would be all about frames and what could be done with a simple photo frame. We all had different ideas and I must say that everyone of them look good, two of them are even functional. Once the glue gun was plugged in, the paint, brushes and other equipment layed out we did'nt stop except for a small break when we grabbed something to eat and drink.   Belinda had a large bag of blue buttons that she used to shape into the letter 'O" and then hot glued into place, this looked beautiful.   Tanya decided she needed something to hang her hair ties and hairclips from, she painted her frame then attached lengths of ribbon to the frame, then using a small piece of metal that Taneesha had over from her project, covered this in scrapbooking paper.  Then the knobs were painted and screwed in to the bottom of the frame.   Taneesha decided that her frame would be a magnetic board, once painted,  scrapbook paper glued over the sheet metal,  then small magnets glued to the back of her makeup containers, she then lightly sandpapered the frame to give it an antique look.   I have been collecting plastic animals and cars over the past few weeks, and had a look through the kids toy box for things that would be appropriate for the frames I wanted to make.   I  decided to glue these onto photo frames and then spray paint over the whole frame so it would be one colour, another coat of paint and these will look really good in my grandsons bedrooms.  Just like the last craft day the time went by so quickly  and once again it was about five o'clock before we were packing up.  Next month we have decided to do our own thing again, but I'm really looking forward to November when we will be making all things christmas.

first coat of paint





No Crunch

I'm a really big sook when it comes to going to the dentist, so much so that I have'nt been for years.  I finally plucked up the courage a couple of weeks ago, and as was expected I have a list of repairs to be done including the removal of two molars.  This was not a simple removal, oh no, not for me it had to include a small graft and several stitches, needless to say the dentist has not moved up my not fond of doing things list.   I am a crunch kind of person, an apple, crisps, crackers anything that can give me a crunch, I don't like smooth and velevety, probably why I have never really liked chocolate or ice-cream.   For the next few weeks everything has to be soft and mushy and I'm finding this really boring, so,  I'm not really interested in eating.  This is probably a good thing as I have a few kilos to lose, in the meantime I'm dreaming of putting my teeth into a big green juicy apple.

Beginings of a tea party

Taneesha's tea set

I have a beautiful china tea set that belonged to my grandmother, something I had admired for a long time while growing up.  When I was young this set was used on a daily basis, no mugs were ever used by my grandmother.  After my grandmother died my sisters and I were asked if  we would like to have something as a memory of her, of course I asked if I could have the tea set.  This set consists of unmatched tea cups, saucers, and side plates, all beautiful bone china, and so precious to me. This set lives in a glass cabinet and is taken out when I have girlfriends over for lunch or afternoon tea, no men allowed to touch, no big fingers would be able to hold these cups.   My daughters love these pieces as well and have grown up seeing the special effort I make when these are taken from the cabinet.  Only the lace cloths, silver cutlery and crystal sugar bowl with a vase of flowers are appropriate for this special set.  Last year with my eldest daughters birthday imminent and not sure what to buy her, I saw a beautiful cup and saucer with an oriental design, this would be the start of my daughters own tea set.   I purchased several pieces along with a tea pot, creamer and jug.  Of course, I have two daughters so this week we went shopping to buy my other daughter her starter set, both these sets can be added onto, so now I'm waiting for my invitation to afternoon tea.

Jacinta's tea set

The plastic collar

Tyler looking confused

Yesterday morning my one year old schnaunzer cross Tyler, had a visit to the vet, it was about time for him to be desexed.  He is still very much a puppy, jumping and bouncing everywhere until we walked inside the door at the vets and then he was very quiet, no-one would have guessed that he was'nt this well behaved all the time.   When I went back later that afternoon he was very happy to see me albiet very confused about the plastic collar he had attached to his neck.  This has given me a lot of laughs as he becomes used to this collar, he hasn't been able to judge the distance he needs to enter doors, to find his food, turn corners or sit down.  When he follows  me he keeps catching me on my heels with the collar.  My dogs are inside, outside dogs but they always sleep in their kennel under the back patio, curled together for warmth.  Not last night, I was advised to keep him inside for a couple of nights, which meant both of them.  It was a cold frosty night, I know,  I was outside a couple of times during the night waiting for him to pee, you see if I did'nt stand outside with him he just stood at the door looking at me and would'nt go.  Cold or not they are both outside tonight.

Sorting the fabric stash

Like most, or should I say all quilters I have a fabric stash.   In spite of all good intentions I always seems to end up with fabrics thrown in a large tub, these are usually the fabrics that I have taken from the cane boxes I store them in,  looking for the perfect piece that will be used for the current project, or the leftover pieces from a past project added to the tub to be sorted and put away later.  Of course later becomes much later, and then the recently purchased fabric is added to the pile and the tub is full.   While I am house bound for a couple of days I have decided to tackle the tub, having just had a look I think I need more cane boxes, am I procrastinating, surely I have enough, I'm just starting to think that I'm not really into doing this job today, maybe another cup of tea while I think about it.  While I'm thinking about this, I should think about rearanging the room so that I have more light when I work, ok, it's official this has been put off till another day.