Christmas madness

Deacon with Grandma,                             Daniel painting Connor,                              Grandma with Santa

I'm feeling a little overwelmed, the first week of December is almost over and I still have so much to organise, my head is spinning with everything I want to do.   The shops are very busy, the shopping centre in my town is building an extension and a large section of the carpark is closed off, so it is a headache trying to find a carpark.   My daughter has a birthday next week and she has decided to have a bbque on Saturday night, I haven't bought a gift for her yet, what to buy her,  I asked her, and her reply was "I don't know" I thought she might of helped me a little.   The Vietnam Veterans Childrens Christmas party was last Sunday, it was a lot of fun, the magician kept us all entertained.   My son, the one who does everything and my daughter-in-laws sister, Belinda volunteered to be the face painters for the day, they did a fantastic job, the kids looked really good.  Once the magician was finished with his show the children were anxiously waiting for Santa to arrive, everyone except Deacon.   Deacon takes after his mum, she was also scared of the big man in red, all the coaxing in the world would not entice her to sit with Santa.  Deacon was playing with other children when he spotted Santa coming in the gate, he froze until he had passed by and then made a run for me where he stayed until his name was called,  Aunty Tanya picked him up to collect his gift from santa, screaming and crying while Taneesha was trying to take a photo.   Once santa was gone he settled down to eat his icecream and lollies.   This morning while Daniel and his father-in-law install two lightshades for me I have been writing Christmas cards , this always takes longer than I plan, I usually end up writing a few words in most of the cards, well the cards I send to the people I don't see very often.   This afternoon I will sort through the recipes that I am going to bake next week, some I will give as gifts and some will be for over the Christmas break.

Last craft day

Sunday was the last craft day for this year, our craft day has been succesful so I'm hoping that we will continue this next year as well.   Our theme for the day was Christmas, and everyone had something different in mind to make on the day.   I saw some cute paper decorations that I wanted to make, I remember my mum having some of these decorations when I was young, they were flat half circles, when fanned open they formed a ball.    The directions for these were simple enough, cut nine 3" circles, fold each circle in half and stack on top of each other, tie these together with cord down the middle of the stack, the idea then was to fan them apart and glue each fold a little from the top and bottom alternating as you glued them together.  I found the glue gun was the best method for this. Once complete run some glue along the edges and sprinkle with glitter. Seemed simple, well, as you know what seems simple is not always that way, it took me all day to complete just two.  Yesterday I managed to make another four, so, I was faster with each one I made.  Taneesha made lovely tags for her gifts, Tanya bought a panel to make an advent calendar, Belinda was making gifts for her sons school friends,  and Jacinta who has always been tinsel mad made a wreath for her home.   Belinda had made some yummy truffles,  as you can guess these did'nt last long.

Vegetable patch

I thought you might be interested to see how my vegetables are growing.   The carrot seeds have sprouted, the beetroot, silverbeet, and tomatoes have taken off, the capsicum is a little slow, but my brother-in-law informs me that they will grow when the soil warms more.   I have peas and beans about to climb the wire fence and cucumbers are now trailing on the ground.   While visiting my sister I noticed my brother-in-law has covered everything in his garden with mesh,  I'm thinking of doing the same thing, although I'm concerned it may prevent the bees from pollinating the tomatoe flowers,  I don't like using chemicals and hope I can go organic. I am very pleased with my little vegetable patch.

Christmas tree skirt

Every Christmas as I unpack the decorations and the tree, I also unpack the patchwork tree skirt I made in 2000.   The skirt is a little faded, but still looks just as beautiful today as it did that first Christmas I layed it on the floor.  The pattern for the tree skirt was in the Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine, Volume 7 No. 1.   This pattern was easy to follow and I was able to have it finished in a short amount of time.   The finished skirt measured 491/2" or 26cm.   As I lay it out I think of all past Christmas's and how our family has grown from just the six of us.  My family now numbers seventeen and in early March another addition, I am told this baby will be a boy.   My second eldest son Michael's step-daughter is having a baby, making my son a grandfather and me a great grandmother.  With the five grandsons that I have another boy will fit right in, can you just imagine what fun they will have together.   I am hoping one of my children will provide  me with a granddaughter, I am keen to sew some beautiful dresses and a girlie quilt.   I am looking forward to this Christmas, everyone will be together, my son and his family from interstate will be joining us this year.  It will be wonderful to have them all together, this does'nt happen very often.

Fairies and applique

I had a lovely day yesterday, I spent the day with the son that does everything.  We did'nt do much, mostly I just tagged along while he was sent from one place to the next.  It started as a simple thing, build a patio at the back of a house, even though it would be free standing he would need approval from the local council to erect the patio, who then said because of an easement along the back of the property,  he would have to check with our water authority and get their approval.  Then we were sent to a draughtsman who would draw plans with the design and  position of the patio, including the slope of the block.   In the end this simple patio was going to be an expensive excercise, each of the authorities wanted a fee, the most expensive would be the draughtsman who would draw the plans, something in the region of $600.  I wonder what the cost of building something larger would be.
 Today I have been sitting sewing some applique flowers around the outside border of a quilt for my sister, I have to finish this quilt, it is my sisters birthday in January and I would like to give it to her then, she is crazy about fairies, her bedroom has paintings of faires, ceramic fairies, and she wears jewelery with fairies.  This collection has now invaded her living area, fairies everywhere.   This is the quilt I pick up when I just want to relax, once the applique is complete I have a little embroidery to do, then I'll be able quilt it and have it finished.  I still have two quilts to finish for my grandsons.  So much to do, so little time.

A Christmas plate

While Taneesha was decorating her plates on Sunday, Jacinta asked if there were any spares she would like to decorate one for her partner Josh.  It took her no time at all to finish this cute plate.  This is such a fun thing to do,  all you need are some cheap plain white plates, we were lucky that Kmart has a pack of ten boxed for $10, and  Sharpie pens of your chosen colour.  Draw your design on to the plate, and if you make a mistake just wipe it off with a baby wipe and start again.  When you are happy with the design, place the plates in a cold oven and heat to 180 degrees for 30 mins. let them sit in the oven with the door ajar until they cool.  The design is now permanent and washable, this would be a great idea for kids to do over the summer holidays, they would be so proud that they have made their own plate. I know that Jacinta is proud of her plate and she is no longer a kid.

A day in the garden and an eclipse

I spent the day outside in the garden, pulling weeds, trimming the edges, and feeding plants.  I have now resorted to liquid plant food for all the plants on the dogs side of the fence, I think they have eaten all the dynamic lifter, (manure pellets)  that I spread over the garden, an expensive snack for them, he he.  This morning it was lovely, lots of sunshine, it was good to be outside, but then it clouded over this afternoon.  I was hoping the skies would be clear in Sydney and Queensland for people that travelled to this part of the world to view the eclipse.  My eldest son Darren, has in the past travelled to different countries to view an eclipse, to record and take photos of this amazing event.  I should say that his job is in the Science field and he is very interested in all things space.   He would very much like to be in Queensland this week as well,  but he now has a young family to consider.  He tells me he is planning and saving to attend the eclipse that occurs in America in 2017.   While outside I didn't see the eclipse, I did'nt look into the sky, I'll watch the evening news tonight to see this one.   I cut some roses to place in a vase on my desk, they are so beautiful, I love Lucetta, it  opens to a beautiful dark pink and then fades to apricot with a subtle frangrance. The darker double pink is Dan Poncet it is a smaller flower with a stronger frangrance, so beautiful.