Books and Roses.

Hello,

I hope everyone picked the winner of the "Melbourne Cup". I spent the morning wrapping and packaging the parcels from the giveaway. They have now been posted. So look out ladies you will have some mail shortly. I love reading and are always visiting the local library as well as the Bookshop Cafe. With little on television lately and some programmes we have watched for years getting a little silly I have taken to reading in the evening. The only problem with this is the family room we sit in has a cathedral ceiling so the light fittings are up high. I will have to fix the lighting problem with a new lamp. Then I may be able to see to do some of those cross stitches I have in my stash.

Ian and I love going to garage sales. Sometimes we can go for weeks without getting anything that is suitable for us. Although other people seem to always find something. A few years back we got this wrought iron gate then not long after at another sale we managed to pick up the old white verandah post. We used this down the front of the garden. I managed to pick up the cast iron bird at Target. I had been eyeing them off and waited until they came on special.

I went out in the garden this morning,everything is coming into bloom. Although I have a massive amount of aphids the Ladybirds have arrived so I think I will leave them to eat the aphids. The rose above is a David Austin rose by the name of "Abraham Darby" 1985 It has large cupped blooms of apricot-pink paling on petal edged with soft yellow reverse. It has a wonderful fruity fragrance. This rose always has plenty of blooms when in flower. When I was taking the photo the bees were having a great time collecting pollen.

This is "John Clare" 1994 also a David Austen. This rose has clusters of softly cupped.semi-double blooms in a warm shade of pink with a yellow centre. It has a slight perfume and is free flowering.

This rose is called "Mermaid" 1918 R. bracteata hybrid. When I saw this rose in its pot at the nursery I was attracted to the lovely soft yellow bloom. I read the first bit of the label. Unfortunately I didn't read it all until I had got home. Mermaid is a vigorous climber growing to 7 metres plus. I then put it onto a side fence and left it growing without interference for a couple of years. I pruned it down to a very small stump and thought I had killed it. It grew back and is blooming . I reckon if you had a castle this is the rose to be growing on the castle walls. So I guess the motto is "Always read the label."

Happy days.

Bev C

Winners are grinners.

Hello,

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I managed to get a small amount of sewing done today on the Beach Quilt. I am up to putting on borders around the blocks. Lucy and I have just finished cutting up the entries for the giveaway. I decided to offer two consolation prizes of a half metre of material as well as the first prize. Lucy drew out the winner then I let Ian draw out two more entries.

First prize goes to Vickie. Who left a comment on Wednesday October 21 at 3.37pm.

A prize also goes to Simone. Who left a comment on Wednesday October 21 at 2.09am.

And the final prize goes to Illene. Who left a comment on Saturday October 10 at 5.28pm

If you are wondering what will happen to all that paper, it will be put to use in my compost bin.

Thank you to everyone who has visited "Kainga Happenings" during October. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year of blogging. If you are thinking of starting a blog ,please do it is great fun and a real learning curve. I can't believe that the race that stops a nation is being run tomorrow. The Melbourne Cup is a great Aussie tradition. I hope everyone backs a winner.

Happy days

Bev C

R B and S Challenge

Hello,

The Stitching Challenge with Anita and myself for this month was to make a cushion with R S and B.
It took a while for me to work out what I was going to do. I knew R had to be for Roses so I started with that and after a while it all fell into place.

S was for Sunflowers and B was for Butterfly's. Three of my favourite things. I was tempted to add some ric-rac. I even had it cut and pinned across the top but I didn't think it went together.
Anita will be putting her cushion on her blog over the weekend. It is different to mine. For next months challenge our theme is "Love" we can make it into whatever we want.

I had to share this photo of a ceiling full of roses. This is one of the theatres in the cinema at Matakana Cinemas in New Zealand. We were surprised to see how these cinemas were done up. We were actually in the wrong room. The movie we saw in another room had a beautiful chandelier and the most amazing ceilings.

I will hold off drawing the winner of the patchwork material until late Monday 2nd November This gives everyone a fairer chance due to different time zones.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Bev C

Charmed.

Hello,

Not a lot of sewing has been done here at "Kainga" I have been busy with family. Although the postman has been extremely nice to me,look what came in the post yesterday.I was certainly smiling and doing the "Happy Dance" when I realised it was the charm that I won on Amanda's lovely blog. Amanda's friend Missy made this as the prize. It was personalised to suit me. I chose a "Rose"themed charm. I am so happy with this it is just me down to a T.

How beautiful is that rose on the front. I wish I could be talented enough to make this kind of jewellery. Even the other side has a beautiful floral arrangement. Plus I do love the charm attached to it which says "Live." Thank you so much Amanda and Missy.

As I had to wait about 20 minutes for my prescriptions at the chemist yesterday I decided to take a wander down to my favourite shop "Good Sammy's." Gosh,they were very busy. I managed to take home only two items. Two brand new,unopened cross stitch kits. The boat themed one is on 14 count Aida cloth and the Fir Tree Sampler in on even weave linen. I haven't stitched on this before but I am sure once I get started it will be just the same.

I have finished stitching my Monthly Stitching Challenge with Anita. I will be back tomorrow with the finished items and the theme for next months challenge.

Happy Friday.

Bev C

"Being brave Blogiversary"

Hello,

Being brave is very hard sometimes. It takes courage to do something you are not used to doing.Trying something different brings out skills you didn't know you had. I was very very brave back on 14th October 2008. I pressed the start button on "Kainga Happenings" Since then I have met online some wonderful people and even had the chance to talk on the phone and meet some in person. I have been involved in swaps and received some lovely unexpected gifts. This is all part of being a blogger. To celebrate my first year of blogging I am giving away two half metre cuts of the material in the photo. I saw this in the local patchwork shop this morning and thought this would make a great prize for the giveaway. So all you have to do is leave a comment on any post on my blog in October. So some of you have already been entered. Each comment will give you an entry for the draw. On the 1st November I will announce the winner. I am willing to post anywhere. So good luck to you all.

Happy Blogiversary.

Bev C

Thank you Simone.

Hello,

On Friday I had sewing. I managed to get a fair amount done on a quilt I have been working on. I went to the Two Storeys Cafe afterwards for afternoon tea with Mum and Lucy. I had Ricotta Slice which is a all time favourite of mine. When I got home I had some mail. Simone told me she was sending me something. I didn't realise it was her beautiful wallhanging which she had on her blog recently. I was completely surprised when I opened the parcel. Thank you so much Simone. Our blogging friendship means so much to me. Earlier on in the year I sent Simone some Australian Homespun Magazines and some machine embroidery samples. I certainly didn't expect some of her beautiful work in return.You know I have learnt so much from wonderful people since starting my blog. Blogging is such a great way to learn customs and habits of people in other countries.

I picked this vase of flowers this morning. Most of these are David Austen roses except for the big one.
There are some poppies which will only last a day but are so pretty and some geramium which is putting on a wonderful show at the moment.The purple flower at the rear is a perenial statice which is good in dried flower arrangements.

Yesterday I made this journal cover for a present. I machine embroidered a butterfly on the front and hand sewed the ric-rac and added some buttons. Journals make a quick and easy present and are very handy to have in your own handbag. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend.

Happy times to you all.

Bev C

"Friendship Bag" arrives at Kainga.

Hello,

Yesterday I received my "Friendship Bag" from Barb who lives in Canada. I was also lucky enough to get some fat quarters and some quilting cotton. I couldn't believe that it is the very same cotton that I had recently seen in a quilting magazine from the US. The cotton comes on a wooden spool just like they use to before the plastic ones we have now. I will be keeping these for display after using the thread.

These little bags would make a great Christmas present as they are just the right size to put a few gifts in.Thank you so much for being my swap partner Barb. I will certainly use this little sweet bag.

Today I spent quite sometime drawing cutting and ironing for the "Beach Quilt" I have one more block to cut out. Then comes the fun part,working how the blocks will come together.

Happy sewing.

Bev C

The Garden at "Kainga."

Hello,

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. It got up to about 38 degrees here yesterday. The forecast was for about 34 degrees. The same is predicted again today then a change of about 10 degrees for the rest of the week. To think we had the fire going last Sunday!!! Bobbie Lynn has requested some photo's of my garden. This is a row of Rosemary and Lavender. All of these were grown from cuttings a few inches high. They don't get watered at all. The bees just love this area.

This is our rose tunnel that is down the front of the garden. We placed the star pickets about 10-25cm towards the centre at each spacing to create the tunnel effect.
To the left is a Quince tree."Cydonia oblonga" It is very hardy and grows 5-8m with a compact shape. I only watered this the first year it was in the ground. It has to survive on its own and it does. The smell from Quince fruit is divine. Great to perfume the house.

This is the garden right along the front fence. You can see the rose tunnel towards the side.
The roses along here will be blooming shortly,lots of buds on them. They are all pink roses

which are mulched with lupin mulch then I was lucky enough to get some straw and this was put on top.
This is the fruit and veggie area. You can see the raised bed we built earlier on in the year. We have just finished building another one against the side wall of our little garden shed. In this bed I have planted rhubarb,strawberries,peanuts and tomatoes. I was lucky enough to be given some peanuts in the shell. I have grown peanuts before and they certainly do well. I had a taste test before I planted them. They were certainly much nicer than the ones we get at the shops.
I have lots of poppies and nasturtiums growing amongst things. This attracts beneficial insects. They can then be either mulched or some get given to the chooks to scratch over.

I have lots of silver beet which just reseeds itself. I haven't bought any for years. It is so handy to just walk out the back and pick your own veggies which you know haven't been sprayed. We still have lots of broccoli coming along. As broccoli is one of the most sprayed vegetables I much prefer to grow our own.

Today is Bonnie's Birthday. Bonnie gave us a quick phone call during the week. Could Dad please cook a Roast Beef for her tea on Sunday night. Bonnie your usual Birthday request will be cooked to your satisfaction. Happy Birthday Bonnie and all the best for the coming year.

Happy days.

Bev C

Motivational Mail

Hello,

Yesterday I went to the Post Office to pick up a parcel. I won a giveaway of wonderful gifts.

These came all the way from the USA from Lee Anne . When Lee Anne first sent the parcel it came back to her a few days later!!! She then tried another Post Office which obviously was a bit better at sending parcels than the first one. There is a Butterfly cross stitch kit and some beautiful shades of silk thread amongst them. Yes the Skittles are still intact. They will get eaten tonight. Please check out Lee Anne's blog as it contains some lovely items of cross stitch and a beautiful Grandson called Levi.

Plus there is a giveaway for October which closes soon.

While I was waiting for the parcel to arrive I decided to start a little cross stitch from the book I bought not long ago. I have some of these towels in my stash. I paid $2.00 each for them. Brand new with the label still on them at Good Sammy's. Yes Pat if you are reading this I do do something with some of the things I buy.

I used DMC No 321 for the stitching. I had to add one or two extra stitches for the antennae as I had miscalculated the middle of the stitching. I think it still worked out OK though. I have at least two more towels that I can use. Although I am using things from my stash can someone please tell me why it doesn't seem to shrink.
I sprayed my roses this morning for aphids. I have seen a few ladybirds but I think I need some like these to keep the numbers down.

Happy cross stitching

Bev C

"Flutterby Stitches" Super Special Mail and a New Blogger.

Hello, The other week I was lucky enough to win one of Natalie's
patterns called "Flutterby Stitches" which includes a pattern for a Armchair caddy and Folder Cover. I decided to make the Armchair Caddy. I made it with material from my scrap bag so I really didn't have enough material in the quantities required.The back of it was supposed to be done in strips of material so I used a piece of gingham and appliqued some more of the butterflies on this piece. It folds up very neatly. This will be a permanent fixture on my chair from now on.

I had just enough of the pink to do three butterflies randomly on the other side.

The front has several pockets and a pincushion in the middle. Thank you so much for the pattern Natalie. Just love it.

The postie has bought some lovely mail to Kainga this week. Dzintra and her daughter Joanna sent me a pattern called "Walk in the Garden" by Runaway Quilts and a fat quarter called "Carnations are for January" by Concord Fabrics. My carnations are flowering in the garden so good timing Dzintra and JoJo. I do love the Rose Card which is "Roses on a Riverbank " by Madeleine Lemaire (1845-1928). Thank you.

Yesterday I received this lovely quilted heart made with love by Bobbie Lynn. I saw one of these hearts on Bobbie Lynn's blog and asked about them. Bobbie Lynn kindly said she would make one for me. They had been a project for Mother's Day. It is just beautiful and I will treasure it. I will hang it up in my sewing room. I also got a beautiful card made by Bobbie Lynn as well. This present topped of a lovely week. Yesterday Lucy and I had a "Girls Day Out". Visits to the Book Store and Movies and I managed to tuck in a visit to a Nursery. We watched "Julie and Julia." I

have never laughed so much at the movies. I can guarantee that you will love it. On the blogging front my friend and partner in crime in the monthly stitching challenge Anita has started a blog. Please drop by and say hello. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Happy days.

Bev C