"Tuesday's Treasures."

Hello and Welcome to Tuesday's Treasures.

This week I want to share with you my little Blue and White milk jug.

Little Blue and White Milk Jug.

Years ago when all the children were very young I wanted to learn how to do ceramics. To start with I wasn't able to go but sent along our eldest daughter Ainsley, she went with a school friend. I have always wanted a milk jug like this. So Ainsley spent hours working on this. I love it. Unfortunately one day the children were misbehaving and David grabbed the jug and his Sister's were chasing after him. I just knew disaster was going to happen. The jug got dropped. It was mended but it no longer holds fluids. I will always treasure this little jug and its journey.

I also finished the Milk Jug Cover I was working on. All little jugs should have a cover.

We had  a great day yesterday afternoon. It started raining at 5.00pm and didn't stop until about 11.00pm. We recorded 32mls of rain here at Kainga. This is a huge amount for us and the good thing it was good steady soaking rain.

Check out other "Treasures" at Melody's blog.

Happy days.
Bev C

'Makes Me Happy Monday"

Hello and a Happy Monday to you.

I recently won  a double pass to the movie The Help and a copy of the book.

So yesterday Ian and I went on a date, a day out by ourselves. There is no movie cinema in town so a trip to the City and the suburb of Warwick was on the cards. The movie was fantastic,lots of laughs too. Let me say here and now I don't think I will ever eat chocolate pie without remembering this movie. If anyone has a recipe for Chocolate Pie I would love to have it. I can't wait to read the book to see if they are similar.

Other things Making Me Happy this Monday are;

Some Cosmos seeds I was given are starting to bloom.
A bright yellow Dutch Iris is in bloom too.
Lots of interesting books on loan from the library.
Perfect Spring days.

Let me know what is Making you Happy this Monday.

On a blogging note I have noticed I and lots of other people  have been having a lot of trouble leaving comments on some blogs. I think it all comes down to how comments are set up on blogs. I leave comments and they completely disappear and I don't know if they appear later on. I worked out it only happens on blogs that have the comment setting at "Embedded below post" You can check on your comment settings by going to "Settings" then choose "Comments" there you have three choices:

Full Page
Pop-up Window
Embedded below post

If you have ticked "Embedded below post" this means a box will appear for your comment settings and this is where a lot of people are having trouble leaving comments. If you tick Full Page or Pop-up Window you don't have problems leaving comments. I don't know why this is happening something to do with Blogger I presume.

Happy days.
Bev C

"Petal" is finished.

Hello,

It is nearly the weekend, the week has just flown by. Can you tell me where it went?

I finished the latest piece of crochet called "Petal." Boy did I have some fun with this one!!! I only had enough of the pink cotton to do the outside petals and the first round of the border. I then used the bit of white Coats cotton I had then that ran out. I had a look through my supplies. Nothing that would match. Checked out Mum's supply and some DMC thread matched the white perfectly. You can't see where it starts and finishes. Actually the DMC cotton is so much nicer to work with. The Coats cotton seems stiff after using the DMC cotton. You can see another Milk Jug Cover that I am working on now in the blue dish. Using some DMC cotton for this one too.

On Tuesday I was coming back from the Library and I could see a hot air balloon in the distance and I knew it was heading in the direction of our home. The balloons are usually out in the early morning but this one was out late in the afternoon. I couldn't believe when it landed in a neighbours property just up behind us. How is that for service.

The garden here at Kainga is in full bloom for Spring. These Flanders Poppies are blocking the pathway. With the big storm we had early on in the year things are growing in places that they weren't before which is great.

It won't be long and things will start to dry out. In the meantime I am enjoying the garden. We have had a massive invasion of aphids today. The farmer across the road is cutting the crop for hay. The aphids have decided to call Kainga home for a while. At least the birds have breakfast,lunch and dinner supplied here.

I hope you all have a creative weekend doing something you love.

Happy days.
Bev C

"Makes Me Happy Monday"

Hello and a very Happy Monday to you.

This week I am happy to be crocheting again. I was recently given some thread and pattern books. I chose this little pattern called "Petal."

The pattern needed 25 grams of thread and the balls come in 20grams each. So I decided to make the centre petal out of white thread. I have two more petals to do then it comes to joining them together then doing several rows for the border. I am using a Coats thread in size 20 with a Number 1.00 hook.

On Sunday I took a drive with Mum to an open garden that was part of the Australian Open Garden Scheme that was open in Gidgegannup. The property was on several acres and the garden was watered by tank and bore water. They have a much larger annual rainfall then us but never the less it was interesting to see the garden. They had the same problems a lot of gardeners do. That is it keeps growing and the fences have to be moved.

I loved how they had trimmed the Rosemary bush. We have lots of Rosemary growing here at Kainga so must give this a try. Rosemary is one of the easiest plants to grow by cuttings.

There were many interesting and unusual things to see in the garden. I loved this Pencil Sculpture. It is very creative. Visiting gardens always makes me happy. Of course I couldn't come home without buying some plants and purchased a pot of Agapanthus from the plant stall.

Now you never know what you will find here on "Makes Me Happy Monday" postings. It can range from patchwork, family, roses, stitching etc and of course the unusual. This week I have one of the best hints you are ever going to read.  I knew there had to be a better way of doing things. So after some brainstorming and trials. I introduce you to the best cleaning tip ever.

Now if you thought I was going to say get someone else to clean. Well yes that is a great tip. I have found out that "Citric Acid" is the best cleaner for the edge around the hot plate on the stove top. Just put some on where it needs cleaning and use a damp steel wool to scrub of all that brown muck. Just make sure the stove top isn't hot. Believe me you don't want to be breathing this stuff in. You will be coughing like billy-o. I have also found out that "Citric Acid" is great for cleaning the grout on your tiled floors. Just shake some on the grout and wet with some water and use your tile brush to remove the grime. Citric Acid can be bought in bulk if needed and this certainly would be cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the  cleaning stuff you buy in the supermarket.

I hope you all have a very Happy Monday.

Happy days.
Bev C

Quilt,Christmas and Tomatoes to name a few.

Hello,

Today is the last day of September,can't believe how fast the year is going. Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on a quilt top. Doing about 15 minutes at a time. It has been one of those quilts you have to pin and pin and pin. Who said jelly rolls make quick quilts?

There is still a small border to go on yet. The pattern came from one of the Jelly Roll quilt books which I borrowed from the local library. I used the Jelly Roll I had won earlier on in the year for OPAM (One Project a Month)  The lime green is from the one I got at Good Sammy's. I think there is only scraps/strips of it left now.The big plan is to have it finished by the end of the year. I am thinking about hand quilting it. Though  those plans could change.

I have joined in the Sew Happy Sew Along. Now I am doing something different with the pattern each week rather than making the Christmas Swag. So last weeks pattern I stitched and  made up yesterday into a Mug Rug for a Christmas present. This way each week I will have a Christmas inspired present ready to give at Christmas time. With this one I used chain stitch instead of back stitch and used applique for the two hearts.

The vegie garden has been wonderful over Winter and the start of Spring. During Winter lots of tomato plants came up and were protected by the Broccoli and Cauliflower and as you can see we will have little Tomatoes to eat very soon. Usually the race is on to have Tomatoes before Christmas. The Broad Beans have started and we have had those each evening meal. They are lovely and tender, pick them when they are smaller for a tasty meal.

September was National Sewing Month but did you know it was also National Reading Month. There was a little book printed about 50 books you must read. A great source of new books. I have recently read a book by Carole Mathews called "The Only Way is Up". I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. I have just received a note from the library to say another one is available. I would love to hear what you have been reading.

Enjoy the weekend.
Happy days.
Bev C

Happy days.