"Friday Night Sew In."

Hello,

Happy Saturday.

Last night I joined in Friday Night Sew In hosted by Wendy. While watching the tennis I was able to decipher a crochet pattern I found on line and make a bookmark.

I plan to make a few more of these using up those little bits of crochet thread left over from previous projects. This one was made with a size 10 DMC cotton and a 1.5 mm hook.

I finished the crochet rug earlier on in the week. I finished the edge with a row of double crochet.

I wanted to use up as much of the wool as I could. This was all I had left, not bad at all.That is one less bag of supplies out of the sewing room. My plan is to attack the projects gradually.

How are you going with your projects this year. Do you have a definite plan on what you are working on? I would love to hear how you go about tackling projects and keeping motivated on the project you are working on.

Don't forget to check out the other participants who joined in Friday Night Sew In. There were 54 people creating items either for themselves or others.

Enjoy the weekend.

Happy days.
Bev C

"Crochet Rug, Tennis and a easy Worm Farm."

Hello,

Happy Monday.

I hope January has started well for you. It has been rather a social month for us here at Kainga. My Brother and Sister in Law have returned back to New Zealand. It was great to catch up and enjoy each others company. I like a lot of other bloggers have been sorting through projects that need finishing. In my case it was starting a crochet blanket. I purchased the wool before Jude was born but didn't get around to making it up as his Great Gran crocheted a blanket for him when he was born.

I bought 2 100 gram balls of each colour which is 100 per cent wool. I finished the blanket today, I have to cut and thread all the ends into the back. I plan to block the rug, if anyone has blocked a blanket before any hints on how to go about this would be appreciated.

Attending the Hopman Cup has been on my bucket list for a while. Ian gifted me tickets for my Birthday last year. I got to choose which day to attend depending on who was playing. Of course I wanted to see.....

 Serena Williams. She only got to play a set and a bit due to a knee injury. I was so pleased I got to see her play as she had not played the previous day. We got to see some amazing tennis and so much is going on that you don't see on the TV. The Hopman Cup was held at the Perth Arena, the perfect venue, so easy to get in and out of. The bonus being the ladies toilet was just next to the entry we had to go in. The gents was a little further away!

 We try to grow a variety of vegies organically.. After visiting a open garden late last year we saw a very easy worm farm to put in a vegie garden bed. You need a bucket with a lid. Cut out the base of the bucket and drill several holes a few inches above the base of the bucket around the sides. Smaller holes are drilled around the sides a few inches from the top, above the soil level for air to get in.

Place  some newspaper on the bottom of the bucket on the garden soil then place your worms, and add some vegie scraps, cardboard etc then place on top of all this some damp newspaper or old rags, I added a old face washer then the paper. (see above photo.)  The top newspaper/cloth needs to be kept damp. The nutrients the worms produce leach out from the base and the holes. No need to fertilise the garden bed the worms do it for you.We purchased a box of 500 worms from Masters and this was enough to make up two worm farms. Food is put in every week or so depending how much has been eaten by the worms.

I recently won two tickets to see the movie  The Suffragettes. It was a great movie making me realise how lucky we are to be alive now not back in the early 1900's. Can you imagine starting work when you are 7 years old.

Has your year started well?  I would love to hear what you have been doing.

Happy days.
Bev C

"Mother Nature."

Hello,

I saw this sign at a open garden back in October 2015 and thought it was so true
.

Enjoy the weekend.

Happy days.
Bev C

"The final finishes for 2015."

Hello,

Christmas has been and gone, it was a lovely occasion at Kainga with family from overseas and interstate.

There has been a bit of sewing, I finished the top of the scrappy quilt.

I will have to wait until the craft shop re-opens to pick up some wadding and backing.

This was certainly a great scrap buster, even got to use up some machine embroidery and applique bits and pieces that have been in the sewing room for ages.

This little bag makes a great present, this one was for my niece. I filled it with sunscreen lip balm etc.

Miss Mary Mack has been back from the framers for a while. I am so pleased with the framing on this one. I tried a new framer and I am very impressed with the detail of the framing.

The embroidery machine was working overtime before Christmas. I made a couple of sets of coasters. Using the same pattern but changing what goes in the middle of each one. These were all made in the hoop.

This has been a year long project, finished part two of the Paris Stitch Along. Hopefully the next two parts won't take as long to stitch.

 We are getting some lovely sunsets here at Kainga.

 I would like to thank each and everyone who reads this blog and those who are regular commentator's I truly appreciate you dropping by to see what is happening at Kainga. May 2016 be a fantastic year of finishes and gardens that bloom and lots of Happy Days to you all.

Happy days.
Bev C

"That's the first week of December done and dusted."

Hello,

How did your week go? Ours was a busy one, we celebrated our Wedding Anniversary with a day out. It was decided to spend sometime looking at the amazing old paintings dating back to the 1500's at the Museum and Art Gallery at New Norcia. You don't need to travel to Italy to see old paintings they are here in Western Australia.

New Norcia Hotel.

Then it was time for Lunch at the New Norcia Hotel. We had a delicious lunch but as the tables were fairly close as is the case in most restaurants these days we couldn't help but hear the lady  at the next table arguing the whole time with her Husband. It even came to tears by the time their meal was served. She must have forgiven him because she ate his leftover pizza!

After lunch it was a wander around the town looking at the array of buildings and cemetery. Nothing like a cemetery to find a rich history of the past.

I couldn't get over how tall this gum tree was, it was so tall I couldn't fit it all into the photo. I bet this tree could tell some stories.

St Ildephonsus College.

The style of buildings is just stunning, they certainly have stood the test of time. We then drove onto Bindoon to have a look around there and enjoy a cuppa and cake at the Bindoon Bakehaus. This is where Prince Harry called into earlier on in the year and purchased some cake. I can certainly see why he chose to eat there as the service was fantastic. After we got home we found that Lucy had put up our Christmas decorations while we were out. Thanks Lucy, then she cooked tea for us. Wonderful to come home to a meal of our choosing and no cooking involved for us.

 During the week I did manage a small finish. I put together the fabric samples and made a table runner. As the fabrics were a bit stretchy I used a stretch type fabric for the backing.

 Teddy seems to like it.

Friday I joined in Friday Night With Friends the last one for the year. I worked on a recently started project. Adding lots of fabrics to strips of calico. I need to make 27 strips that are the Width of the Fabric ( 44 inches), I had some extra wide calico so one strip makes two of the pieces required.  I am half way there. It is a good project to use up those skinny pieces of fabric that you save "just in case"

It was so lovely to hear the rain during the night and this morning. A very rare occurrence for this time of the year.
I will be attending a Thermomix party and playing with the Grandies this weekend. Are you doing something you love?

Happy days.
Bev C