My Brown Stitchery

Hello,

I stitched these last year. I just needed to finish a bit of stitching on one of them. I have some brown jumbo Ric-rack I want to add to it. That is the big brown lump in the photo.

I used different colours of brown thread for each stitchery. I will size them up as evenly as possible and put a border of calico with the ric-rac hand sewn on to this, then border them with the cross stitch material.

The mystery of the missing post card that was sent to us while Ainsley and Julian were travelling around New Zealand has been solved. It arrived in the mail this morning. It had been on a holiday alright. There was a stamp from Singapore on it. I hope it had a good time.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

A wedding and some finishes.

Hello,


On Saturday 7th February 2009 Ryan and Edy were married in the surrounds of Geoff and Laura's garden. Although we didn't manage to stay in New Zealand for the wedding we enjoyed looking at the photo's. Each guest received a painting done by Edy's Mum which is just beautiful. Mine is of some flowers because I love gardening. I even managed to hang it up myself. The first time I have drilled into the wall. We also got a bag of almonds decorated with crochet with some paua shell attached. They were the best sugared almonds we have ever tasted. Ryan and Edy will be backpacking through India for there honeymoon. Congratulations guys and best of luck for the future. Remember Edy if that spinning wheel doesn't fit into the container it would be most at home here!!! Last night I finished of the stitchery that Lyn gave me at Christmas called "Xmas Morning Annie." Lyn also gave me a fat quarter of the gold material and the buttons. I enjoyed doing this and I even learnt a new stitch called whipped back stitch. This is where you do the back stitch then you go under and over each back stitch. This gives a raised effect.

I also finished off some little toiletry bags. These were in various stages of completion some needed iron on vilene attaching. I have left one plain as I can get buttons from the craft shop with initials on to attach when I know who this will be for. The others are machine embroidered with roses.

Ainsley and Julian arrived back from New Zealand last Thursday and had a wonderful time looking around in the camper van that they hired. Mind you there postcard they sent us is having a holiday to, I suppose it will get here soon.

I spent several hours working in the garden yesterday tidying up the roses and mulching with cow manure and charlie carp. Don't gardens smell wonderful! On the weekend I managed to buy a pepino plant, I have had one of these before but the frost got at it in wintertime. Hopefully this one will survive better. I also got punnets of Kale. The Siberian variety and the Red Russian, apparently these are very good for you.

Happy days.

Bev C

The Old School Bus Route Tour.

Hello,

On Friday February 13th Chris and I took Lucy and David on a Tour of our "Old School Bus Route" that we travelled on many years ago when we were at school. Mind you in those days the bus certainly wasn't air conditioned and certainly didn't travel as fast. The photo above is inside the Mumberkine Hall. Sometimes in the morning I used to walk to here to catch the bus. Many party's were held in this hall. We were surprised that we were able to walk inside the building.

The front verandah has fallen to the ground. I remember playing "Sticks" while waiting for the bus. Does anyone else remember this game ?

This photo of these wonderful trees is on our old farm called "Fairfield". This road to the farmhouse is no longer in use. They certainly have grown up to be fine specimens of trees.

I just love the photo above, the trees are very welcoming. They provided shade for us to walk home after getting dropped of by the bus. Lucy and David learnt a lot of family history and history of the farming district as we travelled along. They saw the original farmhouse of my descendants that pioneered the district. We met up with Mum,Lesley,Rosemary and Jane for a lovely walk around Goomalling and of course a visit to Goomalling wouldn't be a visit without a visit to the Go-cafe. We called into Jenna afterwards to have a drink at the pub but it wasn't open. A lovely day that everyone enjoyed.

Happy days.

Bev C

The Country Yard

Hello,

One of my favourite places I looked at while we were in New Zealand was a patchwork shop called "The Country Yard" in a place called Maungatapere in the Northland region not far from Whangarei. I bought Ian a door knocker with a spade on it for his shed. I got a grab bag of green material for the sum of $2.00 and I also bought one of the lovely moda tin that contains 35 5" x 5" squares from the A Day in the Country collection by Fig Tree Quilts,instructions to make the quilt on the cover as well as a CD which includes more quilt patterns recipes and the colour swatch of the entire collection.

These sheep were taking a rest under the shade of the tree. This variety don't need shearing and don't leave droppings.

This old vehicle was in the driveway. Old items were also in the cab of the vehicle. The gardens were just gorgeous. The owners have certainly worked hard getting it going. They told us weeds were everywhere and very tall when they first bought the property. He was doing up a veggie garden when we were there,using the old recycled red bricks for the paving.

This is the barn that contains the patchwork shop. It is just beautiful inside and the prices were very reasonable. We had a lovely walk around the grounds. Lovely old trees fruit trees and even a stile to walk to another section of the garden provided interest as we walked the gardens. I liked how old things were reused and put to good use in the garden and buildings. Stone walls at the rear of the property looked across lovely lush green paddocks. The Country Yards website is www.thecountryyard.co.nz

Well worth a visit either via the website or in person.

Happy days.

Bev C

Celebrate a wonderful life.

Hello,

In the early hours on Sunday 1st February my brother Peter passed away peacefully. Lucy Mum and I returned to Australia earlier than planned. We attended a service to celebrate his life on Wednesday 11th February. Lovely words were expressed by his son Casey and daughter Carmody. We were all given a packet of Sunflowers to take home and plant to remember and to celebrate a wonderful life. Peter's ashes will be scattered in The Kimberleys as Peter would say "In God's own Country".

A life well lived Peter,many wonderful memories. All our love goes to Jane Casey Carmody Sophie and Josh,our prayers are with you.

Love

Bev xoxox