"Best Friends",Stitchery and Books.

Hello,

Last Friday was my monthly sewing day. I took two things along to start/finish. Do you think I got much done,no,too busy helping others and talking. I had bought this kit called "Best Friends" at a garage sale for only $5.00. It hadn't even been opened. Everything was inside the pattern the material buttons and wool. I all needed to supply was the stuffing which I had on hand. The girls are enjoying there new found freedom out in the garden. The "Best Friends" is a design by Judy Golder.

A while back I was lucky enough to receive this unfinished stitchery from Robyn.

I bought some matching DMC embroidery thread and finished off the stitching on the hearts. I had some lovely wooden heart buttons which I got from my favourite little shop. Which sadly has closed down. The owners wanted to spend more time with family as the children were only young. I added a calico binding to match in and it now has pride of place on the dining table.

Last week I got a lovely notice from the library saying that this book was in. I ordered it sometime ago after reading a review for it in a craft magazine. It is a great book with beautiful quilts graded according to your capabilities. I loved how they let you decide which way to applique the design. I don't know if I will get any done but I am sure I will copy some for use later on. I also have the book "Velvet Pears" by Susan Southam which is just heaven. I have this book ordered from a book store and can't wait for it and another cross stitch book to come.

Happy days.

Bev C

"Angelina" arrives in Australia.

Hello,

Well yesterday was the long awaited day. Angelina flew in from New Zealand. Mind you she came by economy mail. I often wonder about the difference between Air Mail and Economy Mail. After all the lady at the Post Office told my sister Chris the mail goes on the same plane. So Angelina must have had a little holiday at a Post Office somewhere. I hope she enjoyed herself!! Thank you very much Chris,I can't wait to start her. Of course Angelina arrived in the middle of winter here in Australia so she has a lovely green paddock to look out upon.

The photo above is the view from our front yard. Yes, you New Zealand relatives our paddocks do turn green even if only for a short time. I enjoy the view especially when it is alive like this.

Of course having been gifted Angelina comes at a cost. She had some travelling partners. Her companions on this trip were these bright surf type materials. Chris works for a surfboard manufacturing company and these materials are used in surfboards,custom made to your requirements. I have to make a wall hanging to hang in Roger's home. This will be a bright and cheery hanging. I already have something in mind. If you want to check out Roger's boards please visit here,he even has a blog.

This morning I spent some time out the front pruning the rose's. Our Shire gives a free skip bin each financial year. We have it for a week. So pruning chopping and fine tuning the garden is on the cards for this week. The shed will get a bit of a tidy up as well.

Happy days and hugs to you.

Bev C

"Coming Home"

Hello,

Today I finished this little stitchery. It is a little wall hanging designed by Cheryl from Willowberry designs. The final measurements are 14.5 inches by 18 inches.

I did two changes to the pattern,the gate originally had Welcome written on the sign.I changed this to "Kainga". I left out the straight stitch around the outside and the centre panel. I did try it on the outside but I chose not to do it in the end.It has been a very cold day here,the maximum temperature has been about 12 degrees with lots and lots of rain. There has been some hail as well. Lovely weather for the last day of the school holidays!!!!

Happy Sewing

Bev C

Wave Rock.

Hello,

Yesterday we were tourists for a day. Ian Lucy and I drove just over two and a half hours away to Wave Rock which is just out of Hyden. Wave Rock is over 100 metres long,and taller than a 3 storey building (15 metres.) It is believed to have begun forming underground as much as 60 million years ago. Wave rock.a granite cliff is 15 metres high and 110metres long.Its rounded shape has been caused by weathering and water erosion which has undercut the base and left a rounded overhang. Water from the springs running down the rock during wetter months dissolve minerals adding to the colouring of the wave. In 1960,crystals from Hyden Rock were dated as being 2700 million years old,amongst the oldest in Australia. Aren't the colours in the granite amazing?

This is Hippos Yawn,which is not far from Wave Rock. Wave Rock and Hippo's Yawn form part of Hyden Rock. The photo below shows some big slabs of rock which have slipped down.

Rock Pools on the top of the rock. The views were amazing.

In this photo above you can see that a small wall has been built to catch water. Slabs of the rock were used to build the wall. The Hyden Dam which is up on the rock outcrop was a major component of the town's water supply right through until 2000. Wave Rock only became a national attraction when a photograph of it won the 1963/64 Kodak International Colour Picture Competition at the New York International Fair.We had a wonderful day and one thing I noticed was that the small country towns we went through were amazingly neat and tidy. There were a fair few tourists at the rock but as the place is so big it felt you had the rock to yourself at times.It is one of the cleanest tourist attractions I have been to no graffiti or rubbish to be seen.After a walk around and across the rock we enjoyed a lovely picnic then went for another walk. Then the long drive home stopping to do a tour of the towns along the way. It was at least 20 years ago that I went to Wave Rock Lucy hadn't been as was impressed with it. I hope you enjoyed looking at the photo's.

Happy days.

Bev C

"Midsummer Garden"

Hello,

Last night I was able to sew the binding on my latest quilt. It is a design by Gail Pan
I was lucky enough to win this pattern from Gail called "Midsummer Garden". The pattern involved a fair amount of hand sewing. I used a variegated thread to machine quilt the quilt which suited the pattern. The size of the finished quilt is 46 inches by 46 inches.With the temperature falling to minus 1 here last night there is nothing quite like a quilt to snuggle up to.Tomorrow I will post some interesting photo's of where we went to today. Thank you to everyone who left such lovely comments regarding the veggie garden. It is much appreciated.

Happy sewing.

Bev C

Veggie Gardening at Kainga.

Hello,

One of our favourite things to do here at Kainga is getting into the garden. With the recent rain and sunshine afterwards our veggie garden is thriving. We plant mainly from small plants grown in punnets purchased from a local nursery. Although I am trying to get some of the old fashioned seeds going. Then I can save them and grow them the following growing season. We ate some of this cauliflower last night. We even put a small spoonful on Lucy's plate. She doesn't eat many veggies and it was left on the plate. Oh well more for Ian and I.

Chinese cabbage is a favourite. You can pick a few pieces each day and it regrows.

A few months back Ian and I built this raised veggie bed. We had looked at purchasing one but as we had some sheets of iron left over from when we built the shed we used them up. I took off the netting for the purpose of taking the photo. This helps keep those dreaded white butterflies away from them. In this bed we had some onions,lettuce,broccoli,cauliflower and the Chinese cabbage and yesterday I planted a few broad beans. Having the bed raised makes gardening so much easier. When filling up this bed we used up soil we had taken out when we put in the pool then a load of veggie mix which is full of manure etc was put on top then I layered some lupin mulch on top to help things along.

I have planted a couple of different varieties of potatoes this year. I use different containers including this part of a 44 gallon drum and the plastic barrel. We do have some growing in the ground as well.

These leeks have come up after I left the seed heads on the ground over summer. I usually just chop off what I need and the leeks regrow. In the background is some peas that I have just recently sown. I had saved the seeds from last year. Presently we are going to look at getting another rainwater tank for the side of the house. It looks like June will be fairly wet so we want to catch as much rain as possible.

Happy gardening.

Bev C

Sweet sixteen.

Hello,

Lately I have been doing some hand stitching. Working on the blocks from "Midsummer Garden" which is a delightful pattern from Gail. I made the yellow centres just a little bit bigger to use up the yellow material I had.
I have completed the nine squares and have cut out the joining strips etc. I got my sewing machine back from its service on Saturday and can't wait until I have a reasonable amount of time to get back into sewing. I had to wait so long because the part had to come from Japan.

Today is Lucy's 16th Birthday. Have an extra special day Lucy and enjoy your day at the Footy this coming Sunday. Lucy is a keen St Kilda supporter and she had an exciting time yesterday watching them win again.

Happy days.

Bev C

Bag ladies...

Hello,

Today I wanted to share with you what I made in last months challenge. I chose this pattern of the two ladies ready to go shopping for our challenge pattern. It was in a newsletter given out by Darlene I added some beads that I had for the lady's hat and they both got beads for the necklaces.

I added the stitchery panel to a bag. I made up the bag pattern myself . I used stripes because the lady on the left has a striped bag with the panel in the middle.

The other side of the bag with a floral panel. I enjoyed doing the scallops and button holing them on. I did think about doing a little fastener at the top and using a button,but I didn't really have any that matched in well. As this is supposed to be a project that only uses things we had on hand this decision was made. I haven't heard back yet from Anita and Heather if they got there project done but will let you know if they have. This months challenge is something completely different. We are going to be making Robyn's

"Hoot." This pattern is now available in Robyn's new store. I received a phone call yesterday that I have been waiting for. My embroidery machine is all fixed and ready to be picked up so will make a trip to the city soon to pick it up. Yay!!! I have really missed her.

Happy sewing.

Bev C