Another try...

...at blogging, let us hope that this time it wont be as stop and start as the rest of my craft life!

The main reason I lose motivation is thinking "no one reads this"....  so please if you can, a little comment, just to keep me going?????

Since my last post... what have I done?, well, I have delivered Eva's gorgeous log cabin quilt to its owner, made lots of Bee blocks, received lots too.  A bit of knitting here and there : a beanie warm enough for Alaska for R and 2 pairs of gloves, one of which winged its way to my sister in the US, just in case it got cold in California...

Current WIP's:

1. the famous mauve quilt....  say no more...
2. a "On a Whim" quilt of 20 blocks from Camille's pattern and to be followed in the Flickr group  Swooning on a Hopalong.  Here is the progress so far: 

1.  putting together the blocks my "Bee Connected" mates made, which are little paper-pieced boats, for a quilt for Eva's little brother
2. putting together 2 lots of gorgeous scrap blocks from online Bees, to be finished in time for our winter ( for charity)
3. the planning and sending out of 11 lots of blocks for the Always Bee Learning bee, using a modified  Carpenters Wheel pattern from Quilters' Cache

ummmm... I think/hope thats it!

Crafty Stuff

My return to quilting amongst my other crafts has prompted me to revive this blog and turn it into a record of the myriad crafty projects I have going on.  I would love to have an army of faithful followers, like many of the blogsters I follow.  But really, that would be a bonus because what I am after is a journal of my many many  WIP's or UFO's (unfinished objects) ...so I can shame myself in finishing them... as well as all the new projects.


Here is a start:

The MAUVE sampler quilt: was started some time in the 90's, because we were living "in the old house".  There is so much I dislike about this UFO:

• first the colour, MAUVE/PURPLE....  it was/ (is?) my ex's favourite colour
• the fact that I used poly cotton sheeting for the sashing and the back, with a view of having matching bedding.....
• the fact that I used dacron batting....  and it is all shredding at the edges....

I came very close to undoing over 15 years' worth of handquilting, and replacing batting and backing and taking it to the lovely Pam of Quilting Guru, who machine quilted Eva's quilt.  But I only have 3 out of the 12 blocks to do, and I kinda like the patterns, even though the hand quilting is crap.

But, to end on a positive note, today my friend Richard and I fly to Melbourne.  On the agenda is Richard meeting his gorgeous grandson Isaac for the first time, and celebrating the birthday of son Josh, Eva and Isaac's Dad.  For me, it will also be the handover of Eva's quilt, made in 3 weekends!  See what one can do when one is motivated and working to a deadline:

Bryn grows up

It shows the scarcity of my posts these days: only a few posts ago, I announced the birth of my Welsh Cob foal, Bryn. Well, he is now 9 months old, and gorgeous, not only in looks but temperament.

Two Sundays ago, Michelle took him to his first Breed Show. The email I got that night, along with some outstanding photos, was that, not only did he make us proud, but he was a pleasure to work with. Much credit goes to Michelle for all the work she put into him.

Bryn won his class and was Reserve - RunnerUp- for Best Foal!

At home, Bryn is such fun! A few months ago, I was quite sad that he wasn't "friendly" to me. Now, quite the opposite! He follows me round the paddock as I pick up his, and paddock-mate-surrogate-mum Francesca's "doings"... if I dont pay him enough attention, he gets it by pulling on my teeshirt or jumper, which means that now, I have to pull the wheelbarrow backwards to protect myself!

Sadly, Bryn's Dam, our lovely and unique Bessie, went to the Big Paddock In The Sky on May 3. We hope she canters (and eats) to her heart's content up there, and are so grateful for the gift of Bryn.

Snorkelling birthday at Ningaloo Reef

The morning of my 55th birthday started very early, with a drive to the Perth Domestic Terminal for our flight to Exmouth/ Learmonth. There, luggage and I were dropped off, and Richard went off to abandon Jazz (my car) at the long term parking.

The day before, I had a call from Skywest Airlines, to say that we had been bumped from the 7.05 flight to the 11.30 flight. Unhappy with this, we decided to take no notice and showed up for the earlier flight, stomped feet etc, and were allowed seats on what turned out to be a plane "borrowed" from National Jet, really a work bus for the Fly in Fly out workers on offshore platforms and mines. Even the hot water urn didnt work so no airline coffee.

The serendipity continued on our arrival under warm skies at Learmonth Airport: instead of a Hyundai Getz, the rental gave us a roomier red Kia Rio. 32 km later, we were at the Potshot Resort to check on our apartment. Despite being several hours early for check-in, found it was ready and waiting, number 53... my year of birth.

And so started a few wonderful, warm days. Two days were spent drift snorkelling at Turquoise Beach, inside the reef, amongst colourful fish of all sizes. On the third day, a 160 km drive South took us to Coral Bay, where huge corals grow protected just metres fom the beach. it was warm but not hot as it would be up North in the summer, the water temperature just right for wetsuit-free swimming.




For added fun, I took with us Jazz (one of my Blythe girls), and had fun taking funny photos... very silly in my young age, but fun!

















We had some memorable picnics, at Yardie Creek to the south of the Cape Range National Park, and Coral Bay; in the evenings dinner at the Potshot or barbecues at our "apartment"... It was a perfect pre-winter break!

Dear readers, an apology!

No I havent totally forgotten about my blog, it is just that my inspiration muse had left for greener and cooler pastures.
So to celebrate my return to Blog-land, I shall start with my birthday, 55, and proud to be, it is such a cool number! Then I will blog about my little boy foal Bryn and the departure of his dam Bessie for the big paddock in the sky. Then I will blog about sunsets, life, the universe, sunsets, a new mini passion in my life, maybe Bryn some more. And, if the gaps continue to be of several months, that will cover the next few years. By then I hope to have more topics, more sunsets, and a possible move of residence.

A warm start to 2008

44C in Perth for Xmas Day!!! I know a lot of people caught in ice and snow storms in the Northern Hemisphere would welcome a bit of warmth, if I could give them a degree or 2 or 20, they are welcome to them.

For once I was OK not having family here, apart from Michelle, who "did her own thing" on the day, having spent Xmas Eve together. No baking turkeys and roast vegetables, no Xmas pudding and cakes, instead it was the beach until it got too hot, and a leisurely nana-nap in the afternoon.

Since I last blogged, I have been to Canberra for a few fun paint-filled days, Sharon's new house is lovely, all the more after a full ceiling and walls paintjob. What I really like about Canberra is the way it has been planned, in a lot of areas you get the feel of being in the country, which of course it understandable as our capital was just created in a rural area early in the 20th century. There are still many open areas, fields and bushland, and most houses have a lot of mature trees, including deciduous.

Other big news: I am an aunty again. as Nicole my "sis in NC" and husband Mike have been blessed with a lovely healthy baby girl, a sister for Chloe, born on December 13: Sophie Caroline, 9lb 9 oz, 4.335 kgs! Cant wait for the pics and more scrap opportunity. I celebrated this by finally finishing the page on Nicole and Mike's wedding, nearly 4 years ago. So glad to be a hoarder as I still have the original wedding invitation!

For Michelle's Xmas I had made an "exploding box", just a fun 3D little photo album, with pics of family, horses, dogs and cats. She loved it and its content too: a few Ferroro Rocher choccies...

I been busy!

But not as busy as others have been: since I last posted, we have had a change in government in Australia: a resounding rejection of John Howard's Liberals, with Johnny himself losing his "safe" seat of Bennelong in Sydney, only the second time a Prime Minister has found himself, not only out of a job, but out of Parliament, after an election. Labor's Kevin Rudd, despite his lame US-style "Kevin07" slogan, has a lot more credibility, as well as a wife who retained her maiden name... Future will tell if he can earn continued support!
On the home front, very important stuff has been happening: Bryn my welsh foal is growing fast, and is no longer a colt... ouch! His Mum Bessie is in foal again, hopefully to give Bryn a little sister! Holly has had 2 visits to stallion Dae Wynne (Bryn's sire), fingers crossed.
Last Sunday, Michelle went to a Welsh Stud sale, to "help with the catering". Monday morning as I drove in, I noticed a new inhabitant in the front paddock: Francesca, who is a lovely chestnut part-welsh mare with a flaxen mane, very fetching, we all love her already!
The weather hasnt really been very "beachy", so I have finished 2 more pages for my scrapbook.
Still on 2003, I have done a double spread, featuring Sharon's last day in Narrogin before she, the children and Jewel left for Canberra in Nov 03.
The opposite page records the visit of my brother Francois and his wife Babette, all the way from France and before their move to Greece.
All in time, as tomorrow I fly to Canberra to help Sharon redecorate HER new Lodge!