'Tis hot, darn hot!!!

Must not stay here long...20 due here for new year's eve pool party in 2 hours and I'm just home from the beach, got to above 38 degrees here with shocking winds.

Thought I'd quickly share some onset of summer pics from my garden, can't decide which butterfly one I like best, can you??

What about my dragonfly, thought he was cute!

The quilt went to my boy's retiring school teacher/ head teacher. My daughter had her last year and adored her, so we felt she was quilt worthy!!! Not everyone is...as you quilt makers know!!

Hope your New year's eve is wonderful...and safe!!

Tune in tomorrow for a little competittion to celebrate the new year and the fact I'm back to blogging...think there was a 4 year blogiversary I missed as well!!! Cheers, tracey!!

And out with the camera....

Just a note to start... WOW! I am amazed how many people have kept popping in while I have been gone! I was thinking that noone would notice if I disappeared, but I managed to reaccess my statcounter account today after the loss of my main computer, and all I can say is "Thank you!!" Also, with the loss of my main computer I have lost all my favourites that I had set up when bloglines was going/gone. I have noone's address unless I crawl and scroll and search and visit, so if you are a friend of mine from lots of years of blogging, a comment or email would save a lot of time and would be great to get you on this computer. Inoticed some addresses I did have on here are gone and that makes me sad....you're lost!! I'll see who's still out there! Also, Chookyblue did her annual Christmas swap, she has posted the near 100 ornaments so far and the gift photos are still coming, well worth a look!

I love the Spring.....soon I even hope it may change to summer (38 degrees expected here for New year/s a shock after highs of very low 20's all month!)

Lots of new babies and life in the last few months here

I'm a little proud of this one, it won best farm animal shot at our photography show, against tricky opposition!

\
We have had some crazy phenomenons(to do with the crazy weather, I think) including these spider webs that appeared all around the local lake, very eerie!

More kittens as well!!! we will have to do something about the promiscuity of Magnum, she is lowering the farm's tone!This is one of her latest babies preparing to wine and dine a chicken!

Archie is asking people to join him in calling for the sterilisation of one whose children are disturbing his previously peaceful life!

And, why did the echidna cross the road?? So I could take his photo of course!! How cute is this fellow!
Last but not least, a gift idea for you... A good friend has kids my age and is spending ages every night at sports. The worst is the swmming training, the main seats are concrete bleachers, she was telling me this the other week so i made her a discreet quilted cushion/bag. Noone really wants to cart a cushion everywhere, but this is magazine carrying size, then if she just takes her stuff out it's comfy cushion. I lined it with chenille and it's fully reversible so if she doesn't want to sit on the outer she can just turn it inside out. She loved them and wants me to make more. The basic bag is my quited tutorial one in the sidebar links. I gave it a side handle here, up to you on the handles.

Have a great day, Tracey

Not dead!

How does it get to be 10 weeks from my last post? Lots of ways...my desktop hard drive died, most of the country got washed away in floods, including lots of our crops, so then they all had to get sown again, (and the water just keeps coming...where was it the last few years when we needed it!) time spent off the computer meant that another 6 kgs disappeared, getting me down to my lowest weight in the last 4 or 5 years, eldest daughter graduated primary school, boy took up proper cricket, with 5 associated hours of watching accompanying it...school swimming program came my way to run as did local photo competition and animal nursery, husband went away up north trying to harvest the almost unharvestable, did what feels like the whole district's photo taking, Sunday school nativity as well...and suddenly today is the day I finally have "nothing " to do!! So, hi!!

There has also been some sewing, this was made for my friend's daughter's wedding. It was all gift cards and money suggestions, and i am afraid that didn't excite me. i knew from watching her mother make the wedding cake that the whole theme was peaches and cream, so i managed to find some peaches and cream in my stash and make her this.

It is about a metre and half square, hanging on the oldest moreton bay fig in Adelaide, where we stayed to go to the wedding. The funny thing is, that about 4 days before, it looked like this...

-just a whole pile of layer cakes

.

-And 3 and a half days before the wedding it looked like this.

i got it together enough to hand quilt, yes, that's correct, hand quilt the butterfly/love hearts at wednesday night's cricket match...I was not letting 3 hours of enforced stillness go to waste, much to the other mother's amusement! And on the 5 hour trip to Adelaide On the Friday i completely hand stitched the binding and finished the last butterflies.

The bride loved it, especially(of course) because she had a whole house of money and gift cards...all very fine, but all very cold to cuddle up with new husband under!! (That's really a life lesson isn't it, money's all very good, but very cold to sleep with...)

These have been this week's projects...delivered Christmas Eve by the skin of their teeth! They are quilted santa sacks..and santa could almost fit in them, ok, well, a small child could use them as a sleeping bag. They were a paid job that has covered nearly a year's worth of hancock's purchases in one lot of sewing! They're also fun, i love the idea that these little children will drag them out every year, fo maybe the next 70 years, to celebrate Christmas.

Hope you all had a very Merry christmas with family and friends, hope you aren't all freezing in the Northern winter, that looks major!! It's not freezing here, you just need to be able to swim..over roads!

I'll leave you with some of my newest babies, and promise to be back again much sooner...cheers, Tracey