What Did You Do All Day?

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pyjamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pyjamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?'

She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?'

'Yes,' was his incredulous reply.

She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.'

_____________________________________________________________

Well, you know what, come next week i may just not do it either!!

This email I received summed up my week-fed an extra 4 for a few days while they shore off the wool around the sheep's bottoms prior to lambing, madly sewed, cooked and made organizng phonecalls for the School market, tried to remember to blog at least once and hoped that people will forgive me for my lack of comments...(I'll be back next week!!) and stayed up late into every night getting organized so i could skip town on the family for Friday and Saturday to attend the Church Ladies convention 5 hours away on the bus! We are holding it here next year and as President I had to go and see how it ran and receive the banner etc. My scariest moment was climbing on the mini bus and taking my seat...near a woman called Valda....and fearing that I was just like Mrs. Hoggett on Babe!!! Remember her going off to CWA on the bus fearing for Hooggett's sanity?-Well, i feared for mine! but I had a perfectly fine time..I kept remembering my parents credo for life-"you have to learn to make your own fun!"

I bought some great books which I will share, sewed a heap of redwork, ate some great slice and enjoyed being treated pretty much as the pet...because I was a good 20 years younger than everyone else! My family survived and appreciated me so much more when I wandered back -so all in all a good result.

I can't be bothered walking down to the woolshed tonight to get my camera, so photos of interesting happenings will have to wait-hopefully see you soon, have a good day, Tracey

A new day.

Phew...... It is 12.01 am on May 1st, and I just put the last stitch in my Four Seasons swap quilt so it WILL be mailed on time.

So it is a double celebration, because today we took possession of the farm next door. Well, we kind of took over a few weeks ago, it is all completely burnt and most ploughed ready to put lots of that beautiful yellow canola in, but today was the official changeover. The owner is retiring, but staying in the beautiful old house indefinitely, we don't need it...yet.

My girl has decided that it is to be her farm and she is entertaining us hugely with her plans to make money to buy it off us and then her changes and what she is going to farm! She paid for two of the latest calves with her pocket money and birthday money-people gave her birthday money and asked what toy she would get, you should have seen the jaws drop when she answered, "a farm!" She thinks if she buys and sells over the next 8 years she should have farm money and a herd!

We went through the house the other day and she is madly working out where her stuff will go and how many pets she can jam into the formal lounge (??)

She has had a remarkable turnaround since Monday, assisted by a phone consultation with the woman who fixed her in December...so I am still trying to be an alternative therapy believer-it is hard not to be when your daughter is now dancing around the house and intending going to football tomorrow night. So some of the stress is gone from our house for now.

I am hoping she lets me pick fruit from her fig tree when she takes over, I have never had a prolific one and I think I am going to love the new farm's one..

I just love figs-and fig jam. The owner can remember eating figs from it when he was a boy so it is quite old but still fruit bearing. The walnut tree beside it looks good as well.

I am trying to work out how I can ask to keep this, it looks great!

But this will definitely stay-you can't beat a good windmill at dusk.

My lovely friend, Susan who has now been on the other side of the country for nearly a year, sent me some pics tonight. Remember when I auditioned sashing ideas for her Roman Holiday, well here it is with the red I sent her, i think she has done a great job.

She also made a red quilt for a friend of a friend with cancer in her town, i liked this as well.

I think if you click on it you could see the stitcheries better. Susan does great stitcheries...and a happy slightly belated birthday Susan as well-still miss you!

Now it is 12.26 am, where does the day go? Have a good one, wherever you are, Tracey

Unpredictable girls

This is a very rascally almost 3 year old.
THIS is also the only time she is ever still or quiet!
This is also a slight problem......
I gave my DN this quilt on the day after she was born, I only had to sew the binding on the night i received the good news because I just knew she was a girl. It is backed with a very cuddly fleecy and she loves it..."my quilty!" or "my Tracey quilty!!"
The problem stems from the fact it was made for a baby and now she is almost 3 and wont sleep under anything else-flatly refuses and quilty doesn't cover her all night and it means her 36 week pregnant mother is going up and down the stairs all night because she is cold.
SOOO...
I had bought some of the Barefoot roses range for a new quilt for her and when my sister was here on Friday she gave me precise design instructions for the new quilt-positively the last time I let my sister near any quilting magazines, she wanted everything...but I lead her in my direction, even making sample blocks while we had lunch!

Here it is cut into yummy 2 1/2 inch strips

And here are the 9 patches checking they like their pink sashing.
I like the pink sashing, the mother likes the pink sashing and Miss almost 3 looked at it and said.....
"I just want my quilty!!"
we are working on the theory that if I back it in fleece we will eventually be able to slip it on her in bed. Pleased that isn't really my problem!

I know I was intending concentrating on the market but my girl was fairly dodgy with what is possibly a recurrence of her stomach and migraine complaint over the weekend and I find sewing therapy to be better looked on by society than-
1. running away to live with the gypsies.
2. Starting to drink prior to 10 am
3. Leaving her on the hospital doorstep with a note atatched- (i think she can talk too well for that!!)
Mercifully she is feeling good tonight and I may be able to sleep at least in hope that she will make it to School tomorrow for the first time in a fortnight.....the joys of children!

Have a good day ...I hope I do!

Sewing box

Do you ever se something in a shop and just know it should be yours?

Than you get all economical and decide not to purchase it as you don't need it....you just like it.

Then you get home and think, I should have got it?

Well I have been doing that for about 6 months with the sewing box at my local antique cum tearooms...Any time I went there I would check to see if it was gone, ask if anyone had bought MY box...and the answer was always no. I think I know why, it was too dear for me to justify so would probably have been the same to others

Here's the BUT THEN, I went there for Robyn's birthday and it was reduced by nearly half. I decided that was a sign so it got added to the caffe latte and the scones with jam and cream and has come home to live.....wanna see???

Ta Da!!!

Then it opens out and is FULL OF OLD STUFF!!!

Buttons and threads....

More buttons ....

...and more buttons, with all these very handy hose darning threads in a range of colours!

Those menders will have to be good because all my stockings nowdays are used by my children for putting the bait in when we go yabbying (small freshwater crayfish)-like to see the threads mend those holes! I have a feeling the dainty ladies who invented hosiery never expected that usage 50 years ago. Or would it be a man who invented stockings? Someone who wanted to feel silky smooth legs and started the quest...yes, much more likely, I don't think a woman would have forced us into them!

I am not sure that all those things will stay in the box, I want it to be very used, so will probably transfer the myriad of important stuff I can never find when I want it into there instead...you would hope even I would find it fairly tricky to lose track of this sewing box!

Off to enjoy the rest of our ANZAC day Public Holiday, my team just lost the football but my sister visited so that equalled out the loss! She has just left and DH isn't in yet so I may safely go and play with my sewing box and no-one will think I am weird!

Spring into action!

Inspiration finally hit and I think my swap partner will get their four season's quilt before the Australian spring!!

If we go back a post or two you may remember I toyed with this for spring....

and then decided it wasn't safe enough so played with this....

Well, it just wasn't quite me and I couldn't get back into it until this flash of inspiration hit me. (while watching High Society with my girl yesterday...must have been the combined crooning of Bing and Frank!!)

Speaking of combining inspiration, I combined the free pieced roses and the pieced background to get this result.

I am happy with this, I even altered the leaves, the needle turned ones will wait for another day. They needed to be more free.

There's a close up. Just need to baste and quilt it now and it will be in the mail. That is one thing off a very long list of things that needed doing, I have noticed a lot of you putting up lists of your WIPs, I wont scare myself with that...until at least after this market is over...but this would make a good motto!

She reminded me a bit of Grace Kelly out of High Society. Today we watched The Philadelphia Story, which is the same play, didn't excite my girl as much but made more plot sense to me!!And I personally think Katherine Hepburn outdoes Grace for character if not beauty...am I alone?

have a great day, Tracey

Of cricket, pets and sewing.

"They" must do something about this Indian cricket on all night here! It has well and truly got me in and there are about 45 days to go! "They" have been very clever and put a few Aussies in every team, also made it fast paced and exciting and I can't pull my eyes away! Last night I had the whole night's worth set to tape on the hard drive and I still watched until the light tower power went out at about 1am! Too tempting.

I tried to maximise my time by cleaning the kitchen and sewing bags for the School market and a bucket for my friend Robyn's birthday today. She looks just like the quilting "love is patient" pic.

The sewing went well, the photo shoot this morning was far trickier!!

I couldn't pick a favourite so you get them all. I was pulling my hair out over uncooperative kittens who play with the props and the DD,who is still home with the flu and somewhere underneath quilt and kittens, piped up with...."it says, Love is patient, Mummy!" I should have that on my wall, especially with sick children..lol

I have new babies.-I just SO needed more pets! We picked them up yesterday and they have all successfully had their first feed, here is one....

Cute, isn't he.

Unfortunately Sigmund is not seeing the funny side of being upstaged. I think I overheard this conversation between old and new...

"Who do I look like to you......Danny out of the Partridge family, Willis, out of the show whose name eludes me right now or perhaps an Olsen twin (my hair is looking a little in need of a brush).-But all that is beside the point. I have been an international blog star, immortalized on cards and covered in quilts, and you upstarts think you can just move in here and take over because I am leaving the cute stage. It'll be you here one day, don't say i didn't warn you!!"

His mate knew when to get out and start looking for a new career before they made him star in celebrity reality TV.

Hey, any openings in the chook yard for a calf in a chicken suit?

Considering that is the number who followed me just to feed the calves, I think that answer would be NO!!

Have a great day, Tracey

Other people's progress.

The shorter autumn days are running away from me. I haven't had a minute to post, meetings and minutes, kids with the flu (ONLY the flu, she says thankfully!!) and buying the farm next door all seem to take precedence. Unfortunately, I can't see it improving for a few weeks but I will do my best. You may have to put up with a few photos from the lambing ewes for a while, but you can cope!
It only seems like yesterday since I was busy with our School Mother's day Market, but it was a whole year and it is once again sucking up a fair bit of my "spare" time. We had a lovely day yesterday, a School mum's craft day for the Mother's day gifts at the market. We scrapbooked gifts and I converted a few scrapbookers with easy instructions for chooks, buckets and bags-they very excitedly went home with something they had actually sewn!

Here are a few of the things that came home with me to be finished off and priced after the day. I made another of the pot holders when I got home, as well as a bucket and bag in corodinating shabby chic pink and gave them to my Saturday Quilter birthday Buddy today.

This is the lovely birthday girl, Ann working on machine quilting her quilt, predominantly Sanctuary? fabrics I think-see why I chose the pinks for her birthday!!!

I think this may be her Roman Holiday charm square work as well.

Jane has been busy making her first stack and whack, I love this altogether, lots of parts jump out at you.

Mirinda was stitching....

As was Janine.

Here is your first portrait of a new blogger, the Chocolate cat, working on her pigs......gorgeous isn't she-now you know!!

And another lovely lady whose name eludes me was making this crossstitch similar to the magazine pic. It will be a needle cushion...gorgeous variegated thread, I almost coveted this....if I was a coveter! I have a feeling I have that mag somewhere in the magazine black hole...now, to find it, then to make it-my poor hands are screaming at me just thinking about it!

Have a great day, hopefully back soon...with something scrappily outside the square I think. I feel like a change.

Busy in-and out-of the kitchen

Sitting up waiting for my tomato sauce to simmer and thicken long enough to bottle. Not much action today, just cooking.

I found tomatoes cheap last week so another batch of sauce is on the BBQ. My husband's family refuse to have sauces and chutneys etc cooked inside so they all do it on the BBQ, I personally like the smell, but still I am constantly venturing outside to stir my sauce-go figure! The rules from the MIL overcome the wishes of the wife...sometimes!!
Here it was a few hours ago-proof I have to use the BBQ~~~
Once again apple season here, only feels like yesterday I was overburdened last Autumn, cried out for recipes and the darling Kim's big quilting adventure came up with the Apple cake that nearly lead me to a larger size in pants!! Good though!
Now I am unsure what happened here with the missing section of strudel....
my daughter saw the missing bit and quoted for me,
"hmmm, you are going to say it was rats, cats or mice....otherwise you were testing it to be sure it wasn't poison!" I just smiled and said, "yes, the sacrifices I make for you!!"
It is actually low fat, amazingly enough...(lucky, you say)!
Speaking of fat. This is what remains after I took the big container of leftover Easter eggs out of the cupboard, amazingly, I never ate them neither did their little owners so the family voted that they should be turned into Caramel slice. Good plan, i can freeze that in sections and not just snack on the eggs everytime I need a sugar fix.

The chocolate melted down beautifully and here is a little slab before we decided to share it out for afternoon tea-yummy!

i made some fig jam as well in between stirring and strudel, my friend has a birthday tomorrow and loves it, she is a learner quilter so I made her one of the fabric buckets in her colours with a matching charm square on the jam. I think that could work well for our upcoming School mother's day market. The jam fits perfectly in the fabric bucket.
I'll finish off with one of the stone walls we saw on our way down to the Church picnic. An old volcanic area, they utilized the cheap labour in the early settlement days to make these walls. Most are reinforced with some added wire now to keep the long legged dairy cows in but many still remain in some form. I love them, wish it had been a better light day...and that we weren't running late for the service.....
Well, hopefully the sauce is nearly ready to bottle, i am almost cooked out! Have a great day, Tracey

..... we have the technology!!

I am very excited, finally found out how to get a "Title" section for my posts so you can click directly on me in Bloglines without opening a new tab....for those other people who I see having the same trouble it is in the formatting section, you just tick 'yes' instead of 'no' for the title section question. I know, not like solving world famine but was annoying me anyway!

We have been having a few little family sewing sessions to try out the $69 Aldi sewing machine that I bought for my girl to learn on. It goes quite well, just have to remember to pull more thread out the back because it unthreads itself if I just leave a Janome amount.

Here is my boy working on his log cabin chook....a disclaimer here, the kids chose their fabrics and would not be influenced and as I just wanted them to sew I closed my mouth re light and dark!

Isn't some lucky woman going to love me!!! (While his sister watches TV in between sewing turns!) Look, he irons!!

And very intently as well!

It grew very impressively....

....into the brownish one here. The blue is his sisters and they are very proud!

If you haven't seen these before they are in my tutorial links in the sidebar.

And just to show you that my boy's life is suitably rounded, here is where he spent the rest of his holidays!

watching this fun......

and standing waiting longingly with the bike for the time when the flames were receding enough for him to safely join in!! (His mother went through about 4 years of very little sleep with that child-she would prefer he safely reached adulthood!!)

And finally, my sister had this at her house...should it be the quilter's motto?

Have a great day, I am off to the Church Picnic in the morning! Tracey