Portrait of a Princess

Pia seems so happy and relaxed lately, eating really well and has put on 70 grams so things are looking good for this little girl. I am seeking to find an unwanted aviary to provide Pia with some safe climbing activity to help continue strengthening her lower limbs and tail. If anyone locally knows of one just let me know, even if it needs dismantling I'm up for the challenge. She will also have a possum box in the aviary to sleep in and eventually this will go up into a tree in the garden so she has a safe haven to keep her warm and dry once released.

Out and about

Been to the library for some cool weather reading. I haven't seen 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' movie yet so thought reading the book first might be a good move. Love Monica McInerney novels, started this little one last night. Fabulous sock book, great wool dyeing info and very colourful socks and a few new methods to read over. Also a great section on mending worn heels. Also popped into the local charity stores and came out with this great 70's crochet booklet. I've been studying it carefully and working out how to read crochet patterns as this is definitely something I want to learn to do this year. Final stop was to pick up two huge bags of unwanted wool scraps...........it was my lucky day when a friend phoned and offered them to me, perfect Aussie wool for felting. I just need to dream up some projects for these wools. The hand spun is from Tasmania and feels lovely, would make great felted slippers maybe.

Lady of the land

This is what my little sister has been up to for the last month. Now all her kids are either left home or at boarding school she has learned how to drive this tractor using GPS steering and has helped her husband to sow over 5000 acres of crop this year with their fingers and toes all crossed in hope of a good harvest in November. After 5 years of drought things are tough for the farming community of this country but it's in their blood and they don't give up easily. Now you can all get up and do a rain dance for the farmers of this great nation.

Nesting and a little knitting

No blogging lately, I think I must be pregnant.............nah, not really but I have been seriously decluttering and cleaning this house of ours................reminds me of the nesting that went on before Surfer Boy and Darling Daughter arrived. We have lived here for so long and all the cupboards are bulging with stuff so the local charity shops will have a delivery later in the week and I have a tiny bit more space in my wardrobe only until the ironing mountain is tackled. Also moved all the large appliances and dusted and cleaned behind and under, what a huge effort that job is. I have really sore dry hands from all the cleaning so not much craftiness going on in the evenings but I am working on a new bag using stripes to create a nice diagonal blended look with two colours, just about up to the handle section which I have planned in my head.

Princess Pia is nesting in a little cane basket she found this morning so I place her in the trug and she's sleeping like a baby. Notice the healed wound on her tail, a bite mark probably, she really has overcome some terrible injuries. She's doing so well and making small improvements everyday which is so good to see. Click on the photo for a really closeup look at the little cutey with her hands clasped under her chin.

Thanks for all my readers who keep visiting and are not finding a new post to read, I will try harder to post more often..........I promise!

Finishing lineup

First up is my new 'Winter Shopper' all felted and ready to go to town tomorrow! This bag had been sitting around for quite some time strapless as I couldn't quite decide what to do and this is very different from my first drawing in my knitting journal. I think this big bag is going to become a favourite of mine, feels real comfy already. This bag felted so well, beautiful NZ wool, really sturdy and not too fluffy, it shrunk 5" in width and 9" in length. Second finished is the bag I said I was making for a jet setting friend, she's picking it up Friday and heading off on Tuesday. Hope she likes the finished result of a Japanese bag kit she bought about 3 years ago at a quilt show, very weird instructions which were inconveniently all in metric...........not great when all your quilting equipment is imperial. Finally in third place a trio of bright felted glasses cases ready for the local general store. Also will have a couple of bags for them later in the week.

Now after all that effort aren't you impressed and I even pulled out my refrigerator and TV cabinet today and cleaned under and behind them thoroughly! It's feeling like spring rather than late autumn around here, lovely sunny warm days, my house is wide open today soaking up the rays, no heater tonight the slate floor will provide us with enough warmth.

Cheeky little monkey

It's nearly 8 weeks since little Princess Pia had her brush with danger and probable death if Dear Husband hadn't rescued her, she is slowly making her way back to health and activity. Her tail is ringing up quite well, enough to carry leaves and stuff around with her. She loves Dear Husbands moccasin and she spends a bit of time each day clambering around in the dining room building up those waisted hind leg muscles. She's eating a whole bowl full of fresh leaves and flowers each day and has some definite favourites.

Sore fingers

Finally, it's complete! Last night I finished the last stitch of the hand stitching of the binding on this large quilt that I have been working on for sometime. Miss Puss must have known I needed company to get me to the finish, my little Research and Development Assistant is always willing to test new quilts or knits. We did it together and I really like the finished result, a lovely warm cosy quilt for the family to use on the lounge this winter. I have a few left overs from these two quilts so maybe I will make a small quilt for the lonesome lounge chair or a couple of loud cushions for a pair of sea grass chairs that are looking a bit naked in the dining room. Not today though I'm on a mission to finish a pieced bag for a friend and I'm well over halfway now which is good because she's off overseas next week and this is a bag she has planned to use for the evening dining events, she's very organised with her wardrobe.

Perfect weather....

......for a bicycle ride with Dear Husband. He packed a picnic lunch and I grabbed my camera and then we headed south to explore the next two villages and check out what was going on at the beaches. Week days are great for cycling, not too busy on the roads and our villages are so very quiet and peaceful, all the tourists have returned to the big smoke for the working week. We found a group of adult surfers riding the good swell without any little annoying grommets snaking the waves, weather was too good for working for these guys. Why do seagulls always find you and your sandwich so enticing? They didn't get anything from these two hungry cyclists, they will have to go and do some fishing for their own lunch. This is the last month of autumn down under and it's just been spectacular for the last few weeks, balmy days but nice cool nights for snuggling under 3 patchwork quilts. I really loathe winter so I'll be happy if this weather continues for a while longer, a bit of overnight rain would be very welcome for the gardens.

Mothers Day...........

.........usually a day I don't enjoy at all but this year was different to the usual lack of effort from the family to be thankful for their mother just once a year. Really thoughtful gifts started the day on a great note, we had a family breakfast at the table then Dear Husband had to head off to work. I spent the morning with Darling Daughter cooking up a little sweet treat. Lunch was a lovely BBQ with a girlfriend and 2 of her four children, her husband works away so it was really nice to be able to share our Mothers Day this year. We indulged in Pina Colada cocktails, yummy marinated chicken, fresh salad and Turkish bread. Afternoon tea was the Peppermint slice from our morning of baking, none left now. Will bake another and share the recipe with you all, it certainly rivals an Aussie favourite the Arnott's Mint Slice biscuit. Beautiful white roses just say Mother don't they and my dear friend shared her bunch with me so now I have a wonderful vase full in my lounge. I do hope all the mums out there enjoyed a special day or part there of!

Lazy Sunday

We've decided we are going to have a cooked Sunday lunch as often as we can. Dear Husband works every third weekend so 2 out of 3 won't be bad. Even though it's almost winter it's warm and sunny out in the garden most days so we will cook outdoors. We built a pizza oven in our backyard a while back and it still doesn't have a mosaicked bench top but it cooks beautifully. Yesterday we had a pizza lunch with some friends who came bearing gifts and 4 mosaic books in loan including Kaffe Fassetts' which should inspire me to get this project underway. My girlfriend knows I hate getting my fingers mucky so she offered to come and help me with this big project. Maybe I will be able to incorporate the old china I have been finding into this mosaic work? Sorry, I forgot to take photos of the pizzas and yummy salad we indulged in, it was delish. I think we will do a roast dinner for our next lazy Sunday lunch.