some more randomness.....

I've been having a lovely time, over here in my little corner of blogworld.....

 

some more lovely quilts from the Sunbury Quilt Show... 

I LOVE minis.... and here is a whole display of them!

 

 an amazing 'Farmer's Wife' quilt

 

 another of my friend Carolyn's beautiful quilts

 

enjoying being at home...

 

a relaxing Sunday morning in bed with some knitting and my favourite magazines

 

 a delicious fruit loaf

 and some cheese & chive scones

 I really enjoyed this book

 

and this one

 

and browsing through this one

 

there has been some sewing...

catching up on my 'Market Day' quilt along sewing 

and watching...

a gorgeous series, I just love it
 

there have been beautiful sunrises...

 

and happy mail...

bought with birthday money, I have been waiting for this with

barely-contained excitement.....

 

and lunchtimes from work spent at home having something
warm and yummy to eat ~

 some delicious risotto - I am so lucky that my job is only 5 minutes from home 

life is good.....

 
xx

a bit of randomness.....

I need to delete some photos off my camera, so today as I was going through them, I found quite a few to share that had not been on my blog previously -

fun Halloween decorations last year, outside my favourite house in Gisborne (not mine, sadly!)

an amazing and beautiful sunset

 the beach at St Leonards - on holidays with Sue

 flower mini I made last year and sent to Maria, in Cheryll's swap

a get together of blogging and sewing friends in April - much hilarity was the order of the day

 taken on the same day with a few of us ladies from the Mill Rosies group

my gorgeous nephew playing basketball -

just about my most favourite activity for the week is to watch his basketball games

my gorgeous boy

you may not know that Ollie also comes to work with me... in his basket next to my desk at work and looking very handsome, having just been to the groomer

my sister's and niece's gorgeous dog Scout... she has the most beautiful and affectionate nature

a delicious lunch last weekend.... home made vegie soup and a cheesy toastie on a cold day

  

 ... and some delicious afternoon tea, a homemade banana cake just out of the oven...

being the nature geek I am, I loved this beautiful lichen on a tree at work

xx

here and now.....

Today I have been inspired by the 'Here and Now' posts over on Sarah's gorgeous blog, Chantille Fleur. Sarah  is a very talented lady, and her photography is just beautiful.  Pop on over and take a look, and I'm sure Sarah would love it if you said hi!

So, here is my here and now.....

loving   ::   a quiet Sunday morning, reading, sewing and blogging, with Ollie snoozing (snoring!) by my side

eating   ::   a nice, hot bowl of porridge on a cool morning

drinking   ::   my favourite tea in my favourite mug

wearing   ::   ummm...pyjamas - still in bed!

  

feeling   ::   content, relaxed and looking forward to the day ahead doing some sewing

wanting   ::   the weekend never to end!!

thinking   ::   about what sewing I want to play with today

dreaming   ::   of homemade banana cake fresh out of the oven with some butter, planting some flowers in the garden, and being retired so I have more time for sewing!

a perfect sunday morning.....

.... a perfect LAZY Sunday morning ~

tea in my favourite mug

a couple of favourite magazines

some sewing

the sun shining through the curtains

... and Ollie snoozing by my side

perfect.....

how did you spend your Sunday morning ?

Ollie and T xxx

where does the time go?!?

Firstly, a belated Happy New Year!! I hope it is a wonderful year for you all.

Doesn't the time just seem to be flying by again! One of my personal challenges/goals for this year is to build some routines into my days so that things - such as my blog - don't get left behind. Hopefully my neglected little blog will get a lot more attention from now on!

On the subject of goals, have you read the book 'The Happiness Project' by Gretchen Rubin? I read this for a second time over the holidays. I love this book; obviously it is about Gretchen working on her own level of happiness, and I love the way she listed her resolutions/goals which she believed would create a happier life, and then broke each one down into smaller steps to achieve them. It's something I am trying to do myself more often so that some aspects of life (even the enjoyable ones sometimes!) don't seem so overwhelming.

Gretchen has a great blog, and you can sign up to do your own 'Happiness Project' for the year, if you are so inclined. I have signed up, as I have some very definite goals that I want to achieve for this year. Nothing the least bit lofty mind you; just homey, crafty, health and financial goals - just kind of going back to basics in a lot of things and building routines and plans into my everyday life, and just being a LOT more organised and focused.

I guess I feel like I just didn't achieve very much last year. In fact, I felt like I achieved very little at all, and I don't want to finish 2012 with the same feelings of discontent and disappointment, and such an overwhelming feeling of being disorganised with so many things.

So, onward and upward!

Firstly, just a quick Christmas run down. Here is Ollie with a pressie he got from his 'aunty' & 'canine stylist' (my sister) - a box full of yummy doggy treats. Lucky Ollie. His 'mum' was very remiss and didn't get him anything (except lots of kisses and cuddles of course; he is a very cuddly little doggie)!



I received some beautiful gifts, and it was 'Cath Kidston' time again - see my previous post here. This time, a Cath Kidston purse which I love from my gorgeous niece, some really pretty CK soaps from her boyfriend, and some CK mugs from a friend.



I also received, among other things, some cute tartan slippers (have always had a thing for tartan and all things Scottish), some movie tickets, yummy chocolates, a cute little Christmas wreath made by my niece, a diary, and some money to buy - you guessed it - fabric! Lucky Tania too!!

I also did make some Christmas gifts which were given away to friends, but in the Christmas rush neglected to take any photos, although my gift to Ms Kylie, a cushion cover, is here.

Now, onto 2012. You may recall my list below, and my plan to complete "12 in '12".

:: Machine pieced sampler quilt - to be quilted and bound
:: Hand pieced sampler quilt - to be quilted and bound
:: 'Persian Tiles' quilt - to be quilted and bound
:: A quilt for my niece's birthday in March - not yet started
:: A quilt for my nephew's birthday in May - not yet started
:: Finishing my 'French Braid' quilt - currently a WIP
:: 'Pinwheel' sampler quilt - a 2012 challenge
:: 'BBQ' quilt - a 2012 challenge
:: Round Robin - a 2012 challenge/quilt-along
:: Irish Chain quilt - currently a UFO
:: my Lori Smith applique - currently a WIP
:: Lumiere de Noel charm square quilt - not yet started

I might tweak this list yet - my 'Persian Tiles' quilt is not really a priority at the moment - but the goal remains to complete 12 quilts in 2012. Pushing it? Possibly; but even half that many would be more than I completed last year! Still, it is a goal I would love to achieve and I will be doing my best to rise to the challenge!

In my next post, sewing so far for 2012.

Love
Ollie & T xxx

favourites on friday {1}

I thought I would like to show you some of the things I love. Many of them are things I have in my home, some are places that I love in the town where I live, and others might be things that I love to do during my day.

So, today, a little post about creativity and my family. Although none of my family share my interest or enjoyment in the 'domestic' arts such as sewing, knitting, crochet and so on, they are all quite talented in their own right. My Mum, for quite a few years, painted lovely Australian landscapes in oils, and my sisters are very talented at drawing; my younger sister took classes in botanical drawing, and has produced some beautiful pieces of work. She also wrote - and half finished - a wonderful novel which she never completed, and which I truly believe would have been published had she sent it to any publishers. Sadly, none of them now do any of these things.

My father, who passed away almost four years ago and to whom I was very close, loved to work in wood. He made many beautiful bowls and occasionally pieces of furniture, and when my niece and nephew were little, he created cute little wooden jigsaw puzzles for them.

I have one bowl (among many) which I treasure. Dad made it especially for me; it was a design in a woodworking magazine which he thought I would love.



It is based on the planet Saturn, and it's rings are represented by the wider rim around the central bowl shape.

I don't remember what wood it was made in, but the turning is so fine that the bowl has almost no weight at all. I was devastated when in moving house several years ago, a large, jagged piece broke from one side. Thankfully a friend of my Mum's was able to fix it without the damage being too visible.



I cherish this bowl, and what it represents of my relationship with my Dad. It sits in a spot in my living room where I can see it every day, near a photo of my Dad and I together.

This one is not just a favourite; it is one of my most treasured possessions.