Welcome to 2013

 Happy New Year to all my Friends.

Can you believe that another year has passed and it is 2013.

I have decided that this is My year.
My year to do the things that make Me happy.
My sewing room is screaming out for a little T.L.C. (or should I say a LOT of T.L.C.)
My garden is starting to come together, and I am really enjoying being out in it. Of course it is hydrangeas season, and it never fails to amaze me that I can have pink and blue blooms on the same bush.
At least I know that white will always be white.

I have planted English Lavender under my bedroom window, and for Christmas my darling husband gave me a gnome. I love Gnomes. Is that weird at my age?

I was also given the gift of herbs from some very special young friends.

So on the last day of 2012, I planted my herbs, made strawberry jam, and then enjoyed the company of some wonderful friends.

I love my home. It is so conducive to relaxing and having fun for both children and adults.

Both Matt and Hannah, and Jodie and Rachael have 2 Autistic boys each and they have spent the last 3 New Year's with us. As we always have Dane And Lydia at this time a year, the house is full happy and relaxed. What more could anyone ask for.

As I sit here writing this, Mark and Matt are dozing in comfy chairs, Hannah and Lydia are playing a board game and the boys are happily comparing game strategies in the TV room.

Welcome to the new year. Must be time for a cuppa.

Enjoy your day

Lynne

It's so Peaceful

The grandchildren are back at school and creche and I can hear the kitchen clock ticking. Oh, and the kookaburras laughing. Guess they are enjoying the serenity too.

So what did we do in the school holidays?

Well the first week I spent with Jordy. He had two private lessons with Paul, his martial arts teacher, and we generally spent some quality time together.

The second week was a different matter!!!!!

Dane and Lydia come for the last week, to spend time with their cousins. And Grandma and Grandpa of course.
It was a continual pattern of cleaning, cooking, feeding, washing, refereeing, feeding, cleaning, feeding... you get the picture.
We couldn't go any where during the week because I couldn't fit them all in the car.
Come the weekend, then we had to do the customary grandparents thing.
I took Dane, Jordan and Lydia to see the Lorax and this time, Tahlia joined us. Ebony didn't want to come so she had a lovely time with grandpa. A great time was had by all.

Sunday, we all went to Gumbya Park in Tynong, to meet up with Mark's parents. (Ga grandma, Wenda and Ga Grandpa, Nev. ) My amazing mother-in-law was a kinder teacher in her earlier life, which means that every Easter since I first met her, the Easter egg hunt is a grand production. And not just for the little ones. Age is no excuse where she is concerned.

There was food, there were eggs, there were native animals and there were rides.

Even the koalas were happily munching away

and as you can see, the weather was perfect

Perfect day, but after I drove Dane and Lydia home, this old girl was bushed. Still I wouldn't miss having them all for the school holidays for all the tea in China. They give us so much pleasure.

Next post I will catch you up on my crafting.
So until then, stay happy
Lynne

The School Hoidays are Over

The school holidays may have come to an end, but I haven't told you about what I got up to before they began.
My Friday night girls and I took a trip down to Crib Point, on the Mornington Peninsula, to see a small country quilt show. The atmosphere was so friendly and the scones, made by the local CWA were delicious. We all bought fabric because it was so cheap.
On the way home we stopped off at The Magic Patch in Tyabb. It's such a lovely shop to browse in but the little coffe shop next door was even better. Tilly's is owned by a lovely lady named Robyn, whom I met in the first week that she opened. All her food is homemade and her cafe has gone from strength to strength.

                                                         That's Robyn in the apron

We all had a wonderful day that was filled with lots of laughter. We are going back real soon to sample Robyn's High Tea. YUM.

In the first week of the school holidays, I took grandson Jordy to my Tuesday group. He loves to come with me because Annie's husband, John, has so many great "boys toys" to play with.

                               That's John joining in on the conversation and Annie in orange

Barb had made a really cute baby's quilt from left over blocks and some of the girls had made easter bags for their granddaughters. As you can see, I shared my latest copy of Mollie Makes (I love that magazine) with the girls and Annie supplied us with non fattening Easter eggs. Wel we can dream anyway!

Talking about Easter. My sisters and I had an Easter egg hunt for Mum and the little kids.
Mum is in the advanced stages of Dementia and generally can not tolerate young children. To my greatest  pleasure, she was in an amazing mood. she was kicking a soccer ball with the other kids and even went for a walk with Tahlia and Ebony. They know that great grandma is sick but they always try to give her a hug. Thank you Mum for this great memory of you and my grandchildren. It is something that I will always treasure.

  
                         Sharing the day with my younger sister also made it very special

I'll share my holiday adventures with my grand children tomorrow. It's been a VERY big day today and I'm bushed.
So until then, stay happy.
Lynne

Look what I've got!!!

O.K., Ok. I know l promised to blog more, but l have a good reason why l haven't.
My trusty computer died on me. May it rest in peace.
How did we ever get to the stage in life where we couldn't live without one?
How sad my life has become!!!
Never fear. I have a new toy. I decided that l probably could do without an expensive laptop for awhile, so l took advantage of the pre iPad 3 sales.
I'm now the proud owner of an iPad 2.
That is when l can get it away from the grandchildren!


It's not a very clear photo, but you get the gist.

I started to blog last week, but found out that I needed an app to do that.
It's a whole new world that I have to learn about.
I may not like this as much as I did when I used my computer. Time will tell.

Ok. Now what else has been happening.
The twins were invited to there first birthday party on Saturday.
You would have thought it was Christmas. I have never seen them that excited.


They had a wonderful time (and so did I ). It was at the local park and a perfect place for a treasure hunt. The prize for each child was a bubble wand.
It was absolutely magic seeing the park fill with bubbles. The parents were having as much fun as the kids.
Must have something to do with getting in touch with our inner child.



Tahlia really got into the spirit of it all.

Today is my day.
Each Tuesday I spend the day with my girlfriends. These are all girls that I have met through patchwork. There is nothing more relaxing than spending the day talking, sewing, eating (and blogging).

There are 9 of us, and all the girls want to blog what we are working on. I will spend this week trying to learn more about blogging on the iPad and then we will be ready to share with you all.
So until then
Stay happy
Lynne

How Time Flies

I can't believe that it was 2010 since I last blogged.
So much has happened in that time, that it is hard to know where to begin.
I suppose the biggest change in our lives is that we now have 3 of our grandchildren living with us permanently.

Aren't they cute.

Jordan,8 years old, and 4 year old twins, Tahlia and Ebony-Rose, moved in last March.

It's been a hard slog having to raise little ones again, especially with all the trauma that they had been through.
I have had a lot of help from Anglicare with their Kinship Program and Bev from Anchor. They kept me sane. (although I know some of my friends will say that I wasn't all that sane to start with.)
As you can see, the kids are now happy (most of the time) and the good times far out weigh the bad.

The other big change in my life is that my best friend, Ann-Maree, closed her patchwork shop, Primitive Patches. That means that I am no longer teaching for her and I have more time to finish off a room full of projects.
That being said, I guess I will have no excuse now not to blog about my crafts.
So, as I am sewing with my Tuesday Friendship group tomorrow, I will show you what I worked on tomorrow night.
Until then, stay happy
Lynne

It's Melbourne Cup Day!

It's Cup Day and the rain has not stopped. So much for spending the long week-end in the garden. My darling husband has turned over my veggie garden for me, (despite the fact that he is dying with a head cold) so at least when the rain stops for 5 minutes, I will be able to start planting.

It would have been just prefect if the weather had stayed like it was earlier in the week. It was true Spring weather.

The rhododendrons are starting to bloom.



The girls and their beau are loving scavenging in the garden.

As we have one of our grandsons living with us Monday to Friday, I thought it was time to start teaching him to cook.

We made salmon patties and Jordon had a wonderful time getting his hands into the egg whites and bread crumbs. I have to admit that they were delicious. Well done Jordy!

You won't believe it. The sun is trying to come out. I just went outside to check the veggie garden and took a couple of photos.

This is my veggie garden. With a quick rake over, it will be ready to plant up.

 And take a look at this rhody. This is the same one that I photographed earlier in the week.

It's in full bloom in under a week. It's amazing how a little bit of sunshine can transform the garden.

This is not my most spectacular specimen, but it is by far the biggest. At about 20 odd feet, it towers over some of the others.
Well the Melbourne Cup is about to run, so I am off to watch it. Will write again soon.
Until then, be happy!
Lynne

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The week that was!

The rain has not stopped for the last two days, and quite honestly I love it. This is the perfect weather to catch up on the things I have been wanting to do at home. One being to tidy my sewing room so that I can be creative in there. The other is to catch up on my blogging.
I so want to tell you about my week.
It started with last Sunday. My darling husband organised my youngest son to come and cook brunch for me as a belated birthday celebration.

My macho chef son with his tattoos and pretty frilly apron.

You can tell he is his father's son. Always out to make you laugh. He brought one of his house mates, Taryn, along to help.They really whipped up a storm. Taryn made delicious pancakes and Luke cooked the rest of the makings for a Canadian breakfast ( my favourite)



Luke will make some-one a good husband one day( or is that a good wife?)

While Luke cooked, his Dad played games on Luke's I-Phone. Talk about role reversal!!!



I had to download this game for him on my phone after Luke left.

The weather was beautiful, the food was amazing and the company was wonderful. I think that was the first time that my eldest son, Marc, had brought his girlfriend, Sam, for a meal. And to top it off, the in-laws were very well behaved.(just kidding guys)
Mark then disappeared for a while and came back with a bunch of white roses.

He said that they represented a new beginning in our life. We are starting to take back control of our lives, from our kids.

So  a big THANK-YOU to Lukey and Taz for a wonderful meal and your uplifting company.
O.K. Ex factor has started, so I will write about the rest of the week tomorrow.
Until then, be happy!
Lynne

I remembered.

As promised, I am posting a photo of the cross stitch dish that I bought at Cameo Corner.

Isn't it the cutest thing

As I said yesterday, Ann-Maree and I bought some fabric from Threadbear. This is the bundle that we bought to share. It's  called "Whittier Crossing". A nice addition to our repro stash.

Ann-Maree only bought the paisleys for the shop.

Today I spent the morning with another of my wonderful friends, Mazzy. I had to go to Knox, and as her hubby is in Germany, she jumped at the chance to get out of the house. We had a lovely time browsing the shops. She was looking for clothes, and I started my Christmas shopping. Christmas shopping is so much more fun when you know what you are looking for, and you have a friend to share it with. The chai latte wasn't half bad either. Thanks for a fun morning Maz.

O.K. It is 3:30pm. time to put dinner on before I pick up Jordy from After School Care. It's roast chicken tonight. Wasn't home on the week-end, so I had better feed the boys a decent meal tonight.
Until next time, be happy.
Lynne

What a month it has been!!!

Well it is official. I am a terrible blogger. For some-one who loves to talk, you would think I was better at this, but noooooo.

Anyway, on with the goss.

Let's start with today. For anyone that is into quilting, then they would know that Quilts in the Barn at Wonga Park, was on this week-end. Linda  has a wonderful husband, who built her a huge American style barn on their property. Each year she, and her many friends, holds a quilt expo to raise money for Breast Cancer Research.

This year the quilts were the amazing works of Di Ford and the Secret Sewing Sisterhood. What a fantastic name for a sewing group!

Here are some of the girls in the group (I believe there are 4 more) posing in front of the quilt that they made for Di's special birthday. Ann-Maree and I just loved this quilt. We might even attempt a smaller version for ourselves.

A lot of the money that is raised comes from the raffle quilt and I believe that the Sisterhood had a hand in making it this year.

I hope you can see it clearly enough to appreciate how lovely it is. I didn't get a phone call, so I guess I wasn't the lucky winner. I did buy the pattern though, so maybe one day I will have one.
Another quilt that I have the pattern for is this one, designed by Michelle Yeo.

                                                      At least this one I have started.

A large amount of the quilts had hundreds of different fabrics. They justify the need for buying more fabric and luckily, Threadbear from Castlemaine, was there. Even Ann-Maree bought fabric, and she owns a patchwork shop.

After we left the Barn, Ann-Maree and I, and our friends Tracey and Debra, headed to Cameo Corner in Wandin. A mixture of antiques and French provincial, it is a favourite spot of ours. I bought a lovely little dish with a cross stitch design on it. ( will post a pic tomorrow.)

From there we all headed to the Patchwork Teahouse in Warburton for lunch. There is nothing nicer than having lunch surrounded by interesting things to look at. The four of us do the same thing every year. It's always nice to have a great day out with like minded friends.

This is all I have time for tonight, but I promise to post more tomorrow. Promise!!!

Until then,

Lynne

                                                                                                        



                                                                   

                                                                  











Yes, I am still alive

I know it has been for ever since I last posted. I really don't have a GOOD excuse. Let's just say that I have been a weee bit busy (and I'm slack.)
Well what has been happening in my world of late. Ann-Maree and I have been busy designing projects for our retreat in October. As a matter of fact, she has presented me with another project only yesterday.
I think that I might post some sneak peeks at the end of the week. What do you think?
Winter is alive and well up here in the Dandenongs. With all the rain that we have had, you would expect the dams to be higher than 36%. Where does all this water go???
The twins turned 3 last Saturday and as Bec's Birthday was on Sunday, we had the 3 of them from Saturday night, until Monday morning. They are such a delight to have.

Watching Mama cooking.

I can't believe how quickly they have grown up. And of course, because there is 2 of them, we must have 2 cakes. Sponges naturally because that is what my grandma made for my birthdays.

No birthday is complete without candles and fairy bread.

Happy 3rd Birthday Tahlia and Ebony-Rose. And of course, Happy 26th Birthday to Bec.

This week-end we have Dee's kids 'cos Andrew has to work.
Mark, in his wisdom, decided to take them and Jordy up to see the snow for the first time.

Every-one knows that you MUST build the customary Snowman.

They had a great time tobogganing until some nice people stole their toboggans while they were getting hot drinks. Stressed poor Mark out to the max, but as you can see, the kids still had a wonderful time.
Next time I'm going with them, to protect Mark's sanity (if that is possible!!!!)

I really LOVE this photo of Dane, Lydia and Jordan.

Now I must go and get some sewing done, so until next time, be Happy.
Lynne

Sorry for not blogging

To all my friends that have been having a dig because I haven't blogged, here it is.
The school holidays have come and gone and for the first time since Dee passed, we didn't have any of the grandkids these holidays. This meant that I was able to go out to lunch with my Friday girls. We went to the Patchwork Teahouse in Warburton, to celebrate Bev's bithday.

That's Bev on the left, Jeanette, myself and Barb is seated. You couldn't ask for more loving and supportive friends.

Can you guess how old Bev was?

Last week, Mark and I joined his family in Bright for a couple of days. I have never been there before but had been told how beautiful it is. Mark had spent a lot of his childhood holidays there and I can see why he loved it so much. I could easily spend a lot more time there myself.
We stayed in cabins at the Freeburgh Caravan park. On our first morning, we woke to brilliant sunshine with mist on the nearby hills.

                                                     Can you see the mist ?This was the view from our cabin.

While we where there, we had a family celebration for Mark's sister, Kay. She turns 50 in August, and as she lives in Myocum, northern N.S.W., we wll not get to see her then.

                                                 Kay and her mum and dad, Wen and Nev.

                                     

Mark really loves catching up with Kay, seen here with her son Sam. You can't half tell that they are brother and sister. We really hope to see more of Kay and her family from now on.

While in Bright, I bought some yummy hand-dyed wool fabric. I already have projects in mind for it, sewing related of course.

O.K. Time to get off the computer.

Until next time

Lynne

Happy Easter Everyone

I hope everyone had as relaxing an Easter as we did. Mark and I spent Good Friday getting the house up to scratch and I am happy to report that my sewing room is FINALLY tidy. It made it a real pleasure to work in over the last couple of days.
Saturday saw me down at Primitive Patches and Ann-Maree and I went for our usual coffee at Hahndorf's in Black Rock. We were very suprised to be presented with a huge egg each from Jan who owns the shop. Jan is a patchworker and when ever she gets a spare moment, she joins us and loves to have a flick through the magazines that we invariably have just bought. Thank-you Jan, it was lovely.
On Sunday, Bec and the kids came over for lunch and the customary egg hunt. The egg hunt has always been Mark's job and he even had one for Bec. It really was a hoot and loved by all.
On the way to taking them home, we stopped at Belgrave Lake to feed the ducks.

There is nothing more beautiful than the wonder in the eyes of little children when they are experiencing nature.

Then of course we had to play at the playground. Tahlia squeals "Higher Pompa, higher!"

Ebony-Rose is not a big lover of swings, but loves the slide. It was a lovely family day.
Today has been a very quiet day. I drove down and picked up four more Pekin chooks and Mark spent the day in front of the T.V.
So you see, we had a lovely Easter.
Until next time,
Lynne

Tuesday at Primitive Patches

It's Tuesday night and I'm at the shop for our friendship group. Ann-Maree has been doing her blog and is now appliqueing the Garden Party blocks to their background fabric. Because this is our raffle quilt we share the work.

Here are a few of the blocks that are finished. Only another 20 to go.
The girls are very animated tonight. This has become a really fun group lately. It was lovely to see Gloria back at the group. Hope we get to see you more often Gloria.

I finished quilting the ballerina bear quilt last night, so as I had time after my class, I got to sew on the binding.
That's next terms quilt nearly done. I will post a picture after I have finished sewing the binding down.
O.K. It's time to go home, so I had better pack up.
Until next time
Lynne

Happy Birthday Jeanette

O.K. so the day is almost over but, Happy 50th Birthday Jeanette!

Jeanette is one of the girls in my Friday night group. Her mum Barb brought this gorgeous cake on Friday night and I was able to get this great photo of Jeanette blowing out her candles.

As you can see, photograghy is not one of my many talents.

Today I actually tidied my linen cupboards, and it's not even Spring yet. I wish this sewing room was as easy to get into order.

I also made banana muffins for Mark's lunches, and finished the dresses I was making for the twins. They will look so cute with pink tights.

Tomorrow I must finish quilting my ballerina bear quilt. So that being the case, and now that "House" is over, I think I will retire for the night.

Until next time,

Lynne

What a week-end!!!

So much for trying to blog on a regular basis. It has been bedlam here this week. Our daughter Bec had to be moved from Olinda to Belgrave , and to top that off, it was our week-end to have Dee's kids. It has been so long since I had seen Dane and Lydia that I didn't even know what class room Dane was in. Just the same, it was really wonderful to catch up with all of Dee's friends from the school,  and they soon pointed me in the right direction. Dane was very excited because he had had his first SRC meeting at school that day. He is sooo much like Dee in that way.She would be so proud of him. Lydia is growing in leaps and bounds. To think that 2 years ago, she could hardly talk. Now she doesn't stop, and WHY is her favourite word.
So as well as Dane and Lydia, I also had Bec's three. Five children is not as easy to look after in your 50's as it was in my 20's. The mind was willing but boy was the body weak.
Still we got through it, Bec is relocated, and I have my life back. No more running Bec's three around.Yay!
Now to the fun stuff.
When I was at the shop on Tuesday, Garden Party by Blackbird Designs had come in. This is the fabric that we are using for our raffle quilt for our October retreat.

Don't you think it looks amazing. I have done the cutting out and started sewing the blocks. Will post pictures as I go.
Until next time,
Lynne

Busy day, but no sewing

Much to my disappointment, I was not able to get into my sewing room today. I had to do my Grandma duties and run two of my grandkids around. Tahlia, one of the twins, has juvenile arthritis, so she has to have regular eye checks. She passed with flying colours, so we don't need to go back again for 4 months. She is such a different kid when she is not with her twin sister, Ebony. Very chatty and animated. Normally she can't get a word in edgeways. I also had to take her big brother, Jordan, to see the new school he will be going to, starting on the 15th. Bec (my daughter) and her 3 kids are moving to Belgrave in 2 weeks. Sorry Belgrave!!! so Jordy is leaving Olinda Primary (population 17. Yes I said 17) and going to Kallista Primary (population 170). Now we know that 170 kids is still a small school but poor Jordan was totally overwhelmed by so many kids. Hopefully he won't take too long to settle in because it really is a lovely little school and the staff appear to be lovely.
Tomorrow I am teaching and have my Frienship group afterwards, so I know I will get some sewing done then.
Until next time,
Lynne

It's Sunday

Well as you can see, I have pulled out some fabrics to start "Down in the Garden". Not only that but I have started on the first block. I should have been cleaning up, but starting that was far more fun.
The other thing that I did today was go to the movies with Mark. We went to see Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock. I HIGHLY recommend it. A real "feel good" movie that is based on a true story. I believe there is a book out so I might try and find it.
Well since I am being the good little wife, I've cooked a roast for dinner, I had better go and dish up.
So until next time,
Lynne