Well, I still have trouble keeping up!

Life has been pretty normal for the last couple of months.

My baby Michael turned 21 on August 6, Matt turned 23 in October and my darling friend Gail got married on my birthday on November 1 for which she asked my blessing.

My darling hubby Jeff who is also my boss has given me quite a bit of time off in the last few months as we have been very quiet at work. Nothing to do with the economy - just the time of year. Other than that life has just been plodding along as normal.

I went and saw an orthopedic surgeon last week about my shoulder which has been giving me a lot of grief over the last five years. I now am scheduled for surgery on the 8th December to have the bursitis in my right shoulder released. I will be overnight in hospital - maybe two depending on whether the ligament is torn too. I am having an MRI for that in a week or so. I will be 6 weeks in a sling and as it is my right arm and I am right handed, I will probably be off work for most of that. The down side is that I won't be able to sew for that time either and that will kill me!!

I have been busy for the last few weeks sewing my heart out. I have been making a new quilt for our bed after falling in love with a new range of fabrics while on retreat at Collingully Cottage at the end of June. I just had to have them and the result is a huge quilt for our bed. All I need to do before quilting it is to put on the final border. This quilt will measure 112 x 112 inches when finished!!

Frosty Mornings

We have been having a few rather chilly mornings here in Northam. While the official temperatures have been -2'C, it was -7'C down by the river which I know for you in the upper northern hemisphere isn't that cold but it is for here. Frost has been thick on the ground. This picture was last Monday morning at 7am. By the time I left for work at 8 it was solid white. Very chilly!!!

Sooo Cute!

On Wednesday I went to the big city of Goomalling (Population approx 500) for lunch with Ruth and to get some serious cuddle time with my proxy grand daughter Breanna. I can't believe she is nearly 10 months old already! She is the sweetest thing. Ruth is so great with her but I always knew Ruth would be a great mum.

Ruth has to decide whether to come back to work or not by the end of this month. She says she still doesn't know! One day she thinks she will and the next she has changed her mind. We would really like her back but know that the decision is hers! I have even offered to have Breanna on my day off if she needs a babysitter!
On the way home from Ruth's I spotted this neat windmill in the paddock so stopped to take a picture. It ended up taking me over an hour to get home because I stopped a couple of times to take photos. I also stopped at St David's Church at Jennapullin and took a heap of shots. The church gates here is my favourite and I think it will be my choice for a pictorial quilt challenge that I will be starting in the next couple of weeks.

Bali

In May Jeff and I spent 8 wonderful days relaxing in Bali for a much needed rest. I can't recount our adventures because there weren't any as we spent most of the time lazing by the pool and only really ventured out to eat! I did try to take some interesting photos though.....

The one of the motorbikes was typical of the side of the road just about anywhere you went.











We did make a point to visit the Bali Memorial for those lost in the bombings in 2002 and did tend to visit the area most nights. It was always crowded with tourists and locals. It was very moving and is a beautiful structure.

Other than that we probably experienced the best Italian food we had eaten in a long while at a little restaurant called Sasa's in Semiyak. It was a very restful holiday!


The Pictures of the Frangipannis were taken from the balcony of our room. They were everywhere and just beautiful!

Catching up again!

I thought I would be really consistent with this blog thing but it looks like it wasn't to be! here it is! 6 Months since I last posted - how slack is that!!

Anyway - after much nagging I am posting pics of our finished family room make over. Needless to say I love it! I am really happy with the way it all came together in the end and am so glad to be rid of those awful heavy drapes. Jeff even likes it!:)

My New Hair Cut

Wednesday week ago I decided it was time for the long locks to go. After much deliberation and "permission" from Jeff (it was going to happen anyway!) I bit the bullet. Here is not the most flattering picture of me and yes it is supposed to look unbrushed - that is why I like it so much!

We have been busy having our family room and kitchen area painted in the last week or so. The change is wonderful. I am so happy with it. We wanted to have the painting done before the new furniture arrives next week. So here it is - still with the old furniture and no pictures on the walls because of course we want to wait until the new furniture is here. I can't wait to get the new blinds measured. i want to have what are called 'Sheerfold' blinds which are a cross between a vertical blind and a sheer curtain. As you can see the room is huge and is mostly windows so the new blinds will look so much better than the heavy drapes we have now.

Completed Projects for 2007

Here are the quilts I finished in 2007. Looking at this lot, I actually finished a lot more than I thought I did. I also made two bags, and bound a quilt which was made for me by all my quilting friends for my 40th birthday, which I don't have pictures of. So all in all I had quite a successful quilting year in 2007. This is partly because I joined a UFO challenge with one of my online quilting groups and finished 4 items that I had on that list. FGMs are going to be running another two UFO challenges this year and I will definitely be signing up for at least one of them, if not both!!

New Year's Day 2008

Here it is 2008 already! Just where did 2007 go. Hopefully I will be able to keep my blog up to date this year but I am not promising anything!

Jeff and I had a wonderful day today. We were going to go to the beach but because of a tropical depression up in the north of our lovely state, it really wasn't a beach day at all. Mind you when we got to Perth the ocean was as still as a lake! We had decided to spend the day and have lunch in our port city of Fremantle instead and that was a great idea! We had lunch at the best fish and chip restaurant called Cicarellos on the wharf of the fishing boat harbour. Jeff and I both had squid rings and chips with tartare sauce and lemon. Mmmm - it was so good!

After lunch we went for a walk along South Mole of the main harbour and arrived just in time for the start of the 4th leg of the Clipper 07/08 Round the World Yacht Race. It was so exciting to see. for more information go to http://tinyurl.com/364dle to see all about the race, though the link will take you directly to the Australian boat. There are four legs of the race to go ending in Liverpool.

The start was a real sight to see. There was a clipper ship and a rescue boat with all pumps flowing and the south mole was packed with well wishers. I am really kicking myself that I didn't take my camera with me but we had no idea this was on and just stumbled across it!

After the boats had gone, we continued just ambling around Fremantle and finally decided to come home at about 2pm.

It was a lovely pleasant day spent with my darling husband.

I really hope everyone else's year is off to as good a start as ours!

Secret Sister for August

I belong to an Internet quilting group called the FairieGoddessMothers. Every now and then we do a Secret Sister Swap where we have a theme and send each other a fat quarter of fabric and other goodies to our nominate Sister! Well, here are my spoils from Janice the homely that I received in the post yesterday! Wasn't I spoiled. She tells me that the sparkly fabric (front) was bought in the white mountain area of New Hampshire (I am guessing that is what the NH stands for! ) during a vacation.

The sea creature one reminds Janice of her vacations in Fort Meyers Florida where her brother and family live. Janice hopes I will enjoy the 'do dads' she sent me - boy will I!!!! She has spoiled me rotten! Thanks Janice!

Only the final border to go....

This is the quilt that I am finishing for my Mum's 70th birthday. I have only the final border of white on cream to add and then I can send it off to the machine quilters to have it quilted. I am going to bind it in that fabulous pink bordering the applique. I started this quilt about 6 years ago! It will be lovely to have another of my UFOs finished!

First of my UFO hopefuls is DONE!!

I have finally finished my "Diamond Dazzler" table runner! It has taken a few year to do but it is finally done! This is all hand pieced using the English paper piecing method. i am so glad it is done!

Alzheimer Quiltlets

This is a little quilt I made using the pattern of the Fairie Goddess designed by Linda M Poole. As I type it is winging its way to the US to become one of a hopeful 100 little quilts being donated to be auctioned off for research into Alzheimers Disease. A number of the ladies belonging to the FairieGoddessMothers Yahoo group are all busily stitching now to make these quilts so that they can be handed over in Paducah in April.

Happy New Year!!

New Years Eve was a wonderful celebration for us. Ruth who works with us and is like a daughter got married to her long time beau Clayton. Despite being a really hot day, the celebrations were wonderful.




















I just love this picture -they look so happy!



I was especially touched as Ruth wore my veil from when Jeff and I got married!


This is my favourite photo of Ruth. She spotted me snapping away and actually stopped for this one - just for me!



This is the work crew - Ruth, me, Sarah from our Midland office and also like a daughter and of course Jeff (Isn't he gorgeous - but I am biased!) There is also Krystal and Jo but they weren't at the wedding.

...and on to Africa

After a week in Mauritius a group of 24 intrepid travellers continued on to South Africa for another week. We stayed one night in Johannesburg and then boarded light aircraft to be flown into Madikwe Game Reserve for a three night stay at Tau Game Lodge and a series of Safari drives. WHAT AN AMAZING PLACE!!! All 24 of us agreed that this was the most amazing part of our trip. We also spent two nights at the Palace of the Lost City at the Sun City resort in Pilansberg but all agree that if we ever did this again, we would rather spend the extra time on Safari.

Tau gave us two drives a day and they were amazing. We saw lion and elephant just driving back from the air strip.We hadn't even been there for half an hour! The two young male lions were just lazing under a tree on the side of the track! We were stunned!

During the total of 6 drives, we saw elephants - and were even charged at by a herd which was a bit scary, black hyena, white rhino, Lion, the two mentioned above plus a big male who had been in a fight, wart hog, african wild dog, spotted cats, impala, buffalo, monkeys, eland, wilderbeast, giraffe, and many others that I can't remember. The rangers taking us on Safari were wonderful and couldn't do enough for us. We had morning tea with giraffe on one day and sundowner drinks near buffalo and zebra on another evening.This picture with the elephant in the background was taken from the deck of our room!! That elephant was only metres away from me and the group of elephants were on the other side of the water hole that our room overlooked! It was just fantastic! The elephants came every morning and evening to drink!

While there I ate things I never thought I would! I have now eaten buffalo, crocodile (curried and it was yummy!) impala, eland and goat! But hey- when it is all cooked and served for you - why not!!!

After Tau and Madikwe we said goodbye and headed an hour and a half down the road to Sun City. This is a man made oasis in the middle of the veldt. It has four hotels, several casinos, two golf coursed and a huge water park. It was the ultimate experience of indulgence. The Palace hotel where we stayed was opulent. There were huge sculptures of animals everywhere and big chandelier and gilt furniture covered in zebra hide. It was truly amazing. We had a great day at the water park and spent a lot of time just wandering around. I had a wonderful massage at the Gary Player Health and Beauty Spa!

This picture is in the court of the hotel - this is the back folks! You are looking at the Crystal Dining Room whichis where we ate breakfast. The little orange dot is Jeff! Don't you just love that Jacaranda tree!




















These two chairs were just two of many dotted around the hotel Yes - they are REAL zebra skin. Just awful! But I had to take pictures - they were amazing and HUGE!

Two days there and it was back on the bus and back to Joburg to catch a flight back to Mauritius where we spent one final night before coming home. We arrived home tired and weary on the 17th October. Just in time to put Matt and Kerry on a plane to New Zealand on October 18 which as also Matt's 21st birthday. The trip to NZ was our birthday gift to him.

Mauritian Fun!

Well, here I am after not posting for so long. Once again Jeff and I have been galavanting around the world! We spent the first two weeks of October in Mauritius and South Africa. While I have been to Mauritius before, it was still a lovely place to visit. The local people are just so friendly and helpful and the setting is idyllic. Our business forum was held in the Hilton just outside a little village called Flic en Flac. What a great name! We had a wonderful time.

We went on a car rally that ended in a place called Chateau Domaine which is high on a mountain and has the most wonderful food. We saw old plantation houses and learned a lot about the history of Mauritius which is very culturally rich. There is a French, Dutch and Indian influence there plus the pull of Africa. The Creole cooking was fantastic. The trip up the mountain was very exciting as we had to go up in the back of open vehicles because the cars we used for the rally weren't able to cope with the steep roads. It was so much fun!

The last night in Mauritius was an Indian Feast and we were supplied with traditional clothing to wear which we got to bring home with us. The women even got to choose their own sari fabrics and the tops were made to measure. (though mine was too big when it was made up and I was pinned into it!!) I thought we looked fabulous, evenwith the name tags around our necks! I had a henna tattoo painted on the palm of my hand which lasted for three weeks. I just loved it!

Catching up!

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted. On the weekend of the 8th -10th September, I went to Fairbridge Village in Pinjarra for a quilting retreat. A few projects came to fruition while we were down there.

I know those of you who have been following the row by row quilts I have been working on are dying to see how my quilt turned out! Well I love it!!!! It is truly amazing how the ladies doing the quilts stepped up to the challenge I set them! Here is the result - not the best photo but will have to do for now!

The other challenge I did was to use 8 very incongruious fabrics together in a quilted item making sure that all fabrics were recognisable! I decided to do a bag and added a few other colours to make it all work. I was very happy with the outcome but would never use it - just not me! At the retreat only 3 out of the 8 ladies doing the challenge had our items there and I think I came out a winner! Jocelyn had made a stained glass slash and stack quilt with hers that I fell instantly in love with - so she swapped with me! She liked my bag, and hated her quilt! Here they are!


The other swap we do for the retreat is a mini fabric challenge which has to be a quilt no bigger than 12 inches square using the fabric provided. As soon as IThe other swap we do for the retreat is a mini fabric challenge saw the fabric, I saw a Hawaiian girl so that is what I did. I think she is rather cute and is actually the 2nd in a theme I have started for this particular challenge.
Last year I did a Japanese girl. I think they are both pretty cute!
The fabric for next year is really crying out for a Carmen Miranda type personage, so I am working on that one at the moment in my mind!

I have actually finished a long standing UFO this week that I am very proud of. It is a Sloping Star quilt made with blocks from the Internet group I belong to called the Magpies. The girls sent me these blocks for my birthday in 2000!!! But Hey! It is finished and I love it! Well thats it for now!