Scenes From my Week

• Making cards to send to special friends
• Reading a beautiful book on the life and garden of Vita Sackville West - which I inadvertently returned to the library before I finished it.  Needless to say, it has been re-requested.
• Opening happy mail - a beautiful swap package from Kathleen and some  envelopes from Mia for my SWAK Quilt.
• Playing with all my envelopes, I am only waiting on five more, but will need to make another three to even it up. 

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend.

Weekending

Labour Weekend at home with my family. Lot of reading, fine weather and time spent relaxing. Family movie night with pizza made by Miss B and Mr J.  The Scout scrubbed the house exterior.  I planted part of the vegetable garden, so far I have planted a Sweet 100 cherry tomato (our favourite) a self sown tomato seedling, which fingers crossed, is one of the black cherry tomatoes I grew last year, lettuce, beetroot,  a Lebanese cucumber and beans.  Still to go in (after I buy them) are capsicum, courgette, basil and some more African marigolds for deterring pests.

• A leisurely Sunday breakfast - cinnamon roll brioche, fresh from the oven with a vanilla latte.
• Happy mail from my friend Deb , recently returned from a trip to New York and Hawaii, with some new DS fabrics for me. The top ones are from her Sweet Ruby range which has just been released,
• A little creative sewing - I love how this paper pieced word looks, though it was rather fiddly to do. A few of my favourite fabrics - now to decide what I turn it into. Create pattern from here.
• A finish of sorts, that black and ivory paper piecing I showed last week, has turned into the Black Knight, I still have the Ivory Knight to make.  These will be used in a cushion for Miss B, my chess champ. Many thanks to the very talented Juliet of TartanKiwi, for designing this pattern for me.

Hoping you all had a fabulous weekend too.  Enjoy the week ahead.

Pinspired

 I have been wanting something chocolate and decadent to eat today, so when I found this recipe, for Cornflake Mars Bar Slice on my pinterest board, I thought it fitted the bill easily.  The only change I made was to substitute Moro bars for Mars bars, cos they were on special.  Now I just need to wait for it to set before I can sample it.

Have a great weekend.

Scenes From My Week

• more happy mail - two more envelopes for my SWAK Swap
• lots of secret sewing - for swaps and Christmas gifts, paper piecing makes the biggest mess in my sewing room, but the results are certainly worth having to clean up afterwards.
• spring has sprung in my garden - beautiful aquelegia, my favourite geranium and this unknown blue flowering plant which just delights me every time I walk past it
• yummy baking - a coconut caramel macaroon slice
• flowers and a pile of library books on my bedside table

Liking

• these violets for bringing back childhood memories of time with my sister and my Nan

• this gorgeously inspiring Liberty Drawstring bag from Cottitello

• this dining table - I want to paint the base of mine and sand and restain the top for a similar look

•  Strawberry Cloud Cake - I am thinking this may be a Christmas Day dessert

• this cunning idea for an ironing board in my sewing room

• a simple idea for hanging my lanterns outside

the fabulous quilt my  talented sister is making  (she needs her own blog to show her beautiful crafty creations)

• oh so true

• this book - I don't know how many times I have read it, but it remains a favourite

• cosmos flowers - I have seedlings of these to plant - hopefully for an endless supply of flowers to pick for summer

What are you liking at present?

I'm off to enjoy my weekend now, I hope yours is great too.

In Love with Liberty

My sister and I have gone halves in a monthly Liberty Fabric Club.  Unfortunately because my sister organised it, the fabric gets sent to her in Australia each month, so it takes a wee while for mine to get to me. (Actually that is probably a good thing, cos after feeling these fabrics, I don't think I could bear to send her half if they came to me).   Anyhoo, over the weekend my first 2 months worth arrived.  I think I am in love.  Now to find the perfect project for the  12 months worth of Liberty fabrics, I will have in a years time.

Weekending

Officially the last day of the school holidays.  So tomorrow it is back to work and school for us all.
Here's a little taste of the things  I have been doing this weekend.

• some quilting on my SSM6 item
• more baking for school lunches - my favourite Afghan Slice, and spicy carrot muffins
• I cooked Pork Belly for the first time using this recipe  - yum very tender and the crispiest crackling ever
• some more sewing - a prototype napkin ring
• a possible fabric pull for a Christmas table runner - does it matter that the fabrics aren't Christmas themed?.

Hope you have all had a fabulous weekend

Today I Am

Making :   Something for a friend and a Christmas gift

Cooking :  Banana Bran Muffins - to freeze away, for back to school lunches

Drinking : Hot chocolate and Saints Chardonnay - not at the same time

Reading:   Gardening Women by Catherine Horwood  (a really interesting read)

Wanting:   Fresh summer fruit
Playing:    With 2.5" squares of fabric

Enjoying:  The scent of my neighbour's flowering clematis
Waiting:   For some packages to arrive in the post
Liking:  New season asparagus
Wondering:  Whether to get my hair cut short again  (think urchin style short)
Loving:    My vase of Alstromeria on the dining table

Pondering:  What to plant in my vegetable garden later this month
Hoping:  The wild and windy weather stops soon
Needing:   To do some serious spring cleaning
Smelling:  Oven Cleaner - guess what I'm doing later
Wearing:   Fluffy Slippers
Noticing:   That my lawn needs mowing again
Knowing:  That I will be the one to do it
Thinking:   I should stop wasting time on the computer
Admiring:   Deb - from Works in Progress, wife, mum to 4, student, quilter extraordinaire
Sorting:   Piles of fabric spread all over my cutting  and sewing tables

Buying:   Another small pile of fabric - thanks Spotlight for VIP specials
Getting:  Rid of old clothes and blankets to the op shop
Bookmarking:  Lots of inspiration on my Pinterest boards
Giggling:  At Mr J's funny sense of humour
Snacking: On chips and dip
Hearing:  Birds singing in the trees

Day Tripping

The Scout has taken a few days off work these school holidays.  So today we took a family day trip to Mt Maunganui, a beautiful beach town on the East Coast. The plan was to walk around and then up the Mount, unfortunately all access to it was closed due to a tragedy there yesterday.  Miss B and Mr J were still delighted to explore the beach, collect some shells and enjoy our picnic lunch with gelato and sorbet for dessert.  (I really enjoyed that too)

On the way home we stopped at the Waihi Gold Mine.  I wanted to visit the Cornish Pumphouse, which has always fascinated me.  Built in 1904 it was moved from its original site to where it is located now.  It was also amazing seeing how large the open cast mine is, the trucks working there, looked like matchbox toys from where we stood.

Now we are back at home, and it's cold and wet. Thankfully the weather was beautiful if somewhat windy for our trip.