… youngest granddaughter, Olivia, was competing again at the weekend. This time it was at Berry Hill in Mansfield. It was a cross country race with 2 laps around the park and through the woods.
I was able to see and cheer her on in 2 places by dashing up and down the (very muddy) steep path.
She led the race right from the start and there were no other competitors in sight! Unfortunately I missed her going through the finish line …. she was that fast she got there before I managed to get back up the slips, muddy path!
Lol
This year we were going to decorate a tree in the front yard and put it in the Community Christmas Lights Competition.
Last year the tree that won it was the only tree entered with two strings of purple lights.
We didnt know there even was a competition last year so this year we decided decorate and enter a bottle brush tree in the front yard.
We went and brought decorations and a couple of boxes of lights only to find out they scrubbed the tree category this year.
Anyway the grand daughter said wed decorate it anyway so last weekend very reluctantly we threw some tinsel around, hung the big baubles and the candy canes, bows and a stocking on the tree.
We actually didnt even use all the stuff we brought. In the daylight it looks good (except for the high bit we couldnt be bothered doing) with the sun on the tinsel and decorations.
Night time it doesnt look as good even with the lights.
We also put some strings of lights across the front of the house and coloured ones along the hedges. Looks pretty but hard to show the night lights. Just waiting for a storm to come and wreck it now!! So far weve been lucky and not even had rain. This weeks designs are perfect for Birthdays, New Year or even a retirement.
Even though we live just a few minutes from the beach, our Golden Retriever, Sam, has been experiencing a bad reaction to the seawater.
Because its difficult to keep a Golden out of the sea, we have been taking most of our dog walks at a nearby country park, which is a short drive away.
The boys dont mind at all, as they get to run around, meet other dogs, explore new smells, and enjoy getting wet and muddy.
They absolutely love it! Plus, we get to take in the beautiful countryside view, which is very relaxing.
hi everyone i run a craft group called make do and mend, and yesterday we all met for christmas lunch at our local pub,it was fun time with lots of chatting, we have 1 male member ,the laughter and happiness was a joy to behold we also invited some ladies who were alone to join us, and some of our husbands,we finished up by talking about crafts we might do in the next few months, a good time was had by all,Merry christmas everyone ,i am off to scotland on Monday for a few days xx
…Peach Roses too- well its that time of year again and the decorations are finally up after 3 days of it.
This year I decided to get a bigger tree, a six foot one.
So more ornaments would be required and my older one would go into the small hallway I have. I ordered the tree and whilst waiting for that to arrive I was trying to decide on a colour scheme.
Now Im not a traditionalist, I was when my kids were young and we had all the novelty ornaments but as an adult Ive had teal themes, pink themes, Scandinavian themes etc. so I popped to my local garden centre for a coffee and then those fatal words of Ill just have a look at the Christmas shop, Im not buying only looking.
Who was I kidding, out came the phone and snapping everything in sight as I ood and aahd at all the wonderful displays.
Then I saw it, the tree of my dreams, the colours and yes flowers.
Not just poinsettias but roses all in a peach colour with white and gold baubles and foliage. That was it I knew what I wanted. Now I did but a few little bits in the garden centre, but wasnt prepared to take out a mortgage for everything, so I did look elsewhere and improvised.
Im recalled pleased with the end results even though it took me 3 days to complete everything.
… been using up some of the odds and ends of paper and card we crafters ultimately have.
I can never bring myself to throw it away! … and if I do get rid of any … then it is always that one thing that I NEED at some point in the future!
Lol. Soooo I had a lovely time making some Festive Christmas danglies for my youngest grandchildren! Its a bit if a win/win …. as I loved making them & hopefully theyll like them too! Lol
As some of you may know, I have a passion for making bags. While I enjoy using my domestic sewing machine, it struggles with thicker fabrics. This limitation affects the types of fabrics and bag or purse patterns I can work with.
I have been dreaming of getting a semi-industrial sewing machine, but since sewing is just a hobby for me, It felt wrong to spend the money on it.
What I didnt realise is that my husband has been paying attention and keeping track of deals on my dream machine.
He has hobbies as well, so he knows how I feel. Well, today he surprised me by ordering it, and it will arrive tomorrow!
Im so excited but also a little nervous, as it will be very different from my current machine. Stay tuned to see what my first project will be with it!
We are now a few days in to the Christmas season and festivities have now begun. Whilst for me they are long gone due to my health I do derive pleasure from what my family get up to.
First on the Crawley family agenda was a wreath making session.
My daughter had been going to this annual event for a few years but this year she became anxious about it.
Kayleigh is not a natural crafter or artistic but when she has done projects they have turned out beautiful.
I think her anxiety was high because this year there was going to be more people there, it was being held in the school and she felt her abilities were going to rubbish in comparison to others.
Her fear was unfounded, she had a great time and I think she made a fantastic wreath which is now hanging on her front door.
… again my youngest granddaughter, Olivia, was competing in cross country races last weekend. Both races were held at her home club, which is Mansfield Harriers, iWhich is situated in Berry Hill Park, Mansfield.
Yet again she ran brilliantly and took the gold medal place in both the Saturday and the Sunday Race Meetings!
Every day on our dog walks, I use a plain grey bum bag. It has a lot of pockets, but once I put a water bottle in one of them, there isnt much room left for anything else.
Ive been searching for a pattern to make a proper dog walking bag, but the available ones are usually too small to hold a water bottle, treats, and poop bags.
Then I found the perfect pattern! I decided to skip the grommet for the poop bags on the front and instead create a large pocket for treats, which the dogs love, haha.
While I could have used dog-themed fabric, I wanted something bright and fun, so I chose a bee theme. The new bag works perfectly and feels so much nicer than my old bum bag!
We have had storms, severe storms every day this week. Temperatures during the day have been in high 30s, today it got to 38.6 deg C which has fuelled these storms.
Monday was the worst day and although the storm was quite fierce we only got small hail.
My daughter on the other hand had her car smashed by tennis ball size hail. Her partner had her unit empty ready for new tenants but the hail went through the tiles in the roof.
One of the photos they sent through reminds me of Dick Strawbridges words… you arent supposed to see the sky through your roof!
Well one can now………in several places.
Grand daughter got hail damage to her new car when the strap on her (brand new) hail cover broke and the cover flew back.
On the northside Bribie Island got hit hard and 5 days later they still dont have power from the damage.
Every day there has been these severe storms with big hail, huge winds and heavy rain.
Someone has really upset Mother Nature and we arent even into summer and storm season yet. So far weve been extremely lucky with streets only a couple of streets over getting hammered. Friday so they say, will be a reprieve but storms return on Saturday. This week my designs are DL Trifold cards. My sale is also on till the end of the month.
Whilst I love autumn, I hate the darker days. Whilst I know a lot of people love the feeling of warm and cosy evenings and open fires snuggling up with hot chocolate I would much rather have more daytime light.
What I really can appreciate is when we get the most beautiful sunsets in autumn and winter. On this occasion I noticed a warm orange glow in our back garden. Our living room is at the back of our bungalow which is quite dark normally we only get the sun briefly in the morning, so the glow was unusual for us to see.
I dashed out the front and saw the sun was just about setting and a sweep of orange, yellow, purple and blue splayed across the sky like a massive paintbrush had swept across a canvas.
Obviously if I could have seen the whole sunset from an upstairs room it would have been fabulous, but Im content with the joy those colours portrayed to me at ground level.
Spring is the season when we see all sorts of babies. Weve had magpies, butcher birds, rosellas, galahs, plovers and this year Bush stone curlews.
Normally we will hear the curlews with their high pitched screech (sounds like a woman screaming) at night but normally dont see them with their babies.
Last week we had mum and two babies right up near the house. Dad comes at night and early morning to steal the food thrown out for the magpies. Curlews are ground dwellers and often are hard to spot as they hide in long grasses or clumps of trees.
They are nocturnal birds so for mum, bubs and dad to be up so close to the house in the morning is pretty cool.
They normally have one to three eggs in their breeding season. One thing I didnt know, if something like another bird or a human gets too close they actually hiss. Weve only ever heard their screeching through the night. Check out all my Anniversary designs.
We have a new family member. He was totally unexpected but he has stolen everyones heart. He goes by the name of Diesel and is a Cocker Spaniel-Jack Russell cross.
My daughter and family got their Wiermaraner Otto last year and an opportunity came a few weeks ago to add Diesel to the family.
A lady was looking to re-home her seven month old puppy. Otto had already met Diesel previously and they seem to get on, so when the family came back from Finland they picked him up.
He has fitted in wonderfully, Otto loves him and there have been no jealousy issues.
Im looking forward to meeting him at Christmas.
We celebrated our daughters (CUP designer Kelly Barker) birthday over the weekend by going out for a meal. While we were waiting for our food, we gave her her presents.
I had made her a bag and purse set, which I finished weeks ago, and I was so excited to give it to her.
She loved it!My husband has been teaching himself bookbinding, and he created a very special gift for her. A few years ago, she wrote a childrens book that she has only shared digitally with family. So, he printed it out and bound it into a physical book, just for her.
I must admit, it brought tears to all our eyes as she opened it. It is truly a special gift.