Wilma comes to visit

I had grand plans of needle-turning one more block of this quilt before breakfast, but instead went for a walk to survey our soggy pastures.

Cyclone Wilma has visited Northland (edit; and the upper half of the North island, according to radio reports), bringing solid rain since lunchtime yesterday. Luckily we didn't get any winds or other cyclone features. The quiet little river through the centre of the farm has flooded. 200 mls (8 inches) of rain in about 14 hours has had this effect —

The view from the house section; these are supposed to be paddocks!

The bottom flats all covered in water

The power lines lead to the pump shed, we covered the
pump in gladwrap last night but fear the water may
have reached the switch board

We have never seen this area flooded before

The hill paddocks across the bridge are completely inaccessible, but we have 7 paddocks on the house side that are usable, and some hill paddocks across the road. So we're pretty lucky really, I'm sure there are others that wouldn't have faired so well.

Our horse-riding arena is under there somewhere! 

Luckily the MOML moved the kayak up to higher ground last night,
the usual 'safe spot' is under water. We'll need it later to check the
pump shed.

The road is well and truly blocked! We'll be flooded in
in the other direction too.

The steers are high and dry.

As are the horses, their usual 'safe spot' is also under water.

Usually we drain away quite quickly, although we may not get over the bridge for a couple of days. There will be a lot of fences to repair and rubbish to clear away.

...follow-up and family...

Last post I was really excited that I had discovered using skirt hangers to hang my flimsies; I had bought a 5-pack of hangers and even had a spare one!! Connie commented that she also used these for hanging blocks on----so now I have a new home for my partially joined hexie-flowers, they were starting to get in the way; thank you Connie!!

I really wanted to share my favourite photos from the recent weekend - not quilty related sorry but important to me :-) {Smile with a big grin.}
My day-by-day shot for Saturday showed our son and his wife just arrived from Melbourne for an extended weekend, primarily to see Granny and Pop. The MOML and I took them down to see them. Here are my favourite photos from the visit —

Pop taking BB for a walk around the orchard. Think these are the walnuts,
or are they the chestnuts?  I know they are not the hazelnuts!

They are still walking and exploring, Each tree has a story.

Dad and I sitting back and watching— 

—the MOML redoing a fence. Tokoroa Ash soils lovely to
 dig in - a change from Northland Clay!! He fenced all
weekend, even in the pouring rain.

My sister and her family came over for tea. Here's her and I with Mum.

Me and my Big Boy. Even though he's ALL grown up it still takes a long time
to get a photo of him smiling, and not pulling a face!!

It wasn't all red wine! While there, I wrote out Apple Tree labels.
The name of this tree really tickled my fancy and got my imagination
going - a good cropper I imagine!

Thank you for visiting!! I hope everyone is having a great week (Oops, I've just realised it's just about the weekend again!!)

Organising myself

This week I took a bit of time to have a bit of re-organisation in my sewing cave. First step was to buy a bunch of skirt hangers for my flimsies. Second step was to find somewhere to hang them....a simple plastic hook that hangs over the top of the door was the solution. I very rarely shut this door so they will be tucked away out of the way (and the sun) but still visible enough to remind me that they are there waiting for attention!

Please note I bought 5 hangers but have only
used 4!!! Grin.

The third  step was to tidy up the storage on top of my (Grandmother's) sewing cabinet. A small bookcase (2 for $25) was a perfect solution.

I even coped with having to assemble it...

Perfect!!

Having a sense of organisation cleared my mind for sorting out my UFO list for my committment to the 'Sew It's Finished' blog.

Here goes - 

1. Breast of Friends - Homespun magazine project 2009 - 5 blocks completed

2. Flirting with Flowers - BOM by Toss's Corner (now the Pickledish Patch) - 6 blocks completed, only 3 to go (I think)

3. Crumbs quilt - this is at flimsy stage so just needs quilting

4. Klosjes quilt - make it up as I go - i.e.my own design (!) want to do at least one more border of spools

5. Reproduction jellyroll quilt - this was intended for the MOML for Christmas - Dad's illness stopped work on this one - just have the last border to do plus the quilting etc.

There now - I have it in print!! Now this doesn't mean I won't be starting or working on other projects but these are some that I REALLY WANT TO COMPLETE!~!!!

See what I mean - another wee project started - this is the start of the stitching for my New Beginnings kit for one of the many crafters who have suffered from the Queensland floods.

Happy stitching every-one, and thanks for visiting,

Flowers and more —

It took me ALL day but I finally completed 2 hexie-flowers for One-Flower-Wednesday today...Dad has had me working all round the orchard, chasing and drenching sheep, sorting trees, loading trailers - and more, so I grabbed a minute here and a minute there and managed to get these done.

I hadn't really done any since Dad came out of hospital so I was pleased to be at them again.

 Something else I've been working on lately; this photo below shows the Christmas present my niece organised for me on behalf of her family (a lovely little hamper filled with yummy edible treats). She wrapped it up in fabric, and as she handed it to me she suggested I might like to make her a cushion from it......

So here it is!!

 - the back view -

 So, Merry belated Christmas Sarah!! Hope you like it!!!

A couple of posts ago I showed a few of Mum's embroidery works, and some sheep doorstops I had made. 

ED suggested that I may like to show 'Pounce' who also lives down here at Mum and Dad's.

What's special about Pounce is that ED made it (when she was 16??)(or was she younger??) as a gift for Granny and Pop.

Pounce

 As you can see, Pounce has lots of character and has had all sorts of adventures in his life. He has moments of great animation.
As you can see, I'm keeping out of mischief. I am thinking of my Queensland bloggy friends and planning my New Beginnings Sewing Kit as requested by the Gum Tree girls. If you haven't seen their plea for help, please go to the link.
Happy stitching everyone,

Here we come....!

I thought it would be fun to share these photos.
A long-time friend of Mum's came down to take her out for the day....

It's probably just as well she doesn't see her often — I'm sure she would
be led astray!! 

There's some needs a daughter just can't fulfill!!

Stitching and Sheep

A bit of a peek at my latest hand-sewing —

...this is a shop sample so I'd best not show more than this... The Aurifil threads are lovely to work with.

I'm back down at my parent's place for a bit so I'm making myself at home; there's bits of Raewyn scattered all over the house. My bedroom has the sewing machine, cutting board and ironing boards all set up. ED is coming down tomorrow night so I'll have to clear a spot for her to sleep!!

I thought I'd show a things that Mum has done. She's a great embroiderer and I'm sure she has more UFOs than me...however she also has a few more completions than me.

Often when she travels she will get a chart of a place she has been.

Byron Bay, the most easterly point of Australia.
Long and short stitch in wool.

Pretty roses, all in cross stitch.
(Framed in glass, hence the reflection)

A design by Teresa Wentzler;
a lot of blended thread, beads and specialty stitches.
Absolutely beautiful.

 And here are a couple of my works, made for Mum and Dad YEARS ago - Granny and Pop doorstops!!

I remember having fun making these but they are now looking a little bit their age!! Granny has survived years of cats pulling at her knitting!!
Hope you are all having a good day, thank you for visiting,

A backwards look before looking forward...

Looking Backwards — OOPS a few little Christmas things to share now before the box gets packed away for another year!

A gorgeous little Angel I was given

Cute little prairie points finish it off beautifully

 A lovely wall hanging from the lovely Leeanne. This she made using Dawn's 'Flosty Flake' BOM. I think there were 9 blocks altogether so I suspect a couple other friends received a similar gift!!

Here are some more little sweeties... I received a beautiful coaster from Helen, a cute wee decoration from Leeanne (again) and a cute even wee-er decoration from Di. Thank you, generous ladies  :-)

Now Di's decoration got me intrigued so I had a bit of a play; actually I came across Sewing and Beyond with Mary Ann Ciccolelli. I'm not sure if this is where Di got her pattern from, but it has a great tutorial for these 'hexie-flowers'. Once I got the hang of them, they were quite straight forward to make.

Looking Forward — Last post I had a bit of a giggle at the number of projects I had started last year, and on the whole, the lack of finishes - I just cant help myself; there are so many cool things out there to do and try - I have a lifetime of quilting to catch up on!! - ANYWAY, you may have noticed a new button on my side-bar for Sew Its Finished - a place where 'friends encourage each other to finish projects' (ie a support group for compulsive starters of projects!?!).  I have joined this group - when I get myself a bit more organised I will make a list of the projects I really want to finish (first) and post them somewhere. It will be interesting to see of this works for me!!!!!
In the mean time, happy stitching everyone,

My Year in Sentences

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

I wish you all a year of happiness, fun, laughter, fulfilment, family, friends and huge creativity!!
On her blog, Leanne, rose to the challenge of going through the past year's posts and pulling out the first sentence from each first post of each month... She also said — "do join it really was fun looking back over last years blog posts."
So I did!!
I have also summarised each month - but just in a sentence!! A bit of a task!!


JANUARY 2010
1st post sentence - NONE - I hadn't started yet!!!
Month summary - Trepidation and excitement, deciding to start my own blog after enjoying other people's blogs so much.


FEBRUARY 2010
1st post sentence -  Here I am getting started!!
Month summary - My son got married :-), children coming home from Australia, not much sewing.


MARCH 2010
1st post sentence (2 sorry so it makes sense!) - What was I thinking!!!!! Starting up a blog when I KNEW Febuary was going to be a busy one??
Month summary - A flurry of sewing and creating, flirting with flowers, catalicious and more


APRIL 2010
1st post sentence - (I'm hoping this qualifies as one sentence)....What have I been up to today.......a little bit of animal stuff.......A little bit of winter preparation.....A little bit of baking....And a little bit of sewing.....

Month summary - Focus on Chocolate quilt for ED's birthday

MAY 2010

1st post sentence - I'm enjoying not having any major projects with deadlines on at the moment, so took time out today to challenge myself and do some paper piecing..and taa daa,  here is the result...!!

Month summary - Started Klosjes, 25 years wedding anniversary, took part in my very first bloggers quilt festival

JUNE 2010

1st post sentence - I'm not quite sure how it came about (!!) but I have signed up for the One Flower Wednesday! 

Month summary - lots of hexie-flowers, more klosjes and adventures with a coffee machine.

JULY 2010

1st post sentence - Life has been a bit of a whirlwind since I last posted; I have had several posts floating around in my head but none of them have made it anywhere near the keyboard!!

Month summary - First calves, more hexies and a flood or two.

AUGUST 2010 - 

1st post sentence - Here is Block 5 of Bronwyn Hayes' Catalicious BOM.

 Month summary - more calves, cats and crumbs

SEPTEMBER 2010 - 

1st post sentence - Here is today's flower - the Rosemary Bush was the perfect place for a blue flower!!

Month summary - 9-patches, gifts and a dilly bag

OCTOBER 2010 - 

1st post sentence - I went with a yellow theme this week.......as I knew it would be time for the MOML and I to make our annual trek 'out the back' for our viewing of the Kowhai trees in flower.

Month Summary - weekend away, searching for friends, baby chickens and a new machine!

NOVEMBER 2010

1st post sentence -  On Saturday The Country Yard (My most favourite quilt shop ever) had it's annual exhibition.

Month summary - Melbourne trip, animals, and stitching round the block

DECEMBER 2010

1st post sentence - I was tidying a shelf the other day and came across this —- it took me a moment to work out what it was, and then I realised that this is a quilt I haven't shared before.

Month summary - Round Robin excitement and family time.

Leanne was right, it was fun and interesting to read back and see what I'd been up to ---and I noticed lots of projects started but they aren't always finished...oh dear;do I feel a new year's resolution coming on???....but then again, maybe not, I enjoy how it works for me!! (however, I also know the sense of satisfaction that comes when something is finished!!)

Happy cows on New Year's day.
Green farm after recent rains,
 turnips growing well in paddock beyond cows,
irrigator spreading effluent on the pastures beyond them,
horses freaking out at irrigator beyond that!

Have a good one, everybody  :-)