It's been a week...

...and the winner of my birthday giveaway has not contacted me. I have no way of contacting her, so I have had to draw a new winner.

Graciela, you are the new winner of my birthday giveaway!

Please email me asap with your mailing address and I'll have it in the post to you next week when I get back from Brisbane.

Hugs

Jenny

xx

Weekly catch-up and some Show & Tell...

What a week it has been!

Two trips to Townsville, three days at work, a home to run and a teenager to ferry back and forth every day, a trip to the doctors, the dentist, and the pathologist, two gifts to finish...and I did try to get some of my own sewing done but it just wasn't happening. Meanwhile....

Princess Sophie has been spending her time 'lounging'...

 

...and playing with Bob-the-Dog, who has a new toy (fondly known as Shorn The Sheep)....

...which Sophie loves to snatch off him and run away with so he will play chase with her!

At 6am each morning a thundering herd of elephants can be heard charging up and down along the hardwood floor of the hall outside our room....well, it sounds like elephants, but it's really these two rascals playing chase. Sleeping in these days is but a fond memory.

~~~~~

Mr E and I have been out on the motorbike again today. We rode to a tiny little town with a population of about 20 residents (common in our neck of the woods) known as Balfe's Creek. We looked over a bike that was for sale but decided it wasn't what we wanted, so had a cold drink and shared a pack of Twisties before the return ride home. (You can see photos of our last visit to Balfe's Creek from June last year HERE ) I am finding life so exhilirating these days, and I know that is from this time spent cruising the highways with my man. :-)

~~~~~

We have some Show & Tell today!

Carrie has finished verse 2 of Give Thanks...

 

....and Celia has also finished Verse 2. 

We are having a run on verse 2 today, aren't we? Here is Nancy's!

 

They are all so different, and so pretty!

Has anyone stitched verse 3 yet? 

~~~~~

Thank you for all the heartfelt birthday wishes. How lovely you all are!

My good friend Fee spoiled me with a box of luscious goodies. I thought I was opening an Aladdin's Cave of treasures....

...and the next day I received this beautiful parcel from Katrin, with a Tilda doll!

I was very spoiled, and I love everything. :-)

Thank you so much, girls!

~~~~~

I have been wanting to share something 'different' for my Give Thanks BOM this week, but time was against me, and I am flying down to Brisbane on Thursday so you will have to be patient while I carve out some pockets of sewing time in March. I know you understand. 

Hugs

Jenny

xx

PS: My original Shabby Roses quilt that Pam won in the January Auction to raise money for the Queensland Flood relief has arrived in the US! You can read about Pam's excitement HERE. 

It's lovely to know my 'baby' is cherished by such a lovely lady!

It's my birthday!

It's my birthday. 

This card is a vintage birthday card. We're both suited. I'm becoming vintage :-)

The other exciting thing about today is that I have drawn the winner of my birthday giveaway!

HEATHER!

You were commenter 196, but I cannot access your profile so have no way to contact you. Please email me with your postal address within 4 days so that I can arrange to have this book...

...posted to you. If I have not heard from you by Friday I'll have to draw a new winner. Sorry! 

~~~~~

Mr E and I rode to Mingela again yesterday for lunch, and this time I took a photo of the old place, and my handsome man. :-)

Not many riders there this week, but the roast beef, roast pork, and vegetables for the $5 lunch were YUM! 

I am having the best time of my life riding with hubby, and we're already making plans for the bike we'd like in the future...

 Dreams. Gotta have dreams. :-)

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

New designs!

I've been busy showing you peaks of new designs on and off over the last months, but today I will be offering four of them for you to purchase!

~Oopsie Daisy Table Runner~

is gorgeous! I find that wide table runners often get in the way when you have guests for coffe and cake. They don't leave a good flat space for a mug and plate, and some resting elbows. So this runner is a long, but narrow 11 x 41 inches....

 

~Buttons 'n' Bows Bag~

So many of you commented on this design, and others asked about a pattern, so what could I do but say 'yes'?! It's perfect for using charm squares, you know. :-)

  

~Feeling Blue Cushion~

This is another design that had a number of you emailing to ask 'where is the pattern!?', and finally, here it is. I loved working with linen in the stitched block...

 

~Keep a Cup of Kindness Handy~

For those who love something with a sentiment that expresses the very heart of who you are, this is a beautiful framed applique and stitchery design. It was inspired by my love of the television show, The Waltons. Though struggling through the Depression with barely enough to provide for their large extended family, there was always a cup of coffee and meal to be shared with a stranger or a friend who had dropped by unexpectedly. 

This would be such a wonderful sentiment to hang in your kitchen, or to give as a gift to someone who has shown you hospitality. :-)

 

 

All these designs are now available for $4 each as pdf patterns HERE in my Etsy Shop.

I will email them to you within 12 hours of purchase. :-)

~~~~~

Here are two lovely Show & Tells for this week!

Maria has made her hanger and 2nd verse in my BOM, 'Give Thanks', and used fabrics from her stash!

Dawn has finished her hanger too, and two of the verses...

 

How are you going with your GIVE THANKS hanger and verses?

Next week I'll have something extra to share with you for using with this BOM. 

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

Biking with Mr E!

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away..."

Our family love that U2 song! No matter what sort of day it is, play this and your day changes immediately. 

My beautiful day this week was last Sunday, hugging Mr E from the back of his bike....

 

 

 I had the BEST time in years!!

We rode to Mingela, a tiny town with about 20 people, no shop, but they have a pub. Every Sunday bikers come from all around for the $5 roast lunch. I didn't have my camera with me so couldn't take pics but I will next time. Down both sides of the street in front of this very old, falling apart pub, you will find motorbikes and cruisers - and all the riders are middle age or older - only a couple of 'youngsters' amongst us.

It's around 45 klms from us, so a nice 90 klm round trip for my first time out. I can't wait for our next ride. Mr E is a skilled driver, and now I can see he is a wonderful rider as well.

~~~~~

On the sewing front I have been playing around with another Tilda blue Shabby Roses block re-make...

 (this is the original block from my quilt)

...a pieced Christmas cushion for Handmade magazine in pretty aqua...

...number 3 in my latest set of shabby stitcheries...

...preparation for making my new table runner design in a different colour scheme (you can see my 'Bliss' version HERE)

...and a 'Buttons'n'Bows' bag, also for Handmade magazine later this year.

I can't believe how quick it is to make projects without embroidery or applique - this is pretty new to me. 

I made the bag in an afternoon, and the cushion in a couple of hours. Normally it takes me a couple of days or more just to do the stitchery. I think I like piecing things for a change of pace, and it makes me think of how best to bring a project to life without relying on a stitched or appliqued design (hence the bows and buttons on the bag!).

Always learning something new - I think that is the story of crafting, don't you?

~~~~~

I am having some health issues that require me to change my diet, so I'm going to get back to my 'One Body For Living' blog tonight and share what's been going on in my kitchen...if you're interested perhaps you'll have some ideas that you can share too?

~~~~~

Don't forget to enter my 1300 followers giveaway HERE...only 4 more days till it's drawn, which mean only 4 more days till my birthday! No chocolate this year, but I have requested flowers because I love them almost as much. :-)

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

GIVE THANKS - Verse 3

Tomorrow I start back in the Home Ec Dept at hubby's school as a Teacher's Aide. Some of you may remember that I did this late 2009 and for the first half of 2010 as part of our 'living-on-campus' responsibilities. I loved working with the students and our teacher, Jodie, but the position ended when we moved off campus and into the White Cottage (my nickname for our home). Recently I was offered the position again, but this time with a wage. \o/ 

It's 10 hours a week; enough hours to enjoy the responsibility, but little enough that my main love of being a homemaker is not affected. In fact, I get to have lunch every Wednesday with Mr E in his office!

I am sharing this news because my time on the internet will be reduced, and that means I'll be blogging a bit less. This is also a choice I have made because I feel that my time in the home has not been what I desire it to be. Things I love to do for my family are not being done with the patience and time that I used to afford them...blogging, designing, sewing, answering emails and comments - they each take big chunks of my time, my attention and my heart.

There was a time when those chunks of my day were filled with other things; things that blessed the ones I love most. I feel that the last two years has seen me rob my beloveds of my available personal touch in their lives. Each of them has encouraged and supported me in my designing and blogging - that's the true measure of how wonderful they are - but I want to slow down now, and really focus on them again.

I need to *be* there, not just physically, but with my full attention to their conversation, to their concerns and their joys; to capture in my memory every laugh, and the twinkle in their eyes when they play a joke on me, to listen intently and know what is happening in their day to day world without forgetting because I'm so busy elsewhere.

Cyclone Yasi did not change our day to day situation - we still have a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs, employment.

What it did change, was to open my mind (a needed refresher course!) to the fragility of life, the uncertainty of tomorrow, the need to embrace the ones you love and to pour yourself into those relationships with total abandon. 

I hope you can grasp where I am coming from? 

I am a Keeper at Home, a Help Meet to my husband, a child of God - these are the 'jobs' that require the most of me, and the ones I love above all others. 

~~~~~

This next verse for your Give Thanks hanger came to me after Yasi had passed, but there are many manifestations of storms in our lives - sickness, financial struggles, death, unemployment, homelessness, estrangement from loved ones...the list can go on. 

For me, the shelter through all those storms has been my faith. 

~Verse 3~

 

You can download this mini-quilt verse HERE.

Have you unintentionally gotten too busy and taken a side turn from the things/people that matter most in your life? 

It's never too late to hop back on the right path. :-)

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

Yummo food, and some sewing finished...

Mr E and Sam have been busy sawing the fallen trees...

...and I have been baking focaccia, and serving simple meals from what needs to be eaten first. 

 Yesterday and today I baked my olive focaccia, and we finished the salami, cheeses, and fruit.

A small food delivery was made to Woolies last night - flour, pasta sauce - so I have solved the no Self Raising Flour woes. Tomorrow I'll bake a chocolate cake in celebration. ;-)

The bridge is open again as the flood waters have dropped, but we have been told more food supplies will still take a while to get here. That's ok! We have enough for a couple of weeks because I am being very creative. 

Miss Sophie, or Princess Sophie as I have begun calling her, has taken a liking to my office chair...

It's like having a hot water bottle in my lower back every time I sit down. She has begun to take over the house, and her 'Princess' title has not been lost on Blossom, who can be heard whispering into Sophie's ear "I'm the real Princess!".

~~~~~

I finally got back to finishing items for the New Beginnings sewing kits this afternoon, just need some more stuffing for the rest of the pincushions.

I have made six from THIS pattern, using 10" layer cake squares. They were all ready for stuffing when I realised I only had a small amount of Polyfill left, so could only complete one.

 ...and I'll finish stuffing the remaining ones tomorrow.

I also have one pincushion to stuff from these sets I made...

If you want to make a complete kit, or send items to help put a kit together, please email me. We have extended the posting date to March 15th, as the disasters keep the amount needed constantly increasing. 

For more information about the 'New Beginnings' kits read THIS on our Gum Tree Designers blog.

~~~~~

I will draw the random winner of my January Challenge tomorrow, and finally share some wonderful Show & Tell photos you've emailed me. Only a few days late... :-)

Hugs

Jenny

xx

Cleaning up and making do...

By Wednesday afternoon everything we owned was packed up, secured, and we were settled behind a strong wall in the centre of the house, locked inside. Our bathroom is in a corner, refurbished from a verandah and not safe at all. We did fill the bathtub with water, and lots of buckets...

 

 

All the donated 'New Beginnings' Kits were under the dining table, and in plastic crates.

The next morning, after the worst of Yasi had passed us by, Mr E and I went under the house to a safe corner (the winds were still very strong and stuff was flying around the yard) and untied the bbq. We boiled water on the bbq burner, and cooked up bacon and eggs. The power was gone so we had to use foods that were perishing.

 

 

We repeated this at lunchtime and cooked up a pan of mexican mince to make nachos. 

By the next morning (Friday) we had to throw out so much spoiled food. I'm glad we got to use some of it this way. 

By Thursday night the power was on again in half the town - we were in the blessed half. I started to put things back together in the kitchen so we could at least eat during the following days of clean up, while Mr E and Sam put our mattresses back in the bedrooms. 

The view in the backyard...

 

We were so blessed to only have tree damage. The pets are fine, as they were locked inside with us through Yasi, but the dog next door went missing in the hours before the storm and has still not been found. A sad but familiar story. :-(

We drove up to the hill at the top of town and looked over the region...

You won't be able to spot it (but I circled it and you can click for a large photo) but we could see the river for the very first time since we moved here. That's how high it had gotten - higher than when the floods went through in December. We were just told that the highway either side of the river has all been ripped apart, so no access for supplies for a long while. 

All that water will flood country Queensland again. :-(

The supermarket in town lost nearly all it's cold stock in the power loss and as our town had not yet fully restocked after the floods last month, we now have empty shelves. So many will have had to throw away spoiled foodstuffs, and there was only so much to go around at the supermarket. We are going to be very cautious with what we use until supplies arrive again. The river was over yesterday and roads cut off. It will take a while till life is normal once more, but we are BLESSED that we have homes, water and drygoods, and our lives.

Those in Tully, Mission Beach, Tully Heads, Innisfail, Cardwell....so many do not have this, not even in it's simplest form.

 Pray for them

Pray also for our friends in the US who are battling their own weather disaster with blizzards and ice storms. 

I don't know what your thoughts are, but I agree we are experiencing global warming, and this planet is only going to get more and more weather crises. What are we leaving to our children and grandchildren? I shudder to think.

~~~~~

This morning I had to use the last of the apples, and didn't realise till later that I was using the last of the self raising flour....

..and baked cinnamon/apple/currant muffins with the last of the homemade yoghurt. 

 I don't have any baking powder so will need recipes with plain flour. How can I make baking powder, do you know? I might have ingredients? **(Thanks to those who shared the recipe for baking powder! I don't have cream of tartar so will have to shelve that idea)** We do have bread flour so I can bake some loaves as we need them.

 Now to start unpacking the sewing room, begin lunch (baking olive focaccia breads), and finish washing the blankets. Mr E spent yesterday cutting up fallen trees at the school, and today is starting the clean up around the house here.

It's raining again and lightning storms are predicted, so a quiet night inside will finish our day. 

I'll do Show and Tell tomorrow. :-)

Hugs

Jenny

xxx