How Wonderful!

 

 

Another chance to sit and sew - how wonderful is that?  Cheryll is the brains behind this and I am so happy she is doing this because it means I will actually be prepared and get some stuff done.  Might be too late for OPAM this month but a great start for November.  So come on and join us on Friday the 2nd of November - can't wait to see what everyone stitches.

FNSI

I am a little disappointed this time with my FNSI results for a few reasons.  Last time I was well prepared and home alone and got heaps done, this time I had been on a massive excursion with school (that I had organised so had stressed about and not slept properly the night before - worrying about it being a flop, the weather being bad, all those silly things that you have no control over and should have know better considering my Choice Theory training...) and kind of fell asleep as I was waiting for the kids to return when I should have been sewing and so when they did return, well it was madness.  They were full of stories and such form the last 3 days while they had been with their Dad.

 

The other reason I'm a little disappointed is because of all of the secret sewing going on and so I can't show proper pictures and talk about them.  I did finish one project and started another.

I'm starting to worry (- oh gosh that whole stress/Choice Theory thing happening again...)that I won't have all of my secret sewing bits and pieces done on time and I can't email people because it's all secret...

Well, the little bit of time I did get for FNSI was productive - hope others enjoyed their FNSI.

FNSI

It's that time again FNSI.

 

 

Make sure you pop on over to Heidi's blog to sign up.  Looking forward to seeing what you stitch up.

Yippee...books

Oh gosh I L.O.V.E. books, can't get enough of them.

Now I just need school to be finished for the year...

Special moments...

 I am very lucky to have such a wonderful Parish Priest who allowed baby bear #3 to celebrate his Eucharist by his chronological age and not by school grade. 

 

We worked long and hard on preparing for this sacrament and it was at times one of the most stressful things - baby bear #3 really struggles with crowds and physical contact from unfamiliar people and sometimes the slightest change to his routine can be world shattering to him.

 



There are times when he blows me away.  Tonight was one of those times.  He sat relatively still (normally unheard of) and did all of the right things.  He remembered all of the different parts of the ceremony that differ from our usual Mass and didn't really bat an eyelid.

 

 

The only thing that really was true to form, him avoiding eye contact at all times and me forgetting my good camera and having to rely on my phone which as you can see takes a less than adequate distance shot once you try to zoom in.

 

Anyway, he was amazing and it was a lovely ceremony and now we can relax for a few more years until we start to prepare for Confirmation.

Loving the postie!

Some supplies arrived today that I had ordered from The Home Patch...the postie must be wondering what is going on around here...

A little parcel x2

Well normally all I find in my letter box is snails and their mess, oh and bills...nasty horrid things they are!  But today there were 2 unusually shaped parcels sitting in there that, thankfully, the snails had not touched (now don't get me wrong, when I look in there, there are no snails to be seen but I think they must have mail cam or something because they certainly chew through stuff).

 Firstly there was my bag from the black and white swap organised by Cheryll and made for me by Carol, along with the something smelly which I thought was very clever.

Here is a close up of the lace trim Carol used as the strap of the bag and the extra effort she went to by adding the black floral trim with Rhine stones - enough to make any girl feel spectacular.

Thank you Carol - I am very lucky indeed. 

Then there was my other parcel which contained my 12 inch mini from the Spring exchange.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened it, for 2 reasons.  One was the fabric that Maria had used for the border - I fell in love with this fabric last year and bought all the purples in this range to make a quilt for 'Mrs G' who was baby bear #3 teacher but didn't buy any for myself and have been cross with myself for it and now thanks to Maria, I don't have to be as I can just look at my Spring mini and feel happy.

The other thing that Maria sent me was this amazingly tiny log cabin block that is a perfect.  Every time I look at it I am in awe of those tiny stitches.  Not only is that skill, it also show patience.

So thank you to both of my swap partners, Carol and Maria and again, also to Cheryll for organising the swaps.

Sunny Sunday

We decided to make the most of the nice day today and drive to our local railway reserve.  It is a nature reserve that has historical significance from the old steam railways.  It has undergone a lot of replanting and path making, along with the addition of picnic tables and a toilet block and is now home to a lot of bird life.

It's a great place to have a picnic and walk the walking trail, not to mention feeding the birds and seeing what other animals and critters you can find.

It's normally a peaceful and calm kind of place, although it was busy today.  There were kids trying to fish - I think that's a bit of a no-no, other families walking around and a couple of little dogs on leashes making all sorts of noises at the birds in the water - think they wanted to be in the water with the birds...and then there was us.  The kids running and chasing and trying to get down into Dead Horse Canyon, but it was full of water down the bottom so was impossible to climb down - thank goodness because apparently I promised to  go down last time and all 3 kids remembered.  Guess that means it will be next time...

A question

I want to know from others out there in blogland, do you:

1. use only 100% cotton fabrics or
2. use cotton blend fabrics
3. use 100% cotton thread for piecing and quilting or
4. use polyester thread with a cotton coating for piecing and quilting.

In the post

Sent off on Friday and I can show you photos because the lady who is going to receive this has no idea it's from me.

 

I also put in a little box of chocolates, you can't celebrate spring without sweets, right.  It was fun to do this little stitchery - makes me think I should do more little projects more often.

A little sad, really...

Don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy my job, but I love being on holidays and can't believe how quickly they have flown by...it makes me a little sad to think that in a few days it will all be rush, rush, rush in the mornings, not to mention making school lunches, hearing reading, checking home work and driving kids here there and everywhere for out of school activities...oh and meetings, argh!  I really do not enjoy meetings :(

So with the last few days rapidly flashing by I thought I would squeeze in one more good read before the professional reading takes over again.

I really do enjoy these books and would love to hear from any one else who has read them and what their thoughts are on which actors/actresses should play the different characters if the books were to be made into films.

Wish there was a quilting retreat nearby here - wouldn't that just be the most heavenly thing a week of just quilting, stitching, eating and laughing...

I want more...

I found this when I was surfing while eating my breakfast - yes I multitask, don't all mothers?  Anyway, I digress. It's perfect for me because my blog is small.  I've been at it for over a year, almost a year and a half and I have 15 delightful followers.

I love my followers - they are great people.  They share things, they listen and they make me feel special.  They are my blog-friends.  You can never have too many friends.

So if you have a small blog, like me and want to meet some others with blogs smaller than 50, pop on over to Lynne's blog and have a look for yourself.

Thanks Lynne for hosting this and giving me a chance to make some new bloggy-friends.