Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Giveaway

Novy is having another giveaway, and a very generous one at that. Pop over and put your name down :)

Anna is giving away some goodies at TillyTom as well. Anna sews, and sells, the most beautiful bits and pieces so a giveaway is an exciting chance to win some goodies!

I will be having a giveaway myself soon, I have been very lucky of late and have an urge to share the love. Watch this space!

Books Alive Reading Challenge


At the beginning of the year I signed up for a challenge. I thought I could read 100 books in a year. I was doing very well until the birth of Baby Bug at which point in time the wheels feel off... Still, I was happy that I had managed to read 42 books come August.

September is THE month for Books with schools everywhere having their book weeks and the publication of 'Books Alive 50 books you can't put down' guide. This was the kick I needed to pick up a book again and start reading. I joined another challenge hosted by Book Thingo to read as many books as I can for September. The added benefit is that I will also be adding to my yearly total!

43.On, Off ~ Colleen McCullough
This took me awhile to get into, but once I had the characters worked out I found it to be not a bad story. Unfortunately I did not much like the end which did spoil it for me, I prefer it when the bad guy is safely locked away when I close the book for the final time.

44.The Unknown Terrorist ~ Richard Flanagan
This was a story about a pole dancer found herself to be Australia's most wanted terrorist. It does leave you wondering at the power of media hype and spin.

45.Lord John and the Private Matter ~ Diana Gabaldon
I enjoyed this enough that I am going to hunt out other Diana Gabaldon novels to learn more of Lord John.

46.Choo Woo ~ Lloyd Jones
Sometimes a story is so horrid it can leave you feeling sick to have the idea placed in your head, while being so well written you have to keep reading. This is that book. I can't recommend it as it was very disturbing...

47.The Guernsey Literacy & Potato Peel Pie Society ~ Mary Ann Shaffer
I am now in love with most of the characters on Guernsey and read this in a day.

48.The girl with the dragon tattoo ~ Stieg Larsson
A mystery thriller which I really enjoyed. The computer savvy Lisbeth did not always work for me as a character but it was a great story which had me reading into the night. I have reserved the sequel and can't wait to get into that one as well.

49.The Undomestic Goddess ~ Sophie Kinsella
This was a light bit of fluff which was an enjoyable read over a couple of cups of coffee. I do like the idea of being able to reinvent yourself and start again but the leap from high profile lawyer to domestic help is a bit much. Love wins in the end which is always nice :)

I managed to read SEVEN books for September which brings my yearly total to 49. Not bad!

I am now starting:
As Darkness Falls ~ Bronwyn Parry.
Bronwyn is a local Aussie writer featured in the Books Alive campaign this year with her latest novel Dark Country which I will be reading soon.


edit 1/10/09 12:44am
50.As Darkness Falls ~ Bronwyn Parry I finished this one last night!
A mystery set in the Aussie Outback with a healthy dose of romance thrown in for good measure. It is a great first novel and I can't wait to read Bronwyn's second book Dark Country.

My total for the month is now EIGHT books and gives me FIFTY books for the year!!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Show Off

I am showing off today! Kylie sent me a parcel which has given me the perfect chance to post another picture of Baby Bug wearing his new little knitted shirt that she sent us.


What a great pattern, I love the cable detail on the front to one side, very dressy and he looks so cute wearing it! I wish my knitting was half as good as Kylie's, I can't put together anything more complex than a beanie!



In addition to the knit, there was also some packaged creams and a horse figurine which Miss Possum is running around the house with to cries of 'neigh'. We had to set her straight as she started with 'woof' which was embarrassing if you consider that she has an actual pony and as such should know better ;)

Kylie, I know you are VERY busy with packing, moving interstate and family matters, thank you VERY much for taking the time to send us this package. We really love it :)

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Friday, September 25, 2009

Happy Mail Day

I am feeling pretty lucky this week! My parcel from Car arrived with a stack of goodies that I won on a giveaway on her blog :)

Very neatly packaged in Calico, wrapped in ribbon and labeled with a handmade tag! Love the magazine, I read it last night over a cuppa and have already bookmarked a redwork project which looks good.

Inside there was a bookmark, a card wallet and a green case. The little card wallet has the same fabric Car used in a bag that I won in a different blog giveaway :)

Everything opened up, love the little tag on the back of the bookmark!


Close up of the little block on the bookmark. Lovely and much nicer than any of the free library bookmarks that I have lying about the house!

There was also a block of chocolate as well, but you will have to use your imagination as I ate that before I thought to take the photos :)

Check out Car's blog if you don't already. There is always something good happening over there, reading, knitting, sewing, kid craft, everything fun!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The end... kind of!


How exciting! On Friday I received a very fantastic parcel, my blocks all complete from Chaletgirl's blockswap :) I have spent the entire weekend playing with the layout, which is different to the photos as it would seem that I have to keep moving this block with that until it is just right :)



Now I have to work out how much fabric I need to add the border sashing and I can get sewing!! I know the fabric I want so it will come together quickly once I get sewing :)

I just need advice on how to quilt it, it will be a double size. What would you do? It may be too big for me to manage?

Monday, September 21, 2009

Lucky Me!

My week is off to a great start! Rachel at Four Wise Monkeys had a great giveaway, and from 72 comments my number came up trumps!
What a beautiful little quilt!


A trip with Kootoyoo

I have been keeping an eye on the happenings over at Kootoyoo. We have been on a little trip, everyday there has been a new clue to solve with links to new blogs to read. Just my kind of fun while feeding baby bug in the small hours.

Over the last week I have collected answers, made notes of the relevant letters and had to solve the following anagram to find the answer: YMINOTUMC

I am pretty sure the answer is COMMUNITY

I am sorry this is over as I have had fun taking this trip through blog land, maybe there will be another trip soon ;)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Wordless Weekend


Today is International Talk like a Pirate Day so I had to use this photo of Miss Possum!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Wonky

More blocks for the quilting bee Around the block! This block belongs to Helen who asked for a Wonky House.

I found this VERY hard. Especially working out how big to make each section knowing that I would lose some to seam allowance and then extra to trim it wonky before adding the next piece of the puzzle.



As you can see in the below photo I did not always get it right :( I had to add an extra bit in after realising that my block would be a little on the small side of the requested 12x15". So annoying as I was loving this block until this happened.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Thank You

We have been very lucky with baby number two. I have heard it said that the second one often misses out. Not Baby Bug! We have some wonderful friends and family :)


Sheridan sent Baby Bug a beautiful fabric cube, complete with appliqued initial and a bell inside. I have just noticed in the photo that it is upside down (ooops!). We love it with it's bright colours and little tinkling bell :) Thanks Sheridan, it was a surprise package which made my day.


Our good friend Tracy of Traron Alpacas sent Baby Bug a beautiful set of Alpaca knits. There is a beautiful navy jumper and booties pictured above as well as a light blue set of booties modeled below. Possum was lucky to get a lovely alpaca knit beret in the same package! Alpaca wool is so lovely and soft, I can't say enough good things about it!

My Mum made Henry the little play quilt that he is lying on in the picture above. Mum is very clever and loves whipping up quilts for everyone. Mum deserves a blog post of her own showing off what she creates.... Remind me to do that soon!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Thursday, September 10, 2009

5 weeks


I have not sewn, knitted, or crafted anything in over a week. My house was untidy, but today I decided to do something about that before 'untidy' turned into messy, or worse, dirty.

I am tired, cranky tired... But I am loving little toes, tiny fingers and blue eyes peeking at me. I am not loving being woken up every 3 hours for feeds overnight, and while I am on the topic dearest boy, I am not a morning person, even if I do like SeaChange which is airing on the ABC at 4:30am. I would prefer not to start my day at this hour...


Monday, September 7, 2009

Happy Father's Day

image from local tourism website

Yes, I am a day late for Father's Day, but I have a good excuse... We were not at home :)

Very happy to say that I am showing no negative signs from our 5.3km hike that we did yesterday in honour of Father's Day. I carried Baby Bug in the sling while Mr carried Possum in a hiking pack and we set off around a local gorge. It was the perfect day for it.

Baby Bug is now 4.5 weeks old and I feel great post cesarean. The Doctor gave me the all clear to drive as of last week and walking and hiking have not bothered me at all.

I am still not hanging out washing or doing the heavier house work, after all, I have to take it easy, right?!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Wordless Weekend



Exposure 1/160
Aperture f/5.6
ISO 400
Focal Length 200mm

Friday, September 4, 2009

Giveaways

Rachel at Four Wise Monkeys is giving away a quilt!! I won!!

Novy is having a giveaway!
I nearly bought this pattern recently but I was good and didn't, so I think I 'deserve' to win a copy now :) drawn

Sewjourn is also having a giveaway to celebrate their first year in business. This one closes soon so get over there now! drawn

Thea and Sami are also Giving Away a beautiful Table Runner. drawn

One Red Robin are hosting a Giveaway Too. drawn

Two Little Banshees is doing it as well :) drawn

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Spring



Spring has sprung, and I love it!
My favourite time of year.
I love the budding plants, the frolicking lambs and the warmer days.
Time to start thinking about adding to the vegetable garden :)