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Saturday, September 14, 2013

This last fortnight I have been...

I have been keeping busy while DH has been away working in Rockhampton...
I have continued on my personal challenge to join donated squares into blankets for the needy... and the pile of blankets grew...although each one of these still needs all the ends woven in...


I took advantage of being alone in the house to tackle a big job...sorting out my mohair stash... it was chaos there for a while ...


But because I had done all that sorting it was very easy to put some 'kits' together for 2 upcoming projects using mohair and the waffle slipstitch design; one using a grey background and one using black as the background...
Now the 'black one' had been planned around the theme, 'Knitted Rainbows; Everyone should have some'. But things don't always go to plan. I started this project one night and was pleased that I had introduced the first colour after some plain knitting to form the lower band. But next day, it suddenly dawned on me! The rainbow starts with red and I had started with orange!! I wasn't going to 'frog' all those rows of 205 stitches so I put it aside and planned to start another one and come back to the other one some day with a different colour scheme. But I thought about it and said 'Nah!' I went to my 'browns, oranges, beiges' bag of yarns and found I had enough variety to make a throw in that colour scheme and with some 'muddy greens' thrown in for good measure! I'm so glad I did all that sorting of yarns!!

Colours haven't come out well...the first block of colour is orange not yellow/gold

As well as sorting yarns I also sorted out some cupboards and shelves and have lots of items to go to the charity bins as well as fabrics and yarns that can be used by other members of K4BN. These items are all bagged up and labelled for these people. I've also identified items that will go out for the kerbside clean-up which is coming soon to my suburb.

 I  attended  2 funerals and 1 memorial service while DH was away. The funerals were for 2 elderly parishioners who I had admired and I planned to not stay afterwards for the wakes...but I did and ended up staying for nearly and extra 2 hours!

People tend to 'catch up' at funerals...


I did some non grocery shopping too! Over the phone I had discussed with DH that, with Spring upon us, that maybe we could buy a new doona cover set to celebrate. You see I had looked through the Pillow Talk catalogue that was in my letterbox and I fell in love with one. When I went to buy it though, I changed my mind as it really had too many flowers on it for a room shared with a male! lol But I still chose one with flowers...just not so many!




Naturally I was busy each morning in the veggie garden...
 Mr Turkey came visiting early one morning and jumped over my 'fence' and dug out the last nasturtium plants and some of the seed potatoes. So I took the advice of a few people  and put mesh netting on the ground as apparently the turkeys don't like the feel of walking on mesh or wire. The potatoes should still be able to come up, but the need to mound up around the potato plants will cause another dilemma; but hopefully by then, Tim's faux turkey should be living in the garden!
The fencing is working successfully at keeping the turkey out of the other bed and the lettuces and tomatoes are doing well...


Before he went away, DH saw a book at the library that he thought I might like, so he borrowed it for me...
Taking advantage of being home alone, I read into the early hours on a few nights...I thoroughly enjoyed the book which was basically in a autobiographical style! Rachael also writes a blog and I sent her an email saying how much I enjoyed reading her book. To which she sent me a lovely email, saying that I had 'made her day'. And just like me, Rachael buys yarns as souvenirs of holidays! :-)

And I solved a couple of mysteries while DH has been away...I found this (below) on the small table on the veranda...a half eaten sweet potato.
For the past week or so I have also been finding half eaten sweet potatoes around the yard...I was puzzled as to where they had come from as all the larger ones have been harvested so Mr Turkey couldn't be digging any up.
But today all was clear! I now know the answer to another mystery...why have the brushtail possums been running up and down my side veranda each night? (the first night they did it I thought it was an intruder of the human kind, and nervously peeped through the curtains, ready to ring 000! )
Yes the possums had found an 'all you can eat buffet'...I had left the most recently harvested sweet potatoes in baskets on the veranda. Smart possums hah ?


And finally, I finished another knitted throw and it was posted this week to its new owner. A friend who has had such a run of bad luck in the last few years and I thought she could do with a surprise. It worked! Hopefully life treats her a lot better now and in the future, than it has.

Just oddments...like a scrap quilt really! lol


And DH has finished his work in Rocky and will be home this evening! I've loved my 2 weeks 'batching' but I'm sure looking forward to him coming home. 

5 comments:

Becky said...

You really made some wonderful progress with the blankets and I LOVE the new color combination on the one you've started. I love to read but am such a slow reader that I've avoided full books for awhile. My all time favorite Author is Diana Gabaldon. Her books are usually 800 pages or more and take me forever to read but I LOVE them.

Unknown said...

I would have thought that you may have slowed down a little while DH was away, but knowing you, Maria, you have been as busy as a bee. I do like your new doona cover, very pretty and like Petal says ...." you don't see all the flowers when the light goes out!". Sue

Susan said...

LOvely doona cover - you sure weren't idle while you were by yourself.

Dorothy said...

I'm a true blue crocheter but I do love the look of a squishy knit scrap blanket like the one you gave to your friend. I can't believe you have tomatoes ALREADY !!! Down here you're lucky if they appear before December. xox

Noela said...

Great post. Love your knitted throw.
The new doona looks lovely.
Hope DH liked it when he got home. Hugs.....