FNSI...

The first FNSI for 2013 is this evening! Thank you once again Heidi and Bobbi for organising this fabulous event! So what did I get done this evening while the Tennis from Melbourne has been on TV? It's been 'a little bit of this and a little bit of that.'

Firstly, I wove in the ends on the knitted washer that I made for the Heart Valentine Swap, and stitched on the appropriate initial.

 It was suggested that with our handcrafted item, we should include a chocolate treat...but I've seen what happens to chocolate in the mail at this time of year, so I decided to substitute a cake of soap which 'smells good enough to eat' :-)

Boronia and aloe vera soap...

 Then I wrapped up the soap in the washer and tied it up with some 'hearts' ribbon....

 But that's not all! Look what else is going in the parcel... a custard tart???? I found this in a gift shop in 'the Tweed'...it's a soy melt, and it smells delicious too! lol...

I also finished sewing all the squares together in this rug...but admittedly it was only 2 rows that I had left to sew up. These are the last of the bags of donated squares that my friend Helen gave me last year to sew up. I still have to weave in some ends but that should all be done by Monday when the next Knit and Natter is on.

A number of these squares were done in 2 row garter stitch stripes...very effective!

And last of all this evening, I cut out some more long hexies and made a start on tacking some of them over the papers. I got an idea for a new project the other night using my collection of floral prints...

Look out for progress reports and photos :-)

There were lots of people signed up for FNSI, so why not visit some ? Although it's not actually Friday night is some countries yet!

A fun Christmas gift...

For Christmas, I gave DH a package to Jupiters' Casino on the Gold Coast. The package included accommodation for one night, tickets to the current show there at the moment (Tap Dogs), and a buffet breakfast. The price of the package was just a little more than the normal cost of a room, so it is good value! However, the best thing about a gift like this is that I get to be part of it as well! So on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, we used DH's gift voucher. 

We headed off early, just on nine o'clock, so we could have a stop at Harbourtown which is at Labrador on the Gold Coast. This giant shopping centre is touted as an Outlet centre with supposed bargain prices. But these shops bear little resemblance to the factory outlet shops of old. 

Some views of Harbourtown...

I often find items which make wonderful gifts for family and friends at the David Jones Warehouse there but this time the stock was very tired, ordinary and over priced. On the other hand DH got a lovely winter jacket from the Canterbury shop for $35. In the Pumpkin Patch shop I was able to get some baby clothes to give as a gift to friends who have recently had a baby boy. DH and I don't go into every shop like most people do; we just have a look in a select few. The clothing shops often have bargains but always in the tiny sizes :-(

I never go to Harbourtown without visiting the Royal Doulton Shop. These days it's mainly to just have a look around, but I did buy a cup and saucer set in the birth months range. So DsD2 will get that for her April birthday. 

This is only a small part of this shop...

I loved this range as the hydrangea is one of my favourite flowers. My SIL gave me the tiered cake plate in this range for Christmas but I'm afraid I lusted after so many other pieces of the range when I saw this display! lol (But they stayed in the shop as I don't need them)

After an hour or so at Harbourtown we headed off to Broadbeach to meet some friends for lunch. 

After lunch an orchestra started performing in the square; 'Voices of Metal'

DH with our friends watching the orchestra; DH became friends with Darryl and Sandra when they all worked in the public service years ago

Later in the afternoon we headed to the casino to book into our room...Because I was the one who did the booking, it was my name on the TV screen in our room...(that's a scene from the show 'Tap Dogs' on the screen)

More tomorrow...

Some very pleasant surprises...

You know how sometimes things just go so well and it gives you a real boost :-) ? Well just in the last few days that's happened to me!

I didn't mention anything to anyone except my immediate family but a few weeks ago my DD1 had a bit of a health scare. In a routine check-up appointment at her GP, the doctor found 2 lumps in one of DD1's breasts. Scary stuff...we spent time with her trying to 'say all the right things'; took her out for coffee and shopping and we also went along with her for her ultra sound. Then after, not quite 2 weeks, she has been given the all clear...cysts not cancerous lumps. Phew...such a relief!

Sitting in the waiting room of Lime Radiology... I tried to get a photo of the sign  under the TV...it said that if you suspected that you may have a cold, please ask the staff on the desk for a mask!

Then today, just as I'd finished struggling up climbing the hill that leads up to Fingal lighthouse, (will write another post about this adventure) and I was taking a photo of the lighthouse with my phone when it 'dinged' with a message! It was from Robyn, my swap buddy in Sue's cushion swap. The message was thanking me for the cushion and Robyn said that she had also left a message on my home phone. When DH and I arrived home later this afternoon I played back the message from Robyn. It was such a beautiful and appreciative message ...Robyn has been quite unwell and receiving the cushion really brightened up her day, she said. So my cushion has gone to a very special person and will have a great life in Robyn's sewing room...feels good eh?  And thank you dear friends for all those nice comments on my last post about the swap. 

All nicely settled and 'living' in Sydney now...

When I got home this afternoon I'd been without Internet for about 32 hours; self imposed denial to see if I could do it! lol So when I checked my emails, I found that I had one from Jodie over at Ric Rac. I had won   the  Giveaway from Tuesday of last week.! Completely blew me away!! lol  So I get the latest Vignette magazine which features a pattern by Jodie. This pattern is for the very cute 'Mrs Sausage Dog' and also in my prize booty will be fabrics to make Mrs Sausage Dog with! Hopefully Jodie won't mind me 'borrowing' a photo of  her lovely toy. What a little sweetie to add to my list of 'to do' projects! 

Thank you Jodie!!

Cushion swap....

Well I finally finished the cushion for my swap buddy and the item is now on its way to a new home :-)

The back opening  is sewn 'envelope style' with a band of colourful fabric. My swap buddy didn't specify any colours or style, just that it should be a cushion for her sewing room.

I made the front in a variation of an 'Eyespy' design....you just never know what you'll find on this cushion...
For example...pins, bolts of fabric and even little 'Keep Calm' messages! :-)

More good advice and buttons and thimbles...

And look at all those thimbles, pins and tape measure...

And what else can you find :-)

It was a lot of fun to make, despite a few feelings of angst that come from the 'making it up as you go along' attitude of mine. Maybe next time I'll use a pattern...but then, who knows! lol

One way of keeping cool...:-)

Relatives and friends often ask me what gift they can buy DH for birthday/Christmas and I always respond that it's best to buy 'experiences' or gift cards etc, as, like me, he already has 'lots of stuff'. Consequently, these wonderful people have given DH movie gift cards. The other day DH mentioned that in the last month, we have been to the movies four times, which is quite a record for us. But it's a wonderful place to go when the weather is hot and humid!

So the 4 movies we've been to see are, 'Skyfall', 'Quartet', 'Les Miserables' and 'Hitchcock'. For 'Les Mis' I used a gift voucher for 'The Blue Room Cinebar' that I had been given by my brother. The Blue Room features very, very small cinemas, comfy, large seats and drinks and meals' service during the film. (like a smaller version of Gold Class) My gift voucher also included a drink and dinner for two. 

Loved loved loved, 'Skyfall', 'Quartet' and 'Hitchcock'; loved the music and Hugh Jackman in 'Les Mis' but always get depressed by the degradation and death also in it. Although Helen Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen were delightful (ly mean but funny) in the movie.

Then yesterday DH and I headed off to QPAC for a matinee performance of 'South Pacific'. It was a magnificent show and our group of friends and relatives with us, all enjoyed it immensely. DsD1 drove us into  South Brisbane and we got there a little early (45 minutes too early! lol) so I took some photos of the area. 

We got dropped off near the museum and have walked up to the intersection where the road to and from the Victoria bridge is 

The Museum and Sciencentre

This is the elevated walkway which links the museum to QPAC; around the middle of this walkway is the lift well :-)

I'm up on the walkway here and looking towards the Convention centre on the left. South Brisbane, and West End in the near distance. Stefan's 'SkyNeedle' can be seen in the middle of the photo. This was an icon at World expo 88 and another icon, Stefan bought it and erected it at his head office. (he has a chain of hairdressing salons)

Some old buildings that were not razed to the ground...and little Fish Lane.

Looking the other way now from the walkway...Victoria Bridge and beyond it, the CBD. Some old buildings, such as the Treasury Casino are visible in front of the taller buildings...

Looking towards Queensland Performing Arts Complex (QPAC). Interesting the architect won awards for his design but to me it always looks like the concrete bunkers (armed with gun emplacements) built during WW2 to repel the enemy...

Lovely old Moreton Bay fig trees

 DH and I had left our car at Alderley Station so we had to catch a train back there to get it.  South Brisbane Station is just over the road from QPAC so that's pretty convenient.

Looking back to Southbank Station with bus tunnel to the right of the railway lines...

Here's DH graciously smiling for the camera :-)

But that wasn't the end of the day for us... at Alderley we collected the car and headed over to Wilston to join our friends for dinner out....

DH says there is still some credit on his movie gift card...he wants to see 'Lincoln.'..I do too but I also want to see 'Pitch Perfect'... will the person who 'owns' the movie card win???? lol

Books and reading....

I have lots of novels waiting to be read. Friends would often hand me a bundle of books and say, 'You'll enjoy these' and I would put them into a storage cube 'for when I was retired and had time for reading'. If DH and I visited the Carrara Markets at the Gold Coast, I would invariably find some titles by a favourite author and these would then go into the storage cube. Eventually I had more than one storage cube full of books. 

I retired in 2011 and the pile of books waiting to be read had not lessened much. So in October last year I made a concentrated effort to read more. I am gradually becoming used to reading in the day time...somehow it always felt wrong! lol Some days late last year, I read for an entire afternoon!! So, by early December I had bagged up some of the ones that I've read, ready to go in the Lifeline bin. The Minette Walters one I finished after filling that supermarket bag. 

There's 8 books in this bag plus a fairy wand I found in a cupboard ???

 Last week I finished reading a book which I bought after reading about it on someone's blog and found that our council library didn't have it. The author, Judith Levine, decided to only spend money on food, utilities and other bare necessities for one year, so she could write about it. It's written in diary form and Levine intersperses the entries with sociological, economic and political commentary of life in the US in the early 2000s. She certainly doesn't offer any suggestions on how to live frugally (although she visits and interviews a chap who does) but does complain when her clothes become threadbare in that year. Levine also becomes bored as she can't go to movies, hire movies  or have pay TV. She bemoans the fact that when she is unable to accept invitations to join people for coffee/lunch, she is missing out on 'networking opportunities' for her career. 

There are obviously a lot of differences between Judith and I, but her boredom really amazed me. She had a computer with internet access for her work, so one can only imagine the possibilities there. She didn't seem to have any craft type hobbies...her and her husband got into a 'tizz' when they couldn't buy something for her niece's graduation. I'd be going through my yarn and fabric stashes and whipping up something that wouldn't require any spending...no fuss, no worry! (and I have done that many times when the budget was tight)

Levine did start to use public libraries during this year but commented that budget cuts over a number of years have left these places under staffed, stolen books haven't been replaced and new acquisitions are few and far between. She found other public utilities/facilities/amenities in the US to be similar.  Here in Queensland I think we can expect something similar in the not too distant future. 

Meeting up with knitting friends...

Yesterday started with taking DD2 for a specialist appointment, where everything was good news...then it was over to Albany Creek for the January Knit and Natter. It was so nice catching up with the other ladies, having a look at what they had knitted/crocheted since we last met and checking out the huge quantity of donated yarn! There were boxes and big bags of all sorts of yarns. I arrived late and as soon as I sat down, friends alerted me to donated yarns that were 'typically Maria'! lol 

I protested about taking any, saying I had lots of yarn at home already...but I'm weak and came home with my knitting bag stuffed with interesting yarns...I think I will be starting one of my honeycomb throws sometime soon :-)  DH was very calm and philosophical when I came home with all this extra yarn!

Everyone loved the colours in this variegated yarn that Linda was using; by having a photo I can check back and put together similar combos out of my stash as they really work well

 This is Sharon in the photo below. She and I still crochet 15-round squares in indigenous colours in spare time...we worked out yesterday that I have 7 done and she has 9 so we only need another 4 to make a rug. And it's all just done whenever, and between other projects.

 The photo below shows Helen's beautiful chevron throw using my old favourite easy pattern. Quite a few ladies now have this pattern and I get such a kick out of seeing all their creations. I've promised to bring some copies to the next K&N for those who don't have access to a computer.

All those years ago in the late 1980s when I made my first chevron rug out of some oddments given to me by a friend, I could never have imagined how many I would eventually make, let alone others wanting the pattern. That first rug (in autumn tones) was donated to a school street stall and  sold to a parent at the school as a gift for her husband. He still has that rug!!

Just in case anyone is interested, a copy of the basic chevron pattern is here but it's up to each individual knitter to decide how thick to make each colour block and to experiment with light and dark colours as well as textures. I'm quite happy to give suggestions of number of stitches for certain plys etc; just email any queries.