Well, I've almost finished off my swaps for this year. I've taken pics of some but can't post anything as I don't know if they've been received as yet.
Just listening to some Christmas Pan pipes on CD. Lovely music.

Don't you just love this pic I took of our kittens a while back? They're all staring intently at a crow, that still visits our verandah several times a day to see what food our dog has left. The poor old crow is usually pestered no end by a pair of willy wagtails, that along with the crows and magpies, nest in our garden.
You can still see the broken screen where our big tabby cat Lilly, got her head jammed as a youngster. I had to hold her very still that day, whilst my daughter cut the steel mesh with the bolt cutters. We now have about 18 ins of clear perspex screwed to the bottom of the door.




Above are my zucchini plants, which are just starting to produce. To the left is some rhubarb. I planted my vege garden this year on the Eastern side of our house, so it only gets the morning sun. It would be nigh on impossible to grow anything from scratch here that would be subjected to the very hot afternoon sun. We've still had no decent rain, only thunder, and it's mostly the established trees and plants that are just surviving. We're so very lucky that our bore is still holding up well. There were a couple of towns that had run out of their water supply. We're hoping that the meat ants, that have been moving up onto higher ground near our house, are a sign that we're going to have a huge downpour soon. In all the years we've lived here, they've stayed in the same spot, so they've never been a problem at all. I've never seen so many other smaller ants in our home either. I've been thinking I should get our daughter Katrina to bring her car out here for a wash and polish. When she lived at home, it was almost guaranteed to bring on the rain.LOL

It's been so hot and humid here the past few days. Still no decent rain though, only a bit of thunder and lightning.

Thought I'd show a pic of some of the bags that were made on a special Q.C.W.A. craft day. One of our members, Sally was the tutor. They are made with a black mesh a little like flyscreening. It does come in several other colours, but black is the cheapest. Surprisingly, it's very easy to machine sew. Mine is the floral one on the far right.

I'm finally back on track after a long break from blogging. I've been very busy at work and I've had a few health issues to resolve, one of them being sleep apnoea which leaves me so exhausted at the end of each working day. I did try a CPap machine, but even though I tried so hard to persevere with it, was very unsuccessful. My osteoarthritis is pretty bad at the moment as well, especially in my right shoulder. But I've just started some new medication which hopefully will relieve the pain and inflammation. Several weeks ago, I had ESWL which is Electric shock wave treatment on my kidney stones, which seems to have been quite successful as I no longer suffer any more pain in my side. Still have to visit the Renal Unit regularly though, as I'm also a non-insulin dependant diabetic and I've been told by a specialist that I'm on the verge of having diabetic kidney nephropathy. Not a very good outlook, so I'll have to be a very good girl as far as diet goes and I guess I really should try to lose some weight, but my main problem with that is not being able to walk a lot like I once used to. I've been seriously thinking of taking up water aerobics though as it's less stressful on joints.

I've tried to keep up with a few swaps. The apron below is the one I made for Kerry. The pink floral and white one, was made for me by Iris.





The pegbag below, I made for Cate, the cushion cover, I received from Margarita and the needlebook was made for me by Linda. I don't always get to take pics of the items I make as I'm often pushed to post them on time.





I'd eventually love to have time (More motivation really)to make enough items to sell online, as many others I know do very successfully. Anyway, I'd best get some more sleep now. The reason I'm up so late - or early (It's actually almost 4am here), is I arrived home from work at 6 pm and flaked on the bed until after 11 pm. Still don't really feel tired again yet, but best make the effort to get some more shuteye, as I have Weekend visitors arriving later this morning.
Bye for now and I'll try and post more often.

How's this for a magnificent view from your loungeroom windows? I was at this 3-level home recently for a Q.C.W.A. function. There was a circular 10-person lift to take us between floors, full kitchens and theatre rooms on 2 floors and an indoor inground swimming pool on the ground floor. I sure wouldn't want to clean this house, especially all of the windows, but what views.LOL

PINCUSHION SWAP
Here is a pic of the pincushion I made for a mini swap on a craft group I belong to. It was crazy quilted over a couple of old CDs and is embellished with fibres,charms,shells and beads. The base is hand-dyed wool felt. I also sent my swap partner a handmade card and some of my cinnamon buttons. I received a lovely felt hat pincushion in the same swap. At the present, I am finishing off a peg bag and have signed up for cushion cover and apron swaps and am thinking hard about whether to sign up for an etui swap. Taking part in these swaps does motivate me as there is always a deadline to follow.LOL

MY RECENT HANDCRAFTING
I thought I'd post a few pics of what I've been making recently. Below are a couple of crocheted rugs and some premmie beanies that I've made for local Hospitals.



Next is a rather prim bunny made from calico that was from a pattern in a Handmade magazine. She has wool felt flowers appliqued onto her skirt. She is also supposed to hold a carrot and have stitching on her paws, but I had to forego these as she was needed for part of our Q.C.W.A. display at the local Agricultural Show. Our branch won the first prize for the clubs display section. I didn't get to the show myself, but hope to get hold of a photo of the display. If I do, I'll post it here, as there are some very talented ladies in our Q.C.W.A. branch.



This third pic is a last minute item I created that unbeknownst to me, was entered in the hand-appliqued section of the show. It actually won 2nd prize. I'd love to tell you who inspired me with a very similar mat, but I'm very sorry, I really can't remember whose blog I saw it on. I'm sure they'll know if they see it here.
This mat was made from hand-dyed wool felt. I used my Ozecraft dyes that I use to dye my silk ribbon and some parisian essence for the brown bunnies. All the dyes, I made sure were colourfast.

A VISIT TO THE JAPANESE GARDENS
A couple of weekends ago, my daughter Katrina and I spent a lovely day together, although the weather was a little overcast and drizzly.
We spent most of the morning at some of the various beautiful craft spots at Highfields, just a little North of Toowoomba.
We started at The Danish Flower Art Complex, which would have to have one of the best and most varied supplies of beads and jewellery findings available. Next we stopped at The Chocolate Cottage and then The Quilters Angel at The Village Green Highfields, went across the Highway to Jacaranda Manor where we visited Gottabee Country and completed our day at The USQ (University of Southern Queensland) Japanese Gardens. It was my first visit to these beautiful gardens and we had taken some lunch with us. We were able to have a relaxing time watching the birdlife (ducks and ibis), fish and turtles swimming in the huge lakes, before walking around to admire the spectacular plantings in the gardens. I took quite a few photos, also managing to capture a few of the hundreds of flying foxes that hang from some of the taller trees on the perimeter. I can imagine the Gardens to be a wonderful, calm place to study for the students on campus. I'm looking forward to visiting again, maybe in Springtime.

A NEW YEAR - A NEW BEGINNING



A Happy New Year to everyone.
Above is a pic taken yesterday of my 7 week old Great Great Niece, Ameleah Paige. She brought some joy to our Family after the passing of my Brother in Law to prostate cancer late last year. My niece, Ameleah's Grandmother, has just been diagnosed with breast cancer, so I'm really hoping and praying she recovers after treatment.