Yell-o!!

I'm in a Rainbow Swap on Ravelry which I have mentioned before. We are all systems go for YELLOW at the moment. I thought I would put a few pics of some of the yellow in our house. Oh, and depending who is answering the phone, it might just be someone saying "Yell-o!" And don't forget a yellow ribbon is a sign of support for the bushfire victims/fighters and recovery!

Busy hands...

Kerry was working on her handstitching now that the baby quilt is ready for her to do the quilting.

And Pam is finishing off the applique bows on her quilt.

Now, those who know one of our lovely hostesses, Leonie, know that photos of her sitting sewing are as rare as hen's teeth. However, she was doing the ironing in preparation for the Quilt Expo next weekend in Melbourne.

Patchwork 20 Feb 09

With the fires contained and the smoke lifted, our town seems to be coming alive again. Thank God and the CFA, SES, Police, Red Cross, DSE and Helpers that we have a town to come alive. Our hearts are heavy for those who lost family, friends, homes, pets, stock, treasures, identities, businesses and livelihoods, things from their past and their present, their town that was the centre of their community. Our thoughts and prayers go with them. We will support them as much as possible.

We have had to try and get back to normal ourselves, although the spotter plane still patrols and fire fighting vehicles are still around town. But friends are meeting at the coffee shops, and the tension has eased. Cars fill the streets again, and some tourists are venturing around.

It was back to the needles and thread at the Patchwork Group on Friday.

Kerry has all but finished her baby quilt for the new arrival in her family. It is in lovely soft pinks and neutrals.

With a beautiful sweet surprise at the top.

Anne was beautifully embroidering grub roses onto a handtowel.

Spinning Group 16 Feb photo group 2

Chris was spinning.

Kathy was plying beautifully.

As a surprise for myself at Christmas, I ordered some Baby Cakes from Loop in the USA via the internet. They are spinning up as very interesting yarn. Not what you would choose for a jumper maybe, but very interesting for small, funky items! And after all these years spinning, it is good to have to spin the lumps in as well!

Spinning Group 16 Feb photo group 1

Fran has embroidered some gorgeous handtowels for the school fete.

Maree has been busy crocheting pink squares to make a 'breast cancer support' blanket

Pam is stitching on her quilt

Maree also crocheted a charity scarf.

i-i-i-cords

Every month we have a 'something different' day, and this month it was practising our i-cords.
A refresher for some, and a new skill for others.

Orange tease revealed...

I posted some weeks back about the gorgeous orange swap I received from my partner on Ravelry. At the time I couldn't show my swap as my partner hadn't received it, but now I should post my photos as my lovely partner Lea from ACT received it and was very appreciative. I hoped I had sent things which suited her and she said they did.
Firstly, however, I apologise for the extremely poor quality of the photos. We had our first of the incredibly hot days that day and a severe storm which created the weirdest light, and I'm afraid the photos looked fine on the camera screen............

These were the goodies before they went in the parcel. Knitted project bag, little zippered felt purse, skein of my handspun, a ball of Maree's handspun, bag of dyed fibre to spin, jellybellies, choccies, scissors, notebook, pen and highlighter, vintage buttons and some little balls from ACS Mill.

This pattern is the Himalaya Tote Bag from a Knits Magazine. It has mitred corners, with gusset and i-cord handles, knitted from NZ wool and lined with fabric from Leonie's stash.

And here were the goodies wrapped and ready to send off.

Blue for birthday

I have been spinning some blue yarn for a birthday swap gift, and I'm very pleased with it. The fibre came from First Edition at Euroa and was divine as usual, very soft merino.
I wound it into a ball and it didn't fit properly in the box I was sending, so had to skein it again!

Is there really anywhere cool?

Heat.............not something we are good at here in the mountains. We are good at cold. Very good. We are experts at frost at Silver Creek, in fact it is generally agreed that the name came from that very thing, silvery frost.....covering the area near the creek. So our plants have to be resistant to extreme frosts, and our animals have to adapt to frost on the ground all day in winter.
But my previous post told you how hot it has been. Would you like to be wearing a big fur coat? And is there really anywhere cool when the temperature is so high? We don't have airconditioning, we've always managed for the couple of really, really hot days without it by cooling down in the pool. The pool can then double as water supply for fire fighting. Poor Tiger wears a fur coat and had to seek out the coolest place.


The ensuite bathroom is on the southern side of the house and is the coldest room in winter (not ideal for an early morning shower at 0°C!!) so makes sense that it would be coolest in the heat too. And obviously if you squash in between the cool porcelain and the cool tiles you are about as good as you are going to get. Tiger was here everyday. Except for the afternoon he thought about going for a swim in the pool and climbed through the fence, but decided against it after I dampened his fur for him.

And in case you doubted the temperature, here is the thermometer in our usually cool office!

Furry model of the swap gift

Maree has the swapping bug, and bags of goodies keep turning up at her place.
Tiger joined us and agreed to model this pretty row counter bracelet from a swap, but only if he got to sit on someone's lap! As all the spinning group ladies are terrified of his 'let me sit on your lap or I'll bite you attitude', it's usually my lap he ends up sitting on.

And here are all the lovely goodies that came from the US.

Meanwhile the bobbins were getting fuller,

almost too full...

Spinning back again in 09

Our spinning group always has a break over Christmas and starts back in February after the kids have gone back to school. Some of us used to have kids at home during the holidays, but now 23 years down the track most of us have grandkids visiting during the holidays, but I have a uni student who comes home and helps out on the farm when we are desperate.

We started for 2009 on 2nd February, and it was obvious from the wheels who attended that a lot of spinning had been going on during the break!

This was Fran's bobbin,

and Maree's bobbin (which was actually quite dark red)

and Beth's bobbin (a baby cake from Loop on etsy)

And Beth's bobbin plied with some dyed merino sample from Moseley Park.

Cockies

We have a flock of cockatoos that roost in the trees at the rear of our property, around the creek. Each evening they fly in squawking at dusk (sorry not a good time for photos) and this particular day while we were having bbq dinner outside in the heat, they sat in some very interesting places. This row of pine trees is behind the neighbour's place.

Then they come to our ponds to have a drink and squawk and talk and head off to the tops of the trees to roost. There would be more than 50, and the morning is greeted by them in full voice. Luckily I have learned to sleep through their early morning wake up call.

I took this photo on 12th Feb, fire danger subsided, but still smokey from the fires.