Rest time

Our beautiful youngest daughter has been killed in a road accident.

At just 38 and with so much more to offer the world, she is gone.

The core has been torn from my being.

I will never hear her laugh, see her wonderful smile again.

I haven't had the heart to blog and so am taking a rest.

Thank you to all those who have visited me; it has been exciting hearing from people on the other side of the world as well as here in Oz.

I wish you all well.

My one parting piece of advice, and you already know what I'm going to say:

Treasure every moment you have with your precious loved ones. Make good memories to keep with you always.

Bye for now.

Another new experience

The electric water heater that supplies all of our hot water needs has packed it in, and this morning, with the temperature at 5 degrees Celsius I discovered that I was faced with the prospect of either a cold shower, or none at all. With the grass outside covered in a crisp, crunchy frost, neither option appealed to me but I had a meeting to attend so something had to be done. These old buckets, normally used in my garden, came to my rescue and, filled with hot water from our electric kettle in the kitchen, they provided a primitive but satisfying means of taking a shower. With the use of a plastic cup to scoop the water over my head I found the whole process far less traumatic than might be imagined and the surprise was that I only needed a little over one 9 litre bucket full of water.

This brings me to some thought provoking reflections: In many countries in the world, my shower this morning would be pure luxury - hot, clean water that was more than enough for my needs. How blessed am I? I jump into my shower every morning and turn on the hot water without a thought, taking my blessings for granted. I think I will be a little more thankful in future.

May you have all your needs supplied and a little to spare.

Bye for now until next time.

A new experience

Hamish is cold. He lives in our Victorian Alpine region where it gets jolly cold and his owner asked me if I would knit a coat for him. I've never knitted a coat for a dog. Clearly I have missed the mark as this one is much too tight. Doesn't he look embarrassed, poor love? I can hear him saying, "I do feel such a fool, must you take my photo?" Sorry Hamish but I needed to get some idea of where I went wrong with this coat so I can start again on something more suited to your marvelous physic
This coat will not go to waste as it will fit one of Hamish's smaller golden retriever companions who are also in line for a knitted coat. I think I'll be busy for a while.
I have some lovely Bendigo Mills machine washable wool in a shade called Cranberry. Just the thing eh Hamish?
Back to the needles.
I hope all those out there in blogging land are keeping warm. It's really nippy here these days.
Bye for now until next time.

PS. Amendment! I have finally managed to add the pics of Hamish that I struggled with when I first wrote this blog. It seems that Google's new system will only work on my lap top which runs Windows 7 rather than the desktop which runs XP. Very irritating. After clicking about all over the place I finally found the old form. Aaah. Like a comfy of pair of slippers.
Google I really don't like your new look.

Slow Progress

Moving on with the blankets that I am enlarging for my friend. It doesn't do to hold your breath while you wait for me to get through a project as I work very slowly due to my arthritic thumbs. At this point I could probably issue all sorts of dire warnings to crafters about overusing their hands but if you're anything like me you won't listen. Sitting with idle hands, for me is not an option; I get really fidgety and if I'm watching television I just fall asleep. I've thought of other crafts that I could do that might be less punishing to my poor old hands but I don't find them as satisfying as knitting and crochet. I learned both these crafts when I was 6 and 10 respectively and I have never tired of doing them. It's that Capricorn practicality, I just have this urge to make something that's useful and needed. So now I'm learning to slow down and not overdo the work I love. It took the message a while to get through, didn't it?
Anyway here is my latest effort. The colours are prettier than the photo shows and I'm quite pleased with it. That dark blue is actually mauve. Only another 5 to go but I think I'll take up some knitting for a few weeks as a friend has given me enough yarn to make a little cardigan for a toddler and I've found just the pattern for it.
I hope you're loving the things that you're creating.
Bye for now until next time.

Shared bounty.

One of my favourite trees in our garden is the fig tree which produces masses of lovely big juicy figs every year. As it is with most home-grown food, we are able to share the fruit among friends as well as put by enough to last us for about half the year. Well actually I am the one for whom they're being put by; the man of the house dislikes figs and has been known to make derogatory remarks about them. This means, of course, that the load that is half filling our freezer is mine, all mine. (cue maniacal laughter) I must be quick when picking the fruit however as the birds enjoy them too and the picture shows what I find if I'm tardy. Birds need to eat too and so I'm happy to share because I enjoy the birds in my garden.
For me netting is out as I once found a little deceased blackbird entangled in the netting. I love the song of the blackbirds and I was upset for days afterwards. I removed the netting and have never netted the tree since. There is plenty of fruit for me and my friends to share, including the feathered variety.
I hope the coming weekend will be a good one for you. Bye for now until next time.

One step further

Those little medallions that I showed you a couple of posts ago have grown to become the twenty squares that I need to enlarge the little blanket that I have been working on for a friend. All I have left to do now is to sew them together - not my favourite job but it means that soon I will have a nice knee cover. I decided to keep to the colours in the original blanket and I will alternate the squares as I sew them up.
I'm still beavering away at that stash pile. I'm sure there is at least another blanket's worth in there. Back to the hook for the next one.
Must go now; we are Pepper sitting again and he needs a walk. Our evenings are drawing in with Autumn and it's nicer to walk in the sunshine than the dark.
I hope you will all have a happy and blessed Easter.
Bye for now until next time.

A Special Moment.

I know I've shown you this little fellow before. He's a possum that I met when visiting an animal sanctuary in Queensland 2 years ago. He is a brush-tailed possum, one of our natives and although protected, his kind are very common in suburban Melbourne. Most people, especially garden lovers, call them pests and try to get rid of them. They do have a voracious appetite for most garden plants (especially roses) but I'm happy to share our patch of land with the little bloke that lives in our shed and last night I had the absolute joy of meeting him. Unfortunately the encounter was so brief there was no time for photos. And I don't know who was the more surprised. We have a large ash tree outside our backdoor and that's where I put the fruit scraps that I leave for the possum, in the mistaken belief that he will enjoy them instead of eating my garden plants. (He loves my geraniums as much as I do but for different reasons.) Anyway, there I was doing the fruit thing when I heard a faint rustle and a little face peeped round the trunk of the tree. We stared at each other for a few seconds before he turned and moved away and so did I. When the distance between us was to his liking he came back and started on his snack.
Some days something happens to leave a special memory, and this was my day.
I hope something nice has happened for you today. Bye for now till next time.