Sunday 31 March 2013

:: 52 weeks of happy, 13/52 ::

Here are four happy moments of many this week.

1.  Finish crocheting this little cardigan for my grand nephew.


2.  Making origami boxes for Easter treats.


3.  Starting this crochet blanket in bright colours for my grand nephew.
 
 

 4.  Grateful for good health and medical tests that are clear.


Wishing every one many happy moments this week and a wonderful Easter.

Anne  xx


Tuesday 26 March 2013

Baby crochet

There is a new baby in the family, a great nephew on hubby's side.  This is my opportunity to try crocheting some baby things and I've started on this little cardigan.



This free pattern comes from debscrafts55.blogspot.com and can be found here.  I'm using a 5mm hook and Moda Vera Yarn, Marvel Soft 8ply in a gorgeous blue.  I'm so excited to be crocheting something for a baby and to learn new crochet skills. 
 
 Also in the pipeline is a striped blanket/throw, some little socks and a hat.  The new baby is petite so the little cardigan can be something he can grow into.
 
Anne  xx

Sunday 24 March 2013

Rock garden

Today I finished the rock garden which I posted about starting here.  Improvements to this garden didn't cost a thing.  The rocks were left over from another project and all the plants were either propagated, transplanted or found in other parts of the garden where they had self sewn.  I had great satisfaction completing this project as the site before was very sloped and water run off was a problem.  The soil is heavy clay and in winter little sunshine reaches this spot.  I suspect some of the plants won't do as well as others so there is more than a little experimentation going on here.





The new plants in this garden are Tanacetum Parthenium (Feverfew), Rose Campion, Digitalas (Foxglove), Plectranthus argentatus, Cuphea (Rob's Mauve), Salvia, Stachys Byazantina (Lambs Ear) and succulents.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this garden evolves come Spring/Summer.

Have a fabulous week everyone,

Anne  xx

Saturday 23 March 2013

:: 52 weeks of happy, 12/52 ::

Here are four of many happy moments this week.

1.  Creating a little terraced rock garden on a sloping site in the garden, hopefully to improve water run off.


2.  Receiving notification from the library that the next two books in this series were ready for me to pick up.


 3.  Op shopping for scarves for my next controversial sewing project.  :)


4.  Grateful for lamps and candles when the power goes off for over 12 hours.  Happy that for one evening there was no computer of t.v. on.  It was so beautifully quiet and peaceful.

The little lamp on the far left with the red glass chimney I've had since I was a young teen.  So glad I kept it.


Wishing you all many happy moments this week.

Anne  xx

Following with Bloglovin

Hello again.  I've spent a rather sleepless night thinking about the problems associated with this mess with Google Friend Connect and it's demise.  I went into a bit of a panic last night and very hastily signed on with Linky Follower.  I'll leave it on my side bar until such time as I can remove it.

So after doing some more research I've decided to go with Bloglovin and the icon is now just under my profile information.  It seems quite a few people are using them and this may make it easier.  I've transferred all my google readers over to Bloglovin and I shall be following you all as usual.  What a relief.

So sorry about all this messing around and I appreciate your tolerance of someone who is so ignorant.

A nice Happy Moments post is going to follow, much more interesting.

Anne  xx

The demise of Google Friend Connect

I am not happy about the demise of Google Friend Connect which seems to me to be a very easy way to follow other blogs and have other bloggers follow me.  However as it is disappearing at the end of the month I am trying to change to another system so my wonderful followers can do just that, follow me.

I'm not savvy when it comes to these sorts of things and have decided to give Linky Followers a trial run and I would appreciate very much if you wish to continue following my blog to click on the Linky badge on the right hand side of my blog page just under my profile.  If you have any trouble at all, please email me and I will try and work something else out.

As far as I'm concerned, this is just a big mess.  I looked into Google plus etc. and from what I could see, it was going to affect things in my Picassa account I wanted left alone, it was also going to do other things I did not want to be a part of.  

If I am currently following anyone on Google Friend Connect and you have changed the way I can follow you after March and I've managed to miss your post, please let me know.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Anne  xx

Wednesday 20 March 2013

In response to the anonymous commenter on my previous post

"Anonymous said...

    Yes, except you will find that there ARE rules about making that kind of thing too! Everything still needs to fit together, colours work, stitches look effortlessly disevelled etc. A great deal of work goes into getting that look believe me." 



I do wish anonymous commenters would leave their names, it's the polite thing to do.

Considering I've just made a lace curtain for my daughter made from scraps of lace, sheer fabrics, doilies, deconstructed garments etc., I do actually understand that it is a difficult process.  Did you read my previous post and my explaining the difficulties I encountered?  If you had then you would realise I'm not naive when it comes to constructing such an item.  Rather I was talking about the creative process, not having to follow a pattern, cut out little pieces of fabric etc.  The post was about me (this is MY blog after all) and how I'm emerging as a person, a creative person, enjoying the process of letting go of self imposed constraints.  In regard to colours working together, I believe that may be in the eye of the creative beholder.  Often what you see in the bohemian style of doing things, colours seem to clash, that's the beauty to me, seemingly no rules.

Don't get me wrong, I love the quilts I see in blogland, admire the patience, skill and passion so many ladies have for this beautiful craft.  Years ago I actually hand pieced a quilt and have yet to finish hand quilting it.  Perhaps I'm intimidated by the process, (a confidence thing) it seems like such a huge task in my head.  

That being said I'm leaving you all with another bohemian image I adore (except for the poor animal whose head is on the wall, yuck) and I don't think there is a is curtain in sight.

 
Image from Pinterest

Have a fabulous day everyone.

Anne  xx

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Bohemian girl

Isn't it interesting how some us don't come into our own until we are on the mature side.  For me that is the other side of 50.  I was so encouraged by all your lovely comments on my special project reveal that I'm going to start sewing for fun, the way I feel like sewing and not how I think I should.

I love patchwork quilts but I dislike having to be constrained to a particular way of doing things.  All those little pieces that have to fit together and all that cutting out.  Of course it does make for easier sewing in one respect because everything fits together as it should.  So I'm thinking perhaps a little 'free form' sewing might suit me better.

Colour, patterns, mix and match do something for me and have a whole board on Pinterest titled Bohemian with a wonderful jumble of images that appeal to me.  I'm finding the perfectionist side of me, the one that has controlled me, the one that I've had a love hate relationship with all these years is slowly slipping away and it's liberating.

So what is the point of all this chatter? Being true to yourself/myself.  To know that when I look at something and get a shiver of excitement that it's real for me, authentic if you will.  Oh dear, I'm getting a little airy fairy here, but I trust you understand what I mean.  So I'm going to share some images with you that speak to me.  Believe it or not, more curtains but totally different to the one I made for Genevieve.

Image, found on Pinterest

Google images
Image, dishfunctionaldesign.blogspot.com
Image, Vintage Vixen
Image, zonademanualidades.blogspot.com
Image, beachvintage.blogspot.com

Image, zonademanualidades.blogspot.com


Image, ameezing.wordpress.com
You see I've found that I'm really a Bohemian girl at heart.  Not too many rules and regulations about how something is supposed to look.  Aubrey from the blog Rambling With Me  expresses it perfectly.  "You must be very happy. Making something from your heart is real creativity. There is not another curtain in the world that is exactly the same! That is creativity !!"   So the next time I go on an op shop trawl I'll be looking for scarfs for my next curtain.

If you've got to the end of this very long rambling post, congratulations and thank you for taking the time to do so.

Anne  xx

Monday 18 March 2013

Special project reveal

I'm one of those people who is addicted loves browsing on Pinterest.  Some time ago Genevieve was looking over my shoulder and saw the image below and fell in love with it.  I fell in love with it just a little bit too.

Image dottieangel.blogspot.com
Genevieve has her room decorated with French elements, lots of white and old worldy type things. After viewing a few more of these gorgeous images below, I started to hatch a plan which has been brewing for a couple of months.

Image from Pinterest

Image from Pinterest

Image from Pinterest
Today I finished my version of a lace patchwork curtain for Genevieve's room.  I used calico for the header (already on hand), off cuts of sheer fabrics, (op shop), lace hankerchiefs to fine to be of any practical use (inherited from mother-in-law and grandparents), cotton and lace doilies (op shop), lace fabric from a tri-pillow slip, deconstructed (op shop), assorted blouses made from sheer fabric, cheesecloth and lace, deconstructed (op shop) and old lace (inherited from grandparent).  Total cost of supplies about $25.00 including the curtain rail, curtain ends, calico fabric from my stash and cotton sewing thread.






 


I encountered a number of problems when making the curtain.  The most difficult was dealing with the different weights of fabric and lace used.  It made for rather uneven sewing and of course I'm lazy and cut most of the fabrics free hand so of course they weren't particularly straight.  The beauty in my opinion with a project like this is it doesn't have to be perfect. In fact a little shabbiness adds to the character.  I hope.  :)  Anyway overall I'm very happy with how it turned out and the most important thing is Genevieve loves it.  She came home from uni this afternoon, went to her room and came out with a big smile and her face and said thank you.  That is reward enough for me and the satisfaction that I have actually finished a project in about a week and a half instead of it turning into an eternal W.I.P. or U.F.O.

Thank you for taking an interest and trying to guess what I was making.  Cherrie from the blog Willy Wagtail was closest to guessing what I was making and where my inspiration came from.  Go Cherrie!! 

I have another project for Genevieve's room in mind which I might start next week.  I'm on a roll.

Anne  xx

Sunday 17 March 2013

:: 52 weeks of happy, 11/52 ::

Here are four of many happy moments from this week.  No. 1 is by far the happiest moments I've had during the week.

1.  Talking to my Dad on the phone while he is in hospital and despite the fact that he is feeling miserable, we've had lovely chats and I've made him laugh.  Love you Dad!!  And talking to you too Mum!

2.  Working with hubby outside and bundling up our garden waste to be taken away by the council green waste collection.  The front garden is looking so much better now.



3.  Admiring the drystone wall along the driveway hubby has just finished making.  The second photo shows how he made it blend in with the wall that was already there.






4.  Discovering a new author and knowing I have another 24 books in the series to read.  Although this book was first published in 1985 and a little dated when it comes to things like technology, the storyline is excellent, a very good read.


5.  Yes an extra happy moment, we had 18ml of rain overnight.  The garden is happy and so am I.



Hello and welcome to my two new followers.

Anne xx










Friday 15 March 2013

Sneeky peak

It's nearly finished.




Have a lovely weekend everyone,

Anne  xx

Sunday 10 March 2013

:: 52 weeks of happy, 10/52 ::

Here are four of my happy moments this week.

1.  Going op shopping on a stinking hot afternoon for fabrics for a special project.  A combination of off-cuts, garments and doilies were found.  The next day they were cut to size and washed, all ready to start sewing.  Project underway.


2.  Admiring the gorgeous colour of the last of these summer Petunias.



3.  Happy that this Fuchsia which has been transplanted five times over the years is still surviving and going to flower.  The most recent transplant was last week. 



4.  No photo for this one.  Full of admiration and respect for daughter No. 2 who has/had the maturity and wisdom to handle a potentially difficult situation with dignity and grace. 


Wishing you many happy moments this week.

Anne  xx

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Surpise visitor in the neighbourhood

Late this afternoon while I was watering the garden Sophie started barking and wouldn't stop.  She is not a dog that barks a lot so there is usually something unusual going on.  As I was down the side of the house and she was in the back yard I couldn't see what she was barking at so I came around to investigate.  She was standing next to the fence bordering our neighbour's backyard and this is what the source of excitement was all about.
An echidna.


 
In this photo he was feeling very shy and had ducked his head under to hide.

Side view of his body.
Coming up for another look to see if I'm still there.
  He was so cute.  Every time I moved a little or a leaf would make a noise he would hide his head again.  I probably spent about 30 minutes in my hands and knees to take these photos and some film.  I took about six short films but this is the best one.  Enjoy.




Anne  xx

Monday 4 March 2013

Sunday

Hubby and I decided that we would have a day out on Sunday to visit a photographic exhibition and a vineyard with a display of sculptures.  Both places we were visiting were on the Mornington Peninsula which is one of my favourite places to visit and relatively close to home.

Our first stop was the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery to see '49 Sheds', an exhibition of 49 photos of sheds from across rural Australia by Monash University lecturer and architect Ross Brewin.

 
  You can see an example of his work by going to this link.  Click on 49 sheds and scroll down to the bottom of the page.  We were interested to learn that in June/July this year, the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery will be hosting the touring Archibald Prize for 2013 and 2014.  The Art Gallery of NSW chose them to be the sole Victorian host so we might head back down again then.   Information about the Archibald Prize can be found here.

Adjacent to the gallery is the Mornington Peninsula Botanical Rose garden planted with 5000 roses in a 1.6 hectare area of the Civic Reserve.  We had a wander around and enjoyed a sea of colour.


 
 It was quite difficult to get good photos as the garden is plonked right in the middle of a very busy urban area with ugly shops in the background and very little beauty elsewhere to use as a nice backdrop.  I did get this photo of a sculpture set in the garden which I thought was quite nice although it belies the fact that a very busy road runs right in front of those houses.


 Making our visit that much more enjoyable was we were able to visit another gallery adjacent to the rose garden.  The Oak Hill Gallery is a community arts co-operative, displaying works from local artists.  The gardens surrounding this little gallery set in an old house were very interesting, more dry climate foliage was growing and seemed to suit the area more than the roses.  I quite liked this display below, the play of the grey foliage against the colourful recycled bricks was aesthetically very pleasing to me.


I liked this sculpture too.  Very simple but somehow more sympathetic to the environment than the one in the rose garden.  The Oak Hill Gallery was in the house you can see in the background.





Inside the gallery itself was a nice variety of artwork from oils, acrylics, sketches etc.  The best display of work in my opinion was a series of nudes by local artist John Trebilco.  I had his permission to take the following photos of his work.  The interesting thing about these painting is they had been stored away for about 30 years, the work having been done when John was at Monash University.  The technique used for this artwork was to cover the canvas in linseed oil and then do a quick 5 minute painting by adding colour.  If I could do a painting like any of these in 5 minutes I would be very happy.

 
During storage a sheet of paper was placed between each painting and when they were rediscovered in the artists shed, he had the mirror image of the painting on the paper and then chose to hang the paintings with their mirror images.   I love the colours in these paintings.  The following two paintings were my favourites.



This portrait is rather lovely too and the photos gives you an idea of the mirror imaging.


I had intended to include photos of the sculpture at the vineyard but as this has turned into a longer post than I thought, I'll save those for another post.

Anne  xx