April Days

 

Easter came and went with grown and flown children coming and going. It's always so good to see each one, no matter how short the visit may be. On Good Friday evening our church hosted a screening of 'Risen' (and Prince of Egypt for the younger children). Many strings of popcorn were made (while baking hot cross buns was underway) to hang over the popcorn and lollie bar. Jess and Jose made it 'home' in time to join us of the movie night.

Easter Saturday we had a family picnic at a riverside park on the edge of town. The weather was perfect and we had the park entirely to ourselves - apart from a very playful resident German Shepherd dog who chased the frisbees until he was exhausted.

My shoulder has been gradually healing from the dislocation three weeks ago and much to my relief I have discovered I can manage some gentle hand sewing. Two more blocks for my Ice Cream Soda quilt are now complete and I've returned to the shabby chic classic hexagon quilt I began over a year ago. Having the fabrics already chosen and many cut into hexagons made this a possible task while mostly resting my right arm in a sling.

I am discovering how useful my phone camera is as using my 'real' cameras poses serious safety issues to the shoulder for now. Most the photos above were taken with my iPhone 5S, with some editing - including the kangaroos in our church grounds.

We celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary in April. Our daughters surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers to celebrate the occasion - they know......

As the autumn weather is now pleasantly warm and not hot, Miss O has regained her enthusiasm for gardening. As I type this the younger three girls are preparing the ground for planting. We've enjoyed time this morning examining and sketching various seeds and seed pods which will soon be planted in the soil. The poppy seed heads were saved from last year's plantings. I love the details made more visible with my phone camera. I think I'll head downstairs and see how they are going.  :)

Golden

15 years ago this month we moved into our home and not once have we seen a golden spider lily flower in the backyard. Yes, we have a few of these lilies in the front yard but it was a wonderful surprise to see this one flower below the frangipani by the back steps.

Other golden spots this week - watching and listening to the birds, including this little honeyeater; kangaroos seeking shade at church; enjoying several different butterflies including Blue Triangle and Oleander; noticing colours and textures on a nearby pecan nut tree.
Just yesterday I opened an account on Instagram  - so quick and easy to use and a fun way to keep up with many others and happenings. So much yet to explore.

Each Day is Precious

Just another Sunday at church - wild kangaroos who 'own' the grounds, and a young poinciana tree beginning to provide shade for cars to park under. Inside our humble concrete brick church Gracie, on guitar, Miss N, playing cajon 'drum', and Miss E on keyboard are practicing as part of the music team before church begins - (Master T preparing projector and sound).

'Just another Sunday' with quick snaps from my phone - except that it became the last Sunday for one of our church family, a single mum with two young children who inexplicably died Monday night, the same night a fatal hostage siege in Sydney saddened our country (in a Lindt cafe our twins have been to). 

 Each day is precious.....

Hobbs Heirloom Organic Cotton batting -
with scrim on the left, without scrim on the right.
(Both are the same colour,
there is just more shadow on the left.)

On the sewing front, I have completed a quilt top and back using my Wildwood organic fabrics, mixed with several other Cloud 9 organic fabrics.  I have sourced a second organic cotton batting which is 100% organic cotton with no scrim  - it looks and feels softer and smoother than the organic batting with scrim, even though both are produced by Hobbs. The batting without scrim requires closer quilting to keep it stable and is also more suitable for hand quilting. As with many cotton battings, both have flecks of plant matter through them.

Yesterday I carefully pre-washed and dried the 100% organic cotton batting following the instructions on the plastic wrapper. It is now even softer and wrinkle free. I'm looking forward to basting the quilt, hopefully tomorrow.

Finishing off with photos of Miss E junior. Yesterday her oldest brother, Master J, took her shopping to buy her own fishing rod, which of course she then had to try out! She caught a good size Garfish at the local jetty and was delighted. The fish was safely released back into the river.

Take care, and treasure the people in your life each day.


Sharing at WIP Wednesday.

A Windswept Calm

From church this morning, a few kangaroos dotting the grassy flat

Calm people don't let negative thoughts control their lives. 

They look at failure as a learning opportunity, and personal growth as a daily event. 

As a result, they improve in some way every single day.  

Daniel Wallen

Just as today's brisk autumn winds are making music in the sky, so this season as a family is somewhat windswept. Peace will come in due course. In the midst of this there is definitely opportunity for personal growth every single day - and to appreciate the beauty which only the wind can make.

Three Facts

Our pastor shared these facts today and challenged us to think of reasonable explanations.....

Historical Fact 1:  Jesus lived, and died by Roman crucifixion.

Historical Fact 2:  The tomb was empty.

Historical Fact 3:  Jesus later appeared to over 500 disciples.

Easter memories 2014:

Miss E and Master J's uni/college mid semester breaks overlap for this Easter weekend only. So lovely to have them both home, the family all together again, very briefly.

Our church's Blue Cross on the Hill has been a red cross on the hill for the last week. Today the lights were changed back to blue.

My Musical Stairs quilt top is now basted in preparation for quilting the layers together.

My husband has started a new course of action to bring an end to his skin problems of the last 24 years. The downside is he will become worse before he becomes better and it could be a very long process, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

Miss E made delicious hot cross buns with cranberries and sultanas, baking them early this morning prior to church.



Sharing at SkyWatch Friday.

Palette Builder

Yesterday I discovered another new "toy"! A Palette Builder which creates swatches matched to the Kona Cotton fabric range! Brilliant for those interested in quilting or any sewing. 

You can find it here at Play Crafts, where you can use it online or choose to save your palettes to computer for further use. You can move the little circles around to hone in on the colours you are most interested in highlighting.

I've had such fun this afternoon with a little cross stitch, something which was once my go-to craft but which I haven't touched for years. Last weekend I drew up a design and chose colours from my extensive cottons collection. It feels so good to do a little stitching again.

We've had some very welcome autumn showers over the last few days. I had fun snapping a wet camellia flower using Waterlogue and couldn't resist creating a colour palette to match.

Early last Sunday we had an unusually thick mist/fog. This view of our church yard reminds me of scenes from far away countries.

Hoping this coming weekend entails a little fun in whatever your chosen activities may be!


Sharing at Friday Finds, Macro Monday, Do you Heart Kona.

Dragons, Slogs and Bathas

The Blue Cross is in our churchyard only just visible on a distant hill

Do you think there could be an island no one has ever found which has lots and lots of dragons? I think it's possible - or maybe another planet far away with dragons living on it. What do you think?

I just saw another Slog. Did you know sometimes slogs ride surfboards? They're Sea amphibians, they can breathe water and air.

Have you seen a Batha? Bathas are a bit like slogs but they like to go to baths in people's houses. They're Sea amphibians too.

Do you think there are any Great White sharks in the river? People have caught Bull sharks in the river haven't they (yes this is true).


And so the chatter went, from start to finish on our evening walk, just Miss E (almost 6) and myself. I love Miss E's company and her vivid imagination. All I need to supply is a listening ear, a hand to hold and an open heart.