Sweet Success

We all enjoyed the twins' 16th birthday this week with no lessons but lots of fun for the day. The twins started the day by baking yummy buttery croissants (starting from scratch the day before) for everyone. There was time in the pool to try out some gifts and Granny (mil) came for lunch to enjoy the celebrations too.

The twins chose to make a birthday ice cream cake, made with three different types of purchased ice cream. I love the way they decorated it and we all enjoyed eating it!

Miss G and Miss N's birthday always falls close to Thanksgiving, a holiday which isn't generally celebrated in Australia, yet I think it very fitting and am ever so grateful for our family. Or twins are definitely a double blessing - and to think we nearly called at family "complete" at two children - but that's another story.

Two of our younger children spotted this dragonfly on our back deck during the week, I'd not seen one like it before.

Mid week I finally completed a quilt top, you can find more about it here.

Miss E's water skills and confidence are improving in leaps and bounds, so much so that it tires her out.

It's been a good week, all the more so as we've seen some signs of improvement in my husband's eczema. He may even be well enough to return to work sometime next week. Many thanks to all those who have prayed for him, and all of us, during this difficult time.

Tula Trees

 It was love at first sight! Months before Tula Pink's Acacia fabric range was released I set my heart on buying some. 

Soon after it arrived I starting working on my ideas, only to pack everything away again and wait for a sizeable amount of white fabric to arrive.

Yes, happy with the borders of diamonds for it's too plain and narrow without them - but those trees do need trunks.

The colours have a lovely glow when viewed from behind. For a quilt like this I usually sew with seams slightly wider than a quarter inch as it feels more secure to me.

Yep, happy with this one and I love the name "Tula Trees" too. It's not a Christmas quilt yet has a festive air about it. I have one tree left to use on the back, when time permits. 


Sharing at WIP Wednesday.

Pretty Prickles

All cacti are succulents but only a few succulents are cacti. Succulents are so called because they have thick, fleshy water-storing leaves, stems or both. Ok, definitions aside, I'm loving these succulents which now grace our back deck. You may remember my interest in succulents beginning three months ago with my handsome Black Prince which is thriving as you can see above, behind the new-comers.

The assortment in the large bowl-shaped container are succulent trimmings which my mother brought from her extensive collection when she visited for my birthday earlier this month. I had fun potting them up and love the variety of shapes, colours and textures.

The most colourful one at the moment is Miss V's cactus which she bought at the markets three weeks ago. My previous post featured its flower without the spines visible and Silvina correctly noted it was a cactus, just like one she has at her home far across the ocean.

Miss V's cactus was a promise of flowers late Tuesday afternoon (above) and they all opened Wednesday morning! Each evening they close up again only to reopen the following day, continuing to delight us for several days.

Back in August I plucked off and planted some of my Black Prince's lower leaves (after leaving to dry out for a few days). I'm excited to report that some baby princes are growing! I'm looking forward to repotting these when I buy some free draining succulent potting mix.

Low maintenance, hardy and pretty as well. They seem just right for our outside table and gladden my heart each time I see at them. I'm guessing my collection will continue to grow.....

Glimpses

Glimpses of today (above), more details soon.

Monday's walk across the bridge revealed a dredger at work. After last week's rain the smokey haze has gone and everything is turning green again.

A box of Vistaprint goodies arrived on Monday, I've not ordered from Vistaprint before. Their prices/specials were excellent and the products are mostly pleasing.

Someone's always baking yet it seems to disappear just as quickly too.

Hubby's off work, again, for a couple of weeks this time, maybe longer, as he continues to struggle greatly with his total body chronic eczema. Life gives many opportunities for character building, some of which we wouldn't choose.


Sharing at Wednesday WIP, Weekend Rewind, Little Things Thursday, Stills: A Weekly Collection.

Sometimes....

Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed.

                            

                                       Mary Oliver

Randomly

One of the things I most value about blogging is how it can serve as a journal of our days and weeks. Sometimes I include photos or a whole post, not because they are particularly inspirational nor technically correct, but because it acts as a record. Each of us has a life which is unique and valuable and worth recording in some way - and not just the big events, but the unposed, everyday happenings.

Here's a little of our past week, the seemingly insignificant things which make our life what it is-
Waiting for Miss O and Miss V's cricket game to begin.
A White Faced Heron hunting in our backyard.
Poppy seedheads - almost as beautiful as the flowers.
Miss E's Super Heroes lego set arrived after a two week wait, she's loves her Super Heroes!
A pair of Spotted Turtle Doves are nesting on top of our solar inverter, I guess it's always warm.
A friend came bearing a belated birthday gift, apologising that she had missed my "big" birthday.
An Australian Wood Duck family on our kerbside this morning.
One of this afternoon's spring thunderstorms. Master J's school was damaged in one earlier this week.

How do you keep a record of your little everyday happenings?



Sharing at A Piece of Heaven, Weekly Top Shot, SkyWatch Friday.