broderie

found . . . . . . . home and happy

well i have been missing, but now am found, i have been to beautiful hobart, tasmania again. so many people who live in melbourne think that going south to hobart requires you take a special wardrobe, as though you were visiting the south pole! well day after day we had a picture perfect day and warm sunshine, another beautiful southern tasmanian day.

i flew down on my dad's 100th birthday, he died at age 96, his last real flight was on his 90th birthday! but i took him with me and scattered his remains at twilight, at kingston beach, where he met and pursued my mother, they married in hobart and so our immeadiate family began its history there. it was a decision i made and am very happy with it, au revoir and bon voyage dad.

thanks to those who have sent me loving messages. a chapter of the book of life is now written and i am content.

there is always something new along the highway and roads i travel and these characters were dotted along, put there by the locals in awareness of rural health in tasmania. there were lots, here are a few!

this girl stands at the corner of the road where i wait for the school bus each morning and afternoon

there are lots more, but stopping to take a photo was not always possible.

this family of geese live on our road also, they were camera shy and took off into the lush grass that is growing everywhere at the moment because of all the beautiful rain that has fallen, and now with all the warmth and sunshine, the farmers are very happy and the bailing season is in full swing.

be back in a few days.
 
 

 
 
 

 

missing . . . on assignment

no pictures at the moment ........... just a few words and updating the calendar!!!!!

gathering new photos and stories!

life's circles

i have been cutting some more circles in red, blue and white/cream!!!!!

my other circles are nearly finished, the quilting that is, not long to go now!!!!!!!!!

i am doing the fussy cutting and choosing the fabrics of these and a friend is stitching them, to probably go on this bed, in the new house i showed you in the last post.

earlier this year i told you that my dad shared the same birth year as the famous tasmanian, errol flynn! well today my dad would have turned 100, being born in hobart on the 27th october, 1909. i picked these roses out of the garden just to remember the occasion and their old fashioned sweet smell reminded me of the gentle ways of a dear old man who died six years ago. he always said 'if i die', not 'when i die', but passed very peacefully at home in the end, he was content and ready! another of his regular comments, when he was old was, never to say goodbye, he thought that sounded too final, he preferred au revoir!

i will tell you later how i spent the day!

 

 
 
 
 

sew is not all some of us do

as a group of friends who sew freqently together, there has been one of us who has had another project! one we have all been hearing bits about and have watched grow from the plans and the dreams up. a bit like starting a new quilt or an embroidery or a new cross stitch, gather a folder of all the things you need, some of the things you want and get to work !

this is the house that 'jack' built!!!! her real name is not jack of course, but for her son and daughter in law and two special grandsons, this is a dream come true.

as a group we have seen all the purchasing of fabric and the stitching that has been going on, busy fingers at work! we had an excursion today to see some of it in place and also see how this family are settling into their new home. it is certainly a lovely, practical, easy and calm space to live. well done!!!!!!
 
 
 
 
 
 

a thoughtful day

today in melbourne it was a beautiful spring day, blue skies and pleasant warm sunshine.

i spent an hour or so just wandering in the garden, had my camera and took these shots to share with you.

the roses up the garden path are all flowering beautifully

and this patch of forget me knots and seaside daisies

in memory of my brother, richard ,who died ten years ago today.

it was a lovely day that you would have enjoyed
 

sea and sky

i omitted some of the gorgeous bits from the last post, you can't have it all at once! jan has worked these sea horses and they will be made up into a bag.

and anna has stitched these birds, showing just part of the panel, now a beautiful new cushion for her bedroom.

and today i have posted about this fabric, and here.

and why not become a google friend, i would like more friends, some people have so many, i have lots of friends!!! but i want more 'google friends'. so many of you just look all the time, if you like me become my friend!
 
   
 
 

oh it's gorgeous!!!!

i have a friend, whose husband often says ' listen to you both', everything is 'gorgeous'!!!!! well i know that it is often an over used word, but i think that what i am going to show you in pictures, lives up to the expression! see how many of you can agree and send a 'gorgeous' comment.

 gorgeous spring flowers, love them.

marion's gorgeous chook!

 

if your name starts with 's' and you're having a 50th birthday soon, then you could be receiving one of these! i love linen teatowels, then they became these gorgeous monogrammed cushions. a really beautiful gift for special friends. well done deidre!

i also watched 'love actually', the film was on television on friday night and i took time out to sit and watch it, i love that film, it is gorgeous! caught up with some good, old friends on friday and saturday, enjoyed my day at home today listening to some beautiful music, and also having a good conversation with a good friend! thanks margaret, thankyou all, i feel good today!

oops! the link appears broken . . . . . . this message has been coming up on google, people are looking for me, i am still writing this blog. can anyone out there help? how do do fix a broken link?

dusting the mantelpiece

i have a mantelpiece in both my main bedrooms and today it was time to get the duster out and do a reshuffle and get rid of the dust of course. it is funny how such a menial task can take you on a different journey and it certainly did !!!!!!

this letter is framed and on the mantelpiece! it is the letter that my grandfather wrote to ask if he could marry my grandmother on september 8th, 1904. such a formal and well written letter, happily he got a positive reply.

and this is a miniature sampler on the mantelpiece! the words speak for themselves really and there is seldom a day that i don't read it to myself and try to live by them.

and there is the other miniature sampler on the mantelpiece! my birth sampler, done by a dear friend, many, many years after my birth. both these samplers are very small and stitched on very fine linen, but the magic of the camera eye and a close up shot makes them very easy to see.

i know of a young couple being married on sunday in the garden of the bridegroom's parents home and the weather forecast is for a lovely day, sunny and blue skies. i am not attending the wedding, i was involved in a small way with the preparations! i wish them good wishes for a long and happy life together.

one of the guests at the wedding has made these hearts for christmas! louise's mother, nance, stitched the little cross stitch pieces many years ago and were left amoung her bits and pieces. there were lots of little motifs stitched quite closely together, but there was also this gorgeous red linen!!! superb colour!!! why can't we buy it today?  as louise often says lovingly and it is so true, 'these have my mother's dna on them' !!!!!!!

so dusting the mantelpiece was really quite entertaining! i went on a journey of love and of family, of friends and realised that there is lots of 'dna' on my mantelpiece !!!!!!

oh! and quite a bit of dust !!!!!!!!!!!

it's gone now though !

i like it like that

i got the first sighting of this years shepherd's bush stocking this morning, i knew it would be a male one, and is called 'jeffrey'! i like that spelling of 'jeffrey', we have a family member, a cousin, whose mother chose that way and i like it like that !!!!!!!! good name for a song, though i know guy sebastian has already written and recorded it !

i have stitched most of the s/b stockings over the years, don't have them all now, but hope that those who do, love them, as i love stitching them. here is the pic!!!!!

of latter years shepherd's bush release them so late in the year, at the busy end, but when i was in the shops, i always managed to get the new one stitched and made up as a sample in a couple of weeks. the pressure is off now, but not the challenge! the new charts and specialty threads will be available here soon.

give these girls a go

broderie will keep going, but i have created another blog to enhance the website we have, so go on over and check it out. it is only very new, but there is quite alot on the website for sale and at very good prices! a new blog birthday to celebrate!

someone else i know, who is very special to me, has a birthday today! happy birthday isabella!!!!!!!! here is a birthday cake! 

 

this is a chart from the book featured on the new blog and is on the website for sale.