Cath Kidston sewing kit progress...

Happy Sunday to readers and followers new and old.

Remember the Cath Kidston purse I am creating from her book Stitch? I have nearly finished cross stitching the front panel design. The crosses are made over plastic, dissolvable mesh. I don't think the stitches are as neat as using this method but it looks better the more I stitch. This came as a kit and I am slightly annoyed I have nearly run out of one colour and still have a flower left to stitch. I haven't wasted the colour so I think they should have allowed more thread. I will colour match with a different thread out of my stash.

It seems that there a few of you who share my love veggie gardens judging from my previous post. I have been giving my patch a bit of TLC lately.  Butternut pumpkins, broccoli and cabbages are thriving at the moment in this Aussie garden.

It's back to cooking pumpkin soup for me. Thanks for walking through my garden...
                                                                                                        Jan x

Sharing a cute veggie garden...

On my last blog post, here, I shared a story and photos from my great grandmother, Lillian's cookbook.  Well done Jo from Tas! It is Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management. This is the second edition. The first edition was released in 1861.  You can read more about the fascinating author, Isabella Beeton who was only 21 when she started writing the book (much younger than the she sounds). A small prize is on it's way to Jo.

I haven't shared much in the way of gardens recently.  We have just returned from a holiday in Cradle Mountain, Tasmania. Due to heavy rain on the mountain we did some touring at a lower altitude in the Meaner Valley.  We stopped for lunch at Marakoopa Café and ate delicious pork and beef kranksy sausages. The garden here was in full autumn bloom and beautifully set out. Tom ran off into areas that were roped off so I had to explore the garden further to catch him.

We stumbled across this vegetable garden that was fenced with alternating hedging plant and wood piles.   I love veggie gardens especially those on country properties.  I keenly explore them.  The symmetry, beds and borders in a veggie garden in combination with the variety of foliage appeal to me. I secretly dream of owning a sandstone country home on an estate, so a hedged vegetable garden is part of that dream.

I hope you are enjoy some happy moments. Thank you for stopping on by...

                                                                                                                   Jan x

Can you guess competition

My mother pulled this from the back of the cupboard today. Its poor condition says it all. It is missing the hard cover. Pages are falling out. My great-grandmother, Lillian and then my grandmother, Gwen relied heavily on the recipes in this book. We think its probably circa 1890s and was published in London. Can you guess what vintage cookbook it is? There is a small prize for the first correct guess.

Cath Kidston cross stitch project...

Are you like me and have a stash of freebie cross stitch that are waiting patiently to be stitched?  Well I am committing to stitching them.

When I saw the rose cross stitched makeup kit bag inside the Cath Kidston's book Stitch I knew I had to have it.  My progress thus far...

The weather has suddenly turned frosty in Hobart Tasmania after a long and warm Summer. I am off to the mountains for a couple of days with my family so I hope I find some stitching time there. My hubby is working and living in a city 4 hours away this year, so it will be a special time for the children and I to have him with us again for a week.  What an amazing experience it would be if it snowed. Even more reason to stay in front of the fire and stitch.

I hope you find lots of stitchy time this weekend...
                                                                             Jan x

Here right now...

I borrowed this from Simply Renee. Love it!

watching: Dance Mums excerpts my 14yo DD is constantly shoving in front of me
eating: Chicken wings with my fingers therefore leaving fingerprints over the keyboard naughty me
drinking: a chardie
wearing: Mavi jeans and white knit long-sleeved top
avoiding: putting my 3yo DS2 to bed
feeling: inspired after a weekend scrapbooking and crocheting (for the first time) with girlfriends
missing: my husband who has gone away for the week
thankful: for my kids as endometriosis might have rendered me infertile
weather: a cool 8 degrees Celsius this evening so have turned up the heat
praying: my Studio Calico scrapbooking kit arrives this week (it's lost like thousands of other overseas orders) and that the virus that has hit our family over the weekend clears soon
needing to: put my 3 yo DS2 to bed
thinking: I really want to start another cross stitch project (stop it brain and finish what is started)
loving: pinterest!!!

Hope you found some stitchy time this weekend.

                              Jan x

Mum, can you knit me a ...

Jack (my preteen son): Mum can you knit me a beard?

Me: A what?

Jack: A beard. They are all the rage on YouTube

After trawling the net, I found a free pattern. Jack was right - they are everywhere! I even saw an actor wearing one on a TV show. I decided to knit it in a colour (out of my scraps) that tones in with his hair. Also I only used acrylic yarn so it isn't itchy.  It knitted up in about an hour! I sewed elastic so it stays on his head.

Jack loves wearing it especially in the evenings and as a surprise for his friends. He says it keeps his face warm.  I always do a double take when I see him.  It is hilarious!

Have you knitted or crafted anything that is purely just for a laugh?

Thanks for dropping by...

                                    Jan x

Oh deery me...

Howdy friends new and old...

Oh deery me...another WIP.  But a lovely one. 

This is a stitch-along I am doing with girlfriends I met at my eldest son's school. They don't stitch as a hobby so I have taught them. Yay for me that I have created a cross stitch group!!! We even have a member, Lisa,  who doesn't stitch. Her position in the group is endorsed as her husband luckily works with vines, so she brings the wine. 

You probably recognise it is the alphabet from The Prairie Schooler design. It is surprisingly "L is for Leaves".  It should be "D for deer" LOL. I would love to do the whole alphabet on one piece of linen but I think that might end up as a UFO so I will stick with the one design for now.

 

Hope you enjoyed visiting.  Until next time, happy stitching...

 

Jan x