~A Gardener's Journal......Block I~

Wow how excited am I

Block I is now complete and all I have to do now is join it to Block H and then onto the rest of the quilt top!!!!!!!

3 lovely gals standing alone

framed by florals and paisleys

Birds in the Tree......I loved doing this one

and now surrounded by more florals and paisleys

Joined together

I had cut out a blue paisley for the inner border but not sure whether to use it?

Close up

Originally I thought I would use a red border

but not sure now

I'll put it all together and then I'll be back to show you and see what you think

Thank you so much Chooky and the Stitch-a-long gang for continued encouragement......I am loving doing this quilt

I did get a bit more of chance this week to work on this as I put a chisel through the top part of my hand whilst doing some work at my local theatre which necessitated 'glueing' instead of stitching

Luckily there was a Doctor in the House

Then a tenanus shot and then I had to lay low for a while whilst Hubby took over caring duties

Luckily the injured hand was the 'holding hand' so it worked out well and I got some respite to boot

So now I'm off to play with the borders......Dzintra

~Pirates of Penzance Hit The Streets...and an injury~

This week some of the cast of The Bay Theatre Players latest musical production of Pirates of Penzance hit the streets of The Bay in their costumes distributing flyers to the public and promoting the upcoming play!

The very talented Jimmy, and me...

Here Pirate Mitch is standing with me

We were in the local nut shop

now outside the supermarket

We met up with JoJo in the carpark

Oh no a fight between a Cop and a Pirate!!!!!

One of the Pirates with one of the daughters

And they're still having it out!!!!!

For the fight scene I have learnt how to use the baton (all the way from England, along with the hat) to 'fight' a pirate with both of us mirroring each other

Yesterday afternoon whilst doing some work at the theatre I inadvertently put a chisel through part of my hand (ouch!!!!!!)

Luckily the Pirate King was on hand A N D he is a Doctor

He took me up to Emergency where the injury was glued instead of stitched...cleaned out and a tetanus shot was given

Keep arm raised when I can and no water on it for a couple of days

Now I'm forced to take time away from caring for JoJo

I seem to do this every now and then (and dramatically) and all to have a sickie!!!!!

Dear Mr Armchair found a recipe on the internet for some sauce to have with filet steak for dinner

mmmmm, tasted good though he thought it a bit sweet and so won't make it again

Never mind, at least I had a night off and one also tonight!!!!!

Meanwhile this week my new book from Natalie Bird arrived

along with this very cute wallet pattern that I couldn't resist so I'm going to have a good look through these over the next days.....

Till next time........Dzintra xo

~OPAM (One Project A Month)~August ~Bars of Gold~ And Pirates Costume

Woo hooo doing a Happy Dance here with this month's OPAM

What started out as some fabric and a Jelly Roll (I didn't even know what that was when we moved here 5 years ago)

When I first saw this Jelly Roll at Steph's it just sung to me of pretty blues and mauves and sunshine just perfect for our Sea Change so I went back and bought if for myself for my birthday

and a blog win of this book by Pan and Nicky Lintott from Micki

I can now proudly present 'Bars of Gold'

Front of quilt on Father's Day morning

and the back

all waiting for the addition of this little label

by Hatched and Patched

I even made a little 'frame' for the label

binding

All quilted very simply with 'In The Ditch'

all neatly folded up

Thank you to Sweet Peg and her Partner in Crime Kris for hosting OPAM!!!

And to celebrate I made some Choc-Chip Vanilla Muffins for Morning Coffee

I didn't realize this till one time I went out of my sewing room and saw my little doggie Paris 'guarding' the staircase whilst I was upstairs

I thought I would show this off too

Even though JoJo is not part of OPAM she did stick these felt flowers onto a book for a friend's birthday

And onto the Pirates of Penzance which is playing at Bay Theatre Players next month 

Here is my Policeman's jacket with braid/ribbon on which had to be taken off

gold buttons had to be replaced with black ones

and all set ready to be taken to the Theatre for duty!!!

~Girls Days/Nights Out~or It's All About The Food and ~P A R I S~

Friday morning we went up the Clyde Mountain and into Canberra
The weather was wet......cold......bleak

even some melted snow I spotted

but that didn't deter this group of girls from catching up!

This bunch of schoolfriend gals have been friends since we were under 10 years old

And a couple of us since babies......Hi Kerrie!!!!!!

In the pice above is Angela......me......Kerrie......Lynn and Kathryn

And what did we do

We ate......talked......laughed

The next day we did it all over again 

Started off with Breakfast

Went shopping at Canberra DFO (Direct Factory Outlets) and I happened upon Provincial 

Of course I stopped when I saw this sign P A R I S

You see......my Son had offered me a trip to New Zealand next year for my B I G birthday

and then also gave me the choice of  ~P A R I S~

Holey Dooley!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where to start????????

First up the obvious.......yes of course, let's pack!!!!!

Then the reality......what to do with JoJo

There is no centre based respite here

Perhaps she can go to DS and be helped by his Partner's Mum

but they have full time jobs...

So much to think about

It may not even happen at this stage due to the logistics of it all

but then again I can keep dreaming......can't I?

If you look at my side bar the essay by Emily Percy Kingsley (a Mum of a child with a disability) describes it all beautifully!!!

Emily Perl Kingsley is a writer who joined the Sesame Street team in 1970 and has been writing for the show ever since.

Her son Jason Kingsley was born with Down Syndrome in 1974.  Her experiences with Jason inspired her to include people with disabilities into the Sesame Street cast, including an actress who uses a wheelchair, Tarah Schaeffer, and even Jason himself. Jason's story was the topic of an hour-long NBC television special in 1977, titled "This Is My Son," and with co-author Mitchell Levitz, Jason wrote the book "Count Us In: Growing Up With Down Syndrome."

source ~Wikipedia~

Back to Provincial

a white dresser for crockery

the same in black

and then timber

We went back to our room and sipped some bubbly with strawberries

Went out again

and ate some more

Sunday saw us off to the fabulous Kingston Markets where I had a Hot Spiced Apple Cider

Check out the size of the Cinnamon Bark for the Hot Mulled Wine

Yep, that's right......more eating......Breakfast

lots of wool on sale

Got talking to the lady of this gorgeous stall Provencal Chic

Check out these gluten-free Florentines made by Divine & Delicious

Mr Armchair and JoJo came to pick me up  

and of course trust JoJo to find the musician playing at the Markets

Jazz Latin Guitarist Gavin Rene Libotte from Urban Gypsies

Thanks so much Gavin for your time and we love your CD!!!!!

Now back to the real world for me

A one where people our age are contemplating retiring/kicking back/travelling

we are still doing bedtime and bathtime
 Having said that we wouldn't have it any other way as JoJo teaches us so much and continues to do so

And like Emily says in her essay
There are also beautiful things in Our World!