Merry Christmas!

I would like to wish all my blogging friends a merry, joyful and healthy season. May your troubles be small and your blessings be large, and the time spent with loving families sharing a celebratory meal be the most joyful time of all..  :))

A New Project!!

Something a little different for me.. My friend has made lots of these and they are so handy to have tucked into your bag. Mine is done in a larger ply and it's not cotton but I am pleased with the result. I had to modify the pattern somewhat because of the difference in thickness but it was quite quick to make, only took me a few hours from start to finish. Just have to decide what to do with it now... :))

             

Another baby finished!!

Here is another baby finished at last.. She is so cute... Only one more to go and I will be very glad when she is finished...

One Down!

 Well here she is at last!!

One down, two to go. Knitting is marginally easier than crocheting at the moment and I have managed to finish my pink baby doll. Why is it that whenever we have a cleanup I can never find anything that I need?? With being out of action my bead knitting patterns got put away and now I can't find them. It's just as well my friend has the same patterns, I had to get her to scan the pattern for my baby and email it to me so I could get her finished. What would we do without our dear friends who step in and help when needed??

I'm Back!

Hi to everyone of you patient people that follow my blog!! Sorry I haven't posted for so long but I have been feeling a 'little' sorry for myself but that is all over now. I still can't really crochet for any length of time but with excersize and practice, I am hoping my hand and wrist will be back in action again soon. Can't wait really because I have my missed my crafts so much. I did manage a few rows of bead knitting yesterday but it was very slow going. I need to finish my baby dolls before Christmas arrives and I am having trouble believing that it's only two months away from today. Hmmm.. Have to get a wriggle on... The past few months have been very busy in other ways, three orchid shows to attend, one of which I helped organise and which went off really well. Below are the trophy's John and I won with our orchids this year, and some of the flowers. Hope you enjoy viewing them.  Bye for now, hope to have one of my dolls to show you really soon.

 

I am awaiting an award for this one

Some of the orhid society members enjoying pizza night in the show room.    

                                                                  

Where Are My Followers?

Just a quick post.  Just lately when I log onto my blog, my followers pics are missing Anyone having the same problem?? If anyone has an answer or a solution please let me know, i would love to be able to fix the problem.  :))

Hurry Up!!

Shouldn't be wishing my life away but when you are waiting for something to happen time passes so slowly. I have missed crocheting sooo much!! Still another 2 1/2 weeks before this cast comes off my left hand. Never realised how much I used it until now. Can't even tuck the bed in... R' well... More reading I suppose. At least with the nice weather we have been having I can spend some time outside with the orchids and that's always a pleasure. Bye for now to all my dear followers and friends..  :))

And another Tam!

This one is for my daughter in law in the colours of my grandsons football team.This will be the last crochet item for a few weeks as I have had a fall and broken a bone in my left hand so I am out of action for a time.NOT HAPPY! Oh well! It could be a lot worse so I guess I got off light. Back to the hospital next week for a review and maybe another xray. It's going to be a looong 6 weeks..

Another Tam!

This one is also for my gd, in her favourite footy colours and now her mum wants one as well, it is her birthday next week so i have to get busy on it. I went to Spotlight and bought more wool in red and a ball of black for the flower. This time I got the Panda machine washable crepe..  Nice yarn to work with, hope it turns out as well as Amanda's did...

This is Amanda's tam with the crepe wool...

My garden of flowers!

No longer a 'Lonely Little Petunia', my little experiment has lots of company now. The others are crocheted from  a different pattern which is very easy to do. This is the link here. It can be used to make small, medium or large flowers, depending on the yarn used to make them.They would be lovely made as a brooch in a fine cotton, or as a decoration on a tam or beanie. Or even sitting in a bowl on the sideboard..

Experiment!

I have been trying new methods for crocheting flowers and had a thought.  Yes, earth shattering I know lol... Maybe I could make one using crocodile stitch. Well...  Here is my small effort and I cannot make up my mind on whether I like it or not. Of course, it is a first attempt and maybe brighter colours would be better. Any one care to offer any opinions?? They would be very welcome... :)

Amanda's Tam!

Had a visit from gd yesterday, asked her to model the tam she liked best. It looked so nice on her I gave it to her and she loved it... So nice to have your work appreciated by the younger generation. Doesn't really match the red scarf but she was on her way to watch her younger brother play football for North Launceston and their colours are red and black.By the way, Amanda is now a teacher at Star of the Sea Catholic school at Georgetown. I'm very proud of my lovely girl..

What's happening in Our Orchid house At Present!

Just a few photo's of what's happening in our orchid house at present. Can't wait for spring when there will be a lot more going on.
Pretty colour in this cattleya.

 Cymbidium Tracyannum

 

Our gorgeous Gastrochilus

And a lovely Lady's Slipper Orchid

My Tams!

Got the bug from my friend Pat and made a couple of tams and some flowers to decorate them with... I think they are really cute and I hope my girls (gd's) will like them enough to wear them..

Mmmm.. not sure about the rosette on this one

 This came out pink when it's actually lilac.

 Cute.

 A flower..

Grandaughters 21st !

My no.2 grandaughter turned 21 on the 16th June. Totally spoilt and very much loved by the whole family of course. She is gathering items for her glory box so I bought her a multi cooker/ stacker which is fine for 2-3 people and I made her some fingerless mitts and a headband in blue, pure wool yarn. So soft and she loved them. Both my older grandaughters are the kind of girls that like to have something made especially for them and I think that is great.

  Mitts!

 Headband!

 Party dress!

In the middle of winter too! Brrr...

My Award Shape Flower!

I haven't posted for a couple of weeks so here is a little something to look at in the meantime. We took this plant to Devonport Orchid society's monthly  meeting and it was awarded 'Orchid of the night' by the judges. It's is named: Cha Cha Cha...  Lovely....  :)

Mitts & Headband!

I have finished the matching set of mitts and headband. They are crocheted in pure wool in a very soft sage green colour. My oldest grandaughter will love these, green is her favourite colour so I will have to decide if I'm going to keep them for her birthday or maybe advertise them for sale on Made It. What do you ladies think?? I know I can make another set in a similar shade but I have used all the wool that I had so I will have to buy more. Oh dear! I can't keep buying wool can I? lol..  Yes.....  :))

Just another neck warmer!

 This one is my own design made in Cleckheaton Country 8ply pure wool in natural with a dark fleck and I think it has been quite effective overall. It is bigger than the other two I made previously and I am really pleased with it. 

Looks a different color in these two pics but I just wanted to show how it can be worn in a couple of ways..
Mmm.. I can make loads of stuff with this stitch...This is also for sale through the link on my Made-It page.

Fire In The sky!!

I just had to put these pics on the blog.This was natures treat for yesterday evening. Shame about the wires but that couldn't be helped, there was nowhere to go to avoid them and I only just caught them in time. The second pic looks like the sky is on fire, beautiful... :))

Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire??

No not really.. I sometimes think it would be nice to have an open fire instead of electric heating, just something about watching those flames I guess. I roasted the chestnuts in the oven and though I was tempted to cover them in melted butter (yum) and a little salt, I resisted and ate them as they were, nice and hot from the oven, still very nice and much healthier .. 

I just couldn't resist the choc chip cookies however,just as well a couple of grandkids came to help out, Lol....
                
                       Ready for the oven.

                       Ready to eat.

Another Neck Warmer!

Another neck warmer finished. This is bigger than the first and I love the colour and yarn.This one also has a different edge around the neck. Panda Soft 8 ply is just beautiful to work with, so easy on the hands and fingers and a lovely finished result in this stitch. Firmer yarns aren't so easy to work the stitches with so it looks like it will be back to buy more Panda Soft very soon. Mmm... That's my story and I'm sticking to it, any excuse to buy more yarn lol... :)

 

And the two together

Crocodile Stitch Neck Warmer!

After seeing the video on youtube and then the scarf Pat made I thought I might as well have a go and here is my little effort. I do Love cream yarn and this is Panda soft touch in 8 ply. I really like the pattern and will be making more items using this stitch.  :))

Home Made Pasties!

Well finally... Been wanting to make pasties for simply ages but kept forgetting to get the ingredients together all at the same time so yesterday was the day...  I ended up with 32 beautiful golden pasties and as we had had a rather large chicken lunch, they were just right for our evening meal.. Goodness, it's been a long time since we had anything like that for dinner but they were scrumptious and there are still lots left over in the freezer for whenever.. Yumm.. Lol...

 Pastie Recipe.


The ingredients are: 500 grams lamb mince

2 large swedes, 3 large carrots, 4 large potatoes. I large onion. Grate the potatoes and then rinse thoroughly through a sieve and squeeze dry as much as possible, You can use a clean tea towel or paper towel for this.

2 chicken stock cubes or 2 tspns stock powder, black pepper (lots)

6 sheets puff pastry rolled as thin as possible and cut out circles. I use an ordinary soup or cereal bowl for the shape, it's a little bigger than a saucer.Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Wet half the edge of a circle with water and place a small dessertspoon of mix on half the pastry. Fold over until the edges meet and press together, crinkle the edges with your fingers or a fork. Preheat oven to 220o c. Place pasties on tray covered with baking paper and place in oven turning oven down to 180o c. Cook for 30 mins. Allow to cool slightly before sampling. Enjoy!!

 I like to grate my ingredients because that's the way my boys liked them.

 Ready to go into the oven.

Mmmm... Yummm.... Ready to eat...

Machu Pichu 'Jay Vee'

Couldn't resist showing this one off. Beautiful colour and shape and John's favourite orchid.

Craft & Quilting Fair

The craft and quilting fair was held this year here in our home town of Launceston. Pat and I attended and had a lot of fun checking out all the stalls and chatting to different stall holders and seeing some of their marvelous creations. We enjoyed talking to Prudence Mapstone and her hubby and there are a few pics here on our other blog if you are interested in seeing  some of what goes on at the fair.

Lest We Forget!

In memory of the Anzac spirit and all who fought and died for what they believed. At the going down of the sun and in the morning 'We will remember you'. To those who fought and lived 'We will remember you'. Pray for our fighting men and women wherever they may be that may return safely to their families and homes and for peace on earth.Just returned from the parade! 

John loved this beast!!

                          Waiting for the parade to start

                                     Here they come!

 Children marching for lost family members..

      Here come the veterans...

 And the pipe band..