Grand Champion!!

Well, it's taken 10 years but at last we have attained the major award at an orchid show. yesterday we took out the Grand Champion award at Devonport Orchid Society's Spring Show with our cymbidium Plush Canyon 'Beenak'. It has 9 spikes of flowers and won 5 prizes. 'Thrilled to bits' just about describes our feelings at this time. Anyway, here is a pic of our prize winning plant...

                  John at our display..

Finished Quilt!

At long last my quilt is finished.. Only 3 years in the making.. I am so pleased it is done at last, seemed to take forever but it was worth it, it looks great on the bed.

Something Different!

For some years now we have been unhappy with electric heating. In the past (about 7 years ago since we changed) we always had wood heating and now, after some consideration we have installed a new, improved version of wood heater.. How marvelous.. I had almost forgotten how warm you could be with it. Sooo.. We made a wood carrier from canvas. I know there have been versions of these for sale in the past and they  are probably still available  but the quality wasn't good and they wore out quickly. I am hoping our version will last a lot longer. I have now made a couple extra for friends who I know would appreciate them. Saves us ladies carrying one or two pieces at a time... This is the new wood heater. Warm as toast.

This is the wood carrier...

My Mothers Day Win!!

A week ago I filled in an entry form and I was fortunate enough to win a really great Breville food processor in a competition at our local newsagents. A lovely bit of hardware for the kitchen I am looking forward to using very soon. I am not usually lucky in competitions but I think this win is pretty spiffy. What do you think?? it comes with an instruction book with recipes and a container for the blades plus a spatula. Not bad!!

                                    

Can't find my followers!

Is anyone else having problems with finding their followers?? I am and I have no idea why. I haven't changed anything so I can't understand what's happening. If anyone has any ideas how I can fix this problem It would be very much appreciated so if you can... Please help..

2 More!

Here's a couple of little folk made from a pattern I found while surfing the net. I altered the pattern and made the little one into a bear instead of a kitten. Very easy to make which is how I like a pattern to be and now I can make them without the pattern which is good because I can adapt them and make them bigger or smaller by changing the amount of stitches.

Pink Kitty!

Something new for me and I'm not sure if I am happy with the result or not. I found the pattern a bit confusing and I think there must be a  way to make this cat actually look like a cat. Maybe he should have whiskers or something. Would love to make another similar if I can find a pattern that is easier to follow. Maybe it's just me but sometimes I look at a pattern and can't make head nor tale (should that be tail Lol..) of it.  If anyone can suggest a site that has an easy pattern, I would love to hear about it..  Don't think I like the eyes...  But here's kitty...

 

90th birthday Celebration!

Our old friend Ron celebrated his 90th birthday last week. We were invited to attend a birthday lunch at the Country Club Casino, a real joy to spend such a momentous time with Ron and his family. Congratulations Ron, hope you see many more birthdays. John & Ron having a celebratory glass of wine.

Giveaway Link!

Grateful4crochet is having a lovely giveaway and if you are interested you can find it HERE.

More Produce & Update on Zig Zag Rug!

I do hope the family & some of our friends like eating healthy Lol.. We will have to share some of our produce around, I have frozen as much as our freezer will hold but we still have far too much for just the two of us and we haven't harvested the pumpkins yet.

Apple cucumbers and some corn. The rest I have frozen.

Lots of yummy tiny tomatoes... I may have to blanch some of these and freeze them also. Last year I stewed the larger toms with onion and it was great for stews and casseroles.

And an update on the zig zag..

It is growing slowly but I only work on this if I am watching something on TV. I think I am happy with the colours but I will only really know when it is finished.

A good buy!!

This one is made in Bendigo cotton given to me by my friend (we often share). It came in a hank and was in a reject bin being sold as 'weak strand cotton'. After unwinding and rewinding into manageable size balls I used it to make this green washer. It is quite a stiff type of cotton and will make a great loofah in the shower. I am not sure what they meant by saying it was weak because although there were a couple of joins, I found it to be good to work with and it was even all the way along and I wouldn't have any qualms about buying more of it if I happened to be visiting the factory. All in all, very pleased with the result. It is made using the same pattern as the white washer posted a few days ago.

Still the reverse X stitch pattern but it looks slightly different and I believe it is because the white cotton is  thicker even though they are both 8 ply.

Bushfire Season is Here!!

As I posted on Saturday, yesterday we had a day trip to our capital city of Hobart in the southern part of our state, a drive of about 250 klm's from here. We had a lovely day even though the temperature was in the high 30's. The forecast was for 39 degrees but I think it was a few degrees less than that. We had planned to have dinner at a small hotel in Ross on the way back, which is a bit less than halfway home, but by chance, the cd we had enjoyed all the way from Hobart ( love the Beach Boys Lol...) had finished and as I removed it from the player, their was a fire warning related to the highway we were traveling on, on the radio. Providence stepping in once again because if we had stopped  for dinner we wouldn't have made it home anytime soon. We were very fortunate to make it through but thank the Lord, we did.  Here are a few pics I took with my phone through the window so they are not as clear as I would like but I didn't want smoke or sparks getting in the car, they said on the radio that the fire was sending sparks up to 300 meters ahead  causing spot fires and I didn't want to take the chance.

Not far from the highway here.

 Our boys on the job God bless them all..

Reverse X Stitch Washer!

I was going to post this tomorrow just to show that I have been getting 'some' crochet done but we have a 250 klm trip tomorrow and will be away all day. Hope the grapes and tomatoes hold up to the trip in the cooler box!! Anyway, I call this stitch reverse x stitch and I find it much easier to make than the way it is normally worked and it works up so quickly. If you are interested in the pattern you will find it here. Enjoy!

 A close up of the stitch. It is done in a pure white but it looks cream in this pic.

Nature's Bounty!!

We have been so fortunate with the harvest of vegetables this year. Our pumpkins are enormous and still growing. The grapevine has done it's usual and produced an enormous bounty of sweet, juicy grapes. We gave a few bags to P&B to make grape juice with. I couldn't be bothered this year, we still have bottles left from last year and as I usually crush them all by hand I decided to give it a miss. I have shared them around friends and family instead and the kids love them..
On the vine...

 Couldn't find anything big enough to hold them so we had to use plastic shopping bags and this is only a very small selection of the harvest.(Love that word, so evocative of the harvest festivals I attended as a child, our church held one every year)

 Yummy...

And then there are the tomatoes... Loads of sweet Honey Pear as well as larger tomatoes.

 Packaged and ready for sharing..

 And a couple of corn cobs. My grandson has already polished off quite a bit already.. Love to see the grandkids enjoying the fresh fruit and vegetables

Ripple Blanket!

This is a new project I have just started. Now that I have finally (I hope) mastered this particular way of making ripples I thought I may as well put it to good use and make something, instead of endless practice pieces so I am hoping it will turn out Ok. I thought I would use up some of my stash so the colours will vary a bit. So here it is as of now and I will post updates as it progresses.

Entrelac Instructions!

This is my first venture into Entrelac crochet. I saw it here on you tube if anyone is interested and it is demonstrated by Theresa, and so I decided to give it a go. Takes a bit of thought and I'm still not sure if I have it right but it was a bit of fun to do. I put some double crochet around the edge just to finish it off and I must say that although it's not perfect and I definitely need more practice with this stitch, I thinks it's quite cute.

Lucky Me!!

Well aren't I a lucky girl?? Just look what was given to me yesterday... More yarn for my stash. One of my friends turned up out of the blue with her hubby and handed me a large bag of assorted yarns, some of which is going to make some lovely slippers for the winter. At least that is the idea at the moment but, knowing me, things can change quite quickly Lol..
An good assortment here, even some all purpose yarn that can be used for macrame, which is something I used to play around with a long time ago, but it looks like it could be crocheted too.

 This is pure wool and a lovely pale caramel colour.

 And some lovely thick grey wool, make great slippers I think.

Yippee! I've Done It!!

I have been so frustrated with a chevron pattern I was trying out in an old book of crochet patterns by Mon Tricot called Raised Chevron. I'm not sure why it's called RAised chevron because it is just done in dc (sc us) After MANY attempts to follow the pattern I gave up in despair, I even had my friend working on it as she has the same pattern book and she couldn't get it right either and she is a very experienced crocheter. We have both come to the conclusion that there has to be a mistake in the pattern. But yesterday I had the time to see if I could make a chevron dishcloth without the pattern and guess what? I did it! Yippee! Sooo.... Here it is... What do you think??
The finished dishcloth.

 A closeup of the pattern although it looks grey in this pic.

Small Projects From Me!

I am still unable to crochet for long periods but my left hand (broken in a fall last Sept) is slowly getting better. I still find it difficult to hold fine yarn  as I cannot hold the last two fingers tight enough but I am persisting with small projects because as they say 'use it or lose it". So here are a few pieces of crochet that I have been able to manage even though it takes me longer nowadays to get something finished.

  This is a potholder that I saw on a blog, very different and very thick and easy to make once you have mastered the stitch.

I have finally been able to learn the zig zag or chevron stitch. I tried crocheting from a pattern in an old Mon Tricot book and after nearly tearing out my hair and giving up altogether, I consulted my friend Pat who has been crocheting since a child, passing the problem on to her poor girl, and after many tries by her, we have come to the conclusion there is definitely a mistake in the pattern.So here is my first chevron washer with some others I have been making.

Gift from a friend!

It is just so nice to receive an unexpected gift.This potholder was specially made for me by my friend Trudy. Very thick and neat and well crocheted and there is a matching potholder still to come so I feel quite spoiled. It is lovely to receive  another crocheter's work and I will have to make something for Trudy in return but I'm not sure what at present. Thank you Trudy, I hope I can make something as thoughtful for you... :)

 These are my choices for the Versatile blogger award.

http://jayne-marie.blogspot.com/

http://foxslane.blogspot.com/

http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/

http://pbdesigns.blogspot.com/

http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/

http://crochetgottaloveit.blogspot.com/

http://bunnymummy-jacquie.blogspot.com/

http://crochetingingeorgia.blogspot.com/

http://cerejeirastudio.blogspot.com/

http://aussiemaria.blogspot.com/

 http://teacuplane-sandy.blogspot.com/

 One yarn after another

http://pinkrosecrochet.blogspot.com/

http://heather-thegoodlife.blogspot.com/ 

http://cornflowerbluestudio.blogspot.com/

My First Blogger Award!

I was awarded my first blogger award today by Pattas from 

Hooks & Books. Thanks Pat.... All I have to do now is decide who to pass it on to, there are so many great blogs out there to choose from I will have to think about it. Seven things about me:

1. Love craft, especially crochet.

2. Grow and show beautiful exotic orchids.

3. Love to read.

4. Enjoy the outdoors.

5. like to travel.

6. Love animals

7. love my family and friends.

The rules:

1 Add the award to your blog

2 Thank the blogger who gave it to you

3 Mention 7 random things about yourself.

4. List the rules

5 Award to 15 bloggers

6 Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.