Turkish Sauce Dish

A little sauce dish from Turkey, which we found at a local Multicultural Night.

I love the vibrant colours.
But I can't help thinking that that flower in the middle has a face!

Before and After Verandah Chairs

Now that the hot weather is past us at last I am enjoying using our verandah again. On a warm day it is the perfect spot for reading, morning tea or lunch. In the early afternoons the western sun is too strong at the moment but the late afternoons are more pleasant.

We have a set of cane furniture which used to belong to my Nanna, a table, 2 chairs and a footrest/stool. When we first got them the cushions were covered with some 60s fabric in a bright red, and I just made cotton covers to slip over the top. (Recently I took one off to check that 60s fabric, hoping maybe I had forgotten how groovy they were, but they weren't groovy at all) The colours on the cotton fabric coordinate well with our walls and at the time I used what I had, left over from another project.

Fast forward ten or so years and now the cotton fabric is dirty from the weather, lots of insects and lots of dust, comfy but not so nice to sit on. Spiders love to lurk around this furniture. But if I re-cover them (spending lots of money to do so) I will have the same problem soon of faded stained fabric. Bringing the cushions inside is not an option, we just don't have room. What to do ...?

On the weekend I had a brainwave. I dug out a double quilt cover that I bought a few years ago at an op shop (sitting in my fabric box ever since) and cut it into quarters. Then I stitched up the open sides making 4 big rectangles, each double thickness.


Voila!

Four covers that I can throw onto a cushion (tucking in the sides) and then bring inside when I've finished on the verandah. I can wash them after every few uses andthey will dry quickly and iron well. They won't take much room to store. Our clothes will stay clean and we won't feel grotty.

And most of all - they look pretty!

Brontë at Bedtime

Reading: Agnes Grey, by Anne Brontë in a lovely but decrepit 1877 edition.

Makes for an interesting challenge as I doze off ...

Phone Pouch

Last week the girls stayed for a few nights with my parents, and I had most of 2 days and one WHOLE day while Steve was at work to amuse myself! Those hours which are normally taken up with "before school" and "after school" make such a difference to a "free day"! I felt like I had time to get my sewing machine out again - yey!


Time to make all those 'To Sew' items that have been floating round my head for a few months ...

First this phone pouch. I followed these great instructions to make a zipper pouch but I modified it a bit - I wanted a pouch that would hold my phone and a key for when I go walking, but I didn't want the key scratching the phone, so I made a pouch with 2 sections.

I attached a piece of twill inside where I will attach a keyring, and a piece of ribbon on the outside can attach to a lanyard to hang the whole thing round my neck when I go for a walk.

Next project on my list: Go for a walk!

Autumn Sunshine

We have had a lovely sunny weekend, filled with good things ...

Being together

Lunch on the verandah

Orange & Lemon Yoghurt Cake (yum!) Recipe here

Games of tee-ball in the front yard

Some home projects completed and some progress made

Some gardening (Steve, not me!)

Washing on the line

Cupcakes baked by Emily

Walking around the neighbourhood in the sunshine

A successful visit to a bookfair, and now some lovely "new" books

A guitar and flute duet composed by Steve and performed with Laura

Sitting by the window and reading in the warm sunshine

Candlelit soup & crusty bread

Jonquils blooming strangely out of season ... again

... and filling our living room with their heady scent ...

Showbag Fashion

Yesterday we were treated to a fashion parade of this year's Royal Easter Show showbag fashions. Emily wears a very cute hat from the H2O bag which suits her just perfectly and coordinates with many of her clothes. In her bag she also had two nice bags, a wallet, a necklace, a book and an address book.


And Laura wears every little girl's dream outfit - pink cowgirl hat and vest (and she even had her horse t-shirt on underneath! In her Mega-Pony bag were also a cuddly hot pink pony and 2 cute pony toys. Apparently a 10yo is still not too old for these things. Which is just as well, because that vest and hat would be enormous on a toddler!

Royal Easter Show

On Thursday the girls and I went to the Sydney Royal Easter Show. We hadn't been for years, and had a wonderful day.


Laura was performing at the Show with her school band, so Emily and I, with Grandma and Grandad, travelled in by bus and met her at the performance. They performed brilliantly for a band which has only been together for 1 term! Laura is sitting right in front of the conductor, playing flute.

(All photos were taken with my phone, so some of them are not great, sorry!)

We sampled lots of yummy delicacies, saw cows, pigs, alpacas, lots of horses for Laura (including "Noddy the World's Tallest Horse"), ducklings, deer, goats, donkeys and more.

The girls bought, stuffed and dressed their own teddy bears, and I couldn't leave a certain monkey sitting unloved at the Show ...


At lunchtime we saw the incredible (but ridiculous) Robosaurus breathing fire and squashing cars.


One of the most popular pastimes at the Show is looking at the Cake Decorating competition entries. This was probably my favourite:

A pool and BBQ scene by Joanne Ong, complete with miniature food and thousands of cut-out pieces of grass! Very cute!

I took photos of quilts I particularly liked, but it's hard to photograph through the glass and unfortunately I didn't photograph the names of the clever creators. These were my 2 favourite quilts:

I loved the colours and modern fabrics on this one ...

... and this one had sweet homey embroideries on the white hexagons.

The girls went on a log boat ride and we bought showbags.
As it got dark we sat in the main arena and watched a rodeo, trick riding and stunt driving before we headed home, lugging our treasures, and arrived home at 10.00pm.
A perfect show day!