Me expecting?!! Hopefully...

Hi everyone,

Wow, what a month this has been with life stuff! I won't bore you with the details LOL. Life is *supposed* to be complicated at times, from what I've heard.....  I am so excited to say how much I am looking forward to getting the heck out of Brisbane for our Let's Get Stitched long weekend in Adelaide  coming up very soon.  Aside from a couple of road trips just over an hour each way for  Brissie blog meets, I have not been away at all in a whole year, since our Let's Get Stitched event in Tasmania last March.  I've just messaged dear De to let her know I've been to the shops this morning and we definitely have a supply of  various chocolates for the flight :)

I have managed to sew this month, but (aside from Melody's bag),  all of my sewing is secret so I have no pictures just yet.

No, I am not expecting a baby, but... I am very much hoping for a new addition. I will be attending an information session on 13th of March at the Guide Dogs QLD site, which is only about 15 minutes from me.  Since I am no longer working, I am home alone a lot these days.  I don't think I am well enough to take on a young puppy for 12 months, but they are looking for other help too. One option is a "quiet home with no other pets" for dogs that are recovering from surgery, or drop offs for overnight sleeps while training during the day, or respite care for a couple of weeks while a puppy raising family is on holidays.  I have been reading their website in hopes of learning a bit more ahead.

 According to the site, it takes $30,000 to breed and raise EACH dog until they reach the age of two and are ready to be matched with a blind person.  They also say that 50% of the dogs do not qualify all the way to the end of two years of training.
The dogs are given to the blind person at no cost.   I do not know any blind persons myself, but I believe this is a worthy charity and  I am hoping I will find a place in there somewhere so I can be of help.
If you know any more than I do, please let me know.   If this does not work out, I will be checking out my local shelters to find a companion. I know there is a good match out there for me somewhere, whether by the Guide Dogs, or a shelter.

I went to the Brissie blog meet this past Sunday.  It was a super fun day with lots of laughs, and I made some new friends. What a fantastic way to spend the day!

debbie 

Presents

Hi everyone,

Friday morning I checked the mail on my way to visit dear De.  There was a parcel from USA, from Karen at Quilting, Losing, and Tea .  Back in December, there was a blog hop and I was her international winner.  She sent some pretty fabrics and a pincushion.

There are ready to sew squares,  and the blue/grey/white on the right is a fat quarter.  The sewing on the pincushion is just perfect.  Thank you so much, Karen.

De took me into her lovely sewing space and totally surprised me with another present.

I think I might have let out a real squeal!! I absolutely love this fabric collection.  Super cute!!
I've already made a quilt from one of Aneela's previous lines "Sherbet Pips", but this will be another quilt soon.

Since my swap pressie has been received, I can now reveal the "secret" dots I showed on my last post.

The dots are the lining fabric for the bag I made for Melody.

This is my second time making this bag.  The first time  was as a handbag for me. I have used it for more years than I care to add up and it has been washed so many times it is wearing thin.  My bag has been from Australia to USA at least 3 times.  I still use it as my everyday handbag.  Here are the two bags together.  Mine is made in my fave Shabby Chic type fabrics.

The pattern came from Handmade Volume 23 No. 2 and the author is Colleen Archbold.

When I go to the Library, I always get 5 books. This way, I don't have to remember how many there are when it is time to return them, haha.  This time, two books really moved me.

This is a true story about a woman who died in 1951 from cervical cancer.  The amazing part is that no matter your age, gender, race, or country of origin, YOUR  life has been impacted in some way by her death.  It is a story that won't soon be forgotten.

I am about halfway through this book, the last of my five this time.  I am very much a dog lover and always have been.  Knowing how this one ends, (the cover says it is a memoir),  I am pretty sure it is going to make me cry.  I am ok with that.  This book is SO  beautifully written .  I keep finding passages that I want to write down and save.

debbie

Initial Heart Swap

Hi everyone,

I have been admiring the beautiful gifts received  so far for the swap.

I received my gift this week from the lovely Maria .  The parcel  smelled fantastic LOL.

Maria sent a red knitted heart, a pretty pink  soap that smells beautiful, and a cute little wax tart with a heart.  Everything was wrapped in pretty paper and tied  with ribbon with little hearts on it.  Thank you so much, Maria, for the lovely gifts.

I posted my swap parcel on  Monday.  The post bag had a tracking # which I checked this morning for the first time.  I entered the # on the tracking page, and there it is.....the date I mailed it, the name of the post office  and the time of day I gave it to them. That's it.  No record of the journey it should be on...   I am trusting it should be nearly to the destination by now, but who can tell by that tracking page? *sigh*

I joined in FNWF too, and I did a little secret sewing.  I just love dots, they always seem happy!
Thanks for stopping by.....debbie

Sunday Morning Eye Candy

What a gorgeous day!!  It was 23C in the kitchen this morning, no humidity, birds were chirping, and then it got even better :)   Breakfast was coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon, and cookies on a sweet little Laura Ashley plate:        (cookies are chickpea chocolate chip, mentioned last week)

I had a look out on the deck and found these:

Some storm battered tomato plants and some very happy spring onions.

Capsicums in dappled sunlight.

A perfect strawberry.   Bliss.  Growing things makes me happy.  So, I wandered back in, to this:
My much loved sewing machine to do some quilting.  Her name is PINK.  She rocks!!

 

 

See that window there? I looked out and saw a really cool spider, so I made a mental note to go out and take a picture soon.  (And drive my car a bit more often!!)

 

  So, I went back to quilting...and that's when I heard him. Him?  That would be "THE HUNK ACROSS THE STREET".  He decided to mow today.  I watched him through the window, then I remembered I still HAD to go take a picture of that really cool spider.

  First, I took a picture looking out the window :

 

See him right there in the middle of the pic?!

 

Squinting....I think I see those movie star glasses, definitely no shirt, those shorts.  Um ok...this is about a cool spider:

 

 

 

 

 

Oh look, not far from the spider, some hot peppers. Might as well take a pic of them while I am loitering out here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It really is a very cool spider....such long legs, and tanned...LOL..

 

 

 

 

Ok.  Deep breaths. Right, I was quilting today :)

 

 

How's your Sunday going?!   debbie