Trying new things

​this year I made gingerbread men and decorated them with

I did cheat and used gingerbread cookie dough. All I had to do was roll it out and cut out the shapes 

You will notice in one picture that there is one cookie that looks like an Easter egg. It was the left over dough. I used that to practice my icing technique 

Hubby will get to eat that I’m sure 

This year I didn’t decorate the arch with the greenery  

I wanted to try something else  I got these lights from the internet  not sure exactly where  

They reach down to the floor and it looked great  except trixie wouldn’t walk through them  she knows she isn’t allowed to touch the decorations  

I ask really didn’t want the girls running through it as they are wired 

I think it still looks ok like it is  and it’s much safer 

Now I’m going to just sit for the rest of Christmas Eve. 

Tomorrow I’ll have a simple day with just hubby. I’ll do some last minute cooking and bring out the frozen meat so they can defrost in the refrigerator. 

I think I’m almost ready 

Solstice blessings

​

Today we celebrate litha. The longest day of the southern hemisphere calendar 

Up north our brothers and sisters celebrate Yule. 

Today I had Christmas lunch with the art girls. We ate, chatted and laughed 

We are now on a break and start again in the new year. 

Then it was off to my Christmas crazy swimming buddy. We have a get together every Christmas. 

It’s a relaxing evening of fun and games with the grandkids. This year I forgot to ask baby girl if she was free. So no Melody and Breanna. Ana and her parents had prior engagements and were unable to attend either. 

There were still plenty of kids running around. We all played many games with them and had lots of laughs 

From now on the days will slowly get shorter. I have to say I do like the shorter days of winter. Sitting on the couch, fire going and with some craft to work on 

I’m not a summer person at all  

Cooking up a storm

​yesterday I braved the crowds to buy all the supplies I needed for my big cooking marathon 

I started as soon as I got home

The top is honeycomb crack 

First time making it  hubby tasted it and said it was goooood 

The next is a marshmallow treat  

I’ve never made it before iv got it in the fridge to set  id left it on the counter overnight   

Ill cut it up tomorrow and let you know if its a win or a bomb 

I used those little fabric clips to hold the baking paper while I tipped the honeycomb in  

Worked a treat, and was a big help as that honeycomb starts to set quickly 

Today I cracked it into pieces  I’ve bagged some as gifts and the rest is in the container  even the crumbs of honeycomb that where  left is useful  I’ve got it all in that jar  I think it would go great on ice cream 

Maybe I’ll soften some vanilla ice cream  and mix it in before putting it back in the freezer  

Then when served drizzle some of the caramel sauce I made today over it 

I didn’t get photos of the sauce. I’ve put them in little glass bottles and added to the gift bags with the bagged up  honeycomb 

Today as well as the sauce I made regular Christmas crack. Two trays plus some caramel corn 

Once it’s all cooled and set I’ll put them in containers ready for the family Christmas 

I make extra so that the kids can take some home

As we get closer to Boxing Day, that’s when we have our family Christmas, I’ll make more dishes to share  

I’m finally sitting with a hot cup of coffee  I’m pooped! 

More crafting

​I’ve been researching simple Christmas crafts to make with Ana 

I’ve found lots of lovely things to make and will definitely make those on the coming weeks. 

But we wanted Christmas crafts 

And we Made these 

Here she is showing her four Chrissy trees 

We decorated both front and back 

She did start to wind the yarn around one of the trees but quickly got bored with that  so grandma finished the yarn bit and she decorated them  grandma wax the only one allowed to use the glue gun, because it’s adult only  

She placed the decorations and I glued 

I had the four trees cut and ready to go. To not waste any I suggested maybe we could use stickers for the other two. 

I really should have asked her to colour in the trees before we started but completely forgot that step. 

I think they turned out nice anyway 

They have been taken home to decorate their tree. I did tell Ana if they’re too big for the tree to hang them on door handles. She liked that idea 

The day ended with us at the workshop eating a BBQ lunch. We have officially closed shop for the Christmas/ new year season. 

I’m about to run out the door for art class, but I do have a list of things to do before Christmas Day 

Life is about to get very busy 

Let the madness begin 

A day of rest

​after a hectic week I’ve come to a stop 

A friend who rang this morning said I sounded terrible, and to just sit. 

I’m listening to her. 

Yesterday at our weekly coffee catch up Claire or other friend told us about a series set in York. 

Since I’ve been there I thought I’d take a look. 

I’m hooked. It’s called “ Patience “

And it’s a crime drama. 

So here I will be for most of the day 

I’m down to about thirty hexagons  but they’re all similar in colours 

I need more variety.  yesterday I cut up more squares and today I’ll be preparing them for sewing 

Definitely a much easier day. 

Remember to always take time to stop and “  smell the roses “

On a mission

​we are still waiting on spring/summer to arrive. 

We did have a few days of heat, unfortunately they didn’t last. 

I being stubborn, continued to “spring” clean 

The plastic cupboard I fitted into the laundry has made such a huge difference, I ordered more. 

This used to be the built in wardrobe in this room  obviously not enough for a growing girl  we added sliding doors to the back wall and turn all that into storage 

While baby girl was home she used this as a writing nook  we had a desk and shelves install and it worked well 

Now it became a place to store everything in  

It did have a bookcase in there but it was still a mess  

As you can see  it looks much neater 

As I clean all cupboards, I’ll organise and store like with like  right now everything is kind thrown wherever it fits 

I didn’t put the last piece on top because I just wouldn’t be able to reach  

Each piece can be made as a stand alone, with a lid and rollers to help move them 

I even had enough for my craft corner that I made 

I usually have all my craft things across the lounge and had to pack it all up anytime we needed the space to sit. Plus I was losing all sorts of things. 

We moved this couch to this corner because the new Christmas trees were so big we couldn’t get past it with the chair being where it was. 

I had been debating whether to leave it here or not. 

As you can see there is a light in the wall which helps tremendously with me seeing what I’m doing. 

The decision was made and now this is grandma’s chair. Everything is at my fingertips and I even have cupboards to store extras in. Meaning I don’t have to keep getting up. 

Bliss 

The bookcase is now storage in the girls room  making it neat and provides extra floor space  

This little chest of drawers was a different set I purchased 

All books are in here  they’re laying flat as they were starting to bend  hopefully I’ve saved them before the damage was permanent 

So now you’re up to date. 

Life has been chugging along steadily 

I go slow, but I do go. And that’s what counts I think 

Little house on the prairie

​remember that show. I loved it. I’d wish that Charles was my dad. 

Which brings me to, today 

We have purchased our own little house 

It starts off looking like a shipping container. Which it actually is but 

The walls fold out. 

So does the roof 

It’s like a Lego house! 

The same on the other side 

It’s on a trailer which is road registered. 

So completely movable 

Finished on the outside 

And the inside 

Bedroom 1

Kitchen living area

Bedroom 2

See that frosted door. That the bathroom 

It all has to be connected to our water tank. And the biggest thrill for me 

A flushing toilet 

And look at the shower. Way bigger than the one in the van

This is the view of the two bedroom doors 

It really is a tiny house. But perfect for coming up to relax 

I still have to bring my van in the meantime 

It needs to be connected to solar 

Again plumed into the water tank 

Good thing I know a great plumber 

We also need furniture 

I’ve got all four kids on the look out for two double beds 

And at lest two, two sitter sofa beds 

That will sleep four adults in the beds 

Three little girl would probably share a sofa bed. If they’re too big for one. Melody can use the second sofa bed 

It’s a good thing i have so many quilts 

It’s taken the tradies 8 hours to get it to here 

The rest is up to us 

So what do you think about my prairie home? 

We even have a hill in the front if it if the girls want to roll down 

Just like the  girls do in the opening credits 

Visiting

​this morning I headed down to visit my mother in her nursing home 

She really is living her best life 

Every time I get there? They’re doing something 

Today it was choir performance 

I arrived just they were going off to have one last practice before their debut 

So I sat through the practice. I was just going to wait but the lovely Shani asked me to come along. 

After practice, we decked them out in their shirts and head gear and off they went 

Even though the words were on a huge screen and big enough for me to see without my glasses, they went kinda soft in the songs they didn’t know

Then Santa was wheeled in. 

Everyone was having their pictures taken with him 

Mum and Santa. 

He had a bag of gifts but I didn’t stick around. By this time I’d been there for a couple of hours 

They did make me have a picture with Santa and mother. I haven’t got that one. They used another phone

Now for putting on my political hat

The staff at the nursing home are wonderful, caring and compassionate 

They are lucky as they seem to have enough staff and no one gets neglected or left out. 

They really are amazing humans who do a much needed and vital service 

All the carers and staff are from all around the globe 

They’re all multicultural and I bet there is even at least one who is LGBT 

Their worth is priceless and we should celebrate them. 

We all come from somewhere else. We all have different stories 

But we are human beings, who love, laugh, hurt and cry. 

We all bleed red 

So to all who say immigrants and asylum seekers have to go back to “ where they came from”

I’d like to remind you. That in the future if you need consent care, will you reject anyone who doesn’t look like you?

Because if you do. I can almost guarantee you that there will be no one. 

Open your hearts and your minds to the wonderful differences we all bring to the table. It’s the spice that flavours our world. 

Learning

​

I promised a post on my EPP project 

I watched a video on how to create the individual pieces to be sown together 

BUT

I didn’t go back to see how to join them

My bad

I started stitching them together like I do knitted or crochet squares. 

This is hard to explain but you kinda make stitches along the side of the pieces to be joined. You then pull it like a zipper and you get a seamless join that sits flat. 

This wasn’t working with this project. 

When quilting, the top will be stretched so that there are no puckers. 

I gently stretched it and you could see every stitch and it probably just pull apart if I didn’t fix it. 

I when back and watched the video on HOW to joint all the hexies 

They used a simple whip stitch 

I knew this. I had seen it before but obviously I was channeling a man and just went off doing my own thing 

So to prevent disaster I re stitched all seams. 

Thankfully it wasn’t so big that I would feel overwhelmed and probably give up on the whole thing. 

Once I had “fixed” it all. I started adding hexis, using the whip stitch. 

It’s now slowly growing again 

I plan to make it slight bigger than I need, then trim it into a square or rectangle. I will then add a boarder so once again it won’t pull apart when it’s stretched. 

I am planning on getting it professionally quilted so the boarder will be vital to the prevention of it just pulling apart 

So there you go 

Do not just assume you know what you’re doing. Do a quick check. It will save you lots of time in the end 

Spring cleaning

​I hesitated calling it “ spring” cleaning as we have definitely NOT had spring weather 

But needs must 

I’ve started in the laundry. 

It was desperate for a clean and organise 

I have been seeing these Everywhere!

I needed to organise supplies in a much easier way to access them 

 Buy in bulk. Saves having to go out again week after week. 

I buy my milk in boxes of ten

I had one box here but forgot I had two more in the spare room!

Needless to say. I’m good for milk for a while. 

This was one problem of not having things in one easy to look at place 

Storage space is not in abundant supply in this house. 

I measured and knew this storage centre would fit in the space I had 

Our freezer is also in the laundry room 

So it’s pretty crowded 

I ordered online and it arrived yesterday 

It took time to put together. Each pair of doors is one storage block 

They come in three’s 

I needed two sets. Each box is also stand alone if you need. Which is great if I need to move stuff around 

I then collected all the boxes of stock and spent another hour putting it all in

Between the cleaning, assembling and packing I was definitely done 

I had a long soak to try and stop the spasms in my back and legs 

When I over do and I get that bad I literally end up with bruising from the cramping 

This is one leg. 

This is a sign to slow down and rest. 

Which I will do today. 

I’m very just got to unload the dishwasher and clear up in the kitchen first 

I did wipe down benches, swept and mop the floors. I need to wait for them to dry 

I’ll be working in my EPP project 

I had a small setback that I had to correct and now I’m back to adding to it. 

But that’s another post. 

Enjoy your day and remember to rest and relax. It’s very important