I thought that after my earlier comments re planting Rosella plants,you might like to see what they look like!
(Isn't the colouring so rich...and lush!
feet tall in optimum conditions.
In the past months as Ken's ill health consumed so much of my time,
my Zen Garden attempt has not had too much attention apart from watering .
But it did it's own thing and grew and is flourishing.
The garden was conceived as being for moments of quiet reflection,
and hearts- ease in time of turmoil:
and it is succeeding in being an oasis of tranquillity for me.
There is still work to be done,apart from weeding---
To my mind it needs a few more splashes of colour: maybe a few more broad-leafed crotons that have a splash of orange or yellow.
Yesterday I planted out a couple of New Guinea Impatiens,with deep variegated leaves and deep scarlet flowers;
As none of my Cliveas are blooming at the moment I'm hoping the Impatiend will do a bolt and grow and bloom quickly as we roll into our Wet (and growing season)
In the top picture on the left hand side,and about halfway along is a clump of 'Storm Lilies':
I'm not sure of the botanical name,but their beauty lies in the fact
that after the first thunderstorm of the season it starts blooming
with palest pink lily like blooms.
A couple of weekends ago,on the right hand side of the path,I planted out a few Rosella seedlings
(Hibiscus sabdariffa)
These plants are prized in Queensland for jam/conserve making ,giving a ruby-red,slightly tangy result.
Being of the hibiscus family they have a lemon coloured hibiscus type open flower
with a dark centre.
The fruit are glossy ruby-red 'pods'(looking a bit like a closed rose bud)
and enclosing the slightly hairy seed pod.
Even if my Rosellas don't provide sufficient fruit for jam making
I KNOW I will love having these beautiful plants in my garden
I also added a bird bath to the lower end of the garden;
but looking at the picture,I'm sure it needs to be more level.
More labour ahead.but it's worth it I think!
Taken October 6 when young Kayla and her Mum were visiting:
Top pic
features from left to right,Kayla,Ken and oldest grand-daughter Kylie
sharing cuddles with their Gramps.
The lower pic is Kylie with her Gramps.
The cards from this swap are still trickling in..........slowly!
It seems that whenever Ken has a bad day healthwise,a fabric and fibre card arrives to boost our spirits:
Last week this card arrived from JoyB in Virginia.
Autumn (Fall to our US cousins) has always been a Season dear to my heart,and this card lifted our spirits.
Joy has patched the background and then super- imposed a leaf which has been accented with FME 'veining'.
So many different techniques have been mailed to me in this swap.....thank you ALL!
Introducing Bella and Siela:
Bella the German shepherd
is about four years old and a recent addition to our family.(about seven weeks ago)
Siela,the Rhodesian Ridgeback X was adopted by our daughter some three years ago;
both dogs have been adopted through refuges and are absolutely adorable.
As our daughter and her husband live within walking distance of the Nursing Home Facility where Ken now resides,they are regular visitors...........not only to Ken,but other residents.
I think the highlight of Ken's day is when his furry/hairy grand-babies come avisiting
Luckily Eventide has a policy of allowing well behaved companion animals to visit, and on weekends in particular,there are "our two",a pair of Dobermans;a border collie, a blue heeler,a Maltese terrier, and Lulu.....a Sheltie PomeranianX.
Add to these,Polly...........a silver tabby kitten who is resident,and an aviary of birds.........
The interaction between residents and animals is joyous and loving:
Bella and Siela have befriended a young lass with brain damage and major physical disabilty as result of a road accident.
"M" can not speak,but to see her BIG smile when Bella "kisses" her foot and nudges her hand is heart warming.
Which then begs the question...........
WHY and HOW can humans be so cruel to animals,when the said animals can have such a positive effect on our lives?
....delivered two fabric and fibre postcards............both from friends I have met through our mutual love of CQ.
The first card,introduces Mary C-B's cat Oliver!
As you can see,Mary is an artist!
Oliver (the cat) has been created by Mary using her Janome Xpression.........I guess that I can plead guilty to helping Mary buy the machine VBG.
Mary also told me that this was her very first postcard:
Mary's "Oliver card "arrived
on a day when I needed a real pick-me-up...........the card,and the thought behind it,certainly lifted my spirits .
Thank you Mary.......both Ken & I love it.
Today's mail delivered this burgandy,white and silver "Glitz and Glamour" card from Faye D-S.
It actually arrived on Faye's birthday...so I hope she had as good a day as I did!
Faye has used two layers of burgandy organza (ribbon??) and machine quilted in silver over the right hand third of the card;
A fluffy white feather has been added over the right edge of an added glitzy organza ribbon and my monogram added in (I think) silver pearl.
In my opinion,the burgandy fabric has provided a perfect foil for the "glitz"
A real treasure!............ thanks Faye
Would you believe!
Nearly seven months after contracting to have two such simple structures (as these two patio roofs)erected,they are finally UP!!
These were initially planned to give my husband an outdoor area to be comfortable in;
It's unlikely that he will ever get to enjoy them now.........
I'm so cross,and saddened that bungling ineptness on the part of the contractor has robbed us of enjoyment together.
As you can see a lot of garden decorating still needs to be done,but truly my heart is no longer in the project..............
at least Possum and Cadbury are enjoying the additions.
Well,despite a few hiccups,two of these cards 
are ready to brave the postal system and travel to new homes.
The third (hot shoe shuffle) I'm keeping for myself!
The swap,organised by my Crazy Quilting Friends was "Glitz and Glamour".
I hope the recipients are happy with my efforts,because ,honestly I was "stumped"................
until I remembered that Sandie some time ago had gifted me the Gibson Girl type figure,and the lady dressed for a Ball, and they gave me a starting point.
In both cards I've used a combination of silk/rayon velvet,gold brocade and an organza with silver hail-spots.
The "Gibson girl/Edwardian lady features silver leaf shapes and SRE flower on the velvet and micro sequins and flowers on the lavender satin.
Because of all the "glitz" I limited the seam treatments in order not to be too "in your face".
With "Ready for the Ball" I added a few SRE rosebuds to the flounces of the skirt; and then just played around with the other patches.
Using reverse bobbin work and gold ribbon floss on the bobbin I FME'd the shapes on the maroon fabric and added flower beads and micro sequins.
The velvet below the lady has loops of Sadi gold twist and micro snowflake sequins.
The lavender silver hail-spot organza has butterfly sequins,pink/lavendersquare holograpgic sequins and ruby micro beads anchoring them.
Thankfully,I completed my committments just in time,as today my husband was admitted to hospital for observation and possible surgery........hopefully,nothing radical,but I may be otherwise occupied for a while....
Take care,and hope to be in contact again,soon!
Well,my card (for me) is finished......not that I did much to yesterday's photo to complete it.
It started off as a reply to the theme "Glitz and Glamour"..........
Well to me,spike heels spell GLAMOUR!!
So,with Tangoes and Rhumbas and steamy sultry nights in mind.............this one's for me!
The other ,gentler two will be unveiled when they reach their new owners.
Today being Sunday and raining as well (a rare event in our neck of the woods) I spent most of the day stitching:
I completed the EIGHT cards remaining for my art2mail Group 29 Swap........if the remaining swappers are still alive!( this has been the most uncommunicative group I've ever been involved with.........whether they all melted in the US summer;migrated to Alaska; or plain don't care.........Who knows!)
In the meantime,I have Doreen,Leslie and Alison to dream up confections (for).
As I need to get my DH to a medical appointment some 40 k away by 8.15 am tomorrow..........
and before that happens,I want to piece a "comfort doll" to play with whilst I wait out the Queensland Health System----
so,off to stitch a bit!
May all your troubles be small!
V over on moonmilk has very kindly tagged me.
I believe I have to list the rules so here they are:
Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
Anyway, here's my bravely compiled list:
1. I was born in Broome,Western Australia.
2.I wanted to be the Australian Anna Pavlova,but never had ballet lessons and was told I was "too big",so the world missed out.
3.I wanted to be a journalist,but father decided I should follow in his footsteps and do Pharmacy :-(
Being totally hopeless at Physics,Chem and Maths,that didn't happen.
4. I'm basically a molly-dooker but due to interfering teachers I'm more ambidextrous these days
5.In a bid for 'freedom' I started nursing training at RPH.....family wasn't able to police my activities !
6.Met my husband at a friend's wedding and yes I believe in love at first sight!
7. Who- ever says they've never had a cross word with their partner in half a century is a liar or brain dead.
8. In case you don't know........I love fiddling with fabric and threads.Not sure whether the results are artistic,but I enjoy it and that's all that matters isn't it!
Now........WHO will I tag?
Jacqui aka Jam-mam
ChiefTenBears
Quiddity
Jo has been away for a few days,so I'm safe in dobbing her in VBG.
I think I'll go have a cup of coffee whilst I think who else to throw into the cauldron!
My friends over on CQFriends are having a postcard swap,the theme set being
"Glitz and Glamour"
So, I've been playing with a few ideas,which as you can see have a fair amount of embellishment required to make them glitzy.
The first card has a lady resplendent in a period ball-gown:
With her I've used some luscious silk/rayon velvet from my shopping binge at Colourstreams last week and some gold brocade.
There's also some Angelina fibre over the lavender block on the left.
The second card features an Edwardian lady,(I think)
For sure she's no Gibson Girl as the sleeves are wrong for that style.
I've tried to stay with the colours she's wearing,but I just had to add a dash of glitz with the gold fabric.
Finally,I must admit that this Orange and black piece has been the most fun for me!
The background piece is (hand worked) needle-felt (also bought last weekend in Murwillumbah)
I blended a little lemon through the orange to lessen the starkness of plain orange;
I've also felted some "Mohair glitz" for a bit of sparkle.
Micro sequins are blooming along the feather stitch.
With these three postcards, I now have 14 cards needing to be finished off,so I best go do a stitch or three!
My friend NZJo
has been lamenting to me that the Aussies and Kiwis are not as yet supporting this “Comfort Doll call” in our own countries.
Yes,I know some have been sending dolls direct to Pat Winter in the USA,but don’t forget we have women in Australia and New Zealand who also need a helping hand.
Because of this,I have reproduced below Jo’s blogging on the matter…….
if you can help out at all,please consider emailing Jo at the addie below,or even me
at broomegal at yahoo.com.au
Now please go read Jo’s message,and then maybe go check out Pat’s blog too.
Comfort Dolls Down Under
Pat delivered the first dozen dolls to a shelter in her area this week. You can read her post here. She has asked that I collect dolls from this side of the world, to save on postage there and back. Pat would like to try contribute to any countries that the dolls come from. So come on all you Kiwi's and Aussie's,send me a comfort doll, sure to pleasea fellow female who lived it rough,It will sure help to know that someone cared enough...( if you want to stop the bad poetry, send a doll...NOW)I would like to do a refuge here in NZ, then find a willing Aussie to do the leg work over there. You can contact me via my profile, or my email is playcentrejo(at)gmail(dot)com.
I showed these three cards a while back when they were still unfinished!
Each is 6x4 inch postcard size and ready to go a-travelling!
The brown ones were needle felted using DISSOLVE-4X WSS and my Janome Xpression.
The red one was n/f by hand and then needled (by Xpression) into a piece of Timtex for stabilising.
Glitzy little sequins from Colourstreams were added by hand,as was the brown vine and yarn on the brown cards.
The brown ones were originally constructed for a "colour me brown" challenge suggested by Myfanwy over on Nuvo Felt.
The glitter in the cards was from the addition of some "Spring glitz" from one of my favourite E-bay sellers (Thanks Elaine!)
