The grass is green.............

 

After having had over 7 inches of rain from thunder storms in the last month the paddocks are rejuvenated.
The bird in the centre is a Dusky Moorhen (cock-bird) on his daily stroll from one dam to another. 

Interesting fruits

http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/fruits_region_frameset.htm

While trawling the Net trying to identify that red fruit I stumbled on "Fruits around the world" 2 comments  

Do you know the name?

 
This is the photo showing comparative size of fruit and leaves with a match-box. 

Unknown fruit...forbidden fruit?

 

Today we met with our daughter and son-in-law on Bribie Island;In the area where we stopped for a picnic, across the park from Koolamara Resort was a tree bearing an unusual red fruit!
I've included a match box for size comparison,and a couple of leaves.
The plant was a lovely bush with leaves similar to a Moreton Bay fig leaf and when leaves were removed from the bush a white sticky milk was exuded.
Even though I had my camera with me I never thought to get a pic of the bush.
I've cut a slice out of a fruit and the white stickiness is evident there also;as well as what seems to be a largeish stone or pit like a peach.
I didn't notice any open blossoms,but there did seem to be some buds similar in shape and size to Mangrove blossoms.

Actually,the fruit ,foliage and sap make me think of guavas,but they don't have the sepals on the base like a guava or pomegranite.

I'll harass the shire botanist/gardener tomorrow, and also the Ag Dept in the hope they can identify it for me 

It's all Neefer's fault

You go perfectly innocently to check out Jennifer's Blog and get side-tracked.......
so,colour me PURPLE!!

Your Blog Should Be Purple

You're an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything. You tend to set blogging trends, and you're the most likely to write your own meme or survey. You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you - not what anyone else has to say.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

Do go and have some FUN,finding yourself!

Shell ginger

We drive up to Tinbeerwah today to look at a property offered by Boystown as a Lifestyle Lottery.Forget about the house,the gardens were worth a visit though:
Down in the
back-yard" was this magificent Shell Ginger (Alpinia Speciosa).Already past it's blooming prime ,it was nevertheless a clump worth admiring:Over six foot tall,lovely glossy leaves and tall canes ,perfect in a sub tropical garden! 

Saturday morning nap

 

As my friends know,a lot of native birds visit us on a regular basis;Here is Joe(named for Joe Cocker) having a nap in a Fiddlewood tree!
He lies along a branch and partially wraps a ring over the branch to stabilise him while he has a snooze 

The fifth step

 

Trying to balance the rear with the front of the bag........I really need to change that central loop! 

Step 4 "gardening"

 

Time to start adding flowers,vegetation,beads and buttons.
Ive used chain stitch whorls over top pocket,twisted basque stitch in purple on the
pocket edgings;some feather stitch and wheat ear stitch and also a double row of lazy daisy stitches interlaced with contrasting thread 

Step 3: the rear view

 

I don't want "too much" embellishing on the back as I feel it will be worn away by brushing against the body.
I've just positioned a few motifs and (soap) drawn possible lines to curve around to the front of the bag.
I like the idea of the red braid through the waist loops,but am not sure if it will stay there:maybe a broader braid?? 

Step 2

 

I've started the curves..... rather stark looking at the moment isn't it!t 

Step one----playing with positioning

 
I liked the ideas of curves that (vaguely) echoed the lines of the front pockets,so I've placed the motifs over chalked in lines;the chalk in this case being slivers of dried soap that I keep for marking dark fabrics 

A Bag of Fun

Link

[http://www.flickr.com/groups/72125064@NOO/pool/]


When I started my first BoF I had in mind a confection of soft pastel colours featuring butterflies super imposed on a background of flowers and stems which would comprise embroidery,beads and buttons.
However,somewhere along the way I decided to flaunt my "growing old,disgracefully" tendencies, and with the help of a machine embroiderer friend who constructed the red hats,umbrella and Miss Maude on the back pocket with her magical machine,my tribute to the Red Hat Society took over!
I kept as far as possible,to a red and purple theme and embellished flowers and vines in curves that echoed the pocket shapes on the front.I've used crewel wools,polyster punch needle threads,DMC Madeiras and even DMC stranded cottons.
Being a cat lover,who has at least one cat lurking somewhere in each of my CQ pieces,if you look closely,you'll find three on the front of the bag.

Because I was aware of how the rear of any bag rubs against the body I didn't do much work on the bag's back: Only a feisty lady peering out of one pocket,a red hat on one pocket and a basket on the other.
A few vines and flowers relieve the bareness of the remaining panels.
Some red braid goes through the waistloops and the lining of the bag and straps is a Red hat fabric from a chain-store.

I used a small rectangle of Timtex to stabilise the base of the bag and added a couple of internal pockets in the lining.
I have found it a most convenient bag for general use,and not as heavy as I thought it would be.
I must now complete the "butterflies are free" bag and make 2 others,but,trust me,they wont have as much handwork as this one did!

Christmas Ornies and Bags of Fun update

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At latest count the Xmas Ornies I've completed is 10.I still have two bells,one heart and two punch needled shapes to finish off.
In a local "trash shop"( an el cheapo type)the other day I chanced on a beaded trim that I can use in place of the "icicles" that went AWOL....I hope it works as I planned.

On another front,one bag(see Bags of Fun) has been completed and christened.I must write up my journal to submit to SharonB.Somehow I don't think that my "Butterflies"bag will be completed by the deadline.

One thing about deadlines:they sure pressure you into finishing by due date instead of languishing indefinitely as WiPs.
My problem is I get too many "bright ideas" that just have to be pursued down beckoning sidetracks leading me away from the main game.

Next year I must try and be firm with myself and complete at least half of those UFOs;After all,that was the excuse I gave for commencing this blog:journalling the completion of UFOs,and what happened????

Christmas Ornies

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Over the last week I've been slowly working on that pile of Xmas Ornies I'm committed to making for two Ornie swaps.
The punch-needled ones are a little smaller than my usual circular ornaments,but there is no doubt that they are BRIGHT!
Just need to add a few beads and tiny bells to them and then I can back and hang them.
Am very disappointed though---some icicle beads I received in an Aust/U.S. swap some 3 years back and which would be perfect for myoff-white and silver heart have gone AWOL! I "hid" them so carefully so that they wouldn't be used before the right inspiration hit,that I can't find them.Looks like I'll be using crystal beads instead.
On a lighter note,the list below came in one of my newsletters this week;I think it's applicable whether you're a dress maker,crafty person,or a quilter.
Enjoy!

If I Don't Buy That Fabric I'll Surely Faint!
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Few true sewers, quilters or fabric crafters need an excuse to buy more fabric. We are hooked on cotton. We obsess over silk. We daydream about calicos and ginghams and plaids. But just in case you need to explain to others why you have a million yards of fabric at home, but still need a few more fat quarters and just have to buy yardage of the newest prints ... here's a handy list of reasons you need more fabric! Copy this list and tuck it in your purse for quick reference!

It is a patriotic duty to support cotton farmers, textile mills and fabric shops.
"Oh, it's not for me! I'm buying it for a friend!"
It's on sale.
I need extra weight in the trunk of my car for traction on snowy, icy roads. This is important, even in Florida and Southern California, as you never know when the weather will change.
It's non-fattening.
Like dust, it's good for protecting previously empty spaces in the house.
Because it's there.
It's much cheaper to cover the floor with fabric than new carpeting.
The devil made you do it.
It's the only remotely artistic thing I have ever done.
I can't live without it.
I have new shelves for fabric storage.
It will go with some I bought last year.
It's so pretty, and I'll use it some day.
I want my daughter to have a proper inheritance.
Without fabric, I would have nothing to do with my rotary cutter and my mat and my sewing machine.
It does not promote tooth decay.
It calms the nerves, gratifies the soul and makes one feel good.
If I don't buy it now, I may never see it again.
A large fabric stash is the sign of a creative mind.
I owe myself a reward for that half-pound I lost last month

That Craft Fair

Link

I ventured down to Brisbane today to the Craft Fair.
What a disappointment for this hunter/gatherer...
(I think the one in April?May had far more appealing wares)
I went with a LIST and was disappointed to come home minus some of the goodies I was chasing---
amongst the items high on my agenda were Angelina fibres.........seems like the ThreadPlace in Perth or (forget who) in NZ are my only options.
Then I was on the look-out for Sculpey Art-doll moulds--------nada,zip,zilch!
Sculpey,Jovi polymer clays...........nil;
Fabric for my punch-needle with silk ribbon?? At least I could count on Pamela Gurney and her Dancing PunchNeedles(http://www.punchneedleembroidery.com/pages/default.cfm?page_id=4697) to supply the threads and fabric,AND a quick tecnique brush-up for the silk ribbon punch-needle )
Next on my list was a book on Fabric Bowls by Linda Johansenn...........YES!!

and a couple of mini porcelain dolls to grace my 1/12th size beds and cot....yes!!
Tatting edging,crochet motifs.....The Lace Place
Cotton broder edging and sumptous cotton laces...Starrs Lace.Worth visiting just to listen to HIS banter!! VBG
I checked out the Quilt Show section.............only found one CQ!
But the postcards from Alaska!!! Loved them!!I have a few ideas now for that Postcard swap next year with Mary-Frances'group (in Oregon??)
Maybe it's my sick SoH,but the postcard featuring roadkill was most memeorable!

My fifth fan

 

This is the fan that danced through another RR with another group who I'm working on getting obsessed with CQ.
As I'd started piecing blocks for the SCCs RR I thought I'd continue with the fan theme.
I'm looking forward to combining all my fans..............but i think that at least one more will be required! 

Four fans dancing

 

These four fan blocks arrived home this morning after four or five months travel to and from five other "southerncross crazy" members.
I mentioned that
"I love flowers,birds,bead and button trails and I generally have at least one cat somewhere on my block!"
Apart from that I just wanted my fellow RRers to play and enjoy themselves.

I really am happy with what has been done for me and must now decide how I'm going to set the blocks,and whether to add more blocks.I have also shown these blocks on the blog CQCrazy,as I had yet another fan block doing the rounds with a Craft Forum group at the same time as this. 

A new generation

 


----of feathered free-loaders has started arriving.
This one is a young "blue-browed honey eater" 

Another avian visitor

 

This adult Blue-browed honey eater is verbally abusing me,because a younger bird is higher up in the Fiddlewood tree ,waiting to have his turn at the feeding bowls 

Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie!

 

Tuesday breakfast with the birds features Double bar Finches.
(I wish I had a better set of lenses to do them justice)

These little birds measure in at about 8 cm and generally live in open grassy woodland.
The dish they're in is 30 cm (12 inch) in diameter.

Whenever they descend on one of the feeding bowls I always think of the old nursery rhyme of the 4 & 20 blackbirds baked in a pie! 

King parrots

 


The King parrots checking out the drive-way..........unfortunately I couldn't get closer so I'm behind bars! 

Oh TOYOTA!!

 

Somewhere out there in cyber space are 3 or 4 pics the same as this!
I've tried four times today to publish;so hopefully this time it's successful.
We never know what bird life to expect as visitors in our yard:this morning a pair of King Parrots dropped in for a late breakfast.
Larger than Rainbow Lorikeets and Pale-headed Rosellas,and smaller than our Lagoon Creek Black Cockatoos,Suphur crested Cockatoos and the Galahs,they are certainly an aggressive duo---the pic shows them giving some hurry-up to an inoffensive pale head rosella,before they in turn were hounded on their way by a noisy friar bird!

On a sad note,the little immature "scaly" has not put in an appearance today:whether it succumbed to the cold and wet of the weekend;or damaged by the other older birds;or just found enough blossom in the wild.....who knows? 

Sunday breakfast

 

After 60 ml of rain last night,and 118 ml the previous 24 hours,all the feathered free-loaders made it difficult for this little bloke to get a feed;On the off-chance he'd accept it,I made up a special bowl just for him.
I held it near the branch he was huddling on and he immediately boarded the bowl!
My husband used the camera,so,sorry about the human,but the pic looks weird without me in it (sorry about that) 

Afternoon snack

 

This is Frederick! We think he/she is a baby scaly,going by his beak,eye and feather colouring.
He(she?) has only appeared in our yard in the last week and he/she gets so busy feeding that he ignores the humans as we put more food out for him. 

Saturday morning's visitors

 

This morning one of the pair of Galahs that drop in daily consented to share a table with a Rainbow Lorikeet!
At the moment,one of the scaly breasted ( grass ?)parrots is deciding that I'm not as fearsome as I look,and comes to check out what I've got in the bowl for the feathered free-loaders....it worries me when wild birds are so trusting,I must admit,but when drought conditions are reducing bird feed in the wild,I feel they need a helping hand.
We also have an immature "scaly" living here.He jumps into the feed bowl feet and all!
The rainbows who can be quite vicious ,ignore "him/her" so it seems to be thriving. 

Breakfast at Kurli's Kottage.Yesterday one of my favourite cockatoos consented to be photographed with a couple of scaly breasted parrots.The birds are about 8 feet away from where I sit having breakfast each morning.LUCKY aren't we?

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Breakfast is served; View from my kitchen window as some of the rainbow Lorikeets vie for a place

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Embroidery on denim skirt(.Scanned from "Ideas for clothing decoration")

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Clint's ceremonial shirt":waterproof felt pens on washable white cotton velvet.Not a stitch in sight.(From "Ideas for Clothing Decoration" Sunset Press 1977

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Pack-rat? Hoarder? You decide.

Link
For the last two days I've been trying to re-organize storage space in the room that doubles as"office" and craft library.
I'm trying to be ruthless and cull the books,mags,fabrics that as they haven't been used for two plus years, I reckon I'll NEVER use.

Of course I have to double check "everything" don't I,so the process is slooooooooooooow!!
This morning,I have found :

part of a Recipe book printed in 1890s

A pattern for a Norman Hartnell designed skirt (courtesy English Woman's day,about 1955)

"Toys and Gifts" to make for Christmas (AWW Nov1972)

"Toys and Doll's Clothes" (AWW,October 1964)

and I also found " Ideas for Clothing Decoration"from Sunset books,Ca. printed in 1977;
I was happy to rediscover this because I remembered an embroidered denim skirt in it and thought it might be adaptable to those bags of Fun.......
In a word? NO!!
(I'll scan & upload some pics later to remind you of what was trendy in the 70s)

Knitting and Crochet books from late 40s

The first editions of Down Under Quilts;Inspirations;Australian Country Craft;Needlecraft---;CQNewsletter!

And I have the cheek to rubbish DH for his "junk"....

And with the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the house,I think it's time for a break........

Butterflies are free!

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With the "growing old disgracefully" aka Red hats Bag of Fun Challenge out of the way,I returned for another attack on the butterflies.
I vlisoflexed two "punched" butterflies to the back ground today,and completed stitching in shades of purple another butterfly,which I'll fix to the bag to-be, tomorrow.
I sorted out a "heap" of fabrics for my Christmas Ornie swap,and decided to use some of that silk from Gail R's kimono off-cuts for the foundation fabric.
Will I construct my Ornies from a "whole cloth" CQ or piece each one individually?
My heart opts for the latter,but my head(and Time constraints) says "Go for the whole cloth method.
Unfortunately I tend to feel this is reducing the originality and lending itself to mass production type of mind-set.
Really,it's too hot for such decisions(35 degree C today,and yesterday,and same predicted tomorrow.......I HATE summer!

As the auctioneers ask?

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"Are you all done?"
I thought yesterday that I'd completed my "bag of fun" but several bare patches screamed out for additional work!
I'd like to thank my friend Y for kindly sewing the red hat motifs for me........she's tried hard enough to con me into purchasing an embroidery machine,but when I've got a friend like her,why bother!
(Thanks,Y)
The two pics preceeding this post show that I added a total impracticality.......work on the rear side!
I know it will be subject to more wear and rubbing than the front,but at least this way I've got the option of two views!

So,hopefully now, I can find enough "attitude" to actually use my bag in public-----

I couldn't have a totally naked back-side,could I?

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Showing the lining and handles

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Some facts relating to "that Bag"

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Reading Jacqui's queries re the Size and style of jeans used,I thought it may help others who want to try these bags for themselves!

The red hat bag was a cut down pair of Size 8 ladies jeans;I initially performed surgery just above the crotch seam to give basic shape.
The bag finally ended up as 12 inches deep and 16 inches wide.
The straps and the bag base I was able to cut from the legs.
Thanks to a sample from Ronnie,I used Timtex to provide a stable base in my bag and I LIKE the stuff!

http://www.sew-happy.com/

(is Ronnie's site to find out more about Timtex in Australia; and no I don't own shares :-) )


My "Butterflies are free",which is still a WiP is (being) constructed from a ladies size 12 denim mini skirt,which I can see will present new challenges for constructing handles and base as not as much off-cuts are available.

I also have a pair of men's jeans with a 100cm waist..now they are DAUNTING!
But as my DiL would like a denim bag,maybe I can turn those into an overnight bag??

And I must add an apology......I still can't get the "link" thingie to work for me,so you'll need to cut and paste the URL to your browser to view Ronnie's site!

Nearly complete!As much embellishing as I'm doing.The base of the bag is sewn in position,the handles pinned.........."just" the lining to be successfully implanted and my "Growing old disgracefully" Bag of Fun will be ready for use!
And for those that know me-----------YES! There is one cat visible!!

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