More swap gifts

Meet my new friend - he sort of burst out of the parcel Maria sent me in Cheryll's Santa Sack swap (I've already shown the gorgeous stocking she made). Isn't he colourful and cheerful - I do hope he's not too noisy first thing in the morning though!

I love the Christmas tree potholder, which is currently sitting on my kitchen bench looking cute and Christmassy - and would you look at the trim on that tea towel; I know another chook-loving friend will be so jealous.

And that's not all - there are still two more parcels stashed away in that stocking. I wonder what they could be - I'll find out on Wednesday. Thank you so much, Maria. This has been a fun swap. Go to Maria's blog to see what I sent her.

As mentioned in my previous post, Sharni was my partner in Maree's 6 items swap. Here's more of what she sent me - something to read (craft mags and two patterns she designed; how clever is that)  something for the sewing room (a box of  Christmas fabrics) and something that smells nice (lovely bathtime smellies). Thank you, Sharni; the ornaments you made look so lovely on our Christmas tree and there's another parcel left for opening on Christmas day.

I really appreciate the thought and time Maria and Sharni put into making these gifts for a stranger, and  Maree (now tripping overseas, lucky duck) and Cheryll put into  organising these swaps. Thank you all so much.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at my place. The tree is up at last, after a mammoth and necessary house clean, and the special table runners and wall quilts I've made over the years are on display.

And just as I was thinking to myself this morning that we could do with a few more tree ornaments, the postie arrived with a big package from Sharni, my partner in Maree's 6 items Christmas swap. And among the many beautifully wrapped parcels were these ornaments - aren't they gorgeous! I can't wait to open the other parcels, but apart from a little bit of shaking and wondering, I'm being good.

 

This huge stocking stuffed with pressies is from Maria in WA, my partner in Cheryll's Christmas swap. I'm a bit embarrassed because the parcel I sent her was a lot smaller, but it does contain lots of things I hope she'll like.


And this one is from Grethe in Norway, in Chookyblue's annual Secret Santa Christmas Swap, which is always a pleasure to take part in. What a cute little stocking. The parcel came with stamps. not just those boring postal stickers; one of the stamps features the famous Norwegian painting The Scream. Not Christmassy but I'm thrilled to bits with it; you don't see one of those every day!

Of course I can't show you what I made for my partner Dagmar in Germany, but I can show you the ornament I sent her. Yep, it's a moose - she's a fan of these animals so I was pretty lucky to find this drawing to stitch, knobbly knees and all (the moose's not mine, just in case you were wondering).

We've all been in touch with each other - it's lovely to get to 'know' other people; even if we never meet we can still be friends - that's the beauty of this bloggy world.

So a huge 'thank you' to swap organisers Maree, Cheryll and Chooky, and to my generous, wonderful partners.

And now I'll show you what I've been making lately. These two bags are on their way to my young niece and nephew in NZ. The strawberry bag is a Joanna Figueroa pattern and was nice and easy to make (although I did groan my way through stitching the 12 leaves)  and the toy bag was easy too - and I love that fabric (from Spotlight).

 

All the way from Norway

My SSCS gift has arrived all the way from Norway. The lovely lady who is my partner (there's no name on the parcel) included a   gorgeous felt stocking ornament   and two little gift cards. So thank you very much,  whoever you are! I was so good that I made my husband open the parcel and have hidden the rest of it.

SSCS parcel posted

My SSCS parcel is now making its way to somebody somewhere - hooray! Now to finish more secret sewing - I'm in 3 Christmas swaps - how mad is that!

Good times

The Mr and I have been on a little motoring holiday to NSW. Being the first of many trips (I hope) of our retirement, it was quite special.
But what made it even more special (for me, and the Mr didn't mind a bit) was being able to attend a bloggers' get-together in Bathurst, organised by the legendary Chookyblue.
And what a gathering it was. People had come a LONG way to be there and it was lovely to meet longtime friends like Chooky and Peg for the first time, reconnect with stitching buddies in the on-line group I belonged to for several years and meet people who were new to me (and of course now I have a lot more blogs to read!) There were swaps and some truly amazing show-and-tells and lots of laughs and friendship. Oh, and shopping - visiting Anni Downs' Hatched and Patched store for the first time was a great treat and yes, some lovely fabrics and such came home with me.

While  I was socialising, the Mr was hanging out with the old school friend we were staying with so he didn't miss me a bit.

Before Bathurst we'd had a night in Beechworth at a gorgeous B and B (Barnsley House); we'd stayed there before and it was just as good as we remembered. I spent a lot of time sitting out on the verandah off our room, admiring the garden and listening to the birds.

In Benalla we stopped to smell the roses (literally, the rose garden is gorgeous) and admire the statue of Weary Dunlop.

After Bathurst was Mudgee (such a friendly town) and Orange, which is a pretty city with good shops and lovely parks. And some rain, too, which I know many of the blogging girls would have loved to see in their home patches - most of the countryside we passed through was alarmingly dry.

Then came Corowa on the Murray, where we stayed in a comfy cabin in a holiday park. It's not  the sort of place we'd stay in during the holiday season but at a  quiet time it was just fine. The river was just behind us and a kookaburra joined us at teatime. And lunch in a winery café and tasting at another winery just across the river was pretty good too.

Lunch on the way home was a picnic beside the lagoon in Wagga Wagga, where we lived for a while way back when. It's a really busy town, with some fine old buildings and a good art gallery.

And somewhere along the way we fitted in a stop in Cowra. Cowra is probably best known for the break-out of Japanese prisoners from its POW camp. We'd been there before, and had limited time, so we opted to visit the newish Japanese garden nearby. As a place of reflection, and symbolising friendship between Australia and Japan, it was an attractive, thought-provoking place to visit (and feeding the fish was fun too.)

Oh, and a visit to Hill End, the famous former mining town, was fascinating, not so much because of  what's there, more because of what's no longer there. At the height of the roaring days of the goldrushes, Hill End was thriving, with pubs, schools, flash emporiums, a hospital and all manner of entertainments and opportunities. These days, it's very quiet, with a small population.

And I nearly forgot Gulgong - such a pretty little town and its Henry Lawson centre is well worth a visit.

Eight days away from home and it was back to reality - and a mountain of washing. I'm still patting my fabric purchases and reading more blogs and hoping we'll be back on the road again soon.

Colour

We've had some very grey, wet days in my neck of the woods (Ballarat, Vic) and some lovely sunny days too. This is some of the colour I've been enjoying in my garden and beyond.

Our two little darlings Katie and Gus - if they look sleepy it's because they are - I woke them up so I could take this photo (and forgot to give them a treat afterwards; no wonder they are looking a bit disgruntled).

My Angel Face (I think) rose with philadelphus in the background - both so pretty and fragrant.

Our front garden - the photo doesn't show the real lime green colour of the gleditsia trees - they are looking spectacular right now.

The back yard - wallflowers, quince tree, purple thing that I forget the name of and miniature pink tea-tree, which looks better in the pic than in real life because it is infested with spiders' webs and I keep threatening to dig it up.

And the quilt-covered car parked outside the Mining Exchange- where miners once swapped their gold finds for cash and which is now used for all sorts of events - pointing out the way to the Ballaarat Quilters' exhibition last weekend.

Tomorrow Mr LRH and I are leaving it all behind and going on a little road trip to NSW. We can't wait to visit pastures new (or at least different) and I am feeling very excited, and very lucky, to be joining lots of bloggers for a day out in Bathurst. Hooray!

Eventful

Life is usually pretty quiet at my place but  it's been eventful these last few months.

Event 1:  I retired three months ago - hooray! I have time to do stuff - or not to do stuff - or just think about doing stuff - loving that. Today I went to the library where I used to work and took part in a watercolour painting workshop. I produced a slightly lopsided cupcake which I am nevertheless awfully proud of. It's so nice to do something different.

Event 2: Crafty Hijinks in Ballarat - what a great event that was. Catching up with old friends, meeting blogging friends for real, eating, chatting, buying stuff, doing a little bit of sewing - what larks. Thanks to Jodie Ric-Rac and Gillian ( - from Adelaide, no less; that girl does like a road trip!) for having a little idea for a little get-together that grew - from little things big things grow, and all that.

Event 3: My lovely aunt and uncle from NZ came to stay for a few days following a visit to their daughter in Adelaide. My family is Scottish and my uncle David and his brother Alan in Glasgow are the only survivors of  a family of eight children, who included my dad. He's the fine young chap on the right; this was taken when he was with the RAF Wireless Unit in the Middle East Forces during the war (all duly and neatly noted on the back of the pic).  My aunt and uncle also brought me some beautiful crocheted doilies made by my Auntie Molly, who died a few years ago. I feel so lucky to have all these special family things.

The weather was kind to us and we spent a great day at Sovereign Hill and the next day enjoyed a wander by the lake and the Botanical Gardens near home.

Event 4: My husband retired last week - hooray! and we finally bought a record player - hooray! again. Mind you, these two events are purely coincidental. We're having fun relaxing together, pottering around home and delving into the record box for gems not heard for many years. We still remember all the words of our favourite songs though!

Event 5: TBA - a road trip to my husband's old home town of Forbes in the central west of NSW. It will be a happy trip this time; the last visit there was earlier this year for his sister's funeral. It was, of course, a very sad occasion, but good all the same to catch up with friends and other family members. Oh, and I went to visit a blogger - Simone who lives in the town and was lovely to meet. On the way to Forbes we are detouring to Bathurst for a bloggers' get-together (I know - two in one year - yep, I'm spoilt!) It's organised by the wonderful Chookyblue who I am dying to meet. What fun!

That's it so far for this year - who knows what other fun stuff is around the corner?