And here are the slippers

I love my sisters!

A pair of slippers from my lovely sister... she is on the right...

When the kids got home from school today there was a parcel in the letter box. My darling sister, affectionately known as Aunty Lee Lee, had sent Nick and Anna both a pair of socks, and then slipped in a little pair of knitted slippers. She is a good knitter, and I will have to get her to teach me how to make some myself. I can only knit rectangles like scarves, which kind of limits what I can make. I cannot follow a pattern, but I think this is due to laziness, and it takes so long to get anywhere, whereas with sewing I can see something coming together instantly. I'm all for instant gratification me!

Ms Jones,my sewing machine gazes forlornly out the window...

I havent done much this week because Mike has been suffering all week from the flu. I dont mean the male version either, as we all know how they can play up the symptoms a bit. He really has been crook and laid up all week. I have done the good wife thing, and tried to be kind. I informed him that the "Nice Nurse" would turn into the "Matron from Hell" if he didn't start getting better though, and yesterday "Matron" arrived. He asked me if I was going to administer Euthanasia, but I just told him he would only be wishing I would. I told him he could forget about me running up and down stairs making bacon butties, and cups of tea that are left half drunk, and if he was able to sit up on the sofa, then he could help me get those shelves I just bought, out of the back of the car!! A bit mean because he looked a bit knackered after that. I really wanted to play in my sewing room/office, but its really hard with the other half around, because to him it probably looks like I'm just mucking around and not really doing anything. (like housework and all that rubbish) and I can see how that must look to him, but he just doesn't get to see all the stuff that is happening in my head!!! (probably very fortuante for him). I have been drawing lots of little pictures of what I want to do, so its not like it's all been in vain. I have also been knitting. I want to make Anna a poncho, but I'm not sure its quite how I thought it would be... so if anyone has a really easy knitted poncho idea, please once again form an orderly cue and let me know!! I have put a picture of my office in this post, as you will see it could do with a damn good tidy up, but once I start "doing stuff" it all just goes to custard really.

Where I came from - kind of...

I love this picture that my cousin in Scotland sent me, of the signpost near where my Mum was born and grew up. The little village of Whiterigg no longer exists unfortunately and all that is left is a field. Thanks JT!

Op Shop find

One of my recent favourite Op Shop finds was an old Farmers Trading Company bag full of that old fashioned crochet work. I dont know whether some of the wee pieces were samplers or the start of some project that never got finished. I should imagine they would be from a deceased estate, and that I have now become the new owner of someone's Nana's "old stuff" that no one wanted or knew what to do with. Well thats how I like to think of it anyway. Seeing the old Farmers logo brings back memories of catching the Farmers Free bus from by Karangahape Road, and going up to the top floor of the Farmers Department Store to have lunch in the restaurant, where you could go into the childrens area and ride around on three wheeler bikes, and try and get Hector the parrot to talk. (I think his name was Hector) I should imagine that having a live parrot in a restaurant area would break every by-law and OSH regulation in the book these days. But to me as a small child it was the height of sophistication and poshness. None of this McCafe rubbish. Going out was a real treat, when shopping wasn't a National past time, and a trip to the shops either meant running down to the dairy for a loaf of bread, or it meant you needed new shoes for school, the latter normally only happening a couple of times a year. Yep the older I get the better it was.... sigh.

I've been sorting out some trims...

I start out all good and organized and then it all just goes to custard really. My box that I keep my trims in was in a right state, and I ended up with ribbon all tangled up, and making it worse by clawing my way through it looking for something I needed. Anyway I have sorted them now and may have to find a better filing system for all those bits. I'm sorry I didn't take a before picture, because you might not appreciate the effort that went into it! I also found a use for some cute little pegs that I bought at the dollar shop at Christmas, and I got them because... um well I just like them...

Happy Mothers Day

Its Mothers Day tomorrow, and I wanted to put in this picture the only one I have of my maternal grandmother, Annie Lee Houston. My mother (Mary) one of the babies, and we are not sure which one, with her twin sister Isa, and one of their older sister's (Lizzie, my namesake). My grandmother was the unofficial village midwife, in a little Scottish village called Whiterigg. But she also helped with laying out the dead as well. Both ends of the spectrum. My mum was the youngest of 13 children, and my grandmother died when my mum was only 14. How I would love to sit down with her one day and have a chat. I get the feeling she was a quiet spoken woman, and as I look at her now, I realise how much my mother looked like her.

It Mothers Day soon and the sewing machine is out!

I think I work better under pressure. Its Mothers Day here on Sunday, and the little photo frame that I bought my Ma In Law, looked a bit stingy, so I thought I might whip her up something, and seeing as though I am quite good at sewing square sort of things, I thought perhaps a travel laundry bag might be the way to go. Mikes Mum and Dad frequently travel to Australia to visit Mikes two sisters over there, so it might come in handy.

And I love the look of simple applique, It was so easy peasy and it only took me about an hour, and that was sifting through fabric and wot not and generally putting the idea together. Its quite cute, and I like the little bow on the knickers. I hope my Ma in law likes it, but I think she appreciates anything I make her. (She's good like that!).

I might whip up a few more because my sisters might like one as well, and seeing as we don't have our darling mother with us anymore, I might do theirs with a lovely gingham heart. We love and miss our Mum so much, so it somehow seems appropriate. Happy Mothers Day Mary Lewis x x

Fabric Fabric everywhere and not a stitch in sight!!

I have all this fabric which is really getting into a bit of a mess, because I keep going through it, and then lose all momentum. I'm not sure what is stopping me, but instead of moaning I may just have to get on with it and start sewing!!! Ya think?

So I have started working out some colour stories. A couple of which I will show just in case your'e interested. I have some ideas of what to do with them, and I have really been wanting to make cupcake pincushions, don't ask me why, but I really am loving cupcakes at the moment, thankfully Im not baking them, because I could do with shedding a few kilos right now. I need to find a really good tutorial on cupcake pincushions because I'm a bit hopeless it seems. So if you have any links that can help me, then please form an orderly queue. I'll keep you posted on my efforts! You might want to go and make a cup of tea or something though because at this rate it might take a while...

Soccer, Soup and a Roaring Fire

Nick had his first game of soccer this year. The season had already started a good few weeks ago,although he hasn't played because he rolled off my swiss ball and broke a bone in his shoulder!!!
Yes I know it sounds really good, with me having a swiss ball and everything, and does conjure up images of a fit busy mother, but here is the thing. I haven't actually used the swiss ball yet. But I have to say it makes quite a good foot rest whilst I sit in front of the tele! I have good intentions, but my husband keeps telling me the road to hell is paved with good intentions. So I suppose the only way to go is up then!
Anyway I digress...
Nicks game. Blackpool (9th grade) won 2 nil, and I can't remember what the other team is called, because apart from the odd, "great shot", or "go Blackpool go!" yelled from the sideline, I spent most of the game chatting with one of the other mothers. But the point Im trying to make here is that winter is on its way. We have had a cold blast from the South and you can feel it. The scarfs are out, and Iv'e lost my gumboots, so its a trip to the Warehouse to buy another pair, because I know from experience that by the months end, we will be standing ankle deep in mud! I have made a mental note to buy some warm 'sideline clothes', because there is nothing worse than freezing at your childs soccer game and trying to muster the enthusiasm to cheer on the team and pat the Player of the Day on the back at the end of it all.
However apart from what seems like a cold miserable prospect on the horizon, I do love the prospect of getting home on a Saturday morning, with a frozen face and muddy kids, to a big stock pot full of homemade vegetable soup, and a roaring fire. We have had a brilliant summer, but the thought of a tucking down for the winter, and eating winter fare, whilst Mike brings in the firewood, brings me great joy!!
Footnote: Around July or August my opinion may have changed somewhat, and I will be looking forward to summer once more. However for now I am happy to look with aniticipation to a New Zealand winter!!!