Christmas at moi house..

As each passing days goes by I sneak more and more of my Christmas decorations out!!!! Some are very new such as the tilda angel and Santa Claus in the top picture.And the Cherry Menlove Christmas stocking swag. ut then there are old favourites like the next two.
My husband keeps giving me dissaproving stares but he knows better than  to say something.!!!
 I am in the middle of a million log cabin scrappy squares right now, I am on a trip to sew all my scraps into quilts. I have been on Bonnie hunters site (she is a quilter who loves scraps). So much choice. My favourite on her site is sisiters choice, but i have already used that pattern with my last venture into "using up all my stash" I hope i get further this time!!! Theres NO room in our closet!!!(More dissaproving stares from my hubby!!)
Short and sweet, much to do, days are long and hot at the moment, kids are in the pool every night  summer is here!!!!

A little bit of this a little bit of that

Ive always said that crafting is a meditation for me. I feel that it really keeps the woves from thedoor so to speak. And so with recent ill health and Docotrs help i have been crafting like crazy. Obviously the magic time of Christmas is closing in and my Christmas spirit is raising to the fore. This is one of two Christmas puddings made. I actually bought a pudding bowl with a lid which is such a pleasant change from my normal ill wrapped abstract sided thing that i usually come out with each Christmas after wrapping in calico and boiling. Last night we ate the second one of these as I hadnt tried the recipe that came with thw bowl . It was nice, sure but i will be tweeking some changes before the next one...and yes i did say the next one. I love making these. The GHIU (gorgeous hubby in uniform loves his Christmas puddings)

 This is a origami with fabric tree. I made up all the little pieces at work but just couldnt understand how it could work out...it did!! It was my second Christmas decoration to go up..

 This was my first. An advent calender from Spotlight which really is totally unlike the sort of thing i normally buy BUT it was at the time that i really needed to sew (My meditation) It has been filled with candy canes in which only a few have disappeared!

Upcoming projects include a Santa and Angel doll doll I am making (Not without much difficulty) by designer Tone Finnanger...gorgeous gorgeous desighner Ive just ordered her Christmas book....

A scrappy log cabin quilt. I have to say IM LOVING this I just cut a million 11/2 " strips and sew them on to the centre piece cutting off the ends to fit as I go. SO easy and So relaxing.

Ive also finished a the Christmas present quilt I made for my brother. Ill post pics soon.

Weather is SO HOT. GHIU just yesterday filled up the pool and the girls have been swimming in it since. Georgia has rather an important audition this afternoon...Im hoping she doesnt cough her way through it..that water was freezing.

Talking of the girls they have just finished the Wizard of Oz production and are onto the Christmas Production at the Hastings Operatic Theatre next.. Ilove that we are back in the world of theatre!!

The vege garden has gone wild. Warm temperatures and a lot of rain has made the garden go bananas.!

Happy temperatures to yo wherever you may be

Love Cherry

A post at last...

This will just be a short post. Its been ages since I last posted but I have been in the midst of a major attack of OCD. I seriously didnt think I could get better this time and thought I would never be able to post again on here. ut time... and little yellow pills and three weeks of work and.. here I am again. One thing I do when i do get sick and am recovering (even though it feels like Im not recovering) is to craft. Its my rehailitation and my meditation, Its the feel goof factor I need if only to feel good about one thing in my life at the time. And so i present to you some of the crafts(there. First up is the Advent calender (we will now have FOUR) that i bought as a panel From Spotlight. A lot of the quilting on this i did in  my lunch hour at work. HONESTLY stitching in the breaks was the ONLY thing that keep me from major panic attacks at work.. Here is a close up below. I was happy to find candy canes had arrived at our brand new Warehouse store (Its HUGE!!) and so I could fill up the pockets. two in each for each of my girls..some have mysteriously dissappeared..

Scrapbooking has been HARD Oh so hard since Mum passed away and then a few weeks later it HIT me..but over the course of four days I managed to complete a kit I had purchase from Hastings Ruber stamps. I still find it heartbreaking to scrap Mum and Dad But I think Im slowly getting my mojo scrapbooking love back...slowly...

Arnt they gorgeous. I miss them SO much..

 And now here is a quilted origami Christmas tree. As I made this up I could not believe it was going to actually work out. To my utter amazement it did. Hurray...Im not doing another in a hurry tho..

Im also making a Kiwiana quilt for my brother for Christmas. It is completely handsewn. I took it to work as well for the brak times and it too got me through. Im at the quiltingstage and Im enjoying using a larger needle than the betweens and using a heavy thread. Its quilting up so much easier than normal.

So that is all for now. We are currently in the last week of the school term. Two weeks off.

Georgia and Alex are both in the operatic thatres production of the Wizard of Oz in the holidays. Eight weeks of rehearsal is going very fast. Maybe because I had to open my BIG mouth and offer to sew costumes..i never learn..

e happy whereever you are and if you are not then do as I am doing and reread Loise hays excellant anniversary book

Love Cherry

Beetroot and Schoolhouse quilts

Despite it being a very cold Winter...actaul days of frost hwere the chickens trough and parts of the swimming pool were frozen solid!! I have still had great delight in out vege garden. in our bigger garden we have a lot of brassicas: now either past their best or very young and not growing with any verve, we have some gorgeous healthy looking broad eans begiining to flower. I got a complete shock when i pulled out what i thought would be ay carrots and came away with giant monsters that had split down the middle (but very tasty they were that night our first ever carrots!!!) But the best performer in the garden has got to be our beetroot. These are only some I pulled (the rest still in the ground). I fancied a bit of bottling and found a chutney in the good ole Edmonds book. Well It is delicious...especially when eaten with bacon and egg pie.....

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

Im thinking of making some more (I do love seeing all the produce bottled and ready for use over winter)

So I finally gor some of my quilting Mojo back. In amidst the frenzy of scrapbooking I really suddenly felt like just stitching away at something. I soon found a schhol house block quilt I hadnt finished and with only one trip to Spotlight (!) I have just completed it. I am quite please with it if i do say so myself!! 

I am currently cleaning out my closet in time for our "move" (SO close to finding somewhere now!) and have so far come across six pieced tops to quilt.....I actually desire to quilt the school house blocks, but need in the closet jumble to find my quilting hoop. After all it IS winter and what better way to spend inside than with a quilt.

It is the school holidays and I was so ready for the break. I love having the girls at home and just doing what we ant. We went to see harry Potter today at the movies. Actually I thought it would be heaps more expensive than it was. I enjoyed it but almost went to sleep..darkened room, warmth, my girls by me but quiet...the conditions were just right!!!!

As I write it is raining rather biblically...my poor chooks..I do feel sorry for them in this weather.however the ghiu made them a lean too and they go under there and see even today that they had made a dust bath in the corner!!

Ive also been watching reruns of the GOOD life that programme never fails me..I laugh, get inspired, the girls love it as much as I...why isnt ther anything on like that now.Right now the way things are going back to basics would be a great time to have a sitcom about self sufficiency..well I think so anyway.

Love to you all Keep warm and dry

Love Cherry

This is how we do it in NZ

I know that quite a few of the blogs I read are in America and the UK and I see all the snow and all the frozen lands there..but this is how we spend Christmas and the New year in NZ.!!

As I write it is midnight the only time to do anything other than swim is at night....it is too hot. I am sunburnt on the back of my legs...silly me. The girls and th GHIU are all a nice brown colour!

Tonight we went to the river and the GHIU set up a fire where we cooked susuages and roasted marshmallows. The girls swam around and as the sun went down the little trout began to jump. it was great!

I am busy trying to finish patching my Flyaby quilt, my machine is now upstairs where I usually hand sew. This is to give me more time to actually finish off these UFOs this year.  We'll see.

It is late so nighty night

Love Cherry

chicken news from the urban farm

We had the sad demise of Henrietta the other day, Despite the fact that she had been sick on and off for ages and then this time really waswnt going to pull through and despite the fact that I went around saying:wheres theres livestock theres deadstock and despite nme saying all the right things to the children and thinking of the tiny hen brain contained within I was still very depressed when she died. And of course I was the one that found her..and had to remove her...GHIU buried her though. A very touching funeral service was had around the base of the grapefruit tree and Georgia put a lovely cross of pebbles down afterward. The next day while checking my plants over in that area I inadvertantly stepped on the mound of fresh earth simking my foot into the mound and the cross and ruining the grave site.
So having lost one of our little hens we then went to the egg farm and bought two young pullets. Hokey and pokey..I cant tell them apart really. Anyway we have had them segregated off from the others and all the attendent problems that brings. (a real pain in the  butt frankly). They have been laying gorgeous little deep brown eggs. I would like to have got one older hen but they arnt available until November end. Still the feeling that weve rescued these guys does the  soul a lot of good...as long as I dont think of the other few thousand chooks left.  The oppressed has becomes the oppressor with Sad Chook marching sentry like up and down the fenced partition grabbing mouthfuls of feathers from screeching chickens from time to time. She of all chooks should feel some empathy. Maybe shes just trying to make her mark before she again gets pushed to the bottom of the pecking order y the young ones!!!
Its been great seeing the young hens learning to live in the fresh air and experiencing life as it should be for the first time. They are still quite skittish and I think just realising now (day six) that human equalls food! ut to see them dust bathing in sctasy or fanning their wings out to catch the morning sun is just delightful.
I have no digital camera at present . It is in room 5 at twyford School in georgias desk. SHe and I are both as bad as one another at rememering things and so that camera has been out of my reach to use here for a week now..... I did want to post pictures here. So Ill do it next time.
Crafts:
I have been having a ball scrapbooking and making mini albums as well and lots of Christmas layouts .
My fingers are munted from trying to finish qulting a CHristmas quilt. Im down to stippling the order and then of courser theres the binding. It has been embellished with merry Christmas 2010 so it is imperative that it goes up this Chhristmas!!!!
Hopefully more photos sson.
We are all holding our breath over in this side of the world for our trapped miners. Just awful news so close to Christmas (well anytime actually)

Best wishes Cherry

The shaky Isles

Sisters Choice

Ongoing scrap hexagon quilt

Scrap cushions

As promised my latest crafting exploits... The top is the Sister Choice quilt. I decided it wasnt wide enough and so I added flying geese. I am OVER this quilt..Officially.

So thats leaves five quilts to actually quilt I think..and half a quilted Christmas stocking, and two unfinished patchwork scrap quilts...SIGH..

So The GHIU is away with the navy this week patrolling the outer reaches of NZ from the poaching foreigners and after the big (and ongoing) Quakes in Christchurch I said that if the big Quake came to Hawkes Bay (we live on a fault line) while he was gone I wouldnt forgive him (Im a woose). Sure enough yesterday as I was home with my two coughing spluttering sniffing girls The room started to sway quite decently. My first thought (after here we go) was that at least the girls and I were together during the long awaited Big one. Thankfully althouigh it lasted a little while nothing major happened. it was a 5.1 on the scale though.

The last two days and nights have been mild and then there has been a bit of gentle rain at night..perfect for my young crops a growing . I am definately running out of room!!!  My new plants, the grapes, the boysenberry, the raspberry and the thornless blackberry are all budding up nicely. And there are flowers on a few of the strawberries.

In the henhouse there has been a downturn in the economy.. three eggs per day. Henrietta is still off. She is just not herself and on Monday I found a ruber like eggshell with yolk embedding the straw. At first I thought this was henriettas return to laying (if she is infact off) but the next two days have not proven this. Otherwise they are happy and today had a breakfast of susuages, just to cheer them up. On the weekend I have been free ranging them out in the front of the garden. Imagine if you will five chooks scratching through our mound of compost, sunning themselves in the  dust. People gawping from their cars as they drive past and me out in the sun in my lounger reading the latest edition of Urban farmer magazine. Complete. Bliss!!

 Ill leave yoiu now to watch Nanny Mcphee and the Big bang with the girls,

Happy days

Love Cherry

Scrappin" and quiltin"

Cropping night at Hastings Ruber Stamps...  these are both canvas and I had aLOT og help from some more experienced croppers.        Im quite pleased with the result, but ended up spending      WAY to much moolah!!!

Having finished my sheep wall hanging I dove into my UFO box to see what i could pull out next and came away with Sisters Choice. In no time at all i had finished it ut now I am making some flying geese borders around it to add more size..I couldnt bear to make more blocks. !!

Im on a major overhaul of my organisation systems and decluttering. A lot of work to do there... I keep getting distracted by the Good Life on DVD. Despite being made in the 70s It is relevant today and was obviously well researched at the time thus Good ideas, so Really its educational!! And laugh out loud humour, one thing the English comedies always have  (But the Americans have come up with some good ones of late Big bang, 2 and a half men and Garry unmarried..but I digress.)

The flying geese will take up time for a while and Im sewing lots of lace i bought super cheap onmto a handmade skirt I made a while ago to dress it up a bit, otherwise I cant say what Ill be sewing next..Perhaps Christmas decs..

Love to you all

Cherry

Happy Birthday

To my gorgeous girl. Yesterday at exactly 11.43 pm Alexandra turned eight!! Oh the years they fly!! We took a group of eight girls to the Onekawa heated pools which has two slides and various pools and spas and the girls had a last. And Yes, earth mama ought them all maccas for lunch :(   and KFC for tea. And that is that. I HAVE got to keep away from the places I vocally spurn the most, what a hypocrite!!

Meanwhile I am growing various plants on the windowsill from seeds I have saved (apart from peas0 so far i have peas, capsicums, tomatoes and wheat. i would love the arty close up mega awesome image photos that my SLR takes, ut als the digital cant do photography justice and my SLR is a film camera. Sigh. Can I just say that I was a tad worried about bringing up the seeds so early in winter. ut then I was embraced y many days of mild spring like wether. Totaly fooled me. Today it is snowing everywhere that it usually snows and the cold snowy winds are lowing in off the ranges. it is truly freezing and suddenly it feels like winter again. maybe for the first time. I never feel as if its truly winter until the desert and Napier taupo roads are snowed in..and they are.

So this has cheered me up somewhat. im so daft though. Two glaring eye drilling mistakes to those in the know. And if youre even half a quilter they will stand out and punch you etween the eyes. Clue: a misplace sheep and no slashing where there ought to be.. Still its country enough for me, and I will hang it in the country home. Which strangely enough feels quite close by. Just a few people have suggested things and there MAY be a few options coming up..May..

At our School where i work we grew aaa whole lot of fruit trees. Well there were a few left over and for five dolars each I came home with a eating grape and a grapefruit treee. I was rapt. I will be having to juggle my small bay tree and GHIU has (kinda) promised to make me a grape frame but I am excited to get them in. The ubran farmyard grows!! Ive been selling off the surplus eggs at School too. Its quite funny how I think of other things to eat in order to keeep enough eggs to sell by the dozen. Greed pure and simple. Today my chooks humled me by only laying three eggs..just to remind whos really in charge of production around here!

Yours in eggcitement

Cherry

Things that make me happy..

My brussell sprouts have pea sized babies on them. Im so excited. Sprouts for tea soon?

Finishing the patchwork on my sheep quilt. (even if I did find that I had stuffed up the sheeps position in the middle thereby seriously upsetting my day for a while) I have bought some backing and wadding and cant wait to start to finish this once and for all.!!

Things that dont make me happy:

Owing money to the IRD. I dont understand how this can happen when oth you and your hubby are getting the same pay all year..

These Chinese(?) blog comments. What up?? I seem to get one then a whole flurry will attach themselves. its seriously disconcerting.

preserving pickles and the perils of the poultry et al

Crafting:
Still humming along with this quilt. I am finding it fiddly but that is only because I thought I could make it less complicated than the pattern strip peicing instructions. I now see I was wrong...
Homesteading in the kitchen: As you can see I have done a spot of preserving red onions. They did not come out of the garden, nor did the spiced venegar emerge from within this house, BUT the dried chiilies sprinkled about the mix were grown here about two years ago aged and dried and now (finally) have a purpose.

About the poultry:
I came home at lunch but couldnt stay as I had to coach netball at Twyford School then run some errands for my Mum who is in the rest home. Between lunch and when i finally came in the door at three, Christmas had (again) flown the fence and been nearly gobled up by Sam the less than friendly to the feathered, labrodor. She had marks in the back of her neck and feathers missing etc. I could strangle that dog. Honestly. Anyone want a maniac purebred lab!?? I can only hope that Christmas remains infection free. She certainly has been tough in the past. This of course puts the gulf between man and dog even further. have I mentioned the GHIU has a tenuous relationship with the dog?? It is now set to crash to an all time low. The dog has been punished in all ways and forms and still does this to the chook . I need some help please!

Five eggs a day keeps the grumpies away

I am hopeless at keeping in touch...So much have I been up to that Im going to subtitle whats been happening. First up the...

CHOOKS

Well, really I love these girls. presently we are getting five eggs per day!!! So much for the people who thought my "old" chook wouldnt lay at all/much. She is still called Sad chook although Im guessing she is pretty happy. She lays the biggest lovliest multicoloured eggs youve seen! I can spend hours out the back just watching the chooks and digging up worms etc for them. I noticed last night as they had their supper of mash that their crops were ENORMOUS. Like goiters out the side of their chests. I dont know what they eat in the garden ut its obviously good for them. they also enjoy all the scraps plus the morning cereal milk that the kids leave behind in their plates.  Say what yoiu will but its working!!

HOMESTEADING
 I had a marvellous moment the othe day as I embraced the feeling of living here happily withour ackyard urban farm until land comes along. No longer was I worried about leaving it to late to enjoy etc. I really thought Im happy to have land when the time is right and make this an awesome backyard semi self suffiency project as we go along. I think Ive been inspired by the folks at uran homestead here    Plus ive just found ou they are Kiwis !! Yah!
So on that route, we have tried two bottles of our cider a month apart. Im sure that they did not improve within a month of each other. well try another next month. If yoiu are a fan of the seventies show the Good Life, think of the Pea Pod wine they made. by the looks on their faces that is similar to ours when we drink our cider. Ive sought out the advice of workld award winning winemakers in the district (Hawkes ay is the winw capital of NZ and has some of the best wines in the world and some of those very same winemakers children go to Twyfor School with my girls so...) but I fear this business with cider making may be a long term project to reach perfection. Next we are making ginger beer. One of the winemakers told us that a gorgeous yummy brewery who also do the most devine ginger beer use ginger powder NOT root to make it. A hint from the wise.
Next on the homestead is the winter vege gardens. My Pok Choi is blooming, lasting through sveral devastating frosts lately. (Brrr it has been soooo cold in the mornings). The cauliflowers, brussel sprouts and I think brocolli (it was a mixed pack) are slowly moving upwards. No sight yet of the garlic, both organically grown in Hawkes bay and non oprganically grown somewhere in Nz are peeking thru yet. Im so keen to see them as Ive NEVER had luck with garklic and threw away all aspirations and attempts years ago but Im going to have to be patient. Apparently they like lots of muck. i throw the chook poo daily on the garden and we will get some more gorgeously dried horse poo hopefully this weekend.
I have started the garden one tangerine tree in, one manderion tree to go. One bay tree to be replanted. The pot from the tangerine tree I have used to plant some new Temptation strawberries you can see them ehind the Choi. The other pot I will be using to plant some more new strawberriesd The picture is up the top!!! I cannot work this new system on blogger!!!!)

CRAFTING

Covered notebooks some partially finished..Christmas presents

Isnt this cool this is a christmas pressies. Using cardstock, envelopes and creativity (Not mine!!) I made this mini booklet. The remaining photos go in the envelopes that are the front and back cover. I lOVED making these!!!

And scrapping..Ive done quite a bit these are just some of them. Notice I have found out how to distress with an inkpad. I have gone distree mad!!! Love this technique and all I had to do was ask the lady in the scrapping shop!!!

And finally.....

I have finally got around to this wallhanging. I need to get a finish on this one. Its fiddly and a pain but i do love the finished project.

My finaly note for the day. Some boffin wrote that nzs are too inward thinking about other countries due to the prolem of isolation. personally i dont see isolation as a problem, infact Id like to be more isolated. Scondly we havebt got the problems of the iother places in the world..if that is a result of inward thinking and isolation them hurray for those two factors i say. YEAS!!!I was really offended.

Love for now from :need to build a bridge Cherry

Raining

The newly strawed up chick pen area.

As i write this it is POURING with rain. Heavy rain warnings are out for tonight and fellow teachers and I have concluded that if school is cancelled tomorow due to flooding..well...so be it !!!

(Actually it was a cheering thought!!)
It is only 3.30 and I have already given the chooks their tea. Wheat and mashed potatoe leftovers with cookie crumbs and a few bits of sausage. Lunch was porridge which cream and brown sugar and golden syrup had been added as Alex didnt eat much of hers this morning.  I was totally thrilled when I found hidden under the straw five eggs,this has never happened before. i was so excited i immediately rung GHIu  ut he provided me with the downing thought that we had thre eggs yesterady and maybe it was one from yesterday that was hidden (as i had to hunt for thenm today eneath their bed of straw) Talk about feeling squashed. i went from wanting to hug the new producing sad chook to wondering if GHIU could have been correct...time to check the "vent" again!!~!!!

I promised a picture of my latest fully finished quilt and here it is (folded in half..it is really big took me ages to bind it!!):

 And now a few scrapping examples just to show you that i havent been slacking off during my unblogging period... My blogging is so unpredictale I wouldnt be surprised if noody reads this anymore!!  I wouldnt if i wasnt me:

Happy crafting to you all
Love from Cherry the unpredictable