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 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

My new piano seat.

Well not a "new" seat actually but one thats been around since my childhood. I have had it for a few years now and have been planning to tapestry the seat, then cross stitch, then put upholstery fabric, but THEN I stumbled across this 

 website and saw that Cherry Menlove had patchworked hers. I had NEVER thought to do that but hers looked so lovley I quickly followed suite. Im really pleased with the way it has turned out. It really looks fresh now and i like the pinks. I had thought to do the whole Menlove treatment and paint it white, but the mahogony still looks quite good and with the baby grand in dark wood it may have looked to out there.So I left it.

Thanks Cherry!!

Onwards go I crafting

I have been busy the last few days making up cute little stockings that will hang across the fireplace at Xmas with lollies and canes etc inside. These little advent stockings have yet to be paired up with the wool that will suspend them but I have laid them out to give a brief look at how they should somewhat look. Remember to check out cherrymenlove.com to see the original. I tried to keep as much to Cherrys as close as possible as I just wanted to covet hers the moment they appeared in the Home and Antiques magazine (Britain)

Arnt they cute?!

Then absolutely itching for yet more Christmas crafts I pulled together this felt ornament from a photo in another magazine. So much fun to make up. Id like to make another for each of my girls. They have their own colllections of decorations that I have bought, made or they have chosen for themselves. Earlier I  tried to buy things that represented them, like their years in ballet..each year Id find little ballerinas in whatever their Christmas production colours would be that year. This year I managed to find a owl for Owl mad georgia and a reinder for Alex plus I made them a felt owl each as well.

The big (small) news is that against all the best commom sense in the world the girls took ownership of two pet baby mice the other day. The babies are not anywhere as tame as we were led to believe infact they are very frisky, shy, down right wild as field mice!!! This is generally a big worry as the girls try to catch them and the odd time succeed to hold a very Houdini type creature. The girls want so desparately to hold them, its no good telling them to take their time....So two wild mice, two over excited girls, three cats and one dog. What could possibly go worng??   Already the cats have been enjoying the new cat television..

The GHIU reluctantly came on board with this whole idea..I think he was out numbered and he knew it. Poor man in a girls house!!

Have a happy night and enjoy your pets!

Love Cherry

Pulling myself up again...

The infamous quilt

Yesterday was a great day until just a couple of really nasty people managed to destroy that. Im talking real low lifes. Worse..they bought out the worst in me . I momentarily stepped out of myself and saw the screaming banshee i had become in that moment..not pretty! Talk about feel appalling. I wont go into any details except to say that i was seriously wronged and it really challenged my belief in the human race. But only temporarily. Because I came home to hugs and kisses from my gorgeous girls and support from the GHIU.  After a while i dragged my knuckles off the ground and made some stewed plums wed been given. Felt better..

Then I sewed..the one therapy foolproof for my soul . Later that night I was actually able to watch "Sons" sew and have a laugh with the gorgeous hubby in Uniform. I still today feel headachy and depressed though, I guess some things take longer to get over than others.

Stocking advent from Cherrymenlove.com

When life hands you lemons.....

Far above you can see the finished swastika, Gestapo, Flyboy scrap quilt. I hadnt really wanted to finish it when I saw the shape it was taking..when The GHIU pointed out that I was infact stitching swastikas. I couldnt believe I hadnt seen it... But recently I pulled it out again and looked up on the internet and infact the block was used long before nazis took it up, and it was a sign of good luck. As someone pointed out 12 years of use by one evil lot of entities shouldnt consign it to the hated bin..but its hard to go past the fact that what it stood by in WW2 will shape it forever.  About half the people I show it todont actually see the swastikas in this quilt by the way.
Im now looking forward to finishing my gorgeous stocking advent and also trying my hand at copying some gorgeous felt decorations i saw in a magazine and then I will continue on with my pink quilt, which will replace the blue one I won from Wallace cottons a few years back. It has never sat comfortably with me since I saw the program on tv documenting what goes on in the sewing work houses in India. Wallace Cotton has the most beautiful quilts made there and ive never known what sort of ethical conditions lie behind their works. I hope it was made ethically. I alwyas support any organisation that supports there local community overseas in inpoverished conditions.
On that note we had great fun choosing our Christmas gifts for Oxfam this year. We ended up donating, school books and pencils and chooks and feed.  This was by far the best thing weve donw in years. In the past i had great joy knitting for orphans in Romania, sending new books and pencils to Africa . But this is something that the kids decided on and became part of.
Have a great day
Love Cherry

Lack of inspirational MOJO

prim ducks

 Where Oh where is my energy? Yesterday i was full of inspiration and decorating joy. Keen to sew and to clean and to organise. The vacuum came out and most of the dirty washing...but today..nothing. Im also really lethargic. So to compensate Im looking through this website of Cherry Menlove. I discovered when i got a magazine..the Christmas edition of Homes and Antiques from the library. I actually almost didnt get it because i had a huge fine from when i lost and then found some books and was feeling very mean and penny pinching..thanks goodness i decided to spend the $2.10 for this new magazine loan, because in it was Cherry menloves house all decorated up for Christmas. I was absolutley inspired and it was pure eye candy for my house of my dreams heart!! I went to her website to see if i could get a closer picture of her handmade advent calender and there amongst other gorgeous tutorials was a whole tutorial. I could have cried!!! So today in amongst the lethary i rode into town with my girls and we stopped off at Spotlight to uy the pink, blue and white felt required.  The lady asked what i was doing with the felt aqnd when i told her she burst out laughing and the other shop assistants all had a gawp at me. it is nothing new for me to continue with the Christmas theme until sometime in march and I usually keep Christmas crafting until Christmas is just a wee memory. She thought I was very organised...I said that this will be my third advent. The first one was a cross stitch number, the second my Kaisercraft scrapbooked one and now this. It is so gorgeous..See for yourself at her site under My Crafts.
I actually was given a quilted heart kit to make a Christmas wreath that is finished off with beads and gold cord, and I made it but didnt think to take a photo of it...Oh well youll just have to wait until next Christmas!
I have my delicious bacon and egg pie in the oven. I got the recipe from GrassRoots and it has masses of eggs bacon and cheese, surrounded by a puff pastry..even the girls like it! Thanks goodness I had this up my sleeve my energy levels are such that KFC might have been the deal (although my budget does not like tthis suggestion..as does my chicken loving heart, something that i struggle with everytime I take a drive through the colonels takeaway.

Happ crafting

Cherry

MeMes Quilts

Welcome to my Christmas !!

So I thought Id walk you through some of the Christmas decs I have up. I started November 1st..I always think Christmas needs to be drawn out efore the big day. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

This quilt I finished piecing back in the year. I bought this with a gift voucher from the gorgeous huby in uniform. I pulled it out just a few weeks ago and have been sewing my fingers raw to get it finished. Last night as i was sewing the binding on I found two smaller panels I hadnt stippled. With my wonky leftover cotton, my bleeding fingers and the time restraint I just about went crazy at this discovery!! But earlier today..FINALLY..finished. I had to finish it as every year I make a Chrissy craft especially for that year and put the year on it. So this with Merry Christmas 2010 HAD to go up!!

Rudolph..made from a Handmade magazine. Sitting on the mantle next to Granddads clock..

My fireplace this year. I made all this arrangement and commotted a cardinal sin in that the fireplace is not cleaned out for summer. I hate this only it was clean eforehand then we got a cold spell. Now in order to clean it again all the decs would have to be removed as the ash and dust would contaminate everything..and I do not want to have to take everything down, so this will be done instead sometime in January. ut iot irks me what lays behind this small scene.

Here is last years 2009 craft. I love these. They came cut out and unfinished from a friend. The second one with Joy on them is missing his moustache and looks like an Amish Santa.The first one has 2009 on its base.

I love this prim Santa..well hes as prim as I could get him. The Night before Christmas book is the most beautifully illustrated book..it looks a bit tatty now which years ago I would have hated but now I love the look!!

And that is all for now. On the 27th November our Local Christmas tree farm opened. We got there a couple of hours after it opened and there were heaps of people. Well pick it up in the the next couple of weeks or so.

Alex has had a coughing flu since Thursday and is really miserable. Today the Doc gave her antibiotics but since then she has been vomitting because she is drinking but not eating other than Popsicals. Poor Alex.

It is sweltering here too. It was in the thirties today (in November!!!) So very hot and so very miserable with a sick girl in the house.

Ou new chooks have amalgamated well with the older flock. Only problem is the Hokey. Pokey and Christmas all look identical now. The new chooks just love to sun their wings in the hot sunshine which induces the others to join in. Six chooks all lying around on one side with one wing extended out is too cute for words.  Plus lately we have been feasting on Crayfish and the chooks get a decent feed from this as well. The new girls absolutely fal l upon this meat as if they have been having it all their lives!!! Too funny!

I'll post more Christmas decorating next time...Ive been scrapping too!! Its so hot..if only I could do these crafts in the swimming pool!!

Happy times in the heat

Love 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

news from the cold homestead

Brrrrr It is freezing here in NZ at the moment. Cold southerlies are blowing in straight from the Antartic! The chooks were let out for a free range around the garden today as it was the first day in a while it had stopped raining in biblical proportions. They enjoyed it and I dug up the new area of vege garden I developed days ago in order to treat them with some fat earthworms. In return they turned up the newly dug sods a bit and fertilised the area! A fair trade. Here two of girls find the driest bit of soil to dust bath. They look a mess when the soil is damp but still seem to enjoy it. When I see them enjoying chooky life like this I find it nasty to think of their lives in the battery farm and worse still for all the poor chooks still there.

Sam examines the old tyres from the jeep now used to house some strawberry plants. It is covered with bird netting and will be joined with the matching tyre soon. It doesnt look much right now but come spring...

Bounty from the neighbours. They always share their tangerines with us. This year we have traded in eggs..The tangerines are still alittle tart at the moment. we also enjoy the fruits of their apricot tree that hangs over our fence.

The pok Choi is doing so well in this freeze. Shame the only ones enjoying it are the chooks. I will have to learn how to cook it and with what. GHIU picked this up to day from winemaker friends. We will cut it in half and plant out some things. Alex wants her whole half to grow her wheatgraass in!! I have planted some tomatoe seeds from last years tommies in the hot cupboard. A bit rash Im now thinking. If they do grow i guess I will put them in the barrel and cloche them up and hope for the best! Im just so keen to get things growing!!!

And I shreiked with joy when today I saw that my row of garlic had emerged. I was SOOO happy with this discovery as I have been having a peek every day. This particular row was from an organic Hawkes Bay garlic and there is no sign of any others yet.

CRAFT:

I went to my first ever scrapbooking class the other night. it was fabulous and I didnt want to leave!! I came away with a gorgeous made page for my wedding album and went back the next day to purchase a kit from the last evening I hadnt gone to to do another page for the wedding album (elevan years in the making!!) I am so pleased with the results but my battery died on my camera and so I will post them next time. I also made a couple of small homemade accordian albums for presents and have almost finished my sheep wallhanging. Just doing the final appliquea around the sides. Very nice doing this late at night knowing theres no school tomoorow, Ghiu  off for the week. Doing the things I love by a roasting fire while outside the wind blows in from the southerly ice mass!

Tomorrow is Symbas last day as a boy cat with boy bits. Catching him wandering around the neighbourhood dangerously crossing roads etc has propelled us into making THE appointment. And tomorrow morning he is going to the vets. Poor gingy

We have taken advantage of the poor weather by catching up with Videos. Today it was Valkyrie..sad Didnt realise it was a true story..and Precious..what a OMG movie that was. GHIU watched it with me even though it wasnt a war moveie and he was glued to it too. Thankfully we walked away from the video hire without renting Cold Snow a movie about Nazi zombies...

Happy wintering

Cherry

my neworn baby is ten !!!

And just like that ten years passed. Yesterday i held her in my arms and suddenly realised what i was put on this earth to do and today I watch on as my ten year old confidently sails through life independant and beautiful. Happy birthday Georgeous! (I found these photos on the camera when i went to download some blog photos. Sometimes there are alsorts of crazy photos awaiting!)

HOMESTEADING IN THE KITCHEN:

It is that time of the year again. The time of the year when overwhelming urges to make soap overwhelm me. This soap below is my absolute favourite and you can find the recipe at this blog (Also a super simple life blog!)

 but first I got a self sustaining type book out of the lirary and following the instructions made some castille saop (awful photo..it doesnt look THAT bad!) i am still waiting for it to set properly.

If this fails I will be repurposing it into another soap. And I havent finished yet I still want to make some more of Rhondas delicious soap. 

For years now i have been trying to buy Borax. no one sells it around here. Then I wandered into the new into the new Bin Inn shop and there it was..49cents a KG. I was ecstastic. Now I could finally make some clothes wash!!!

I visited this site and printed off the instructions, only half reading them as I did so to ensure I had all the ingrediants on heand (i did) Unfortunately the printer page got a bit screwed up but other than  afew words missing I could read the general instructions. I did have this little voice going off in my head telling me to check the website again, ut i chose to ignore that..until I had made two batches. Then I read that to each batch i needed to add 5 litres of hot water before pouring into containers. I had made two atches so with great effort I had to try to remix the water evenly in some even type fashion into the mix. Now I have a thickish mix, but I am proud to say I have used it this morning on two washes and it melted into the wash leaving no residue or gluck, and it was a cold wash..so i have abandoned my fears!! I made SUCH a lot on so little of the actual ingrediants.Its amazing. When clothes wash is so cheap at times i had wondered if price wise (not eco wise) it was worth it, ut it is sooo worth it. I could make bathces and batches and batches on the stuff I have left over. I feel very pioneer woman about this!!

ON THE URBAN FARM:

The plants are continuing to slowly grow. I have had to use derris dust and cover some of them in tin can cloches ecasue some sneaky ugs have een having a bit. I have heaps of Bok choi!

Yesterday we had threee eggs after days of unbroken five egg clutches and I thought Uh Oh here we go, ut today there is five eggs again. My beautiful hens! 

CRAFTING:

I have finished the main part of my sheep wallhanging..Hurray. Now it is the school holidays i can spend lots of late nights sewing by the fire....bliss!!

life in the lttle farm continues

Well i had more pics but blogger is doing strange things as i write and I only have these two. The top photo is our new vege garden planted with greens and some cloches (I havent got enough for all of them!)Ive planted caulies, brussel sprouts and pak choi.  Hope they survive. theyve survivied the horrendous flooding rains so far..the pros of having a raised garden.
The next pic is Sam my mad lab who I have to dodge and duck by each day in order to get to the chook shed. He is one crazy dog who sooooo needs a farm of his own. He is five but acts likes a puppy.
The final phot is of georgia at the Suzanne Prentice concert which she sang at.
On the chook front the chooks are all laying we get three to four eggs each day and on one occassion only two. I am continuing to learn more about poultry by doing lots of reading and lots of trial and error.  Sad Chook is now lookiing remarkably happy and healthy and has lovely red colours around her eyes and on her watttles. Im pretty sure she isnt laying. I picked her up the other day after hearing repeatedly aout checking her "vent" for evidence of laying. Much to GHIU dismay i pointed her rear end in his direction and told him to have a look. he said he wasnt doing that, but fortuiously a wind blew her tail feathers asunder and he said regrettibly it was white not poink and moist, (Thos eing the two choices I gave him) I hope she does lay!@!!!! She is only 18 months old, ut the condition she arrived in and they fact that the others gave her such a hiding all the time wouldnt help expediate laying. She is still bottom of the pecking order (Christmas being at the top)  but has otherwise melded in well. I would NEVER introduce a single hen into the pen again (lesson leaarnt).
I have een doing a ton of scraping (slight overkill there..) and will take some photos to share next time. Also I have finished a quilt a scrap quilt that has only been in the closet for four years (!). photos next time.
With warm winter love
Cherry

the farm comes to Flaxmere!!

Introducing....Shelley Henderson

Henrietta and helen Clark henderson.

Well great excitement this morning at the "good life farm" Our three chooks arrived. Thick as two planks they might be but they already have shown their different personalities. Georgias henrietta is very quiet, placid to a fault infact, Alexs Shelley is quiet but prefers to roll around scratcing at pretend dust bathes, and my one..well she is fiesty and nasty and quiet the fiend..hence her name (its ovious i was never a fan of Aunty helen!)  Shes already tried to fly out at me and annoys the others y stamping over them and stepping in their water. As they are quite busy we thought wed let them out tonight of their enclosure for an hour or so. A man went into a big shed and got them for us and now i wonder wether this was in fact a big factory arn as they are not behaving as I have seen battery cage hens behave. The girls are beside themselves with excitement and Ginga has made several attempts to get into the cage and when he did get in he played with Henrietas tail feathers!

 

This is where the eggs will be tomorrow (hopefully) currently you will find only a golf ball there!

Other news is the girls had their prizegiving ceremonies for their lirary awards. And, crikey the mayor was giving them out!! Mayors in new Zealand dont often have are feet ut the prizegiving was in a marae..

Im a bit dissappointed with my redone door. To compensate i made this wreath and then inspired y a country craft magazine crafted this heart to go with it.

Happy crafting and chook keeping to you all

Love Cherry