Seaweed

 The seaweed wreath is coming along quite well.

It is a little hard to see the detail in the pics but I am building it up with yarns and beads and anything else that comes to mind.

 When creating something like this I love to have lots of options available.

 

It is rather messy but it all goes back in the basket at the end of the session.

Renovations and decorations

The back verandah has been occupying my thoughts and time this week.  The floor boards look so much better now they are painted witrh Cabots timber colour in Oyster Linen which is the same colour as the weather boards.

The window frames and other trim are Dulux Malay Grey.

I am planning to replace the furniture with some new pieces in grey and cream.  In the meantime I am adding some splashes of red to brighten the area up.

The place mats and the two sarongs used over the seats are from the op shops.

I have added a lovely glazed pot and lemon tree from Diacos Discount Nursery which is just down the road.  Mario helped  with advice and lifting things into the car for me.


We have redone this garden and added some pebbles- the neighbours are now working on their garden too. Our gardens are seperated by chicken wire fencing so we virtually share each others' plants which is really lovely. It is great to have good neighbours.

This time of year we have beautiful blooms and aromas.  This daphne is so pretty and will be planted near the boronia bushes which are in bud.










 We have lots of violets in various parts of the garden and there tiny flowers are always welcome.

two projects at once

 I have been painting outdoors whenever the rain and wind stops and in between times I am managing to do some work on my wreath and doiley.

 I have wrapped some fancy yarns around the wreath - trying to create a seaweed look. It looks better in real life than this pic.

The doiley is coming along really well with some stitching and embellishing added.

 

This shoud be finished by the end of the week and then I will decide what to do with it.

Pelicans from the archives

Another collage of life by the lake.

Possum

 I have spent some time today looking at pics I have taken over the past few years.

When we lived in Patterson Lakes we had several families of possums visiting our garden most evenings and some of them were quite tame.  

My favourite times were when the mothers brought their babies on their backs for a meal.  They carry their babies this way until they are quite big and heavy and the babies have to hold on tight as they climb tall trees and scamper across roofs.

The possums are a protected species here although many people consider them to be pests. My attitude is that they were here before us and we have moved into their habitat so it makes sense to feed them and provide them with shelter or they will eat the roses and live in the roof spaces of our houses.  

We have possums at this house  too but they are not as tame.  I still leave food out for them and they sleep in hollows in the big trees.  It is important, of course, not to feed them too much - they need to be able to fend for themselves.

The possums are nocturnal animals so taking pics can be a challenge but I have managed to take lots of photos as I discovered when sorting out my albums!

 

planning and playing while it rains

It has rained all day but it has taken me hours to find time to stitch.

Now I am trying to find the right blue threads to finish off my doiley.

Power Tools and Camellias

 Today I put aside my crafts and attended to some tasks around the house and garden.

The weather was fine and sunny but quite cold.  It probably didn't make it above 13 degrees here.

I spent some time washing more of the verandah floor boards with the high pressure cleaner.  This is a really slow task as there are lots of boards and they are to be painted so have to be thoroughly cleaned.

Once that was done I popped out to buy a few more plants; some camellias and a beautiful daphne for the front garden.

While I was out I went and bought a new cordless drill.  Our house is quite high up in places and electrical cables can be a bit of a challenge so I have accumulated a few battery operated tools.  This drill will be very useful although I find it a bit heavy so will be used in short bursts I think.  

As with any activity it is so much easier and safer to have the right equipment.  

The cold wet weather is set to return tomorrow so I hope there will be time for stitching.

Christmas wreath

 This Christmas the textile art group I belong to has decided on a seaside theme for decorating the foyer of the Peninsula Arts Society building.

Most of the members are crocheting coral and other beachy things to make their wreaths but I don't crochet so I am doing my own thing.  So far the wreath has been wrapped in a scarf and some odd scraps of fabric have been glued around the circumference.  
I will add some free motion machine made lace and some bling over the next few weeks - I am hoping it will work ok.
 

My new laptop

 Today I picked up my new laptop computer.

Goodness it is so nice and shiny and new.

This is the first time I have taken full charge of buying and setting up my own computer.  
I opened the boxes and read the instructions carefully.  So far so good.

My previous laptop had become so slow and uncooperative it made blogging difficult.  Hopefully this one will make life easier.

new technology

 I am hoping to make some time to blog as well as stitch.  

We are doing a lot of work renovating our house so a lot of my creative head  space is taken up with paint colours and new floor coverings.  I do manage a little stitching some evenings.  These are old doileys to which I am adding beads, stitches and buttons.

I love the idea of re-using these old doileys and buttons.