Scatterdays S

Today's letter is S and the catagories are empty,stash,female and ice cream-


Empty

 For the first time in many years I have not 1 but 2 empty stash storage bins!! I have been trying very hard to use up my stash (a) because I have an obscene amount of fabric and (b) what would my children do with it when I'm gone .


Stash

This is some striped fabric in my stash, not sure what I'll use it for but I will use it eventually (he he!)


Female

This one is quite easy for me my mother and when this photo was taken she was in the Army mainly in North Queensland


Sheila Maura Doyle 1923-2001

Ice cream

 I had to be a bit creative for this catagory because I don't eat ice cream  very often, however when I do I go to Annie's Ice Cream Palour in Bathurst and have a Sofala Gold which is home made ice cream with big (read very big) chunks of honerycomb through it.
For those people who don't know Sofala is just out of Bathurst and was a gold mining centre in the mid nineteenth century.

Scatterdays

Todays letter is  D and the catagories are Something humerous,feet,funriture and quilty display.

Something humerous is my Dog Millie, she is a chihuahua and always has her tongue poking out even when she's asleep.I have been told it can be normal for the breed to do this.

 

 

 

Feet is also my dog Millie because she loves to try and catch them to chew them or clean them I'm never sure

 

 

 

 

 

 

Furniture is my Antique Oak desk which I have had for many years.

 

 

Quilty display puzzled me for a while until because most rooms have quilts hanging or on beds or chairs etc and then I though Decor. My home decor theme is quilty display.This quilt rack currently holds my completed siggy square quilts.

 

 

 

 

Ku-ring-gai Quilters

On Wednesday I travelled to Sydney to be one of Pennie's surprise guests at the quilt group that meets at her home.She cooked a beautiful meal of soup and sweets served on her dining table with all the silverware including candleabra.

http://penniedarling.blogspot.com.au/

Scatterdays the letter I

 Scatterdays startig with the letter I and the Catagories are  Money;Tools;Metal; Inches

Cinzia has set the cat amongst the pigeons this week I think this week's words have been the hardest but there is always Google and Wikipaedia!

                                                                          Money

 

 

The Indian rupee, I could not find any money starting with I only three countries whose money starts with their name.

 

Tool

 

 

 

 

  The iron is one of the most used tools in my sewing room.

                                                                  Metal

 

 

A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum family, iridium is the second-densest element (after osmium) and is the most corrosion-resistant metal, even at temperatures as high as 2000 °C. Although only certain molten salts and halogens are corrosive to solid iridium, finely divided iridium dust is much more reactive and can be flammable.(wikipaedia)

 

 

Inches

 

 

 

My quilting rulers contain many inches!

 

 

One finished and another half done

This is the memory quilt I made for Tom's 60th birthday, he was very pleased with it and told all the guests at his party to go and have a look at it.
The funny thing was I had made Jayne one a few years ago and last Thursday (his birthday) I hung this quilt where Jayne's used to hang and when he came home from work he walked straight past it.

 

 

This is a quilt  made but not designed by me, I just love the modern bright fabrics with the white on white print.

 

 

I have had a week away in Adelaide to help Jayne prepare for Tom's birthday and spend time with family including my daughter Trish who flew down just for the weekend.It was very nice to catch up with everyone.

Tom and Jayne have two sons one in the Royal Australian Navy and the other in the Royal Australian  Army and between them and their late older brother there is 8 Grandchildren who were all present last Saturday.

 

 

 

Scatterdays   T


This weeks Scatterdays is bought to you by the letter T and the catagories are tasty,tiny,terrifying and threads

Tasty

Yesterday I had a tabbouleh and ham sandwich  for lunch; it was very tasty!

Tiny

 

 

I have  a large collection of teapots gathered over many years and this tiny pottery one was given to me about 20 years ago by my sister Louise.The lid is removeable and I suppose in theory you could have some tea in it but it hardly be a cuppa would it?

 

 

 

Threads

 

 

This tapestry was one my mother started and I had a friend finish it for her before she died. Mum loved Sturt Desert Peas because her mother used to grow them under the tank stand when she was a child.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                            

Terrifying

 

 I refuse to have a photo of my worst nightmare on my blog so courtesy of Wikipaedia I will decribe it ( I have seen many though as they thrive in this area in and out of town).

 

Tiger Snake a large venonmous snake that has coloured bands (hence it's name) and can be fatal to humans.They don't mind the cool weather and are active on warmer nights ,are frequently around rivers and water. When threatened, they will flatten their bodies and raise their heads above the ground in a classic prestrike stance. The female gives birth to12 to 40 live young ,no wonder there are so many around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scatterday Q

Todays Scatterdays is brought to you by the letter Q  and has four catagories

Plant   

Quercus Robur or English Oak Tree, as a child we had one growing in the back yard in Neutral Bay ; it was grown from an acorn from a special tree in the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney (planted in 1935 on the 21st anniversary of the Battle of Mons).I have searched through old photos and I found this one of me on my third birthday playing under the tree as I did for most of childhood.

Night time

This is my favourite television viewing each night - QI and I assume that the ABC will soon change that frequency now that the non-ratings period is about to end.

 

 

 

 

Something healthy

 

 

I only started using Quinoa this year but I do like salad made with it.

 

 

Something that is quilty and quick

 

 

I love my accuquit and it's the quickest and most accurate way to cut two and a half inch strips,squares and half square triangles.

 

 

 

 

 

Scatterdays R

Blogger and I had an disagreement this morning so I am re-posting the last Scatterday


Today's scatterday is brought to you by the letter R and has four catagories

Mammal

 

This is my nephew's rabbit and his name is Pedro

 

 

 

 

 Technology

 

  These remote controls sit on the table beside my chair in the lounge room.

 Transport

 

 

Two RED vehicles at the Visitors Centre in Bathurst aCobb&Co Coach and a Brush Car which is very red and flashy.

Something red from your sewing room

 

Bernina is written in red three times on my sewing machine but I also have this sign on the wall above me just to remind me.

 

 

 

Unfortunately I had ten comments but they have been deleted , I am having lots of trouble uploading photos to my blog and I don't like Picasa at all.I can't see why I just can't upload from the computer like I have always done!

   

replying to comments

 There were comments on my wedgewood,  I have more than that , they are inherited from my parents and all have the date 1956 on them the reason being my father was the PR man for Wedgewood (australia) that year .I think my sister has some pieces also, must ask her one day.

And I am not that organised regarding WIPs those are my current projects as I always work on more than one at once!I have bins full of WIPS /UFO's and fabric set aside in 'job' lots with their patterns ready to go.My sewing room is small and won't accomodate it all.

Scatterdays

I might regret this decision but I signed up to play Scatterdays with Cinzia and friends, I hope they are not all as challenging as this week!

This week is brought to you by the letter W and the categories are expensive,music,excting and WIP.

Expensive

 

These are some of my Wedgewood pieces



Music

 

This is the musical We Will Rock You which I saw in London in 2007

Exciting

Wild Oats after they had won the 2012 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race


WIP

This stack of containers hold my current works in progress , the bottom two hold my Dear Jane fabric then the next two are birthday presents one of which needs to be finished by the end of January.The top container is for the modern quilt I have just designed on EQ7 and I would like  to start it now but must do the gift ones first.

Monday Patchwork


Every Monday throughout the year a group of us gather to sew,chat,de-stress and generally exchange ideas, we take turns cooking which gives a wide variety of food. This Monday was my turn and I made Pennie Griffith's Italian Loaf, it is popular with my friends and some husbands and this week was no exception- thanks Pennie for your generosity in sharing your recipes.

 

For dessert I made a Nigella Lawson take on trifle and it was delicious although I was a little heavy handed with the alcohol .

 

Slice a purchased Madiera cake(stale is better) and spread  out on plate then sprinkle about a third of a cup of Coitreau over cake, then add small amount of orange marmalade. Zest an orange and set zest aside; juice orange and pour over cake.Whip a small carton of cream and spread over the sodden cake then top with blackberries and the orange zest.

You can also add some grated chocolate if you want but I didn't and I don't think it needed it.

Sorry I didn't take a photo of this and it was gone in a flash!!!!

Some finished Projects

 I have finished three smaller projects over the weekend

This a flannel quilt made from scraps and very practical on the cooler evenings when it's not cold enough for the heating to be turned on.

 

 

This wall hanging is a design by Leesa Chandler called Celtic Chrismas Knot.

www.chandlerscottage.com

 

This wall hanging is a design from Just Patchwork and I used some of my collection of aboriginal prints.

 

www.justpatchwork.com

After my last post and my trip down memory lane I thought I would post this picture of my 6th birthday party at our flat in Neutral Bay and  even remember everyone's name so with me at the head of the table and from my left.

Niki Kartzoff
Judy Dulhunty ( lives in California somewhere!)
Wendy Jones ( a neighbourhood friend)
Helen Eager ( a family friend- her brother useed to be the weatherman on ABC TV)
Tamara Kartzoff and my sister Louise McDougall (the young ones at the end of the table)
Tony Pearson (he lived upstairs)
Vivien Larkin (lived next door)
Vivienne Arnott ( yes  from that family her grandfather was Arnott's biscuits! and the last time I saw her was my 21st birthday)
Trish Dulhunty (after whom my daughter was named!!!)

Yesterday I heard some sad news that plunged me into memories of my childhood, Nicholas "Niki" Kartzoff had passed away in May.His parents,and his Aunts and extended family and my family were good friends and I have many happy memories of our association.Every Christmas Eve we went to their place for a special tea for the children and then every Easter was special because Michael (Niki's father) was Russian and he (and then he tried teaching us as young children) would  paint  eggs(hard boiled).
All my life every Easter I remember Michael very clearly and the painted eggs and although I am addicted to chocolate I still remember those eggs that he painted.
Niki and his sister Tamara were a big part of my early life and my mother had a story which I will not reveal here (sorry but it's not good!!) but when their parents separated before mine our lives were separated also.
 I did however stay friends forever with Anne Maria who is their cousin and for many years in my childhood I had holidays with her,Kay and Jim to many places in NSW,QLD and Vic.

This photo was taken at Taronga Zoo in September 1951 and I have to thank my father as a photo jounalist and his documentation for the date and place.On the left is my mother and myself, then Rona Kartzoff and Michael  with Niki.

 

 

This next photo was taken at in December 1951 and is Michael and Niki Kartzoff and me , I think at Bradley's Head(a favourite picnic place!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then some years ago whilst my mother was still alive we connected with Tamara who had married a Bathurst man,Mum, my sister Louise and I met with her and chatted  but we have again lost touch and it was only by accident last night that I found out that Niki had died.It made me feel quite sad but I supppose as you get older that is normal.

 

A letter to The Governor around 1809

My great,great,great,great grandfather who came to Australia as a free settler under the stewardship of Sir Joseph Banks on the ship Barwell in 1798,he was granted land at Baulkam Hills north west of Sydney town. This letter was written by him to Governor Bligh in 1809 and is an exercise in grovelling.The original is held in the Bligh Papers in the Mitchell Library in Sydney.

Starting and finishing projects

Over the last few weeks I have finished a couple of projects and started others so really my UFO stack has not been reduced! This small log cabin design I started when I lived in my old home so therefore before 2004 I had started quilting it using my treadle machine and for some reason I unpicked the quilting. This next quilt is really a tablecloth but I'm not sure yet I bought the fabric sqaures many years ago because some they reminded me of dresses Mum used to wear in the 50's. I made this small bag to hold my tablet and I'm quite pleased with it, the handles were hard to source and a little expensive . These next two are from precuts that I had for years, a jelly roll and a layer cake both designs came from Missouri Star tutorials on utube and were quick and easy now to join the list of UFO's waiting to be quilted.

Vandals

A couple of months ago I posted some photos I had taken at the Begonia House and The Fernery in Machattie Park, Bathurst. About 2 weeks ago some vandals smashed some windows in the Begonia House and now over the last weekend the local vandals smashed their way into the Fernery and did considerable damage. Needless to say these facilities are again closed to the Public whilst they are repaired, it makes me so angry.

I have been busy this week sewing,raking leaves and even some housework, yes I do occasionally do some! I decided to move all my small ornamental sewing machines down from a shelf in the spare bedroom to this bookcase.I don't think I have dusted these for over 12 months! There is one antique amongst them but all the others are ornaments/toys that I have been given over many years, some are also music boxes and have animation.

For the last week I have been baby sitting my Grand-dog; Beau is a 10 week old pup that Tim and Tamara have adopted but because this overlapped with their new home he has had a week in cold old Bathurst!Macy,Murphy and Millie have slowly warmed to him over the last few days but they still might need some Prozac or something next week so they can calm down!!! Today I was working in the garage cleaning things out and he decided that Millie's little red bed would suit him fine, didn't matter that he was way too big he just folded up his legs,looked Millie in the eye and said get over it!!! I have renamd him bono becaue all I seem to say to him is BO-NO and usually he does stop whatever he is doing until tonight;he had got oout one of my Monet books from the bookcase and when I found him he was well into it, I just hope he learned how to paint(or garden) whilst chewing the book. Here is Beau in Millie's bed today with her looking a bit peeved!!