From the past...

My mother is moving in the next few months and has over 40 years of 'Stuff' to go through. This is probably a nightmare time for me because she will be trying to pass it all on to me ( after all it is treasure to her). Unfortunately my house is overflowing and I don't know how much I can take. But here is something that is one of my treasures.....

To be honest I can't remember details but I think I must have been given this in the early 60's, probably by my grandmother. I do remember however the frustrations I had because it sews a chain stitich ( no bobbin) and therefore I would make something and if I didn't end it off properly ( and what little girl pays attention to those sorts of details) the whole thing would unravel. This probably also explains why it is still is good condition - I simply stopped using it and it was packed away in the cupboard for over 40 years. Colly thought it was fun though to use with just paper and made patterns. I love the concentration in his face. Of course they want fabric to try but that would mean that I would actually have to plan something for them to do....

It is really hot and sticky here today - I am thinking of putting the airconditioning on and making something. But it is too hot to think and I feel if I start something, no matter how small it is I will mess it up. Maybe it shows that sometimes it is nice to have something small cut out and ready to go. Maybe when the house has cooled down I will feel differently. Sounds like a plan....

more sand...

I've only seen snow three times in my life ( once in Japan, once in Switzerland and once here on a short skiing holiday) so all the photos I see on blogs showing snow amazes me. On the other hand I have seen lots of sand - and here's some more.... This is from another day trip two days ago. This time we went south - to Northern New South Wales ( this is just a bit further south than the Gold Coast).This is one of my favourite places, Cabarita Beach.
The family had fun - you can see them walking along to the swimming section of the beach in the first photo. The second photo shows the beach looking north.

And here is something strange about me - I do not like to swim. The water is just never warm enough for me.

Is this comet some secret?

I spend too much time on the computer and I am a master of collecting useless information. I always surprise my family with something or other that means nothing but sure peps up the conversation. So.... why wasn't I told about this comet ? I mean, I love these sorts of things. I only found out about it by reading an Australian quilting list. So of course I had to research it. How did it arrive without me knowing? I looked last night but there was too many clouds but tonight - WOW! Our house faces west from the top of a hill so once I found it it was so clear. The moon is just a little slither too and was setting, and with Venus ( evening star) shining as well it was magical. My daughter was rapt - she says she has been wishing to see a comet since she saw a shooting star two years ago. I wanted to try to put a photo in here - I used the tripod but the camera just doesn't have the power to get a good shot.
This is a link ( with more links) to an Australian blog which shows photos.
All I can say is - why wasn't I told?

It's a quilting desert...

Nope, still no sewing....

However I have been thinking about it. I have received some nice squishy parcels in the mail which have certainly got me thinking about what I want to do next. I was getting stuck because I was thinking QUILT and I have so many that I want to make. But it all seemed a bit daunting when I have so many things I should be doing. (Craft and non craft related.) So nothing was getting done at all. With a change of thinking I have come to realise that I don't need to do a big project to be creative. I will have more chance of finishing something small as a stepping stone to getting back into some sort of routine. I am not even going to dig out a UFO at this stage. I need to get back into crafting with no pressure except the enjoyment I get.
I did splash out and buy myself a new foot for my sewing machine - but I haven't got to test it yet, and that will probably be a good topic for another post sometime.

There have been a few blogs where people have been doing personality types ( basically the Meyers Briggs test) I did this again when I saw the posts. I originally did the full test in about 1989. I've done it again about three times since then, and each time the result has been the same. And even when I did it again just now I am still an INFP. And an interesting thing is that my husband is one also. He had done the test as a work thing before we even started going out together so we have not influenced each other.

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world.Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships.It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close.But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist.

What's" Your Personality Type?

Kim at A peach in Stitches ( sorry there is no link because I can't get it to work at the moment) has started a no buying fabric thing this month. I have started to give this some thought but it hasn't really been an issue for me this month with not doing any patchwork. I know I should do it but until I get back into my routine ( school goes back on January 29th) I haven't really felt the need to shop anyway. Maybe next month.....

Oh, and yes, they are my footprints in the sand, taken when we went to Rainbow Beach last week.

Why no sewing gets done....

It's summer school holidays here and there is always something to do with the time. Yesterday we went to Rainbow Beach, which is a little town south of Fraser Island. You can read more about it here. I don't know if it is the best page to refer to but it mentions the sands and the sand blow nearby we visited. Below is the beach at Rainbow Beach itself - this is where the four wheel drives can access the beach.

This is the sand blow. The access is at the top which is nice for slow people like myself. There isn't any climbing. But this is what the kids did when they saw it.

And if you climb up the sides it's lots of fun too. I think Colly came home with about half of the sand in his pockets.

Look Mum - isn't this a great sandpit!!!

Happy New Year !!!

Best wishes to everyone for 2007. New Year's Eve has also passed and now we are two days into 2007. I haven't really set any resolutions or goals although there are things which I want to continue from last year. However ..... I WILL do more sewing than I did last year.( That couldn't be too hard as I didn't do as much as I had planned). I haven't done anything for about a month due to the holiday season. Now I need to make a few lists and get going.

Hmm, maybe I will also plan to keep my blog up to date too... can't be too hard, can it?

Christmas Past

Here's a picture of one happy boy on Christmas morning. Santa brought the microphone but the guitar ( yes, it's real ) is from the family. There is good reason for this - if Colly has his own guitar then hopefully he will leave Daddy's guitars alone. Here's fingers crossed.

Christmas was the usual family thing - too much food and merriment but we can all relax again for another few months ( and hopefully be more organized next year.)