A Lovely Prize......

I was the very lucky recipient of a pattern from Evonne from Hilltop House.

Very cute party bags. Aren't the appliques just so sweet that Evonne has designed

for the front of the bags.

Thank you Evonne for such a lovely prize in your giveaway.

What a lovely surprise in the post box today!!

Spoilt.......

The judge for the garden competition has just been. Phew!!!! Mind you, he was only here about 5 minutes!!! Oh well, time will tell!! He was quite complimentary though and realised the garden is just two years old.

We have two invitations to attend afternoon tea functions in the next week, so I am looking forward to that. One is with the Mayor and Councillors as a thank you for entering and the other is the Awards Afternoon.

I am so pleased with the vege patch. It is coming along beautifully and has grown heaps just in the last two days since I took this picture.

What a lovely surprise I received today when I collected the mail. Lisa from

Knitty, Vintage and Rosy had sent a packet with this lovely magazine in it. Lisa was one of the winners from my Anniversary giveaway. She was so thoughtful sending this, thankyou Lisa.

Have you seen my little countdown above? I suppose you have guessed where I am going.

My dear friend "B" has been hatching a plan for well over a year for us to head south for a weekend and attend Leanne and Rosie's wonderful "Spring Stitch-In" at Glenharrow.

We are flying to Melbourne on the Friday, stitching on Saturday, staying a Glenharrow for two nights, and flying home on Sunday evening. The excitement is starting to build, I can tell you!! It will be just lovely to be away with the girls (there are 6 of us).

I have never been away like this before, so I am soooooo looking forward to my time in Melbourne. So any shopping suggestions are gratefully accepted, as I don't have a clue about the shops in Melbourne at all.

Today I am counting my Blessings, thankful for each and every one of them.

Some Favourite Things.....

What a lovely weekend at the beach. The weather was perfect. We walked and walked and sat and read - just delightful. Alexandra even swam in the rockpools. I just sat on the beach and enjoyed doing absolutely nothing.

There was an Antiques and Collectibles Fair on in Caloundra over the weekend. I picked up these lovely little embroidered doileys and this cute little book on making flowers from crepe paper. It was published in 1922. My favourite little piece was this little pocket for keeping your hankerchiefs in. Very sweet.

I even read a whole book - I read many, many magazines ( shhhh, our secret - I think I am addicted) but haven't read a book as such for so long - too long in fact. It's the autobiography of Mary Moody, a lady who the year she is turning 50 decides to run away to France for six months. Maybe it has just filled my head with wild ideas! Enjoyable none the less.

On my way through Brisbane on Thursday evening, I stopped off at a lovely shopping centre that I enjoy visiting when I can, even though it is usually with the whole family in tow!! There are two of my favourite shops there - Wheel and Barrow and also a Borders bookstore. I came across Mary Moody's newest book - The Long Table. It is a lovely combination of more of her life story combined with beautiful recipes. I haven't read too much of it yet, but I am really looking forward to reading it from front to back!!

With the dollar so high at the moment, I am afraid I wasn't able to resist the temptation of an Amazon order. Last week some lovelies arrived including a copy of Vintage Vavoom - a quick look through promises to be another lovely read indeed.

Just so grateful for a lovely little break away and some favourite things to enjoy along with it.

P.S. Just discovered www.marymoody.com.au . Her holidays in France look wonderful!! I must have been living under a rock as I haven't heard of this lady before, either that or I haven't watched the ABC television very much!!!

Thank you........

I know, second post in one day. But I just had to!!

The postman just arrived and look what he brought for me today.

My set of patterns from Rosie and Melly. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The patterns look beautiful and look at the gorgeous little card that was enclosed. What a lovely parcel to receive today.

A Sack at my front door....

"Nice" mail is always so exciting to receive. I arrived home this morning to find a sack at the front door. I love beautiful books and I love Amazon!!! My wish list goes over two pages at least and I have been sooooo good and not ordered anything for quite a long time. But, I couldn't go any longer without giving in to the "need" for some new lovliness!!, and so the sack above.

I am a little amused by the method of their packing, but mostly the books arrive in good condition despite the lack of packing in the box. I think I have only received one book slightly damaged (only a little tear on the jacket). These thankfully are fine. I feel a little guilty though (just a bit!) having not supported local book stores, but these come at around half the price through Amazon compared to paying local prices! Of course, some of these we don't see readily in the book shops anyway.

I have just leafed through these pages of lovliness and I am not disappointed. It's always a little bit of a gamble to buy a book this way. Mostly though I have read about these in other publications and of course on others blogs.

Now to find a moment to enjoy the inspiration and beauty contained in these lovely books.

My "baby" is turning ten early next week and we have afternoon tea planned with a few little friends on Saturday. So best get organised now for her special day. Hopefully I will have some pics to show of her afternoon.