New shoes

I  never knew new red shoes would make me so happy!

Bruce and I have both been battling the dreaded flu this week, in fact, I feel I've lost the whole week.

I have never bought shoes online before and I bought these clogs online from the UK 2 weeks ago. It was a stressful exercise , it's the sizing that caused the most frustration. My European Birkenstocks are size 37 but a few other pairs that are labeled with EU, UK and US size say  EU 38, UK 6. I did a few comparisons with other size charts and of course they were all different. In the end I went for size EU 38 and hoped for the best.

 After spending a few days trying to avoid my flu ridden husband I started to feel the tingly throat and muscle ache. Anyway a package arrived on my doorstep, 5 days early, it was my clogs and YAY they fit!

I have been searching for red shoes all winter but they are not the vogue for the Aussie winter this year so I was very happy to find them online. Not that they are really a winter shoes but that is beside the point.

The best bits are that they fit and made me feel so happy when they arrived. Now I just have to find the energy to hem my red cord skirt that I made BF (that's before flu.)

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Winter at the beach.

Only in QLD would you plan a day trip to the beach in winter!

Last Sunday the five of us piled into Bruce's 4WD ute and  headed off to catch the 9am ferry to Stradbroke Island.  Whilst 9am sounds quite civilized, or us it means getting up at 6am on a Sunday morning.

After a week of  glorious sunny days and reasonable temps of 23 to 24, we hoped for the best. We didn't get a sunny day nor the 23 degrees but we still had a fabulous day.

An overcast winters day puts a whole new perspective on the beach. The wind was strong but not sand "whipping" strong  and it was very fresh but not really cold.

Liam and Luke spent ages exploring the rocks and rockpools, climbing up dunes and racing down.













We had lunch at Pt Lookout where we saw 3 pods of whales. That was such an amazing sight.






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We did some beach driving and that was heaps of fun too. I am not really a fan of  4WD driving but with 4 boys, well I just have to go with the flow. Surprisingly though driving on a beach that just goes for miles  and miles is a good feeling - it made me feel free.





Ha, ha we got bogged exiting the beach so we all chipped in and pushed the ute to freedom.

We got the late ferry home and were all exhausted.

 It was a great day.

Alabama Poncho

As mentioned in my previous post I am becoming addicted to Alabama Chanin's creations.

I made this poncho on the weekend from cotton jersey. The seam is hand stictched which took me quite a while. There is something rhythmic and staisfying in hand stitching though if I were to decorate the poncho with more hand stitching I would still be stitiching next winter!

The weight of this fabric is perfect for the Qld winter and the soft, drapey feel of cotton jersey is lovely to wear.

This is my first pocho, but not the last.... 

Beautiful Camellias in my garden

BEAUTIFUL GARBAGE

 

gar·bage/ˈgärbij/

Noun:   A thing that is considered worthless or meaningless.

 

There has been a Council Cleanup,  that means people put out their unwanted items onto the kerbside and the Council will collect them and dispose of the garbage.

I love council cleanups and I firmly believe that "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and much  to my families horror I have rescued some great things from throw out piles. Sometimes my family are definitely lacking imagination. If they can't Google it or find it on a Wiki they don't want to know about it!

Red paint, imitation bird= new garden accessory

Anyway giving a  preloved item a new lease of life and a brand new home is a community service, it's both reuseing and recycling.

Currently I am reading a fabulous book "Alabama Stitch Book" by Natalie Chanin. http://alabamachanin.com/journal/

In her book she writes about how during the American Depression people reused everything. No one had a bin. They didn't throw out anything, just about everything was reused or recycled.  Today we are a "throw away" society.  I want to move away from throw away.

Spike's new Casa.

This weekend is a long weekend, so I will make time to cleanup all my treasure, toast marshmallows around Luke's soon to be "mobile brazier" and best of all celebrate with my family Jack's 15th Birthday!!!

A wash and re gluing the trim on the front leg VOILA!

I have the perfect spot for this mirror.

 

 

Winter is here....

May is finished and I am sort of glad that it's over.

I was so excited to participate in MMM but the realization has been that there is a massive hole in my wardrobe, a big cold weather chasm. For me a MM in any of the summer months would have been better. I had more rpeats than I pledged but I still wore something me made for 30 days straight. there will be more challenges and I will think a little harder before I commit.

Where does the time go? I have been busy sewing for others and sewing cushions and aprons. Working in a  production line style would probably be more efficient time wise but I can't do it. I make each item individually. I work slowly and methodically as I hate unpicking and redoing. I get such a great feeling of achievement when an item comes together.

Maybe next week will be a little less frantic. Either way I am going to make time to catch up with friends and get through some of the books and mags that I borrowed form the library.

It's a Friday night, pretty cold for the first day of Winter and it's raining. Those big fat drops of rain that make  that pitter patter sound on the roof - lovely.

It is the perfect night   to read  and I going to sink into a book that I just started today "This Beautiful Life", by Helen Schulman.  I have read about a dozen pages and right now I am hooked.

So, goodnight and sweet dreams....

Week Four....

There's five days to go until the end of
May, not that I am counting of course.....

This week I have had a few repeats, more than I originally anticipated. Never the less, everyday I have worn something Made by Me.

There is a  definite black and white theme in my wardrobe. Black and white and spots. That's fine, I am happy to go with the flow as it all goes together and adding to what I previously stated "You can't beat a good spot  - or black and white.!"

 No clothes sewing has been happening this week. I've been continuing with aprons and cushions. Whilst I haven't made any wearable art my family are all being very creative in their own individual ways.

Number one son Jack is currently writing two plays to enter into the QLD Theater Company's Young Writer's Program. he is v busy tap, tap tapping on his laptop. I can't wait to do the proof read.

Liam, number two son, is continuing his guitar lessons and loving it. His practice is regular and whilst he wants an electric guitar, I really like the sound of an acoustic. Currently he is learning "Wonderwall" which I love and I  have that tune stuck firmly in my head.

Luke is baking. He is experimenting  for our market stall, what will work, what won't. He is quite good at it but not so good at the cleaning up part! Choc Chip Cookies  have been popular at home and away so I think they will be on the list.

That leaves my husband Bruce who is being very creative in our out door room, the garden. We have heaps of passionfruit, the lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes are thriving and he has just planted some rhubarb, baby spinach and corn. Yum.

Bruce also did a great job designing me a Mixed Bag of Threads logo and the boys helped me create a FB page.

If you have time, please pop on over and "like" me on FB.

https://www.facebook.com/#%21/MixedBagOfThreads

 This photo is pf a local property being developed. It makes me laugh every time I go past. It  makes me wonder "What came first, the fence or the gate?"

Week Three Me Made May '12

This week it's been all about the bag, aprons and only a few repeats on work days.

I wasn't expecting this sudden plummet of the mercury for May and my MM wardrobe just doesn't cut it.
I admit it, my sewing skills don't yet stretch to a winter wardrobe.
I was born to live in the tropics, that is for sure! Light, flowing fabric, summer dresses and swishy skirts hold enormous appeal to me. I'm convinced the best way to indulge that feeling is to holiday in Bali, Darwin or Nth QLD for the entire winter season!
This week has been busy. I have been sewing cushions for a friend, trying to get stock together for my soon to be  market stall (ha, in winter what am I thinking?) and work and and general family life in the mix too.

Anyway my garden always provides some winter joy. The lavender is growing like mad, the Camellia's are just beautiful and the Bougainvillea is vibrant all year, summer, winter, flood or drought..