Oh thanks Clare!

I had seen these lovely hearts over at Clare's craftroom, one of my favourite blogs and now I can't stop making them, they are so sweet.

I decided I would make some Christmas hearts with the scraps of christmas material I had stashed away in my scrap bag. I also used some buttons and had the best time making them.

After I finished making them I went to put them in my christmas decoration box, and as I walked to the room I noticed my heart quilt on the wall, and then my folk art heart on our bedroom door, and then I noticed that I have a lot of hearts around my home. 

I hadn't realized how many hearts there were everywhere. I just love them and it shows.

So anyway thanks Clare, because of you not only do I have some more beautiful hearts and some new ones for Christmas, I have also made a discovery. Hearts make you tingle.

I'm off to attack my garden now, and as I have finished all the washing I will keep getting through the jobs that need doing. Tonight we have the Speedway on in town and two of my darlings just can't wait to go. I might sneak my knitting needles in my bag, in case I can't cope.

Enjoy the weekend and have the best time. Kind regards, Anita

Bloomin' heck!

How do you all like the flower?! I was putting some clothing in Cory's room this morning, pulled up the blind, and what do you know....a lovely flower. It is from a cactus plant that I have no idea what it is called, but the flower won't last long. See there are some positive things about doing housework, you get lovely surprises sometimes.

These are my new buttons all the way from America with love. I have inspected each and every one of them, and I'm sure to have more buttons than Heather now.

See the big belt buckles that have come along with the buttons! I can see where some of those buttons are going to live already. I sling off at my husband (in fun) about always getting on to Ebay, but now I am waiting for some beads to arrive as well. Oh no.

Silly me, in my last blog I told you about this lovely Home Sweet Home folk art work that my friend Heather had made for me, well the picture is here now. It's also actually called Home is where the heart is. I'll get it right soon.

I have been knitting some baby beanies, but I couldn't turn my back on this lovely pattern. It will go to a lovely home for someone with a baby. I'm off now to take some boys home after a nice afternoon play at our house. I'll be back in a couple of days and hope to keep out of mischief in the meantime. I won't hold my breath. Kind regards, Anita

My three cows

Hello to you all. I can't believe another work week for me is nearly over. It just flies by too fast. I've had a very busy week at work, home and crafting on the weekend. I've managed to tie up little ends that have needed doing and I feel like I am on top of things now.

I have been looking through my bookcase finding all

sorts of future projects and in doing that, I also spotted a book that I haven't looked in for a while. It is called 'Back to basics', all to do with growing your own veges, making your own butter, It is a very interesting book and it is when you look through these books that you realize how much everything is already produced for

 us these days.

I have now managed to collect three of the same style cows, I love them. Cows, chooks, roosters and other farm animals just give that nice country feel to a house.

My friend Heather made me this lovely Home Sweet

Home hanger. Heather knows I love hearts and she

made it while we were both into folk art. Heather is

really good at fold art, all the flowers she painted

looked like flowers, she is so clever.

I found this lovely angel at the second hand store and I

thought she was too lovely to pass by, so she came home

with me. I'm a softie when it comes to op shops or second

hand stores.

I ordered some lovely buttons through Ebay and they came

all the way from America. I need to go and make a nice

cup of tea and look through the tin to check out my

treasure. I'll see you all soon. Kind regards, Anita

Just Plodding......

I'm having one of those lovely easy Sunday afternoon's. I have done my dishes, washed all the clothes and let them flap like mad on the line, sewn up a new zipper on Cory's go-kart suit, and washed a few bits that live on my antique tea trolley. The four plates above where found while going for a walk to one of my childhood haunts - the sale yards. The sale yards have been abandoned for many years now, but in the little outdoor kitchen the farmer's wives sold afternoon tea and food, I found these plates half buried in the ground. The other sweet little leaf shaped plates I found at an op shop recently.

While doing my spring cleaning the other day I managed to break part of my darling little salt and pepper shaker set. The cows above, survived but next to it is a bee hive....well there are meant to be two of those. I will have to be more careful next time.


My chooks have been very busy lately laying lots of eggs. Here is Benjamin and Caramel very interested in what I might have for them to eat. I weeded near the old copper that is in my garden and every now and then I remember when we used our own copper at home. We used to boil the water for the washing the clothes and to bathe in.  


I'm off now to collect some eggs and to plant a couple of shrubs that I purchased earlier on. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I hope you have a lovely week. Kind regards, Anita.

Flowers and Springtime

I love the Springtime, flowers busting out everywhever, colours throughout the yard, baby birds chirping and.....hayfever. This year almost everyone you come across is suffering badly this year from hayfever and allergies. Even a lady at work who has never had hayfever has managed to get a dose of it this year. With my hayfever and all, I still managed to get most of my spring cleaning done. The two girls above, got a nice clean over and they're looking very small with themselves.

While I was doing some spring cleaning I came across a shoe box tucked away in a cupboard, naturally curious, I decided to check out what was in the box. I found several items I had not seen in years and also found this book.

Have a look at the date of it. An old farmer gave it to me years ago and I made sure not to damage it and put it in that 'safe' spot. I never ever find things again usually when things go to the 'safe' spot. But I have been true to myself, the book is still in one piece.

Talking about things being in one piece, I have never been able to bake a descent batch of scones nor have I been able to grow lavender. Scones and lavender, everyone tells me, are supposed to be so simple to bake and grow. I have kept on having a go at them over the years, just to give it a shot. So now I have nice lavender. I don't know what I did this time that was any different to all the other times. So I will still have a go at scones. Oh I've tried the lemonade recipe as well, and if I threw one of my scones at someone, I'd be done for assault with a deadly weapon.

On a happier note, my petunia's are growing lovely, no problems there. My portulaca's are coming on nicely too.

I hope everyone enjoys their lovely weekend coming up. I plan to return to the garden, sew and tackle this rotten knitting pattern that is causing me some grief. I have been a knitter since I was a small child (now almost 48) and the way patterns are written up in the newer books are not getting along with me at all. I will just keep chipping away at it and if that doesn't work I'll keep knitting the baby beanies. have a great weekend. Kind regards, Anita

I found a treasure!

See what I found at a sweet little op-shop. A cute patchwork cushion cover that was put straight under my arm pit at the first sight! I spotted it just sitting on the top of a basket and I got to it so fast I had smoke coming off my feet. I gave it a wash, waited for it to dry and it went straight out the front verandah on my old wooden chair. Oh....it only cost $1.00.

While I was doing some housework today, I noticed an old cd disc that Brandon had given me as a present when he was about 8years old (he is now almost 16years old). He was so pleased with himself and isn't it sweet what a child will write straight from their heart. Whenever it is time to give my shelves above the stove a clean, everything comes down, including my disc that is so very special to me, gets cleaned and is put back up to admire once again.
One of my valued treasures - the old family radio that was equal to television in my day. We all used to sit around the radio and listen to the serials that were on, and just couldn't wait for the next week to find out what happened next. The radio has no internal organs left as my Father had just chucked it down the back shed for absolutely years. I asked him if I could have it seeing as it was just laying around. So now it lives on a quilt cupboard in the lounge room.
See in this close up how it shows the different states in Australia and some of their radio stations.
Another op shop find is this pretty honey pot. This was in its box with the plastic still wrapped around it. I love it.
At the moment in the craft department, I am knitting a bolero top...for next year. I'm also going to start knitting a few beanies for the local hospital. that should keep me out of mischief for a while. If you are interested in patterns for premature babies, just below is a small bonnet pattern for you.

SMALL BONNET

50 g ball of 4 ply Size 12 needles

Cast on 35 sts, Knit 3 rows.
Change to stocking stitch and work 10 rows.

Shape Top.
1st row: * K2tog, knit 3, rep from * to end. 25sts.
2nd row: P 2, p 2tog, rep from * to end. 21 sts.
3rd row: *K2tog, k 1, rep from * to end. 14 sts.
4th row: P2tog, all across row. 7 sts.
5th row: (K2tog) 3 times, K 1. 4 sts.
Break off yarn and thread through stitches.
Sew up side.

I have just found a lovely book my friend Heather gave to me on my birthday called 'A lifetime of girlfriends: moments of connection' by Bonnie Jensen. In it is a verse...A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away. - Arabian proverb. That is our friendship, sometimes it's my turn, sometimes it's Heather's turn. We march on.

I hope the next few days treat you all well, I have now finished my working week, but it doesn't really finish does it? Kind regards, Anita

Mum's Garden: Weed it and reap

Hello to everyone, I hope you had a lovely weekend. We had such hot weather over the weekend and then this morning it sprinkled! Since the weather was so lovely it gave me the opportunity to do some weeding. I went around the front yard and the back and I pulled up more nasturtiums than weeds. My chooks really loved that as nasturtiums are their favourite thing. While I was weeding I noticed the bird bath tucked away happily in a corner of the garden. With so many native bushes and trees, after the birds have swooped down to all the flowers, they need a nice refreshing drink of water.

I have two bird baths around the yard and accompanied with the native shrubs, it really attracts the bird life. We don't have cats, so the birds have a free range of the yard. Our dog Max just stares at the birds, so they're laughing. I have even watched pigeons walk straight passed our dog and I think I heard them snicker to each other.


Another little treasure in our yard are these two birds. They are actually made out of cast iron and rotate away or to each other. You can also fill the little container up with water if you like. There are some lovely garden ornaments available these days and I'm always on the look out for something new. Oh after I weeded I just had to go to the nursery as well and bring home some portulacas and petunia's. I didn't want to, I needed to. They went in my front yard.
When I said the nasturtiums needed to get weeded, I really meant it. I love them so much and they bring such colour into your yard. They have grown up every possible object.
My husband and son Cory went go-karting this weekend, so I had the company of my oldest son Brandon. I managed to have lots of time to myself and that meant I gave the sewing machine a good caning. I finished up a few little bits that needed doing. I also made a start on my next knitting project and made ready the materials to make some little dolls. The doll with the button was made by a friend of mine and this has given me many different ideas to make other dolls.
Legs made from twigs out of the garden. My other little doll has beaded legs.
I cam across a funny heartwarming expression the other day. 'If they can send one man to the moon, why can't they send them all?' It was so funny to read, but I need my man......to shift things and stuff..OK.. and to talk to and share time with.

See you all in a couple of days. Take care. Kind regards, Anita

Pretty Girl

Well a warm and sunny hello to you all! Here she is, all finished, just in time..........to pack away for next year! I had the best time knitting 'Hey Teach', it was one of those enjoyable knitting patterns. I love knitting, but this pattern was like one of those extraordinary cups of coffee you make that are a little bit more special for some reason.

I found this pattern on the internet on a free pattern site. If you go to www.knitty.com and then type in the search box Hey Teach it will go to the instructions for you. The wool I used was Moda Vera Mousse, which is a very thick ply, and I am going to knit this again in 8 ply to see what happens. I often come across patterns with wool you have never heard of and I just have a go at the pattern anyway with what wool I have. You can always gauge anyway on the amount of stitches or needle sizes that are used in patterns.

Have you ever turned on the radio and listened to a song that you haven't heard in years and it reminds you of a certain time in your life? That seems to happen with not only music but smells and objects. The other day I was scratching around my storage cupboards and found this tiny little dog. My Mum bought this for me when I was about 9 or 10 years old. The dog was part of a set of three (different sized, same breed). There was also another set of Collie dogs too. The only two I remember still having in my possession is this one and the tiny Collie dog. But I was so surprised to see him because it has been years since I saw him.

Seeing him reminds me of the many times he brought such happy memories. My Mum, my niece Ann and I used to hide him and the other tiny dog, off each other. We are really strange. I think my Mum used to have the best hiding spots. When we were at school, well, she had all the time in the world to think up great hiding spots.

No wonder he was hard to find, he is rather small. I had a great collection of plastic animals and I still have a few of them today. They went hand in hand with my lego set. We had so little money growing up, as in that time it was the same for most families, but the things we did get were played with non stop.

A little while ago, a kind friend of ours asked me if I would like this old gate he had, knowing how I am in the garden. I believe Pete didn't even finish asking me the question and I'd said yes. This lovely treasure had been out in his backyard for years, just blending in with his vegetable patch. I made sure to ask him if he was absolutely sure he wanted to part with it. He was ready to part with it. I love the old gates you used to see because they had so much character about them. My flowers are enjoying this little gate anyway.

I'm off now to have some harsh words with my washing machine that refuses to start. It has been coming for a while now so if it won't wash, I'll have to crack out the ole scrubbing board and keep washing. Catch you all in a few days time and have the best week end. Kind regards, Anita

Keepsakes and little treasures

Hello to everyone! We have had the sunniest day today, with more fine and hot weather to come. I can't wait to get into the garden on the weekend, as I have some nasturtiums that need to go to the chooks. How they will love that! Look at what my sister-in-law gave me for my birthday last year. Lovely cannisters that sit happily on my special shelf. All the little stuffed toys are valentine gifts I have given to my husband over the years (making sure to have them delivered at his work place with a red rose as well). I just love old cannisters, wooden kitchenalia and old pots. The wooden herbs boxes were my Mum's and I have them because when she bought a new modern set I scored them to play with. They went straight into my plastic animal box as they came in handy as horse stables. Over the years I misplaced some of the lids, but I'm so glad I still have some of the boxes.

I went to one of the Op shop's around town the other day and look at the little treasures I picked up along the way. The patchwork block that was already made up is going to turn into a cushion cover, and the reels of ribbon will be used at a later date. These all cost me $1.00. The ribbon and lace is brand new! I love scratching around Op shop's because you find such great things. Infact the table runner underneath is from the Op shop, but it was not completely made up. The squares of Debbie Mumm material were already sewn up together!!!! and all I added was the wadding and backing. I couldn't believe it. Amongst all this jumbled up material I saw this 1 inch of material sticking up that looked like Debbie Mumm material , so I simply pulled it out of the mound, and it kept on coming, more Debbie Mumm, more....more.....and finally I pulled the whole thing out, just thinking I had struck it rich. What's more I paid $1.50 for it.

Do you think my nasturtiums have gone mad? It has grown up everything. I love them because they give the old worldy feel to my yard. The garden is such a nice place to find peace and have quiet thoughts to yourself. I have since pulled the nasty little weeds up that are in the photo, that sneak up on you in no time.

I am off to the library now as a knitting book I ordered in has arrived. I can't wait to see it and make something out of it as well. I have almost finished my lovely top I am knitting. I will show and tell when it is finished. I will be back in a few days and hope you all have a lovely day in the meanwhile. Kind regards, Anita.

Sweetest things........

Isn't she sweet? I knew she was going to happen. So pretty I had to make two of her. She is so easy to make and my friend Heather will be pleased I have about thirty buttons less than she does. I bought the Creating Country Threads (Vol 10 No 2). She is on the cover just to tempt us. The second one I made came in a bit short as I ran out of the green material, so instead of getting snippy I just made a nice pair of organza pants and kept right on going. I just love Christmas and these two girls are getting me right in the mood.
We've been having the typical October weather lately, some warm days, some cold days but my pink daisies are really loving themselves and have burst out all over the place. They are so pretty.
Just the other side of my daisies are the other flowers also being very happy with themselves. We have several flowering shrubs out the front, so when my husband (Pixie) and I are having a cup of tea together you almost get bombarded by the little birds swooping down in the bushes or having a drink out of the bird bath.
The cup and saucer belonged to my mum and every time I see the cup I think of her. It always brings me warm feelings and reminds me of all sorts of funny memories of her. The beer stein I believe belonged to my Dad, well I remember him drinking out of it always. The stein was made in Western Germany (as it says on the bottom of the stein) and had it been made in East Germany it would have been worth alot more moneywise. Of course, though, to me it is priceless and would not be sold. The old plate in the background is also from my childhood and I need to have an antique dealer look at it so I can learn some history. I remember cutting oranges up on it and taking in the backyard under the grapevine. Oops one of my dolls got in the picture!
I'm waiting patiently for my sister-in-law Leila to settle back at home from her wonderful trip to New Zealand. Leila and her husband John had two weeks away and only returned home last night. They are such great people and so much fun. I am so lucky to have scored myself a sister-in-law like her, we have so much fun together, and she is a sweet person.

I have just finished reading the best book I have ever read. It is called 'Ma, he sold me for a few cigarettes' by Martha Long. It is an autobiography and is tragic but inspirational. There are two other books that follow on and I am now almost through book number two. If you want a good read, I would recommend it. I better get going now as I need to get dinner on the go. I hope you all have had a terrific day as I have and catch you soon. Kind regards, Anita

Kind comments, happy heart

Hello to everyone! Thanks for the encouraging comments some lovely people sent to me. Being so computer illiterate, I need all the encouragement I can get. It will be good for me to have a go and experiment.

One more lovely day and I'm back to work. I have enjoyed my school holidays with my three darlings and we've had a lovely spot of warm weather....today is not one of those warm weather days, but that's alright. How colourful is my front yard? I just love sitting in the front yard with my hot cup of tea and looking at all the colour. It is nice taking time to appreciate all the small things that we sometimes don't see.

Yesterday I made some lovely Mini Zucchini Bites, we love them. I have the recipe below and one of the best things invented was the silicon baking trays. All the splatter that has happened on this batch just fell off when I washed the tray. They taste really nice, give them a try.

Mini Zucchine Bites.

1 envelope Golden soup mix (I used Spring Veg soup)
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
4 eggs
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tblsp parmesan cheese
3/4 teaspoon basil
1 - 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini

Mix all ingredients together
Spoon mixture into well greased mini muffins tins or silicon trays
350 F for 20 minutes
Makes 24. Freezes well.
Enjoy!

When I go back to work tomorrow, I will be taking some companions with me. I made this lovely purple caterpilla and rabbit. I remember seeing this made in a book somewhere years ago but as I have no pattern, I just made it up as I went along. I collected 3 large milo tins, wrapped some wadding around it and covered it with some corduroy and buttons. All the segments are joined by drilling holes in the tins and running a length a rope through them. the rabbit is knitted and I do have a pattern for that. They will find a nice home somewhere in my school library. I love the joy the toys bring to the children.

What a happy face!


I best be off now to finish my christmas doll that I just had to make! She is looking beautiful. See you all soon and have a great day. Kind regards, Anita