Happy New Year to you all.

A journey of a thousand miles

beings with one step.

-Chinese proverb

I knew I would see the New Year in asleep. Maybe next year I will have a go at staying awake to see the new year in. Bev and I do a challenge every month and for December the challenge was to make something of our choice using homespun. I decided to some candlewicking and make a mat for my bedside table. I have a couple of candlewicking books and found a lovely pattern and went for it.

I had some left over lace so I added that to the sides of the mat.

We already have next month's challenge sorted and it will be to make anything we like using black and white. Sounds like fun. The best bit besides the finished product is the thinking, looking through magazines, patterns or designing something out of your own head. It keeps your mind active, I love that and sometimes mind way through I change my mind and add something else to the equation. Have to wait and see what Bev comes up with as well. She's a clever cookie.

I managed to get all my washing done very early in the week so I was happy to have extra time to do some sewing. While I was washing I opened a container in the laundry and nearly choked on the strong wash powder smell. I haven't actually used commercial wash powder since stumbling across a recipe to make wash powder. 

If you jump over to Rhonda's blog, under green cleaning, there are several great recipes to make for different jobs. You don't get the suds when you're washing, but you do get the clean finish. I'm so glad I came across that recipe. I use the recipe called Concentrated laundry powder. It has no smell and that's why when I walk down shopping isles now the smell of the powders nearly knocks me out.

I noticed how many bandana's we had collected over the years and said to Cory we should make something out of them. A suggestion of stitching them together came up and then Cory said why don't we fold them in half and join them, kind of like a patchwork style idea. 

The Canteen Foundation helps children in Australia who have cancer and the schools are heavily involved with raising money at certain times of the year. Brandon has a young friend who is going through chemo right now, so this had even more sentiment to us this year.

When we hang the finished item I will take a picture of it. Right now I am still hacking away at the knitted vests for African babies. I will probably make ten altogether and then start on knitting for show entries. Our local show takes place in September each year, but I always need to start early because I fuss about what I will actually enter.

Today Cory and I accidentally got Brandon all hot under the collar, so when Pixie asked if I would like to come for a drive around town, I said yes and so did Cory. Cory came for his own safety I think! lol. I returned a library book I had finished with and then we decided to go for a drive towards Toodyay to see how things were after the bushfire. Hill after hill was just black. There was still smouldering smoke and it was incredible to see some houses blackened all around them with the house untouched by fire. 

I'm off now to check the chooks with Cory. So far today my girls have laid 7 eggs. They are so good. Cory loves going to the chook yard with me, he pats his guinea pig and has fun with the chooks. I am going to take a handful of silverbeet up to the girls and watch them peck away at it. Hoping to catch up with you all in a couple of days. Kind regards, Anita.