May the force be with you! 

This time of year brings many emotions for me and preparing to say farewell to some members of our gym crew is now on my mind. Every year the new training nurses and hospital staff always end up joining the gym and, inevitably, they meet us. 😂 It turns into an amazing year of friendship, laughs, ganging up on the gym instructor and dedicated health to our mind and bodies. The photo just below is part of our 6am Fit45 crew with our instructor Kosta (the Adonis with the moustache). 

 

And then we are here with Thomas (looking a lot like Pablo Escobar with his moustache). It is "Movember" here. The boys grow a moustache and then shave it off for charity.

To Devonney and Tess......we wish you peace, love and happiness in your future journey. This is a small world and I wouldn't be surprised if we cross paths somewhere, sometime. Devonney and Tess are the young girls alongside me in the photo below. 💗

Between all this roller coaster of emotion, my true and dear hobby of knitting and crochet has helped me through this time. Lots of baby gear being made and ready for the markets.

I had made a start on the camel coloured jacket and now it is complete....oh...of course, I haven't stitched the buttons on yet. You guys know the drill about that...I am hopeless at getting the buttons on. I won't change you know....I'm too old for that now.  lol 😇💥

 

My crochet patterns aren't very detailed but the more I practice the better I'll get. I have had this book for many years but now that I'm crocheting more, it has now become interesting. Do you ever do that? You buy these books or magazines for a particular project and don't really look hard at other things in the book. Suddenly, when you're onto a different craft path, something else in the book jumps out at you

 I thought I'd better show some photos of Milo, he is still a little brat, but a loved brat. lol He helps me take photos and walk around the garden.

He's so cute

More of the balustrade's being placed around the back yard. I'm in heaven. It is a slow process of cleaning, painting and then leveling the ground to place them down. But the effect....💕💖

  So I've shared some goodbyes, now let me share with you the hellos!! Last year I had found 1 cat and three kittens at my neighbours house. I managed to catch them, hand them over to our Cat haven and they found them all beautiful homes. A couple of weeks later, I found this one. I'd planned on catching her and handing her to the cat haven. I'm not particularly a cat person, more a dog girl. So my son's girlfriend really, really, really wanted Poppy and to cut the story short.....she's with us now. I've lost my shade house to this precious little moo cow. It is now a cat enclosure.

Poppy has been spayed, hence the cone around her head.

 Meet Poppy

A special meet up with my third son Corey. We had a much loved visit yesterday with Corey and though the visits are not so many due to distance and life commitments, the visits are always much loved and appreciated. Corey became a friend to my own son Cory when they were in about Year 2 at school. We even had Corey come to Italy with us years ago. He has just purchased a block of land and will be having a house built very soon. He is always in our heart. Love him all the time.😚 

The day is getting on and today I'm catching up with some of my friends at Dome. I promised I would bring my manners with me, but I didn't disclose whether it would be good manners or bad. 😂😂😂😂😂😈😇

I beam you all love, hugs and good wishes. May they reach you wherever in the world you are.

Ciao, Anita.

 

 There are so many beautiful reasons to be happy. 😊

Good morning all you beautiful people, how are you all this morning? So I've been missing for a while and I've had some of the busiest weeks known to mankind, as we all have from time to time. There have been several events that have come up that have taken me away from my crochet hook and knitting needles, but they've been fun things.

 

I entered a Mud Festival with my beautiful niece and her crazy friends. It was 3 kms of running, climbing, sliding and jumping into mud pits and muddy tunnels. The course is usually 5km but due to covid they shortened the course. I'm actually surprised they had it at all but I'm glad it was still on. In Western Australia our covid cases are so contained and we have had the good fortune to move around more freely. My niece is the gorgeous girl with the white cap on her head. The others are a bunch of crazy people 😂

Photo taken before and after the fun. 

and then ......the normal family photo. 😜

It was such a fun day and any time I can spend with Lisa, the better for our hearts.

So I have acted normal from time to time and I did get back to the real world. I was very happy with the outcome of this little sweater that I was commissioned to make. It is knitted in a 4ply yarn, with cable running up each section on all pieces. The roll down collar was amazing and it looked so good when I completed it. The lady was very happy with it too. 👍

My little partner in crime.....Heather the feather gave me a couple of bags of yarn because I needed some pink for the next 2 orders for baby cardigans. She is very kind, and as Heather is cleaning out in preparation for her move, it is one less thing she will have to pack. It will be another chapter in our lives when Heather moves away but gladly the distance won't be impossible for us to still catch up. 💓

Several weeks ago I was fortunate enough to score these cement balustrades and the tops that go on them. All we had to do was dust and paint them. As each one was painted I lined them up in the garden to see how close I would have to place each one and how they look in the garden.
 

I'm so pleased with how my garden is slowly looking "Italian" and that makes me feel like I'm home.

A couple of weeks ago Heather the feather and I decided to do a little road trip to a town nearby, (and terrorize the place)....oops....I mean visit the place. 😂😂😂😂. Of course one of the things we do best is pop in to the op shops. Just sitting there quietly was this cute little thing. I grabbed it. I elbowed, bit, scratched my way passed Heather and got there first. It is an amazing and very eye catching banner. Don't worry Heather is fine now.....her black eye and broken leg are healing well. lol Just kidding.

And the latest job I'm working on is this crocheted baby cardigan that will be on sale at the Christmas markets in December. I have a heap of orders to get through before then and many of them are little baby cardigans.

This is crocheted in 8 ply and a very simple pattern. This is one of the colours that are in style at the moment. It seems quite dark for a baby but that's what people want. 

Well lovely people, I am going to have a scratch around in my shed to do a bit of a clean up. It really needs it. Our weekend has been very wet and cold, which is unusual for this time of year, so getting into the shed has been a bit tricky. The rain directs itself straight through the shed door and anything near the doorway gets wet. It is too dark in there to shut the door so I go in there only when the rain stops. lol

Stay happy and well, and enjoy the day.

Ciao, Anita.

 Write it on your heart that today is the 🌸 best day of the year. 🍒

Well Buongiorno & Good Morning to you all and haven't I been off the scene for a while 😂. My last order gave me grief, so much so that I started calling the Bride and Groom some rather nasty names. lol  This knitting order came with urgency in it so I had to really make a fast move to get it done. These little sweethearts were going to be a keepsake for the young couple getting married. The family had made an order to get dolls knitted from someone else and when they received the order, it was not completely what they'd asked for. Apparently my name had been suggested several times and the lady came to me for help, which I gladly did...oh but the pain. lol I mean that in a nice way. 💕

Special requirements came with the order: the Groom had to have surfie hair and cream attire ; the Bride needed some green trim and has brown hair. Due to covid, I found it extremely hard to find any yarn that would be suitable for his hair, so I had to dig through Heather's yarn stash, and because she is such a yarn and fabric addict......😹😹😹😹....I found some. 

So these beauties were made using a pattern for 7 inch dolls but I had to adjust everything to suit dolls that were more like 12 inch dolls. I do love how they turned out and I was so glad to finish this project, not only because it was challenging but the thought that the lady was going to get her order.

I even made a glittery wedding bag to wrap them in. 💏

  These little beauties are the reason I have not posted in several weeks. I had been so consumed with completing them that my housework went to trash, my friends had hardly seen me, hubby has done the clothes washing 😘, and nothing else has been made. lol Last Sunday morning, when I finished this project.....I was straight on to the next order........

A knitted sweater for a two year old. The pattern is in cable and I'm using 4 ply yarn. It is a very nice yarn to knit with and I'm pleased to say that even though it is a fine yarn, I have the back and front made. Not bad progress for something I started only last Sunday.

  I attended a baby shower last Saturday and as luck would have it, my niece Lisa was also attending. It was so lovely to see her again, as lately I am seeing her more and more. Lisa is on the left hand side of the photo. The lovely pregnant lady in the middle, Tayla, is a work friend of mine and friend of Lisa. It doesn't matter where I go, I'm always the shortest......and the 'blondest". 😄

Yesterday Heather the feather and I took off to the little historical town of Toodyay. Heather was only allowed to come with me if she behaved herself and that was challenging. lol Everything was going on in that little town: car racing, tourists, car boot sale, people at every corner of the street. I met a friend while we were in Toodyay and she asked if I'd seen the fabric at the car boot sale. Somehow, we missed seeing it, so we went back. Oh gosh....we found the table, it was stacked with a mile of fabric, so I had to buy some.

Now my lovely friends, it is time to actually get some work done and then call the afternoon my own. I would love to get this little sweater completed as soon as I can because I feel like making something random and a project that suits me. lol

I wish you all a good day and I hope you find time to do something you love to do.

Ciao, Anita.

 

 Springtime 🌺

 One of my favourite seasons in the year would have to be Spring. There's so much happening in the garden with the colours of the rainbow popping up all over the place, the crispness of the cold winter morning dulling down and the lovely sounds of the bird chatter. The sunrise is coming earlier and earlier, a good indication in the change of the season. Oh...the only thing about the sun rising earlier is that our gym instructor will be opening the side gate at the gym and we will have to start running around the establishment. 😭😭😂

I've been on holidays the past week and the op shops have had several visits from me. I love looking for little bargains and treasures that others no longer require. This week I found a whole case of embroidery threads, new baby yarn and another interesting textured yarn. All of these things make me pretty happy. 

What makes you happy?

During my break from work I have done several knitting and crochet projects that you've seen before so I won't show them again, but I have been commissioned to make a bride and groom knitted doll pair. Here is the bride on the make and I intend to have this finished by this weekend. I have the groom knitted up but not sewn up. 

This is not a very clear photo, but these are pairs of finger less mitts to fit adults and children. The colour is actually very pretty but it does not show up well here.

So even though I have made much in the way of craftwork, I have nothing new to show you, so how about a walk through my garden with me? Gardening is one of my other loves.        Come walk with me....

 This is the side of our house with the morning sun peeking through 😊

My front door, a place I love to just look at because I know all the love that is behind that door.

My backyard is filling with vegetables growing in pots and my ever expanding geranium patch(es). Geranium are everywhere in the yard.

Not only does our yard have the Italian touch, there is also a little Greek corner, dedicated to one of my gym instructors.🍷 The little patch below is slowly collecting the blue and white colours of the Greek flag. This is another nice little place we all love to sit and ponder.

Now back to the Italian look 💖

Oh no.......it's Milo!!!!!! 🐕

My bougainvillea plants have grown to this height but have grown no more. I'm not sure why this is. If any of my Italian friends can give me some idea how to encourage the height to improve, I would love your advise. My bougainvillea is growing on one stem so all the flowers grown high instead of growing as a bush.

Milo insisted on joining me on my garden walk today and the look on his face when I took a photo of him is priceless. It's almost as if he's saying 'Don't take my photo when I'm standing near flowers.'

I have taken after my mother in so many ways but my sense of humour has to be the strongest trait she gave me. My Mum was such a little teaser....in the nicest possible way 😂. This morning I found this weird looking thing on the floor. I picked it up only to discover that it was a false eyelash. 😨 My son and his partner now have a cat and it decided to steal Emma's eyelash and play with it. Apparently cats don't clean up after themselves so they leave things on the floor.'

Of course.....I have to make a big deal out of it. lol

 

For my Italian friends, the message says: Lost property. Go to claims department to collect. 

Oggetti smarriti. Vai al reparto reclami per riscuotere.

My last photos of the back entry to our yard. You are greeted with hanging plants just waiting to grow and burst into colour.

So.....lovely people, I sign off now to go and start doing a few jobs before I get stuck into finishing the knitted bride and groom dolls. I hope that wherever you all are in the world, the restrictions in your country are easing up and there is a little more freedom for you to travel or at least go out in your community. 

Ciao, Anita.