A deer cushion, and more yarning along

This is a cushion that my best friend bought me this week. For some reason I have a "thing" about deer, and always become excited if I see anything deerish. in a charity shop, and am quick to snap it up.

So I was quite excited to get this lovely cushion as a present.
And it fits so perfectly on my crochet armchair.

On to the yarning along component of today's blog. I am becoming quite fond of these posts.
I'm linking in again with Ginny at Small Things' Yarn Along, .


I am making yet another stash bag to give to one of my sister in laws for Christmas. I have come up with an awesome idea, again inspired by Ginny, who is currently reading Anne of Green gables. One of my sister in laws loves those books, so I have found an etsy site which has Anne fabric. So I plan to buy some, then line the bag with it.
I was quite excited when I came up with that idea~!!

So this is the latest bag, along with my latest book, "Bertie Plays the Blues"
I am totally besotted with anything and everything Alexander Mccall Smith has ever written.
And this is his latest book, which I did not even know had been published, but which my lovely husband found in the local library this morning!!!
I was so excited, and am kind of amazed that I have even stopped reading it to write this blog!!

Alexander McCall Smiths' books are just so incredibly lovely, they are difficult to describe, but they have such lovely gentle characters, that you become so fond of.
Bertie Plays the Blues is part of the Scotland Street series, and it may not surprise you to know that when we went to Scotland last year, this was another pilgrimage I made!!
Walking, or rather sliding along the icy streets of Edinburgh in the early morning, on our last day before flying home, to make sure I found Scotland St, was one of my best memories of the trip.

And this last pic is something I picked up at a charity shop for $4.50 today. It is super cute and reminds me of my grandmother.
Sending lots of good wishes to everyone out there, and hoping your week is lovely, and that you are all being kind to yourselves

Weddings

This weekend was my youngest brother and sister in laws wedding.
Those of you who have been reading this blog for the long haul may remember that I crocheted a rainbow stripe blanket for their wedding present.
Unfortunately I forgot to pack it on the day!!!! But they are away for a month on honeymoon, so will give it to them when they get back!!!!
The day was marvellous. I don't have many photos as I was busy absorbing the beauty of the day. It was one of those truly lovely magical days.

The wedding was held at a winery atop a the same mountain my husband and I married on.  The wedding itself was held in a glass dome that was perched on top of the mountain, and the reception was in the attached restraunt. The scenery was mind boggling, and the food was amazingly delicious. And of course I am biased, but the company was also fantastic!!

I really wished I took more photos to show.But I do have these photos of the fans everyone received on the tables.

And I have photos of the bag, shoes and necklace I wore

This is my favourite necklace, I got it for my first Mothers day from daughter#2, it's a glass apple. Daughter#2 always likes to pretend to bite in when I'm wearing it.

And I LOVE this bag! I had actually forgotten I had it, it's a vintage Spencer and Rutherford. It has beautiful red silk lining inside, and remind me of a koala bear!!

Speaking of native animals. here is a kookaburra that perched on the verandah of the chalet we stayed over night in.  After having the most amazing day and night, most of our family stayed overnight, and all caught up for a huge breakfast the next morning!!

And some beautiful flowers on the mountain.

I had an amazing time, and am now recovering. Hope everyone has a great week!!

Yarn Along

Today I am again linking up with Ginny at Small Things for her Yarn Along, http://www.gsheller.com/2011/08/yarn-along_17.html

Last week I was reading Nick Earls, The Fix, which was great and I loved.

This week I am reading a totally different style of book, this is a mystery set in a reality TV house set in Sweden. 

It's great so far, I'm really enjoying it. 

I really enjoyed The Girl with the Dragon tattoo trilogy,. so thought that I might like this, and so far so good.

Last week when I linked in with this post, I was making something, and I wasn't sure what it was!

Thanks to all the lovely feedback and advice from you all, it's now becoming a stash bag, and I am totally loving it. I love how it has transformed from a kind of nothing, to something that I am absolutely loving!!!

And I have also decided I am going to make one each of these for my sister and my two sister in laws for Christmas. So again, thanks to all the blog love I have 3 new projects, and some Christmas present planning. In August!! So I am feeling quite organised and happy now, and its thanks to you all.

So thanks heaps, and see you later, hope everyone has great weeks, filled with lovely things
x

Fairy garden and an award

I have had a fantastic Saturday today.
I read this week on someone's blog ( I have a memory like a goldfish and I can't remember whose it was so sorry if it was yours, it was ace min, and I really enjoyed reading it) about someone making a fairy garden in a tub! It was a great post and had heaps of adorable photos of fairy gardens, and suggested googling fairy gardens, which I of course did, wasting much much time in looking in delight at them all.

The shortest daughter (daughter#2) is quite in to fairies, in fact she may have her own imaginary one called jasmine. She was delighted when I told her that we would make a fairy garden together.
This morning we went to the markets, bought heaps of flowers,  lots of fresh fruit and veg, and lots of flowering type plants (I'm so not a good gardener- I love to garden, but I never know the names of things, except for the herbs!)

 Anyhoo, laden wiht plants, fresh flowers, fruit and veg, we then went to the shops, where we bought lots of fairy type things, and a giant pink plastic tub.
I kind of think something more rustic mightl have been better than a pink plastic tub,  but I (and the shortest daughter) were in a frenzy to make this. Plus she loves it!

We then arrived home, and began the process of planting. I did the planting, of course with some help, from my incredibly excited and helpful helper ( I am quite the wordsmith today, how many times can I use the same adjective in one sentence!!)
Then it was time to begin positioning the fairies and mushrooms. I found it quite hard to not move where she had placed them, or say "wouldn't it look better over here" but remembered it was her fairy garden, not mine!!
(And yes, I may have to actually make one for myself, and then it can be an extra birthday present down the track. Or something!!)

We finished the day off with a walk to the park, and a play on the swings

And some massive ribs from the markets for dinner that were unbelievably tasty!! So not showing pics of those, as it's embarrassing how huge they were!!!
More photos of the park instead.

 So, on to awards, I was privileged to receive the Versatile Blogger from  kmmms
who has an awesome blog that I love reading. Check it out here http://thingslearntthehardway.blogspot.com/2011/08/lovely-nicki-has-given-me-award.html
I love her 10 facts about herself, and I am really not sure that I can come close to having such interesting ones, but here goes:

1.   Last time I did the fact thing here, I mentioned that no one in my real life knows I have this blog. Turns out I was wrong. Hello Daughter#1 who has been reading it all along!!! And who is incredibly sweet and lovely, also smart, and I would be writing that even if you weren't reading this princess :)
2.   Daughter#1 is also a vegetarian. She has been since she was about 3 or 4. She made the decision herself. I know that is technically not a fact about me, but whatever!
3.   I love to read, I may have mentioned this before. I read obsessively. Reading and crochet are my two big stress relief's.
4.   My favourite authors are: Nick Earls, Nick Hornby, Ian Rankin, Colin Bateman. I like authors that make me laugh. Ian Rankin rarely does, but I love him all the same.
5.    I would love to be a writer. I did English Literature as a subject at uni, but then had to specialise after 2 years and had to drop it. I often wish I didn't.
6. We went to Scotland last year for 6 weeks, were there for the "worst winter ever" which was awesome for me.  I am such a book nerd that I made my husband do the Ian Rankin tour of Edinburgh with me. It was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7. My husband is Scottish.
8.. I taught my husband to do chain stitch last night. It was great, and he looks so cute crocheting. There is something about men crocheting that is just so sweet. It always makes my heart melt when I see someone blogging about teaching their partner to crochet.
9. I have very rarely applied for jobs, I tend to stay in jobs for a long time, and only leave if I get offered another better one. I am quite lazy.
10. I have a terrible terrible memory, so bad that one of my staff calls me Nemo (from the movie, the goldfish that has no memory at all).

Apologies that that was quite a boring 10 facts. Now to the passing on of the award. I can't do it!! I just can't! I get so conflicted about who to give it to, and then inevitably inadverterntly leave out people I meant to include then I feel bad........................so to avoid my neurosis getting any worse, I am giving it to anyone who is a follower of this blog and hasn't had an award. It's yours- enjoy. I love reading peoples blogs they are all so inspiring and you all deserve awards. And you're all lovely

So with that, I will say Talk Later Skater, and leave you with some photos of this weeks walk around the lake- Hope your weekend is as fun as mines has been so far!
xx

Yarn Along

Today I am linking up with Ginny from Small Things in her Yarn Along
http://www.gsheller.com/2011/08/yarn-along_10.html
She is combining two of my favourite things- yarn and books.
So without further ado, this is what I am reading and making at the mo

I am reading the new book by one of my favourite ever authors- Nick Earls.
He writes the funniest ever books, that you honestly can't read in public. I had made that mistake many many times when I was at uni and caught public transport all the time. You find yourself snorting with laughter. And his characters are just so likeable, and just so like people you know, or yourself. I would highly recommend checking out his books. Reading one of his books is like chatting with an old friend you haven't seen in ages, where you laugh and laugh at ridiculous things until your stomach hurts.

But I wouldn't start with this one, as it's not his best. It's still great,just not my favourite.  My favourite ever of his would be ZigZag Street, which I can truthfully say is one fo the best and funniest books ever written!!.
Favourite favourite author

And so on to the making component of this post_ I'm not actually too sure what this is that I'm making!
It started out with the intention of becoming a rainbow cushion for my brothers wedding (weekend after next), but I kind of lost the love for it being a cushion.

I still love it, but I'm not too sure what it's going to be when it grows up. It feels quite odd making something when I don't actually know what it will become.

I haven't really been feeling like blogging, I've still been reading all of your lovely blogs, but haven't been feeling the love to write my own stuff this past week. Which is why I was quite happy to do the link up thingo with Ginny- it helps if you have a topic sometimes.

On a happy note, I had my hair done last night after work, I got more foils, and was quite happy with the outcome, I did not realise how long my hair actually is until my husband took this photo for the blog for me!

I am really loving my hair, I had wanted to lighten it a bit before the wedding, and I am totally loving this!!
I hope everyone in blogland is safe at the moment, obviously everyone's thoughts are with the victims of the senseless violence going on.
Take care and be safe, and talk soon
xxx

Walks, and capturing the sun

The last two days have been filled with fantastic lovely walks, which have made me feel very happy,so I thought I would share some of them.
Yesterday my brother and I took daughter#2 and his girls for a very long bushwalk.
We did not go as far or as quickly as I would have liked, but we did have four girls under six with us, which hampered our speed somewhat.
Here are some of them in action.

We went in a local forest area where my brother and I used to run when we trained together for half marathons- he still runs them, I have not done one for about five years now ;(
It's quite beautiful, we saw quite a few wallabies, as it was late afternoon, and they were out. The girls were all thrilled by that.

We then collected spouses, the rest of the offspring, other brothers and sisters, and parents, and went out for a lovely Indian meal.

Today was even better, as I had the day off work!
Go the three day weekend!!!
I started the day with this walk in the morning

For some reason I became obsessed with taking photos of the sun this morning

this obsession continued throughout the day

The husband and youngest daughter and I decided to go on a picnic and walk, since sadly it has become a bit of a rarity for us to have time together lately.
We went for a walk along a jetty

Where I continued in my quest to capture the sun. This time it was the sun sparkling on the water I attempted to capture

We had a lovely picnic lunch, prepared by my lovely husband,  the small one played on the playground to her hearts content, we went for a walk, had ice creams,  hopped back in the car to pick daughter#1 up from school, came home, and found out my sons girlfriend had popped over to visit him after uni, and had made cupcakes for us all.

Awesome day!!
I love not going to work, and spending time with my favourite peeps.
Leaving you now with some last lovely photos of the day, and hoping you had sun filled, happy filled days as well

 Peace out