Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

Not strictly true about the raindrops, although it did rain quite heavily last night and there are still puddlies lying around.

Four days since I wrote anything but what a lovely four days.  I was happy to have a visit from one of my stepdaughters, Kirsty (I do have a daughter called Kirsty too so a bit confusing sometimes) with her wee two year old, Mia.  It was lovely to see them both and I made us some Lemon Muffins for morning tea.  No, surprisingly not out of the Edmonds cookbook this time but from a muffin recipe boo.  I was able to help Kirsty with her resume and job applications so hopefully it will help.

On Saturday, another of my stepdaughters, the lovely Renee, and two of her stepchildren and one of their friends, popped out in the afternoon.  Aisling is due to sit her driving test tomorrow so this was a practice run for her to drive out to see us.  I always love seeing Renee and I was doubly privileged because she and Aisling came out for the bag workshop yesterday afternoon along with one of my friends.

We had a lovely afternoon and the three girls went home with a bag they had made themselves quite proudly.  I was really happy as this was my first workshop in my studio, using my own design (see the bag design on the My Designs page).  I had cut all the fabric out for them and all they needed to do was sew it together.  I have several packs made up for this design so if anyone would like one please contact me (email: ruthj01@iprimus.com.au).  The packs (includes original design & instructions, fabric for outer bag & lining, and iron-on pellon) are $25.

My next workshop (June 26) will be a cushion, again of my own design. 

Today I was very disciplined and very productive - finishing off a bag and four cushion covers and starting a table runner with some scraps left over from the bag.  I am trying to be very, very good and not buy fabric for a while (unless I see something that I really have to have - fabric shops for patchworkers/sewers are like lolly shops for children) but use up my 'stash' which is quite substantial.  I do try to keep as many leftovers or scraps as I can, cutting them into squares.  I have small plastic drawers labelled with the size of the squares from 1 1/2" to 5", other drawers with bigger pieces of different hues, plastic containers with even bigger pieces for fat quarters, homespun, flannel or fleece, nursery fabric and larger pieces (metres, half metres). 
And that's not all.  There is more.  That is just the fabric I have told you about.  There is still my patterns, books, magazines, battings (wadding), threads and other craft items.

I am still trying to become more organised and every now and then I have a big "sort out" and reorganisation. 

I just love my studio and am so grateful to WH (wonderful husband) for letting me use the garage as a studio.  I have managed to furnish it with cupboards pulled out of a couple of houses we have renovated, old dressing tables and chests of drawers, bookcases and tables.  Except for my cutting table and small desk for the laptop and, of course, my actual sewing equipment, nothing in the studio is new.  We have plans to remove the roller doors and replace with sliding glass doors and we have a lovely chaise longue in the house that I will also put out there.  I have drawn and redrawn plans for the layout of the studio and it is, at present, an ever evolving creation as I work out which works best where.  I even have (and yes it is new) a TV on the wall on which I occasionally watch Sunrise and the Today Show but always, when I am home, Coronation Street and Emmerdale. 

I can hear the protests out there but unfortunately (well I think fortunately myself) I am a self-confessed Anglophile and love anything British (of course I have British - Scottish and English - ancestry), devouring magazines, travel guides and books based on anything from that neck of the woods.  WH and I travelled to UK in 2009, but only spent 10 days there before moving through France, Belgium, Luxemburg and Germany to Denmark (where WH was born and where he has a lot of relatives). 

There is still so much of Britain (and indeed Europe and the rest of the world) that we want to see and are planning a journey next year.

Tonight I spoke to my beautiful sister, Frances, in NZ.  Her eldest daughter, Tania, arrived in London last week and I am looking forward to hearing her updates and photos as she tackles the daunting task of settling down in a 'foreign' country so far from home, getting her bearings and finding a job.   I wish her all the best but I am so envious of her opportunity. 

The photos I have added today are of some of the creatures we see in our 'backyard'.   Enjoy them and all that nature offers.  I am so happy and grateful that I am able to see them and take pleasure in their freedom to just be.

 I joyfully say thank you to all who contribute to my life.

Love is in the Air

A little cooler again today but lovely and warm inside thanks to my WH (wonderful husband) who rose very early this morning and lit the fire so it would be warm for me.  I just love and appreciate him so much.
Sitting here sipping my honey and cinnamon drink, supposedly has lots of good for a number of different ailments and general wellbeing.  I am not sure about this but it tastes yummy.  Nice to start the day with anyway, following my 5am cuppa that WH brings me in bed.
I had an informative day yesterday at the museum workshop learning how to properly tag and label historical items.  Both speakers were easy to listen to and interesting.  Some of the objects that attendees had brought along were so interesting expecially when we heard the stories behind them.  One of our contributions (from the Ipswich Hospital Museum) was a tonsil guillotine used in the 1920s.  Horrible little contraption and fortunately a more humane form of dissecting tonsils is now in use, thank goodness.  Another instrument we had was not described in detail but certainly made our male facilitator blush when the implications became clear that it was used "where the sun don't shine".   Great fun.
Normally on a Friday I pick up my friend, Trish, and take her into town shopping and meet another friend for lunch.  But she is in NZ at present so I have decided not to do the Friday thing and stay home and sew instead.  Considering that I have out for three days already I am looking forward to not going out.
I thought I would share a couple of photos from our garden.  Well, when I say garden I should add that I am not a gardener and we don't really have gardens but just lots of trees and shrubs, including Frangipanis which don't need much looking after, a large Jacaranda and equally large Poinciana.  The frangipanis were just glorious last year but this year, with all the rain, haven't flowered as profusely.  They don't like wet feet apparently and were definitely water logged this year.  Only time will tell if they survive and return to their beauty next year.

I would also like to share with you an email that I received this morning from my beautiful sister-in-law, Reina.  We get so many emails floating around and a lot do touch the heart chords but I thought this one was particularly lovely.  It is called "Vitamin F"

Why do I have a variety of friends who are all different in character? Some of them can be considered marginal even?  How do I get on with them all?  I think that each one helps to bring out a "different" part of me...
With one of them I am a polite, good girl.  I joke with another friend.  I sit down and talk about serious matters with one of them.  With another I giggle at every silly thing.  I have my tea with one and dance with another.  I listen to one friend's problems and give her advice. Then I listen to another advising me.
They are all like pieces of a jigsaw. When completed they form a treasure box.  A treasure of friends!
They are my friends who understand me better than myself,  who support me through good days and bad days.  They are like colourful anti-depressants that I take on different days.

Real Age doctors tell us that friends are good for our health.  Dr. Oz calls them Vitamins F (from Friends) and counts the benefits of friends to our well being.
Research shows that people in strong social circles have less risk of depression and terminal strokes. If you take Vitamin F constantly you can be up to 30 years younger than your real age. The warmth of friendship stops stress and even in your tense moments it decreases the chance of a cardiac arrest or stroke by 50 %.
I am so happy that I have a stock of Vitamins F!
 
In summary we should value our friends and keep in touch with them.  We should try to see the funny side of things and laugh together, not forgetting to open our mouths big to swallow the floating vitamins F!!

Please say thank you to all your friends for their well beingness and being there for you when you need them.

The Wind Beneath My Wings

Title chosen today not just for the beautiful and inspirational song but also because it is definitely a little breezy today.  My morning for my volunteer shift at the hospital and working with a lady, a friend, who has weathered life's storms - marriage breakup, brain tumour and breast cancer - but gives herself wholeheartedly to her friends and life and I love working with her on a Wednesday morning. 
I think winter has started with a little kick today, in Ipswich.  Weather here is cooler than in Brisbane and with a wide range from minimum to maximum temperatures every day.  Supposedly 5 to 22deg C today.  But apart from the little chill factor and wind, a gorgeous day as is every day wet or fine.
Yesterday I did my shift at the Lowood Library, very diffferent from the hospital work.  Small library and usually quiet and peaceful unlike the tos and fros of a fairly major hospital.  But I do enjoy the different environments, the people I meet and those I work with.
Tomorrow I am off to a workshop at the Ipswich Workshops Rail Museum.  We are going to learn how to mark and tag museum objects and also how to write labels and provide information to visitors.  I must confess I have never been to the Rail Museum even though it has been in existence for a number of years.  I was always going to take visitors there but unfortunately never have.  Well I will see it for myself tomorrow.  It is supposed to be an excellent attraction and has won a lot of tourism awards.
Baking this afternoon again and this time Ginger Crunch has popped perfectly out of the oven (well it tastes okay anyway).  Another Edmonds recipe.  I do have many (I said many and I mean many - who doesn't have many) cookbooks but often return to my good old Edmonds.
This has been, so far, one of those weeks where I seem to spend more time out than at home which also means my craft work is slow.  But next week I should be able to clear the decks (well the projects that I can see anyway - not those hidden in my big plastic containers or in the cupboard).
I have come to believe and use affirmations and really feel that they help me (as long as I remember to use them - make it a good habit).  Susan Jeffers is a world renowned inspirational speaker and author and I subsrcribe to her newsletter.  Please let me share with you one of her affirmations:

THE QUALITY OF MY LIFE DEPENDS ONLY ON ME.

(Deeper Meaning)

I stand tall and take responsibility for my experience of life. I blame no one for how I am feeling today. I can’t control the world out there, but I can control my reactions to it all. I can choose to be the "victim" or I can choose to be the creator of powerful and loving thoughts, despite what is happening in my life. I have the strength to act and react to all situations in a healthy and life-affirming way. As I do, I watch the quality of my life getting better and better.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

It really is a beautiful day today.  After the rain yesterday the sky is brilliant blue, the sun is filtering through the trees, dew drops hanging off the branches and a very slight breeze.

Coconut Dream Slice (another from the Edmonds book) in the oven and I can smell it, steak & kidney in the slow cooker and so time for blogging while I am eating my breakfast.
I think I must have blogged in my sleep last night.  Words tumbling one after the other.  I have so much I want to write and could write all day.  Writing is a love and words are a passion for me.  My first career was as a journalist in New Zealand.  But life has sent me in different directions at different times.
First of all I want so much to say how much I love and appreciate my WH (wonderful husband).  Amongst the many beautiful things he does for me, he always brings me an early morning cuppa in bed at about 5am and makes the breakfasts at the weekend.  There is nothing like sitting on our gorgeous patio eating a beautifully cooked breakfast, reading the papers and chatting whilst at the same time soaking up the serenity of our rural setting. 
I have been thinking about all the women who have influenced me in my life - there are many and I am so grateful for all of the encouragement, support and love I have received from them at different stages.  They are so varied in their outlooks, lifestyle, personalities and characters but I feels so lucky to have known them.  Today I am surrounded (in thought) by my lovely mother, my fabulous little sister, super sisters-in-law, wonderful aunties and cousins, beautiful daughters, step-daughters and daughters-in-law, gorgeous nieces and amazing friends.
Some of these have not yet met any curve balls in life to dodge but many of them have and I truly admire their ability to rise above these adversities and travel along life's path with an understanding and generosity of spirit and love that has encompassed me and those they touch.
And yes, there are many males who have influence me too but I will talk about them another time, except my WH who is the biggest supporter and encourager of what I do and where I am.
What's on the agenda for today - Coconut Dream Slice almost ready, kitchen cleaned, washing to hang out then I will hit my "studio".  I hope to finish off a beautiful Dresden Plate Table Centre & 4 matching placemats today, plus several cushions including two "chook" cushions for my Aunty Shirley.  She loves chooks and Blue Willow china (as does my Mum) and has quite a collection of both.  Like my Mum, she is also very "crafty" and makes beautiful cards and jewellry and also sews.  So it was lovely having her to stay for a couple of days last week and talking craft.
I have discovered The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and have the DVD and CDs (which I play in my car).  I am now reading The Power.  Much of what is in both these books is something I have known for a long time and have tried to follow as much as possible in times of trouble.  The law of attraction and positive thinking have helped me in the last 20 years and although at many times I have been deeply bowed by life's obsacles I have come through the dark tunnels into light at the other end.  I have combined this with creative visualisation and spiritual guidance.  I cannot control anything that anyone else may say or do but I do believe that what we put out into the universe comes back to us and my wish is that everyone I love knows happiness, enjoyment of life and fulfilment of their dreams and ambitions.

The Start of Something Big

Here goes - my first post on my first blog.  Exciting stuff.  I have been trying to create a website in two different ways.  One, I taught myself HTML language and started that way.  It was going okay and I was nearly ready to expose it to the world wide web but something happened to one of my pages and I could not figure out what I did wrong.  So secondly I bought a website creation software package (not very expensive) and am trying that.  However, it is a tedious process so I thought why not a blog in the meantime.  This way I can let my friends, family and hoards of fan (yeah right) know what my wonderful husband (WH) and I are up to and also showcase some of my work.

My inspiration for setting up a blog is my cousin, Lee-Anne, who has her own blog, Tales from the Garden Gate.  She and her family are living the simpler life amidst the debris of a throw-away society and from this I gain encouragement that we can live more simply and in a serene and loving way.

Much of my inspiration from everyday living comes from women such as Lee-Anne and other family and friends, who have overcome adversity, sadness and grief, illnesses and accidents, to live richly rewarding lives.  My mother was my first inspiration.  I know she is my mother and I should say things like this, but it is true my mother is an inspiration to me.  Despite her funny little ways she has the biggest heart full of love for all her family and friends, she is one of the most generous people I know, she is a fabulous cook and housekeeper and has always been there to support me - even though I live in a different country.  From her I did not inherit her wonderful green thumb (or fingers) or her great cooking skills but I do have a passion for handcraft and Mum is always making something.  My sister also shares these skills plus she is a good gardner too.  Who decides what genes go where in children?

I hope that I can share my thoughts about other inspirational women in the future.

Today I am not very organised.  Sometimes I am very disciplined and have a list of tasks I want to accomplish that day, that week, that month.  I also have many lists of ambitions and dreams.

But I did make a batch of Ginger Biscuits from the great NZ Edmonds Cookbook (I think every NZ woman has a copy).  However, I did not have any crystallised ginger so substituted raisins and powdered ginger.  Tastes okay to me.  I don't bake very often now that the children are all grown and I know if I did bake I would just eat it myself.  But I am involved with the local hospital ladies' auxiliary committee and once a month we sell slices, biscuits and cakes at morning tea to the hospital staff to raise funds.  This will be my first effort for the committee so thought I would get back into practice. 

I have also spent a couple of hours in my "studio" putting some finishing touches to several projects (don't dare ask me how many projects I have started or in the pipeline) and preparing fabric packs for a bag that I have designed.  I am planning a small workshop on Sunday for beginner patchworkers (basic sewing skills needed).   My plan is to design a range of beginner patterns and hopefully compiling into a book or at least selling them through different outlets.

Some of my handcrafted items are for sell at a local coffee shop but mostly I work on private commissions.  I will post some pics of my work over the next few days so you can see what it is that I do.