Secret Santa Christmas Swap

YaY!.... At last....we got to open our SSCS presents!

My swap partner was Oddbjorg from Norway... I was so excited to think that someone on the other side of the world made me a gift.
She sent a lovely parcel filled with treats..

 A beautiful zippered purse and matching tissue holder...How nice is this fabric!...I just Love it

The tissue holder has the most beautiful tissues in it...too cute to use!

Then as an added surprise she sent a calendar with beautiful pictures of Norway, an Arctic circle bookmark and some blue fabric..that I will use in a special project...actually it would be perfect in the amish quilt that is on my to do list.

Thank you so much Oddbjorg. I really Love my gifts and appreciate the time and effort you made to create and send them.

Now....some family Christmas shots....at Cassillis NSW

Bella and her Santa stocking and an Aussie bush tree!

  

 It was a really wet rainy day...The Best Christmas present ever was 71ml of rain....really exciting considering they have not had rain for 4 Months...and were also fighting a bushfire on christmas eve!

Boxing day
 Daughters 2 & 3 snuggled up reading in their quilts

It was really cold at Cassillis and we had to light the fire...and cook pea and ham soup for lunch...My sister in law makes the Best Soup!....My BIL and DD3

 The great Articulate game challenge...

 And the winners are....The mothers!  YAY

The Boxing Day Cricket Match...and yes that is a power pole used for a wicket!

A lovely family time ...I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas with friends and family as much as I did.
till next time
Cheers Floss

tis the season

Tis the season for bush fires in Australia.
A little busy over the last 4 days...but not getting ready for Christmas.

One of my worst nightmares came true last Wednesday night when we had a call at midnight to say there was an out of control bushfire on our property.. Started by a lightening strike.

Of course we were in Newcastle at a wedding, so drove all night arriving at 5.15 am ready to do battle.
Shocked to see our hill in the distance all aglow in the dark.....a bit like overdone Christmas lights!

Luck was with us and a shower or rain had dampened the fire so the process of extinguishing hot spots and containing the fire continued until after midday on Thursday... Satisfied that all was well everyone went home.

Mr floss and myself went back to check the fire at 4pm and it was off and running again....THAT was scary!....And our neighbours in the rural fire service all turned up again....( a fantastic group of volunteers)... This time bringing in the big guns...Planes to bomb the fire...They were incredible, dropping a foam and water mix that showered down like snow.  They worked till dark, filling up from nearby Lake  Keepit and were extremely accurate in placing their load over the burning logs and into the gorge that we couldn't get to.

yes this is me!

The next day a dozer arrived to put in containment lines and bury stubborn smouldering logs.
Luck was with us again and a huge downpour of rain dumped 20ml of water right on our fire!
That really put it out!...we were soaking wet and grinning from ear to ear...emergency over!

About 300 acres of country was burnt... The cows and our house were safe.... The grass will grow back better than ever .....so all is well!

Christmas isn't cancelled after all!
I hope everyone in blogland has a wonderful Christmas...I know I will.

Till next time
Cheers Floss

Deck the Hall

Finally... a little Christmas decorating..... a few old favourites.

                                                                           An Annie Downes Christmas Advent Tree

                                                    I love my reindeer and Swedish doll

 This is an old favourite...Twas the night before Christmas...(me staying up all night madly stitching). I'm not sure who the designer is or where it came from. It was 2003 when I made it.

Mrs Clause is holding a needle and Santa has the cotton reel...cute!

This very special wallhanging....a miniature Baltimore, was made for me for my 50th birthday by a dear friend. It looks like Christmas....but it lives in my hall all year round....I just love it!

A Christine Book design...giant stocking                                              

This is my beautiful new heart decoration, a gift all the way from Norway in the Secret Santa Christmas Swap.

Someone did a little redecorating in my garden...and ate all the heads off my agapanthus. The tall stalks just look so funny with no flowers.....A horse named Ben is to blame I think! ...or it could have been a flower loving Cow.

Well I need to find the Christmas tree now and get some presents to go under it.. ( besides my SSCS parcel - which I cant wait to open!!)

till next time
Floss

back on deck

I'm back...computer is now working again..although I lost my hard drive and it had to be replaced...(lost all my photos over the last 12months too)....yes I know....should have been backing up!.....now I just have to set it up again! ....Or find a friend to help me! (look out Wendy!)


A squishy parcel arrived in the post this week from...somewhere oversees. (Where is Norge?)....it's my Secret Santa Christmas Swap...and it looks very exciting!







Of course I opened the little parcel straight away and was delighted to find a beautiful heart to hang on my tree.


I hope there is a card in the parcel as it is still a mystery to me as to who it is from.
So thank you to my secret Santa friend. I'm very excited about my pressie.

The present I made went to Nicky in NZ and I had a lovely email from her to say it had arrived.

My baby dog Bella turned 18 today ( that's 126 in dog years). (I've had her at home longer than the kids!) We had a little party with her doggie friends and one rabbit...A fun time was had by all..but all the rabbit wanted to do was eat his hat! Makes a change from all the power cords he's been chomping through lately!

Bella and Alice in 1994..'can we keep her?'



Party girl..Bella, the wonder dog...It's a wonder she's still alive!



Ollie, the ever hungry rabbit....


It's my birthday!


Party food....yum



Darby, Bella, Minty and Ollie



I don't seem to be doing any stitching lately...so much for my moto..... 'a stitch a day stops my whole life from unravelling!'
Hopefully I can report on some handy work next time.
Till then
Cheers
Floss

On the road again

I'm having a few technical problems here...therefore my lack of blog posts.
laptop has died...iPad didn't have wireless access here.
Can't get the photos off my camera..
oh this techno world is getting all a little too much for my old brain.

I joined in on a fabulous day in Bathurst on Saturday...meeting up with 12 bloggers and one little chicken who likes to invade someone else's blog and do amusing posts about the frenzy of women shopping at Hatched and Patched. (With the reporter Mat Terial reporting from the scene)

We took over a room at a lovely cafe..Chai Wallah, and had a beautiful lunch with lots of chatter, laughter, show and tell, and a little stitching.
Even a 'make it, bake it, fake it swap' which was fun. I received a lovely little pouch from Kate wrapped beautifully in patchwork paper and ric rac.



thanks to Chooky and Khrissy for their organisation ....it was such a fun day and so nice to meet my online friends....such a lovely group.

I took lots of pickies but unfortunately can't get them from my camera till I get home...so only have these 2



baby chicken Hamish...so so cute!

I'm still on the road...staying at Cowra at present. Just finishing painting and tiding up my parents house to finally sell. ...and it's been hot! (the weather)!

Today I'm doing a road trip to Temora with my brother to visit my dear Uncle Ken. He is in his 90's an as sharp as a tack!

Not much stitching getting done...but I did finish the secret Santa and it is on its way to whoever it is going to.....



Till next time
Floss




-Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Back to reality

 I'm now back in the real world...washing, cleaning, mowing etc....did I ever go away?... Was it all a dream?
A BIG Thanks to Kerry for all her organisation and hard work in planning a very successful trip.....even the timing of the hurricane was perfect...I had a great time!

I didn't think I'd bought much...
But.. while unpacking my bags...I found lots of little stitching goodies I bought along the way..... I wonder if I will actually do them?


Some New York fabric...A Bag, Quilt or Skirt?

 A beautiful book..French Inspirations for Artful Hands by Bonnie Sullivan & Kathy Schmitz...two lovely ladies we did a class with in Portland, Oregon.
Also Kathy's stitchery pattern 'the greatest joy' ....a must have since it has a picture of a squirrel on it......Cardy and I were in Kathy's car when we saw our 1st Squirrel....we  squealed loudly and poor Kathy nearly ran off the road! (you just had to be there!)

 A quilt pattern from Primitive Gatherings...inspired by an antique quilt...using 1"half square triangles in scrappy blues and Tan print.....so many little triangles...could be fun!
Also a pattern from the Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum..A diamond sampler quilt called 'family and friends'..the quilt is believed to have been made around 1860....should be more fun!

A miniature x-stitch...on 40 count silk gauze...Oh the eyesight....What was I thinking?

To use up my stash of fabrics that I will Never use....A Rag Rug!
A small quilt to frame by Lori Smith - www.frommyhearttoyourhands.com.....achievable I hope!

 Of course the recipe book and scoop to make whoopie pies...after our cooking class at Intercourse in the heart of Amish country.
Some vintage pot holders from the Antique shop in Portland. At least they didn't take up as much room as an antique quilt!
It's just a pity I don't have an oven at the moment ....

A tea towel from New York....do you think I have kitchens on my mind?

 Some fabric from Intercourse, Pennsylvania to make my own Amish quilt 

.....will it ever get done?

I'd better go and play now.....I have to finish some secret sewing before I can start on anything else.
till next time
Floss