Wednesday, 26 December 2012

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



Sunday, 23 December 2012

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

Monday, 17 December 2012

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












Thursday, 6 December 2012

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