A Village View - the Old Cheese Factory

The week before Christmas, I took a little stroll 'uptown'.

This is the Old Cheese Factory building, which houses various businesses.  On the odd Saturday morning, we like to saunter up there, hoping to find a new little treasure or two.

Is it just in the Southern Highlands, or is all of Australia determined to plant every driveway and edging with Aga-flippin'-panthus?

It's not that I don't like them.  They are just everywhere.

Anyway, remember me telling you up the little shop that Zoe and her mum have, up here at the 'cheeso'?  Well, they have moved into a bigger shop (still in the cheese factory) - and it looks great.

I never seem to be able to visit without buying something.

Note the angel sitting in the window.

You might recognise her from my previous post, as she is now sitting on my dresser, next to my 'old' nativity set.

Foxgloves are one of my all time favourites.

We stopped in to a local cafe for a cool drink and a spot of crochet.  This is the beginning of my star garland - yes, it did come from the Royal Sisters.

I hope you are all having a calm and restful boxing day.

I am. 

Cheers

Fi

Ships Log - and a few of Fi's Christmas treasures

Ship's Log.

No land in site.

It's the week before Christmas, on a Monday morn, on the east coast of Australia.  The natives assure us that this is the time for blistering heat, buckets of perspiration and the constant whir of the strange beast called the air conditioner....

I am sorely tempted to mark these ideas down to mere mythology, or perhaps the deranged and fanciful imaginings of a water-logged mind.

The journey has been long. 
We started off from the Port of Winter some months ago now.  We sailed around the coast of Spring, with the rain lashing against us, relentlessly.

We spied the harbour of Summer, from the crow's nest, some time ago, hope swelling in our hearts - finally sailing in on the first day of December.

We have checked and rechecked our charts for navigational errors - surely we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere!

But, alas, no.

It seems this is to be our lot for this harbour.

Rain, rain and more rain.

I fear mutiny.

Written by my hand,

Captain Fi

This 19th day of the month of December, in the year of our Lord, 2011.

On a much happier note, I really wanted to share with you some of the Christmas bits and pieces that I get a lot of pleasure from.

Isn't it the little ordinary things in a day that can add up to make it extraordinary?

Now, you can take the girl out of the snow, but you sure can't take the snow out of the girl!!  I might be in Oz, but you can't beat a snowman at Christmas.  I love this little pair. 

Now, if I was uploading my posts in chronological order (which I'm not today), you would recognise this garland as 'wot-i-woz-up-to-at-the-cheeso-', but seeing as I haven't posted that yet, you won't.

I only made this garland yesterday, but I think it has to go on the favourite list.

This is my new addition for this Christmas (apart from above-mentioned star garland).

It is my early Christmas present from my darling one, a new nativity scene.

I was drawn to the simplicity of the figures.  That somehow fits in with a stable birth - don't you think?

And this is the 'old' nativity scene.

I bought this about 17 years ago.  It is an entirely different look to the smaller, new one, but still very beautiful and it has been with me through many Christmases (sp?), good and bad.  

This one is sitting on a dresser in my bedroom, so I get to look at it when I go to sleep and when I wake up.

A few years ago, however, there was an unfortunate accident.  Can you see Mary's hand?  No, because it broke off.  Shame.

Now, I pondered whether to save this one for a separate post, as this one falls into the category of 'Fi's Perpetual Christmas Card List'.

Fi's what?

Perpetual Christmas Card List.  I save my favourite cards each year, that I can't part with.  Either because of the beautiful picture, or the beautiful words.  My family have now taken it as a personal challenge to come up with a 'perpetual'.

So far, my mother is winning with the tally.  This is one of hers.  I've had this one maybe 10 years.
I was thinking of doing a post with my perpetual cards altogether, or something,...

Now, this piece is quite special (to me, anyway), because I painted it.

It is a design by Jo Sonja Jansen (who else?) that I painted, mmmm, let me think - about 18 years ago.

Oh my gosh!  Did I just say 18 years!  Where did they go?

I hope my daughter appreciates it, as she will be the inheritor of it, one day.

Well, looking through those treasures has cheered me up some and brought a bit of sunshine into another wise dreary day.

Cheers

Fi

What I Didn't Show You

What lies behind this door, is what my darling husband and I built for me some months ago.

It is the end section of the garage, which was full of junk, wasn't lined, had no door or window and was filthy with dirt, dust, mouse poo, you name it.

We turned it into this -

My new craft studio!!  I have shelving units behind that false wall.  This shot is taken from the door.

Here are a few more views.

Doesn't it look so neat and tidy?
But don't let that fool you - I cleaned it up for the photo.

Do you see those little dollies on the window ledge?
My daughter and I made those years ago.

Here is a better look.

I made the green one (it's my favourite colour) and the lovely Miss P made the blue one. (That was her favourite colour when she was little. She used to say "My favourite colour is blue. Sky Blue, but not the blue at the bottom of the sky, the blue in the middle").

This is my mother - I put her to work on her last visit, making paper bead necklaces for the Christmas charity event we held at Church.

And this is me, signing the register at my sisters' wedding - that was why my mother was visiting.

See that bit of sun behind me?  Well, that is a miracle that is.  Anyone living on the eastern seaboard of Australia this summer (ha! what summer!) will know what I mean.  It poured day and night all week before the wedding, torrential rain the night before and morning of, the sun came out an hour before the wedding, and then poured again the next day, and still hasn't stopped.

Cheers
Fi

Granny Square Inspired Throw

I actually got around to taking some photos of this throw that I did some months ago.

I have to admit, I haven't sewn in all the ends yet (even if it is gracing the arm of the sofa).

Here is the a closer look at the edging.

And the whole picture.

My photography isn't doing justice to the colours, they are a lot nicer than they appear on screen. Really.

It's not very big - just enough to keep your knees warm, when necessary.

Cheers
Fi

A Quick Hello

Hi All,
Thought I would drop in and share a quick cup of tea with you this morning.
(Cindy, pick yourself up off the floor please, no falling down with shock around here....)

Just letting you all know that I am now half way through the course (well, actually, its two courses) - just about turning the corner.

Life has been too hectic for anything - especially housework.  Im longing for the day that I can scrub the house .  My gosh - did I actually say that? 

There has not been a crochet hook or a paint brush in sight for a while.  I have managed to grow some winter greens in the veggie garden tho.

Im learning so much through the courses (reflexology and aromatherapy).  I think essential oils are now my passion.  They are so good for so many things.

It's freezing here today, and I have a day off from college, so Im going to surprise by dearheart by making him a pot of pumpkin soup to warm his cockles, if he comes home for lunch.

My Apologies

Hi All,
So sorry to be missing in action for so long.

I am in the throws of sorting out all my study stuff.
I'm changing colleges due to the inflexibility of the time schedule of the college Im currently enrolled in.  The course is supposed to be part time (this is the herbal medicine advanced diploma), but you still only get the same amount of time as the full-time students to finish the course (3 blocks, 12 months for each block).
That is DEFINITELY not part-time.

Anyway, Im sending in my withdrawal forms today, and re-enrolling in another college, where I have 10 years to finish it (if I want it to take that long!).
I'm also at TAFE (college) 2 days a week for aromatherapy and reflexology. (which is great).

Hopefully this week, everything will be sorted out, and I can show you the pics of the two books I bought, and the blanket my daughter is crocheting.

Thinking of you all

Cheers
Fi

February-itis - or 'I'm still here'

Hello All,
February has come and gone, pretty uneventfully.
I think February is recuperation month, after the holidays.

Autumn has arrived, it is calling me into the garden. "Come and prune me, feed me, plant me, mow me......"

"Autumn, please be quiet, just long enough to pop my head in here and let people know I am still alive.  Maybe just long enough to show them some tidbits, that might make them believe that I know where my crochet hook is."

February and March are also the time of year for special anniversaries for our family.  The kind that make you draw into yourself, just a bit.  And ponder, and remember.  And cherish.  And cry a lot, then laugh a bit, then cry again.

But I will show you some bits and pieces that I've fiddled with in the last few weeks.

There is the jar cover that I saw at Tangled Happy.  I adapted it to suit my needs.

And the coathanger came from either Tangled Happy, or Marmalade Rose.  Actually, Im pretty sure it was Marmalade Rose.

And, of course, there is the Sarah London Appeal squares. Just have to sew in a few ends, then I can post them.

Do you remember the blue and green thing?  I crocheted some of the squares together, more in progress.



Chat soon,

Cheers

Fi

Healthy, Simple Living - and promoting my other blog (one of)

Harvesting our potatoes from the veggie garden.

These are King Edwards and Dutch Creams (Dutch creams make the best mash, with lots of butter)



Seeing as I was all inspired with the garden (when we had a couple of days of sun last week, its raining again now), I thought I would tell you about one of my other blogs - Watering the Seed

Watering the Seed is about Healthy Living, Simple Living, Natural Living, Christian Living.

Due to my own health issues over the last 8 years or so, I have been led down the path of discovering about different foods and techniques for basic health. 

Also about various herbs and healing plants, standing in faith and believing God for healing, how the body works, etc, etc.

I am a trained Remedial Massage therapist, and am currently studying aromatic and herbal medicine. I don't have any great plans to have a career in these areas, I am simply motivated to learn to help my family and friend and myself.

Above:  These are some of the processes that can be going on in my kitchen at any given time.

In one container I have rice soaking in water with some apple cider vinegar - this helps to break down the rice before cooking, making it more easily digestible.

The other container is lentils soaking in the same solution (sometimes I use whey, if I have any). 

I will either cook these after soaking, or drain them and leave them to sprout.

There are very good reasons why you would want to take the time to soak these things like this before eating.

Below:  This is the start of a new sourdough culture I am making, I managed to kill the last one from neglect, but I had been using it for quite some time before that happened.  All it is, is flour and water + the naturally occuring organisms in the wheat and air that cause a fermentation process.

This allows me to make lovely healthy sourdough bread at home, for a fraction of the cost that it is in the shops.

Here it is a few days later - see how it is starting to go bubbly?

It is nearly ready to put into a jar and start using. Brilliant!  Don't you just love God's creation? (As long as we work with it and not against it ;) )

Here are some German Chamomile (Matricaria Recutita) flowers I picked from the garden - I'm going to make a pot of tea with these and some Lemon Balm (Melissa Officianalis).

The Lemon Balm just self seeds all over my garden.

Here are both herbs together in the jug

If any of these topics are of interest to you - hop over and have a peep at Watering the Seed

If not, the crochet and crafty and arty channel will be resumed shortly.

Cheers

Fi

Around the house with Izzy

I've been very busy this week, as I have just enrolled at TAFE (not sure what it's called overseas - technical college, advanced education???)

I'm doing a Certificate 1V of Aromatherapy. (I already have a Diploma of Remedial Massage, so have a lot of course credits.)

My plan is to go on to do an Advanced Diploma of Aromatic Medicine.  I love herbs and essential oils, they are so good for so many health issues.

So I thought I would just share a few random images of roundabout the place.

This is my Rayburn woodburning stove.  I love it.  It's the best for making scones, baking/roasting meats, etc.  And for just general all round cosiness.

That's Nate in the photo when he was 3 - cuddling his Mr. Doobee.  Australians will know who I'm talking about if they are old enough to remember Romper Room.

And I love this image - it's not real clear as it's taken through a glass door. If I had thought, I would have opened the door first........

I thought I would sit down and do a bit on the ripple, but.....

Izzy didn't like that idea.

And she made it painfully clear that she didn't.

Mummy!!!!!!   Look at me!!!!!!! Me!!!!

I am going to spread myself out on as much of you as I possibly can mummy - so don't even bother trying to find that crochet hook.

Now, play with me.

Cindy - this one's for you - see Miss Marple on the laptop?

Also please note the fashion statement of the year - pyjamas underneath an apron.

These are some of my Sarah London appeal squares.

So, when you're crocheting in your pyjamas, you obviously need to get out the Royal Albert China.

....... those muffins are the HEALTHY variety......

Cheers

Fi