Too hot, too cool, too darn cheeky

When I was a young school girl in Scotland, many moons ago, my best friend and I used to dream of moving to a flat in London, having curly shoulder length hair, and wearing Laura Ashley dresses.



We moved to Australia when I was 15 and the Laura Ashley dresses never did eventuate (although I did get a Laura Ashley jacket when it was on sale).

So, naturally, I was thrilled, enchanted, delighted and excited when I received this gift from sister number 4 -

 

My very own Laura Ashley wellies!!!

Here they are sitting in my herb garden.

Don't they just look adorable?



While we are in a red mood, (the weather is exceptionally hot here today, too hot to be outside in my garden, where I would really like to be, or even too hot for a craft project) I thought I would show you some granny squares that I am planning to send to Sarah London's flood appeal blanket thingy.

The colours make me think of chillies.

And my favourite kitchen appliance, my kitchenaid mixer, is hot.

And now for the too darn cheeky -

While I was out photographing my wellies in the herb garden, look who I ran into.

No, they are not my hens.

They are the marauding strawberry thieves from next door.

They seem to prefer my garden to their own home these days - and they lie in wait for me to lift the net off the strawberry patch, and, quick as a wink, there in!

And do you think they care when I try to shoo them off....... no way.  (You can sort of tell that from the 'talk to the backside 'cos the face ain't listening' type of stance.....)

To add insult to injury, this is what I found as I left the herb garden -

Pardon me while I dig holes in your garden and have myself a dust bath - after all, what's a girl to do when it's too darn hot!

Not to be outdone, her girlfriend was digging her hole under the table.

Im off to look up chicken pie recipes ....

Cheers

Fi

A Crochet Hexagonal Revamp

Do you remember this project from my UFO unveiling?

Well, I realised the reason that I wasn't getting on with it, was because I wasn't completely happy with the colours.

It looks good (I think), but when I laid it on the sofa it is intended for, it sort of just blended in a bit too much with the colours in the sofa, as the colours are quite close in value as is on the sofa.

Soooo.....

I undid all the outer rows, and redid them in whitish. 

Now it really lifts the sofa when I place it on it. 

Now Im happy.

:)

By the way, Im doing this one in an acrylic yarn from Spotlight (in Australia).  It's Moda Vera brand, and I think the name is Marvel.  Its $3 for 100g ball, and it is really quite soft.  They have a good colour range.

I didn't think I would like working in acrylic (and in some brands I tried, I definitely don't), but this one feels good to work with.
It's also what I crocheted the Fi's Flowery Granny square with, which is currently being turned into a cushion (instructions will be posted imminently....).

Cheers
Fi

50th Celebrations - Part Two - generational crochet



So, as the day drew on and the sun started to go down, we moved inside for crochet, tea and chocolate cake (healthy organic of course...)

The younger generation thought that this crochet might be a bit of a lark, and wanted to join in.

Cool.

And here is sister #4 with a bag of - more wool!

But, says sister #4, if you're going to do this, I'm going to show you how to do it right! Now pay attention.



But, patience wears thin, especially when you've just caught sight of a project that you might just want to try yourself....

And the youngest generation want in on it too.

Show me how to crochet, please!



Look at me, I'm finger knitting! 

But patience wears thin, yet again.  Much better to snuggle underneath the crochet while granny carries on the good work.

Cheers

Fi



50th Celebrations - Part One - the garden party

Seeing as my family weren't around for my birthday a few weeks ago, there was a convergence of the sisters (and daughters, niece and nephew) at my place this weekend gone.

The intention was that they would take me out to some fancy restaurant for a meal, after a day of browsing round the shops.

But thankfully, we came up with a better plan.  It was a hot day (for once this summer), perfect to go up to the local cheese store and stock up on supplies for a garden party.

That way, nobody had to drive, we didn't have to chase kids round shops, and, even better, we could CROCHET!

Sister #3 even donned her vintage apron for the occasion.

While sister #4 made sure she brought out the bags of crochet.....

We have a rustic table made out of an old door (which came of the aforementioned cheese store, funnily enough), which is under a shade tree.  Perfect.

This fruit platter was delicious.



So, we had a lot of my favourite things - trout, smoked salmon, cheese, pate...   We had quince paste, native raspberry paste, olives, dips, dukka and, of course, crusty bread.  (Did I leave out the wine?)

 I bought this jug that morning for $8 - bargain!



And sister #3 was kind enough to match her top to the floral arrangement.

And, of course, a little rest after eating....

More to come in Part Two - Generational Crochet Party

Cheers
Fi



Super Excited - Meet Fi's Flowery Granny!

Well, well, well, there's just obviously FAR too many hours in a day - I spent last night inventing a granny square (whilst watching Psych on telly).

I wanted some cushion covers to match my (as yet still UFO) ripple blanket - picture in left sidebar.
I, of course, went straight to Attic 24 to get one of Lucy's patterns, but I really wanted one that looked like a flower, with a nice raised look in the middle.

So, I got out all my crochet pattern books, went through all the squares, hexagons and circles, but still couldn't find quite what I was looking for.

Anyway, the end result was, I had to come up with my own (my first crochet design :) )

Drumroll.............................................

Meet Fi's Flower Granny!!


When I get some time, I will do a how-to for it (might even try and upload it to ravelry, haven't done that before, so another first.)

Anyway, I still have to make enough for a cushion yet, so not sure how housework is looking today...

Cheers
Fi

More Fabric and Felting Fun

Mornin' all.

Just thought I'd share more crafty fun from the needlefelting day (sort of wandered off into fabric beads and other things.....)

Don't you  love surrounding yourself with mess and labelling it 'creativity'?

A bit of yoyo stuffing....

Always makes me think of those little purse-shaped entrees you get at the Chinese restaurant when I get to this stage.

Now it's taking shape.

And I was tickled pink with the crochet edging I did around the felted bead thingy.

Don't know what they are all going to be yet (if anything), but it was fun doing it.

Cheers

Fi

Needlefelted Earrings

So here's part of what transpired today.

A gathering of supplies for my project

Rolling up the wool into a ball.

Starting to needlefelt on the brush.

Warning: Needlefelting is a blood sport!!!

Starting to shape like a strawberry

Crocheting a couple of leaves

 Sew on leaves, and sew on some seed beads

Add in the earring findings (find out how to do that here)

And, ta dah.......

Needle Felting - a definite maybe....

Could be just the thing for a rainy day project.

Throw in a hot teapot , chocolate cake and some jazzy goodness on the ipod......

... and we're good to go.

Cheers
Fi

Bilgewater and Barnacles....Aye Aye Me Hearties

All good things, sadly, must come to an end.
And I say 'Au revoir!' to my husband, but not farewell, as he trundles out the door and back to work today.

"Bye sweetie, kiss kiss!", I lovingly call after him.  "I'm missing you already...."
Was that a tear form in the corner of my eye, or was it merely the reflection of early morning light?

And then, feeling remarkably like Meg Ryan in 'You've got mail', I scurry with slipper-clad feet into the computer room.

Now, if you haven't seen the movie, then you have to go immediately and hire it, so you can get the picture.

Now I swear, the flanny pyjamas Im wearing as I type, look just like hers.  And the scurry was straight out of that movie.

So, here I am to share with you my latest wanderings and such.

To celebrate my dear heart's returning to work, we drove down off the mountain to the coast on Saturday.

And I wanted to show you, not so much the imagery from the day, but a bit of colour and texture.

Here is where the two of us had lunch.

Don't you love old fishing boats?

I think Ken was more interested in this tho,

Such lovely vintagey colours in this sign

And in this boat,

and the great colours in these nets

and this door,

Blue sky tried to get a look in behind the clouds



A weather-beaten wall

Past the old lighthouse, not in use anymore.

And the boat ramp

Now,if you are going to stand here for any length of time.......

Make sure you have an umbrella......

Until next time,

Row, row, row, your boat,

Cheers
Fi