Tuesday 29 March 2011

Pre…..

  Just a quickie….. I’m off to hospital today for my knee replacement surgery which happens early tomorrow morning……so here’s some befores of my “loverly'” knee….. (notice the ‘interesting’ angle in the first pic and no, only SOME of it is fat…..there is a lot of swelling!! LOL) 001 002 003 004 005 and when I come back, I’ll post my ‘new’ one!!! So if you don’t hear from me for a couple of weeks….you’ll know why…..not disappearing….just being waited on hand and foot!!!!  LOL I must post a piccie I have of a gorgeous quilt Chris sent to a young family in Ingham as part of the Quilts for Flood And Cyclone victims, once I get it off my phone.  It is the most gorgeous quilt that Chris quilted and the couple were absolutely ‘stoked’ that others were thinking of them in their time of need!….Even so, they said there were more people in greater need……I happen to know they were without quite a lot for the past couple of months and have done it tough!   Go the good Aussie spirit!  Quilters are such wonderful people! Anyways, must go pack…..roads are flooding so have to get going!Please keep me in your prayers! sugary hugs…. Wendy :0)

Pre…..

 

Just a quickie…..

I’m off to hospital today for my knee replacement surgery which happens early tomorrow morning……so here’s some befores of my “loverly'” knee….. (notice the ‘interesting’ angle in the first pic and no, only SOME of it is fat…..there is a lot of swelling!! LOL)

001

002

003

004

005

and when I come back, I’ll post my ‘new’ one!!!

So if you don’t hear from me for a couple of weeks….you’ll know why…..not disappearing….just being waited on hand and foot!!!!  LOL

I must post a piccie I have of a gorgeous quilt Chris sent to a young family in Ingham as part of the Quilts for Flood And Cyclone victims, once I get it off my phone.  It is the most gorgeous quilt that Chris quilted and the couple were absolutely ‘stoked’ that others were thinking of them in their time of need!….Even so, they said there were more people in greater need……I happen to know they were without quite a lot for the past couple of months and have done it tough!   Go the good Aussie spirit!  Quilters are such wonderful people!

Anyways, must go pack…..roads are flooding so have to get going!Please keep me in your prayers!

sugary hugs….

Wendy :0)

Saturday 19 March 2011

Winnings….

  This is just a quickie to share with you the goodies I won from Barb in the Craft Forum Blog Hop.  021 a beautiful card to go with it…..023 Ta dah…… aren’t they just gorgeous!!!!022 and Barb included some lavender soap from her trip to Tassie….my favourite place on earth!!!!! Thanks so much Barb…..I love them and have a couple of things in mind!!!….Now….if only I could squeeze an extra hour or two each day!!!! LOL And for me….off to bed with some warm lemon and honey to try and rid myself of this flu!!!   I’m rarely sick….now, just over a week before surgery, I’ve had it all!!!!   Sick smile Sweet sugary dreams …night night!!! XXX Wendy :0)

Winnings….

 

This is just a quickie to share with you the goodies I won from Barb in the Craft Forum Blog Hop. 

021

a beautiful card to go with it…..023

Ta dah…… aren’t they just gorgeous!!!!022

and Barb included some lavender soap from her trip to Tassie….my favourite place on earth!!!!!

Thanks so much Barb…..I love them and have a couple of things in mind!!!….Now….if only I could squeeze an extra hour or two each day!!!! LOL

And for me….off to bed with some warm lemon and honey to try and rid myself of this flu!!!   I’m rarely sick….now, just over a week before surgery, I’ve had it all!!!!   Sick smile

Sweet sugary dreams …night night!!!

XXX Wendy :0)

Saturday 12 March 2011

Unlucky for some….

  It was a depressing day at school on Friday……school camp had to be cancelled due to the unforgiving monsoonal rains, and the students were not happy! A woman holding an umbrella stands in floodwaters as rain falls in Cardwell. March 8, 2011. Floodwaters rise in the north Queensland town of Cardwell, just weeks after Cyclone Yasi hit the region. March 8, 2011. (Supplied: Lindsay Hallam)  Photo courtesy of http://www.abc.net.au/news/  We had planned to travel to Lake Tinaroo on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland on Monday, in two buses with sixty-five 11-12 year old children.  They were quite unhappy when we told them, but we’d checked the weather……more than ten times and the road conditions had been studied carefully, and whichever way we’d planned to go, the roads were cut in at least 3 or 4 places.  I was not happy either, because I love school camps!!….despite the ‘being on duty 24 hours a day’ tiredness that sets in after about 2 days, they are always so much fun……after 20 years of teaching and with at least 10 camps under my belt, I haven’t got bored with them yet!  So to ease the disappointment (for all of us), I told my students to imagine how terrible it would be being stuck on the highway due to the floodwaters, and then trying to turn back and finding the roads had flooded behind us.  Not only that, but they’d be stuck with 6 grumpy teachers, no food, only the water in their bottles, high humidity, wet bodies and mosquitoes!!!!  They soon realised that it was the ONLY decision that could have been made and they’re happy we are now going in October!!!……It made me feel much better about it too!!!! Ah well, it’s probably a good thing….I have so much work to catch up on!!!!!  And then I got home and was blessed with some parcels that the lovely PO lady had put aside for me! The lovely Sandy sent me these gorgeous panels as a prize I won in the Blog Hop. 013 014 015 These are just a few of the 8…..aren’t they super gorgeous!!??  I had initially thought these would make a couple of special tote bags but when they arrived…..they spoke to me and said….”we want to be made into a cutesy table topper!!!!”  Who could argue with that???  LOL
The other parcel contained some wonderful fabric I’d purchased online from the US of A.  A half yard set of mixed fabrics…some Wee Woodland by Keiki for Moda, Robert Kauffman’s Daisies and Dots, Metro Cafe and Wild Friends, Michael Miller’s Ta Dot, Baby Safari by Benartex and Alexander Henry’s Caitlin Stripes.  There were some more but they weren’t labelled and I don’t know what they’re called!!!!!! 003 004 They came packed with a couple of special yummy goodies….  a pen, ribbon and… 002 …the most beautiful hot chocolate mix…..it didn’t hang around for long…. it was yummmmmmmmm…….burp!!!!!! LOL   Because I didn’t have to pack for camp, I finished my first set of birthday gifts….remember in my last post, I showed you these?? Well, here’s the rest of it…. 012 This apron is from Leanne Beasley’s pattern “No. 072  Apron Strings”.  007 008 006011 009   ….and yes……my mother-in-law loved it!!!! sugary hugs XXX Wendy  :0)

Unlucky for some….

 

It was a depressing day at school on Friday……school camp had to be cancelled due to the unforgiving monsoonal rains, and the students were not happy!

A woman holding an umbrella stands in floodwaters as rain falls in Cardwell. March 8, 2011. Floodwaters rise in the north Queensland town of Cardwell, just weeks after Cyclone Yasi hit the region. March 8, 2011. (Supplied: Lindsay Hallam)  Photo courtesy of http://www.abc.net.au/news/ 

We had planned to travel to Lake Tinaroo on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland on Monday, in two buses with sixty-five 11-12 year old children.  They were quite unhappy when we told them, but we’d checked the weather……more than ten times and the road conditions had been studied carefully, and whichever way we’d planned to go, the roads were cut in at least 3 or 4 places.  I was not happy either, because I love school camps!!….despite the ‘being on duty 24 hours a day’ tiredness that sets in after about 2 days, they are always so much fun……after 20 years of teaching and with at least 10 camps under my belt, I haven’t got bored with them yet!  So to ease the disappointment (for all of us), I told my students to imagine how terrible it would be being stuck on the highway due to the floodwaters, and then trying to turn back and finding the roads had flooded behind us.  Not only that, but they’d be stuck with 6 grumpy teachers, no food, only the water in their bottles, high humidity, wet bodies and mosquitoes!!!!  They soon realised that it was the ONLY decision that could have been made and they’re happy we are now going in October!!!……It made me feel much better about it too!!!!

Ah well, it’s probably a good thing….I have so much work to catch up on!!!!!  And then I got home and was blessed with some parcels that the lovely PO lady had put aside for me!

The lovely Sandy sent me these gorgeous panels as a prize I won in the Blog Hop.

013

014

015

These are just a few of the 8…..aren’t they super gorgeous!!??  I had initially thought these would make a couple of special tote bags but when they arrived…..they spoke to me and said….”we want to be made into a cutesy table topper!!!!”  Who could argue with that???  LOL

The other parcel contained some wonderful fabric I’d purchased online from the US of A.  A half yard set of mixed fabrics…some Wee Woodland by Keiki for Moda, Robert Kauffman’s Daisies and Dots, Metro Cafe and Wild Friends, Michael Miller’s Ta Dot, Baby Safari by Benartex and Alexander Henry’s Caitlin Stripes.  There were some more but they weren’t labelled and I don’t know what they’re called!!!!!!

003

004

They came packed with a couple of special yummy goodies….  a pen, ribbon and…

002

…the most beautiful hot chocolate mix…..it didn’t hang around for long…. it was yummmmmmmmm…….burp!!!!!! LOL

 

Because I didn’t have to pack for camp, I finished my first set of birthday gifts….remember in my last post, I showed you these??

Well, here’s the rest of it….

012

This apron is from Leanne Beasley’s pattern “No. 072  Apron Strings”. 

007

008

006011

009

 

….and yes……my mother-in-law loved it!!!!

sugary hugs

XXX Wendy  :0)

Sunday 6 March 2011

A Guessing Game

  I thought I’d do something a little different today and play a little game with you!!!!   hee hee First, you’ve got to guess what these crafty things I’ve been working on today are: 001 002 004 I guess you’d be hard pressed figuring out what the first thing is….a banner of some sort????…and you’d be close! We are going on school camp in a week, up on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland and the theme of our camp is “Boot Camp”!    We all get names and I’m “Major Payne!” …..LOL   My teaching partners called me that because of my upcoming knee surgery!!!!!…..they’re so funny!!!!   But honestly, this is going to be a whole lotta fun!  We’re taking 65 11-12 year olds so you can see why the theme????!!!! LOL   So I’ve been making some team banners for the kids to paint their team name and create their team identity on!!!   I’ve made 4 today for our 4 teams and next week the kids will do the painting!  I’ll take photos and show you when they’re done! Now, I’ve been getting a bit of shoulder ‘payne’ lately (hehe) on account of my whacky knee….and you’d be forgiven for thinking the next two photos were of wheat bags to heat up in the microwave and put on achy spots to ease the ‘payne’ (sorry…can’t help myself now!!!!), but if you could smell the screen……you might think differently!!!  (although lavender in them would be quite nice and relaxing don’t you think???) If you’re not aware, my dear hubby’s family is from an Italian background and yes, they are all quite wonderful cooks….in my 7 years of marriage I’ve put on about 15kg due to the beautiful recipes they just have to try, and from my father in law’s constant urges to ‘mange, mange’!!!!  (Well, I don’t want to upset him, do I???  LOL)  It’s getting harder to think of good birthday presents, so this year, I’m making aprons and scented  spice trivets because I know they’ll be well used!!!!!!  The aprons are still ‘in process’ but the spice trivets are done… 008 Scented with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, put a hot pot on top and, not only does it save your benchtops, but the smell is incredible!!!!  I think I’ll be making a few more for moi!!!! Last weekend I just couldn’t find my mojo and the ‘Italian’ must have rubbed off on me ‘cause I felt more like baking.  I’d wanted to try some of the recipes I’d found on the Fabshop Hop, so when I went back into my files I found this one……Lemon Meringue Cupcakes!!!….mmmmmmmm    004  I made mini, bite-sized ones so I didn’t feel so guilty!!!!!    I tried out my new, silicone patty cupcake cups and they were just magic!  I bought them for just a few dollars at my local supermarket….so easy! 006 Not only do you get the recipes on the hop,  but you also get a paper pieced or appliqued pattern of each cupcake!!!    A yummy quilt will be on the cards next!!!!!  They’ve got quite a few hops each year….where you can visit lots of shops from the comfort of your own home, hunt for little bunnies, and gather block patterns along the way…..the March one is the Star Search Sampler where you’ll collect all the blocks to make this… Star Search Sampler If you click here, you can find out all the details and  you can hunt around to find all the other hops during the year! And please visit Maddie at L’il Magoolie and put a bid on some of the lovely things she has there to support the victims of the NZ Quake. They stood by us when we had the floods, the cyclone and the fires….now it’s our turn! Have a fantastic week Sugary hugs XXX Wendy :0)