Upright and out and about

At last.  Although it's been a bunny-hop kind of healing process. Each time it seemed I was done with it, either another phase came knocking, or I went backwards to a previous one, with spiking temps and nasty headaches. It all seems to be evening out though, with tiredness being my main problem now.
My first foray out into the world was last week, when I went for a blood test to check the virus is no longer in my system.....and the results on Friday were positive.....or negative actually....all gone, which means it can't be passed on if a mosquito bites me, then moves on to someone else....Such a relief.

Now that I'm feeling better, I'm really enjoying getting out for early morning walks with my girl. She was pretty happy to head out with whoever came to take her, until she realised I wasn't coming, and would peer through the gate at me, whining softly. It usually took a few throws of her ball to get her off and running, but she'd still be looking back to see where I was.  

It's been good, too, to have the energy to enjoy wandering around the garden, checking out all the lovely autumn blooms, and ticking all sorts of little jobs off the list I've been compiling in my head for the last few weeks as I've staggered past, back to my bed, muttering to myself.."must weed that garden bed, sweep those pathways, tidy the potting table" etc.

 I overdid it the first day, and so have been pacing myself more, and just doing an hour and stopping, even if I feel like continuing. So far, I've cleared the weeds from the veggie patch, and now have broad beans, green beans, broccoli, cabbage and greens planted. I'll have to re-do the broad beans, as "someone" decided it was a lovely cool spot to have a lie down in.

Not looking very remorseful at all

Mother's Day 'mums'.

 A lot of my allotted garden hours have been spent trying to get rid of a nasty feral weed, the madeira vine.  It's sprung up everywhere since the flood, seems to grow overnight, and resists most efforts to be rid of it, since it sends long and strong tubers underground, and the fine tendrils it sends out end up twining and joining together to form a very tough stalk.

Twining together 

Thick network of stems, that all lead to zillions of tubers underground

 It grows up into tree canopies and smothers any plants in it's path and if you try pulling the vines out of the canopy, little potato-like bulbs fall to the ground and re-grow. Cut vines can remain alive if they're left on the ground or in the canopy and regrow as well.  The best but most time consuming way to get rid of it is to cut it back carefully so as not to dislodge the tubers, to find the sems that lead back to underground tubers and scrape and paint, with regular follow up. I'd been doing this but in the time I've been unable to do any gardening, it's taken over again.  It definitely takes the pleasure out of gardening, talk about Day of the Triffids!

But there have been more pleasurable tasks, like cleaning up the courtyard and getting it ready for winter enjoyment.

This morning I pulled weeds from the paving, tidied, pruned back overgrown shrubs and set out the chairs and tables. That dreaded madeira vine had started to grow here as well, but they were just small plants and easy to eradicate. This is such an excellent little winter spot, and is a great sun-trap,  surrounded by tallish plantings as it is, and protected from the cold south-westerlies that can make the riverbank unpleasant this time of year. it's the perfect spot to enjoy a pot of tea, some reading or hand sewing, and even today, with not much sun around, it's really pleasant to sit here, enjoying the back drop of the camellia in full bloom, the buzz of contented bees, and the odd honey-eater visiting to enjoy the nectar, and churring away above me.

I managed to catch this one feasting on the bottle brush.

Afternoon tea will be enjoyed out there later, as I have a few "orphan mothers" ...as we call ourselves......coming ..........friends whose mothers are no longer with them, don't live locally, or whose children are far away.....so I'm off now to pop some strawberries on the sponge cake, and dig out the prettiest cups and saucers  ready for an afternoon of good company, cake and laughter.

To all the mothers, I hope you're having a lovely day.

Ho hum- beginning again

A scrappy catch-up post.....bits of my days and bits of fabric

So I'm back from my unintentional blogging break. It's been a few months of all sorts....busy fun, supporting friends who've been sick and/or hospitalised, dealing with some family 'stuff", which, while not mine, needed my attention from time to time, as well as the day to day tasks of home making - cooking, cleaning, taking care of my animals ...and repeat. After a while, it just got easier  to not blog, so I've made the effort today because it's ScrapHappy Day (maybe it still is the 15th somewhere?)  organised by Kate and Gun and it seemed like a good time to jump back in and post about my latest scrap projects.  Lest you think I've been tardy, however, here's a brief catch up of the last...umm.....however many  weeks it's been.

There were a number of distractions to start with....

Nimbin Mardi Grass  Nimbin's a small village about 30km south west of here, and although it's been a farming area for generations, and still is, in the 70s crowds of hippies piled into town for the first Age of Aqaurius Festival. Most of these stayed on in this quiet little hamlet of deep valleys and dense rainforest, planted their (illegal) crops of cannabis and spent their days quietly stoned...dropped out and tripping. Others developed a strong counter-culture, becoming activists and protestors, while at the same time, many mainstream businesses like yoga, healing and natural therapies grew out of the idealogies of the Aquarian festival, and people started growing organic food, setting up multiple occupancies (communes) permaculture farms and co-operatives. The Mardi Grass is an annual rally and celebration held to protest drug laws while celebrating the unique culture of Nimbin, and overall, having fun.  I love Nimbin, not just for it's counter-culture and history, or it's nude bicycle race but for the quaintness of the town, and the great sense of community, of artists, permaculturists and yes, even the activists.  I could write a whole blog post on Nimbin, but not today, so if you're interested you can read more here or ask Mr Google. I went to the mardi Grass this year to help a friend who had a market stall, so it was a busy time of fun and work.

Gunja fairies in the Festival Parade ! Yes, really.

Then along came MAT...Murwillumbah Art Trail......."A showcase of contemporary art at it's best, with exhibitions, free events, workshops, good food and music and all day and into the night"
You could just grab a map follow the numbers and walk the town, enjoying art and food and having fun. I did more work than play throughout this week, as a number of friends either had their own galleries open to the public, or were exhibiting in pop up galleries. As most of them have day jobs, I filled in to mind their spaces for them, meet and greet and sell their excellent art woks......10 days of work and fun.

Just follow the numbers on the map

Then there were the three big birthdays on the same weekend .....my friend Tash's daughter turned 18th, and I was roped in to help organise and set up.  Luckily I also had a 50th to attend, so was excused from the 18 year old's bash pretty early.  The next day I met up with Tash again to celebrate her baby's 1st birthday, which was a very tame affair after the other two.....strawberry sponge cake and apple juice....then dashed off to host another celebration for the 50 year old for friend's who couldn't be here for the night before.
Then there was gardening, because the weather has been just wonderful, and way too nice to be inside.

sowing 

growing 

and eating 

There was some house painting while the weather was sunny but cool. Outdoor chores are so much more enjoyabe with zero humidity. The outside of the house was brown and cream, it's all this nice blue-green now. I was sure I had some before photos, but they're being elusive.

 with grey railings and trim

On the few cold rainy days we did have have, I did some pink,

Blue 

and yellow sewing.

 ...........knitted a couple of beanies which went to Thursday Island for school boy footy teams.....State of Origin colours.

I did some hand sewing and beading and made a pretty bag for a friend's birthday.

and there was a soft toy or two that dashed out of here to bring some cheer to children in hospital.

So now I'm caught up, on to my ScrapHappy project......there's two actually. Firstly, a friend decided she wanted some pale blue in her life, and was considering buying a $300 quilt she'd seen in town......yikes!  So I suggested I make her one, on the understanding it wouldn't be a quick finish, and she happily accepted.

I'd seen a few bowtie quilts pop up on various blogs featuring their  Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects, then I saw that Sue of the Magpie's Nest was making them too, so I jumped on the bandwagon as well. Here they are pinned on the design wall, I think that darker blob in the middle is my shadow!?  I'm using light and medium blues, and as I don't have enough blue scraps there'll be some fabrics used twice, or more, and in a couple of blocks I've joined pieces to get the 4.5 inch size square I needed. I've made 15 so far, and try to sew a few every day, making sure I cut some ready when I've finished sewing, so I can just go straight to the machine the next day.

My second use of scraps is a bit different. I've tied the white trimmings and leftovers of projects onto a string across my garden beds of kale and chinese cabbage, to deter the cabbage moths from laying their eggs. Apparently they see the white fluttering in the breeze and thinking it's rival moths,  they move on.  It seems to be working, no holey greens since I did it.

Hop over to Kate's blog to see what others are doing with their scraps, or to get the details if you have scrappiness you'd like to share.

Till next time..........

Beating the heat

Spring has skipped on by and it feels like summer is well and truly here, with temps in the low 30s C(80s F), so I've been walking Mirrhi very early, heading out as the sun lifts over the rim, and then working in the courtyard garden until the sun moves up higher and eats away the shade and it's too hot to stay out there.

I've been working on this patch of dirt next to the newly paved area, and under a very old, tatty pine tree.  I've since removed the little fence, it made the garden look like a cemetery plot!

Edged with stones instead....much better.

I found that nice old piece of wood on a vacant lot while walking Mirrhi, so lugged it home,  I like how it looks here, with an agave and a pretty nemesia tucked behind it.

Up close....rocks, wood chips and seedlings.

From the top of the driveway side

I've started to plant it up with heat loving colour.......this area gets sun all day from the north and then the west.......so there's cineraria, pig face and verbena here.  I'll continue this combination around to the other side as well.   Bromeliads will get some shade tucked against the tree trunk.  It's all heavily mulched with bark chips to keep moisture in and the roots cool.  I picked up a pair of big cement pots at the tip shop for $5, one is painted that soft orange, and the other's waiting to be painted. It'll go on the other side of the path, and they'll be planted up with blue/petunias and blue lobelia.

I have a day of sewing planned now, so until next time.............

Marcia is on the way

I started this post yesterday but was sidetracked to prepare for this 

this being a trough that's running ahead of a Category 4/5 cyclone that's heading towards the Queensland coast.  The bright yellow and dark green towards the top right of the map is the cyclone.....named Marcia, expected to make land around 7 am in the morning. I'm in Murwillumbah, about a third of the way down the picture and while the actual cyclone....with reported wind speed of 225kms/hr as it crosses the coast....won't directly hit us, we'll still feel the brunt. These systems don't necessarily follow the path ascribed to them, but it's predicted this one will head south west across Queensland, then swing to the south east towards the coast, about 40kms south of me. It'll meet up with the trough currently dumping a lot of rain on us, and between them, there's around 400mls of rain expected, plus high winds. I don't mind the rain, but the high winds worry me.  The river I live near is tidal, and with a king tide expected, there'll be flooding for sure, and although there'll be a lot of water rushing through my yard, and things will become very sloshy, my house will be safe.

I have a friend in Mackay, where the cyclone is predicted to make landfall, and I've been following along with her all day as she's prepared as best she can for a very dangerous and scary situation. Be safe, Kate and all those up north who are waiting now for the cyclone to hit the coast, it'll be a sleepless night for many.  My thoughts and prayers are with them and I wish everyone safe passage through this.

I've prepared too, for the deluge to come...mowed the lawn, done some weeding, tidied away lawn chairs and anything else that can blow around, put the chook's weatherproof shelter up, brought in lots of kitty litter and cleaned the water tank filter. There's plenty of candles, new torch batteries and tins of baked beans in case the power goes and I can't cook.  So we're all set.

Nicely mown yard, dog is pleased, she can find her ball now

A bit stiff and sore after all that hard work, I usually do the garden work in small bites, but I really wanted to stay ahead of the rain and be prepared for whatever the heavens throw at me.

***

I want to show you all the lovely things the postie has delivered lately, but first, look at this fun promotion the local library did for Valentine's Day... they had a stand of books in plain brown wrappers, with saucy labels.  I chose this one, bit of a lucky dip as to what the book might be, I was hoping not a Mills and Boon romance ....

This is the book I received, I haven't started it yet, but it sounds as if it could be quite good. "Set in WW2, Miss Carter leaves her French lover to return to England and be one of the first women to receive a degree from the University of Cambridge. She becomes a teacher, and has a mission to fight social injustice, prevent war and educate girls"  I will let you know how it turns out.

Wonderful pretty and practical gifts.

So, firstly last week was my Initial Heart Swap gift, which came from Anthea at Hibiscus Stitches in Western Australia.  Thankyou Anthea, I was absolutely delighted with my swap gifts, ( I pinched this photo from Anthea's blog, as I've left the tote bag in the car...hope you don't mind Anthea?)

On the card, Anthea wrote about my goodies....
An "N" mug rug for my drink
A pouch and bag for market day visits
Something to care for my hands after gardening
and a sweet treat.  

and here's that lovely bag after a trip to the farmer's market...the pouch worked well too

Then from Kerrie who blogs at http://www.channelbankcreations.blogspot.com.au/ this beautifully stitched and very thoughtful gift .... a diary with a handmade cover.  Here it is opened out to show the whole cover with it's fancy buttons on the front.  Thank you Kerrie for your kindness in sending this, I've already put it to good use.

Love the choice of colours and fabrics

Lastly, a gift myself, a couple of metres of lovely bright oildcloth to make a table cloth for the little table on my front verandah.  A friend who lives at the end of the lane has a pretty yellow Kath Kidston cloth and I just love it, it catches my eye every time I walk past, so I decided I would have one too.

The rain will keep me indoors tomorrow, and as there'll be no distractions, I'll be spending the day sewing.

'til next time

Grow Your Blog 2015

Welcome to my little corner of the Grow Your Blog Party ............

Hosted by Vicki at 2 Bags Full

Click on the link and it'll take you to the list of around 400 bloggers who have joined the party, and will introduce themselves, and write about why they blog, and their interests. This is a great way to find new blogs and meet new and wonderful people.  

I'm a retired social worker, and live in Australia in a small country town in northern NSW.   I have 2 children, a son and a daughter and 4 grandchildren....3 girls and a boy and 1 great-granddaughter, all of whom live in Ohio, USA.  My son lives in Sydney.  

So with family spread out and far away.....I share my home with this lot......great companions and never a dull moment.

clockwise from left......Neesa, Velvet and Molly and Mirrhi

I started my blog as a way to connect and communicate.  I was suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder, and the associated depression and anxiety, and found it hard to be in social situations. Blogging was a good way to have some social interaction,and stay connected to the outside world, but on my own terms.  Those days, thankfully, are behind me now, but I continue to blog about my sewing and gardening, ordinary things, my day to day life, things that interest me and people and places I encounter when I step outside my front gate.  I've made some good friends through my blog, and some I've now met outside of cyber space as well.

I enjoy an eclectic array of handwork......quilting, embroidery and stitching, I dabble in needlefelting, and like to make dolls and toys.  I have a Pinterest board called Creative Miscellany of Things....this sums up pretty well what I like to do.

Here's some pics of various things I've enjoyed making......

Quilts and table-runners

dolls and soft toys

 I give most of my toys to charity, and they go variously to Knit 4 Charities, Mirabel Foundation and Uthando.  I knit as well, and these items, mainly beanies, go to Knit 4 Charities  as well, an Australian on-line group which knits, sews and crochets thousands of items a year to go to the homeless and needy.

Handwork -healing doll, crazy patchwork, kantha stitching

I enjoy living simply, and as sustainably as possible and I do this by growing as much of my own food as I can, I cook from scratch and make my own bread, soap and cleaning goods.  I'm passionate about my garden and growing and this is as important to me and my life as my needle and thread are.

I enjoy travelling and posted here about my recent trip to Tibet, a deeply satisfying and life-changing trip.

Mt Kailash

I wondered when I signed up for the Party what I'd write about....obviously I had no trouble and could probably go on.  If you'd like to know more, take a wander back through my blog, or you can email me at belleg9atgmaildotcom.

To celebrate Grow Your Blog I'm having a give-away, and anyone who comments will go in the draw to win a small prize.  I have two bundles of pretty batiks to give away, and embroidery threads to go with them.  All you have to do is comment on this post, and you're in.

The draw closes at midnight on February 14 AEST and winners will be drawn and announced here on February 15th.  Please make sure you're not a "no-reply" blogger so I can get in touch with you if you're a winner.

....til next time

Back with the moon

I've been back from holidays for a couple of weeks now, but it's been hard to get back into blogging,  hard to be on the computer, when the sun's been shining quite hotly for autumn/winter, and the great outdoors is calling.  It's been pretty busy around here too, with visitors coming and going, garden beds to prepare and vegetables to get in the ground.  This is my best planting and growing season, and with good prep now I'll have a variety of vegetables that will take me through to summer, depending how quickly the weather heats up and the humidity increases.  But for now, chilly nights, sunny days and a decent amount of rain will ensure good growth.

Today, I'm joining Woman with Wings in her full moon Drawing down the Moon project. I've missed doing this the last couple of months, and it felt realy good to settle quietly yesterday and stitch.  I captured the  photo above early yesterday morning as the moon was setting, just before it disappeared behind the trees (shame about the power lines).  The mountain was beautifully tinged with rose as the rising sun hit it.  Just for interest's sake, that very tip of Mt Warning is the first easterly point of Australia that the sunrise hits....neat hey? 

I have stitched an almost transparent moon mirroring the moon above in the night sky, and drawing healing energy deep into the earth.

I've managed to work on other projects too ....

a small wallhanging for a swap

a nearly completed baby quilt 

First few dresden plates for a special 40th birthday quilt ....8 to go.....due later in the year

a fabric postcard for a friend's birthday

and some knitting

It's sunny today with a biting cold wind, my thoughts are with all the people further south who are experiencing wild weather and floods, let's hope it all blows out to sea soon, as predicted.