Monday Musings...

From the latest Victoria magazine...just because it's hot here and I want some cold...

 (don't you just love those snow covered mountains!!)

The vest is finished and has been worn (it was a bit chilly on my early morning walk)...

Started a new knit project, and browsing the latest Victoria magazine...

Which contained this lovely story by author Frances Mayes...

 (not sure how this got aligned left...and don't know how to get it back to the centre!)



Got out my hexie flowers, a project from a few years ago when I participated in a fabric swap with a group of ladies in a snail mail group that my friend Sharm started. She is now asking for embroidered hexies for a tablecloth she is going to make, so I bought some calico and erasable pen to do one for her.  If you'd like to be part of it, the post is HERE on her blog...



 

Some of my flowers from the fabric swap which I WILL get finished one day...

And I made a cake...

 (this is the photo from the recipe page)

Mine actually looks like this (because I changed the recipe a bit)...

And this is what it looked like just before I devoured a piece...

 (oops...did it again...)

Here's the recipe...or half of it...

and here's the other half...

Hope you can read it...saves me having to type it out.


Here are my notes re. changes I made:

added some cardamom and allspice to the dry mix
mixed the blueberries in rather than sprinkling on top
Used half castor and half brown sugar and some cinnamon (along with the orange rind) for the sprinkle topping

Cooked it and ate some while still warm...delish!  With a cup of tea :)

I've made this a few times and it's always turned out well and not lasted long...

Time for my afternoon walk!  I'll have to walk extra fast to work off the cake...

 

What...no quotes!!!

 

Nope!  xx

Thursday Things

The blanket is finished...

And the vest is almost finished...

(one armband to go)

Browsing some old Victoria magazines...

Reading Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, which has recently been made into a film.  Picked it up at the op shop for $4.  Have not read any of his books previously, but am enjoying his quiet, calm style of writing.


Listening to Gregory Alan Isakov...

If you've not heard his music...do check him out (you can listen to excerpts on the link above).  He has a unique sound, and one that I could listen to over and over...

And the quote for today...

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."

[Henry David Thoreau]

 

 

Linking in to Yarn Along...


Oh...and settlement on the new house (Min Hem) has been postponed till 7th March.  Disappointing, but the opportunity to de-clutter and downsize even more...

...keeping in mind this American Shaker quote...  "Man's possessions are his burdens"

...and this one...   “Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.” Corrie ten Boom

Ok...Ok...I'll stop :)))

 

xx

Birthdays, blankets, books...oh...and a new house!!

I had a birthday recently, and Marnie, Phil and Denver took me out for lunch...

 (Denver, Marnie, Phil)

And gave me this lovely book  Winter in the Alps.  So nice on these hot summer days (I don't like summer!!)...

A joy to read...

Love the photography...

And the yummy (but simple) recipes...

Which I will definitely be trying...

And...guess who's got a new house!!!!  As of next week, and thanks to Natasha, Patrick and Jefferson...

ME!!!

 

Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou family...for making this possible!!!

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

And for the Yarn Along link up...

 

 

The blanket I was working on previously is together (36 squares) and I am now crocheting some border rows and an edging...

 

And as well as reading my Winter In the Alps book, I am also reading The Detour which I am really enjoying (his style of writing and the setting, as well as the plot, which although simple, is also intriguing)...

 

 

Will leave you with this quote I came across recently.  Mostly attributed to Mark Twain...

 

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

 

   Explore...dream...discover...  And enjoy your week :))

 

xx

 

Wild Weather

After a week of smoke from the bushfires, we finally got some very heavy rain...and thunder...and lightning... and hail...

And in a day, the river went from this...

To this...

It is now hot and sunny again...  Only in Tasmania!!!


On the makings front...  remember this blanket I undid...

And separated the pink/mauve colours...

 (I'm not really a pink person, but will probably use these to make a baby blanket as a gift)

From the blue/green/purples...

I've crocheted 36 squares and edged them in purple...

 (now these are more my colours...)

I am now doing 2 rows of a light brown tweed yarn around each square (to make them a bit bigger).  I was going to do one row of the light brown and one of a dark brown (as they were the only colours I had enough of), but decided the dark brown was too much of a contrast and I wanted to keep it softer looking.  Hopefully by next post it will be finished...

Reading... another Heather Lende book, and browsing the latest Australian Country Style mag...

Listening... to a new discovery...Travis.  Very easy listening (shades of Neil Young on some of the tracks).  So easy...that I've been listening to it all week...

 (Hopefully the link - if you scroll down - will allow you to listen to the songs.  My favourites are No 1 - Sing, and No 10 - Afterglow...enjoy!)

And here's a shot from an afternoon walk recently.  We've had some amazing skies and I've taken lots of cloud shots, but will save them for another day :))

Linking in with Ginny for Yarn Along.

 

Have a good week!!

 

xx

Sunday Snippets

A few snippets on a Sunday afternoon...

Church

These photos are actually from a few weeks ago when our church joined with some others in the area for Church in the Bus Shed. Some folk from Wesley Vale near Devonport own a bus company, and each year around this time we join with a few other of the Uniting Church congregations for a morning tea/service/lunch.  We travelled there and back in one of the air conditioned buses, and had a lovely day of fellowship...

 (enjoying morning tea in the a-joining shed on arrival)

The platform/stage was on the back of the flat tray truck you can see in the distance...

 (finding a seat for the service...we ended up with over 100 people there)

 

 

Smoke and fires

There is still much smoke around and fires are still burning in the area.  An unprecedented 4 day total fire ban has been declared for the whole of the state (as in you are not allowed to light any type of fire for any reason).  Some pics from my morning walk...

(smoke)

(the sun at 7am yesterday morning)

 

(a close up...it looked like a red moon!)

 

 

(the river over the slipway is very low)

 

Makings

 

(The Makings of a Mess!  I tend to spread myself out a bit when I work!!)

 

Dinner

 

It's in the oven now and starting to smell delicious (and I will probably get 3 meals out of it!)...

 

 (rack of lamb cutlets; marinade in red wine and olive oil; with garlic, red onion, rosemary and thyme; salt and pepper)

(and the vegies - potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnip, swedes, red onions, capsicum, beetroot - tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper and cardamom)

 

Quote

 

Wanted to leave you with this quote I read this morning in my devotional book...

 

One of the hardest things in our secret prayer life is to accept with joy and not with grief the answers to our deepest prayers. At least I have found it so. It was a long time before I discovered that whatever came was the answer. I had expected something so different that I did not recognize it when it came.

And He doesn't explain. He trusts us not to be offended; that's all.

 (Amy Carmichael - 1867-1951)

 

 

Enjoy your day...keep safe...and be happy!!!

 

xx

 

 

 

Pics

Finally finished the blanket...

And remember this one...I started ages ago?  Well decided I didn't like it...and didn't have enough wool to finish it anyway, as I'd used some on other projects, so unwinding it all...

Reading this really good book.  Have had my fill of fiction for awhile, wanted some real life stuff...and this is pretty real life!!

Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along for the crochet/read bit.

Some foggy river shots from my early morning walk...just because I love fog!!

The family wedding last November (didn't have any photos until recently)...

 (daughter Marnie and son in law Phil)

 (the wedding party)

(the girls...the 2 blondes are mine!)

My 4...so hard to get them all together at the same time...can't get much more together than this :))...

(Ben, Natasha, Marnie, Jefferson) 

 

 OK...that's enough for today...

 

Have a good one!

 

xx

2016

This post was supposed to happen on 1st...it's now 3rd!  Not off to a very good start am I :))

In 2016, I'm working on this premise...

...and am keeping a written record of all monies spent...just to see where it goes (and to make me feel guilty when I buy another magazine or book!!).

Also started downsizing (clothes, books, etc.) in anticipation of a move to my new home in the next couple of months.  Some of you may recall I'd mentioned my son and daughter were buying me a house.  (We were actually going to build, but to cut a long story short...we have decided not to.)
 
So...after 2 1/2 years searching...trying to find a property we could all agree on :))...I think we have finally found one!!  Still a few loose ends to tie up, but it's looking good...


Moving right along...  And linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along...

Each year I chose a different devotional book to read with my morning cuppa.  I have been using the Our Daily Bread booklet for a number of years now, and this year am also reading (or I should say re-reading as I've used it previously), a Year's Journey with God.  I've also read her autobiography...Journey into God's Heart.  Both books are exceptionally good...

Also browsing these...

The crochet continues (I've actually added another row since I took this, it's now 5 x 4 rows).  Will add a 5th row and then a border around the whole thing...

And the knitting (a vest for me) is coming along...

Re-reading some Derek Tangye, and hoping for the same...A Quiet Year!!  I have a number of his books that I have picked up at op shops over the years...

 

 

While I'm on books...I have the urge to read the Anne of Green Gables... series!  Other years it's been the Little House...  series.  Funny what a new year does to us :))

 

And in the words of Christina Rossetti...

 

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man
I would do my part;
Yet what I can, I give Him -
Give my heart.

 

If you'd like to read the whole poem...go HERE...and click the music on the right side of the page and you can sing along!  I just did :))

 

 

 

May your 2016 be just the way you like it...quiet or otherwise :))

 

xx