on the road again ...

Yes I know ... it has been months .... but in my defence I have been busy ... and I have started a couple of blog posts but never got them finished ... 

I have been doing a bit of sewing and promise to show you some photos soon ... but for now ... 

We are on the move again ... we left Townsville yesterday and are currently heading south ... we have stopped for a couple of nights at a lovely little caravan park just north of Mackay .... in the north of Queensland ... the park is called The Jollymont ... sounds great doesn't it ... we are just relaxing and having a nice time ... 

There are sugar cane fields all around us here ... 

we stayed here on our way north and the sugar cane was so short back then .... 

Today it is much taller and the trees have leaves and there is also lovely soft green grass underfoot ... 

oh yes ... and we also have neighbours tonight too ... 

This afternoon ... we had lunch and then had a lay down and watched a movie ... nice and relaxing ... but when i got up i saw that the bus door was open .. only about 6 inches mind you ... but enough for something or someone to escape .... 

My little gnome ... Kevin had gotten out of the bus and had run off .... now this is so out of character for him ... he usually just loves to sit on the countertop and watch me sew ...

I had no idea why he would run away from home ... 

Marcos said he had a pretty good idea where he might be ... so we went off in search of our escapee ... 

And Kevin was right where Marcos thought he would be .... 

check it out .... her name is Kevina ... 

she has gnome-morals ... 

well maybe a few ... 

but they are a bit on the loose side ... if you know what I mean ...

Now just as Marcos was about to pick him up and bring him home .. Kevin took off running ... down the garden path .... he was like a gnome possessed .. 

We followed him down that horrid little path ... and we got such a terrible shock ... all these little guys in this next photo ... had also be lured into the garden by this Jezabel of a gnomette ... but unlike our little Kevin their people did not know where to look for them ... so now all these little guys are just stuck here ... up the garden path ... 

hoping that one day ... their people will come back .. and rescue them ...

This little fellow ... who was also called Kevin had been there so long his lovely colours had started to fade and he was so unhappy all the colour had left his cute little face too .... 

most upsetting I can tell you ... 

Marcos gave our Kevin a very harsh talking to .. 

and our little fellow promised never to be lured away again ... 

even if she did have her very own swimming pool ..... 

and was very pretty .... 

and did not need to wear a bra ... 

because her boobs were very very perky .... 

KEVIN !!!!!!!!!! ... 

go to your room .... !!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my ... Where so I start ...

We left Toowoomba one week later than we originally planned too, as our bus was going to take a wee bit longer than the mechanic thought ... so on the 12th October when we finally handed in our house keys to the real estate to climb into our bus and head off into our first sunset .... our bus was still nowhere to be seen ... still in the repair shop .... and us with a heap of stuff to go into a bus .. and nowhere to live ... oh my .... 55 years old and homeless .... well not entirely ... we had the choice of being homeless or moving in with our kids .... Thank God my son loves his mum and dad .... he arrived at our Toowoomba house early in the morning with their 2nd eldest boy and his ute and trailer ... and between them they loaded all my worldly possessions into their vehicle .. tied it down and hugged me and set off for the 4 hour drive to their place ... we didn't get there until close on 9pm .. and his wife had a meal sitting there waiting for us ... how blessed am I ...

bit of a role reversal really .... the kids are usually the ones to return home .... haha ...

now to try to condense this a little ... the bus we own is old .. very old ... but we both fell in love with it when we saw it ..... but being old .. parts are not so easily found ... and the chap who was fixing her found heaps wrong with her .. cos she is rather old .. and possibly not been as loved as much as we love her ... and so the last people who owned her didn't really fix her or even tell us that she was in need of so much TLC ... and so many $$$$$ .... haha

so far she has had major overhaul of her brakes .. which is good cos we do need them to work for obvious reasons ... and the springs that work as suspension needed to be pulled off and replaced ... or repaired ... and that took ages to do cos they ended up getting repaired ... big job and there is only one place in Queensland actually doing the work these days ... just about everything but the motor and gearbox has been pulled out and has either been replaced or repaired ..... oh my aching pocket .... lol

the gas tank needed changing .. big story there .. and way too convoluted to try to put into words so let's just say that was done and took around 5 weeks to find a gas tank for her .. and the last thing that is stopping her from coming home is her wheel bearings ... they needed to replace 6 of them ... and could only find 5 here in Australia ... the number 6 one is coming from the UK ... it was supposed to be here monday 2 weeks ago .. but somehow has not arrived yet ... maybe it is on a slow boat ... having a wonderful time sitting by a swimming pool sipping on iced tea and getting a tan ... who knows ... the chap fixing the old girl has no idea ... and nor do we ... but once it arrives it will take them half a day to put her all back together and tidy up a couple of bits and we can go get her ...  pack all our stuff on board and get on down the road  ...

we have been here at my sons place for 7+ weeks now ... and i love my son and his wife and their children ... but i also love my life and want it back ...

i have been able to do a little sewing over the past couple of weeks but it is not my home so i don't want to make things too difficult for the DIL as she has her life and her way of doing things which sort of differ from mine in some ways ... and i would like to continue to be on friendly terms with her in the future .... which means i really need to get my home here ... and here fast ....

Photos of what i have been doing ....

a table topper and 2 placemats for the bus ... 

4 Christmas Coasters that i am sending to a friend

a Christmas potmit for a friend

a Christmas MugRug for me 

another Christmas Mug Rug for a Swap .. 

 A 'silhoutte' themed MugRug for a swap ... 

these are MugRugs I received in the above swaps ... 

this one from Karen .... who lives in Boronia Heights here in Qland 

and this is my Silhoutte one from Jen in Pennsylvania ... can you spot the love in this one .. 

 This is the Owl Quilt Maddy and I made ages ago at her house when we had a playdate and i had a sleepover ... it was such a fun weekend ... would love to do it again .... i am not sure if i have already posted these pics or not ... sorry for the repeat if I have ... 

and also photos of the cushion I received from the QBSA cushion swap ... 

and with everything that has been going on i was unable to complete my part of this cushion swap ... but darling Sue B said she would do it for me ... so i sent off the fabric i had for Pat's cushion and Sue made the cushion cover and sent it off to the US ...

and Sue had also made me a cushion like the one she made for my partner ... apparently I sent enough fabric for 2 .... and this is what Sue made for us ... Isn't she a sweet and generous lady ... what a great friend i have ... mine is just a bit different to Pat's .... mainly just the outside border .... I do love this cushion ... 

Couple of late blocks arriving from Margaret T who lives in Denham Springs in the States .. 

thank you Margaret .. they are perfect .. 

and ... a block each from 2 angels ... I am blessed ....

\

i really have to start posting more often ... haha ... this is such a enormous post .. sorry about that ... but i hope you enjoyed the read .... maybe i should have started out with .... grab a cuppa cos you are going to be here awhile ... ..... 

thanks for popping in ... 

So going to make this ......

it is not quilt related ... but gee it sounds like it could be a lot of fun....


from a friend.. 


CHRISTMAS CAKE RECIPE..

Once again this year, I've had requests for my Vodka Christmas Cake recipe so here goes. 

Please keep in your files as I am beginning to get tired of typing this up every year!

(Made mine this morning!!!!) 

1 cup sugar, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 cup water, 1 tsp. salt , 1 cup brown sugar, Lemon juice, 4 large eggs, Nuts, 1......bottle Vodka, 2 cups dried fruit.

Sample a cup of Vodka to check quality. 

Take a large bowl, check the Vodka again to be sure it is of the highest quality then Repeat. 

Turn on the electric mixer. 

Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. 

Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. 
At this point, it is best to make sure the Vodka is still OK. Try another cup just in case. 

Turn off the mixerer thingy. 

Break 2 eegs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the fruit up off the floor, wash it and put it in the bowl a piece at a time trying to count it.

Mix on the turner. If the fried druit getas stuck in the beaterers, just pry it loose with a drewscriver 

Sample the Vodka to test for tonsisticity. 

Next, sift 2 cups of salt, or something. 

Check the Vodka.

Now shit shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. 

Add one table. 

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find. 

Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. 

Don't forget to beat off the turner. 

Finally, throw the bowl through the window. Finish the Vodka and wipe the counter with the cat.



now doesn't this sound like it could be a blast to make .... LoL

What have I been up to ....

Hmmm .... Not as much as I would like to have done .. but I have been getting bits and pieces done ... 

I had a sleep over with my friend Maddy ... and we did a bit of sewing .... way into the wee hours of the morning .... and then did some more till near on dark .. then I think our sleep deprived bodies got the best of us ... so I packed up my toys and went home ... now that was the weekend before last .... and Friday just gone .. I went back over to Maddy's place and did a bit more on this lovely quilt top ... and when I say a bit I mean ... just a bit .... family called and I had to go ... but it was ok ... cos .. I did some more today .... now ... you can't see what I did cos I have not taken any pics ... but Maddy did .... and you can see them here ...

I did manage to get some other things finished and sent off in the mail ... 

A mugrug .... this I made for a dear friend ...  

This mugrug .. also for a sweet friend but for a swap ... 

this was made for Kristy W .. a block swap partner .. 

and this floating flying geese block was also for a block swap ... this one is going to live in Denham Springs in the US .... my first attempt at such a block and I was very very happy with the result ... and it really is not as hard as I thought it would be to do ... love this one .... 

I will be opting out of all my online block swaps as time is getting away on me and we will be soon leaving the delightful Toowoomba region and climbing aboard our bus for parts unknown ...... driving off into the sunset ..... but somewhere on board will be my sewing machine and a decent stash of fabrics .... he is not getting rid of that stuff yet ... or ever really .... if i have to throw away all his clothes to fit the fabric in .. I will ... there are priorities in life and his clothing is way down on my list ... haha ... 

I have a few hand sewing things I will be taking ... not that I do a lot of that at the moment ... but then I have television ... internet .. and a rather spacious sewing room here and hand sewing is not something I really need to do .... but .. stuck out in the 'never never' .. who knows what I will be forced to do for entertainment ...

Well I have to go ... there is a grandson waiting for his Nan to pick him up from work ... less than 2 weeks now before he sits his test for his license ... hopefully he will get it and then Nan can stay home and do her blog ... or sew something .. or maybe even pack and clean some stuff .... ready for her big adventure ...

out with a friend ...

I am a couple of days late with this post ... but ... 

Thursday .. I went on a play date with my friend Maddie .. we had a lovely day out ... buying some much needed fabrics ... and then to lunch at The Angel Cafe .. 

if you go to Maddie's blog .. Woomb Woomba you will see her pics of the delicious chicken dish and coffee we had .... oh what a fantastic meal ... and very reasonably priced too ... 

More shopping after lunch at ... Precious Time ... where we purchased fabrics and also a very cute Owl quilt pattern ... I don't have the pattern to show you ... I left it at Maddie's place

This is the fabric I bought for the owls eyes .. I do think it will look ok ... 

This fabric I will use for the borders on my block swap D9P quilt .. I am not sure if you can see it or not .. but the little red and blue things are bandanna's ... so I think they will very good with the blocks ..

and these I bought .. cos I liked them ... I will eventually find something to do with them .. I expect ... haha  

I received some beautiful blocks this week too ... 

6 inch block swap Australia group 

These came from Mary C ... who lives in Ontario in Canada .. 

thanks Mary I love them ... 

the Christmas Quilting Block Swap Australia Group .. my partner was Sandra who sent me this very festive block .. which I think is wonderful .. 

Quilting Block Swaps Australia partner .. Karen P .. sent me this gorgeous Shabby Block 

I do love this block .. 

and this most beautiful bag was made for me by my dear friend

Maddie ... who has this blog Woomba Woomba

now I have been very norti because Maddie made this bag for me a while ago now and I have only just realised that I did not post here about it .. ... 

so folks what do you think ... isn't is a most beautiful bag ...

Today ...

Today I finished off a mug rug for a swap I am in here ..  this month the swap was Buttons and Bows .. 

Now I have tested this .. and it does work .. although I am thinking maybe it would be just a little over decorated ... Maybe ... haha ... I did have fun making it and I just hope my partner enjoys it .. 

And these cute little blocks I made for Mary C who lives in Toronto ... 

these were for a 6 inch block swap here

 I really enjoyed making these little baskets .. hope Mary likes them ... 

I love my block swaps ..

So far this month I have done a few swaps .... and have loved all of them ... 

Today I finished my Christmas in July Candle Mat Swap .. and my Christmas Block Swap for this swap group .. Christmas Quilting Block Swap ... I also received my Candle Mat from my partner Jan today too .. and I just love it .. beautiful bright yellows and greens ... will go so well in the bus ... 

isn't it lovely ... 

this is the one I made for Jan ... 

and the Christmas Block swap was for Pat S in Oregon USA .. 

Pat wanted a Christmas tree ... and here it is .. 

I also completed my swap for my partner in the Block Swap Adventure group ... Sandra R asked for a Maple Leaf block in batiks ... .......... ...  and here is what I have sent to her ...