M is for Monique!!!!

Finally...it is done!!!!

I just had to share my relief with you!

Stitched and pinned together......

Digging through the stash...... 

Choosing the embellishments....

Trying on the elements..... 

And finally putting them all together!!!!!

Yaahhhoooo!!!

We are done!

The flowers and beads come off as one

piece for easy washing of the banner. 

It seemed like a long journey, but well worth the effort.

The last step will be presentation and installation!!

But that's for another day!

I hope it's treasured because

there will not be another!!!!

That warning will be whispered into a

little ear during the presentation,

he he he....

And not to forget, a very special thank you to

Jenny of Elefantz

for her glorious Alphabet!!!

See you all later!

Hugs N Kisses

Barb :)

What I got up to today...

I have planted 6 little Zucchini plants and will hopefully

be supplying the whole family with zucchinis!!! 

Last time I planted two and got a wonderful crop,

so I am hoping for a repeat performance!!

I also did a bit of clearing and uncovered

my little family of Bunnies as well! 

I had to be careful where I was sticking the loppers

because a white whiskery face kept

appearing in the foliage!!

I'm sure he was saying

"I don't know what you're looking for, I'm right here!!!!!

You should be paying attention to me!!"

Despite my advise someone else also decided

to do some digging and planting as well!!!!!

Out in the garden there are still

some plants blooming :)

I also combined some of my

aloe's for a mixed pot.

 After all that work,

Basil was tired and had to rest.

I must admit I was ready for a break as well!!

Even though it's still coolish at night,

the days in Townsville are starting to warming up

especially with both of us digging holes in the sun!!!

  Approved or not!!

Well, that was my Thursday....

How was yours?

Cheers for now

Barb :)

FNSI

WELL!!!!!

I'm almost there!!!

I have been intensively working on my banner

and am almost done!

I'm up to the second last letter!!!!

U and then E,

then I'm all done stitching.

Then it's just deciding how I'm

going to configure it all together.

So close now! 

It's exciting!

Hugs n Kisses

Barb :)

M is done.....On to the O !!!!

For those of you who remember...

I am in progress of a bunting for my Niece's Birthday.
You can get the pattern from here.
It's a wonderful Jenny of Elefantz alphabet.
Do check it out!!

Here is the first letter done!!!!!

M

So now onto the next letter which is O.

I was apprehensive to start with

but it's starting to look cute now!

Can't wait to have all the letters done

and be sewing it all together!!!

I have also had some new additions to the household as well.

Two little owls came hooting by and decided to stay!

Followed by their Mother who is ever watchful.

How you all have a wonderful weekend planned,

or not planned, which I like even better.

Hugs n Kisses

Barb :)

Where has this little birdie been ?????

I have started a long awaited 5 week

break from my 9-5 grind.

Each year I try to save up my leave hours

so that I can have a long break from work

and really enjoy having that escapism.

I find that I can never really relax on 1 or 2 weeks off.

I have decided to jam pack my holidays this

year with both things to do at home and

small trips to local surrounding districts.

To mark the start of my holidays,

I had a lovely long weekend with my parents

up in the Atherton Tablelands.

What I love the most is that it's full of rolling hill vistas!!

As far as the eye can see is red dirt, green pastures, and blue sky.

It's just so peaceful and picturesque.

Everywhere you look there is some sort of wildlife or pastured animal.

It truly is one of my favourite places to escape to.

A few years ago I decided to move there but was unable

to break into the housing market at the time.

So I ended up spending a year working at the

Atherton Hospital to fund my extended day dream.

It was definitely one of my most favourite years!!! 

One of the main attractions is the Yungaburra markets

(4th Saturday of each month).

It is packed with local produce, specialty plant growers,

hand crafted homewares and art pieces, skallywags,

and much, much more!!!

As per usual in Atherton we were greeted with a wet morning.

It wasn't quite rain, but was heavier than mist.

Sort of  in between mist and drizzle.

So I decided to name it "Mizzle", which was

adopted by the family for the duration of our stay :)

One of the MUST DO'S at the Yungaburra markets

is to have a "Nick's Hotdog".

I ALWAYS get a bratwurst with sauerkraut, mustard and tomato sauce.

THEY ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!

Last time we went up there Nick's van wasn't there......

I nearly cried............TRUE!!!!

Very close to the markets is a small detour

to the majestic and mammoth strangler fig.

It's branches are full of crows nests, stags, and elkhorn ferns.

Truly lovely, if not a bit sad for the original host tree.

One of my other usual stops is to the "Roseburra" Rose Farm.

Usually you can drive around the back to the farm house door

and purchase fresh luxuriant bunches of roses for very cheap!!!!!!!

Thank god the cold room that you go to to select

your bunches is soooo cold that you can't comfortably

procrastinate on your choices because they are all

sooo beautiful that I am usually at serious risk

of freezing to death!!!!

Sadly this trip we noticed they were closed.

I was devastated to read that this local family run farm is up for auction.

It wasn't that long ago that I heard on the grape-vine that

 there were bullying issues with a large conglomerate company.

Very sad indeed that this family has been pushed

out of business by short sighted, greedy, inconsiderate, corporate pigs.

I really wish the family all best for the future.

Across from the market field is the Lake Eacham Hotel,

which I've always called the "Yungaburra Pub".

Well, it is smack bang in the middle of the Yungaburra township!!!!

Go figure......

It wasn't until we were driving past it and Mum asked

"Where's the Yungaburra Hotel?"

I thought she was going daft!!!!

We were right in front of it!!!!!!!!

UNTIL......I read it off the sign myself.

Oooops! I lived up there for a year,

and everyone called it the Yungaburra pub!!

I don't think I ever read the sign! LOL!

The Yungaburra pub is one of the best places to get
well portioned, mouth drooling meals around!!!

The other place is about 8 minutes around
the corner called the Peeramon Pub.
Peeramon was built around 1911 and has an
incredible part in local district history.

 After cyclone Larry savaged the area,
the Peeramon pub required a face lift.
Now it has a great outdoor dining area and
open plan event hall that you can see on the left.
I recommend that if you plan on eating at either of these pubs,
that you eat your main meal before ordering desert !!!!!
Because after you have achieved eating your main meal.......
the mere sight of your desert
may make you feel sick!!!

On the other side of Atherton is Tolga!

After a short drive through a tunnel of rainforest,

there is "The Humpy".

It's got lots of goodies and local produce,

including heaps of different flavoured nuts!

A real treat for the taste buds!!

My favourites are "Chilli Lime Peanuts" &

"Sour Cream & Chives, Wondaree Macadamia nuts"

Mmmmm..........

Another attraction in Tolga is the "Tolga Wood Works"

It's full of hand made wood art pieces and

also full of wonderful wooden gift ideas.

On Our way home we stopped in at

the sweet Milla Milla Falls.

Not swimming weather just yet,

but still a lovely environment!

Every where you look up here are the gorgeous

tree ferns that tower over the setting,

like natures own umbrellas.

I hope you enjoy the sights as much as I do.

PS: Some of these photos have been borrowed

from the internet because I was having too much of 

 good time to remember to take photos!!!!

Hope you forgive me, ha ha ha!

Now.........Where to next.......

Hugs N Kisses

Barb :)

New Project

I have recently been hunting around
for a sweet alphabet design

to do a triangle banner for my Niece (Monique).

She's 6 and loves all things pink,
purple, frilly and girly!!

WELL............

 I have finally got all my pieces
together to start my project!!

I'm pretty sure I've spoken about it before,
but have not been happy that I
had it all together ready to start.

I wanted to make a banner with my
Niece's name on it for her birthday.
But I couldn't find a nice alphabet!!

Until Jenny of Elefantz released
her Rosedaisy Alphabet!!

I have chosen my fabrics....

I know it looks yellow, but it's actually
a nice tone on tone cream and a bright pink!!

Monique looooves pink.

I have traced out and ironed on my vliesofix....

I have made my Pennant template,
and done my maths......

Now it's time to trace out all of my pennants,
and start to assemble this so
I can begin on the stitcheries...

After all, this does have a time frame!!!!
It must be ready for September!!!

I have high hopes for this project.....

In my mind it's a masterpiece!!!!!

Lets see how that translates to finished project???

LOL!!!

Hoping you all have your fingers crossed

that I can pull this one off!!!!!!!

Hugs and Kisses

Barb :)

What a wonderful Sunday :)

I always have so many plans for my weekends

but rarely actually do what I mentally plan!!!

After a late Friday night, and a road trip on Saturday,

I really just felt like bumming around the house.

In the end it turned out to be productive pottering!!!

I now have an ironing board

without clothes draped all over it............

Put away my various knickknacks.

Zip locked the fabrics that I have for particular projects,

and put away my other stash fabric that I have

been collecting around the place and

put them all away in their draws........

And a large pot of spaghetti sauce

bubbling away on the stove top.

How about that???

Who knew I could do all that without meaning to??

What did you get up to today?

Hugs n Kisses

Barb :)

A beautiful dewy morning.

I love nothing better than to stroll around the garden in the morning

and discover wonderful surprises. It makes me feel peaceful,

and happy that I have my own little piece of paradise!!!

This week we've had a few light showers, and it must have been

enough to set things in action because when I went for my stroll today,

there were lots of plants showing me their best Sunday outfits :)

The first thing I was drawn to was this lovely cascade of Duranta "Geisha Girl"

 in full bloom. The butterflies were all over it.

Couldn't get any pics of those because they were all blurry!!!

They just wouldn't stay still for me!!

I also have some very nice Bromeliades which provide

color for months, despite out very harsh climate.

Some of them have colorful foliage,

others look quite plain until they flower like this one below.

 It's one of my favorites. I love the peachy tones

and the gentle frosting it has in the buds.

Just so delicate........

They are all very different and attractive in their own way,

which is how they get addictive!!!!

One of my other favorites in the garden are orchids!!!

I put them on my palms and trees, I water them occasionally

and then just when you forget they are there......

They surprise you with magnificent flowers!!

This one (below) likes to have it's roots in the earth.

This is one a got from a grower up near Cairns.

It was so unusual that I couldn't go home without it!!

It's petals are supposed to be forward more,

but I'm just glad that it survived and has flowered for me!!

Know what I mean????

I'm grateful for small mercies!!!!!

 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and

enjoyed my garden tour as much as I did :)

Until next time.....

Hugs n Kisses

Barb :)