I have finally found the cord that connects the camera to the computer ( It has only taken two weeks). For some reason my computer won't download pictures directly from the SD card or it takes too long and then conks out in the process - anyway back on line now.

The above photos are a result of attending the craft and quilting fair. MMM ...made lots of purchases. It is the first time in ages that I have made material purchases without having a specific  purpose in mind and may I say I went a little crazy. I bought a sashiko  print and threads and proceeded to complete this panel within 24 hours. Think I may be a little hooked. I have a nice little stash of Japanese prints in my cupboard that I may make a bag with or maybe I will just do a few more panels of embroidery . I went down to the local library and now have several patterns to try. Today i also bought some white markers/pencils for pattern transfer

Below a couple of photos from the garden. It is pretty wet and cold here at the moment and usually there is moss growing on the back fence palings, which will soon need replacing as they appear to be rotting away.

June - The month that was (so long ago!)

Mixed Bag

I was a little excited to come home from work this evening and find the postman had delivered a copy of Down Under Quilts magazine. Some time ago Linda Robertus had asked if I would like to contribute some photos of my rainbow monkey quilt for the animal quilts addition. I happily sent in some photos and a blurb thinking that maybe one photo would be included, but to my surprise  I got two pages all to myself...wow! It is a great compliment and I feel pretty chuffed!

Speaking of animals : My son Caleb, my husband and a group of friends went on a fishing charter near Whyalla, South Australia. It was a very successful expedition as they bagged out (got their allocated quoted of fish) in a very short time , by 0730 in the morning. We now have a very impressive haul of snapper in the freezer, some fresh to cook for dinner tomorrow night and even the neighbours were given a portion of fish. I love fresh fish- there is nothing like freshly caught fish- I wont eat shop bought any more. My family have ruined me for life. They are impressive looking snapper, are they not?

And lastly a couple of animals of a different kind. Check out this monster cake my daughter and her friend made. It gives me sore teeth just looking at it...choc lovers delight!

Christmas in July Ornament Swap

I signed up for an ornament swap in June without to much thought to my other plans of going away and find myself a little pushed for time to make my gifts (which are already due). So with haste and speed I decided to make something that I knew I could finish in time and which still looks effective.

Clay ornaments are not a difficult things to make and after Christmas last year I purchased some snow flake icing cutters at a reduced price for this purpose. This is the first time I have used them and I do find the removal of the snowflake from the cutter a little fiddly despite it being a punch cutter.

I faffed around with a couple of backgrounds. I am currently waiting for the ornaments to dry before threading them up. I thought the smaller ones could be used as gift tags .
I was fiddling around with some older clay ornaments and trying to decorate them with bronze ink using a Sharpie pen...but did not get a good application of colour...waste of money. My Posca pen in gold gave a better application but not the colour I wanted, so I have ditched the idea of applying colour and will leave the ornaments plain.

I also thought I would make a bag to put the ornaments in and printed up my hummingbird in a bright orange (not really at all Christmassy but very cheery)

 Notice how carefully I have prepared my material,,,I went all out to iron the cotton before printing-not!

Thought I'd throw these in to the mix. I took these display photos at Adelaide Central Market- fabulous colour and I love the display

And lastly a photo of my sisters and I at my 50th Birthday dinner..PotatoHead Bali. Nice venue, pretentious and expensive for a mediocre meal..but lovely company!

Bali Mountain Ride - UBUD

A quick visual tour through the mountain to UBUD and a stop  in a coffee plantation and family compound on the way down the mountain.

Balinese bus driver with offering on the dashboard.

Interesting what you see just outside the window. everything whizzs by within inches!

Beautiful volcanic landscapes near Ubud.-  3 craters

The sisters: Diana and Yolanda

Fruit stalls with pyramid formation

cocoa fruit ripening and the yellow one ready to be picked

snake fruit : tastes like a hard pear

Flowering shoot

coffee plantation

Love the patterned mosaic work on the tiles

coco being made

selection of coffee for the tasting- some teas too

Multitude of temples along the roads

 Decorations for weddings (Apparently whilst we were in Bali there were multiple marriages happening on two very lucky days too be married)

 Kids - the same the world over!

 Basketry

 temples in the family compound

 Colourful women - love the basketry

 Rice paddies

Carrying bags on the head

 Harvesting rice

 This is my favourite photo of the whole trip. It speaks volumes. resting up against the rice and sheltering from the hot sun

 Banyan tree, more than 500 years old

 Cycling through the different villages with small temples the whole way down the mountain

 Political elections, banners and flags even in the mountains

 Tourists everywhere! (including me- not on the motorbike but on a bike)

Cleaning the chicken cart in the river

And that is the end of the cycling day in UBUD