Stitching, Veges & OPAM Reminder!

Here we are, the last day of autumn and our weather on top of the 'hill' is DEFINITELY wintery!! No fair!! I thought we were supposed to EASE into winter ... but apparently not, as temperatures drop and wind speed climbs. Add lots of grey overcast skies and it really is a miserable day outside. In fact, it was the perfect day (after work!) to curl up under a flannel quilt in front of the heater with a good book. Aaaaahhh!! BLISS! Of course, it DID mean that I didn't finish the project I'd thought I would be able to add to May's OPAM list at the eleventh hour - DRAT! Lucky for me, I DID manage to finish another project on the weekend ... in between unscheduled visitors. Do you ever have times like that?? No one drops in for visits for AGES, then in the space of one weekend (when you have a LONG list of jobs you want to get done!) LOTS of people want to catch up?! Don't get me wrong ... it was lovely to catch up with people, but that "To Do" list didn't get much attention! Ah well ... as I said, I DID finish one project ... a late birthday giftie for my Grandma ...

A pretty and practical tote bag ... that turned out to be big enough to run away from home with! Tee! Hee! Hee! But wait ...there's MORE!! :0) Now, my Grandma and some of her 'girls' head off to the cinema fairly regularly for movie days, so I organised two movie tickets for her to pop in the bag, along with a packet of Twisties (life's pretty straight without 'em!!) and a packet of Jaffa's ... hopefully she'll refrain from rolling them down the isle! Tee! Hee! Hee! Don't know about you overseas gals, but here in Australia when I was growing up, there was a bit of a tradition when you went to the movies that the 'naughty' kids sat at the back of the cinema and rolled Jaffa's (orange flavoured balls of chocolate with an orange candy coating ... just in case you don't have 'em OS!!) down the isle. Cinema seats are usually on a slant or in tiers, so those suckers could get quite a speed up ... and they sting if someone flings them instead of rolling!! But that's a whole nother story from my mispent youth! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So ... I've added Grandma's bag to my OPAM finishes list for May and emailed my list to myself! :0) Thanks to the gals who are on the ball and have already been emailing finishes to Peg and I and a reminder to everyone to make sure you update your sidebar list, even if you don't have a chance to email Peg or I by tomorrow when we will be starting our blog-hopping. There have been some gorgeous projects finished this month, so if you haven't done so for a while, why not do a bit of a blog hop yourself to visit and encourage other OPAMers.

Now, since it's Monday and the weather was wet and icky last Monday, causing me to miss my Monday Vege Garden Update photo ... I thought I'd better brave the inclement elements today to get a photo or two for you. So, after four weeks of growing, this is my vege patch ...

As you can see, everything's getting a bit of a grow on, especially the snowpeas on the left there. I took a photo from the side to show you ...

Hmmm ... actually that doesn't really clear things up much ... the peas have reached the second wire on the trellis and are looking very happy. The cauliflowers are growing nicely too, though one seems to have been targeted by the Hungry Caterpillar from the children's story book ... GRRRRRR!!

On that note ... I'm off to start getting early dinner ready ... Monday night is After Five Vocal Ensemble rehearsal night, so no stitching tonight. Hope you all had a lovely weekend and that your new week as we begin a new month (if anyone finds out what happened to May, let me know!!) is a fantastic one full of adventures. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

Been Busy Stitching!!

Oh dear!! The week has whizzed by me once again ... it's Thursday afternoon and I'm SURE I only just had one of those! :0) I really think Dr Who should be called in to investigate the time-thief who is obviously lurking in my neighbourhood. That sounds so much better than, "I seem to have lost track of time." Don't you think?!?! Tee! Hee! Hee!

However, all is not lost! I DO have something I can show you. I've been teasing you for a while with this photo of the baby quilt I've designed for my brother and his wife ... well ... for their due-next-month baby, anyways!

And I also told you I've been working on some appliqué with this panel as the background. Well ... the top of this quilt is now COMPLETE!!! YAY!! I shall be toodling out to see the quilting magician, Rosalie, tomorrow to wave her magic wand ... well ... quilting machine. :0) Oh ... what was that?? You want to SEE the finished top? Well ... I suppose I've been teasing you all for so long that you deserve to see what's kept me busy. Here goes ...

Ta Da! So ... what do you think?? You KNEW there's be some mischievous little bears involved, didn't you! As you can see, these little bears are all ready for bed in nighty, nightshirts and night caps, but they've STILL managed to find some mischief to get themselves into! One little bear is just 'hanging around' on the tip of a crescent moon, while his brother and sister are on hand with a blanket 'net' to catch him in case he falls. Oh dear! Naughty little bears! Of course, I was a complete ANGEL as a child and would NEVER have got into mischief! Just don't ask my mother to confirm that story! Tee! Hee! Hee!

The working name I gave to this quilt is "Moon Dance", but now I'm not sure whether it suits - what do you think? Should I keep it as "Moon Dance" or do you have some other suggestions for me?? Would love to hear from my blogging buddies. And I DO hope this is a good enough excuse for being a bit quiet on the blogging front over the last few weeks. :0) While this quilt is destined for Alice Springs to keep my future nephew/niece cosy and warm, I will be writing it up to release as a pattern, so if you have a mischievous little bear who needs a quilt ... STAY TUNED! :0)

Oh ... I must apologise for not sharing my vege patch update photo this Monday. No, I didn't just forget ... really!! It's just been really icky, overcast, drizzly, gale-force-winds kind of weather here all this week and really not the best photo-taking conditions, so we'll have to skip this week and I PROMISE to post a photo next Monday for you vege fans.

Our weather this week on top of the 'hill' has certainly been warning us that autumn is coming to an end. I may not like the colder weather, but I DO enjoy the vivid colours of autumn ... rusty browns, golden yellows, rich reds ... so I have been enjoying the leaf displays of some of the lovely trees in the grounds of the retirement village where I work. I'm watching one tree in particular as it's leaves change ... OK, I'm not actually sitting there WATCHING the leaves change, cos that would be boring! ... I check on it each day as I arrive at work!!! It's leaves are turning a gorgeous deep red/maroon colour so I thought I'd try to get some photos to share the fabulous colours with you.

I don't know that this photo quite captures the colours ... that funny icky weather again ... so I'll try to get another shot next week ... providing the leaves don't all get ahead of me and fall over the weekend! I've had that happen to me before! Tee! Hee! Hee!

OH!!!! I almost forgot!! Those of you with access to "Handmade" magazine will see a familar face in the very first article in the new issue. Yes, yours truly has been featured in the "Inspirations" feature, so if you find yourself a copy, you'll be able to read all of my secrets!! :0) OK, so maybe no deep dark secrets are revealed, but Angela who wrote the piece from about 10 pages of questions and answers that I sent off to her, has done a lovely job - check it out! :0)

And now, I'm off to make myself a cup of tea and enjoy a little break before I start some new stitching ... there's certainly NO shortage of projects on the "To Do" list, but I think I'll be choosing from the "MUST do" list first! :0) Hope you're all having a lovely week and enjoying the changing of the seasons, whichever half of the world you're in! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

Where Did That Week Get To?!!

OK ... someone out there highjacked my week, I think, cos somehow it's Saturday night again and I'm not at all sure where all the days between went!! SIGH! The year is racing past like a runaway train and I'm pretty sure I'm the one clutching the railing of the caboose, flying along behind it! :0)

So ... what have I been up to this week? Firstly, I'd better share my Monday update for the vege patch ... though it's almost time for THIS week's Monday update! :0) I DID take this photo on Monday ... I just didn't get around to POSTING it til now - Oops! :0) This is what it looked like after two weeks of growing ...

I'm not sure that the photo shows it very well, but everything has certainly grown noticeably when you see it in person, especially the peas that are now sending out little gripping shoots to twine around the bottom wire of the trellis. Can't wait to sample the yummy home-grown veges!

On the stitching front, I've been busily stitching away on several projects that aren't ready to share with you yet, including the baby quilt for my brother and his wife ... who are counting down to the arrival of their first child. I'm hoping to have the top of this one finished in the next few days, so I promise to share a photo before I take it off to my quilting magician, Rosalie.

Something that I CAN show you though, is ... the second block of my "A Gardener's Journal" quilt! YAY!! How about that, two months in a row I've managed to get my block finished before the end of month deadline!!! :0) I have to say, the little one and a half inch blocks gave me a bit of a headache to cut and join ... the whole measuring and cutting process is NOT one of my stronger points!! However, I'm pretty pleased with the finished block. Here it is ...

Ta Da!! Block "A" completed. It's so much fun following everyone's progress on the Stitch-A-Long blog. Everyone's blocks look so very different, as we're all using different fabrics, different colours, different threads ... It will be incredible to see all of the finished quilts next year when we finish - can't wait! :0) So my two completed blocks now, blocks "A" and "G" ...

This is turning out to be a little brighter than I originally thought it would, but it's so cheerful and fun that I don't mind ... when it's finished, I'll have springtime all year round, won't I! Tee! Hee! Hee!

I also found time this week to pop into my home-away-from-home, Quilters Angel, to help a friend buy some bits and bobs to help make a quilt ... and of course, some fabric followed me home! :0)

Aren't they YUMMY!! These are four fabrics from the gorgeous range of flannels that Marion has in stock and I've bought them with a specific new project design in mind ... which I probably won't get to tackle for a while, but thought it might be a good idea to get the flannel now, in winter when it's on display, rather than trying to buy it in summer when it's all packed away ... like LAST time! Tee! Hee! Hee! I wonder if you can guess what I have in mind for these pretties?!?! Oh ... and don't forget to pop across to Marion's blog to take advantage of her "Pattern Of The Week" offer. Each week, Marion is offering a selected pattern for just $10 to people who visit her blog!! WOW! What a great way to add to your pattern collection!! This week's pattern is by Sue Daley of Busy Fingers and is a gorgeous stitching essentials caddy ...

Just what every stitcher on the go needs! :0) Marion also has photos of some new fabric arrivals, so pop over for a little drool ... er ... LOOK! :0)

Something else exciting happening with one of my blogging buddies is a fabulous new venture for the gorgeous Kerryanne of Shabby Art Boutique. Not only is she celebrating her 200th blog post, she is also about to launch her very first e-course ...

"Embracing The Passion" is a four week course that will encourage you to explore your creativity, dabble in over a dozen different craft media and art techniques that you may not have tried before ... and so much more! Oh ... if only I could figure out how to add more hours to my week, I would be signing up for this, cos it sounds like so much FUN!! Pop over to Kerryanne's blog for more details and be sure to congratulate her on 200 posts - tell her the Mad Bear Woman sent you - she'll know who you mean! Tee! Hee! Hee! Kerryanne was one of the first blogging buddies I made and not only has she been incredibly encouraging of my designing and passed on invaluable advice, we've also become great cyber friends ... we're still trying to plan our first 'in person' play date, but when we eventually do ... LOOK OUT WORLD! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And now, I'm off to curl up in front of our lovely new heater to do some final stitching on the applique of my baby quilt ... and perhaps a cup of tea is in order, too! :0) Hope life isn't passing you by too quickly and that you're having a fantastic weekend. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

Cold Snap & Stitching!

Yes ... the temperatures have been dropping here on top of our hill and it's getting harder and harder to crawl out of the warm, snuggly bed in the mornings. Already, the temps have dipped to 4 and 6 degrees Celsius overnight - BRRRRRR!!! Mind you ... at least it's not SNOWING here, like it is in May Britt's little corner of the world ... and it's SPRING in Norway!!! How RUDE! :0) After being brave little soldiers for a week, we decided it really was time to find a heater and since the old one was giving it's death rattle at the end of last winter, we knew Saturday morning heralded a special shopping trip.

Now, being conscious of environmental, energy and cost impacts of heating options, we made the decision a few years ago to have natural gas fitted, a decision we have been pleased with. However, we DID discover that if the powers-that-be want to encourage more people to switch to natural gas heating, they REALLY need to encourage some imagination in gas heater designs!! You can get GORGEOUS wood burning combustion heaters, cute wood-fire-look electrical heaters, but unless you want to spent thousands of dollars (literally!!) it's almost impossible to find a gas heater that doesn't look either ultra-modern or like the grill of a Mac truck!!! SIGH! However, after an extensive search, we found a model we were happy to adopt (we COULD have been influenced by the lowering temperatures as the day went on!!!) and this is our new 'family member' ...

Here it is in it's new home in the corner of our lounge room. It still is a little more modern-looking than I'd choose to suit our decorating style, but it sure does give the room a warm, toasty glow! :0) As a result, once we were home, my Beloved Geek Boy and I were both more than happy to curl up in the lounge room for the rest of the weekend and watch our way through our collection of "Midsomer Murders" DVD's! :0) This is how GB occupied himself ...

See how rugged up he is? And the funny look on his face is cos he's in the middle of telling me how RUDE it is to take his photo while he's looking like a dag! Tee! Hee! Hee! Good thing HE didn't get the camera cos I was REALLY in dag mode! :0) And what was I doing while GB was computing? Why ... STITCHING, of course!!

Yep ... I was stitching my way through the stitcheries for Block A of "A Gardener's Journal" for the Stitch-A-Long challenge. They took a little longer than originally anticipated because I thought it would add a bit of interest (and make mine just a little different to others!) if I added little touches of satin stitch to my blocks. Yep ... it did ... it also took me MUCH longer than I thought it would! Funny how that often happens with our 'bright' ideas, isn't it! Tee! Hee! Hee! Still, I like how it's looking, so may have to re-visit Block G to add a few little patches of satin stitch ... but that's for another time. Hopefully, I'll find some time this week to piece Block A together and I'll pop back to show you.

In the meantime ... it's still cold, the lounge room is still cosy, GB is still on the other end of the couch keeping me company (he may not speak to me after the above photo, but ...! Tee! Hee! Hee!) and there's a line up of TV shows to keep me entertained tonight, so it's back to stitching for me. I've moved back to working on the green and blue baby quilt I'm making for my brother's soon-to-be-born baby, the one that started like this ...

It's now had some appliqué elements added and I'm blanket stitching around them. I promise to give you a peek when I get further advanced on it. Hope you found an enjoyable way to spend your weekend. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

Celebrating Autumn!!

Well ... the days are cooling down and the nights even more so here on top of our hill and winter is hinting that it's on the way. BRRRRRRRR!!! I am NOT looking forward to that!! So in the meantime, I am firmly in denial and enjoying our gorgeous autumn days that we've been blessed with in the last couple of weeks. The temperatures have been in the low 20's, the sun has been shining, the wind hasn't been blowing a gale ... so I'm celebrating autumn! :0)

My autumnal celebration is taking the form of gardening at the moment. My Beloved Geek Boy and I got stuck in and did some more tidying up, cutting back and pulling out on the weekend ... which my muscles are again complaining about! Obviously I was using DIFFERENT lazy muscles to last week's gardening effort! :0) But it has just been so nice to be outside when it's not too hot and not too cold ... a bit like Goldilocks and Baby Bear's Porridge ... it's been JUUUUUUUUUUUUUST right! Tee! Hee! Hee! And because a few of you said you'd like updates of how our vege patch is progressing, I thought I'd take a photo at the same time each week to keep a growing record, so this week's updated photo is ...

Can you see the biggest change from last week? No? Well ... we've changed the lemon tree's pot. The original pot was GREEN but it wasn't quite deep enough to allow for the lemon tree to grow much bigger, so we visited De Pott Man on the weekend and this bright RED pot caught my eye. I think it looks great against the green leaves of the lemon tree and will look even better once the veges start getting bigger. They HAVE grown, it's just a bit hard to see in a photo yet, so stay tuned and we'll see how much they've grown by NEXT Monday. :0)

And speaking of celebrating Autumn ... the ancient Celts did just that in rather a more organised way than me. Each year they celebrated the festival of Mabon (pronounced "Mah-bawn") and this was when they gave thanks to their deities for a bountiful harvest that would see them fed through a long cold winter. Well, when I was asked to design a bear for an autumn issue of "Handmade", I was inspired by the colours and textures of autumn, so my little bear was named Mabon after the Celtic festival. Today he arrived home from his magazine visit - YAY!! Another 'bearbie' home safely! :0) And he was VERY keen to show off HIS issue of "Handmade" ...

Look who made the cover!! Can't call him a 'covergirl' like I did with Annie-Rose Bear last month, though! :0) Er ... cover ... BEAR! Tee! Hee! Hee! And the layout inside the magazine looked like this ...

Here he is showing off his lovely autumn leafy scarf. Mabon is made from lovely flannel that I found at my home-away-from-home ... although ... it was a bit tricky finding flannel in January, let me tell you! :0) Poor Marion had to go hunting through containers where her winter fabrics had been packed away for the summer - thanks Marion!! What would I do without your help! :0) And a big cyber BEAR HUG to the lovely blogging buddies who were very quick to email me with congrats when they received their issue of "Handmade" in the mail - I think Miriam of Bubba Chenille must have emailed as soon as she opened her mag! Tee! Hee! Hee! Isn't it lovely that we have such friendship and support in blogland!! :0)

And now that I've celebrated autumn, I think I'm going to go practice for winter and find a jumper and some funky socks to keep my feet warm, cos as the sun goes down so does the temperature these days - down to 6 tonight the weatherman is telling me - EEP! Maybe I'll find TWO pairs of socks!! :0) Hope you're all finding your own ways to celebrate autumn ... or spring for those northern gals ... cos every day is worth celebrating!! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Sweet Surprise & Scrappy Hearts!

I know ... here I am again ... FOUR times in one week ... so far! :0) You'll be sick of hearing from me! But I thought I'd just pop in to share a couple of tidbits with you all.

The first thing to share with you is a sweet surprise that I received yesterday when I popped into my home-away-from-home, Quilters Angel, to catch up with the lovely Marion and Steph, as life has been soooooo busy that we haven't had a good natter in AGES. No sooner did I poke my nose in the door, than Steph was handing me this ...

A belated birthday giftie!! Aaaawwwww!!! Aren't they SWEETIES!! Do you see what colour this giftie is ... and the little note written on it? It says "Just because we know you LOVE pink!" Now, Marion and Steph know that I'm usually the ANTI-pink ... but they keep challenging me to use more pink in my pattern designs and Marion says that one day she'll have me WEARING pink! Hmmm ... well I don't know about the LAST bit, but I AM starting to use pink a bit more in my designing. :0) And inside this pretty pink package was ...

MORE pink! :0) Isn't this a pretty box?? For a moment, I thought THIS was my giftie, cos I sure can think of some pretties to store in it, but as the old ad used to say ... "But wait ... there's MORE!!" Inside this pretty container I found ...

OOOOOOOHHHH!!!! A pretty tea cup and saucer set! Marion and Steph know that I collect china and found this GORGEOUS set for me to add to my collection. Thanks Marion and Steph ... I LOVE it!! :0) How spoilt have I been for my birthday this year!! And there's the added bonus of my bestest buddy Lynette's and my birthday rule ... you don't actually turn a year older til your last birthday gift arrives! Tee! Hee! Hee!

OK ... the second thing I thought I'd share with you today is actually a FINISH for my OPAM list .... YAY!!!! But, before I show it to you, do you remember these from a post earlier in the year?

My scrappy hearts I made for our hutch that received the facelift. Well ... there were quite a few people at the time who were keen for me to release the scrappy hearts as a pattern, so I started working on a companion project ... then got sidetracked - OOPS! This week I decided to pick one of my unfinished pattern-designs-in-progress to concentrate on finishing and today ... SUCCESS! So, here is the project to go with my scrappy hearts ...

A Scrappy Hearts Sewing Bucket!! This bucket, like the scrappy hearts, was made from little bits of left over fabric to give it that shabby chic look and while the design changed a little during the making process, I'm really happy with how it turned out. Here's a closer look ...

Ta da! Don't you just love pretty shabby colours!! :0) And the off-centre stitchery panel (no, I didn't just have a moment and attach it crooked ... it's SUPPOSED to be slightly left of centre ... a bit like me! Tee! Hee! Hee!) features hearts with the same "Faith, Hope, Love" sentiments of the scrappy patchwork hearts. And inside this pretty bucket ...

Some of the rosey fabric left over from the mug bag I made for Mum's Heart Sister recently. Don't know if you can see, but there are pockets sewn into the lining there to pop your sewing treasures in to make them a bit easier to find ... in theory! Don't know about you, but no matter HOW organised I think I have my handbag's contents, when I'm not looking, the "handbag faeries" sneak in and mess everything up so I can never find what I'm looking for. At least ... that's MY story and I'm sticking to it! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So ... a productive sewing day was had here today, now I just have to write the instructions so I can release this scrappy duo as a pattern in the not-too-distant future. BLECH!! Instruction writing!!! Ah well ... can't be helped. I shall take a leaf out of Scarlet O'Hara's book and 'think about it tomorrow'. :0)

In the meantime, I think it's time to cook something yummy for dinner. Hope your week has been fabulous and that you have some fun and relaxing stuff planned for your weekend ... which seems to have come around rather quickly again!! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Patterns! Patterns! Patterns!

OK ... don't fall over, I know this is my third post in as many days, which is a little unusual, but I just wanted to pop in quickly to talk about ... PATTERNS!!! No, I'm not releasing a new pattern ... yet! :0) Though I DO have several in various stages of sample stitching and instruction writing - I just seem to have been thrown into a complete muddle by so many long weekends, short work weeks, playing catch-up, trips away ... gee life gets complicated, doesn't it! Tee! Hee! Hee!

No ... the first pattern I want to show you was a sweet surprise sent to me by the Super-Sweet Sarah. You see, I bought some yummy charm square packs from Sarah, which put my name into her end-of-month prize draw for her lovely on-line shop "Patchworks Plus". Sarah sent me a surprise email on Sunday to say I was the lucky winner for April! WOW! How cool is THAT! She said she'd be sending my prize this week and her postie must have hit the 'TURBO' button, cos today, MY postie left this in my mailbox for me ...

A gorgeous pattern by Leanne Beasley called "My Favourite Things". Now, you KNOW I love Leanne's embroidery/stitchery designs, cos I've been showing you my progress on my "Butterfly Gargen" quilt that she designed, so you KNOW I was over the moon to receive this pretty pattern - THANKS SARAH!! If you haven't ever visited Sarah's on-line store, I reccomend a visit ... just don't tell your husbands that it was ME that sent you there! Tee! Hee! Hee!

The second pattern mention I thought I'd share with you is rather exciting, too. My lovely friend Marion at my home-away-from-home, Quilters Angel, has recently started a fabulous treat for on-line shoppers. Each week, Marion will be offering a "Pattern Of The Week" special especially for on-line shoppers. The featured pattern each week will be on super-special for just $10 and will be featured on Marion's blog. How cool is THAT!! This week's featured pattern is a stitchery by Ella & Skysie Designs called "Fairy Cakes"

Isn't it 'sweet'! Get it ... fairy cakes ... sweet ... oh never mind!!! :0) If you'd like to get your very own copy of this gorgeous and rather versatile stitchery pattern, pop across and visit Marion's shop web site ... or if you're a local like me, you can buy it in store just by letting the gorgeous gals in store know that you saw the special on the blog. And don't forget to check back with Marion each week to see what other fabulous pattern specials you can snaffle!! Oh ... I'd probably prefer it if you didn't tell your husbands I told you about THIS either ... or they'll be after me with a big stick for encouraging you all to spend more play money on stitching stuff! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And now ... it's back to our regularly scheduled program here at the Meares' Madhouse, home of Tag Along Teddies designs ... GROAN!! That means pattern instruction writing!! Ah well, I'll console myself by thinking of how much fun the pattern give aways will be when I'm ready to release new patterns! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Weekend In The Garden!!

As promised, here I am, back with a report of the outdoor activities that my Beloved Geek Boy and I undertook over the May Day/Labour Day long weekend ...


It may have been a long weekend, but life at the Meares' Madhouse was far from relaxing over the weekend as we got stuck into some much-delayed work in the backyard. We started off with two main objectives for the weekend.
1. Replace the collapsed clothesline {you're all so mean for laughing at my misfortune!! :0)}
2. Significantly trim our gum tree to keep a fussy neighbour happy

Seems simple enough, right? So, we started our gardening assignment with a trip to Bunnings hardware warehouse ... UH OH!!! And THAT'S where things began to get more COMPLICATED! You know what it's like when you go to the hardware shop for 2 things and end up buying 20, right?! Or is that just us?!?!?! :0) I think they pump something through the ventilation system ... some kind of 'happy gardener gas' ... that sends you into a gardening and DIY frenzy! So by the time we left Bunnings, we had a new clothesline ... along with a WHOLE LOT of other bits and bobs and a somewhat extended job list. Oops! Oh well, it had been a while since our yard had some attention so it would be beneficial, but boy oh boy, the budget sure is blown! :0)

So, added to the "To Do" list was ...
3. Build & plant vege garden

Now, this is the 'potential vege patch' that has been in the back yard for over 12 months ...

Pretty sad, hey! And this shot was taken before the lawn was mown, too, I might add. So GB dragged out the mower and whipper-snipper, then replaced all of these old railway sleepers where they were supposed to be and bolted them together for stability - these suckers aren't going ANYWHERE anytime soon! :0)

To help us further with our vege patch mission, we had a load of wonderful organic garden loam delivered ... right smack bang in the middle of the driveway! SIGH! Can you tell it was a MAN driving that dump truck!!! It was at this point that we discovered Lily (the Australian Terrier/Fox Terrier cross) had an interest in gardening, too ... sort of. This was HER contribution ...

In fact, this is just one of MANY holes she dug in the big pile of dirt ... I think it was her idea of heaven to find so much dirt to play and dig in, right on her back doorstep! :0) That was about as much as we managed to achieve on Saturday, so plans were carried over.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny - a perfect autumn day. GB (who thankfully is a very handy handy-man!) decided to leave the installation of the new clothesline til last to give a bit more manoeuvring room in the yard for the delivery of 'stuff' and for carting the trimmed tree branches away. So the first job was tackling the tree-trimming and for that, we called in a favour from a friend ... my dancing buddy (and fellow turning-40 buddy!) Lynda's beloved, who works with trees and he and GB got stuck in.

Here's Justin in his natural habitat ... up a tree! :0) Can you see him? It's a little bit like playing "Where's Wally?" He and GB had already dealt with one big branch before I took this ... my poor tree!! :0( To distract me from the denuding of my poor tree, Lynda and her kids decided to pitch in and help me bucket the load of soil from the driveway into the frame for the vege patch. Yes ... you read correctly, I said "BUCKET" the soil to move it. Why? Well, the wheelbarrow decided to go out in sympathy with the clothesline! SIGH!!!! However, bucketing worked out to be a fairly effective, if strenuous alternative - Lynda and I do NOT need to visit a gym for quite a while! :0)

Here's Lynda's kids, Amy and Jayk attacking the pile of soil ... and Lynda in the background supervising! :0) Actually, she was just avoiding being in the photo, but that didn't work very well! Tee! Hee! Hee! And of course, when you give a boy a bucket and some dirt, he's bound to find numerous ways to amuse himself ... like building dirt-castles ...

Jayk showing off his best dirt-castle construction. So after a few hours of this soil-moving operation, we were all pretty had-it and called it quits for a lunch break ... even Wombat seemed ready for a rest ...

Yeah ... it's a tough life being a dog, all right! :0) And what did we have to show for our work?

A garden just waiting for some veges to be planted. So, these little cuties that followed me home from Bunnings ...

... were planted out, watered in with some organic fertiliser, mulched, given some trellises for support and ...

HEY PRESTO!

A rather attractive vegetable garden! Well ... not quite 'hey presto', actually, lots of hard work that my back, arms and legs are telling me about today! :0) I've planted some snowpeas, French beans, cauliflower and baby carots to start with.

While the garden bed is a great height off the ground for comfortable pottering and weed-pulling, it was going to be a big of a stretch to reach the centre (me being fairly short all over!!), so I solved the problem by popping in a potted lemon tree. And in keeping with pottage gardening principals (which I admire but rarely remember to read up on to follow!!) I did a bit of companion planting by adding a border of marigolds around the edge of my vege patch. Not only will these attract good bugs and repel bad bugs from my veges (I hope!) ... they'll look cheerful and pretty when they flower! :0) So, that was our gardening weekend at the Meares' Madhouse. Oh ... what's that? ... What about the clothesline, you ask??? OK ... here we go, the much-anticipated unveiling of the new, improved clothesline ...

Ta da!! We got one of the you-beaut removable and fold-away lines, so if something's happening in the backyard and we want some more space, we just pop the clothesline out, fold all of the arms in and store it in the shed til washing day rolls around again - neat, huh! :0) And Wombat was on hand to be the 'beautiful assistant' ... sort of! :0) GB said he was a poser! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And after such an exhausting weekend, added to this afternoon's cool, drizzly, overcast weather, I think I've earned a bit of time to curl up with a cup of tea and a book ... don't you?!?! :0) Hope your weekend was enjoyable and productive, too. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

OPAM Winners for April!!

The Meares' Madhouse is bustling with activity and the rest of the day looks to be busy, so I thought I'd grab a few minutes to let you all know who the winners for the OPAM end of month draw for April were. Firstly, can I say a big "THANK YOU!" To everyone who emailed their tally of finishes to Peg and I - it really is a big help to us - even if you dropped us a line to say you hadn't finished anything for April, it was a help. And thanks to you all for making sure your sidebar list of finishes was up-to-date ... there were only a few this month that hadn't been updated. This, too, makes our job of blog-hopping to collect finishes much easier - we can pop in, see your tally of finishes really quickly and pop along to the next blog on our lists.

OK ... drum roll please ...

April winners for OPAM were:

Kylie P

Annie W

Melissa

Congratulations to all three of you - if you email your snail mail addresses to me, I shall pop your surprises in the mail. Oh ... and a little note from last month ... CJ can you please email Peg your full name so she can post off your prize.

And a big CONGRATULATIONS to everyone involved in OPAM again this month because between us, we finished 526 projects! WOW! How good is THAT!! I just wish I could lay claim to a few more of them - I still seem to be much better at STARTING projects than FINISHING them! :0) And to all of you who didn't actually get anything finished to add to your tally, but made some progress on some bigger projects - WELL DONE! Sometimes that sort of stitching is harder because we don't have something finished to remind us of our work and what we've achieved, but even advancing a quilt by a block or two, or adding a border is worthwhile progress ... especially if you make sure you're enjoying the process of creating something along the way! :0)

Right ... well I'm now off to play outside. Yes, a new clothesline has been purchased from Bunnings and you just KNOW we didn't get out of there with ONLY the clothesline ... I think it's something they put in the air at Bunnings that you always come home with lots more than you set out to buy ... bit like quilting shops! Tee! Hee! Hee! I'll be back with photos soon to show you why I was outside instead of inside stitching. Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS