GRRRRRR! Technology!

Hey all! Just a quick pop in before I keep a long overdue date with my pillow to let you know that Blogger & Google aren't playing nicely at the moment & apparently aren't sending comments left on the blog through to blog owners via email the way they're supposed to. So ... If you've left a comment on posts in the last week or so & not had a reply from me, please rest assured I'm not being rude ... Blogger & Google just haven't passed your comments along. Now that I'm aware of the issue I'll work around it to get back to you all in the next few days. In the meantime, I hope you're all having a fantastic week. :0)

Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Some Sewing At Last!!

Hello to all of you GORGEOUS creatures out there in blogland! I hope your week is off to a great start. Life here in the Meares' Madhouse still resembles two hamsters in a madly spinning wheel ... Hopefully it will slow down a bit soon or I suspect we'll be flung out of the wheel like a slingshot! Tee! Hee! Hee!

The good news is ... I've actually managed to do some sewing in the last few days ... YAY!! My Beloved Geek Boy is an audiovisual technician in his grown up job ... He didn't end up with the nick-name "Geek Boy" for no reason! :0) So ... His backpack is invariably stuffed with cords, cables & connectors like you wouldn't believe, which can make it a bit tricky to lay his hands on the RIGHT cable/cord for the job. 

It looked like an upended bowl of spaghetti in there! :0) During one particularly frustrating game of "where's the cable?" GB said ... "I should get you to make something to help organise these cables!" Hmmm ... Challenge accepted!

My solution was individual drawstring pouches, different sizes for different types of cables. GB was pretty chuffed! :0) Not only did he report that the pouches wee working a treat, he asked for a few more ... And said his workmates were just a bit jealous of his classy organisational tools. :0) Nice to have your work appreciated, isn't it? And good to get some finishes on my sidebar list.

Just in time for ... The end of the month OPAM tally. So, calling all OPAM gals ... Get those sidebar lists up to date & email your tallies through to me & my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg.

Righto ... Time to get the dinner on the table, so, til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

A Claytons Holiday!

Well ... Somehow the week has just about slipped by me again ... That seems to keep happening! It feels like life is a bit of a marry-go-round at the moment that just keeps going around & around, with a few ups & downs thrown in to keep us unbalanced. And to make it worse, my Beloved Geek Boy & I had originally planned to be on holiday now, but both of our grown up jobs going through some changes has put that on hold. SIGH! So what do you do when you wake up on a Saturday morning that SHOULD be the first day of your holiday ... But isn't? Why ... You go on a mini road trip, of course, kind of a Claytons holiday ... The holiday you have when you're not having a holiday. :0)

We put on our walking shoes, filled the water bottles, jumped in the Triton & off we went ... Heading east. There's something quite soothing about going for a long drive through pretty scenery when you don't have a timetable to keep to, don't you think? After winding our way down the 'hill' ... We climbed another 'hill' & found ourselves at Montville just in time for a late lunch ...

MMMMMMMMMM! TASTY! And the fresh seafood pasta was yummy too! Tee! Hee! Hee! And the bonus was ...

... This view!

Magical, isn't it?! :0) After our delicious lunch, we decided we needed a good walk ...

... Along the beach at Mooloolaba. It really was a glorious Autumn day. Look at the colour of the sky & the water ... Beach magic. :0) We enjoyed walking right out to the end of the walkway ...

... And enjoyed a different perspective of the beach. We had a bit of a funny moment while resting at the end of the rock wall ... It's a bit hard to see in the photo, but we could see a flotilla of canoes pulled up on the sand & as we stood there, loud tribal drumming came pounding out over the water. GB looked at me & said ... "Uh! Oh! Canoes, wild tribal drums ... This scenario never ends well for bystanders in the movies!" Tee! Hee! Hee! However, we took our chances & retraced our steps ... Discovering some Hawain dancers entertaining participants of some kind of regatta. We kept heading back to our starting point ... A round trip of about 9km ... My Fitbit was VERY happy with me! :0) And to reward ourselves, we visited our favourite gelato spot we discovered when we were on holiday last year ...

... & ate it as we watched the sun go down & the waves washed in. We literally felt ourselves relaxing. BLISS!

Aren't those colours magnificent? Sadly we had to climb back into the Triton & head home again, but it was lovely Claytons holiday.

Then Sunday brought a couple more Claytons holiday highlights. We started the day with an early visit to the annual Hampton Food Festival.

Being early meant crowds were manageable ... A plus for GB who's not a crowd fan. :0)

I had to get a snap of this cute retro caravan coffee stall. I LOOOOOOVE that aqua colour!

We checked out the art display, where one of my clever workmates had a piece on display, stocked up on some of our fave local produce, before toddling off to meet Mum & Dad at church. After the service we trundled down the hill again for a deferred Mothers' Day lunch outing at the Nash Gallery Cafe ... I can recommend it. :0)

GB admired a vintage Rolls on our way in.

Here's Mum & me about to dig into a DELICIOUS piece of barramundi with fresh salad. Followed by ...

... White chocolate & raspberry cheesecake ... YUMMO!

So ... That was the weekend we had instead of having the first weekend of our holiday. Ah well ... It will come around, we just need to wait a few more months until both of our work situations settle ... The countdown begins again. SIGH!

So ... What have you been up to? I hope you've been finding opportunities to stop, breath & appreciate the scenery. I'll be back with some sewing catch ups soon ... I promise. :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Wait! What Day Is It?!

Well ... DAGNABBIT! Someone has been stealing my days again! I'm not at all sure how it came to be Wednesday evening already! Next thing you know, someone will be helpfully telling me how many weeks/days until Christmas ... In fact ... My own beloved Mother did that to me today! EEK! It's just as well I love her so much or I'd have had to gag her with tinsel! :0)

With my week doing its disappearing trick (David Copperfield eat your heart out!) I haven't managed to do much sewing, but I DID find time to catch up with Mum on Sunday for Mothers' Day. 

There was a gale force wind blowing so we both look a wee bit ruffled, but I like this photo. And as per Mum's request, her Mother's Day giftie was ...

... A dwarf lemon tree in a cool replica wine barrel pot. We gave GB's Mum a passion fruit vine in the same type of pot. Both Mum's loved them ... So I think we're back in the will this week! Tee! Hee! Hee! Family joke. :0P To go along with the lemon tree, I baked an afternoon tea treat ...

... White chocolate & raspberry cake with raspberry sauce. If I do say so myself, it was pretty darn YUMMY!! :0) It's usually Mum who takes the time to make people feel special & loved, with a home cooked meal delivered on a birthday or when someone is unwell, with a card or a bunch of flowers to mark a special day ... So it was nice to give her the treat this time. If I turn out to be half the woman my gorgeous Mum is, I reckon I'll be doing pretty well. Love ya heaps, Ma! 

Right ... That's it from me for now. I hope you're all having a great week so far ... The weekend is in sight ... I might actually catch up a bit! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

EEP! Winter Has Arrived!!

Here it is, almost midday as I write this, & the temperature is just 14 degrees Celsius, with 45km/hr winds giving a "feels like" temperature of 12 degrees! BRRRRRR! We went from 14-24 degree days to THIS! SIGH! I think the weather is finally catching up with the calendar & this weekend will see our fire lit for the first time of the year ... DARN IT! You all KNOW how I dislike cold weather!!

So ... When winter shows up overnight & it's your day off, what's a girl to do? Why make a cup of tea, of course! Tee! Hee! Hee! And sprinkle some lemon essential oil in the diffuser ...

... And have a little play with someone else's pattern ...

Looking at my supplies, can you guess what I might be making?? It's a birthday giftie for a nephew with a wonderful imagination. :0) Stay tuned!

And it's also time to tell you who the lucky OPAM prize draw winners were for April. Thanks to everyone who emailed their finishes through & updated their sidebar lists on their blogs ... It makes the collection task much easier for me & my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg. The winners of the stitchery pattern for April were ...

KAREN

&

SUNNY

Congrats gals! Email me & I'll send you the PDF pattern for you to get stitching. Have any of this year's winners started stitching their version of the prize stitchery yet? I'd love to see pics if you have.

But right now I'm off to huddle under my blankie & finish my tea before I go back to creating ... Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Finally! A Finish!!

Happy Friday to all of you out there in blogland! I hope you've had a wonderful week. Mine has been a bit topsy-turvy at my grown up job, which is a bit unsettling, but on the plus side, I FINALLY had some uninterrupted sewing time & have a FINISH to add to my sidebar tally ... YAY! :0)

My designing mojo had been taking a break for the last few months, but last weekend I found myself back with pencil in hand, fabric all around me ... & STILL had to make a trip to the Quilters Angel for some supplies! :0) Remember this photo I shared ...

Well ... There was major progress, some head-scratching as I worked out how to get the look I was imagining & ...

...I'd like to introduce you to Holly Bear, one of Santa's BEARY special helpers! :0) I am SOOOOOOOOO happy with how she has turned out! While she took a slightly different turn during the designing process to what I had originally imagined, I think she is now my favourite design ... Though I say that with EVERY new design, don't I?! Tee! Hee! Hee! 

Her face has turned out to be so sweet & the holly leaf collar just finished off the dress nicely.

And I LOVE how her elf shoes turned out! I think I want a pair for myself! :0) I'm also really happy with her striped legs ... Don't you think they make it look like she's wearing stripy tights under her pretty lace-edged bloomers to keep warm? And a sprig of holly hikes up the hem of her dress just a little to give a glimpse of her pretty bloomers. :0)

Of course, now comes the not-so-fun part of writing instructions ... BLECH! But with a long weekend here in Queensland, I'll be making a start on that chore. If you think you'd like to make your very own Holly Bear to help Santa at your place this Christmas, stay tuned for the pattern being ready. :0)

Right now, however, I need to do a couple of grown up chores before I gather up all my BRAVE to head off to a dentist appointment. EEK! Did I mention I'm kind of phobic about dentists?!! At least I'll have a three day weekend to recover. :0P Whatever you're up to this weekend, I hope you manage to squeeze in some time to relax & create. To quote a well known skincare range slogan ... You're worth it! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS