Friend Plus Road Trip Equals FUN!!

Aaahhh ... Friday! How I look forward to you ... Especially when you include a fun road trip with a friend! :0) 

Yesterday started a little earlier than my ideal Friday, but it was well worth it. The Fabulous Fiona & I hit the road to Warwick, an hour away, to enjoy some of the festivities that are part of the annual Jumpers & Jazz Festival. And what a fun day we had. :0) You might like to grab a cuppa cos I've got a photo or two ... Or TWENTY to share! :0P

We started our day with a visit to Glenrose Patchwork to visit the fabric. No pictures ... To protect the not-so-innocent! Tee! Hee! Hee! And then, of course, we needed to restore our energy, so we had a coffee stop ...

Scones for Fiona & banana bread for me ... YUMMO! Thus fortified, we ventured forth to walk along the main street & admire the 'yarn bombing' displays ...

The sun was in the wrong spot to get the mermaid tail in the photo properly, but aren't the colours pretty. (Notice my beautiful assistant showing it off. :0)

It's Postman Ted & the cheeriest mailbox you've ever seen. :0)

Even the statuary got in on the woolly act. :0)

A little sit-down to rest our feet. This display included red roses of different shades & sizes representing the song "65 Roses" which is about cystic fibrosis.

Hmmm ... Pretty cake, but leaves your mouth a bit furry! :0P

This was the winner of the competition ... Knitted Christmas in July. The names of the display's creators are on Santa's "Nice" list. All of the gifties are knitted & the tree leaves were individually created. Lots of work & a well deserved win.

This display was outside the local gallery ... Pineapples & flaming mangoes. :0)

You've heard of the Pope-mobile? Well this is the wool-mobile. :0) The seat certainly wouldn't have been cold in winter.

This whole scene was knitted ... Including individual leaves & the grass was hundreds of pom-poms.

Afternoon tea, anyone?

The gallery featured a textile art display...

The expanding galaxy was the theme.

We'd worked up quite an appetite with all our walking, so we rested our feet over a yummy lunch ... That I was too busy eating to photograph. :0P Then there was time to check out some more yarn bombing displays ...

This rural scene went all the way round the pole but these people were completely oblivious to the two people pointing cameras at it & wouldn't move out of the way. SIGH!

This Noah's ark display was done by the animal rescue group & was very cute. Last stop for the day was a spinners & weavers display ...

And this colourful character greeted us. Then it was time to climb back into the car & head for home. Thank you so much for a FANTASTIC day Fabulous Fiona  We'll have to go on some more adventures ... I think I just heard two husbands go, "UH OH!" Tee! Hee! Hee!

May your weekend be full of adventures ... & your OPAM list updated! ;0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Therapy For A Tired Brain!

Here we are again, another week has whizzed by in the blink of an eye. The only comfort in that is that winter should soon be over & my favoured warm weather back to cheer me up ... Though looking at the current temperature here (10 degrees & dropping fast!) I'm not holding my breath. 

Life continues to be crazy busy here in the Meares' Madhouse for my Beloved Geek Boy & me ... Both of us are putting in extra hours at our grown up jobs due to being short-staffed. There's not a lot of quiet uninterrupted time at home & we're both starting to feel it a bit ... I think my brains might have leaked out of my ears! :0P 

So it was the perfect therapy for me last weekend to spend time with my crazy Friday Night Sit N Stitch buddies at a mini retreat ...

Wendy's crochet rug was so cheerful ... Just don't ask her what she was doing with the white wool! :0P And Julie was taking a rest from messing up Fiona's workspace to stitch down the binding on a Christmas wall hanging. (See Fiona's blog for the story about Julie & the messy workspace! :0) )

And here's Chriss, Gail & Sue hard at work with the Hostess-With-The-Mostest Miss Marion checking out their progress. Now, like all of our retreats organised by the Marvellous Marion, we enjoyed delicious food, but Saturday night dinner was a bit special ...

... The table was set, bunting was hung and ...

... Yummy food was consumed with bubbles ... CHEERS! And why were we enjoying bubbles & a special meal?

To celebrate Miss Kerrie's birthday ... A little early, but why quibble about a few days when you can celebrate with friends? :0) The day was wonderful, soothing therapy for my poor overloaded brain ... Though a week or two of uninterrupted time at home would be good too! :0P Thank you Miss Marion for organising yet another fantastic sewing weekend.

And this weekend ... Is catch up weekend. Errands to run, chores to catch up on & pattern instructions to be edited ... That's tomorrow's job. What are you up to this weekend? I hope it includes some fun stuff for you. :0) Now I'm off to hunt up some dinner. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Some Makeover Magic!!

Greetings to all you gorgeous, groovy gals out there in blogland. I hope you've had a fantastic week. It's been another super busy one for me with my grown up job & it included me heading into work on my 'day off', but I'm feeling pretty good at the end of it ... & that's a great thing to be able to say, don't you think? :0)

I know I've been excusing my lack of creativity & absence from blogland by blaming my grown up job a lot, but it's been a bit of a bumpy ride there over the last few months. You see, my boss went off on stress leave rather abruptly & unplanned, which went on for over two months, being extended fortnightly, which left things unsettled & up in the air for the three of us staff members left to keep things running smoothly. He then put in his resignation & collected his personal belongings from our shared office ... A donger (container) that was originally intended to be a temporary office ... About 20 years ago! :0P As it was temporary, the furniture was all odd bits & pieces & one & a half walls were lined with bookcases full of my boss's reference books. It was rather cluttered! So it was a shock to see it when much of the furniture was collected ...

... The walls were grey, the floor was dingy grey, badly marked in places & a few carpet off cuts were plonked in the middle & it had glaring fluro lights. Well ... My head office manager decided it was a good opportunity to give me a nicer working environment & although it's had to happen gradually in between work for the maintenance guys over the last month, it's finally finished ... YAY! I've felt like I've been working in a construction zone for so long it's a relief to come to the end. Drumroll ...

... The same space today. Bit of difference, right?! :0) The fluros have been replaced with softer round LEDs, ceiling painted white, walls painted a fresh green called "Frisky", lovely wood-look flooring put down, new MATCHING, less bulky furniture ... & a couple of plants. And up the other end of the office is MY work space ...

A bit more "stuff" but that's because the Manager's end is unoccupied at present & mine is being used. It's so much lighter, brighter & more welcoming, which is exactly what you want for the man office of a retirement village. :0) I'm keeping an eye out for some nice black frames to hang some forest prints of some sort & tossing up whether or not the windows need a cafe curtain type frill to soften them a bit, but it's a HUGE improvement & all achieved on a shoestring budget. :0) I'm hoping the less cluttered space helps my head be less cluttered ... But maybe we can't expect miracles! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So that's what has been keeping me busy & away from my sewing, but I'm off to a mini sewing retreat tomorrow with my wild & crazy Friday Night Sit N Sew tribe, so there MIGHT be some sewing done ... Amidst the chatting, cuppas, giggling & yummy food! :0) I hope your weekend is full of wonderful things & time spent with your special people. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Winter Birthday Celebrations & OPAM Winners!

Greetings to you all from the top of our frozen 'hill' today. After a couple of weeks of moderate weather, winter came swooping back in like a vengeful Valkyrie overnight. This was what my weather ap told me this morning when I first poked my nose out from under the doona ...

Can I tell you, after a quick trip to the loo, I dived straight back into my warm bed-burrow cos it definitely felt like -0.4 degrees!! EEP!!

When we eventually crawled out of bed, my Beloved Geek Boy reminded me why he's my hero ... He ventured out into the gale force winds to get wood to light the fire. What a man! :0) Which was just as well because we were hosting a winter birthday lunch today for ...

... This handsome fella! :0) Can't half tell we're related, can you?! :0P This is actually a pic taken when we celebrated his 70th last year ... Which we also hosted ... I think it's our 10 seater table that gets us elected! Tee! Hee! Hee! Today's lunch was a small family affair with GB & yours truly, Mum & Dad & Dad's cousin & his lovely wife ...

We had a yummy winter hotpot lunch with several dessert options ... Which we all had a taste of everything ... Guess there are some family traits showing there! Tee! Hee! Hee! It was a wonderful time of chatting & catching up. Happy Birthday for another year, Pa! Hope you enjoy your bag of goodies! :0) He's pretty easy to please, my Dad ... A packet of cashews, a packet of macadamia nuts & a packet of chocolate coated honeycomb & he's in birthday heaven. :0)

And while I was in giftie-giving mode ... I've done the June OPAM prize draw. Thanks to everyone who sent their monthly tally through ... June was obviously a busy creative time, with 151 finishes ... Our biggest monthly tally this year! Well done everyone! And even if you didn't get to add to that total, but made some good progress on some long term projects, give yourself a pat on the back for staying motivated. :0) Random draw winners of the stitchery this month are ...

MADDY C

&

DEANA

Congrats, gals! Drop me an email & I'll send you a PDF copy of the prize stitchery.

Well ... That's about it from me today. I hope you're all having a restful weekend & that the coming week treats you kindly. I get the nasty feeling I'll be spending the next few days expecting to see penguins & polar bears playing outside my window. :0P You know how much I hate being cold! BRRRRR! I think I'd better go warm up with a cup of tea ... You're probably not surprised, right?! :0) Til next time ...

BRRRRRRRR! BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS,

KRIS

Checking In & OPAM Reminder!

Greetings to all you gorgeous creatures out there in blogland from the top of our grey & gloomy 'hill' this stay-in-bed Sunday! It's a rare & valued quiet day at home for us today with me catching up on my grown up house chores & my Beloved Geek Boy snuffling & coughing his way through a nasty head cold ... It's not my fault! His lurgy has lots of different symptoms to mine so I refuse to accept responsibility. :0)

Once again it's been a crazy busy week here at the Meares' Madhouse. I've done a lot of extra time at my grown up job, GB has worked some big days & we spent yesterday doing a first aid course. It's one of those things we've both talked about doing but kept putting off, but we now have pretty certificates to say we're able to help in emergency situations. I'm hoping it's a bit like insurance ... If you HAVE it, you probably won't NEED it. I'll just keep hanging out with all my nurse friends so they can take the lead in an emergency ... The patient would probably prefer that too! :0)

So ... Once again there hasn't been a lot of sewing happening, though I HAVE spent a bit of time working on instructions for Holly Bear & finished a belated birthday giftie for one of our nephews ...

It's a rainbow unicorn! He's made from a Melly & Me pattern from some fabric my sister-in-law sent me that was an off cut from a baby wrap she purchased from Wrapture Australia. The fabric was a bit heavier than quilting fabric, which gave me a few challenges, but I think he looks pretty handsome.

I need to get him in the mail now ... Once I work out how to wrap a unicorn. :0)

So ... My finish tally for June actually has something on it. :0) And speaking of finishes ... All of you lovely OPAMers, it's time to update your sidebar lists & email your finish tally to me or my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg. Thanks to those who have already done so ... Sweet Peg & I will be doing our blog hopping in the next couple of days, so get cracking. :0)

Right now , though, I think it's time for a nice cup of tea in front of the fire before I convince myself to get back to instruction writing ... SIGH! I hope you're enjoying a relaxing Sunday whatever you're up to & that you have a fabulous week. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS