Play Date Weekend!

Hello all you lovely creatures out there in blogland! How are you this muddly Monday? To be fair ... MOST of my days are a bit muddly ... Not just Monday! :0P Although ... This Monday is at least a bit warmer here on our 'hill'. Spring may just be getting ready to shake out her skirts to start dancing. Fingers crossed! :0)

In fact ... The weather over the weekend was very nice indeed, especially after we were nearly blown off the top of our 'hill' earlier in the week. And that was fortuitous since I had a weekend sleep-over play date with my Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette ... WOO! HOO! And even better than a play date was ... A ROAD TRIP! :0) Lynette drove up the 'hill' Thursday afternoon so we could get an early start on Friday when we headed off to Montville.

After a two hour drive, we refuelled with ...

... Scones & coffee. YUMMO! Then we were off to explore the fun specialty & boutique shops that Monville is best known for ... Though we were a bit sad to see that some favourites were no longer around. High business rent & people having less play money have had an impact. SIGH! Still ... We managed to find a FEW goodies that HAD to come home with us. :0) And all that shopping ... & hiking up the VERY steep Main Street of Montville! ... Helped us work up an appetite ...

Lynette says she's sure all my blogging buddies think that she spends all our play dates eating! Tee! Hee! Hee! Do you like her swish scarf? It followed her home from one of our shop-stops. :0)

We both enjoyed the DEEEEEEELICIOUS Mediterranean Lamb Salad. Baby spinach, roasted pumpkin, sun dried tomatoes, red onion, crumbled fetta & slow cooked lamb ... We can definitely recommend it. :0) Then there was some more shopping & perhaps a gelato, before we hit the road again to head home for adult beverages in front of the fire ... NICE! :0)

Saturday morning we were joined by Lynette's Sweetie for a 'double date' outing ... A look at a collectible car & motorcycle show before lunch at Bunnyconnellon winery. No photos but ... YUMMO!! We all waddled away from the table full & happy. If you're visiting my 'backyard' (Crows Nest/Highfields/Toowoomba area) you really should make time to visit Bunnyconnellon ... Wine, olives, lunches, a gorgeous farm store with lots of interesting gifties to buy & all in a peaceful farm setting ... What's not to love?! :0) We all then agreed that naps in lounge chairs were the best way to spend the remainder of the afternoon, before adult beverages with cheese & bikkies on the back deck around the fire pit. A nice way to wrap up a play date day. :0)

While we were on the deck, we heard a peculiar sound ... A kind of grunting roar. What kind of fearsome creature could be making these noises in our backyard???

Can you see the awesome creature?

What about now? It's a bit blurry, but ... It's our resident koala, who we've nick-named Keith, after the koala in a favourite 90's kids show, "The Ferals". He is only young & was relocated to our area last year so we often hear him trying to catch the attention of lady koalas. :0) If you've never heard a koala before check this out. You'll wonder how that noise comes from something so cute & furry. :0P

So ... A fun sleep over play date for the weekend. What a shame I had to be a grown up & go to work today. :0) But ... I'm hoping to squeeze out some time this week to keep working on my BOM design-in-progress, as well as write instructions for the second of my Secret Squirrel projects & bind a special quilt ... Hmmm ... I don't think my week is going to be long enough. :0)

What did YOU get up to over the weekend? I hope there was some fun stuff. :0) 

OPAMers ... The end of the month is nearly here again ... Don't forget to update your sidebar lists & email me your tally. But right now, it's time for me to go find something for dinner. Enjoy your week! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Fri-Yay!!

YAY! It's Friday & I'm home all day! :0) That means slouching around in my comfy-est daggy houseclothes, some lovely quiet, some instruction writing (BLECH!!) & some stitching on ... You guessed it! Another Secret Squirrel project! :0P I know ... I'm such a tease! :0) Wanna see a sneaky-peeky?? Of the project ... NOT me in my comfy daggy houseclothes cos that would be scary!! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Isn't that a pretty Cottage Garden thread?! It's "Granny Bonnet". This project is still evolving. Sometimes when I start designing a project I can picture exactly how it will look finished & how to achieve that look ... But others start with a stitchery & kind of evolve & grow. That's how this project is unfolding. Stay tuned ... & so will I! :0P

Whatever you're doing this Friday & weekend I hope you find some time to do what makes you smile. :0D Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Big Birthday Bash & OPAM

Hello everyone out there in blogland! I hope you're all well & having a good week so far. Life in the Meares' Madhouse has been a little madder than usual over the past week, so I'm running late with the July OPAM random draw ... But I promise I have a really good excuse. :0)

You see ... This past weekend saw a certain someone celebrate a milestone, 'zero' birthday. I'll give you a hint ...

This blue eyed cutie has been gracing the planet with his presence for 50 years! So of COURSE there was a party! :0) My Friday off from my grown up job became a cooking day rather than a sewing day, but it was worth the lack of sewing, sore feet from standing in the kitchen & worrying whether there would be enough food (between my sister-in-law & I we could have fed several infantry battalions! Tee! Hee! Hee!) when my Beloved Geek Boy had a blast with the important people in his life ... As well as some new 'friends', because he shared the celebrations with his brother-in-law who hits his milestone next week. Wanna see some pics? :0)

Here's the birthday boy with some of his work friends.

And here he is with his good mate Terry ... GB helped Terry celebrate earlier in the year ... Don't you love it when you hit one of those runs in life? Everyone you know is turning 21, then getting married, having children ... Turning 50! :0) You end up partying way more than usual for a year. Tee! Hee! Hee!

GB's cousin Dean & wife Wendy came up from Brisbane & his younger sister Kylie & BILNat joined the fun.

Terry's wife Cathy, the soon-to-be-mother-in-law of one of our nephews, Rachel, GB's older sister Tonia & my Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette helped us celebrate. (In one of life's weird twists, Lynette's hubby shares GB's birthday ... But is ahead of him a few years!)

Justin & Lynda (Lynda & I met at belly dancing classes) & Lynette's sweetie & fellow birthday boy, Noel.

The co-celebrant & BIL Martin & his band Undercover provided some live party music ...

... As did one of our talented nephews, Harrison. (Not the soon-to-be-married nephew. :0) )

And of course I was there to help celebrate my Sweetie's milestone. I don't think he's changed much since that top photo. Do you?! :0) There were quite a few more people who helped us celebrate, but managed to avoid having their pic taken. :0) And on Sunday we celebrated a bit more on the actual birthday so both GB & Lynette's Sweetie got to enjoy their birthday ...

A DEEEEEELICIOUS breakfast at a little restaurant just five minutes from us, called Emeraude, that uses locally sourced produce wherever possible. Lynette & I have a little giggle when our sweeties are together ... Not only do they share a birthday, but we think they're looking more & more alike as they get older. What do you think? :0)

So ... That's my late-note. :0) But now to OPAM ... July was our most productive month this year ... & with two Secret Squirrel projects finished I can include myself in the tally this time ... WOO! HOO! There were ...

165 FINISHES!

WOW! Not bad! Well done to everyone who added to that tally & good work, too, to those who didn't have finishes but made some progress on longer term projects. We need to remind ourselves to enjoy the doing as well as the having of the finished projects. And the winner of the random draw is ...

RAEWYN!

Congrats Raewyn! Drop me an email & I'll send you a copy of the prize PDF pattern to enjoy playing with.

WHEW! Well that's it from me today ... I hope you enjoyed the catchup. I'm hoping to have some sewing time this coming weekend, as it will be our last free weekend until the end of September! Yes ... This is a busy time of year for us. :0) Have a fantastic week & don't forget to take some time out to be creative. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Friday Freedom!

It's Friday ... YAY!! I know most of us get that TGIF feeling most weeks (unless it's the end of a holiday week!!) but maybe I feel it more than some because my grown up job happens Monday to Thursday, so Friday is my day off. Now you'd think that with a permanent three-day weekend I'd get way more designing & sewing done than I do, but I find that many Fridays get eaten up in errand running ... Another aspect of the grown up gig. :0P But on rare & wonderful occasions I have the WHOLE FRIDAY FREE to sleep in (until the neighbours start some DIY project that requires a lot of noise!), have a leisurely breakfast & coffee ... Then dive into the creative pool. Today is one of THOSE Friday's! :0D

So I've been sketching & editing, tracing & prepping, colouring & choosing threads ... & I can't show you what I'm doing! Yep ... More Secret Squirrel projects! In fact, I seem to have a whole SCURRY of Secret Squirrels in my creative space at the moment! :0) Did you know a group of squirrels is called a scurry? How cool is that?! And yes ... I had to google it! Tee! Hee! Hee! I know I'm a dreadful tease with my creative pursuits at the moment, but to make up for it, I'll give you a sneaky-peeky ...

Are you intrigued?? :0) Stay tuned ... All will be revealed next month ... I promise! And I have to say, I'm chuffed with how this project turned out. :0)

In the meantime, all of you creative clever clogs OPAMers ... It's time to update your sidebar lists & email me your July tallies. And I was excited to be able to add TWO projects to MY tally for July ... But they're in that Secret Squirrel Scurry. :0) 

And having now teased, tantalised & reminded (couldn't think of a "t" word for reminded!) I'm off to hunt & gather some lunch & a cuppa before I settle down for the afternoon with needle, thread & a fave movie. Hmmm ... Am I in the mood for an Indiana Jones adventure? Or maybe a disaster movie? Maybe an undead mummy will be brought back from the grave? Or maybe I'll ride with King Arthur & his knights ... Decisions, decisions! ;0) Til next time ...

SQUIRREL HUGS!! :0)

CHEERS,

KRIS