How I Spent My Easter!

Here I am! It's been almost a week since I posted and what a difference a week can make! After being unwell for a week, busy with party preparations for a week, having visitors and getting over the party ... we at the Meares' Madhouse were REALLY looking forward to the four-day Easter weekend. Not because we had something special planned or were going somewhere ... in fact ... quite the OPPOSITE! As Toni said ... we hauled in the drawbridge, set loose the dragons to guard the moat ... and pretended we weren't at home! Four whole days with nowhere to go, no commitments to keep, no alarm to wake us up in the morning ... AAAAAHHH!!! BLISS!!! :0)

Now, don't get me wrong ... the four days of BLISS also equated to a very productive weekend around here! This is how my Beloved Geek Boy spent HIS long weekend ...

He and his laptop were like Siamese twins for the four days as he put in some quality time programming some software. (Yes ... he really IS a GEEK, but he's so darn CUTE that I keep him! Not to mention he's REALLY handy to have around when the computer chucks a fit! Tee! Hee! Hee!) And since he spent some time on the front verandah, I can't say he didn't go 'outside'. :0)

And how did I spend MY four days of blissful homebody-ness?!?! In between trips to the laundry and clothes line to catch up on the Mount Everest of dirty washing in the bathroom (SIX loads!! EEK!) I played in my sewing room - YAY! I finished off a Secret Squirrel project ... can't show you that but I WILL tease you with a sneaky peek ...

Hmmmm ... what's this mischievous little teddy up to do you suppose?? And WHY does he have some MISTLETOE on the end of a stick??? You'll have to wait a while to find out, but I promise to share as soon as I can! :0) I also did a bit more of this ...

More mini-blocks for block 2 of my "Butterfly Garden" by Leanne Beasley - almost ready to put the nine mini blocks together to form block 2, will let you know when it's done. In between washing and stitching, I also treated myself to ...

... Lavender Tea, courtesy of Rebecca at Sweet Memories Lavender Farm. You all know I'm a BIG fan of lavender tea and it's rather hard to get, so a while ago when I saw Peg's post on trying some of Rebecca's Lavender Biscuits ... I decided to contact her to see if she also had Lavender Tea in her list of products. Serendipitously (how's THAT for a triple-word score! Tee! Hee! Hee!) Rebecca was just in the midst of putting together some packages of lavender tea to add to her on-line shop and generously sent me a sachet to try out. Do you see that cute card in the photo? Well, inside you'll find ...

... a sealed packet of lavender tea for your teapot (I use my cute little single serve pot with the built-in strainer - perfect!), along with instructions on how to brew it up. How CUTE is this packaging!! And a great idea to give someone as a gift - maybe pop the card in with a pretty cup or just by itself to let someone know you're thinking of them. Rebecca told me she will also be selling the lavender tea in larger packets once she works out packaging etc, and since it was a wonderfully refreshing brew, you get bet your bippy that orders will be sent off from the Meares' Madhouse to Sweet Memories Lavender Farm fairly often! :0) If you haven't tried lavender tea, I'd certainly recommend it. The lavender in Rebecca's mix is just the right balance - you can enjoy the flavour of a high quality black leaf tea with the soothing, refreshing overtones of lavender. It's not at all overpowering and perfect to enjoy during some 'feet-up' time with your favourite craft mag ... and perhaps a white Tim Tam! Tee! Hee! Hee! Rebecca has lots of great lavender products in her on-line store, so pop across and say G'day to check it out.

Now, I also spent some time during my home-iday (that's the holiday you take at home!) working on a project that I really didn't count on tackling this year ... but I got talked into it! OK ... so perhaps Peg and Chookyblue didn't have to twist my arm TOO much to get me to join in, as it is a project I'd been 'meaning-to-do' for a few years now. Let me explain ...

You see, Peg, Chookyblue and their friend Dale spent a weekend stitching with clever Aussie designer Anni Downs recently ... which reminded them that they ALL had Anni's book "A Gardener's Journal" tucked away in their sewing cupboards gathering dust ... but none of them had made much of a dent in this project. So ... they challenged each other to tackle it as a stitch-a-long project, aiming to all complete a specified block each month over the next year so they would all get it finished. Now, once they mentioned what they were up to, a LOT more of us decided that we too were hoarding this lovely book without actually doing much with it ... and so,

 "A Gardener's Journal" Stitch-A-Long was born! There are over 40 of us joining in the fun now and Chookyblue has set up a separate blog so we can all share our progress. At the start of each month (starting in April) a block of the quilt will be chosen to tackle and everyone can encourage each other and be spurred on by each other's progress. After signing up, I DID do a little bit of a panic wondering HOW on earth I was going to fit another project into the already packed stitching list, but I decided it would be a good way to ensure I do a bit of stitching for ME each month, so, rocks in my head or not ... I'M IN! :0) If you'd like to see what the other people with rocks in their head who have joined are up to, pop across to the Stitch-A-Long blog for a peek. This is the progress on my first stitchery so far ...

This stitchery is "Birdbath" ... oddly enough! :0) The other stitchery for this month's block, which will also have some patchwork/piecing to bring it all together, is "Watering The Garden" and I traced it off over the weekend so I can go straight onto it once I'm finished giving the birdies a bath. :0) If you'd like to join the madness fun of being part of the Gardeners Journal Stitch-A-Long, pop over to the original post on the blog to read all about it.

Right now, though, I think I'm off to have another cup of Rebecca's lovely Lavender Tea. I hope your Easter was as relaxing and refreshing as ours ... whether you went away or stayed home for a 'home-iday' too! :0) Oh ... If you haven't already caught up, Peg has posted the March end-of-month winners for OPAM, so hop across to check out the lucky-duckies. Thanks Peg! :0) I really do hear the kettle calling, so, til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Party Pics & Presents!

As promised, I'm back with a few more photos of my medieval birthday party last weekend - courtesy of the Lovely Lilly Linda, candle-photographer-extraordinaire! :0) You should pop over to Linda's blog for a peek at her last two posts - lots of fun in HER version of the party events! :0) And since she's been mentioned ...

Here's one of Lilly Linda's photos of the two of us in our medieval finery! Don't you just love that gorgeous red dress!!! And here is a pic of the two party gals ...

This photo of Lynda and I was taken early in the night ... and this one ...

... was taken LATER in the night when we were tripping the light fantastic to the medieval sounds of ... ABBA! Tee! Hee! Hee! Both of us were ABBA girls from way back, so it seemed appropriate! :0) And we weren't the only ones ...

Don't know if you can see very clearly, but the fair maiden on the left is my bestest-buddy-since-we-were-nine Lynette and the two cuties either side of her are her daughters Emma (back) and Erin (closest on left with the gorgeous strawberry blond hair!). In the middle of the dance floor are my (appropriately named!) dancing buddies, Deb and Lynda and to the right are some of the members of the vocal ensemble, After Five, that I'm a member of. We all sure did have a whale of a time - thanks to everyone for helping me celebrate my milestone birthday in medieval style! :0)

Now ... I also promised to show you some of the wonderful gifties that I was lucky enough to have bestowed upon me. I won't show all of them ... cos you'd all get jealous! Tee! Hee! Hee! And if I posted them all, we'd be here for AGES!! So I have just picked a few to share with you. The first is the giftie given to me by my Beloved Geek Boy ...

It's a little hard to see, cos it was quite hard to photograph! It is a GORGEOUS silver bracelet that features one of my favourite Celtic knot designs. Isn't it pretty!! I think I've worn it everywhere since GB gave it to me! :0) And a combined present from my Mum and Dad and my brother Paul and his wife Ella, was ...

A FABULOUS original watercolour painting by a very talented artist from my home town of Mundubbera, Sue Ledderhose. My friends and family know that I just LOVE old houses, especially the iconic Queenslanders and this one is even more special cos I used to drive past it every day for the two years that Lynette and I caught the bus from Mundubbera to the next town of Gayndah to complete year 11 and 12. It is now looking rather fabulous in our lounge room. My almost-sister Tiff also spoilt me ... with a voucher from my Home-away-from-home ... Quilters Angel!! Oooooohhhh, boy!! Am I going to have LOTS of fun spending THAT birthday giftie!! :0)

Now, while she was partying the night away with me, the Lovely Lilly Linda presented me with a brightly coloured package and told me very firmly, "Don't Drop It!!"

Isn't that some of the most CHEERFUL wrapping paper you've ever seen - I thought Linda and caught me a rainbow for my birthday! :0) And look at the pretty vintage slipper card!! Inside the rainbow I found ...

... ANOTHER rainbow ... of sorts! This GORGEOUS Celtic knot light catcher caught my eye when I visited the local markets near Linda's place, but I'd already spent all my play money, so had to admire it and leave it. It seems Linda was lovely and sneaky and went back to get it specially for my birthday! What a sweetie! Now it's sending rainbows through the kitchen and lounge room as it catches the light. Thank you Linda!!

Another spectacularly wrapped giftie arrived in the mail the day before my party, too, from another of my gorgeous blogging buddies, Kerryanne from Shabby Art Boutique. When I opened the post box, I found ...

... a parcel wrapped in the instruction sheet from an old dressmaking pattern (the best use I've ever seen for instruction sheets since I can never follow the blasted things!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) And just look at that custom-made card!! Kerryanne has used a black and white photo of baby-me and tied it all up with a tape measure! How clever is she!! Then, I unwrapped it all and found ...

... a sewing treasures box! How pretty is this box! Did you see the writing on it ... "BEAR Necessities"! Tee! Hee! Hee! And on the inside ...

... groovy vintage sewing labels and a couple of blinged-up matchboxes to store little treasures in. Thank you Kerryanne!! I love it! And it will be such a handy storage spot for some of my smaller sewing treasures.

See!!! I TOLD you I was spoilt for my birthday!! :0) I also received some bottles of adult beverages, some very pretty necklaces, a gorgeous silver and turquoise pendant, a book voucher and all sorts of other goodies. Yep ... all in all, I think it's been worth hitting the big "4" "0"! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Of course, it may take me a little longer to recover from all the activity surrounding this momentous birthday - it seems to have been somewhat exhausting! :0) So you can guess that there hasn't been much creating going on here - well, some hand stitching, but no finishes to share ... OR add to my OPAM finishes list! I'll have to do better next month, won't I! OPAM gals, don't forget that today's the day to update your sidebar list of finishes and email Peg or I with the number of projects you've finished for March. The fabulous and tireless Peg is in charge of this month's prize draw, so make sure you stay tuned to her blog in the next few days to see if you're a lucky winner.

Right now, though, I think I'm off to make myself a nice cup of lavender tea to sip while flicking through the latest issue of "Handmade" magazine ... there are LOTS of blogging designers featured in this issue ... including yours truly! But I'll be back to show you that soon. Til next time,

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

All Partied Out!!

PHEW!! The last week and a bit has been super hectic at the Meares' Madhouse! There was a parental visit, frantic party preparations, a fabulous party and then the clean up!! All in all, I think it will take me a week or so to catch up on some sleep and let my poor weary feet recover ... hmmm ... maybe there's something to all the comments about me being 'old' now that I've turned 40?!?! :0)

I mentioned in my last post that my dancing buddy Lynda and I were sharing a Medieval themed party to celebrate us both turning 40 within a fortnight of each other and this last Saturday was PARTY DAY! I won't tell you about the week leading up to it, cos you'd be here for ages reading the list of errands, tasks and preparations that went on!! Lets just say it was BUSY!!! So, after lunch on Saturday, the co-birthday girl, her beloved and my Beloved Geek Boy ... and GB's brother Benny ...headed to the hired hall to dress it for a medieval bash. The hall belongs to one of the oldest churches in Toowoomba and already had fabulous arches, columns etc to add atmosphere, but we hung some bright coloured bunting to add some olde worlde fair flare, some heraldic shields made by my clever GB, some rich-coloured table cloths, a few cast iron candelabras and we had ...

This photo doesn't really do the hall justice and it looked way cooler at night when all the candles were lit ... but my camera got put away very early in the night so I could assume my hostess-with-the-mostest duties! :0) I'm REALLY hoping some of my friends got some great photos that they can send me for my keepsake album. (Perhaps even some arty shots of candles ... Linda! Tee! Hee! Hee!) My honorary sister, Tiffany enjoys playing in the kitchen and put her childcare experience (she's a nanny) to good use to make a suitable birthday cake ...

We couldn't have a medieval birthday party without a medieval castle cake, right?!! :0) Didn't Tiff do a great job on this!! I would NOT have had the patience she did!! (And I have to point out that there is a little bear enjoying the castle's garden and butterflied flitting around  - these are the 'nicknames' for me and Lynda in our little trio!) So ... we had decorations, a cake ... costumes were needed to add to the medieval madness! :0)

Here is my Beloved GB in his Merlin the Sorcerer disguise and me in my Morgan La Fay get up ... minus the crystal ball! :0) GB has been growing the medieval-look goatee for a few months to make his look suitably wise and mysterious. I have to report that it disappeared the day after the party cos I was tired of scratchy smoochies and he kept feeling like he'd walked through spider web! Tee! Hee! Hee! And here is my family (minus my brother Paul and his wife Ella who were unable to travel from Alice Springs to party with us)...

Yes ... my Dad came dressed as the town executioner, complete with hood and VERY large fake axe! Tee! Hee! Hee! My clever clogs Mum made all of our costumes for the party, as well as organising the catering for the night. She worked SOOOOOOOOOOO hard in the lead up to the party and on the night ... THANKS MUM!!! What would I do without her!!! And here are the pretty maids all in a row ...

Didn't Mum do a FABULOUS job on our dresses!! Mind you ... after an evening of struggling to keep my sleeves out of the dip ... and the drinks ... and getting tangled when changing gears in the car (I was SOOO pleased I didn't get pulled over on the way!!) I don't think I was meant to live in medieval times! :0) And another trio of pretty maids ...

The trio formed when we met through belly dancing classes that has outlived the dance classes ... Dancing Buddy Deb ... Yours Truly ... and co-birthday girl and Dancing Buddy Lynda. We don't scrub up too badly at all, do we! :0)

We had a wonderful evening of catching up with friends and dancing the night away to ABBA and other 70's/80's music and despite everyone being told NO PRESENTS ... I was thoroughly spoiled, but will share photos later in the week. I think the highlight of the evening for me, was to have so many of the special people in my life gathered together to help me celebrate my birthday and it made me feel hugely blessed to have so many wonderful people to call my family and friends. A big thanks to all who travelled for the evening ... including my bestest-buddy-since-year-four Lynette, my blogging buddy the Lovely Lilly Linda and her beloved Tim and a friend from uni days, Tony, who travelled from Maryborough to dress up as a monk and help me celebrate. I'd also like to say a big THANK YOU to all of you, my blogging buddies, who stopped by to wish me a happy birthday - I felt truly spoiled to be receiving birthday well-wishes from all over the world! :0)

So ... that's a quick little wrap up of my 40th birthday party. I promise to share photos of some of the GORGEOUS gifties I received later in the week and maybe some more party photos if I can track some down. I hope you all had a great weekend, too. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

A Special Day!

Today is a special day for a couple of reasons. Firstly ... it is the Autumnal Equinox in the southern hemisphere (and of course the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, so still special!!) The Celts held a festival called Mabon (Mar-bawn) to celebrate the day when daylight and nighttime hours were equal and to give thanks for their summer harvest. Traditionally, I hold a DIFFERENT ceremony on March 20 each year ... my BIRTHDAY! :0)

This is me when I was about one ... cute, wasn't I! Not sure what happened as I grew up! :0) This year's celebration is actually a bit more significant, too, as I turn 40! PHEW! Not sure where all those years went, and mostly I don't FEEL 40, but there you go!

Although today is going to be a bit of a quiet one, next Saturday sees the party frocks come out as my friend Lynda (who turns 40 a fortnight after me) and I have a combined birthday party. It will be an evening of Medieval madness, with costumes and lots of fun, so I promise to share lots of photos after the event. Mum and Dad arrive on Monday so Mum can take charge of party preparations and catering (what would a girl do without her Mum!!!) so I may be a bit quiet during the week, but I promise I'll be lurking around blogland keeping up-to-date with what you're all up to.

For now, I'm off to follow the lovely Marion's suggestion of how to spend my birthday (she rang this morning to wish me happy birthday, isn't she a sweetie!!) ... I'm going to curl up with some craft magazines and a book or two ... and perhaps a sweet treat to celebrate! :0) Hope you're all having a celebratory weekend! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

My Bearbie Is A Cover Girl!!!

I'm VERY excited!! I just popped across to the "Handmade" page of  the "Craft Lovers" web site and discovered that my bearbie, Annie-Rose, is indeed a COVER GIRL!! :0) How EXCITING!! You might remember that I showed you a sneaky peek of her a little while back when she arrived home from her photo shoot in Sydney.

Well, if you pop over to the "Handmade" page, you can play with the very cool little animated magazine to see her in all her cover girl glory, then click on the magazine corners to 'turn' the pages to see how she looks inside the mag - I love the background they've used to take her project photos!! :0) There would be lots of Happy Dancing here, but ... the tummy still isn't completely stable, so we shan't rock the boat! Did you just hear the neighbours give sighs of relief that there would be no clog-dancing-elephant impersonations! Tee! Hee! Hee! This issue of "Handmade" hits newsagents next Wednesday, March 31, so keep an eye out for it.

A big thank you to all of my wonderful blogging buddies who have stopped by in the last couple of days to wish me well and to see how I'm feeling. Stina even stopped in twice in one day just to see how I was getting along! How lovely to have so many thoughtful friends out there in blogland! And I am feeling much better, thank you. As I said, the tummy still isn't 100%, but if I don't move around too much, all is good. So, I'm doing some quiet hand stitching in front of some of my fave DVD's and when I move around, I'm careful not to upset my delicate tum. Imagine if you will, me, gliding carefully and gracefully slowly around the house rather than walking ... and you'll probably have a hilarious mental picture of the reality! :0) My Beloved Geek Boy has also been taking wonderful care of me and has been Chief Cook for the last few days. He's even made some special trips to the supermarket in search of bland-but-tasty food for me - isn't he a SWEETIE!!! :0) Hopefully a quiet weekend will finish off the recovery period for me and I'll be in top form next week - I have to be, cos there's big doings in the Meares' Madhouse next week!!! Stay tuned!! :0)

And now, I'm going to glide off back to the lounge room to stitch. Hope you've all had a great week and that you have some fun stuff planned for your weekend. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS