Once Upon A Time ...

What are your earliest childhood memories? A special event, a person, a special gift?? It's interesting what sticks in our memories, don't you think? When I think back, some of my earliest memories, that also are woven through ALL of my memories through to this very afternoon, are MUSIC and BOOKS.

Some of my earliest memories are of my Dad playing the piano and Mum or Dad reading bedtime stories. In a recent chat with a friend, I was reminded of a FAVOURITE book. It was a Little Golden Book called ...

"DANNY BEAVER'S SECRET"

After chatting to my friend and hearing how she had bought herself a copy of HER favourite childhood book, I went searching through eBay ... and I FOUND it!! :0) Even seeing that familiar cover made me smile ... I did a little happy dance and pressed "BUY"!!! And then I waited for my postie ... and just about tackled him yesterday when he was delivering my parcel. Bet THAT would have surprised him! Tee! Hee! Hee! I quickly had that parcel open and was taking a walk down memory lane ...

The book is in wonderful condition, considering it was published in 1973 (just 3 years after I was born!!) ...

This sweet book was written by Patsy Scarry and it was illustrated by Richard Scarry.

This is a lovely story about Danny Beaver ... obviously! :0) Who decides to create a surprise. To do that, he goes to each of his friends to borrow a little something ...

Straw from Madame Hen ...

... pretty purple flowers from Pussy Cat  (I think this is where my love of violets comes from! :0) ) and assorted other items from his other friends. Then the industrious little beaver drives all his friends mad with the noise of creating his surprise ... AND ... refusing to tell them ... it wouldn't be a surprise if he told, right?! :0) But when all is revealed, they appreciate all his work ...

... and so does Danny Beaver! :0) I really did enjoy rediscovering this childhood favourite. Do you have a favourite book from childhood? Do you still have a copy of it? I'd love to hear what everyone else was reading when they were little tackas. :0)

Okey doke ... I'm off to stuff a wabbit ... a SOFTIE wabbit, of course! :0) I'm hoping to get it finished so I have an actual FINISH to add to my OPAM list for the month ... I've been working on lots of things and finished my floral quilt flimsy, but no finishes so far ... EEK! Better get stitching ... er ... STUFFING! :0) OPAM gals ... have you updated your sidebar lists and emailed Sweet Peg or me??? Quick, quick, hurry, hurry!! :0)

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend so far and that the rest of it is restful, relaxing and creative. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

When Life Gives You Lemons ...

Well ... it wasn't really LIFE that gave me lemons ... it was STEPH who gave me lemons ... a whole bag full of them! :0)

A little selection, as the grey plastic bag wasn't really very photogenic! :0) Now ... I KNOW the saying is ... "When life gives you lemons make lemonade" but I decided to be a bit different ... THERE'S a surprise ... NOT! Tee! Hee! Hee! You see ... I had been re-reading my Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries books by Kerry Greenwood and one of the cooling drinks the characters were enjoying was home made lemon cordial made up with mineral water. Hmmm ... that sounded pretty good to me! :0) So I went in search of a recipe. What did we EVER do before Mr Google came into being! :0) I found about five different recipes and in my usual style ... I ended up making up my own using the others ... "more as a guideline, really." :0) I thought some of you might be thirsty ... and have an excess of lemons!! ... so I'm sharing my eventual brew's recipe.

Home Made Lemon Cordial

4 cups of water (filtered if you prefer)

4 cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice

(I used 12 lemons, this will vary depending on how juicy your lemons are)

zest from 4 lemons

4 cups of sugar

How To ...

1. Rinse all lemons well to remove any wax (or birdie poop if they're home grown!!).

2. Pour your 4 cups of water into a large saucepan and add as many of the lemons as will fit in the saucepan.

3. Heat water and lemons, bring water to the boil and allow to boil for about one minute. This not only infuses the water with the lemon oil from the fruit skins, the heat makes the lemons WAY easier to juice ... handy tip! :0)

4. Remove lemons, allow to cool for handling.

5. Using a fine grater or zester, grate the zest from 4 lemons into the lemon-infused water.

6. Juice all lemons ... don't add yet!

7. Add 4 cups of sugar to lemon-infused water, stir over heat to dissolve all sugar.

8. Add lemon juice and heat to just before boiling.

9. Pour mixture into a large jug through a strainer and pour into sterilised bottles for storage. (I filled three standard wine bottles) Put lids on straight away. Allow to cool, then store in a dark cool place or refrigerate. 

And that's IT!! See ... easy, peasy! :0) To serve, find your favourite glass, add the same amount of cordial as you would for a commercial cordial, add a few ice cubes and top up with cold mineral water. Add a slice of lemon and you're set ...

I used recycled wine bottles to store my lemon cordial ... I'm sure you'll enjoy emptying them ready to use ... right Fiona?!! :0)

What I particularly like about my home made lemon cordial is that it isn't as super-sweet as commercial cordials. In the process of mixing and matching my recipes to make my own, I cut back the sugar ... if you have a particularly sweet tooth, you could add more. I find it very refreshing and think I will be making more of this during summer. :0)

Do you like my pretty glasses? I have a set of six of these sweeties that were given to Mum as a wedding giftie ... so they're about 45 years old. You can't really see it in these photos, but they have a rosy tint to them when they're empty. I'm keeping my eye out for a matching water jug ... Mum didn't ever have one, but I'm sure I've seen one in this design at some point in my antique store hunting ... and what fun I shall have looking! Tee! Hee! Hee!

In other news ... I finished my pretty floral quilt flimsy on the weekend ... YAY! Now I just have to save up my play money to get the Fabulous Fiona to quilt it for me. Want a peek??

Ta Da! All together and ready to be quilted. You can see that I did indeed decide to go with the olive-y green outer border to match the giant rick-rack. It's turned out very differently to what I originally envisaged ... I thought softer greens and shabbier dusty colours ... but ... the green was in my stash, matched the dark green tones of the leaves and I'm pretty happy with how it's come together ... all from the stash! :0) So ... does that mean I can now buy MORE fabric?!?! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So that's what's been happening in the Meares' Madhouse this week. How has your week been going? Hopefully you've had some time to stitch and create. Which reminds me ... OPAMers ... it's almost THAT time of the month again, so make sure you update your finishes list and email your tally through to my Sweet partner-in-crime, the Sweet Peg or me in the next couple of days. We will probably start the blog hopping on the weekend, so don't forget to update! :0)

Okey doke ... that's it from me for today ... I'm off to play Polly (bet that surprises you ... NOT!! :0) ) and I'm going to enjoy an episode of  "60 Minute Makeover" ... I might find some new renovating ideas ... OOPS! Did you just hear my Beloved Geek Boy groaning?! Tee! Hee! Hee! Til next time ...

LEMON-Y BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Stopping To Smell The Flowers!

I don't know about you, but I LOVE having fresh flowers in the house ... the more the merrier! :0) But my poor garden isn't really overflowing with flowers suitable for cutting, so what's a girl to do to cheer up her cold, wintry house and bring some spring cheeriness to her world? Well ... for the last little while, when we do our grocery shopping on a Thursday night, I've been searching through the cut flower arrangements they have for sale at the front of the shop to find some bunches that have been marked down for quick sale. They might look a little tired, but I bring them home, trim their little stems and give them a nice fresh drink ... and they brighten up the house for WEEKS!! It's a WIN-WIN situation ... the flowers get a loving home and I get my splash of spring in the midst of winter. :0)

Throughout the day, as I walk past my rescued flowers, I often stop to admire them. I find it rather soothing ... I guess my brother is right ... I really am a "Flower Child" at heart! Tee! Hee! Hee! Since I've been enjoying my flowers so much, I thought I would share them with you to brighten your day, too.

A bunch of flowers gracing our rescued and refurbished table, in front of our rescued and refurbished kitchenette in our rescued and refurbished dining room! :0) (Hmmm ... I'm seeing a theme here! Tee! Hee! Hee!)  I haven't shown any dining room make over pics yet, cos there's still some work to go ... but once it's done, I promise to share. :0) The green walls and white trims have brightened the room up SOOOOOO much! It's amazing what a change of colour can do. :0)

Soft and pretty ... pink rosebuds, some baby's breath and white carnations ... adding a chic note to our shabby chic dining room.

There I was, basking in the glow of my pretty rescued flowers, when I was spoilt with a sweet surprise from a friend ... MORE flowers! Well ... like BEARS ... one can never have TOO MANY! :0) So I did a bit of a vase shuffle and swap ... the flowers above were transferred into a pale pink depression glass vase (that I didn't take a pic of ... OOPS!) and they are now in the lounge room where I'm enjoying them as I watch TV. And taking their spot ... 

... my gifted roses ... they are the most unusual colour ... sort of a green-tinged cream outer petal and soft pink in the centre ... GORGEOUS!!

Aren't they pretty? Don't they just make you SMILE?! :0)

OK ... I'm off to play Polly and finish watching "So You Think You Can Dance". As someone who can manage belly dancing and a bit of old time dancing and that's about it ... I love to watch all those graceful energetic dancers ... especially the Paso Doble and the Tango ... smouldering passion on a Friday night ... with a cup of tea! Tee! Hee! Hee! Hope your week has been fantastic and that your weekend includes some time to sit, stitch, relax, reflect and rest. Til next time ...

FLOWERY BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Sneaking In The Back Door!!

We're still experiencing technical difficulties here at the Meares' Madhouse. My Beloved Geek Boy is madly working on the problem (in between his 'day job'!!) and there's been quite a lot of muttering under his breath and hair-pulling ... not to mention the wife grumbling about having her email interrupted! :0) He HAS set up a way for me to READ my email now ... replying is just a bit trickier, so if you're emailing me ... please be patient ... I'm not ignoring you ... I promise! :0) (RoseMarie ... I got your email with snail mail ... will pop something in the mail for you next week! :0) )

So ... in amongst the tech-related grumbling ... I worked out a way that I CAN share some pics with you of the "Play" quilt I've been working on. I just plugged my phone DIRECTLY into the laptop to transfer the pics ... well DAH!! Why didn't I think of that earlier?!?!?! Ah well ... better late than never! :0) So I'll now sneak in the computer's 'back door' to show you what I've been up to.

Despite the fact that it is NOT my usual style ... I fell in love with this pretty, old-fashioned, shabby-chic inspiring fabric over a year ago. I didn't know what I was going to do with it ... but I HAD to have some! :0)  After getting it home, I put it into the cupboard and forgot about it for a year!! EEK! Poor fabric! :0) So on the weekend when I decided to just "PLAY" in my sewing room ... I brought it into the light of day and auditioned a few fabrics to go with it. Hmmm ... OK ... ideas flowing! :0) A bit of measuring and chopping ...

... I got my trusty Husky humming ...

The toile doona cover underneath is a bit distracting, but the quilt so far ends with the pink and blue checker-board  border. When I was playing with that checker-board border, I thought it needed a little splash of strong colour to act as a frame. I originally thought I'd pop in a peeper border, but after a dig around in my stash ... I found enough of the darker olive-y green giant rick-rack that perfectly matched the darker shades of green on the leaves. WOO! HOO! In fact ... the blue and pink spot fabrics were ALSO already in my stash (I know ... pink for me! Who'd have thunk it! I think I shall have to call it 'rose'!! :0) ) Don't you love it when you can use bits from your stash that were bought at different times and not originally intended to go together, to compliment each other to create something special?! :0)

Here's a closer look at the lovely big roses. Actually ... the colours are better represented here, too. I'm toying with whether to put a lighter, softer green outer border on, or whether to go with the same stronger olive-y green. I'm leaning towards the darker green at the moment ... which I also have in my stash already ... even though it's a different direction than I intended to take.  What do you think??? That's one of the fun parts of playing with fabric and new designs ... you never know if the finished quilt will look like your first thoughts. :0)

Okey doke ... that's it from me for today ... just wanted to let you all know that the computer hasn't sucked me in and stored me in the hard drive (although I suspect it IS plotting to take over the known universe and those annoying pop-up error messages are just a way to distract us while it plots our overthrow in the background!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) Hope all of you are having a wonderful week so far. I'm off to play Polly and find my woolly socks ... temps dropping to around zero for the second night in a row ... BRRRRRR!!! Roll on summer! :0) Til next time ...

BRRRRRRRRRRR BEAR HUGS!!!!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Technical Difficulties & Some Shabbiliciousness!

Happy Monday everyone!! :0) 

If you're like me, Monday is NOT your favourite day of the week, but let's face it ... it's going to come around every week, so we may as well make the most of it and SMILE! :0) Even if it's more of a teeth-gritted-grimace because you're once again dealing with computer/email/server issues!! SIGH!!!

Let's back up a little ... After doing all the 'grown up' chores around the house this last weekend, I decided that I was going to PLAY and headed for my sewing room. Now ... there were LOTS of things I SHOULD have been working on, but I decided I just wanted to PLAY. So I dug around in my sewing cupboard and pulled out some pretty floral fabric that I bought ... hmmm ... QUITE a while ago! I added some spots, played with some checker-board designs and have managed to put three quarters of a quilt top together ... YAY! :0) I even took some photos to share my progress with you ... BUT ... due to some 'technical difficulties' with the server me email goes through, I'm having some email issues. I can send and receive email from my laptop, but not from my phone or iPad ... that wouldn't be a problem EXCEPT ... I take all my photos on my phone and email them to myself to edit and post ... SIGH!! I promise I'll be back with the pics once my Beloved Geek Boy sorts out the issue.

In the meantime ... perhaps you would like to look at some other pretty pictures ... in fact ... some VERY Pretty pictures! :0) My gorgeous blogging buddy, Miss Kerryanne from Shabby Art Boutique has released the third issue of her GORGEOUS e-magazine ...

I'm always excited when I get an email from Kerryanne to tell me the latest issue of her PRETTY and INSPIRING e-mag is available. If you love all things pretty, shabby chic, vintage, cottage, French and cosy, then you will LOVE 

"Simply Shabbilicious"

Pop over HERE to visit Kerryanne and find out how you can take a peek at this pretty e-mag ... make yourself a cuppa first, cos it's going to take you a while! :0) In fact ... I've just had a cuppa delivered to my chair by my sweet GB and I think I'll go and enjoy another peek at the pretties. Hope your week is off to a great start (and a less technologically challenged one than mine!!) and I promise to be back soon with some photos of my 'play' quilt. Til next time,

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS