Some family time

 

I know there are a few people waiting for this blog post, so better get it done before I get any more reminders! Sorry for my absence, but I have been at The Sanctuary, having a few days with DD3 and GD1, 2 and 3.

There is a “Christmas in July” retreat at The Sanctuary later in July, and one of my granddaughters asked me ages ago, if she could come and see the house all decorated for that weekend. After thinking about it for awhile, and seeing that they had school holidays earlier in July, I decided that we might have our own “Christmas in July”. So I worked out some dates and an invitation was sent. The girls put the decorations up after they arrived, and have helped make some yummy christmassy treats for them and the weekend coming up. We have been very busy, and it has been a very special time with them. Daughter number 3 drove over from Melbourne to spend time with them too, and 3 granddaughters arrived, all on Saturday. The weather has been so cold, but we were very cosy by the wood fire, and there is no shortage of quilts for the beds!

First job on the agenda was for the 10 year old to quilt her quilt. I blogged about this quilt, back in January. First we had a lesson on how to operate the machine, which she picked up very quickly. Then it was choosing a pattern, and she found one that had flowers just like in the fabric that she used.

Then she thought it was a good idea to watch the machine from underneath! I know I could not crawl down there anymore.

Then time for just watching movies on the TV by the fire.

Amazing how much warmer you feel backed up to the fire!

We had “high tea”, using my grandma’s cups and saucers, and ate some yummy scones and jam and cream. One morning we had pancakes for breakfast, but sorry, no photo. We had the traditional roast for Saturday evening, and Christmas pudding as well.

 

The group photo to put up on the wall.

Last January, Miss 10 made herself a button tree, which she took home. This time, she made one for me to put on the wall at The Sanctuary. Sorry I forgot to photograph the finished product. Will remember to do that soon. I love her tree. She is very creative.

You can see how busy we all were.

Time to make some “Rudolph” biscuits which were very yummy. They also made gingerbread men. We have managed to save some for the ladies weekend.

We tried to light the fire outside, but things were just too damp. So they decided to try toasting marshmallows inside, but don’t think it was real successful.

Monday morning I had to take my car up to Keith, which is about 40km away, and it was very cold. The exterior temperature while we were driving there, was 8deg. And that is a very cold day for this area, even in the winter. Fortunately we found a warm spot in the “Henry and Rose” cafe, and had some warm drinks and a bite to eat by their warm fire.

And these are photos of our crafty activities.

DD3 decided to sew a Christmas stocking for her dog, Kiki. You can see the name on the stocking. And she found some dog biscuits in a shop at Keith, to put in the stocking. And it was so lovely to see her actually using a sewing machine, and I thought I took a photo as proof, but it is no where to be found!??

And after the quilt was quilted, it was time to put on the binding. Here is the finished result, although the binding has not been hand sewn all the way around yet. I am inpressed with her sewing skills. She worked out how to do the mitred corners on the binding just by looking at the one corner I had stitched for her.

And here they are on the last night, just keeping warm and watching a video. And lucky Auntie is getting her hair done.

I took the girls back to Murray Bridge on Wednesday to meet their mum. We had a lovely time, and I enjoyed having them on my home ground and doing crafty things and cooking with them. Now it’s time to get back to some quilting and later in the week to cook for the next Christmas in July weekend. We have a full house of ladies for that weekend, and I am looking forward to that also.

Be back soon, have lots of quilts to blog about.

Do hope you are keeping warm if you are in Australia, even in the northern parts they are experiencing colder than normal temperatures. I am so glad I have my wood fire.

Blessings, From Jude