Blacked out AGAIN!!!

The weather has turned very wild, wet and windy, and once again many areas of our state are out of power. At least it is not 40 deg, so I am not needing the air con.

I still have charge on my mobile phone, and 57% battery left on my laptop. I am not wanting to quilt today, and have my LED light for as long as it is charged. I am in the middle of a big change around of the stuff in my work room, and the sewing room. So I have no real excuse for not working, as I don't need power for that. I sort through some things, and then take a break, and then go back to it. Slowly does it is my motto for this week. Yesterday I sat in the recliner and had a long nanna nap!
And Christmas morning I spent some quiet time in the pergola, before the family arrived.

Christmas has been and gone, and it was great to catch up with the family. There was 3/4 of my family here for lunch on Sunday, and then we all caught up with over 30 extended family for lunch on Boxing Day. I did take some photos, but not many.

Yesterday there were a couple of "Angels" here to sort out the angels fabric as it was shifted into new space.

I do feel a bit daunted by the job ahead, but hopefully it will be a good change. I have so much "stuff" in my studio, and seem to spend too much time looking for things when I want them. So this is my "time out" from quilting, in between lots of cuppas, and naps, and a bit of reading.  I will fill you in on the reason that this is all happening, when it's all sorted.

As the battery is getting lower, and I don't know when the power will be back on, I better save it for later. I can see there are lots of quilt photos I have not posted yet, so might be back before the end of the year to do that.

Blessings, From Jude

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Joyous day, wherever you are. And stay cool if you are in southern Australia today, where it is expected to be 41!!

Blessings, From Jude

Back again

I am back again, after a lovely catchup with special friends. Thankyou Raelene for the bikkies and your thoughtfullness. It was nice to sit back and chat, and not to be thinking about the next quilt that needs to be finished. (Note to self: do more of this!) It is a pity it is so hot, that sitting outside in the pergola was not an option. 

We sat at the kitchen table, and were all rather warm, so thought I better turn the air conditioner on, to cool the house down a bit. When Helen arrived, she was rather hot and bothered after doing busy stuff. We all chatted away, and enjoyed the cuppa and bikkies, and about half an hour later, I thought to myself that the room was not much cooler, and wondered how it would cope in the next few days with extra people around??  The Christmas Day temperature is expected to be over 40Deg. That's when the "penny" dropped and I realised that the last time I had used the air con was when it was on HEAT!! No wonder we were not getting any cooler. One person laughed and said he was going to nominate me for a "Wood Duck Award". As we have had such cool weather leading right up into December, I think there might be quite a few other people forgetting to change the settings too!!

While I was in Mount Gambier I found lots of bargains in the plant shop, and so I purchased lots of seedlings. I have finally finished my brick edge at the laundry side of the house, after trying all year to get this done. Tis a bit of a worry with the rising temperatures, but I shall just have to be keeping up the water, and this morning I mulched them all. After I finished planting, I realised that a photo of my purchases would have been good, so I took the empty containers, for you to see how many I bought. Hopefully I might get some photos if they all grow. I know it is a risk planting at this time of the year, but I have not had the time to do it before now. (I need to find the before and after shots of the side.)

Also this week I have dug out my older Janome machine that does the embroidery, that has not been used by me for years. I had decided to embroider names on towels for a lot of the gifts this year. I have done about 9 of them, and should have taken a photo, but forgot until most of them were wrapped. So my Christmas shopping is all done, and the pressies are wrapped and under the tree.

GD3 helped with some of the baking, and I only have a little bit to do yet, and that is a job for tomorrow. I shall cook the meat the day before and then will only have the vegetables to do on the morning. There are a few beds still to be made, and floors to clean, but tomorrow is another day. Nearly all of my family will be here for Christmas lunch, and we all go to my extended family for lunch on Boxing Day.

There is also a big change around of shelves in both my sewing rooms, and some new plans will be happening there. More about that soon. Taking the opportunity to have a BIG sortout and cleanout of the STUFF that is here. This might take me awhile, and quilts are on hold for a week or two.

That's all the newsfromjude for now.

In case I don't get back for another post before Sunday, I wish you all a Blessed Christmas, as we remember the real reason for the season, the birth of our Lord and Saviour.

Blessings, From Jude

Out and about

The days are just whizzing by, and there has been no quilting happening here this week. But I have managed to fill in my time anyway. In the last week I have been on the road a fair bit, and have clocked up almost 20 hours of driving, over 3 different days. 2 of those trips were to the city, to pick up GD3, and return again. I did manage to do a bit of Christmas shopping both times, which was good, and a delivery of 2 quilts, and a pickup of a future project. Watch this space for more news on that!

Another trip was to Naracoorte for a medical appointment, and then further on to Mount Gambier to pick up more of the future project, (??).

The township of Penola, and the surrounding Coonawarra district had a fantastic display of Santa's, placed in some shops and along the roadsides. On the way home, we stopped for a few photographs. There were lots more than this though. Some were very creative in their ideas, and went to a lot of effort. 

Not sure if this Santa has finished his job, or is watching tele while on the job!

Santa must have arrived home now, and the boots were at the "door" of the tent, and the washing on the line. (But not too sure what was happening, after I realised what was hanging on the line!!

And he must have finished the job, and is in holiday mode here, and Santa is at the wheel of the ute, although you can't see him in this photo. (A real "blast from the past" with the old ute, and the caravan!!)

Even though I have clocked up a lot of time on the road, other things are happening in the background too. I have done some sorting of my clothes, and here are 3 bags full, ready to be donated.

And there is more to tell, but as I have got visitors and the cuppa and bikkies (thanks Raelene) are on the agenda now, I will be back soon with more newsfromjude.

Blessings, From Jude

Christmas preparations, bird watching etc etc.

Once again I have had a couple of people tell me they are waiting for a blog post, so before another week flies by, I thought I would check in. I still have about 1/3 of a quilt left to finish in the morning, and the other 2 that I had planned to do, will wait until after the big day. It will be all systems go this coming week to get organised for  Christmas. I finally started to do some shopping this week, and I have a young helper here at the moment who is cooking me some yummy goodies. She has even decorated the tree and the house ready for next week.

This silky oak tree is in my neighbors back yard, and has been a hive of activity this week as lots of different birds find the blossoms an attraction. I did take some time to watch the birds and try to photograph them, but it was not easy to get a closeup shot.

You can just see a parrot feeding on the nectar if you look closely.

 I received a delivery this week of my latest blog book. It was rather interesting after I read through the posts from early in the year, and all the plans I had to do then, as a lot of them are still waiting to be done!! Life has a way of getting in the way of good intentions!

A lot of the garden is past it's best since the rain stopped, but my carnations are blooming, and smell so sweet. That water out of the tap, just does not do what the moisture that comes from the sky does.I have enjoyed spending time in the early mornings, trying get it all looking good before Christmas. 

We have had a few lovely "spring" days this week, but tomorrow it will be a summer day again. 😩
The weather forecast for next weekend, looks as though it will be HOT. I guess it is summer, but.....

It will be busy week coming up, with a trip to Naracoorte and Mount Gambier, and also to Adelaide to return GD3. Will be back to check in sometime in the midst of that. Hope your week is a good one.

Blessings, From Jude

Some November quilts....

Time to catchup with quilts to show you.

First is Owls in a Spin, made by Val at one of the Pick a case Mystery retreats.It's a bit hard to see, but the feature fabric had owls on it, so I quilted it allover with an owl pattern. The recipient of the quilt, was very excited to see the owls in the quilting.

This quilt was also made, by Sherrel, in a Mystery retreat, and features 30's fabrics against a white background. This was quilted with simple custom quilting.

There is a story with this quilt, which is made with Kaffe Fasset fabrics and features different urns in the blocks. The lady that made it did not like it and gave it to her friend Barb, who said she liked it. Barb sent it to me to custom quilt, and imagined it on her bed in her new house when she moved soon. The friend had offered to bind it for Barb, as she had purchased the binding when she made the quilt. Unfortunately for Barb, when her friend saw the quilt, she decided that she did like it after all, and paid Barb for the backing and quilting, and claimed it back! Just an example of how different a quilt looks after it's quilted!

This quilt is another made by Kath, a prolific, more than 80 years old quilter in our local group.

That's all folks, hope you enjoyed the quilt show, will be back another day.

Blessings, From Jude

Catching up again....

I have switched Max off for the day, and before I head outside to do some garden jobs, thought I better catch up with another post. (Or someone will be accusing me of it being a famine again.) I don't really know where the days disappear too. Each week I start out with a list of things I need to do, including the quilts I want to finish, and I have to confess that most weeks there is usually something not crossed off from the list. Perhaps I should try writing less things on the list??

Other than the customer Christmas Cards, I have not done any Christmas preparations yet. I have 5 more quilts that I want to do before I think about it. Our local patchwork group held it's end of year dinner last Monday night. As usual it was a lovely night out, with good food and the company of friends. Sorry I did not even think about taking photos.

On Thursday it was the last Gumnut Angels sewing day for the year. There was a bit of progress happening with quilts being constructed, backings being chosen, and scraps sorted, and an important part of the day is the chatter and friendships around the table with a cuppa and lunch.

I received an unexpected visit later that day from my BIL and his wife, who were in town for the funeral of a friend. It's a while since we have caught up, so it was good to sit for cuppa and chat. The photo album came out again, and we went down memory lane, as well as catching up on the latest in each other's family. (And because my BIL married my cousin, it means we have a double family connection!) In the album was this photo of their wedding, and it was a reminder of just how many years have gone by, how much "water has gone under the bridge", and how young everyone looked!! And just looking at the photo, brought many more memories, as about 4 years later, I married that good looking fella on the left of the photo. 😊 This was taken about 47 years ago, which is half a lifetime, isn't it?

Yesterday I finished a quilt, and spent time outside. I have an area of garden under a big tree, which takes a lot of moisture and makes it hard to grow things under it. This year there was a lovely crop of soursobs, which I sprayed out. I ordered a load of dirt to add to what was there, and it was delivered yesterday. I have been busy raking it out and then will be planting my collection of succulents etc, which are patiently waiting in their pots. I had hoped to get this done before the weather got too hot, but life got in the way.

Those stones will be shifted and arranged "creatively" in amongst the plants "somehow"!

This post was to be a catchup of quilts again, but that will have to wait until next time.

Hope you are having a good weekend.

Blessings, From Jude