Tuesday's Treasure with Melody

My Treasure today is my Husband's Grandmothers Sewing Basket. Whenever we visited them at their little retirement cottage at Bribie Island she could be found in her favourite chair embroidering or crocheting around a recently completed piece. When we got engaged she worked about 20 pieces for us and even though they weren't fashionable back then in the 1970's I loved and treasured them amidst much nose turning upwards from my friends.

When she passed away anything "useful" was removed from the basket and it was destined for the rubbish. It looked so forlorn divested of all it's treasure except for a few  old damaged pieces of doiley's. I couldn't bare it and so asked if I could have it if it was going to the tip. It was presented to me with screwed up faces and so it came home with me. It just represented so much of who she was and I couldn't see it go to the tip. It reminded me of all the times I sat with my own Grnadmother as she tatught me to embroider.Years later when "doiley dolls" were all the rage the old damaged doileys inside got a new life too.
I still have nearly all of our '20' and I treasure them all. I have 2 favourites one I can't find (if you saw my linen cupboard you would know why. Sshhh!) which is an old fashioned car with a romancing couple taking a spin and the other is the bluebird centrepiece.

I like to think she would be so happy a fellow stitcher has her basket now.
I also am amazed at how the threads of stitchers connect us through the generations.
For other Treasures today visit the wonderful blog of MELODY  from "The house on he side of the hill"
Lastly but certainly not least I wanted to show you my ever bulging Christmas tote (Santa Sack) from my Swap partner Tarnyia in CHERYLL'S Secret Santa Sack swap. Soon the squishing and poking can stop and the fun of opening can begin******

Give your face a  wonderful workout today and smile........
Blessings Michelle xx

Well another week has begun and I have to say the weather is glorious....just how this Queenslander likes it. I had a very quiet weekend but before I go there I wanted to show you a gorgeous pressie I recieved from SHAY from quilting in my pyjamas. Now if any of you have stitched one of my bags you will know there is nothing to difficult in assemblage as my forte seems to be the drawing and embroidery rather than the patchwork side of things....and to make something that is not FLAT well my mind doesn't venture there. So I was very impressed when Shay posted about these gorgeous little bags she had made....so cute. Then the postie bought me one all the way from Shay filled with some yummy South Oz sweeties which I am very sorry to tell you didn't make it to the photo shoot. Choccie Froggys and Fruchocs oh MY!! So thank you my friend I felt very spoilt indeed to recieve this lovely surprise.

Is this not a cutie??

Well as I said I had a quiet weekend sewing for a couple of comissions I have coming up for Country Threads Magazine and as you know I do a lot of things the old fashioned way so quilt basting was on the agenda. Lately I have been visiting "Memory Lane" quite a bit in the music department and I decided I need a special CD to keep me company while I basted.....one where a little dancing might assist moving around the table. I chose one of my favourite CD's by the very talented Kiwi girl Margaret Urlich "Saftey in Numbers". I adore every one of the 12 tracks on this CD especially the 1st track "Escaping". I have just about worn this CD out over the years. So Margaret and I grooved away (scary hey) several times through in fact and I got the basting done. So I have included a sneek peek at what I was doing. I also finished off my Santa swappie thingies so I am all good to go.....never thought I would get there. Yippee!!

Grooving with Margaret.

Hmmm! Wonder what this will be?

Well you know where I am headed as it is Monday........to my Yoga mat out in the Country.

Yoga at Yamba (boy did those people think I was crazy. So did No 1 husband come to think of it) Do I care...not a zot!!!

"A human being is a single being. Unique and unrepeatable" - John Paul the 2nd.
Have a wonderful day.
Blessings Michelle xx

Favourite things Friday.

It's Friday which means it's time to visit the wonderful SHAY and see what "Favourites" abound this beautiful Friday morning. My Favourite has been done before but I am doing it again. It is the beautiful Jacaranda trees which are all in bloom in Brisbane at the moment. When we were away we visited Grafton which has a Jacaranda Festival at this time each year and they were in bloom everywhere. I am going to subject you to a bit of 'scribbling I did about my Jacaranda tree which was given to me by my Grandfather as a seedling in a jam tin when we bought this little block of dirt. He lived at Paddington an inner Brisbane suburb and they were every where. He had several on his huge block of land. Here goes.
"The Paddington Jacaranda Tree" by Michelle Ridgway
What greets me from my holiday is my Jacaranda tree all in flower,
It's magnificent amongst the greenery as petals softly drop in a gorgeous lavender shower.
I love this mauve carpet on my lawn it's such a sight to see and always please me.
It gladdens my heart, to watch tiny birds between the branches dart.
Delicately extracting the nectar from each and every lavender cup,
Little beaks disappearing into flowers as they sup.
Now! Some folks say "They make such a mess!!"
But not me as I sit amongst this pale mauve beauty.....I couldn't care less!
You see this beautiful tree was a gift from a loving family elder given in it's infancy.
He grew it from seed in an old jam tin from his very own tree.
So when it flowers in all it's glory I feel his presence very close to me.

This is a beautiful card designed by Chris Reilly called "Red Hill Jacaranda" and I couldn't resist buying it as I used to live here and it is very close to Paddington and I love this image.

A beautiful street in bloom in Grafton

Rotary Park in Grafton

Also I just had to add this other little favourite of my two Grandsons who are cousins and were having a playdate.

My Boys

Have a wonderful weekend,
Blessings,
Michelle xx

Thursday's Teddy Bears Picnic with Melody, a Celebration & November Giveaway

Well as I haven't been out with the 'teds' on a picnic for quite awhile I am looking forward to seeing who is enjoying the beautiful sunshine. "Little Posy" as I call her is eager to go and can't wait to play in the sunshine with all the other picnicers.I made "Little Posy" but I don't have her pattern anymore but I bought it in Bendigo many years ago (I think it may have been a Teddyworks pattern but I am not sure) along with the fabric for her dress. I love her stocking feet and little jacket. She is smiling because she had a cloth body and I probably didn't torture her when she was being made. She is off to visit MELODY to see who else is at the picnic.

Sweet "Little Posy" Bear

SILVER JUBILEE CELEBRATION
25 years ago 4 young Mothers began a course to learn the art of patchwork and quilting. They enjoyed each others company and one of the young Mums collected the others phone numbers and hence my beautiful stitching group of friends was thus created. The four original members are still an inspirational to us all. I have been with the group for 17 wonderful years and treasure all our great memories....the happy, the funny and the sad. They were always there with hugs, advice and support and laughter.
We decided this was truly a milestone to celebrate and so 9 of the 10 of us (Jacky was forced against her will to attend a compulsory course) went to Mt Tamborine for the day. We started with a lovely coffee, some shop wandering, browsing and yes for some of us buying and then headed off to "ST BERNARDS" Hotel for lunch. This Hotel is an icon on Mt Tamborine and has the most spectacular views from the back deck. We were met at the door by a very 'disinterested 'Maitre D' despite much encouragement from Kay our resident dog whisperer. A little bit of a disappointing reception on this momentus occassion but we proceeded with our celebration and had a wonderful lunch.

The entrance to the Hotel

Our very "enthusiastic" Maitre D at the front door.

Gorgeous Kay trying to rouse some kind of interest in our Host.

"The Girls" *Anne on the left in white was the one who took the other girls phone numbers. The rest clockwise are Kay, *Lorel, yours truly, Denise, *Sandra, Gaye, *Bev and Moira. The stars are the original 4.

Lorel, myself and Denise ( whose inspiration it was to have a celebration)

The view from our table.

My heartfelt thoughts about these wonderful women are as follows:
"Seeing the genuine delight on a friends face when they greet you is a gift no money in the world can buy."
Congratulations girls and many, many more to come and Jacky you were sorely missed.

NOVEMBER GIVEAWAY:
I feel as every post since I returned has been an epic but I have had so much I wanted to share and record.
Anyway I decided that as the 3 winners last month seemed to enjoy choosing their own pattern as a prize I would repeat the experience.....so if you would like to leave me a comment and go into a draw I will draw out 3 winners and they can choose 1 of my patterns as their prize. Good Luck everyone! I do hope you actually got this far in my post today. LOL!

Remember! You may never know how your encounter with another may affect them so always try and make it a postive one and have them leave your presence richer for the experience.
Blessings Michelle xx

Tuesday's Treasure with Melody

I am joining MELODY for "Tuesdays Treasures" today to share my 'treasure' and see what other 'treasure troves' are being shared. Go for a visit or share your treasure too.

My "Treasure" today is the lovely little village of "ULMARRA" 6 kms north of Grafton on the Pacific Highway. Most people drive straight through it but if like me you have ever had lunch at the "Commercial Ulmarra Hotel" (pictured above) on the banks of the Clarence river you will always stop in. The Hotel was transformed into the "Great Northern Hotel" for the TV mini-series "Fields Of Fire" (some of you may be old enough to remember) and photos of the filming which was done in and around this area can be seen on the walls of the hotel. It was first built in 1900 but burnt down and was rebuilt in 1911 and apparently there was much angst in the town as they had NO PUB for 12 months......can you imagine!! Horror! No Beer!
Now my husband and I are great fans of the BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato on a toasted Panini roll) and the rating given to any town or district is how good your BLT is. Ulmarra's was pretty good. The winner however is still the little cafe in Uralla called Twisted Lemon. 10/10. Sorry I digress! We sat out by the river to enjoy the view of the mighty Clarence River and our BLT'S. A very pushy water dragon (all 24 inches of him/her) came and demanded a share. So pushy in fact I had my feet up on the chair in the end terrified it would use them as a ladder to actually sit ON the table and not just under it.

Hubby enjoying "the serenity" Sorry! Aussie joke!

The view from our lunch table of the Clarence. The same river we were camped beside at Iluka as it found it's way to the sea.

And "Miss c'mom give me some Liz" the water dragon. She had bigger brothers and sisters harrassing other diners. She is cute though in a reptilian sort of way.

After our pleasant lunch we browsed through the lovely little gift and collectable shops in the small main street and I was NOT a good girl. I spied in a little shop a beautiful  "Queen Anne"china trio and as it spoke so nicely to me I bought it home. Are you surprised???? It is beautiful. The name of the shop was "Violetta's & Liilymaze" How cute is that. It was chocced full of all sorts and I had to restrain myself.

And no I am not finished yet. Just over the road was a second hand bookshop another favourite of ours. We had a lovely wander and made our selections only to be told everything was 50% off. Woo Hoo!! I bought several novels for another day and my most exciting purchase was a book about the maker of my "Attic Doll" (I featured in another post) Linda Carroll. It is a lovely book describing her creative process and lots of gorgeous photos of my dolls sisters in their beautiful vintage dresses. I was in heaven.

There is more..........around the corner and up the street was an antique and collectable store and in it I found a small plate also "Queen Anne" at only $8.00 I snapped it up because you see my Grandmothers favourite trio was this design and apart from the cup the rest was broken in one of their many moves around Queensland. She loved this design so much she still used the cup paired with another saucer. I have been looking for the saucer and plate for ages.....so just the saucer to go. If any of you out there know of anyone who may have a spare saucer in this design I would love to hear from you. Anyway here it is almost complete.

That was our 'treasured' day in "ULMARRA" which by the way is aboriginal for - bend in the river and a beauitful bend in the river it is too. So shout yourself lunch at the pub next time you travel that way and say G'day to Miss Liz out by the river you'll love it.
Blessings Michelle xx

All Hexied Out.

"Woody Head" headland walk north of Ilkua.

Good morning one and all. Welcome to this wonderful Monday. I just thought I would share with you my holiday sewing which thanks to the inspiring "hexie" making ladies in blogland helped me get going again with my "Hexie" quilt I started a verrrry long time ago. I managed to get all the little flowers done down one side and attached and all the fill in hexies done down each side and partway along the top edge. It was supposed to be a much larger quilt but I know if I don't finish it now it won't get done. The hexies are 2 inches finished and were a bit small for me. I would like to do a slightly larger one. I also tacked yes with needle and thread all the hexies on there papers because I could not remember what the gluey stuff was that you girls use and I doubt they would have sold it at the bait shop anyway. So I still have a little ways to go but I feel at least I may get it finished now....so a big thanks girls!!! I also finished "My Country Garden" stticheries. Just waiting to be put together now. So I wasn't completely idle staring out at the water.

My Hexie quilt.

"My Country Garden" stitcheries finished!!!

We had a family of ducks that came to visit us every day. We counted 11 in all one day. It is hard to believe but most of them are juvenile birds with their parents and boy did they grow in 2 weeks.

THE  VEGIE PATCH! can you believe it. I even gave away some lettuce and basil. I have loads of tomatoes but not ripe yet and the cucumber plants are full of flowers which I hope means....cucumbers.

I hope your day exceeds your expectations in the most wonderful way. Me! I have to get my pancake eating and fish and chip eating body on to my Yoga mat today.....after sitting and observing some of natures most beautiful places I truly believe real life is Yoga.
Blessings Michelle xx

I'M BACK!!!!!!

Madam camper at the ferry jetty with departing ferry in the background. Gotta love the hat! Why is it some people look good in hats......Not me!

Well some of you may have noticed I have been missing in action (thank you to all you wonderful people who enquired about my welfare). I have actually been away camping in 'swanee' with No 1 husband in Northern NSW at Iluka which is a quiet little fishing hamlet at the mouth of the magnificent Clarence River. It is such a lovely peaceful place and it was just what I needed after my Dad died a few weeks ago. So I did lots of relaxing and walking and generally chilling out.We did a lot of sight seeing and I will probably drive you mad but it is such a pretty part of the world. We endured a couple of fierce storms in the van and I would like to tell you I was brave....but no! Sssscared out of my wits. However the next day we would be rewarded with glorious sunshine and even more beautiful sunsets. We would like to think we earned some kind of camping brownie points. I did get a lot of stitching done which I will show you in another post. All you 'hexie' girls should be very proud of yourselves...you've done your job well! Below are some photos of our position and the stormy skies and some beautiful sunsets.

This was our wake up every morning and look at view from our van.

Would you have been a little nervous of this approching storm????

The sky really was that dark and weird looking with  a myriad of lightning strikes. Even though it was scary it was amazing!

And then we had these magnificent sunsets over the river.

I would stitch under this tree or we would take our end of day drinkies over and watch the sun set. Beautiful!!!

I shall post some more about our holiday later but just wanted to assure you all I am indeed very well except for a bad case of hayfever. I have missed you all and I must admit to lurking from time to time....see what you bloggers have done to me. But as the intro says.....I'M BACK!!!
Blessings Michelle xx