I luv Spring :)

I know that it's not officially
Spring

for another couple of weeks,

but in my little corner of the world

it definitely feels like Spring,

and the garden certainly tells me it is .

I soooo love Spring,

but must admit that the handwork

takes a back seat for a few weeks,

while other stuff takes priority.

I've been busy packing up the Studio,

and getting the guest rooms

back into perfect order

for the coming season.

The garden,

of course,

is keeping me on my toes

(but no complaints there,

I love it to bits!)

You can read about that, if you want,

over on the cottage blog,

and then there is the,

(....shudder....)

painting!!

Add to that mix
something off my ''bucket list''
that I'm working on,
and a certain child

whose race season has once again started,

which means I get the sheer pleasure
of countless hours of driving

up and down "the hill"
(and no, there is not an ounce
of sarcasm in that last sentence:).
Not to forget the late night driving lessons
with the child
in his newly acquired vehicle,
(which, I must say,
have usually been quite uneventful 'cos he's
a darned good wee driver,
perhaps with the exception of the time
that he stalled the van
directly outside the Dunedin Fire Station
in a mild state of panic
as the doors opened
and the fire truck was coming out!!!
Probably didn't help matters that I was laughing
so hard
that even the blokes in the fire truck
were grinning.
So mature, I can hear you say!
Well, it was funny :)
And we did get out of their way,
pretty quickly!)
So,

truly,

it feels a little like

I'm running around

like a

headless chook

at times:)!!!
All I can say is,
thank goodness for chocolate:)

So...

please excuse my lack of stitching

to show:)

This is about all I've managed to do

these last few weeks,

but I'm pretty happy that I have done it,

cos it's been on the ''doing'' list

for about 10 years,

and its finally finished.

He is gorgeous, don't you think.

And in plenty of time for Christmas :)

Actually,

I've just remembered,

I have done something else to show you...

... yep, I think I started these last year!

I wanted to match a pair of cushions

to match the quilt I've got hanging

in one of the guest rooms.

Well,better late than never.

Now..

I think I will go take some time to smell the roses,

or in this case,

the blossom:)

See you,

Jenny



It's Pink!

Teensy post -

if you like pink,

and giveaways,

go check out

The Makers Studio blog

over here

and leave a comment,

or

 check it out on my Facebook page

(on the sidebar).

See you :)

Jenny



Treasures and Friends :)

This week I've been finishing off

some lovely little treasures

that I have stitched

using designs from Barb's gorgeous new booklet,

''When a Bird Sings''.

As you can see I had to use the

sewing machine

just a little bit

to make the wee pillows

but

you will be pleased to know that

my fabulously tidy sewing room

is still

fabulously tidy :)

Don't you love it

when a surprise package turns up in your letterbox.

I've had a couple of these lately

and

'wow'

don't they just change the whole flavour

of the day.

Inside this "oh so pretty" paper,

(which I will be recycling

'cos

it's far too nice not to)

were these adorable

little

handwarmers :)

I've filled them with rice,

stitched them closed,

and heated them up,

and

they are wonderful!!!

(and very very cute:))

Thank you so very very much

Simone

for such a gorgeous

and totally

unexpected

gift:)

My hands thank you too :)

And a few days earlier

these arrived ...

...aren't these colours simply delicious.

Makes you think of spring.

These are beautifully hand dyed

by another friend

I've met

through the blogging world.

She was telling me about her fabric dyeing,

and said she would send me a few pieces to play with.

My goodness,

a few pieces indeed -

it's a whole stack :)

Thank you so very much

Hylda :)

The picture doesn't do them justice,

girls,

they are absolutely gorgeous.

I have been thinking about a project

to show them off,

and I think I have settled on something,

but

not telling

quite yet!

I've been spoilt, ay.

Ta ever so muchly,

you are such lovely amazing friends :)

Happy stitching,

Jenny:)

My Sewing Room

I've done it!

Sorted my sewing room out.

But it took a lot longer than the one day

that I had set aside for it :(

I wasn't sure whether to post these pics,

'cos it will show the world,

just how much of a sewing room sloth

I had become.

And,

I confess,

these are actually some of the less slothy photos,

'cos the others were just too shameful :(

... but even so, it's pretty bad...

... badder still!!



... it's not good, ay!

Not good at all :(

I am hanging my head in shame as I write this.

This is part way through the process,

and yes,

I know,

it looks worse than ever,

but there really was some degree

of method

happening here.

I do remember the child coming into the room

about this stage,

and ....

backing out again,

very quietly!!!

I think he was genuinely petrified

I was going to ask him to stay and help!!!

But,

then the sun came out,

and three days later

here it is ...

 I found things I had forgotten about,

like my little button mannequin which I love...

...and all my needles in one place,

instead of here, there and everywhere...

Have to say,

it will be novelty

to be able to sew,

without first having to clear a space...



You know what the best thing was,

about the cleaning,

and sorting,

and tidying?

It's not that I can now see all my

''can't live without''

favourite fabrics

nicely

neatly

carefully

folded...



... and it's not that I felt

an incredible sense of

achievement

and elation

that I now have a fabulously tidy room.

Nope ...

the best thing was ...

the chocolate!!!

I know what you are thinking,

any excuse :)

But it's a fact,

I had to have it to maintain energy levels,

and my sanity :)

Sooooo ...

that's the little story

of how the sorriest looking sewing room

is now looking

much much much betterer:)

See you :) 

Jenny

P.S. I don't want to use it now,

though,

in case I make a mess:)





Stitchy Stuff

In case you were thinking

that I've just been wandering around

taking photos of frosty plants ...

I have proof

that I have been doing some other stitchy stuff :)

I've finished my

Chocolate Sampler...

... and I don't mind saying,

I'm pretty happy with it :)

And...

I've finished two cushions

that I started weeks ago.

In all honesty,

I ''lost'' them in the sewing room

for quite a while.

The state of my sewing room is shameful,

so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for rain

next Monday,

'cos that's the day

that I've decided is the right day,

to get in there

and

clean it up!!!

And if it's raining,

there's a better than fair chance

that I will clean it up,

'cos there will be no ''garden'' distractions :)

Not sure which of these is my favourite,

but I do know that I really really enjoyed making them,

and possibly

I think

I will make some more :)

My knitty ''thing'' is also finished,

and it's already ''in service''...



I thought I had enough of the plain blue coloured yarn

to do the complete shawl,

but when I got to the end of the yarn

it was pretty clear

that I needed to add more to it.

I raided the various baskets of wool I have scattered around

(sorry, tidily stored in my sewing room!!)

and decided it was a good chance to use up

lots of end bits -

you know -

those little part balls of yarn

that you can't bear to part with.

In retrospect,

after spending approximately four and a half hours

sewing in ''ends''

I thought,

give me variegated yarn any day,

but,

I have reduced the baskets of wool stash :)

And,

I have been stitching

some of Barb's gorgeous stitchery designs

from her fabulous new book

called

''When a Bird Sings''

which you can find here

or here.

I've used Nina's threads

in my favourite shade of ''chilli'' red

and stitched them on linen ...

... very very cute little birdies ...

... some of these I will be using in little home decorations,

so sweet :)

So, that's my lot for the moment ...

time to go put the kettle on,

and a slice of cake would be nice!

Chocolate of course :)

See you

Jenny



Perfect:)

I know I've said it before ...

...there is something about Central Otago,

especially Alexandra,

that is perfect.

It's the rugged beauty of the hills

that inspires me,

and the scent of thyme in the air.

So...Alexandra beckoned on Monday.

We got on the road early,

loaded with downhill bike,

gear,

camera,

and a picnic rug:)

Got to the top of the hill nice and early,

for the first of many runs,

and when I stepped out of the car,

the first thing I smelt was the thyme,

which surprised me

as I didn't think it would be all that noticeable

at this time of the year,

and the second thing I noticed,

was the air..

it was perfectly crisp and cold,

so cold that it really did make you almost gasp!

I managed to sneak off with my camera at times,

in between runs.

Things looked so pretty in their frosty coats.

Here's the child,

waiting perfectly patiently

for his mother

to stop taking pictures of

leaves

and

dead plants covered in frost :)

And yes,

I'm pretty sure I know what he was thinking ...

... but,

then,

this is me putting life and limb on the line

to get a shot of him ...



... and just to put things in perspective,

here's his feet!!!





And yes,

I'm pretty sure that you all know what I was thinking,

and it wasn't,

"isn't it a lovely day" :)

Before we sorted this shot

I did suggest that he keep a little to the left,

clearly he thought I meant

my left!!

We had a ''discussion'' as to what part of the word ''left''

did he not understand and his reply ...

"what are you worried about,

I was no where near you"

...ah, yeah right!!!

Just as well he was grinning from ear to ear

when he said that,

'cos I had to laugh :)

Had the most perfect day

in every sense:)

Not alot of stitching happening lately,

it's taken a bit of a back seat

to a huge shawl thingie I'm knitting,

that just seems to keep on growing,

and it's the perfect thing

 to be working on these chilly old nights.

Keep warm,

and keep left!!!

Jenny

If you were a penguin ....

Gotta say ...

if you were a penguin

then I guess you would be loving our Dunedin winter,

but last time I looked

I wasn't dressed in black and white,

and I sure don't remember

signing up for a trip to the Antarctic,

so what the heck!!

Yeah,

I know it's winter,

but there's winter,

and then there's winter,

and this part of winter is not supposed to happen

until next month

or the one after.

All I can say,

is

Brrrrrrrr!!!!

And so to celebrate winter,

I have had the pleasure

of the head cold from hell

for the past week!!!

Today though ... nearly back to firing

on all cylinders,

but this week really hasn't been much fun,

and as the child will all too quickly point out

to anyone who is listening,

I'm not the most joyous of creatures,

when the head is trying to explode

outwards through my ears,

and the sun don't shine!!!

But like I said,

today ...

the sun is nearly shining again,

in all respects:)

And in the mail today,

was one super gorgeous wee reason,

that the sun was shining.

A bunnie came to visit...

... well, actually, she's going to stay,

'cos I've been spoilt.

My dear friend,Elizabeth,

sent me this little treasure.

Thank you so much,

Elizabeth,

she is just the cutest little bunnie:)

Honestly,

I've hardly touched a knitting needle, crochet hook

or sewing needle these past couple of weeks,

but I did find this during the week...

...and I'm thinking it could be a fun project,

to strip it back,

repaint it,

and some new fabric.

I'll keep you posted :)

Now,

before I go,

over on the other blog

I've got another little giveaway happening,

so go have a wee look,

you might like the fabrics:)

Did you know that chocolate is good for curing a cold?

It is, truly ...

See you

Jenny :)