My SSCS...

I feel very lucky to have received such beautiful gifts in my SSCS again this year. My swap partner remained a secret right up until Christmas Day when I opened my main parcel. Thank you so much Laila Jacobs-quilt...I love what you have made for me! The stitcheries in my table runner have the neatest, tiniest stitches! Also in my parcel was some pretty Tilda fabric, purse, ribbon and choccy.
Thank you also to Chooky elf for all the time you put into this swap...my Christmas is made even more special by having such beautiful handmade gifts to open Christmas Day!

Bye for Now

Lisa

iPad Playing

Not sure how this is going to turn out...I have been playing with a photo app on the iPad. I just snapped the first thing in front of me with the iPad and it happened to be my Blythe to see how it looked in the frame.

I think I am going to have some fun now experimenting with frames!lol

Bye For Now

Lisa

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!!! I am a bit behind with my posting so I will try and catch up in the next couple of days.
I actually managed to do some sewing just before christmas for gifts and even made some soap...both are tutorials I found in blogland...


I tried out Bev's hard lotion bar soap...and I just love it! Fantastic for our dry sensitive skin. Thank you so much Bev for sharing your recipe with us!

I also made 3 of these gathered clutches...2 for gifts and one for me! A tutorial by noodle-head. Be warned though, you can never make just one of these! lol!

 

 

And here's my new toy from Santa and I love it!
I am enjoying seeing everyones swap gifts around blogland and will share my lovely sscs gifts in my next post!
Bye For Now
Lisa 

My SSCS has arrived!!!

Yesterday the postie delivered my sscs parcel. I waited for my daughter to come home from school so we could open my ornament parcel together.
And look what was inside....


the most cutest, adorable little owl!!

here he is hanging out with my other ornaments from previous sscs swaps

but it seems that my swap partner is remaining very sneaky and not revealing herself yet!lol!
So a BIG THANK YOU to my swap partner...I LOVE my little owl!!!

And I will end this post with some flowers picked from my garden 

Thank you also to chooky for all your organising and time you have put into this swap!!!

Bye for Now
Lisa

Have You...

been putting up your christmas decorations?? I had very good intentions of doing it all this arvo, but my christmas tree lights arn't working and none of the shops here have them in stock so I have to wait until I have a trip to the big smoke before I can put up the tree!


My handmade decorations made over the years...some very special that have been received in swaps 

 

 

 I
I have been spending a bit of time lately at my weeping rose as I just put up some fairy lights (You can only just see the lights in this pic) and also dead heading the old flowers...and each time I am at my rose, a Gold Finch flies out..i have been searching for a nest for days and with hubbies help today we found...

a little Gold Finch Nest...I could  see at least 2 eggs. I will try and get some more pics later...I don't like disturbing the mother too much.

This photo was taken from the back deck...it was warm and very windy here today and you can see the smoke in the horizon...we have had a few fires around the state and things are drying off so quickly.

This is my favourite spot to sit and we will hopefully (weather permitting) be having christmas lunch out of the deck.
Are you all ready for Christmas??

Bye For Now
Lisa 

Checking in...

Hard to believe that it's been over 3 weeks since I last posted...I have had a few computer issues but hopefully all is fixed now.


The roses are all in full bloom

even the vegie patch is doing well...this pic was taken a week ago and the tomatoes have grown heaps since then 

Last week I went with my sister to her newly purchased  house and property. The gardens are just beautiful!. I love this stone shed next to the vegie garden and could see it being the perfect back drop for a quilt photo shoot

  
This is one of the garden paths...we removed the biggest Diosma shrub on the right of the path. Yes wished I had done a before shot

The previous owner left behind some of her artwork...isn't this lovely?? This Kookaburra is painted on one side of a terracotta pot and a Cockatoo the other
I am sure that Jane will share more photos of her beautiful garden once she gets settled in.

Bye For Now
Lisa

Garage Sale...

Saturday we called in to have a look at a local Garage Sale, and boy did I find some lovely things...


this gorgeous pitcher set in blue and another one in cream/apricot that is slightly smaller (in pic below)

a whiskey decanter, ceramic picture plate in background

a drawing of an old house here in town which was once the bakery many years ago...I would walk past this old house on my daily walks and dream of it being my very own patchwork shop and could easily see quilts displayed on the front verandah...nice to dream!!!lol

and I couldn't wait to see how my flowers looked in my new pitcher set

I also bought a couple of wrought iron wall designs, which I will have to share some photos of next time.

I have to apologize also for not replying to some comments on previous posts. We are having a few problems with our desktop computer and I can't send any emails...so frustrating!

Enjoy your week!!
Lisa  

Gorgeous morning here, so I had to do some snapping with my camera...

the beauty of a single rose

This is where I am going to go with my coffee after I finish this blog post
I have had Iris' in the garden now for a couple of years and this is the first time they have flowered

 

my little herb garden to the right has taken off

 

 

And always my little helper at my side

Enjoy your day!
Lisa

I was lucky to be given this pitcher and plate yesterday and couldn't wait to fill it with flowers from the garden to see how it looked!

 

 

 

Very happy to have my Lilac flower this year...last year it was overcrowded and never flowered but thanks to hubby and his pruning we have flowers!!!

Enjoy your week!
Lisa

Flowers and a new toy

How quickly these weeks seem to be passing and it's hard to believe it's been a week since I last posted...it only felt like a couple of days

 
a few flowers from my garden...so nice to have some roses start to open

we have been undecided over the last couple of years whether we should buy an expresso coffee machine...do you get the same barista quality of coffee at home as you do in the coffee shops???? And we love a good coffee here, so on Friday we took take the plunge and purchased a expresso coffee machine. And th results were amazing, and our flat whites were the same if not better than coffee shops!!!

so heres the new toy...with a built in coffee grinder. They do tell me that the secret to a good coffee is the freshly gound coffee

and tonight tea...peppered prawn steak with homemade chips. Can you tell we like a good steak here!lol!

Enjoy your weekend!
Lisa