My first posy in our new home

I have flowers again.....we are back on track and things are good in the world again (and this is in January...wait till next spring!!!)

Look whose come to stay for at least 6 weeks.

.....and today I had to have a cortisone injection in my heal.  When I walked in the clinic they said that they would first start with the nerve blocker.....and I said "I am not having a baby"......but I had to have the nerve blocker anyway...for which I am eternally grateful for.  Ever felt like you had one big major fat foot?

Christmas - we went spanish

So thought that we would try something a little different. This year Christmas was in Melbourne so we celebrated Christmas Eve and I made Spanish paella

 

 

And in the morning we had Spanish omelette.....

In addition lots of Harcourts pear cider was consumed. (of special note I can happily say that there was no gastro to speak of this year so we all enjoyed our food.)

........and the annual Gingerbread house competition between the boys and girls was on again.


The first exhibit was the boys entry......structurally sound, yet chaotic - and featuring for the first time in 2014 the liquorice robot on the right hand side of the house - with a Jaffa on it's head. ( I suspect he is still in the house somewhere hidden from the clean-up campaign manager - Mummy)

 

 and next we have the girls entry.  This year, in recognition of the cold weather we had for Mummy's birthday, we had snow.....ascetically very pleasing with great colour coordination and patterns...of particular note on the side of the house this year we have a blue M&M lap pool.... just like Paul Bangays!)

I did try to blog in December

So much has been happening....I don't know where to start.

November was a big month. We built 4 massive garden beds. My BAM was brilliant...though he was not always happy about it. At the end of the first solid weekend of working he was teetering on the edge of fatigue and he didn't know weather he wanted to laugh or cry....so he started with what we call the Dad jokes...always a good diffuser.

The best two were:
1)"Hey Love I have an idea of a name for our place...'EMOR'..."Emor? I say" ..."Yes it's Rome spelt backward....as in - you think Rome WAS built in a day."

.....and to understand the second you have to understand just how much I love Paul Bangay and his Gardens....anyhow
2) "Love we have just done 'Bangay in a day!!!'"

Personally I think Paul Bangay is every husband nightmare...but that doesn't change how much I love him.

And speaking of which I got to go to Stonefields on my birthday.  Stonefields is Paul Bangays home and garden.  And look what happened while I was there:

and also

and look no pool fence to speak off....

(just how does he get away with it...he obviously doesn't live in the City of Greater Bendigo.)

By the way...it was 11 degrees and raining on that day (my birthday...and I have never had a birthday that was so cold....and I write this today 6 weeks later and it was 44 degrees today...and they say there is no climate change!!!)

December came and I was busy with the finishing the planting of the garden beds, trips to Melbourne (and we saw the Myer windows), christmas trees, making crochet star cushions for the boys Prep teacher (oops forgot to take a picture).  I used Doren's pattern from Just Do ,

twins 6th birthday,

 

 

and awards ceremonies at work  (Yes there are two different ones!!!! and it was a really big deal to get the Vice Chancellors award!!! the first picture)

 

 

For my Birthday and Christmas I was a very lucky girl and got two new fantastic lenses for my camera so I will be taking lots of photo's this year (and blogging more now that I think we have the internet back).

Now remember I was telling you about visiting Stonefields......here's something to refresh your memory

so now you need to project into the future in a water rich world...

A child free weekend...

For the first time in I don't know how long it was all about me.  It felt very strange and very unusual and I didn't rest easy.....all weekend I felt like I had forgotten something.

I had a girls weekend away in Canberra at Floriade 2013.  I have been to Canberra so many times for work but only this time as a tourist.  There was so much to see and do and we ran out of time. 

The flowers at Floriade were excellent.

 

 

 

 

And we just loved the gnome display.....there were hundreds of them

 

 

 

 

In amongst touring the galleries we went to the National Arboretum.  It was amazing ...it will be fascinating to go back in 5 years time when the trees have grown some more...it also has one of the best kids playgrounds I have seen.

 

Think we will have to come back and bring all the children as well and maybe even go skiing on the way.....that is if we drive.....and that will take some convincing......but a good three days in the snow skiing could swing it for me.

I think we have a solution to the internet problems here

Finally I am back.  We have had some issues with the Internet and I am not sure they are resolved but we are trying something new.  Fingers crossed.

So my absence has been, in part due to Internet and in part due to being very busy.  I have not known which way was up for a while.  Even one of the kiddelinks knew how I felt.

We have been getting some big projects finished around the house .......

We have another one about to start this week or next.  The carport.

I have gotten busy with crochet again.  I have been making some of these.  I have used the patterns from VendulkaM 

I am about to start making Christmas presents.  Thought I might make the teachers the sprocket pillow from cluck cluck sew.

Also been enjoying country life:

Sunrises (because I am awake at dawn - lack of blinds will do that)

 

Bonfire nights (cleaning up all the dead wood that has gathered around the place)

 

 

And all walks up to the top of the hill...all the rain we have been having  it is so very green..won't be like this in January

 

 

Progress

Yippee we now have a home phone...but no Internet...that is still WIP.

So in the mean time when I have not been able to use the Internet from home I have been busy.

I have started some new quilt blocks.

I have been hand quilting.

 

 

I have been putting the binding on this quilt ....

 



I have been making more of these blocks.

 

 

I have also been making a roman blinds for the house.

I have found the fabric for my curtains in the lounge/dining area (photos to follow). This was no easy achievement - as it took hours of pouring over material swatches. I have settled on a white background (no surprises there) and a taupe outline drawing of a flower. It has a Laura Ashley feel to it. Photos to follow soon. I have decided not to make the curtains as I got a good deal with the making part and the thought of actually handling curtains that have 20m of fabric in them was a bit intimidating.....


....and the best bit of all I have now got a sewing room. (part 1..the other half photo didn't work out)

Outside we have planted our orchard (27 fruit trees at this stage)

and we are excavating and making terraces. This will then let me get on and plant up my garden. I have also ordered about 30 standard roses for the terraces and "Kew Gardens"

We also have grass on the croquet lawn (let me just qualify this..I have never and probably will never play Croquet - this was a joke that has stuck. I spent 12 hours raking this area of dirt  -  to make it smooth for the kids to play on..it was so smooth that you could play croquet...hence the name). Now having explained that I can tell you it is no longer smooth. My BAM in his new red toy (tractor) has carved up the area. NOT HAPPY JAN!!!