Italian

Browsing through this Italian cookbook inspired me for last nights dinner for 9 .... almost all the family home makes for a great occasion .... an Italian feast and a late Mothers Day/Birthday celebration !!

The makings of veal parmesan ....   after having made fresh pesto dip and a tangy lemon raspberry cake for dessert !! 

Someone (with the flu I might add) having a paddle on his new paddle board with the kids ...

Some lovely birthday flowers from my husband ...

Gorgeous scented hyacinths in a glass bowl from a friend ...

A perfect rose ....

Needlework ladies and a special birthday gift ....

Something very special came my way on my birthday .... a mini ipad .... there will be no stopping me now .... with this lovely red cover ....

It will be a very handy little gadget for me .... always on the move !!

Olga bought her beautifully finished little quilt to show us on Wednesday ... it is a Bareroots design and looks gorgeous !

A close up of some of the blocks ....

And some more .....

And Shirley F has finished off another lovely bag and a little mug bag to match ....  a lady can never have too many bags I'm told !!

Birthday cushion

I am very fortunate to be part of a gorgeous online group of stitching ladies and as I had a birthday this week I was blessed with the most gorgeous gift ....

This amazing cushion/chair caddy for my comfort and my sewing bits and pieces arrived from Kerri (my designated maker for my birthday) and what a gorgeous gift it is ....

These pockets will be great to fill with my sewing pieces and the stitching and fabrics are just divine !

And I absolutely LOVE the fabrics !!

And I was spoilt with some yummy chocolate (Toblerone) and a cute little notepad !   Thanks so much ladies ... I LOVE my gift and am very lucky to call you all friends! 

A very cute little gift was received from Sylvia also .... this cute little pincushion house from Yoko Saito's book which I gave Sylvia for her birthday ... along with some lovely fabrics too !! 

I have lots more birthday celebrations to share with you including our trip to Melbourne on the weekend .... next post !!    Thankyou all for your lovely wishes via email, text and phone, and lots of cards to celebrate!! 

Needlework Finishes

Again there was some lovely work from the Needlework ladies this week ... Shirley W has been crocheting up a storm with these gorgeous motifs from the latest issue of "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine ... love the colours !

Kereen has finished off this gorgeous bright cushion ... all stitched in 6 strands of embroidery thread ... again I love the colours !

Jenny has finished off her cushion from our "Stitching in the Hills" Retreat last year .... just in time for this years Retreat .... coming up again in August 2013!! 

Shirley F has made this cute little stitching bag to carry all her bits and pieces ....

And Jenni R has finished off this cute "under the sea" quilt ...

A close up of one of the blocks ....

David's Birthday celebrations and Back to Needlework!!

The blogging front has been quiet as I have been in organising mode .... surprise 60th birthday organising for my gorgeous husband, David !!   After spending Anzac Day in Sydney we headed off for a "quiet" weekend away (just the two of us ... or so he thought) .... and he was very surprised as all our four children and their partners jumped out and greeted us as we arrived at Lake Crackenback!!   We had a fantastic weekend away with some very special family time .... which we needed after the last six weeks at our house!!!    Highlight of the weekend was that we all climbed to the top of Mt Kosciuszko ... here we are at the top with David nearly being blown off in the wind ... and yes it was freezing!!

Beanies and gloves definitely indicate the temperature here .... freezing but sunny which was a bonus!

Afternoon tea at the Eagles Nest restaurant at the top of Thredbo on the way back down the mountain .... a 13km walk in total ... David, Andrea, Elliott, Nadia, Sam, Ashleigh, Tim, Chelsea and Kye !!

Before going away we spent Anzac Day in Sydney with David marching with his dad's photo and medals and all of us supporting him along the way ... David's dad Frank served in New Guinea ... it was an emotional but amazing day ...

And yesterday Needlework started again for this term ... Jenny has made the Cancer Council Daffodil tea cosy which is very cute ...

And a lovely car quilt for her little nephew ... lucky boy ...

And after completing a fabric dye workshop with Margaret, Jenny made these two lovely table runners and then quilted them ... just gorgeous !

The colours of the dyed fabrics are beautiful !

A close up of Jenny's quilting ... beautiful work !!    I haven't stitched anything in the past six weeks, but will get my creativity happening again this weekend hopefully!! 

"Stitching on the Lake" Week 2

Sylvia and I had another wonderful day on Saturday with all the ladies at "Stitching on the Lake" in Canberra .... lots of smiling faces, amazing food and even a few stitches completed!!   Here are some glimpses ..... a wonderful display by Hobbysew Belconnen of Lynette Andersons beautiful fabrics and patterns ...

Sylvia's finished version of Anni Downs lovely Angel Sewing Case ...

This bundle of Anni's new fabrics just had to come home in my bag with me ...

Anne finished off this lovely project from last year and added fabric borders to make a framed quilt ... it look fabulous ... well done Anne!

Paddy cruised in wearing her version of Lynette Andersons lovely bag ... the must have fashion accessory for the season! 

Coralee's version of my embroidered sewing basket from our Retreat last August ... beautiful!

Some lovely finished pieces by Anni Downs .. Heather has made this gorgeous version!

The food was amazing .... again!   

Mmmmmmm ..... delicious !

Happy ladies stitching!

And again .... more smiling faces ...

Lots more projects on the way from these ladies ....

And special thanks again to Lynne (master chef) and her very able assistant Maree for such an amazing morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea .... it was scrumptious!   thankyou xx 

More "Stitching on the Lake" and frankie ....

A few more photos from "Stitching on the Lake" to share with you .... and there was lots of inspiration from the ladies .... lots of beautifully finished pieces .... like these lovely christmas stockings and biscornus from last year !

One version of Anni Downs cute little pencil case ....

A Lynette Anderson design ... very cute also ....

Lynn's scissor keeper ....

More lovely hexagons and beautiful stitchery ....

I love this pencil case and will now have to put mine together as the stitching is already complete .... just need to find the time !!

A pincushion finish from last year !

And a cute bag that says it all ....

We were really pleased to hear yesterday that our son's name had finally been engraved on the cenotaph in our home town ... as we had to take frankie to work with us yesterday (because we couldn't bear to leave her at home) we took her down to visit ... she was pretty impressed to see Elliott's name up there !!