Frosty mornings = sunny days

Frost on the grass, frost on the deck railing, but a lovely sunny day has followed, as it usually does after a frost.  There is a chill in the air and I think the temperature for today will climb to about 12, WOW! - winter is surely on its way now.  Yesterday was one of those gloomy, grey, cold days where  no matter what I did, my hands were still cold and I found it hard to hold the needle and stitch away.

So off to the kitchen to bake seemed the right idea, and some biscuits and neenish tarts made their way into the tins.  It is years since I made neenish tarts and with a little more practice and time I think I could get a more even job with the icing.



I have lots of stitching to do but I sometimes find it hard to work at night,  so I have found the perfect thing to do- making hexagons.  My piles are growing but I must get on to finishing some other things before the end of the month as well.

Easter Wishes

To you all

When I was looking at images on line, I just couldn't resist the cuteness of these bunnies, and the promise of the new life they remind us of at Easter time.
                                        Have a lovely day


Great news for us here in the South, the Highlanders have just beaten the Crusaders!  Woo-hoo!!

Another Year Gone

Well another year has passed me by, they seem to go so quickly these days.  When we were growing up the years seemed so much longer. 
This is the first time my birthday has fallen on Good Friday,  so it has been a quiet day spent with the family -  we did enjoy some nice blue cod for tea and instead of making the traditional hot cross buns for today, I made cinnamon scrolls instead ( from one of Bill Granger's cookbooks) 
I did spend some time spent tacking hexagons and enjoying the sun shining.  My family surprised me with a lovely new camera so I'm hoping that the quality and quantity of my photos should improve dramatically.  The battery is on charge so it should be all systems go tomorrow.

Where has the sunshine gone??

 After 4 miserable, grey, wet days I thought we were in for a change today as it looked like the sun was finally going to put in an appearance- not so unfortunately.  I know one should be grateful for the rain but we have now had enough, as the grass is fast turning into a bog down one side of the house.  Maybe we will see the sun tomorrow.   

There are lots of hexagons being sewn on The Vignette Hexagon Quilt Blog.  I have joined in the fun and while it took a while to decide on what fabrics to use I think I may have found some to try out.  I may have chosen not only the fabrics but also who will get the finished product as both my girls like the choices so far.

I saw a posting about Gramma Pie over at Too Many Eggs blog- it's something I remember Mum making many years ago for my nana.  Having not seen gramma for a long time, I tried it with some pumpkin and it didn't turn out too bad.  I even did the pastry as a lattice on top like mum used to.

The end of daylight saving

The Gleditsia with the last
of its leaves

The last day of daylight saving- the mornings have been getting darker and some of the trees in the garden are losing their leaves, while others still have flowers on them.  Winter can't be too far round the corner, but for now I will just enjoy the sunshine that today has brought.
I have a finish for April already- a new pegbag- not overly exciting but necessary, as the old one had had its day.

A Little Finish-just in time!

My little thread catcher

 I did it!  I didn't want to end the month without a finish.  
  I had a square left over from a shaggy quilt I made last year, so I bound  it and then made a little thread catcher following the directions  in Kerry  Swain's book.  When I am stitching I usually have a 'stable table' on my  lap and end up with quite a collection of thread ends on it as I stitch away, so this is just what I need to be a little tidier.  

Beware of tomatoes!
They are dangerous for
your stitching!

  It has been a slow month project wise, after an unfortunate encounter with a tomato earlier this month.  Imagine, one minute walking along talking to a colleague and the next falling flat the concrete--with the offending piece of tomato stuck to the sole of my shoe (someone obviously didn't want it on their lunch and had dropped it on the ground!)- Talk about a shock to the system-  I'm still a little tender in some spots and am carefully watching out for rogue tomatoes, as I don't want to repeat the experience!

Time is running out

The end of the month is nearly here and what do I have to show for OPAM, well nothing yet.  That is the problem with stitching away on blocks that are part of something larger!  I still have a few days left.   Meanwhile the days are getting colder and it has been a wet windy day.  Such a change from yesterday when we went to a wedding held in a garden where it was so hot that a few of us have a slight touch of sunburn.  Who would have thought after the weather we have had here of late!
It's too wet to be in the garden to take photos- there are flowers on some of our evergreen trees while the leaves are turning yellow on some of the deciduous ones- so we certainly know that Autumn is well and truly here. (Some might say that we are still waiting for the summer that never arrived this year!)
I'd best make the most of the next few nights and stitch up a storm and see what I can finish by the 31st!
Enjoy your stitching!