The Polar Blast continues....

So I am the lucky one in our family to have another day at home...Yippee!  Everyone else has had to go to work.  My plans for the day include reading the latest Homespun magazine (which just arrived) and doing some more stitching.  What a way to spend the day...and then there will just be 3 days left of work for the week!  It is still very cold today and more snow is forecast but all we have had this morning here is rain- while the snow is falling up in the hill suburbs.  Here are a couple of more shots from yesterday- it was too cold to stay outside for long...

It's snowing, so visibility is low!

The snowplough is there, trying to clear the edges of the road

Bar-b-que anyone? Not in this weather!

Snow.... So what will I do today?

With the day off work due to the snow, the big question is what will I work on first??
It's been a relaxing start to the day- not having to rush off to work (and knowing I will still be paid for the day!)- it's much warmer too at home- the temperature outside is supposed to be 3 degrees celsius but with the wind chill factor it will be in the negatives.  
The dogs have been out having some fun in the snow... running here and there...enjoying it while it lasts.   It may last a day or two, just depends on whether any more falls today....

out and about, footsteps and paw prints criss-crossing in the snow ...

our golden retriever,  a quick shot while he was still 

There is no travel out of the city as the roads are closed, even the airport is shut.  So what is a girl to do but sit back and enjoy the extra stitching time... 

Catching up..... and how much snow will fall today?

Another block stitched with the photo taken in the late afternoon sun the other day.  That leaves just 3 more to finish.  Block number 11 is all but finished, but I won't be taking the photo outside today.  The forecast for us in the South was for snow showers beginning today and that is just what we have.  It's the middle of August and Spring is officially only 2 weeks away (if you are counting calendar months, not though if you look at the weather!)
The snow has been coming in bursts so that it starts to lay on the ground but then it stops and melts away before the next lot comes.  It is supposed to last into tomorrow and be worse than what we had 3 weeks ago, so will have to wait and see what happens as the day goes on.  One thing that it brings with it though is chilly weather...  
So I have done some baking today (Neenish Tarts and Raspberry Coconut slice)  I use a recipe my Aunt used for the slice - every time I make it, it brings back the memories of my Aunt who lived in Forbes and our visits to see her there.  If we went at Easter time we used to leave at about 3 am on Good Friday to get a good run out of Sydney, stop in Bathurst at about 6 am where the Lion's Club had their refreshment caravan by the bridge, and then carry on arriving in Forbes about 9 am in those days.  My Aunt always had a cooked breakfast waiting for us all... it was the best of times catching up and seeing her,  and relaxing in the country before we had to return to the bustle of the city afterwards... 


WOO HOO- have just found out that because of the snow conditions I'll be having the day at home tomorrow, no going to work- a 3 day weekend, what a bonus!!!  
It has continued to snow on and off throughout  the day and it is quite thick in parts of the city- it is expected to freeze overnight so they have made the call already! 
(Seriously the roads will be a nightmare in the morning)

A Lucky Surprise....

When I got the mail in today there was an envelope from Australia with..... a copy of the English Patchwork and Quilting magazine which I was lucky to receive as a result of a giveaway on Jeannette's blog, (where she was celebrating the fact that her blog had been profiled in a recent issue of the magazine.)   Thank you Jeannette!

I have had a quick look through it and there is a lot to read- 12 new designs with a profile of each quilter to accompany them.  Here are 2 that particularly appealed to my husband...

I can see why, as the first one has elephants in it and it is the way that the colours that have been used in the second one...

I had a photo of another Tis The Season block I have finished but it didn't upload with the others and now the battery is flat ....so tomorrow...

Two more....

Another two blocks stitched and I have another one nearly done- that will leave just 3 blocks to stitch and I will have the 13 blocks done.  All that will remain then is to add the borders and put them together- I'm feeling more confident that I can achieve this by the end of September!  Fingers crossed...


(I'm focusing all my stitching energy on my Tis The Season blocks until they are finished - no being sidetracked by other projects for now...)

Just keeping on stitching...

I'm still stitching away on my blocks for Tis The Season so here is a photo to show 3 more of the blocks...

The rest are at various stages of completion.  I have found it easier to do the running stitches at night when it's a bit harder to focus and save some of the other details for when the light (or should I say my ability to focus!) is better.
I thought I had the borders worked out but now am not so sure if I want to do it that way- so I am going to wait till I finish all the stitching so I can try a few things out.
It's been a lovely sunny day again- I just have a few things to do before I settle down to watch a bit of the rugby and then Sons of Anarchy tonight.  (All the things my husband likes to watch and which draw you in as well...)

Package in the Mail

Sitting on my doorstep as I went to go to work this morning was a cardboard box (from Hancocks, just what I had been waiting for)- as much as I wanted to open it then, all I could do was put it inside and head off to work.   Home again and straight into the box, looking for the quilt kit that came at such a good price, but what came out was this, something covered in layers and layers of bubble wrap.

It took a while to unwrap the layers to reveal this...

a cute tin 'suitcase' with part of the design for the quilt on it, 'Faith' by Howard Marcus, Collection For a Cause, Moda Fabrics.  I wasn't expecting it to be packaged in something like this- so what a lovely surprise.  When I opened the case there was the fabric kit all nicely packaged..

Aaaah what gorgeous fabrics.

Some people might be wondering when I think I might get around to making this quilt when I have so many other things in the pipeline (or still just a part of my "I want to do that one day!!) but sometimes you just have to get things when you see them because they won't be there the next time you look ( and at less than half the original price and with the exchange rate improving all the time, it would need to be a stronger person that me to resist!)