The Outside Is Done

Today I'm off to Brisbane to spend 2 days and lots of money at the Stitches and Craft Show. I'm picking my Mum and Dad up at Gympie and they're coming with me. We are spending 3nights with my DB Ken and DSIL Lyn and on Fri and Sat us girls are hitting the stalls. I've got my list and the credit card.

I'm especially after a large cutting board mine is slowly dying, the poor thing has been constantly used since I started patchworking way back and is screaming for mercy. It is A3 size but this time I'm looking for A2 or bigger. Wish me luck because that size is not readily available.

We will leave Bris sometime on Sunday, completely exhausted and head back to Gympie where
I'll spend the night while Mum and I once again pore over our goodies before heading for home Monday morning.



This is the front of our home. When we bought the property 5acres of thigh high grass and a house that needed someone to love it. We did, warts and all. We have restumped - there was a 12" fall from back to front, reroofed, pulled walls out inside and then there is the exterior additions.

We enlarged the small back verandah and added the side verandah which you are looking at. We then shifted the front stairs to this verandah because the driveway comes up to this side and everyone was driving up to my back door which I didn't want. I took this photo from the bottom of the roundabout. We haven't finished yet, the railings still have to be built but in the meantime Ian has put green corrugated iron up as a barrier to stop us falling over the edge. My little Molly (the Aus silky) dropped over one day, at the highest part of course. Fell on her feet, shook herself off and continued on as if nothing had happened. Boy were we lucky! I could see huge vet bills ahead.


This is the 99.5% finished shed. Just have to install 2 downpipes and then Ian is off to council to make an appointment for the final inspection. Then we can start the interior work. Yesterday he made the comment that I should be in before Chrissy. I'm hoping to be in by Sept/Oct.


Now friends who haven't seen the property have been saying that I should share my shed with hubby. No way. Because this is a photo of his shed, 4 bays with another 4 bay carport thingy across the back of it. That huge structure on the side is for our caravan, which you can just see in the background of the house photo. Why so big I hear you ask? Because our van is an offroad so is fairly high and when Ian backs it up the hill into its home the back end lifts even higher, so we had to have the shed opening high enough to compensate.

That's all from me for this posting. I'm off to Stitches and Craft. la la la. I'm off to Stitches and Craft. la la la. I'm off to Stitches and Craft. la la la.

It's almost done!

It's now Sunday night, Phil went back home to Brissie with his wife Kym late this morning and I reckon he's saying "thank goodness that job is finished." Ian and Phil finally finished the roof and ridge capping, complete with whirly birds and 2 roller doors on Thursday afternoon. These two photos were taken on Wed arvo.

The photos aren't very good as I took them from the back patio of the house in the late afternoon. These digital cameras are good but I don't think they can compensate for everything, like bad judgement on where to take photos from.

Friday was Ian's 59th birthday and they celebrated by NOT working on the shed. They headed off in the ute to find out where the back roads around here end up and they found quite a few goat tracks and some very, very basic homes, some not more than hovels on their tour. The properties are tucked in the most out of the way places and you would need tractors to get in and out of the gate in wet weather.

Talking about weather — we had rain. Woke up through the night to the sound of rain on the roof, nice and steady and we checked the rain guage this morning and we had 36mls, that's almost 1½" in the old speak. The grass was turning green as we looked at it. My babies (the bantam chooks) looked very bedraggled this morning, what's wrong with animals that they want to stand out in the rain when they have a perfectly good house to shelter in.

After Kym and Phil left I got back into my (temporary - don't you love that word?) sewing room and cut out 80 x 2½" squares to make into 20 4patch units and 160 x 2 7/8" squares to make into 40 flying geese units, which when added to the rectangles and the other squares which have already been cut will end up looking like this.

This Ohio Star is one of 80 that my SIL Lyn and I are making for my brother Trevor's 50th birthday quilt. We are well in the running to have it finished on time. Trevor's birthday is the 19th October. At the moment I'm playing dumb because he keeps telling me that his SIL is making him a quilt. Lyn has only been quilting for a couple of years and so far has turned out some fantastic quilts, while I have been quilting for over 20 years and still haven't made Trev a quilt of any description. Gawd, you'd think in all that time I could've at least made him a lap quilt.

Ian took it easy for the rest of today, he had a 2 hour nap, before getting up to watch a Sunday afternoon movie. Don't ya just love retirement!

Progress Report

The shed now has walls, my personal door into the best sewing room a girl could have, gutters ..... but

no roof. That photo was taken this morning, I can now tell you that ½ of the roof is on. YEAH!!!

You just can't trust fellas, can you? No matter how old they are they have to leave their signature somewhere.

Tanee's Pressies

This the shaggy quilt I made for Tanee for everyday use. You know, all those lovely things that babies seem to do.

A close up.

... and here's Layla, Tanee's first teddy. Made by me of course, knitted using Ostrich wool.

Progress

Well the fellas have been at it (erecting the shed, that is) a week tomorrow and I'm really pleased with their progress though Ian thought they would be further along, but he's forgetting how big this shed is. 18m x 6m. I'm sure that when Garage World previously erected it in Brisbane they took a week to do it and that was 2 blokes who new exactly what they were doing, and not making do with bits.

Last Tuesday Ian and Phil made an executive decision not to put any windows in, I'm not really worried either way, cause I'll just turn on my daylight fluros for the time being. I know that further down the track 2 sliders and a double decker set of double hung windows will be added to my sewing room.
You know what kids are like when they have to go on a long road trip "Are we there yet?" That is me though I'm saying "Can I move in yet?"

That space at the other end will be the personal door into the sewing room. The bays this end are for 2 cars and the third one is for storage, all that stuff that you seem to accumulate over the years, don't want to throw it away because you might need it.

This is the pair hard at work . Ian (left) and Phil, actually Phil is holding the iron while Ian is doing the cutting. This piece goes above the roller door.

This is my April Churn Dash block for swapping. I should have bought more of the dark purple, I just love it.

Katie phoned this morning, in agony again, the natropath's special diet for gallstones didn't work completely and she had another attack this morning. Funny how it seems to run in families. So far, her Dad (skinny rake that he is), me, her oldest sister and her grandmother have all have their gallbladder and stones removed, her Aunty Jen (my DS) is waiting to have the operation done in the next few months. Luckily Pete was home and took care of the babies while she took a strong pain killer, had a really hot bath and went back to bed for a nap. Katie seems to have all the symptoms, severe pain, vomiting, cramps — the lot poor kid.

Back to the littlies Dedication. This is Pete's Mum Lorraine trying to hang on to Dylan. Tanee doesn't mind getting her photo taken, but there's a pile of kids for Dylan to play with so hurry up. That mauve top really suits you Lorraine, but I already told you that. Katie bought Tanee a special outfit, embroidered jeans and a lovely striped top. Dylan wore a shirt that his Aunty Lyn gave him with a new pair of jeans. I think the cuff was rolled up about 4 times.

Lots happening - again

What a fantastic weekend, a dedication of my babies and the shed stands tall. This first photo is of DD3 Katie holding Taneesha (Tanee) with DH Pete on left holding Dylan with the Godparents of both children, Caroline and David standing in the middle. Selwyn said a lovely service for them at Kate & Pete's home at Gin Gin.

This next photo is of my two youngest grandaughters, DD1 Sharyn's youngest Jasmine who just turned 5 and Tanee. You can just see in the background one of the horse cushions I made for Katies birthday last February.

Sunday morning early Ian headed off to Brisbane to pick up Phil who has 2 weeks off work to help Ian with erecting the shed. While he was in Brissie Ian also picked up my new desk. It comes courtesy of SCQ Stacey at Springwood and is in really good condition and will be treated very lovingly, thank you Stacey. Would you believe Stacey does patchwork with my DSIL Lyn at Kuraby, small world isn't it?

This next photo is the rising of the shed. Monday morning with DH Ian and Phil hard at work.

Wednesday morning - they have been busy. The 3 bays closest to you is going to be my sewing room. We mightn't have enough iron of one colour for the walls so I've opted for cream on the road end and far side and green for this end and closest wall.

What a Weekend

Oh boy am I b---- (tired). We had a lovely service for the dedication of Katie and Peter's littlies (Dylan and Taneesha) yesterday with about 40 family and friends coming along to help celebrate. My whole contribution to the party was making the meatballs, crunchy chicken strips and stuffed eggs but that was all, Katie made the rest - sausage rolls, filo triangles, mini quiches and then there were cheerios, dips and savoury biscuits. Katie defrosted the top tier of their wedding cake to use as the christening cake. It looked lovely and tasted very ok. I like mud cake but I like it even better when it is covered in cream. I didn't get to cover it in cream, instead I had cream covered pavlova and fruit which Katie's DMIL Lorraine made on Friday - yummy!!

Yesterday morning I was woken by two little grandies crawling into bed with me for cuddles, Jasmine 5 and Tamina 6. We ended up having a tickling fight. I won!

I put a beef curry into the crockpot in the morning, I knew that I wouldn't be wanting to cook tea for 7 of us last night, but we didn't get home until 8pm and we'd all eaten so much at the party that we didn't want any tea, so this morning I froze the lot into 3 containers to have whenever I feel like it. Love freezers.

DD1 Sharyn and Shane with their combined family left for home in Morayfield just after lunch today and on the way home they were calling in on my parents in Gympie. Sharyn phoned tonight to say Dad looked good. He had cataracts removed on his left eye last Thursday. I was a bit worried as to how they would hold his shoulder while the eye was being done, but Dad said they completely taped it in place before they put him out to it.

Ian left for Brisbane this morning just after 7.30 and arrived back home at 7.09 this evening. He picked up my new desk - didn't I tell you about my new desk. Stacey from scquilters had a large desk to give away and I needing another one put my hand up and was the lucky recipient. Would you believe it Stacey quilts with my DSIL at Kuraby.

Phil came back with Ian and tomorrow is S Day. S for Shed. It's rising from the ashes - well there isn't really any ashes but hopefully tomorrow they will get the framework up, that is if we can work out my shorthand.