What a Holiday!

Enjoying a relaxing, lovely holiday in Hawaii with one of my daughters is where I have been for the last few weeks....
We spent most of our time at a resort on the island of Maui.... walking along the beach, swimming...

The occasional cocktail... or 2 

Then off to Waikiki for a few days.... Hurricane Ana heading for the islands luckily was down graded to a tropical storm so we decided that would be a good day to hit the shops - note the sandbags at the entrance to one of the shopping centres....

The sun came out and more swimming....

And more cocktails..... not that we needed the sun for those!

 The day after we arrived back in Sydney we headed off to the annual Garden Ramble in Bundanoon (Southern Highlands NSW) where each year the family get together for the weekend and "ramble" through private gardens open to the public..... just a  few of the many photos taken of the 8 gardens open this year....

 Unfortunately it was back to work last Wednesday so only a short week for the first week back ....everyone said I looked relaxed - I certainly felt that way!

Sad to say though I had no OPAM for the month of October but keep an eye out for next month.... Xmas is getting closer and I had better get stitching!

Happy Stitching
Asta

Catching Up

Just thought I'd check in before my holiday starts....

Caught my two "gingers" sleeping on the doona that was on it's way to be aired!

...they are nearly 10 years apart in age but get on "reasonably" well......

Meanwhile I decided to spend a part of the afternoon catching up with a favourite magazine and cuppa....

And...the hexies are still happening but tonight have decided to maybe do a little quilting on this before it gets made up into a bag - a pattern from Anni Downs which was bought in 2009.... it will be finished!

That's about it for this week.... will be back soon!

Till then "Happy Stitching"

Asta

FNWF

Well, here I am - nearly 11.30 Friday night and as I'm only just having a cup of tea thought I'd sit here at the computer and let you all know what I've been up to tonight.... 
Disregarding the projects I have already under way I thought I'd start another!... Gossip in the Garden... an earlier post saw me deciding on fabrics - so what better time to start than FNWF!
Getting started.....

....and a few hours later 21 hexagons are finished (only another 50 or so to go!).... and finally a cup of tea! Just got into a rhythm, you know -  just one more and I'll make that cup of tea.....maybe just one more.... 

We have a long weekend here in NSW so with an extra day, minus 1 hour when we put our clocks forward for daylight saving,  I may sit and do a few more hexies! Otherwise will be catching up with a few friends, finishing the spring clean of the house and starting to pack for my holiday in Hawaii - just over a week to go now! A busy week at work coming up first so am trying not to get too excited yet.....  

Will pop back before the weekend is over.... 

Happy Stitching

Asta

OPAM

Well, here it is the end of another month!... And I have 2 finishes for the month....

...have been working on a couple of other projects but unfortunately they are still UFOs :( 

This last weekend was spent spring cleaning the house and entertaining unexpected friends dropping in both days... but did manage to find time to start gathering fabrics together for this project.....

...it will definitely be a work in progress for some time - think I'll approach this project by getting the hexagons together then I can discard any fabric choice I don't think will fit in before I start using it on another block with more fiddly work - such as the applique ones.

Am off on holidays in a couple of weeks and will be busy at work getting everything up to date and at home.... well, trying to keep a spring cleaned house that way till I return.... so in other words not creating a mess - sitting quietly making hexagons sounds like the way to go!

Will be back soon to show you what progress, if any, I have made on my projects!

Happy Stitching

Asta

Snakes Alive!

Another weekend over and this is how my weekend finished off....

Now for those of you who live on properties this would not be anything unusual but ...for me, well.... I live in a small coastal town but do have a bush reserve behind me. I guess after 15 or so years living in this house this is only the 2nd snake I have encountered  - the first being a baby red-belly making it's way through my laundry...but this snake was BIG but harmless being a Diamond Python - though that doesn't make it any more pleasant to have around!! First saw it as it was peering over the gutter on my back veranda - made a quick dash inside to get the camera and then kept an eye on it till I knew it had come down and watched it disappear back into the reserve. I don't need to tell you that now doors will be kept closed at all times of the day and my 2 cats will become indoor cats for a while - whether they like it or not!!

On a craft related note.... I can show you my secret sewing projects now... the first was a present for a friend who I have known for 40 years! and who's "special" birthday we celebrated yesterday.....

Pattern by Rosalie Quinlan - "Friends Needle Case"

and another fabric basket like the ones I made earlier in the  year.... a gift for another friend....

Alas not a lot of other "crafting" has been happening but will get back to you as soon as I have something of interest to show you....but hopefully not the snake again!

Happy stitching

Asta

My Weekend...

Another couple of days spent at my sister's place in Bundanoon... a few months ago I took an Autumn photo of her front yard, just as a reminder here it is again....

I missed winter up there but here is the same tree waking up to spring.....

On the way home a new pair of shoes was purchased - perhaps they will do some walking during my upcoming holiday to Hawaii - the colour does look tropical!

And some some balls of wall from Jukejema Quilting Barn in Nowra - will be addded to my growing pile of wool to eventually be made into granny squares!...

Sunday morning was spent finishing reading my current book....

 ....... and later in the day some more secret sewing... that's about it for this weekend...

Happy Stitching

Asta

FNWF

Well....what was I up to last night.... some secret sewing so can only show a little bit of this one....

and this one......

The top one was finished last night and will be revealed soon.... the other one has still a bit of work left to do......

Hope everyone had a productive night.

Happy Stitching
Asta