A Rainy Day.......

A lovely rainy day.........

Toast and magazines in bed..........

A very lazy Sunday morning............

Early In The Garden.........

Penstemon

I drew the very short straw and was the nominated parent to get number two child to his 6 a.m. job start this morning!!  So this means I have been on the go for over two hours already today and it's just 7.30 a.m. on Saturday morning.  The washing is on and I a beginning to contemplate my second coffee of the morning!!

It is quite nice to be in the peaceful early morning alone - before anyone else wakes up.  I have had a little wander in the garden, even though there isn't much to see out there at the moment.

Foxglove

It has also given me some time to play with a very lovely new camera that Cameron purchased while he was away.  All my dreams have come true.  What a lovely camera to experiment with.

Lavendar

We have had some lovely rain again this week, just a little, but enough to make everything look a little happier again.  Oh, to have a few days rain.  I can't remember the last time it rained for even one day.

Seduction

Back to school and back to work went well. Next week sees the beginning of dance lessons, choirs etc., a busy time no doubt. 

I am glad the weekend is here, it seemed such a long week with a Public Holiday on Tuesday.  A trip to the hairdresser this morning and then who knows what the rest of the weekend will bring.  I for one am looking forward to it.

Mon Sac du Marché.........

Finished..........

How wonderful it feels to have finished a project started only a few weeks ago.  I had shown you all a little earlier this beautiful bag in its early stages.  The stitching completed while on a weeks holiday at the beach.  A Honey Bun and half a metre of fabric later.......Tah Dah.......

A lot of sewing of all those strips seemed to take quite awhile.  I dragged the ironing board into the studio for this one otherwise I would have been like a yoyo backwards and forwards pressing each seam as I went.

Wouldn't it be fun to take it shopping in a French Market place...... For now I will dream.......and probably take it to work each day with my lunch and a magazine.......

Designed by Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches for Homespun Magazine.

Now.....which project will Iget onto next.......there's a quilt in the studio which I think may be my next project to tackle.

Home.........

He's Home........

and I am so pleased he is home safe and sound........

From home completely around the globe......

With stories to tell.........

And memories that will last forever.......

A bag full of trinkets.......

And treasures.........

and of course all that dirty washing.......

Paris.......

At 3 a.m. this morning my telephone rang.   I missed it the first time, so after stumbling up the hallway I took it with me back to the bedroom.  Just a few seconds later it rang again........it was Cameron.........at the top of the Eiffel Tower......what a day he had just had.

At 6 p.m. his time, the lights sparkled and I could hear the people around him, together with him also appreciate the beauty of what was happening. 

I could hear in his voice the most wonderful day he'd had wandering the cobbled streets of Paris, riding the Metro, looking at shops and taking in the sights. 

His money is almost gone and there were a couple of things he wanted to do, like go up the Eiffel Tower and ride the giant Ferris Wheel, but thought he might have to forgo those because of the cost.  Whilst walking through a park in Paris he found the correct amount of money he needed to do both those things - maybe an Angel left it there for him to find.

Even though being woken up at 3 a.m. by the telephone is always a little frightening.....especially when someone is half a world away.........but to just hear his voice and the wonder in the tone of his voice as he enjoyed the sights from the Eiffel Tower and hear of the wonderful day he had enjoyed made the wake up all worthwhile.

January......

The year is buzzing by already.  Here we are and half of January has disappeared.  Our short holiday at the beach seems forever ago already.  My work place was closed between Christmas and New Year so we were fortunate that our booking at the beach was for the right time. 

It was lovely to be away and able to walk on the sand and go for swims.  The weather was quite good and made for very enjoyable beach time.  BJ's new boat came along too, so he and Mitchell enjoyed the afternoons on the river.  I just read and achieved a very small amount of stitching.

Cameron is still on his wonderful trip.  This time next week though he will be home and somehow getting back into the swing of going to work.  I'm sure he will find it very difficult to settle back into the routine for awhile.  He spent Christmas and New Year in New York and had the most wonderful time.  Between those times he headed up to Boston only to find the most horrendous weather, so he used that time to sleep, he said is was -20 degrees and that it hurt to be outside even.

After all of the thrill of New York he headed down to Miami only to become very sick while he was there.  Now just a question to someone from the USA way - is it normal to pay $400.00 to see a Doctor.  Well, that's what he paid. (Maybe it was a special price for an Aussie tourist)  Plus $190.00 for an injection, plus $60.00 for his prescription and $40.00 in taxi fares to get there and back.  If that is normal for the States, then I would hope to never get sick if we lived there!!!  When you convert all of that the poor kid paid almost $800.00 of his holiday money to try and get better to continue his trip.  Thankfully, he has travel insurance, but it is an awful amount of money to come up with at 19 years old backpacking your way around the globe.

So now my boy is in London and about to catch the train to Paris for two days.  I am so jealous.  He has had the most wonderful trip and met some lovely and interesting people along the way in the hostels.  I will be though, so pleased to see him come through those doors at the airport early next Sunday morning.

So, if you are still with me with the long and rambling post, please remember that this is my journal of life which I get printed into book form each year, so I can document life as it is.

After the long and hot, dry summer we have been encountering, the garden has been reduced to a drought stricken mess.  Thankfully we had a small amount of rain whilst we were away, so we did come home to a lovely green yard to say the least.  It always amazes me how quickly it all bounces back, unless of course it is already dead, like some things were in our yard.  So in small bursts, late in the afternoons when it has cooled little, bit by bit we have tackled the mess and finally tonight it is looking quite lovely, even though there are now some large spaces which need some plants.  I really want to get some more things in, but I am so unsure whether to do so or not because of our water situation.  BJ took a very large load to the dump this afternoon including at least two large dead shrubs.

Over the weekend I also had some time to start a little project that had begun back on the week we had at the beach.  So, instead of cleaning this mess that is my sewing room (and some other messes similar to this one in other locations)

I began work on putting together this lovely little "market bag" which appeared in the Homespun magazine just a little while ago.

I am making it  using the beautiful Rouenneries fabric from French General.  I am really looking forward to completing this lovely project.  I am especially loving the lovely leather handles I am using for it.

The next week will see me getting the children organised to go back to school.  Nine weeks is an awful long time to be on holidays, especially when both your Mum & Dad are working full time.  Thank goodness for Grandma and Grandad.  I think they will be glad to get back into it all.