more grannying

It's Tuesday here, so it's time for the One a Day project update.

Here are this weeks squares with last weeks ones, so there are 14 in total. 

 Starting to make some progress!

I'm thinking of introducing some purple to the party, I'll do a few test squares and see how they fit with these guys, I hope they all play nice!

I'm joining in with Carole over at Gingerbread Girl for this blanket, have a look how the other peeps are getting along with their one a day things if you feel like it!

In other happenings it is my biggest boys 16th birthday day, we are very proud of him and the awesome person he is growing into, so happy, happy day to you Jesse! 

Talk soon ( I am still slogging my way through writing a pattern for a couple of things to share with you all, sorry it is taking me sooooo long!)

Have a great day!

My Place And Yours....GREEN!!

OK, I'm joining in with the girls over at Vic's Punky and Me and her meme 'My Place and Yours' today.  How could I resist?  The topic was GREEN!!  One of my favourite colour bits of the spectrum!

So here we go, a gorgeous spring green here, 

plenty of green at our place, 

in small stuff,

found hanging around,

in from the outside,

 still outside and not quite in,

fab fabrics,

on the walls,

  

in the kitchen,  (all action here for a late night  birthday bake up),

even the window frames don't miss out.

In fact every where I look here I find bits of green in all it's beautiful shades.

I might search out other colours in our place for something to do one day, and make a series of rainbow- at - home posts, might be a nice colourful series.

Have a look at the other guys  MPAY green visions over at Vic's.

Have a great day, see you soon.

One a day project, and other stuff.

hello. how is your day going?

Our summer holidays are nearly finished with the boys back to school late next week, and we have been lucky with a spate of lovely warm weather to end the break on, so have been enjoying the sun and heat swimming and relaxing, and just generally veging out.  It will be a shock to the system getting up early again next week, so we are making the most of our last days of slothfulness.  I have to say this is mostly on the kids part, I have actually been getting up and going to the gym in the morning and getting back before they surface!! 

I have been doing a bit of hooky stuff too, it's all about the granny at the mo........

 ..........these are my first weeks worth of granny goodness for the 'one a day' project  over at Gingerbread Girl.  I have been very good and have actually got a head of myself and made a few extra this week, but I am only going to show 7 a week, in case I miss a day here or there, I have a bit of breathing room.......

 I am enjoying this pattern and these colours, I think I want to make a bed spread size blanket for winter, so will need quite a lot of these squares, maybe 150 or so.  That makes this about a 6 month project, so I'll see if I get bored with it or not.

I am also toying with adding another round of dcs to thicken the last colour of each square, might try it on a few and see what it looks like.

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I was up quite early (for me in holiday mode!) and the sun was bathing the vegie patch in this lovely light so I had to try and photograph it, doesn't do it justice though, but you get the idea.........

..........the sunflowers were kind of glowing with colour, brilliant!

One of my new dahlias has opened, and I was so excited to see what colour it would be, and it hasn't dissappointed!  A lovely peachy pinky colour fading out to the edges, very happy.

.......And these are some hollyhocks that have also turned out to be a great colour, and I love how the sun changes the colour shining through the petals.

Anyhoo, that's all for now, we are off for a swim at the beach, it's getting hot!! 

See you!

New Granny Love.....

Hello. How has your week been going? 

 The holidays are flying by here, and with a bit of nice summer weather, we have been really enjoying our lazy days, relaxing, swimming, reading, and playing computer games ( the boys have been doing this, not me!).

I have been having a bit of a look around Ravelry for some pattern inspiration and I came across this lovely pattern Weekend in Stockholm Throw by Debbie Stoller.  I think this might be my new project, nice and portable and a good way to use up all my half balls of wool.  

It looks a lot flatter in the pattern picture, my centres are puffed up quite a bit.  I've decided I like the added texture and dimension this gives my squares, so I am not going to worry about it. 

I am thinking these would be lovely for a snuggly bed blanket, so lots of squares to make!

 I am using a smaller 3.5mm hook for these squares as I like them nice and tight, and I couldn't find one that was the right size for my 8ply wool.  I am also adding an extra colour change to my squares, so it will look quite different even though it is the same pattern.

I think I might join in the One-a-day Project over at Carole's Gingerbread Girl blog and post my progress once a week. I'll see how I go.

In other exciting news, I have figured out how to change my layout to let me put extra large photos in my posts! Yay!  I learn something new every day! Next I have to learn how to stretch the header to fit the new width, baby steps here I think! haha...

Clare (my sister) and I joined our local gym last week, so my get fit and lose weight campaign is getting serious now! haha....  I have my work out from the trainer, and am trying to go each morning for an hour or so, so far so good.  I can really feel all my muscles getting used to all this activity, it's not that I didn't exercise before, but I think I am using my body differently.

Anyhoo, I am off to the Australian Open tomorrow with Clare, to watch some great tennis and try and pick up some nifty tricks for my own game! Haha... should be a good day out.

Have a great day! See you soon.

weekend garden

It has been a great day here. 

Weatherwise, pretty cool and grey, with little bursts of sun, but we have got a lot done in the garden department.  My dad came round, and he and Gary got rid of a big gorse bush on our fence line. We have a bush block next door to us that is quite bushy and grassy, (and maybe snakey) so we need to keep our fence line a bit under control. I went in and gave it a bit if a whipper snip and mow along the fence after they were finished, which tidied it up nicely.

My dahlias are flowering now and are such brilliant colours...

and there are still some gorgeous roses in flower like the beautiful pink and white Delbard one I have out the back.

.....and I love the sunflowers that are everywhere now!

I have planted some more snowpeas, a bed of mixed lettuce, and a couple of punnets of spring onions today too.

I sowed a few trays of french beans and lots of different salad greens the other day, and they are already   germinating, so hopefully I should get a heap of little plants soon.

 It felt good to work in the vegie patch, planning the plantings for the next few months, checking the progress of the tomatoes (looking good, not ripening just yet), and  just doing a bit of daydreaming.

I have decided to take out 2 big fruit trees (a nectarine and an apricot) in the chicken run, the fruit has always been disappointing, and they are pretty huge now.

 I planted this little row of fruit trees in honour of Max's birth 11 years ago, and they were a bit experimental, the cherry and snow apple are still good, the peach has been swamped by the nectarine and the apricot was not the best variety, so if I take 2 out I can put in a Moorpark apricot, and give the others some extra space.

Mum and dad have one of these in their garden and they are the most delicious apricots I have ever tasted!  So I have been hacking back a huge amount of growth with my big pruners today as well. 

Pruning is a lot of fun and it is hard to stop sometimes!

Now I just have to deal with the pile of cuttings.  

I think a bonfire might be in store in the cooler months.

I got so involved in what I was doing, I forgot to pick Jesse up from work!  Luckily he phoned me after 1/2 an hour or he would have been sitting there for ages.

Hope you are having a great weekend too!

Back on the wagon....

Hello.

How are you going today?

I hava started some crochet for 2012! Yay! 

This is a little cushion cover I started ages ago, and now I am trying to finish it, and write down the pattern to share with you guys.

Should have it finished soon.

  ..... I have been  making little circles too, I was very enthusiastic about these for a few days, but now I can't really recapture the feeling and they are sitting unloved and I am not sure what I am going to make them into. 

Oh well, I am sure I'll think of something eventually.

Have a good day!

Summer vegetable (recipe) love...

 There has been a severe lack of vegetables being eaten in our house recently, so I decided to make something that is very vegetabley and quite delicious too. 

( Even though my boys won't eat this, very picky of them, it makes me feel better getting a good helping of vegies in)

It helps that the zucchinis in the garden are going mental doubling in size almost overnight, and this recipe can use a few of them.

I grew the garlic, zucchinis and pumpkin in the photo, but my tomatoes and capsicums are not quite ready and I haven't grown mushrooms before, so I bought these.

This is my version of a vegetable lasagna, it makes a big tray and feeds a lot!!

I thought I'd share it here, because it is yum, and pretty good for you, and uses up the zucchini glut, and just to be nice!

Ok enough rambling, heres how you make it....

My Vegetable Lasagna

8-10 tomatoes, chopped 

2 cloves garlic, chopped 

2 onions chopped

2 red capsicums

1 butternut pumpkin

3-4 zucchini chopped up or sliced

8 large mushrooms, sliced or chopped up

Lasagna sheets

Cheese Layer:

4 cup milk 

60gr butter

6 tbsp flour

1cup grated tasty/vintage cheese

1/4 cup grated parmasan

Cook the vegies:

Firstly, cut the pumpkin into quarters and take out the seeds.

Cut the capsicums into a few big pieces, discard the seeds.

Put the pumpkin and capsicum pieces onto an oven tray lined with baking paper and drizzle with olive oil.  Put in a moderate oven to roast until  the pumpkin is soft and the capsicum is nicely cooked and the skins come off easily. (about 40 minutes?)

While this is cooking, put garlic and onions in a big saucepan with a bit of oil, over medium heat, and cook until the garlic smells good, then add the tomatoes, zucchini, and mushrooms.  Let this bubble away for a while, till all the vegies are soft and it is a nice stew-like consistancy. (If you think it needs more tomatoes, I sometimes add a tin of chopped tomatoes as well.)

Make the Cheese sauce:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, add the flour and stir together, cook for 1 minute.

Take off heat and whisk in milk, one cup at a time, (this helps give you a nice smooth sauce)

Return to heat and stir/whisk continually till sauce thickens and bubbles.

Remove from heat and stir through cheeses.

Make up lasagna! 

Layer sheets of pasta,

 then half vegie stew, 

then more pasta, 

then half cheese sauce,

 then a layer of scooped out roasted pumpkin flesh and roasted capsicum slices,

then pasta again , 

then rest of vegie stew,

then more pasta, 

then lastly, top with rest of cheese sauce and spread over top, grate some more parmasan over it all and you are done!  

Pop it in a moderate oven for 30-40 minutes until it looks nice and golden on top!

(You can also add a layer of blanched spinach /silverbeet /spinachbeet or basil leaves  if you have room and want a green layer when you cut it, and a sweet potato roasted and sliced up, can be used instead of pumpkin)))

I think that is it, lots of veg in one delicious package! It looks a bit of a hassle when you write it down like this, but it is really pretty straight forward when you get into it.

 Sorry about this pretty crappy photo, I am no food stylist!  

See all the nice colourful layers? It really is much yummier than this picture looks.

Ok, got to go now and get into some crochet action,

 I am trying to write a pattern for a cushion cover, so I hope it works out!

Have a great day!

Booky Inspiration -The Gentle Art of Knitting

Hello.

This is something I got for Christmas from my mum, 'The Gentle Art of Knitting' by Jane Brocket, I was very happy!  

I know I'm a bit late to the party, and many of you knitters would have this fabulous book already, but I thought I would share some of the ace things that caught my eye, and are on my to-do list for this year.

Have a peep at all this knitty, yarny eye candy......

...........cute little wash clothes...........

............love these blue and red gloves for winter...........

..........my favourite things, these cushions are a definite make this year, I think  they are gorgeous!

...........a bit of a closer look, yep they are fab!!!

..........bunting love continues........

.........and I am going to have a go at stripey socks this year too......this pattern looks quite doable.......

 ......there's even a bit of crochet granny goodness in there too!  A gorgeous flowery square, I think it would look great on our bed.......

.......so would this beautiful blanket that is made in long stripes then sewn together, very clever.....

.......LOVE this stitch.......

 .....doesn't it look great in these cushions!.........

.........and some cute little purses that would make lovely presents.  In fact all these projects would make great presents!

I had seen this book on a few other blogs and thought it had some lovely patterns in it (especially the round carnival cushions), but I was even happier when I got my own copy and saw all the other great things to make.  I am very inspired to get out the needles and get clickety clacking! 

It is going to be a very creative year round here.  

Have you got this book?  What other books get your creative streak fired up?  Do you get inspired by things you see on the internet and books? (of course you do!!)

Have a great day!

some crafty double knitting

Hello.

  

Thought I would show you something I have been working on recently.  I have had a go at double knitting.  I found this cute pattern on Ravelry and thought I'd give it a try. This is pretty nifty knitting where you use 2 strands of colour and the colour patterns are reversed on each side, so this side is pink background with red patterning, and the backside is red background with pink patterning.

My problem is that this is a very slow knitting experience for me. Very, very slow!!

 I had a bit of trouble getting my head around the stitch and colour changes, it was quite the brain strain for a while! I had to really concentrate and make sure I am doing the right colour in the right spot, luckily this is just a potholder size piece or it could take all year! haha....

Once I got the hang of the method (thanks to some handy you tube instructions)  it was a bit quicker, but not much.  I am looking forward to some speedy crochet next, a couple of cushion backs should do the trick!

Have a great day!

Summer holidays, Point Leo

main beach, Point Leo, Victoria

Hello. How are you today?

We are very hot!

 Summer has really turned on today, it has been 43 degrees here, and it is still 33 degrees (9.00pm)!

We spent the day at Point Leo beach and at my parents place which is a short walk from the beach.

Very nice. Very nice indeed.

check out that sky!!

........Such a beautiful beach, it is usually a surf beach, but the last couple of days it has been very flat.......

max and andre catching waves

.........with just the odd small wave rolling through, just waiting to be caught......

andre

..........the rest of the time it was like this, crystal clear and cool and refreshing

........just perfect for floating around 

jesse

.....it is a holiday area with a camping ground just over the sand dunes, but it is a great wide beach , so doesn't feel crowded.

max

........we are lucky that we can call this our 'local' beach, it's only 15 minutes from us.

We have other lovely beaches closer to home too, we are very lucky indeed.

gary

on the path

.............after a long swim we headed up the path to mum and dads place, (we call it The Resort), for a dip in the pool and a lovely cold bevvie on the banana lounge........

clare in relax mode

..........here is my sister, who had the same idea!

So that is how we spent this very hot day, dipping in and out of the sea and pool, lots of icy drinks, some friendly conversation and a good book, not a bad way to spend a holiday!

I hope you found somewhere cool if you are in Victoria too!