November 21

 Hallo again, just a few pics of what we've been doing lately...not a great deal and I am yearning to travel again once we can...such a sorrowful time for so many people and I do count my blessings every day.

Garden is booming with the warmer days although it hasn't been really hot yet which is unusual...lots of pansies here...

lovely lobelia self-seeds everywhere and looks divine...

I'm picking silverbeet, parsley, spring onions, basil, strawberries and lettuce from this riotous bed...

and now my mini Bougainvillea is really thriving...

Some more baby knits finished for two babies due in April...I have bought these top down patterns as there is no sewing up to do once the knitting is finished, the sleeves are knit on the round and the pattern starts at the neck edge and increases to the under arms...very clever methinks...

I went with Dad, Elizabeth and Caleb to the Remembrance Day Service at dad's Care Home, Gill (from Warrington) took this great photo...

Elizabeth and the Lads had fun at Halloween, K and V throw a great party every year and their whole street joins in...Dad and David getting in the 'spirit'

Steampunk is such fun...

Their bus is almost ready for the road with the help of big Bro and good friend Brock, will show some photos once it's tidy and ready. We're also working on Dad's house, de-cluttering and stripping wallpaper and painting(big Bro again)...there's still such a lot of upkeep even though Dad no longer lives there.

Pip pip cheerio

xxx

Waves From Behind The Settee

 

Erky Perky as Rose used to say...I've been away so long that everything in Blogger is different lol

 I've been pretty 'down' this year as I continue to support Dad in Care during Covid times. Dementia is so hard to watch and deal with but he's safe and well looked after these days and could no longer live by himself although that doesn't stop him asking why not?

Here is my knitting which keeps me sane!

It's Spring alright now so I took some pics outside...

We are so fortunate here in WA as our government has kept the interstate borders closed for months now so Covid is almost non-existent here; the only cases have been returning residents who have kept in hotel quarantine. Other states have fared badly and Charlie's other Nana hasn't seen him for a year now...it's very, very sad. My English cousins are also in lockdown as are our Canadian loved ones.

My brother, Ian turned 60yrs this week and he and Wendy visited 2 weeks ago to pick up their new car...it was wonderful to have so many of the family under my roof as we got Dad out for the day and we gathered here for lunch. We also took Dad to the park in September for his 87th birthday...I think Gord is describing a fish he caught ;)

Hope you are all keeping well, big love, Sue

xxx

Just Some Photos

Hallo Every-one, how are you managing at the moment, such tragic times for so many families plus the anxiety and stress of loss of income and the fear of becoming ill. I'm finding that being at home gives me a false sense of 'there's nothing really happening' but the TV news channel begs to differ.

Very quiet here as expected, we haven't been out for weeks now apart from a trip to collect our prescriptions from the chemist, I drove and stayed in the car while Joe went into the chemist...he hasn't driven at all since his car accident late November when he gashed his head and wrecked the car, there's never a dull moment is there?

This purple and lavender blanket is finished now...such fun and easy knit but so effective with the variety of colours and textures...have begun a nice chevron stitch one now and it's lovely to see the zig zags take shape...more anon...

Still in the garden small things are going on...a fungus came up in one pot...such a pretty colour

Next to the washing line a Golden Orb spider has spun an enormous web, the strands are surprisingly strong, she has bundled up many flies and was working on a large blow-fly when I took this. I haven't seen her mate for a few days, he's probably one of those bundles she's saving for a rainy day..

Elizabeth and David are making some hilarious home movies while in lock-down, I am trying to work out how to share them here; today's efforts involve a T-Rex suit and a spectacular fall from a log lol I think they need to go onto you tube first before I can upload them, Eliz is using Tik Tok atm the moment.

I made a yummy meatloaf by squeezing the meat from 500 gms of free range chicken sausages(the chickens are free range not the sausages) and fried off capsicum, onion etc, an egg, rolled oats and lots of herbs. It had a nice firm texture and was easy to slice for sandwiches too.

So stay safe my friends, stay well and make the most of this time at home if you are lucky enough to be able to stay there,

Love from Sue

I wonder if this link to Elizabeth's you tube will work now?

Quarantinus Rex

Hallo

Hi every-one, I haven't been blogging as my dear Dad(86) is rather ill now and I am taking him to chemotherapy and lots of medical appointments too...in the words of a friend 'I haven't got time to scratch myself!"
It didn't help that I got locked out of here either lol!



I've been knitting more than ever as it does really relax me so I'll just add some photos for my record as much as anything. A Lily dress from Tikki on Ravelry...

A cardi made with King Cole yarn and pattern...

An acrylic lap rug/afghan for a grandson...I am going to make each Aussie grandchild something similar...

Gardening is nice in Spring(we had a record for November 40.4C in Perth yesterday)

BBQ any-one?

Elizabeth and David helped me establish  a raised garden bed over Winter...the tomatoes cover the whole bed these days...

We lost Joe's Mum on August 1st, to 'old age' I suppose you'd call it. Maman(86) made me very welcome in the family although with my lack of French and her lack of English our chats were very brief. Her ashes were taken back to Gaspe where she was born in Quebec Province.

So that's us for now...I miss even reading every-one's blogs so please forgive my lack of comments...things will change once again...swings and roundabouts of our lives, eh?

xxxx

Feeling Better, Feeling the Love

what a difference a day makes indeed, I feel almost human again now. Would you believe that my lovely Dad, who has a cold himself, turned up this morning with 3 Lemsip pouches to make me feel better;I don't use things like that but was mighty touched by his love!
Sadly Vera phoned to say she is too frail to come home and will go to hospice at some point...I will miss her dearly.

Yesterday I had the brainwave to make Rhonda's new Chilli Jam recipe forgetting how strong the fumes are...I had to open every window and use both fans and air-conditioner AND a scarf over my lower face to avoid inhaling the fume! (shakes head)...I like this recipe as it uses red peppers which are cheap and plentiful at the moment...

  For lunch today I was craving eggs so mixed up a crustless flan thingy using less than half a cooked chicken breast, finely chopped red capsicum, 5 eggs and some sour cream...a little too brown as I was watching the French Open tennis at the same time...

I am a lazy gardener and throw my eggshells directly onto the garden beds where they dry out and get crunched under-foot...it looks like some enterprising crow has placed most of them in the bird bath to make them softer to eat...I had to laugh!...

For tea tonight I've made spag bol, India vs South Africa are playing in the World Cricket Cup...Nilanthi are your family following the fortunes of the Sri Lanken team?

Bye bye for now,
Sue
xx

Thursday Morn

I went outside to hang out the washing and was delighted to see these four galahs on the fence, Carol next door puts seed out for the local doves and these gorgeous 'cockies' have found it too...

Not sure if you can see but the bird on the left has black eyes so is a male, his Mrs is next to him with her soft brown eyes...

I'm knitting two cardigans for Darcie(2) who is my grandaughters' step-sister, this is sewn up now and I've nearly finished a stripy one in bright left-over yarn for her...I also made two cotton tote bags from Vintage inspired cotton for my grand-girls' birthday presents, they can use the bag again and again that way but I forgot to take photos!

Joe has stopped the chemotherapy for his skin cancers as the side effect of muscle cramping was becoming unbearable, legs and abdomen were so very painful...it's good to see him getting some proper sleep at last.

I was prompted to write this small post by Outback Tania who is going to post more regularly...these little things all add up to make our story don't they?

Bye bye for now
xxx

 Hallo there, there a few recent pics from around the house and garden...look who turned 3 yrs of age last week...our Charlie and his Mum excelled herself with this beautiful cake complete with fire engine topper that a friend had made her(I'm learning all sorts of new baking terms from Bree and her cakes!) We had a feast at Nando's, we're all chilli heads here I think!

I finished a baby blanket this week-end, I used 2 strands of 4 -ply acrylic, it's so very soft and made up a broken basket stitch pattern in the middle of the night when all our best ideas come to us!

Snapped these glorious roses while taking the photo of the blanket, for such neglected rose bushes they produce prolifically and make a lovely gift for any-one feeling blue.

Major excitement when I spotted this almost ripe orange on my potted Cara Cara tree....the frangipani  trees had been sheltering it from view but they are losing their leaves now and wow! I also have lemons and limes ripening  but this is my first ever orange!

Our Paul has been going out with his mate, Jason, in Jase's boat...fishing, catching squid and trapping crayfish in deeper water...here's Jason this morning(it is so cold atm) with catch of the day...I just cooked one of them and shelled it, there is a surprising amount of meat them. We'll eat it warm with salad and brown bread and butter I think keep it simple is best here...

The guys also smoke fish and here is one of Jason's pies made with smoked fish and crayfish in a thick tasty sauce...so very good...not unlike our Tassie Scallop pies really....

So the days pass by like sands through the ...oh oops! sorry for the plagiarism (not).

Love from Sue
xxx

Cake of the Week from Bree too

Using Icing Colouring to Dye Wool

Hallo every-one, it seems I've been knitting non-stop for weeks, one thing was different though because I dyed my first a skein of 4ply merino wool with icing colouring! This is the technique, the dye is very thick and you only need a little, DIL Bree is making beautiful cakes with the dyes too*

using Wilton's icing colouring to dye wool

When it came to applying the dyes, purple and royal blue it looked as if they'd just mixed together to become one dark blue mess so I didn't agitate the wool in the dye...this surprised me by leaving pretty parts un-dyed, and some parts with varying degrees of colour...

 drying the skein before rolling it into a ball, a 100gm skein is enough for a pair of short socks...

it was a bit of a struggle to wind the ball as towards the end it got tangled, I sat and persevered to make sure none was wasted...it doesn't look enough but it was...

  ta-da! my new socks, I used Winwick Mum's Basic 4 ply Sock Pattern again, it's simple and knits up quite quickly...

This is Charlie's new jacket made with that lovely soft Jeans yarn and this pattern  , you will have to join  ravelry to see it but it's all free and wonderful over there...the buttons are wooden

  another pair of socks made with Spotlight's 'Not Just Socks' yarn, the pattern is on the ball band, again 100gms makes one pair of socks

Mum's collection of matchboxes from the days that they were complimentary and placed in a clean ashtray in restaurants and hotels, thank goodness those days have passed, some of these are from her overseas holidays...

Will finish off with yet another photo of this stunning hibiscus...
Love from Sue

* just some of Bree's gorgeous cakes using the Wilton's Food Colouring,
for more pics look for Bree's Cake Creations on FB