Hello bloggy friends,
It feels like a long time.
I have had so much to write and so little time to write it in.
I wanted to write about my grandfather, who is so dear and so wonderful, and who left us earlier this month but then that post was waiting for photos and now it is such a beautiful spring day that it doesn't seem right to be sad.
There has been crafting, LOTS of crafting, especially with my beautiful consultants, and my awesome quilting group. I feel really blessed to have both of these groups of friends in my life.
Last weekend my Close to My Heart Consultants and friends went to Glenbarr Homestead for our annual retreat. Lots of laughs and fun and I managed about 60 pages. Close to My Heart have negotiated a fabulous deal for consultants to purchase their own cricut cheaply so we really gave that baby a workout. We went through one mat and two sets of blades but you should have seen the pages and cards that resulted. I will really try to post photos of them soon. I also learnt how to mask and use the daubers to make lovely shading. It has become my new favourite thing!
Then Wednesday night we celebrated my quilty/knitty friend Anne's 70th birthday. Anne is the coolest 70 year old I know. When I am 70 I hope to be just like her. She still adores life, she laughs at EVERYTHING, even herself, and she is so much fun to be around. My quilty/knitty friends have been so important to me this year. They help me to smile through the grey bits. They sympathise and understand and they always make me laugh.
I feel bad that I haven't finished a single quilt this year. NOT ONE. At least I do have some crafty projects to show you. The first is my Quaker Shawl by an amazing designer called "Stitchnerd" (look on ravelry or check out her blog on my side bar)
The wool is handspun from Kathy's Fibres Winter Fibre club in a merino/baby camel blend (sooo soft and squishy with a lovely drape).
The second project is the Sean the Sheep Cowl. This pattern is so easy that I have now made three of them. So easy and so addictive and really doesn't use much wool at all.
Cowls are so great for kids as they can't get caught or pulled tight like scarves can. Maddie and Hannah both have one and I have made one in bunny/merino handspun which I will probably sell or gift.
I hope you are enjoying your weekend!
Keep smiling,
Nell
It has even threatened to take over the roof of our house. The blooms are ENORMOUS. Because it is tucked at the "dead" corner of the house I had not even noticed it recently. Today, when I finally had an afternoon to just breathe, and be, and take the time to smell the roses I discovered it in all its glory and it was a bit of an epiphany to me that sometimes all we need is time. Some children take longer to "bloom" than others. Some gardens evolve over time. Sometimes, when we are time poor, we miss noticing small but important things. I love that you can always measure time in the garden. I love the changing of seasons. The watching of growth. In the 7 years that we have lived here I have been desperate for my garden to grow - to have trees and privacy and a garden that I can pick a posy in all year round. Finally I have that now. You can hardly see our house from the street anymore.
And despite the weeds I still think we have the loveliest garden in the street. Happy Spring!
