Halloween

All Hallows Eve

 The Celts believed that at the time of Samhain, more so than any other time of the year, the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living, because at Samhain the souls of those who had died during the year traveled into the otherworld. People gathered to sacrifice animals, fruits, and vegetables. They also lit bonfires in honor of the dead, to aid them on their journey, and to keep them away from the living. On that day all manner of beings were abroad: ghosts, fairies, and demons--all part of the dark and dread.

Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. To this day, witches, ghosts, and skeleton figures of the dead are among the favorite disguises.

here in Australia we do not celebrate Hallows Eve, it is the wrong time of year for us, spring not autumn. to most of us we associate it with America even tho it originated in Ireland & England. today its all about dressing up, decorating, having fun & not to forget the sweet stuff. for me i like the dressing up & setting the table.

the tree i purchased a few years ago & this is the first time it has been out of its box.

i always have something for any of the kids who do come to our door & this year it was biscuits [skulls, skeletons, bats & witches hats]

the round disk has a moon on it & when it is lit up with a candle it looks great.

i do like the bat in my hair, i think ill be leaving that out of the box so i can wear it again

a little bit scary, no not really, its mostly just every day for me :o) now that is scary

Chooks

spent 6 hours mowing the lawn today, i think we could really use a ride on mower

the girls love mower days because they get heaps of grass clipping to scratch through

hiding out under the mulberry tree

a treat while i clean out the chook shed.

 all the top straw went on the the potato beds & all the bottom stuff, dirt, poo, damp straw went onto the compost.

Veggie Yard

another day in the veggie yard, a few weeks ago we had a load of dirt, cow & mushroom mix delivered & today i used up the last of it for beds #6 & #7. bed 5 is the only one that has not been made yet.

bed #6 will be for the bush tomatoes.

the two pots of either side of the gate are for chilli plants.

this is bed #7 it is a corner bed, on one side i have planted bush beans & on the other sugar snap peas

if your wondering where all the mulch went from yesterday it is now the walk ways around the beds. it makes its much softer to walk/ kneel on & keeps grass & weeds down.

Chipper/Mulcher

last year we purchased a big chipper, we just had a very small one when we lived in Linden but with the amount of trees here we needed something with a little more grunt.

we got 3 barra loads of mulch from down the back & another one from the hedge out the front.
it makes a big job very easy & pretty quick.

crochet blanket

Pink & Chocolate Brown is the colour combo, i have been working on these squares for way too long. i have 30 in the basket which kind of sounds a lot but as a blanket not so much.  i think it was about 64 squares the red, white, blue & beige blanket & this one im thinking of making it into a single so at 30 im not even half way. i really like to crochet blankets but i really need to sell or give some away as im getting quite a few stacked up in the cupboard.

Sheets to dust cloths

when your old flannel sheets become thin cut them up into dust/cleaning rags

i let the fabric dictate the size of each cloth & then fold in half & stitch around the edge.

they are soft enough to polish & strong enough scrub with.

they last quite a long time esp the ones that are cut from the edge of the sheet as its usually still like new.

they can also be used to make wee wipes.

sew some fun

cup mats, mug rugs but i prefer coaster.

i saw one of these on flickr & wanted to make my own

a home for my tea cup

Wordless Wednesday

Yard Work

another day spent in the yard, thank goodness for all this beautiful weather.

a friend from work pulled out some garden beds last christmas & i took all the stone. they have been sitting down the side since the beginning of the year & i thought it was about time i used it.
son #1 wheelbarrowed it down the back & helped me set it out. there were a few adjustments as the rock was already set in cement, but nothing a hammer & rock hammer couldn't fix. just enough for 2 garden beds.

they are on either side of the chook gate. the small one on the left used up the left over stone.

the larger one goes from the gate & up to the tree.
the reason for the garden was 2 weekends ago Sally decided she wanted to visit the old lady next door she stretched & worked the wire till she could fit through. so that morning after i got her back through the fence. A' & i used 3 sheets of metal from an old bird aviary & 2 bags of concrete. no more visits :o) the cat will be relieved.
i moved the stone & dug them all in, it only goes to the end of the tin. i couldn't have gone any further even if i wanted to as there were heaps of big tree roots. the only thing left was 3 pieces of concrete.
i think they turned out pretty good & now there will be no complaints about it all sitting around & when am i going to use it.

Veggie Garden

with no work i have plenty of time to get things done, esp all the things that keep getting put off

yesterday A' & i finally finished off the fencing around the veggie yard now miss Sally girl cant get in well fingers crossed.

i pretty much worked all day 9 till 4.30, needless to say i am a little tired now.

first up i built a trellis well not first as i had to cut the branches first & play tug of war with Sally Girl, she loves it when we prune the trees. sooo much fun to be had.

bed #1 is half purple beans & half yellow zucchini & down the centre because it likes shade is 2 rows of english spinach.
bed #2 is two types of beetroot
bed #3 is spring onions then globe onions & at the end is bok choy

bed #8 along the fence was just a huge pile of dirt that i moved today & is now home to sunflowers along the back. at the right hand end are 3 types of carrots, then 2 types of cucumber that will climb the flower stalks as well as attach to the wire fence & right at the end are the only 2 strawberry plants that are left after Miss Sally got a hold of them.
there are 3 trees in front of bed #8 a fig, peach & a lemon.

Skirts

for those of you who read my blog every now & then you my remember this skirt below, it is one of my favourites. i love the skulls but i especially love the cherries.

Simplicity pattern #4595 & the skirt is view D.

one of the best things about this skirt besides how quick it is to make is the elastic waist. ooo elastic waist you might say but it has two very good things about it, 1 it is comfortable & 2 if you put on a bit of weight or even loose a bit of weight it still fits nice, the same cant be said about a fitted skirt with a zipper.

the sunday before son #2's year 12 graduation i decided i wanted to make a new skirt to wear.

this one i like again because of the skull fabric but i think the red gingham with the black lace is very cute.
gingham reminds me of table cloths & Bar-B-Q's.

this one is the one i wore to the graduation. i really love tartan, i used this fabric to make a long wrap around winter skirt last year.

i think spots are cute & teaming it with the tartan & the lace works well. i sewed a satin ribbon all the way around & the bow can be made larger or smaller.

i teamed this skirt with a black singlet, a black t-shirt over that, a cute black cardigan with my nurses watch pinned to it, my new Red Back work boots & this cute old hand bag.

About Time

we need to watch our pennies even more now as i quit my job on Monday & until i find a new one things will be tight.
so i thought i would start with emptying my downstairs fridge/ freezer & turning it off, as you can see below there was not much in it & such a waste of power/money. its usually full of drinks & chook scraps from work.

i moved all the frozen items over to the big box freezer

i have a limited amount of money in my bank so i will be running a tally of all spending, to start me off

Tuesday- train ticket $5.40

               food $16.65

i spent most of Tuesday morning dropping of resumes in Leura & Katoomba, i dont know how successful this will be but you have to get out there & try.

i feel good about finally quitting my job, however i will miss my friends & all the food for my chooks.
i felt like i was being taken advantage of by my bosses & working in a factory full of woman is really hard, especially when your the one who has people coming at you from both sides.
well enough about that, its a new day & a new start lets hope i dont stuff it up :o)

Dinning Table

son #2 graduated year 12 on Thursday night & for his wood technology project he made me an extension dinning table. he came second :o) for the table & third over all in the year. we are so proud of him & the table is beautiful.

the table top is made from Sydney Red Gum
the table surround/frame is made from New Guinea Rose wood

the legs are gum, rose wood & then gum sandwiched together

when it is all 3 pieces it will seat 12 comfortably or 15 if you need it

the room is big enough so it will always be the three pieces.  i will need to make new table cloths or maybe sew some of the ones i have together.
now i am on the look out for chairs. i want a bench seat for one side, 2 carver chairs for the ends & chairs for the other side. but for now our old 70's plastic orange chairs will have to do.

Teen Boy Cards

from an old 45 to a unique teen boy card

Bite Me record label 

the stamps are from Tickled Pink stamps, i used water colour pencils. there is enough room on the front to write your message.

same stamp coloured different, used a Tim Holtz texture fades 'bricked & woodgrain'

Crochet T-Shirt Rug

i have finally finished my T-Shirt Rug. i started it in June 2008. for those who have not seen this before it is made up of all my boys t-shirts that i have collected over the years.

cut off all the seams & sleeves, then do a continuous cut 2cm [1inch] & roll into a ball. i used a 6.5mm steel hook. all single crochet.

lots of ends to weave in

the finished size is 1meter x 1.3 meters. it weighs 5kg & has 97 rows.

this took so long to make for two reasons,
1 i had to wait for the t-shirts
2 it is very hard on my hand & wrist so i could only work on it for short periods of time. i think it turned out great, now to keep Miss Sally Girl off it will be a challenge.

this mat is made up of hessian braided together & sewn together with brickies string. i made this for my foot peddle as i was sick of it sliding.

Miss Sally Girl right behind my chair supervising

Braided Floor Rug
The Start of the Crochet Rug
 Crochet Rug Progress