A Quilt for SIL

My SIL recently had her 50th Birthday, so I decided to make a quilt for her. I couldnt make up my mind what pattern to use, couldnt seem to find one I liked. Finally I decided to use the friendship star block, & put an embroidered/appliqued cat in the centre. I love scrap quilts because of the variety and I love the bright colours. SIL was very fond of a ginger moggy that made himself at home at their place- I think he shared himself about several homes, actually, & he was a large chap, with a very arrogant nature, knowing he was rather handsome!
I am not a great artist, so I used a pattern from Bronwyn Hayes, Red Brolly designs, for the cat, & I appliqued a small 'quilt on the chair, for him to sit on.



I couldnt decide how to do the back, & I changed my mind several times about backing fabric, & ideas. Finally I settled upon doing a ring of flying geese, using a plain cream fabric so that the guests at the party could sign a patch in memory of the event. I was very happy with that idea, & thought it could serve as a momento of her party.



I duly posted if off, & waited anxiously to hear it had arrived. I always get fearful when I send off 'my babies' across the sea. Hear all sorts of horror stories about posted items, but however I have sent several things & quilts off to rellies in NZ, & am happy to report the safe arrival of all items. You cant really put a value on items that are hand made, so even if you insured them, you would never really get the value back.

I seem to be 'stuck' at present, with my projects, have several 'flimsies' waiting to be backed & quilted, but I just cant seem to goad myself into action!

Perhaps if it stays cool a day or two, it may get me going.

It is Small Grandson's 4th birthday today, so they are coming up here for lunch. He seems to be at a very awkward stage in his dietry habits- really only likes pasta & cheese, & is not even all that fussed about sweet things. Daughter is not sure what to give him in the way of a birthday treat lunch. He does love meat, so I guess as long as we have plenty of that, he will be ok.

I had better get off here, & get started on my day 'proper'.

Beloved Brother's Encouragement!

I recieved an email from my BB telling me how much he is enjoying reading my blog! I was really chuffed, & my son told me yesterday, that he enjoys it too.

These are photos of a quilt I made for my Beloved Brother.


One is a view of the quilt taken out on the clothesline, which shows the quilting & colours a little better.
The other was taken inside, hanging from the curtains, & perhaps shows the block detail a little better.

When I made it, I wanted to have 'family' in it, with his 3 sons names in the 3 hearts, and his wife is represented by the Hibiscus, as she is of Chinese/Samoan descent. Our mother is there, along with quite a few other personal things, & it was a labour of love creating it. I am the teddy, which is holding a pansy.

We have not always been as close, as there are 4 years between us, & when you are very young, 4 years seems such a lot!
We also had some living apart, as we got older, -I spent a year boarding with friends, & my brother spent a couple of years living with an Aunt & Uncle, where he went to High School. We actually have different sounding accents, & people often dont believe we are brother & sister.

We had grown up living with our grandparents, & our mother had to work to support us. Our father remarried & there never seemed to be enough money for both families.
Our grandfather died when I was 8, so I dont remember him very clearly, & he spent a great deal of time ill, as he was -unkown to us- dying of cancer. Our mother gave us everything she could & we never went without. She said she couldnt have done it without support from her mother, & I am sure that is probably true, but she did work very hard for us. My grandmother was lovely, & very loving. I was always the favourite grandchild I think, & even though I was not the eldest, I was the first she met- cousins born in England were not in NZ till after the war.

When my brother started work as an apprentice Printer, he came back to live with our mother & I, & I think that is when I really got to know him best. BFJ & I used to love going to dances, & BB would often open the door for BFJ when one of us arrived home at a different time, as I usually had the key. He also used to listen with great amusement as we said our goodnights to our various 'suitors'.

We had so much fun in those days, & have a lot of happy memories. My mother worked shift work, & was not always home, so we spent more time laughing & just enjoying our selves, than perhaps other young ones get a chance to do. We were living in a flat, & it had an old gas stove, which the back was rusting out of. My mother used to make some fantastic meals in it, & goodness knows how she did it. We all foolishly smoked in those days, & one day, as we flicked our buts out the window, we started a blazing little fire in the hedge! We had to rush outside with saucepans & buckets to put it out.

Our Mum was good fun mostly, & she was very fond of BFJ, so we all got along very well.
Our Mum had always had a dream to own her own house, & she did buy a house, which my brother bought off her, & now his son has bought it off him, so it is a house full of lovely memories.
BFJ & I used to lie out on a concrete patio, roasting ourselves in the sun- fools, we realise now! BFJ lived further out of the city so she often came to stay at our place, as it was closer to the Dances & our 'social life'.

The 'soundtrack' of our lives at that time, was a lot of Beatles music, & BB & I used to have fun singing Beatles songs as we did the dishes! (His sons cant believe that story, but it is true!) Roy Orbison was very big, and there was a lot of Elvis, though he was never my favourite. BFJ had some Tony Orlando, & that was the days before Tie a Yellow Ribbon! BFJ & I took that music with us when we went on our Great Apple Picking adventure- so it was a lage part of the sountrack of that era of our lives also.

I still find music is a big part of my life, & it can trigger memoroies of all types. Our children love music too, & have great fondness for the 'soundtrack' of their childhoods, which was all the music of the 70's.

Friday 's Freaky Five.

This is from BFJ.


It is Friday the 13th. I am not superstitious, just thought this might be fun. Please join in, if you like.

I have just decided to list Five 'Freaky' things about my life or family.

1. Four sisters married four brothers- 2 of which, were my Great Great Grandparents. The sisters were from a Scottish family of 11 girls! They had emmigrated to New Zealand, where they met the family of brothers, who were of English origin, but NZ born. The father of the girls is rumoured to have said he wouldn't mind 'a few more of the wee M boys'. No wonder, with 11 daughters.

2. My English Grandmother's family emigrated to NZ because my Great Grandmother suffered dreadful arthritis, & the family Doctor advised they move to NZ for the Climate!! New Zealand is not exactly a good climate for arthritis!

3. My mother's brother married my father's sister... do we think there is a pattern here? I have one full brother, & my Uncle & Aunt have a daughter & son- we often joke that we should all look the same because of the genes- but none of us do!

4. We know of 5 'Gay' persons in our wider family- cant find one in GOM's family, which causes him mirth.

5. My dear Aunt of 85 has told me I "am a disgrace to the Family Name of 'M'" because I have PET dogs- (& even though I now use my married name). They have only ever had "working dogs", who were never allowed in the house! ( I still love my Aunt to bits!)

Number 5 is not really freaky, just funny.


Hope you all have a nice weekend & Sydney siders manage to survive this heatwave- also you lot down in Melbourne!

Dont like shopping!

Unless, of course, it is for fabric!
I love pottering about at garage sales, & have made some wonderful fabric finds among things other folk no longer want! The price is always right, & it adds considerable variety to my stash.

This is a cushion I made from an 'Australian Country Threads' Vol.4, No.6. magazine Pattern. It was designed by Colleen Archbold, & I really liked the design. However, though I made it for myself, my dog, Teenage Hoodlum Leo, has claimed it for his own, & he always uses it for a pillow, but he flips it over, so he is using the back, which is the green stripe fabric. It is definitely his favourite, & no other cushion will do.


This cushion is made using Colleen's basic pattern, but I added appliqued Teddies, as I made it for a friend who just loves teddybears. I used a stitchery pattern by Julie Lovell from the same magazine, but I wanted to do applique instead. I am sure she wouldnt mind. My friend was happy with her cushion.

For the gardeners among us- those who dont have my type of brown thumbs, I just wanted to post this nice pic of Nice Neighbour's lovely succulent garden. She is so talented & she makes lovely miniature gardens in pots, using succulents too. I must get her to send me some photos of her pot gardens. She is the mother of Beautiful Beau.And here is Beau keeping an eye on procedures!



We have been out to a Westfield today, shopping for small grandsons birthday on Sunday. I find those hard Malls so tiring, & my knee give me a great deal of misery. Specialist has advised me I definitely need a new knee!
We took Daughter J, & Small grandson. He does not like shopping much, & has just seemed to decide he will demand everything he sees, which is a pity, as he was never like that before. I was swooning over all the lovely little babies we saw, & DJ said she is very sorry, but it wont be her to produce any more. Seeing she has given us our Almost Adult Granddaughter as well as Small Grandson, & she is not exactly maternal, she has done more than her share.

Which brings me to a question I would like to put 'out there' so to speak.
Almost Adult Granddaughter is now 17, & as she had grown up not ever knowing her father, or her father's family, she asked me to try to contact them. I wont say they deliberately tried to hide, but it seems very strange to me, that the father, plus his 3 siblings, plus his parents, had no listings in phone books, & no entries on the electrol rolls. However, I became determined for Granddaughter's sake, to let her father know she wished to have contact with him.

To cut a long story short, the Grandmother contacted me, sounded very happy to have contact, & arranged a meeting, for she & Grandfather to meet Granddaughter. I had never formally met the other grandparents, but had spoken on the phone to the grandmother, many times, & also spoken to her in person, from a window. (Dont ask-I will just say, bizarre, & part of the reason the relationship broke down.)

Granddughter was thrilled to learn she had 1/2 brothers. She was a bit sad to learn that her father didnt want contact- at present. A meeting was duly arranged between Daughter J, Granddauthter & the 'other grandparents. They made a great fuss of granddaughter, & promised to contact her again, as they happened to be moving temporarily, to our neck of the woods.

My question is this; They promised contact, & have been here now for over 2 months. Granddaughter has not had a call or word from them since. Naturally she is upset, as she feels it was their move next, & they had made such a fuss over her, promising plenty of contact, & meetings with other family, & cousins. She is a pretty girl, & very like her father, which they couldnt get over. I know Granddaughter feels very hurt about things, & conveniently, (or not) we dont have a phone number for them again.

I must admit I was disappointed in her father too, I feel she has a right to have contact with him. I know it is complicated, as he has just married recently for the first time, & is having custody issues with the mother of his sons.

I just feel sorry for my beautiful granddaughter who feels so rejected.
Opinions??? Please.

Lights of Home.

This is a quilt I made for my son, & I called it "Lights of Home". The pic doesnt do it justice really, it is brighter in 'real life'- I didnt have my digital camera when I took the photo. It was designed by Ruth Buchanan, who called it "Beacon Lights" & was featured in Patchwork & Stitching magazine, Vol.4 No.5. I kept the colours much the same as Ruth's because I liked it so much. I quilted hearts in the centre of each red square. I really liked that edition of the magazine, & made the 2 Chickadee Cushions for my daughter & SIL out of the same book. Have not got a pic of the cushions- not sure why.

It never did warm up yesterday, & I spent the whole day shivering. I didnt get any sewing done either. I seem to be feeling weary from a cough I have, & even had a snooze in the afternoon! Small dogs cuddled up & kept me warm- very nice.

Have been on the reminiscing trail again, sorting photos.

Best Friend J & I wanted to travel when we were young, & decided a good way to start would be to apply to go Apple picking in the South Island of NZ.

I feel quite ashamed to admit I also wanted to avoid being a bridesmaid for another Friend, who was about to be married. I was fond of the friend, but really not so keen on her husband-to-be- plus I was not really the 'wedding kind'- not being interested in Churches or religion- her stepfather was a minister --I cant even remember what 'flavour' either. She eventually forgave me, & I must say, her husband, though never my favourite person, was very good to her, & they remain very happy to this day.

Anyway BFJ & I got accepted to go to an orchard, not that close to Nelson. So, off we went, an overnight train journey to Wellington, with little sleep, & soldiers getting on & off at the Army base at Waiouru, which was freezing! Brief stops for tea in thick railway cups, & disgusting pies, half cold, along the way. No heating on the train, a real bone-shaking experience. An Inter-island ferry trip was next on the agenda, & the order of the trip seemed to be drinking copious amounts of beer, by all & sundry, including the crew of the ferry! The ferry was loaded with young eager 'seasonal workers' looking forward to the excitement of the unknown! I had never been to the South Island before, so I was lookng forward to seeing something new.

A rowdy, overcrowded, bus trip took us all from the Ferry terminal at Picton, with many 'comfort stops' after all the beer!, to Nelson, where we were to be collected by our various employers. BFJ & I were met by a very small, thin, woman, who was possibly shocked at our state of inebriation, but never said anything. We arrived on a Friday evening, & she asked if we would like to start work next morning, or prefer to wait until the following Monday. Picking was a 5 1/2 day job. Eager innocents that we were, we decided to start first thing the following day. It was only a half day, but it bloody near killed us! We had no idea it would be so HARD. We felt so tired & had aching muscles we had been unaware we even had. Our Cabin for accommodation, was a very rudimentary little dwelling, & we found to our dismay, we had no hot water, so we had to boil a copper, & bale the hot water into the bath. How shocked was I- I had no idea how to get the copper going, & it fell to BFJ to get the thing going, so we could try to ease our aching muscles.

There was another couple working with us, a young married couple, & the wife was from Sweden, & didnt speak English very well. She was so pretty & seemed just as shell shocked as BFJ & I! We never saw the inside of their cabin, but I assume it was as primitive as ours. After we got to know the young couple a bit, we had some nice steam letting chats about our employers- otherwise known as 'slave-drivers'!

The orchard was situated in a lonely area, not very close to any shops or other farms, & we walked miles to meet other 'seasonal working scum' as the locals liked to refer to us. At the weekends we would hike out onto a main road & hitchhike to the local Pub, which is where the pickers all gathered on Saturday afternoons. BFJ & I had been nice & slim from dancing, which was our favourite Saturday night outing, but we soon gained weight from eating many apples, & fresh bread & quick food. We were usually so exhausted at days end, we couldnt be bothered preparing 'proper meals'. Our cooking facilities were about as primitive as our bath set-up, & the toilet was an outside dunny! Very scary for 2 city girls, & the huge pine trees were very ominous in the dark nights. The sound of sheep coughing & wheezing outside our windows proved very disconcerting for BFJ, who had never had close encounters with sheep before.

We learnt all sorts of things about washing in a copper- BFJ learnt that rayon knickers shrivelled down to size nil!! And I learnt that black jeans turned everything else black in a copper too! On Friday nights our employers sometimes offered us a lift into town, where we mostly spent our money on larger sized clothes, as our expanding bodies out grew our original clothing.

We were both smokers in those days, & I must admit I was a much worse addict than BFJ. I have seen me almost go insane for want of a cigarette, & have seen BFJ hide sniggering under her covers to stop me from flying into an insane irrational, frenzied rage, just because she wasnt so addicted! We used to walk miles through a spooky dark pine forest to get to the nearest shop, so we could get supplies. Thank goodness I dont smoke now. What a curse it was.

We did meet a lot of nice people- a lot of Aussies, & other nationalities, & at season's end, most of us moved on down the Island to invade other Southern cities, looking for any work we could find. Of course by April, it was getting very cold in the South, & BFJ & I had a hard time adjusting to the climate. We used to run all the way to work, to try to keep warm. Which was good for the losing of some of the weight gain.

Our travels didnt really take us far. We both met our husbands-to-be, & there ended our travels for some time.

Beau, Kitty & a Quilt.

This is a Ragdoll Kitten. I am not so much a cat person, but she is not mine. A neighbour collected her for their son's partner, & they fell in love with her. Isnt she sweet? She posed here all on her own! What a showgirl.
This is neighbour's dog Beau, inspecting the new kitty. He seemed to really like her!
In fact he let her share his bed.

And this is Beautiful Beau. He is a Maltese/Shihtsu cross, & very loved!

Looking out the windows to the South, there are black ominous looking clouds rolling up the coast, but I am sure they will not amount to rain.

I seem to be getting the hang of adding Links to my blog now, & am very appreciative of the help I have recieved. Being stubborn, I wanted to persist with the one I have chosen now, but had almost decided to give up.

This is a pic of a quilt I designed myself, & I called it Autumn's Gold. I had the apple fabric for a while, & wanted to make something to show it off. I was going to use the quilt downstairs on the sofa bed, but have kept it upstairs to use. Small Grandson likes to use it for cubbies, & AA Granddaughter likes to cuddle up under it, when she is cold- or just wants to hide, as teenagers do.
With this strange Spring weather, I feel like wrapping myself in the quilt! It is not feeling very warm as yet, but am sure it will heat up.
I have promised myself some sewing today, so I had better get off this.

Monday- I'll try not to moan.

Cant think why Monday seems a dread today. There is really no reason.

It is a windy Spring day, which started with light spits of rain from the ominous looking clouds, but they have all blown away, & it is fine again.

Small Grandson had a visit from his 'other' grandparents over the weekend, for his birthday which is next weekend. As his father will be working on the day of his birthday they decided to take this weekend to have a 'birthday BBQ' for him. He got some books clothes & toys, & he gets such pleasure out of every little item. He was so happy with his new 'undies'. They have little bugs on them, & he chose which ones he would wear to 'school', & various other 'outings'. Have to love them when they are so little & innocent, & small things make them so happy. I remember my children used to get so excited when it was time to buy winter pyjamas.




Today I thought I would post the photo of GOM's Blues Quilt.
I started making this quilt with the idea of giving it to another member of the family. I didnt have a pattern, & dont have EQ or any type of programme for designing, but I had seen a picture of a very similar looking quilt somewhere & decided to work it out for myself.

Maths is not my field either, so I just went for a 21/2" square to work from. I have the feeling the border is not quite right, but I am very happy with it, & as it was just a stash quilt, I was happy with the colours I had also.

GOM went on & on about it as I was making it, kept telling me how much he loved it. He even went so far as to tell me it was not to leave this house! (Usually, if he said that, it would definitely go!)I told our daughter I had decided to give it to him, but was not letting on to him.

I finished the binding & folded it neatly, & placed it on his side of the bed, ready for when he came home. He started to say something most uncomplimentary, then he read the label, & had to bite his toungue, as I had named it his. I am not sure why he loves it so much, as Blue is usually not his colour.

It is not really as 'wonky' at it looks, that is just the way I pinned it on the curtains to take the pic.

We really are chalk & cheese- He is Leo, & I am mostly Aquarius.

The day has turned Grey!

I have been busy reading in the heat, then the high winds came roaring in, so indoors to view a programme previously taped.
Then a bite of lunch- fresh bread roll with avocado tomato & cucumber- I usually passo on dressings.

Putting off trying to get the Links onto my site.

Came in here, got them all on, then the page expired whilst I was editing the list, which is really Bec's list, -Thank you Kindly Bec!- I was trying to get some of my favourites on there, but gave up after an hour of frustrating madness. But at least now I know what & where to do it, so I will get my favourites all on eventually. Of course some of you are already on there!!

Thanks are due again to Angie & Alice whose info also proved to be helpful.

Not sure what this weather is doing, it has gone all sullen & now the wind has died down it feels a little humid... or maybe that is just me!

GOM had been going to mow the poor murdered lawn, but thankfully it was too windy. He has gone back to his reading.

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend.

Wishing It Was Autumn

This is a wallhanging I made to put on the wall downstairs in our Rumpus room. I designed this myself, & had a lot of fun making it. I used needleturn applique. It was my first attempt at a design using chequerboard, & I was happy with the result. I called it Garden Blessings- wish I had a garden with all those items in it!


Detail of the oranges & lemons
These are my pumpkins.
I have been watching with interest all the Autumn/Fall quilts being made in the northern hemisphere, & wishing we were just going into Autumn too.

I had a 'disagreement with Blogger yesterday morning.
After I posted the Autumn item, I tried repeatedly to upload pics, but no joy. So in the end I gave up in disgust, & never came back.

It is very warm today, & yesterday was humid as well. We had a visit from a friend, so that was nice- forced me to relax, & sit still for a while.

I am going to return here later today, to see how I go with the instructions, kindly sent to me by Bec of The Ladies Lounge.

My little teenage hoodlum Leo has done a further mischief this morning- I wondered why he slunk past this room, looking awfully guilty. On investigation I found he had depotted my coriander! I was not a very happy 'mother'. And he knew he had done the wrong thing.

GOM was secretly pleased I think- he said triumphantly, "I am not guilty of THAT Garden Crime.!"

As I have previously mentioned I love fresh herbs, & when we first bought this house there was a lovely lot of mint, & two healthy varieties of parsley. They were lovely to have on hand, & self seeded so there was a supply seemingly all year round. There was also a nice sage, but it was in the front garden for some reason, & that went by the by, when we completely redid the front garden, with a lot of hard labour by GOM, who did very well considering he had never been 'into' gardening before.

We had initially hired some 'Ratbag' 'landscapers'... thieving Irish Tinkers we ended up calling them! The Irish bit was no slur on the Irish as a race- it was to do with their very Irish name. A man & his 2 sons, who must have decided to call themselves "Landscapers". Didnt have a clue, & after long delays & stuff-ups, GOM dug out the misplaced concreted in support poles for the log terracing & redid it all himself. And, to his credit, he did a great job. Even had a lady stop to ask for the name of the landscaper!

But, back to the back garden & the herbs. One day while I was out, he decided to tackle 'those weeds that were growing all over the place'. Words cant explain my utter horror,- I wanted to kill him! I had to go out, so that I didnt attack him physically. I fumed & ranted, upon return .."How COULD you do that?". I managed to get calmed down & we got over that.
I replanted parsley, and started my herb garden again.

GOM has no sense of plants - they are all weeds to him. He has just uprooted some lillies I had planted, plus some geraniums, which were about to flower. I have begged & pleaded with him not to touch the garden if I am not there, to advise him. But, I guess he gets desperate for something to do, not having hobbies, or being interested in the computer.
So. sadly he has, not twice, but thrice times ripped out my lovely herbs. And now to top it all off, the dog has joined in!! I have nicknamed GOM the 'Garden Vandal' & after long periods of 'cooling off' I have even managed to laugh about some of his 'garden crimes'.

Now I will have to learn to laugh off the kitchen crimes, .... & the pantry crimes.... & the freezer rearrangements.

O well, I guess I can work through all this, goodness knows we have had some very rocky patches to deal with before, & we are still here together.

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

Overrated Meme

Well, have decided to try to do this meme.

1. Has to be Naomi Robson, as previously stated.
2. James Blunt.
3. Schoolies Weeks!! How to convince them it is overrated??
4. Retirement- but only for the GOMs. I think it is fine.
5. Detox programmes- just some greedy drug companies way of gouging money!
6. Expensive,Drastic, Plastic childrens toys- kids usually get more fun out of the boxes they came in. Sometimes the boxes last longer, too!
7. Sodding sodding Reality TV Shows! F***ing boring
8. Paris Hilton Swearing about her wont do my feelings justice!
9. Sport as a Healthy passtime, particularly for kids.
10. Yes, to Bec's Whingeback Radio!
11. Joining- what happened to encouraging children to be individuals, & be proud of it?
12. Chai- have never tried it, have no intention of EVER trying it! Hate tea, anyway.
13. Thin. I know overweight is not the best, but preoccupation with skinny is just too much.
14. Rage- letting it all hang out is surely over rated!!??

I think this is where I get out - starting to sound a tad pompous??

Ok I am still working on the Links- I may even work it out myself! But thanks to Alice, who did teach me something, even though I am an 'old dog'.

Hope your day travels well, whereever you are.

A little P. S. here from GOM on the overrated;
15. Sporting 'personalities'. YES.

I would also like to add a small rant
What is it, with these news readers on TV mispronouncing words & adding vowels that are not there???
Example; The JUBULENT Broncos returned home. WTF???

Sigh....

What a busy day I have had.

I must say thankyou to Alice for her set of instructions re Links. I am still trying, (Yes GOM, I am very trying!)& have now written to Judith for help.

I finally got my haircut... wish I could say it would be something nice like h & b's Gwynnie- but pudding basin sounds more like it. Never mind, it will be months before I need to return, tee hee.

I have also made a fresh Chocolate Souffle Roll, which I am about to try to fill & ice, so I can photograph it for this blog.

We had Small Grandson here this morning, & he was full of beans as usual. He decided Toast & Honey was the brekky favourite, & then he discovered I had not planted the seeds he had found, so I got a lecture. A further lecture ensued when he discovered the old broken clothes dryer is still on the wall. He said "I told you to go to the shop and buy another one! He watered my pot plants- which Hoodlum Leo has been de-potting these past few mornings, & bringing the empty pots inside to chew upon, leaving soil all over the lounge floor.

I was busy trying to work out links!!grrrrrr!!

Ok, here I am back again.
Really this is for Verniciousknids!
This is the plate I have served this cake on, ever since I got the recipe. It was given to us by the lovely French couple we bought our first house off, all those years ago. I have always loved it, because my mother's first name was Rita, & this is the name of the design of this little plate.
This does not seem to appear all that glamourous in these photos, but it does taste divine. I didnt manage to whip the cream quite as much as it needs, but.... never mind!
I am not always a measurerer- I tend to slosh & chuck, but I do measure very accurately for the cake, but tend to do my own thing in the icing stakes. My mother always had nice neat folded little butter wrappers, but I am somewhat phobic of dairy, so I dont eat or use butter. ( I confess, I dont often eat this cake either, due to the cream content!) but it is quite versatile in what you can do with it as regards filling, icing etc. I hope you enjoy it, should you try it. I am sure cream laced with Kahlua or similar adds to the cake!!! We have tried it, & yes, it is to die for!

Please dont mention Carrot Cake.

GOM had always wanted to own a Coffee Shop, once we left the Hotel life behind.
So on our arrival here, he bought one. It was outside a busy Plaza, close to a very busy train station.
The previous owner was a very nice girl, of Italian descent, and she had made Carrot Cake to sell in the shop. She very obligingly gave us her recipe for the cake, & that became one of my contributions to the shop. Every morning I would make 2 cakes, & sometimes, on Fridays, I would make 4 cakes.
So as you can imagine I soon became all caked out!
I didnt always work at the shop, but quite often did, & quite often got a frantic phone call for more cake.
Every Friday I would make a Chocolate Souffle Roll, & sometimes if we had orders, would make more than one. These were made from a recipe given to me by S, whose husband, had taught her to make it, on their Honeymoon!!

Here is the Recipe - I have never had this cake fail, so if you try it Good luck! And let me know how it goes- 'SIL'- I use the term loosley- reckons it is the best cake he has ever had, when I made him one to 'make up' for something very unpleasant that happened to him.(Not our doing, I might add)

Chocolate Souffle Roll.

4 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons of cocoa
2 tablespoons of cornflour.

Line a swiss roll tin with greased paper.
Beat the egg yolks and sugar till thick.
Add the sifted cocoa & cornflour.
Beat the egg whites till stiff, but not dry.
Gently fold the whites into the yolk mixture.
Bake at 200c 400F 10- 15 minutes
Roll in a teatowel dusted with icing sugar, till cool.
Fill with 1/2 pint whipped cream.
Ice with chocolate icing.

As you can see, it is very simple, but produces a really nice cake!

GOM soon tired of his days as Coffee Shop proprietor. He was very popular with Little Old Ladies, who would regale him with tales of their bunion operations etc, & being a polite man, he never reminded them they told him the same story last week!
He would open early and was popular with train tavellers who would arrive early for work, & they could have a 'heart starter' long black or the extremely strong 'short blacks' some of the men would drink.
At the weekends we would attend as a family to work & our son hated it, so he struck a deal with us- he would stay home & do the housework, rather than deal with the Public. And he did stick with the bargain, & did a very good job!

And now, I am off to see if I can make sense of an email sent to me very kindly by Angie, to assist me to understand how to get Links!

But just before I go, here is my poor Longface Jumaeu, & it is years since I made her, & I still havent dressed her, so she has lived in socks & her hat for about 10 years! I am hoping this will nudge me to get her dressed!

A New Look!

Still not sure if I am happy with the new look site. It all seemed to take me such a long time to sort out, I gave up in the end! Feel perhaps it is a little easier to read?

Well GOM is still abed, not well, but at least resting wont hurt him.

Naughty Teenage Hoodlum Leo has sneaked into my sewing room, & stolen a bag of cottons, taken them outside & chewed them to pieces! GRRRRR. He looks so sorry when I growl at him too.But, who could stay mad at this cute little woolly boy?

I have been thinking I would like to add some of my favourite blog addresses onto my site, so others can enjoy them too, but I couldnt seem to work out how to do it. Perhaps a tap with a mallet might be able to get it to sink in??- to my head, I mean, not the computer, haha.

It is our Labour Day long weekend here, & all is quiet out. We actually live above quite a busy highway, & dont consciously hear the noise of traffic, but it does seem quieter on days like this.

Beloved Brother in NZ rang me last night, & they have gone into daylight saving already, the lucky people. I wish ours had started, because Leo thinks it is about time- he is getting me up to 'play' with him at 5am! He is a very vocal little dog, & comes & talks to me, about getting up, & feeding him. Our little Lady Honey is far too well mannered to do that! She was content to lie in bed until I decided to get up.

I must get some productive sewing done instead of just thinking about it!!

Sunday Allsorts

What can you say? This arrived in an email, called First Kiss. Just glad it is not my little one. On the other hand, how loving.

I love old photographs.
I feel we are really lucky there have been hoarders in our family, & they have saved these photos, in good order.

This is my Dad.

This is my grandmother, Florence, on the left, & she is my father's mother.

This is my Grandmother, Christiana.

My Grandmother Christiana, came from Yorkshire, & we have some really interesting photos taken when she was a young girl. I have her mother's Confirmation 'Book of Prayey'(sic). I understood she was confirmed at York Minster, but the writing in the front is inscribed Thormanby, March 1874.

GOM is most unwell. He gets bronchitis at the drop of a hat, so he will be spending the day resting. He does seem a little better this morning, so the visit I forced him to take to the Dr for medication was probably well timed.

A Secret, Whispered, Rant.

When GOM & I got married, 40 years ago, it was said it 'wouldnt last'. I was a girl 'from out of Town', not from the 'City', a 'country girl' from 'another Island'. There were 'cultural differences'. Our families were sooo different. He was used to going to Hotels, I had only lately discovered such 'delights'. He was 'older'- though not THAT much,- what is 7 years? He had been 'married before', he was 'divorced', he had a 6 year old daughter.... The list seemingly went on & on. Yes, they said it would never last, we were chalk & cheese, sport & non-sport, music & tone deaf. Even our accents were different!

But... Fools rush in, where Angels fear to tread.
We didnt want a 'wedding' in the usual sense, we just wanted to get quietly married,& that was frowned upon. We just had a 'civil ceremony'- read Registry Office! It suited us, & I have never, ever, regretted not having a 'REAL WEDDING.'

GOM's mother came up to 'my Island'. Startling my mother, who had never met a person quite like her. Startling me- I had never met anyone like her either. I had met her in 'his Island'- & didnt really feel any 'connection'.

We were married in 'my Island' -he was unhappy, so we moved to 'his Island'', as wives tend to be much more adapable- as all we 'girls' know!
My mother said, 'It won't last. Dont have any children. I wont want to see them. They will only look like him.'
My cousin, who overheard my mother, cried for me. But I knew my mother spoke from hurt. She didnt want me moving to the other Island, to be so far away. She didnt want to 'lose' me again.
But we went.

We had our children, we made our lives together, & eventually we worked together.
I think it took me 8 years to really feel I 'belonged' in the other Island. I used to think, when times got bad, as they are bound to do, from time to time, 'It doesnt matter, I can always go 'home'. Now, I think I miss that 'other Island more than I miss 'my Island'. We had wonderful times & made wonderful friends, & worked hard.

In the intervening years, my mother had fallen in love with our children, been to stay with us- often. She had love flying over the Alps, had loved the Southern city, where we lived, & had grown to like & respect the GOM. Who of course was Happy Young Publican Husband, in those days.

We also had very dark times. His eldest daughter, who lived with her mother, was killed in an accident, aged 16. It was the first time I met her mother. She had remarried, but had no other children. To be so devastated was unbearable for us...how could she stand it.

24 years ago, we moved over to live in Australia, another Island home, with our children. They had a hard time settling into school, felt very 'different'. But made friends met partners, & throughout the years my mother came to stay, & I went to stay with her on an average of once a year. We had trips back to 'his Island' his parents came over here to stay with us. My father died, I went back for his funeral- 'my' Island. His father died, we went back for the funeral-'his' Island. My mother died- 'my' Island. His mother, 'his' Island.

Our fortunes have had many highs & lows- we have weathered the storms, as well as the brights. We bought businesses here, some successful, some not. I had some very interesting jobs, & finally GOM became a publican again. More Hotel life, (shudder).

Then we moved, I retired. That was fine. We were happy.

BUT- he retired last year.

They said it wouldnt last. They might be right!

Happy Snaps

Small Grandson Loves camping!
They saw these boxing kangaroos fighting below their cabin!
Come on in! The water was lovely!
This 'bum' shot taken at the beach!

These 2 pics are of BF J's 2 Gorgeous Granddaughters!
GG no.2.(Alias Captain Underpants) A girl of equality, no sissy name for her!!
GG no.1.
Lovely Sunny Days- both sides of the Tasman!

Warning! This is a Rant.

I have to get a haircut today. I HATE getting haircuts, & this is why I usually resemble one of those shaggy sheep you see in old pictures of Scottish countryside. I cant stand hair hanging in my eyes, nor do I like 'wispy bits' hanging OUT sides of my neck. My hair just doesnt grow in an orderly fashion, but most hairdressers dont seem to care how the hair grows. They smile their vacuous smiles, as they admire their many-hued, current haystack or helmet in the mirror & ask how you would like your hair cut? As soon as you start to speak, their eyes glaze over, & the little flaps on the front of their ears close- tight!As you stop speaking they rouse a little from their selfabsorbed trance, & grab the spray bottle, & procede to drown your very head. As you sit dripping they begin the 'CUT'. Ye gods, you can see immediately this is not going well. As you feebly try to remind them, you didnt want it TOO short, off it comes. In huge lunging swipes your hair flies off, to land upon the floor. Then out come the 'thinning' shears! If you say you dont really want 'thin hair', they glare at you in disbelief, & use them anyway. You know this is another utter disaster, you cringe as they flash the mirror on the munted ruins of the back of your head, trying to console yourself YOU wont have to look at it. As they brush hair- seemingly miles of it- off your frozen face, & bald ears, & naked neck, you curse yourself for lack of courage to roar at them, or have a full blown Tourettes attack! You imagine them lying in the hair on the floor as you stand over them & hack off their very tortured hair. But me, I subside, defeated, mutter something about it being 'very short, at least I wont need to come back haha, for a very long time.' Translate NEVER. This is a cowardly protest, I realise that, & the rational side of me says I deserve a bad cut if I wont protest, but, lets face it, once the damn hair is off your head, you cant do a bloody thing about it. You can hardly glue it all back! Basically all you can do is suffer the family's hysterical mirth as you hide indoors for the next week.

I once stormed back to protest a particularly bad haircut, which had cost a small ransom. All my friends agreed it was the most disgusting haircut they had ever seen. The back looked as if some FAT RAT had gnawed it - & in fact that is exactly what had happened. He was very fat, & he had been demonstrating to a small, nervous, scared apprentice. When I raged back in he called me 'old' ???? What??? WTF??? there is no crime in being 'older' - besides I wasnt that old then! So, I totally lost it, & had a full scale Tourettes. 'Dont you swear at me' said he, 'It is obscene'. So- & I am not ashamed of this- I called him a "BIG, FAT, OBSCENE, HEAP!!!". The poor little apprentice almost fainted, because she started to laugh. I was given a refund by his shellshocked wife, & swept out feeling I still lost out.

I have not always suffered at the hands of hairdressers. The best one I ever had was an Irishman, who always begged me to have an affair with him, -when his wife was out of earshot, of course. I routinely refused, but always returned, - after all he was good for my ego, as well as working magic for my hair!I lived a public life, & needed to have decent looking hair.
Where ever you are now Simon, Thankyou!

Odds- & an Orange Spider

This is the view from my kitchen window. Neighbour azaleas, with a rotten privet growing in the midst! It is self sown, & neighbours are beyond gardening now. I enjoy the Azaleas... what else can I do.
I have managed to get this Port Wine Magnolia to grow! It smells divine.

This is our Lemon tree. It is loaded with the most gorgeous smelling flowers. I hope we get more lemons this time- last time Small Grandson picked them as 'presents' for Nanna!

This bright orange spider was happily spinning a web in the agave!


These bright humble nasturtiums are almost the only flowers our garden has. They grow wild amongst the weeds. Meggie to GOM,"I would rather look at green of weeds, than bare earth!" GOM snorts in disbelief!

I am not a very good photographer, but digital cameras help, & of course the various things to tidy them up, using the computer!

Daughter & family safely home from camping/cabin holiday. Small grandson flung himself onto his bed, & declared, "I dont want to be here, this is not our house, we dont live here REALLY" He had loved the trip, & Granddog had also. Swam in the dam, rolled in roo poo, & other poo, & really enjoyed himself. Glad I didnt have to greet him then!

On the Five things meme

Who are these Clowns??




This lovely Dahlia photo was sent to me by best friend J. My brown thumb doesnt allow pretty flowers like this. Thankyou J, I love it.



I give in. I will attempt the Five things meme

Five things I wish I had in my freezer.
1.More space

2.My homemade Pumpkin Soup

3.Bread rolls.

4.My Aunt's favourite fruit cake.

5.Precooked meals for a week.

Five things that shouldnt be in my wardrobe.

1.Clothes that used to fit.

2.Dog chewed shoes- keeping them wont repair them!

3.My undressed Repro Antique Jumeau doll.

4.Hideous old Trackies- even I wont wear them again.

5.A box of photographs waiting to be sorted.

Five things I hate about my car.

1.That it is not actually MY car.

2.It was meant to be white, not crystal green/blue

3.I dont really like driving any more.

4.The sand in the carpet, that wont come out.

5.I have lied. I dont really hate the car at all. It is very reliable, & comfortable.

Five things that shouldnt be in my handbag.

1.A dog chewed doll shoe.

2.A letter of referral for a Specialist.

3.Useless pens.

4.Reciepts - they are NEVER the ones you NEED!

5.Something now so old, it is not recognisable as anything!

Five things that I wish were not in my bathroom.

1.Out-of-date bathsalts... what the hell are they still in there for??

2.Denture tablets.

3.A now defunct hairdryer- why havent I thrown it out!

4.Almost Adult Granddaughter's various hair accessories- mostly broken.

5.The raided-out First Aid kit, now almost empty of every item, thanks to my lovely family. "That's what Nanna's are for."