Stitching, gardening and Life.

I've just made a cup of coffee,so that I can sit down and relax as I type my blog. If you're easily embarassed, don't read past my tomatoes.

I've finished stitching 2 ornaments for the Victorian Bushfire Survivors. I hope that when they receive an ornament that they realise that the rest of Australia and the world feels their pain and that they are not alone.

My first one is a Lizzie*Kate called 'Family'.



It's stitched on some white linen, 28ct?, with DMC, changed to my liking!

The next one is a simple design I charted myself!!




Stitched on the same white linen, using DMC to match some fabric in my stash, that I bought cos it was pretty. I knew that I would need it one day!

I really need to get my sewing machine out now. There's no more putting it off. I've got at least 4 finishes that need finishing. And a skirt I want to make. Plus a chair pad that needs making. One would think that by the way I procrastinate, the act of getting out my machine is some complex task. However, all I need to do is get the 'stuff' off my sewing cabinet and lift up the top. It seems so simple, yet I dread doing it. I know why, I worry that I will stitch my ornaments 'some' way that ruins all that work. It's a scary task. I can do it, but I worry. Now, I think of the bushfire survivors and think my reluctance is petty. I can do it and I will do it after I finish my blog- stay tuned for my next blog to see the results.

On a lighter note, my tomatoes are growing! I have 9 tomatoes and 1 cucumber- the most I've ever had. Of course watering helps, which I have forgotten to do with previous attempts, oopsy. But, right now, 2 bushes have no tomatoes, and one bush has 6 and two bushes have 3. I'm so chuffed with this year's success (doesn't take much to inspire me, only 9 tomatoes and 1 cucumber) that I'm thinking of putting some plants in my front yard! They'll get a tad more sun, and I won't have to net them off so that Jack doesn't eat them. I know he really likes strawberries, because, even though I didn't actually catch him 'red-handed', the red around his white mouth and paws gave him away! So I didn't take any chances with my precious tomatoes- they've got bird netting over them to stop him from getting any ideas.

Nicholas is about to turn 11. I've had lots of talks with him about his body parts and how babies are made. He always asks me lots of 'those' questions and never Steve, possibly cos Steve is mostly at work in the evenings. However, he's (Nicholas) being asking me about puberty. And the books we have just don't have enough information about puberty. Of course, I know about girls' bodies, but boys' bodies are foreign to me in turns of what happens and when it happens. So, I found a companion book to 'Where did I come from?', titled 'What's happening to me?' (or something like that). One flip through the pages, seeing diagrams of bodies changing, I knew this was the right book. I had a read of it when I got home and now, thankfully, Steve has offered to read it with Nicholas. I have to say, I am very relieved about that, cos I know what's in the book! And hopefully, Nicholas will ask Steve all the questions he has, and from the content of the book I know he'll have plenty, but odds on, he'll wait til I'm trapped in the car driving somewhere and spring them on me. Just like the time when he was 7 and I was driving home and he told me he knew what a 'pagina' was. I nearly ran off the road from surprise, and had to stifle the laugh building up. So much for the school grapevine- his source got the name slightly wrong! So, once he learns about, er, the 'emissions' his body will make at night time and other 'interesting stuff', well, I can hardly wait for the comments and questions...

Stay tuned!