A Day in My Life

What a dreary old day it has been .
Overcast and gloomy, both me and the weather. At least that's how we both started the day.
One of us finished much brighter and I'm glad to say it was me.




I was up around six this morning.
Briefly on the computer to check the blog and emails and then off to wake Andy.
He had to get up early to finish some homework. He has been competing in the Launceston Competitions ( Eisteddfod )this week and was out until around 10pm last night.
He had no time to finish his work apart from this morning.


Once he was organised I went out to the kitchen to light the fire and take some bread rolls out of the freezer to defrost for the school lunches.
I took the scraps down to Charlie the duck.
He was quacking loudly and has been every morning at about 6.30.
I don't know why but I'm sure someone will complain soon.
Food doesn't seem to make him quiet but I don't know what else to do.


7am and time to wake Kate and Stephen and then start mixing up some pikelets at the same time washing up the dishes from last night that were neatly stacked waiting for attention.


Lunches made and Stephen and Kate are ready for breakfast, pikelets with Golden Syrup and some mandarins.


When they were almost finished Andy appeared having finished his work and just needing it to be proof read.
It was decided that he would take a later bus to school so the two of us sat down to breakfast together as Kate and Stephen headed off .


I tidied the kitchen then proofread Andy's work, it was about Global warming.
In the mean time he had a shower and was getting ready to go.
Just after Andy left Louis got up. He sat and read while I fixed up the blog , adding the other Day in My Lifers.


Then back out to the kitchen, I finished washing the breakfast dishes while he cooked himself some pikelets and we had a good long talk about his plans for next year.
He has been having a tough time lately, unable to find work and still unsure about next year. He seems to be coming through it OK though and seems very positive now.


Me, on the other hand, I've been feeling glum for the past few days and today was the worst. Not helped by the gloomy weather I'm sure.
I decided it might be best to go for a walk and as I needed to go to the butcher I combined the two.


In the end I was gone for over an hour and returned feeling happier but still not quite right. We had sandwiches for lunch and then Louis started work on a model boat he was given a couple of years ago.






He had to sit in the middle of all the damp washing.
Most of the laundry I did yesterday is still hanging limply on the line so anything that was approaching dry was brought in mid afternoon and eventually hung on the clothes rack to dry.

Around 2pm I started making some cinnamon scrolls.
The children, especially Andy have been asking for these for weeks.
This is the first afternoon in ages when all three have been here for afternoon tea.



I must say the longer I worked in the kitchen the more my mood lifted and by the time the children came home I was almost back to normal.

The cinnamon scrolls were a great success.
The recipe is from Patty's blog.


After the scrolly late afternoon tea, I went down to put the chickens in and pop the rooster in his box.


Andy had the fire alight in the lounge room and closed the curtains ready for the evening.

Dinner was Beef Stroganoff.
I got a good price on some scotch fillet so I used that and it was yummy. We had some Halva for dessert.


Stephen rang his mum for a late Mother's day hello and his sister told the story of my dolls in the shop in Armidale.
She said that someone who reads my blog popped into the shop to see if the dolls had arrived yet and said that they read my blog every day.
Isn't the world a small place.



Now everyone is relaxing after tea.
Louis is playing the piano, Kate is begging me to cut her hair!!!! Andy is checking out the TV and Stephen has gone to cards.


I'm feeling much happier tonight, largely due to Louis' good company.
I'll tidy the kitchen and then do some knitting and hopefully read some of my book.
I'll come back later in the evening to read about some of the other days of my fellow bloggers.


I hope you all enjoyed writing about your day and reading mine.
I must admit that this morning I felt so blah that I had no desire to remember anything about this day.
Attempting to maintain my normal rhythm and forcing myself to think about my day probably was my salvation and turned my day around from a miserable time to be endured to a reasonably happy and productive day.


Check out the list of links in my previous post to read about the days of my fellow bloggers. Some who live outside of Australia and New Zealand are of course only just starting their day and won't have posted yet.
If you are considering joining in you are still most welcome.
It really is fascinating to read about the ordinariness of daily lives all over the world.
There is often so much similarity in the rhythms and routines of our days, certainly more that unites us than separates us.


You can also have a look at pocket cultures blog which collects blogs of interest from all over the world and showcases them. It's fascinating.

A Day in My Life - join us

Here is the list of the people participating in this month's "A Day in My Life".
I'll update the list through the day so if you want to join in you are most welcome.
Just leave a comment on this post or yesterday's post and I'll add you to the list.



Oh and I've been having a little problem with comments disappearing so if you don't see your name or comment here just try again. I'll put up any new names again at about 4pm my time.


Willow

Elle

Mrs Anna T

Leanne NZ

Chas

Libby

Kez

Jan

Rose Red

Jan M

Quinne

Maggie

Ann

Cathy

Cajunchic

Tracy

Tia

Natalie

Sandra

Maria

Niki

Incredible , magical light

What can you say.
The light at this time of year , especially in the late afternoon, makes the whole world look like a fairyland.



The angle of the suns rays, the glorious colours of the leaves - they put on such a great show.



My dear cosmos are still clinging on. The first decent frost will see them off but they have flowered continually for many months and each flower has cast its load of seeds into the garden, sometimes helped by me.
We should have a a garden full of dainty pink blooms next summer.










To answer your questions about the little quilt:
Yes, it is quite possible to make this by hand. Some years ago I helped Andy's grade four class make a similar quilt and each child made their own quilt by hand.
It just takes time.



The nine patch in the middle is made of 3 and 1/2" squares, that is a 3" plus 1/4" seam allowance on each side.

The first border, the cherries, is 1 and 1/2", that is a 1" strip with 1/4" seam allowance on each side.

The second border is 2 and 1/2", that is 2" strips with 1/4" seam allowance on each side.


The binding is the overhang from the backing but you could put a separate binding on if you wish.

I used a thin cotton batting ( wadding).


The quilt is approximately 15 and 1/2 " square.


I used bits and pieces that I had on hand so I don't know the quantities of fabric needed.


If you have any other questions I'll be happy to help if I can.









And an invitation.



Tomorrow is the 14th of the month so if anyone wants to join me in keeping a detailed record of their day you are most welcome.
If you want others to read all about your day leave a comment on this post and I will post a list of all those participating.
This will be the third day we have recorded and at least 30 people have formally taken part each time plus various others I have seen in my journeys around blog land.
You can read more about this project by follow the link in this post or on the sidebar under the subject heading " A Day in My Life"


It may seem daunting but you can write as much or as little as you choose.
We are not trying to see who is the busiest or most organised.
It is simply ordinary people recording their ordinary days.
After 12 months I think we will have a wonderful record of how our lives are lived.



Happy 14th to you.

Happy

I have a confession.






I finished one of the little quilts and it made me so happy I couldn't bear to give it away






so I gave it to my mum for mother's day.
That way I'll see it every time I go to visit.






And now I'll have fun making another one to send away.

Kitchens and mothers; forever linked in the hearts of most children.

Mother's day; the day the rest of the family take over the kitchen.
No meals to prepare.
No washing up to be done.
Just sit and be waited on.

Hope everyone who is being celebrated for the work and love of motherhood has a day of feeling cherished and appreciated.

quilts and dolls

Well the little quilts are coming along nicely.
It's time to do the quilting, then the binding, a little bit of embroidery and they will be ready to go.



I'm assuming Lenny has received her doll by now.
If not, LENNY, LOOK AWAY NOW !







Here is Miss Autumn






The photos don't really do justice to the richness of the colours of her dress






But you can see all the colours of autumn are there.
And so warm and cosy.





And if you want to now what cats do to be warm and cosy on a slightly chilly autumn day...






here's Maggie...






and Shackleton...

and Badger, all dotted around the playroom being cosy.

On my way to the bank today I found a rainbow and a treasure.

Last time I needed a zipper for a sewing project I discovered my stash of op shop zippers was sadly depleted.
You can imagine how excited I was today when I found an entire rainbow of zippers at the oppie.






Twenty eight zips in all , lots of different sizes and a whole kaleidoscope of colours.
Twenty cents each.
I think that's a good price.
It is so long since I have bought a new zip I have no idea how much they cost at their full retail price but I'm pretty sure that 20 cents is a good price.






I was actually on my way to the bank , not the op shop, that was just a detour.
I passed these little plants, bravely growing in a blocked up drain.
I think it's a couple of tomato plants.
Isn't that wonderful?
Nature, she always wins.


I found this proverb:
"You can shove nature out with a pitchfork, but she will keep coming back."







We are still getting a few toadstools but not nearly so many this year. It must be because of the very dry summer and autumn we have had.




I have bought myself a present, a book of knitting patterns: "Irresistible gifts to knit"by Alan Dart.
I used to knit a lot of animals but not so many lately. This book has so many lovely patterns for animals and gnomes and nativity sets and pirates and mermaids.

We spent the earlier part of the day planting seedlings that Mum bought round yesterday.
She wants a cut of the harvest as payment for the seedlings - a fair deal I think.

morning

It's early morning here, just before 6 and the sun and the family won't be up for a while.
Soon I'll go out to light the fire and get the kitchen ready for the day.
I'm drinking my first cuppa in the playroom , my work table is covered in doll making ideas, ideas that began to form at the workshop on the weekend and have fired my hands into action.




I've put some ingredients in the breadmaker to prepare some cheesy rolls for school lunches, they should be ready to be shaped in about half an hour.




Rhythm has returned to the house.
Last week I had to go out almost every day plus there was the doll making class on Saturday and Sunday.
Stephen was away with work all week.
It was just a funny week.




This week, the temperatures are getting lower overnight. Autumn, as the last whisper before Winter, has truly arrived. As the northern hemisphere celebrates May Day as the true start of spring and the inevitable dance towards summer, down here we are beginning to feel the inevitability of cold months ahead.




The wood is stacked in the shed.


The garden is planted with what will make late winter stews: leeks, onions, garlic plus some greens and peas too.


Extra blankets have been added to beds.


Knitting is going on apace.


Clothing checked;what fits , what doesn't, what do we need.





We are nearly at the Birthday Season: late May through to August so there are presents to be considered and celebrations of course. It's a busy time but it helps to light up the wintertime when the days are short and sometimes dreary.
Each date with its special star on the calendar takes us forward to the next celebration: first Denise ( early this year because of a special overseas trip), then nephew Matthew, Stephen's dad,then Louis, Andy, Stephen all together, then my aunt who lived next door to me my whole childhood, she turns 80 this year, then Kate, me, my mum and my nephew Ben.
That takes us to the end of August and almost the end of winter.
Lots of bright lights to show the way to spring.
Lots to keep us busy and together.




We have white and pink and purple violets flowering at the moment and the greenery of some spring bulbs are already pushing through. Brave reminders that although the days are drawing in and darkness will dominate over the next few months there is always a spring, renewal that builds on the seasons past comes again and again. The natural world is always moving on , changing and growing ever hopeful that it will be blessed with the right conditions to bloom and making the best of what it is given.




Enough of this dreaming, I have to go and get the rolls in the oven.