Spring has finally sprung in my garden!

I took these photos on Saturday morning. The 6th December and spring has finally sprung in my garden! Things have been so dry here and the 35mm we got the week before last is finally having an effect on my garden. We're on tank water so every last drop lately has been purely dedicated to our household use and the horse troughs.

This is part of our property. It was a dustbowl a week ago. It's amazing how a bit of moisture can make such a significant change.

Here's my Man From Snowy River riding his horse Charlie Brown. She's just recently been broken in.

I just love pansies. Every pansy has its own smiley face. Purple is my favourite colour so of course I had to buy the biggest purple pansies possible. They look fantastic! So do the crimson coloured ones.

Roses would have to be my favourite flower. Though I'm not much of a rose grower, I'm quite proud these have actually flowered given my poor attention. Thank heavens Dad's a green thumb! This climbing rose is currently in need of a trim. It's actually crawling along the ground at the moment.

I can't even tell you what this one is named. It's a small little bush. Hardly ever gets watered but is brimming with buds.

This is my Pierre de Ronsard - can't say this beautiful rose is flourishing in my garden yet.

Isn't this one a treat!

Me Change - D Day is Approaching

What is the definition of D Day? D Day is often used in the military to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated.

Well D Day in Shauna’s life will be Wednesday 10 December.

I recently turned 40 and I'm not happy about it. I would have thought that after surviving cancer turning 40 would be a breeze. I thought I would be jumping for joy and wanting to celebrate.

In actually fact, it hit me like a tonne of bricks. Why? I’m not quite sure. Is it because I’m now over the hill…middle aged? Overweight and wrinkly? Gravity is taking effect on my body? I feel like I haven’t achieved anything in my 40 years? I’m not married yet?

I’ve decided that the next 12 months is going to be a year of transformation. Things have to change, with D Day being Wednesday 10 December. Why that date? Well, I’ve already let 4 weeks get away from me. Wednesday will be 47 weeks until my 41st birthday. By then I want to be able to say that I have improved some areas of my life; that I am happier and I am progressing. Don't get me wrong. I am very happy with some aspects but there are many aspects I could improve.

What does D Day mean for me? It will mean:

• discovery
• dedicated dramatic change from dowdy and dweeby to dainty
• diet and damage control
• daffodils, daisies and dahlias
• turning day dreams into direction
• devotion instead of dissociation
• d time = me time
• droving – I will learn to ride a horse!
• dimples

So I haven't really thought about this much but....

In order to achieve a Me Change, every Wednesday I will be posting my goals for the next week and my achievements from the previous week. To have a reference to go back to and to physically see a change will be motivating. I might be opening a can of worms!

I will be comfortably smiling by my 41st birthday!

First ever pillow - crazy patched

So today I thought I'd share with you my 2nd ever finished item. It was a gift for my dear friend Maggie for her birthday in 2004. I am definitely not a sewer by any means as you can see from the end result. I guess it's the thought that counts, hey Maggie!

Check out the label. I can't stitch to save myself. It makes me laugh everytime I see the pillow sitting on Maggie's lounge.

LESSONS LEARNT

1. sew the label on the backing fabric before you finish the item
2. fold the edges over on the label (to make a hem as such to surround the label) before sewing. That way all loose threads are covered and things won't fray
3. don't try to handstitch something - you're hopeless!

Til next time....take care and thanks for visiting my blog.

The Xmas Decoration is finished - hallelujah!

I finally finished my Xmas decoration at 11pm last night. Got home from work at about 5.30pm and got stuck into it from about 6pm. I won't post a picture until Dianne actually receives her gift however I must say that it's totally different to what I started off doing! What an epic it turned out to be. I'll post a pic in a few days time. Wait for the surprise....

Joy bear

Good morning. Look what I received in the mail! A beautiful little Xmas bear called Joy.

Joy bear was sent by Dianne in Cranbourne VIC as part of the patchNquilt group's Xmas Decoration Swap. http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/patchNquilt/. pNq are a very active, jolly group and swaps are held quite regularly. Why not join up? Thank you Dianne, Joy will bring much Joy to our household this Xmas and will have a special place on our tree - as soon as it's erected!

I finally have a sewing room!

Yippee! I finally have a sewing room. This has only taken 4 years to come about and a lot of procrastination!

My fiance spent some of last summer and part of this winter building me a 2 bay garage. The purpose of the garage is so I can get my car out of his 3 bay shed and my crap out of the spare room.

On the weekend I finally cleared out the spare room and put everything in the garage. The garage was completely empty before I started. Note to self: sort everything and stack neatly in garage!

The following photos show the contents of the spare room. I don't know how I ever fitted it in the spare room - it was literally chocked from floor to ceiling!

Ahh, the serenity. Here's the spare room now.

And, last but not least, my sewing room is set up. I now need to fill it with all things beautiful. Any suggestions?

My first ever quilt - the finished product

Part 2 of How it all started
Little did I know but this idea of making a 'one and only quilt' has turned into a wonderful hobby, a passion, something I'd love to do all day everyday if I could!

The making of this quilt took over 10 years and within this time saw some huge life changes.

- My 16 year relationship broke up - devastation hit!
- I pretty much moved into 'our' first home alone - sadness!
- Within a month I fell in love with my soul mate - miracle!
- Within weeks my G.P advised me to change my circle of friends. I was having life threatening allergies to my soul mates' horses - frightening!
- Within weeks my soul mate had proposed - pure joy!
- Within a month of that I was diagnosed with cancer - terror!
- Within a month of that I had radical neck surgery - absolute horror!
- Within 3 months I was having radioactive therapy - vomit!
- Within 9 months I had further surgery - lowest of the lows!

But I am proud to say that with the help and encouragement of my dear friend Maggie, the Snowy Mountains Quilters and my fiance, I finished my quilt. Maggie entered my quilt in the Dalgety Show before I had even finished. Much to my shock and absolute delight, I got 1st prize in the 'Machine pieced, professionally quilted' section. It was a very proud moment - a life highlight that I will never forget. There's so much more to the story but that's it in a nutshell.

The quilt that I couldn't even look at without crying after my relationship breakup turned into a quilt that I absolutely cherish and love. It tells me a story of where I've been, the highs and lows I've been through and how it's possible to come out the other side with the support and care of those you love around you.

Here it is. I hope you like it. All comments welcome and appreciated!

Oh and my label on the back says "Love grows in happy hearts"