Isn't it funny.....

how one can own thousands a lorry load quite a few recipe books and magazines, yet still come back to the same recipe, over and over.

This is a mixed fruit and walnut slice that I got from Peg's blog. I discovered it ages ago and have made it so many times. It is always a winner. Very easy to make, lovely to eat and makes a large quantity. I didn't have enough mixed fruit this time round so added some dates. I love that beautiful green leaf plate too. Mum gave it to me years ago and I kept it safe and sound in the dresser. Then, one day, I just decided to start using all my beautiful things and it gives me such pleasure.

One slow contribution to SBS this weekend. This is Crossed Canoes and is something of an odd block, I thought. The colours haven't come up very well here. The pale fabric is a light apricot with a white spot.

I do have enough to make a good sized quilt but am starting to look on this project as a learning experience. I've never had patchwork lessons so working through these blocks, and trying to do the very best I can with them, is certainly giving me some good lessons. This block is foundation pieced.

My babies are certainly growing up. On Friday, the kindy kids were allowed to wear their school uniforms for next year for a 'show and tell'. They all looked so grown up in their uniforms but when they changed back into their kindy uniforms, they were just babies again. Time goes so quickly.

Hannes in his new school uniform. He will be in prep next year. And what blog post from me would be complete without a photo of the latest flowers from SIL's garden? The white roses are mine but the goregous red ones are his. Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend.

A jammy kind of day

Spent most of yesterday making jam and relish. I made five bottles of apricot jam

and eight bottles of green tomato relish.

Mum gave me a heap of cherry tomatoes so I picked out the ripe ones and used all the others to make this relish. I hope it tastes OK. I haven't tried this recipe before.  I also made a banana cake for the freezer and topped up the jam drop supply and have now hidden those in the spare room too.

Bill the Builder is home on holidays and is goofing off tidying up the shed so he says. We are picking up a new car that looks like a Mongolian Racing Duck in the next few days and I am really hoping for a road trip down south to see Lynda. I'm not used to having Bill the Builder home and it's a real challenge quite nice, although there are lots of cups of tea and snacky cake. We'll both be fats as fools somewhat heavier if this keeps up!

How gorgeous are these roses from SIL's garden? They are actually a lot darker red than they look here and the perfume is just exquisite. What a beautiful day it is here today.

Here's looking at you, mister!

Pick a spot….any spot

Generally, I am fairly neat and tidy. I usually put things away when I’m finished and I mostly work in a logical, orderly manner. And then the other times, I just lose the plot completely and the place looks like a bomb went off! Wherever you look, mess and chaos!  Just seems to go from 'not too bad’ to ‘whoa! What happened here?'

Hmmmm…maybe should have ditched the wine glass before I took the photo!

Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to take too long to get everything back in order. Very easy to mess up but very easy to put to rights again.

Remains of the jam drops I made, after leaving them to cool while Bill the Builder was home. I also made a lovely orange cake (hidden in the spare bedroom), a loaf of bread, a zuchinni slice, some pea and ham soup (found a meaty hock languishing in the bottom of the freezer) and put the fruit on to soak for the Christmas cake.

How good do I look in this apron from the M & M shop in New York?? Oh. OK. Not good at all. Rats!

 How beautiful is this rose? This poor bush doesn’t get much attention and doesn’t give many flowers (probably for obvious reasons!) but  when it blooms, they are just lovely.

Good bargains at the junk shop! Shiny purple diary for next year and three bottles for Christmas jam. Bargain! Apricot jam on the boil as we speak.

Today, Barney No Friends has to go to the doctor (again) but this time, only for his annual shots. How would you fancy having to load this into a cage?? Not one of my favourite past times, let me tell you. He weighs a tonne and also has an aversion to being stuffed into a cage and having the lid slammed shut, but then, don’t we all?

Been to Table Runner School!

Spent a wonderful day recently at a Christmas table runner class. What a terrific way to spend a morning and I'm just so chuffed with the end result.

Even better, it's made entirely from my stash! How thrifty am I?? It's quite long and is actually brighter than it looks here. I am going to make another one for my dining room table and replace the centre star with an embroidery.

Done two more SBS blocks. This is Swamp Patch, traditionally pieced,

and this is Bachelor's Puzzle. It is made with templates with a lot of mucking around and spitting and cussing which I found a tad challenging.

It is said there is no such thing as a free lunch. Well, around these parts, if you want afternoon tea after kindy, you have to cook your own!

Hannes loves a good cook up and always makes our dinner on Wednesday nights too. Spag bol. Every Wednesday night. Without fail. I made that apron for him (and both the other grandbabies) for last Christmas and put a wooden spoon, a biscuit cutter and a pair of tongs in the embroidered pocket. He loves it!

I am always amazed when this poor plant bursts into flower each year! Mum bought it for me years ago and apart from a water from time to time, the poor thing is totally neglected. Yet each year, I get this beautiful display. Note to self: look after plant under mango tree a bit better.

Beautiful gerbras from Mum's garden. She really is the gerbra queen. What a lovely day it is here today! Perfect for embroidering towels for gorgeous DIL's birthday party tomorrow.

Onya, Barbie!

Well, what a thoroughly frustrating and infuriating wonderfully productive weekend! Weather has been just beautiful and I have been beavering away in totally inadequate carport situation lovely sewing room for most of the weekend. Really motoring along with Sylvia's Bridal Sampler.

Cross and Crown - foundation pieced

Big T - also foundation pieced

Shoo Fly

Sarah's Choice

Ohio Star

The last three were traditionally pieced. Need to whack up the design sheet on the dining room wall again when Bill the Builder isn't home, to see whether I'm going too blue. I don't think so though, from memory. Lynda is going to be so proud of my progress!

Made the best pizza on Friday night. I read a tip in a forum here about having fresh herbs all year round. You just gather up whatever herbs or greens you have, add an onion,  a bucket load some garlic and enough olive oil to make a paste and then just whizz the living suitcase out of it it up to make a sort of pesto number. I used parsley, rosemary, basil, brown onion, dried thyme and dried dill and a bucket load some garlic and slathered spread it over my homemade pizza dough and let me tell you...it is the freakin' goods! really nice.

Made a carnivore meat lover's for Bill the Builder and a chicken and pineapple one for moi. Needed to get the fruit element in.

Hot pizza and cold wine (Friday night's dinner) and cold pizza and hot coffee (Saturday breakfast). Yum! And all the food groups covered in one fell swoop. Could I write a nutrition book, or what??

Spitting, cussing and snorting Mildly disappointed to discover that the perfect border for this quilt has a distinct repeat and I can't use it. Actually, I've added another two borders since the photo below.

Disregard silky smalls waving in the breeze alongside.

Perfect border in Patisserie, which I love but you can see the obvious repeat in the fabric so auditioned this one (also Patisserie) which I freakin' knew in my water wouldn't work at all suspected might not be quite right.

Totally cheesed off to the max Quite disappointed. Would have liked to have done that this weekend. Believe me, that border doesn't look as good as it does in the photo. It really is a non-starter.

So that was my very productive weekend. I was also going to iron but realized I've already done that twice this year. Didn't want to appear obessive so gave it a swerve.