JOSEPH

Introducing Joseph. He's the newest member of our family and so named because he was born on Christmas Day.  He's pretty cute, always smoochy, quite playful and often naughty. I'm not sure why we needed a cat, but now that he's here he's been able to quite successfully wangle his way into our hearts and we love him to bits.

SOFT GREENS

Another rag rug in lovely soft greens that I will find hard to part with. I'm on a roll now that the weather has cooled off a little.

NEW PATTERNS FROM RIVENDALE

Some lovely new patterns from The Riverndale Collection by Sally Giblin arrived today

Button Your Heart is such a fun little decorative hanging

Cute little Dilly Dally Daisy Bag

EARTHY TONES

I've made my latest rag rug using my favourite earthy colours. I really like this one.

PALE BLUE RAG RUG

We're still picking flowers every day, but thankfully the weather has cooled off a little and it's now so much more pleasant to be outdoors.  Since I had a huge stock pile of rag balls already made up, I've been able to sit and do a little rag rugging in the evenings. This pale blue one is the latest edition.

FLOWERS

My life has been taken up with picking proteas these last few weeks. Beautiful as they are I'm beginning to see them as just plain hard work rather than the beautiful blooms that they are. Why is it that outdoor work always seems to happen in the heat. I wish I could organise for them to bloom in the cooler months. I'm sunburned, hot, dirty and exhausted and I think the only crafty thing about them is what the florists do with them long after we've put them on a truck to the southern states. Never mind, I'm sure if we keep plodding along we will finally get to the end and we'll be proud of what we've achieved.

I managed to sneak a few photos the other day when my "boss" didn't notice that I'd slacked off a little.

First we have to cut them off the bushes. They're not as easy to find as you might think.

We load them into the trailer.

There's plenty of company, but we  think   hope they're scared of us too.  We have learned not to work after dark as that's when the toads come out. When I found that out, I got REALLY scared.

Please Armstrong, we really could do with some help and there you are being lazy in the shade.

This is the really tedious part where we trim off all the excess growth. At least we can work in the shed out of the sun. 

Trimming done and into the bucket.

The cold room fills up pretty quickly and then they're off to Melbourne. No longer our problem.


Now that's about the story of my life right now and will be more of the same for a few more weeks.

I have to tell you though, that the house is all painted and FINISHED. YAY!!! I had to cheat just a little and get help for the high walls at the back where I wasn't game to go. I have to paint the fence yet, but at least it's ground level. Will get some photos when it's done. 

CELEBRATE

Have a great Australia Day

LIBRARY BAG PROJECT

Sam's Library Bag Project complete with wise old owl is featured in this edition of Homespun. It was released during the huge rain event a few weeks ago just prior to the serious flooding we experienced, so I expect that many subscribers had more important issues on their mind at the time. Our school year started in Queensland today so while it might be a little late to get started on that Library Bag to catch the start of the year, I really think that Library Bags are not just for kids. I would love one of these bags to carry my own library books or even as storage for any magazine I'm currently reading. 

GETTING BACK TO NORMAL

I know I'm not alone when I struggle doing "normal" stuff with all the flood devastation happening all around the state. We all long for some normality again in our lives but I know that it will be a long time before many flood affected people feel any sense of getting back to normal. The amazing stories we're hearing of survival with a happy outcome and the sad stories we're hearing of loss and grief will continue and in an effort for everyone to eventually recover they need to be told over and over.

The storms hovering around this last week and the sound of yet more rain on our roof is putting us all on edge. It makes me wonder if drought is not so bad after all, but of course the balance somewhere in the middle is where we would all choose to be.

My effort to get back to normal this week involved another rag rug. This one has a red theme. It's a little bigger now than it was when I took this photo, but it's not quite done yet. I think I'm liking the brighter colours I've been using lately. Could well have something to do with the gloom we see every time the TV is turned on.  There's cricket on again today and that usually means I get a few more rows finished. Unfortunately there's been a little gloom there too this summer, but we're not talking too much about that at the moment.

FLASH FLOODING

Down town Toowoomba on Monday 10th January looked like this. Yes, there are streets under all that water and I drove along that street 5 minutes before this happened. One of those submerged cars you see there would have been mine had I been there just a few minutes later. There is no way I can understand why I was spared and the owners of these cars weren't, but I do know it was scary and I do know that I am forever grateful that for some reason I left before the flash flood hit.

Queensland is still in heaps of trouble. We own a property with the crops severely damaged, but my family members are safe. The hundreds of people who have suffered grief and loss are in our hearts and prayers right now. There are communities that are devastated. People have not only lost their homes and their possessions but loved ones. I cannot imagine what it is like for those who have loved ones still missing in flood waters. The heartbreak is enormous and the amount of damage is incomprehensible. 

Brisbane's turn is next with record flood heights predicted for the next few days. There are already homes under water with many more to be completely submerged. Queensland needs serious prayers right now. Thankyou to all my blogging friends for your concern.

FABRIC BASKET

Another day of torrential rain here at my place yesterday definitely meant I was destined to be indoors, so I decided it was time to explore my latest fascination with fabric baskets.  Like my rag rugs, there was a surprise element between the original fabric and the way it looked at the end of the project.  I was pleasantly surprised by my first attempt and I had this cute little basket to show for it. It's basically clothesline wrapped in fabric and then zig zagged together. So Woolies, here I come to get another 15m of clothesline to see what I can produce today.

CUTTING STRIPS

It feel like the tropics here today with high humidity and showers. If you look closely you can just see my huge basket full of rag balls but none of them seem right for me today so I'm back to cutting strips.  Think we need something a little bit more colourful. The cricket is on TV and it's just about as depressing as the weather. Remember when our cricket team was just about invincible? Not any more.

LIME GREEN THEME

Can I please, please, I promise my paws are clean.
No sorry Dermott, this one is not yours.
He's a huge fan of my rag rugs. He would do almost anything to get to sleep on one.


I think this is the biggest one I've ever made. I had the fabric to make it this big, so I just kept on going and it's ended up measuring 37"x29". Must say it was beginning to take a very long time to work my way around the rows. 
Think I'll get away from lime green for a bit and see what other colour rag balls I have made that might just work for my next one. 

RAG BALLS

l always try to have a selection of rag balls ready for the next rug. The way I expect it to look is often quite different from the way it turns out so a change of plan is often on the agenda.  This combination is very similiar to the last rug I made, so I'm confident about this one.  Usually I find if I have a common colour running through all the different fabrics I'm happy with the end result. It's a bit tedious getting the fabric to the rag ball stage, but after that is all good fun.

Armstrong has come to visit for just a few days while his mother takes a break. He's a gorgeous black labrador with the most adorable nature. Dermott is trying very hard not to be jealous. It's not easy when you feel just a little threatened for attention but so far he's doing well.