FOLK ART FROM BUGGY BARN

When I think of Buggy Barn, I always think of gorgeous rich colours that say "buy me I'm irresistible".  The folk art range that has just arrived is no exception along with some blacks which I adore.  These two I've photographed here are just a sample of the 19 I've got in, so if you want to have a look at them I've put them on my website here.    If you'd like samples, just let me know and I can pop them in the post for you.  They're just $12.00m or $4.00 for a fat qtr so once again, a good price.  


My house painting is still coming along.  The man from the paint shop tells me I should not paint unless I know we'll have 24 hours of over 10 degrees.  That's absolutely not happening, so I try to give it a couple of hours at least before the temperature drops in the evening and some days we've been lucky to even reach 10.  I love the cooler weather, so no complaints there.   I wonder how painters operate in cold countries or do they have some magic paint that doesn't need higher temperatures to dry.

SOME MORE RAG RUGS

I've been playing around with photos for an upcoming advertisement in Country Threads.  The dog was in the running to get in the photo, but after the showers of rain we've had, his paws weren't exactly in an acceptable state, so I decided the bear was the way to go.  She was also much more co-operative.  

GRANDPARENTS DAY

Lots of fun this morning for Grandparent's Day at school.  Grade 1 students have been studying farm animals and this little clay model turned out to be a farm donkey.  It was supposed to be a horse, but "donkey" seemed to be more appropriate by the time it was finished.  Mr Apple was very impressed by how the lovely the teacher was to the students.   Certainly different from the teachers he remembers from a bygone era.

OWL FAMILY

This is the little quilt I've been working on, inspired, obviously by the owl family that moved into our big old pine tree last summer.   They seem to have taken up permanent residence in our garden, so this quilt was designed in their honour.  I hope they like it too!!  I haven't written the pattern up yet, but it's not too far away.

I managed to overcome my fear of heights and got the little high section in the front of our house painted.  I don't have a photo to prove it, but that bit is definitely all completed.  Today's challenge though was to get up on the roof to paint the section between the verandah roof and the main house roof.  Must say that gathering courage is very time consuming.  I was afraid that after I climbed the ladder, it might accidentally become dislodged while getting off the ladder and on to the roof, and as I was home by myself the idea of spending the rest of the day on the roof unable to get back down, held little appeal. I tried to get a helper to hold the ladder in place, but my only hope was Dermott, who quickly reminded me he has a sore leg.

Bonny of course was nowhere to be found, but I know she would have let me know that she is, in fact, quite a lot older (in dog years) than even I am, so there wasn't much chance there.

The solution was to provide an alternate route just in case the ladder plan failed. With stools on top of stools,  it was actually the way I used because it felt safer than the ladder.  I somehow think it might have failed all Work Place Health & Safety regulations, but it worked for me and I live to tell the tale.  Once I'd been up and down a few times, I felt like I've done it all my life.  I will be very pleased though when this next section is finished and I can say good bye to roof climbing.

SCAREDY CAT

It doesn't look so high in the photo does it, but somehow I'm not sure if I've got what it takes to climb up to paint those high bits in the front of our house.  I was thinking that the plank on the top rung of the trestle was scary enough, but hey I'm still too short.  I've solved the problem, but I've still got to gather the courage to actually get up there.  Tomorrow will be the test.   
I've had a sewing frenzy happening too.  I've got an advertising deadline with Country Threads soon, and I'm trying to get a new design finished in time to get it photographed for the ad.   Thank goodness Master Chef is on nearly every night, as that's been my stitching time these last few weeks.  Must admit though that my blanket stitch seems to be getting a bit bigger every night as I'm rushing to get it finished.  Hopefully it won't show too much in the photo.  Will let you have a look when I'm finished.

LEFT OVERS

This Vegetable Lasagne is one of my all time favourite recipes, and I love it.  I love it even more when there's plenty left over for dinner the following evening, especially as it tastes even better the next day.  I'll share the recipe with you.

VEGETABLE LASAGNE

1 Large Eggplant

1 Butternut Pumpkin

2 Large Red Capsicums

Packet Lasagne Sheets

2 Jars Leggos Pasta Sauce

Fresh Garlic

1/2 Tsp Oregano

1/2 Tsp Basil

CHEESE SAUCE

600ml Milk

2 Tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp Flour

Parmesan Cheese

1/4 Tsp Nutmeg

Prepare Eggplant & Pumpkin by chopping into slices, brush with olive oil and roast in oven 200 degrees for 1/2 hour.  Put the Capsicum in the oven whole and when it is cooked put it into a plastic bag for 10mts and the skin will come off easily.   Slice it into strips.

Prepare cheese sauce and set aside while vegetables are cooking.  Add 2 Tbsps Parmesan Cheese and 1/4 Tsp Nutmeg.

Add garlic, oregano and basil to tomato sauce mixture.

Arrange in baking dish in the following order. (It's a large mixture so get a large dish)

Tomato Sauce

Lasagne Sheets

Tomato Sauce

Pumpkin

Lasagne Sheets

Tomato Sauce

Egg Plant

Extra Parmesan Cheese

Lasagne sheets

Tomato Sauce

Capsicum

All the cheese sauce on top

Bake 190 degrees for 35mts.

We have vegetarians in our family, so we often have meals without meat.  If you have someone in your family who can't live without meat, you could easily add some mince or chicken to keep them happy.   We usually eat it with salad.  It's a perfect meal for me at the moment when I'm spending most days painting.  I can prepare it early in the morning when it's too damp outside for me to start, and then in the evenings when I'm ready, dinner is ready too.  

SHOW TIME

I found myself minding this little man in my life yesterday, and as it was the Toowoomba Show holiday, we decided to take some time out and brave the show with a 4 year old.  Now, I do know there were quilts there because I caught a glimpse of them in the distance, and I'm sure there were other crafts there too, but must say I didn't actually see any of it.  It didn't take me long to realise that 4 year olds aren't really very interested in the more cultured side of the local show.  I soon learned to interpret "Now, let's do something fun, Mum-ma" as "I want to go to sideshow alley and have some more rides".    Along with the dodgem cars, jumping castle, chips and balloons he did have a lot of fun and his mum tells me he's talked about nothing else since.  I think Grandad was secretly very excited to have a good excuse for this dodgem car experience without looking totally like an old man trying to recapture his youth.


Must say that we thoroughly enjoyed John Williamson's Great Australian Muster, despite being just about frozen solid because we hadn't planned to stay for the evening programme and had neglected to bring enough warm clothing.  We came home feeling very proud to be Australian.