Heres a link to a wonderful person,sending good wishes and prayers  a speedy recovery
http://artdomannie.blogspot.com.au/
Although I dont know her and have only just come across her blog,I feel a connection as we all do when the dreaded "C" invades our world whether it be ourselves or loved ones,I too have five children and while expecting the youngest I made the same discovery as Annie,after months of tears and doctors and seemingly no support it was determined not that thing but rocked my world,since then I ve had three more instances of cause for worry to the point I thought I was becoming a hypocondiac .I see every year as a bonus  and the older the boys become the more they can care for themselves and less I worry about them going without me.Sometimes I find myself nearly hypoventilating,anxiety and all the rest,stress is at the all time high and I think no!! Im well and there are others for which the reality of illness is there,their families and friends impacted,for now find the goodness,strive to live as never before for one day it could be me.

Update

Ok I got off my Butt and raced and dug and weeded and aded a second trellis so now I have

• Fordhook Giant Silver beet,10 plants
• Melting Mammoth Snow Peas, seeds
• Sweet peas,Sugar Snap, seeds
• Sugar Loaf Cabbage,seedlings 10 plants
• Beetroot (Fairy Seedlings), seedling 10 plants
• Spring Onions, seedlings, dozs
• Broadbeans (waiting for Hubby to remember as he has the box of goodies from the Kambalda Seed Savers Group) Seeds

All watered in but too dark for a pics,Im hoping this small plot will help supplement our groceries and with fresh is best and the harvesting comes personal satisfaction,If I can look after these and the plot,it'll be ready to start a summer garden too,imagining corn,tomatoes ,lazy house wife beans,zucchini and cucumbers and Ill see if I can fit in a couple of stone fruit,apricots,plums or Alberta Peach but have to be careful of space as theres need for pollinators...

Whats in a name..

Hmmm all my life I had trouble with people automatically writing my first name with a "K",theres so many veriations that its normal to expect to have the spelling confirmed... now I was named after an ancestor on my Dads side and am probably a bit over proud that he thought enough of me as his first born to pick my life time label.
Anyway to carry on I usually tell people the spelling you know the Russian Queen,"Catherine the Great",I was an avid history person and the story of that Queen always fasinated me...theres is also the other great heroine Henry the 8th first wife, Catherine of Aragon,I loved her story too and how she hung on in dignity and pride to die of old age!
With this bit of history lesson stuff Im sometimes a bit alarmed that Im maybe a bit ,I dont know ,"up myself" to refer to a Queen name as a reference of spelling but I then think bugger it,these people probably dont even know who Im talking about,lol
Right spinning,I nearly through the braid of the last SCF,I intend to finish the pink vest to sart of the green one
I finished those greenish socks and by gum more arrived in the "Icehouse" colourway from the lovey Kylie in Cobar,hope I spelt your name right,she came to the rescue with a beaut green blue Lornas Laces stripe sock yarn for that pattern out of the lastest Knitty,not sure if I linked it before but here goes,new project to knit on the flight over to Sydney,now it will be interesting if I can knit on that flight but the security lady on the way home from Perth to Kalgoorlie did confirm yes I could knit in flight,maybe I should ring the locals to make sure or be prepared to lose my needles...


Off mouse ahuntin in the vegie patch

and random stuff

my summer experiment that the bunnies nearly annialated but they grew back and now Im wondering how many spuds I will end up with,I should put more potting mix in to see if I can squeeze a few more but the weather sslowing to cool quickly...whats in there will be used wisely and carefully as Ive never grown them before!

The orange tree is loaded and I hope this time next year the Blood orange will have a couple and the ruby grapefruit will have one or two as well,these are as organic as I can get at the moment!!no sprays and only water goes on them...well may chooky poo in pellet form and agin hopefully this time next year real ones will be scratching around under it.
And the vegie garden at moment,in it today will be more digging and hopfully sugar loaf cabbage,peas,silver beet,beet root and spring onions,after 8 and half hours yesty at work and twos following at teh shop I came home jumped in and put a rough bunny proof fence up and dug a little before the mossies drove me inside,my son,No4 gave a brief help til he too nicked off declaring fencing boring..

 

Im gradually getting the stuff cleared from this side of yard,Hubbys spare cruiser motor or gear box cant remember is still near the clothesline,the blue tarp in first photo and he still has his pile of timber,jarrah that he has hopes of furnture one day though we plan the chookys new abode there behind the shed and theres still the other half of the patio on the other side near flower beds and I have two more fruit trees to get in as soon as possible but I do have a revived spirit in gardening here as apart from work so Im glad as I was seriously thinking a little extra help have been on the cards

This particular spot Im eyeing off to make a little pretend hidey corner where I can sit and maybe knit with a glass of wine ,imagine a wrought iron chair set,i have to trim the trees back a bit.The Champayne Bottle brush grew faster and bigger than I thought but it flowers almost all year so Im learning to love it more,the birds are visiting more often too,its getting quite busy in the early morning(6am) and late arvo!

Heres Taffy zoned out,a bit worried at first thought she was sick!!

but a scruffin had her awake and a bit peed off methinks

Simply

Chill pills work...I just paided $1252.00 (one of three payments) to give No Five Sona better start seeing this school failed to let him thrive and when I get home I find a letter in the mail to say that hes on detention next Wednesday for not handing in an assigment( a simple photoshop portrait that took he and I three days to work out) I rather like it actually...anyway it will mean he will miss the bus home 65kms away. I will be in town to pick up Son no 3 for Hockey but No Five wont get home til 8pm so makes it a late night for him(Bus picks them up at 7am..).methinks a conversation with Principal may see common sense of moving detention to school hour instead
Breathe just breath....crappy week,crappy month.crappy whole F......g year.....................................

Sunday nearly gone

The last day before I go back to that place,Ive cooked and spun and tryied to make something of the garden ( I mowed and Son No 3 dug and pulled out rabbit proof fence)
Its over cast and very mild today,perfect movie watching knitting day but son 5 is having issues with science homework for which he left all his notes at school 67 kms away,hes goign to be introuble but at least he will ahve the requirments such as draft,good copy which hes going to get to the library and add his figures from experiment some how tomorrow and another third component? hmmm cant remember something like a self check,experiment writing is certainly different to what I did in year 11 and 12....variables dependant,independant and what ever,gee we just wrote up our experiments,simple and easy to read,this is year 8,it goes to show how little that school prepares its students
Today I have succesfully made these

And washed these..

Some are old ones and one is Hubbys new ones ,in 8 ply Patonyle and theres a gift set in there too,hopefully there ll be a few more added soon as I knit my way trough the stash,still have a years worth of STR club,havent had time to knit the gorgeous patterns that came with them so keep putting them off but will probably just use a simple one of my own as I cant have them sitting there languishing,time is the worst enemy

Also in the middle is my lovely new BFL hand spun dyed socks,cant wait to wear these....

Theres another two balls of SC green brown Corrie but I forgot to get a pic of them so maybe when dry.. Ive started the last top so will be ready to knit them soon...

I better go crack the whip so Benji can at least get what he can together to print out for assignment,he has a biograghy to write Monday and Tuesday,800 words,and he cant remember if hes done the draft yet or if only the draft he needs by Wednesday..talk about absent minded,it like beating my head agaisnt a brick wall in this house....

Oh I found this too,very handy to twig the memiries a bit....

Off for 4 days

Got up early yesty on my monthly RDO transfered from last Friday and had big plans to bi og out certain areas of the house,then I just went down hill with something akin to severe hayfever or a fluey type thing,Im right into the Nyal Sinus and the Cold and Flu tablets the  herbal ones and they seem to work much better than the medicated stuff that seems to make me sky high.The good old Liquid Sudifed for Children was the best one out til the druggos got it and made impossible for us poor souls to have it for medical reasons,the tablets make me ill even though it was the same constituents...anyway im still feeling down energy wise and just want to sleep.I got a bit done though and tomorrow Ill do the vegie garden and plant some new winter stuff next wednesday. Thinking broccolli,peas, beetroot,carrots and parships,broadbeans,Im at least a month behind but the weathers been so dry and with my long hours I just coudnt get to it
My garden

Disgusting considering I had heaps of flowers and pretty things before I started work! Anyway son 3 dug it up this summer then Hubby decided to add  his bit but both let the lawn get rightinto it,took me two hours to cut it down and  pull out a much as  I could

Spinning front,Im endevouring to get the last of this SC top finished so I can wash this lot and I found another one tucked in the cupboard the Ill do another of Charleis bunny tops that I found,its rainbow which I want to ply with some turquoise top,I should get enough for a wrap or top down of some sort

Kitting I did the ribbing for the pink vest but until I see it on Ill reserve my opinion whether to redo front and lower the V,it is quite high and measurement are pretty close...anyhow Im kitchener stitching the shoulders of Abalone tonight and trying it on before I pick up and do the arms and neck. Then I hope get Atelier out and make some progress there too,rehomed some gorgeous Malabrigo in Smke that arrived today which I need another 5 I think to do another Atelier,love the casual style of that sweater cardigan,well I do at the moment,Ill be firmer on that when I finish the Envy one from Skein!!

This lot Im thinking of a shawl pattern that I down loaded last night but forgotten the name of,rich colours

Heres another........

Rain rain rain

It hasnt stopped since about 5am yesterday morning,mostly dizzle but some heavier stuff in between,I think we re up to about three inches so far and its cool and damp the sortb that acan make a house a little musty but wonderful for baking and knitting or spinning

 

I finished plying the SC Enchanted top braid last night,I thinkn theres one more hidden in here some place,I hope to cast on for a vest of some kind very soon,maybe Ill take it with me and knit the nights away while on my trip back East. Abalone is nearly done too,so hope its a good fit!
I wish I had a craft or studio where I cold keep my body form set up for sizing,trying to fit a knitted item up against one self to see if it long enough or the arm is deep enough is funny awkward and totally a waste of time........
Ive got a ball of blue green Tanis Fiber Arts ,merino cashmere fingering at 375yards ,thought this one might work....
PS I managed to edge the garden both front and back too yesty in and between the storms

A little damp

Today I was going to spend a few hours snippering and mowing my back yard and doing something towards a winter vegie garden even though its getting late in the year,then Cyclone Lua decided to come our way and if it was decent rain I would be happy but its light damp cool rain(not soaking rain either which so desparatly wanted here,bull dust everywhere) that you cant really do much in and makes the whole day an inside knitting sewing day,cant complain really thats what I would love anyway but the whole yard and house is sooo scruffy AND i think Im coming down with something.
My days are so full of everything else that I dont get more than one night to myself now,frustrating,theres surgery looming so wanted to finish a few UFOs and clear out crap build up,oh well just keep working it could pull togther...

Earlier I heard a few brave boys going out to do this...bet they ll be a different colour when they get back,so glad Son no 1 is out at work,"Wattle Dam" hes mending broken buckets..he was late this morning and I dont think he got time to get his crib before the bus came so Id better get something nice together tonight,I rather fancy a roast with pudding to follow lets see if i can wing it...

Oops forgot a title...

Its been and up and down week but it ended well with a trip to the Rec Centre for a lovely meeting with a equally nice group of ladies to make some cards for Easter,I was so tired I just made two of the four activites,but was just as happy to sit and talk,came home to a messy cluttered house but didnt cry just took my cuppa to bed and finished off this book I picked up on Wednesday.
I vow over the next few weeks Im going to start decluttering house, pass my extra art supplies onto art teacher a school,donate the bit os craft stuff to Home Ec so they can make use of it more than me, and start weeding out craft magazines,thinking of taking a few down to the swap destash pile at Toodyay,also go through my bulging cupboard and see if I can whittle down that area too

The man card isnt finished yet,I have to find my foam stickers to lift the two pieces (the black and stamp bits) and hey,they are very amature but it was still fun,I have far too many hobbies now but stamp and card making is something Id love to do,the machinery and bits to go with this hobby are quite expensive... I have a small collection of stamps and a bit of paper collection and will ad as I go.I dearly would like a few sheep stamps...

Proof of spinning too,trying to get a few UFOs out of the way before the specialist gets a hold of me and also to take on my trip,trying to work out how I can carry my Victoria,camera set up and backpack on the plane,have a sneaking suspicion the spinning wheel wont fit their size thingy...though I just checked and they are popular wheels for plane carry ones!

A wattle bird and a ring neck or "28" parrot in the same tree

Well they usually hate each other!!

Auto Knitter Simplex

Well Ive got as far as making a tube but the heel proved a bit more hmm lets say back to the drawing board,I think it needs weights more on the heel than previuosly thought but I wont be playing again til next weekend..

 Ive shredded too much now but hopefully Ill have a product to show soon!

its quite fascinating to watch and with use and much lubrication runs smoothly enough,the clicking of the cams is mesmerising too!

Oh and a flat rabbit for something different

Taffy Girl being spoilt just because shes allows it for now

I found ...

an inspiring blog,this one is patchwork and sewing with links to so many others,theres so many talented peoples out there..

Im off to see if I can salvage more needles for autoknitter and hopefully  get some sort of result today before I have to go to shop to check its state for tonight....oh and finish seconf bobbin of Southern Cross Corrie in the delightful greens browns and teals,should have enough for that Noro round neck vest very soon..its the one in top middle row,think its DK in weight but I should be able to tweek it to my favour!

Wow!!!!!!!!!!

I have got to try this..........
 http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEss12/PATTcarousel.php  
Ill start this weekend

Hmm missed a few days, me thinks

What a week,I spent most in a dream, tired and run down and panicking at our future,still aiming to get back to see my Mum,really hoping I can cause I want to see them all and spend time in female company,I haven t had much time with Mum as an adult,she still treats me like most Mums I suppose that I dont know what Im doing,lol a week should help us get along as two girls not one over the other
Im nearly done with Abalone,pics tomorrow when I have light,Im nearly done with second Lorna sock and Ive done with main body of vest just need to sew shoulders and ribbing on arms and neck,so hoping it will fit...
Found a beaut online shop to buy some fabric too,silk cotton voile style at $11 and fine linen all in white for $10 approx at 150m a metres,I want need, will have a white upmarket shirt,a classic style so I can have a choice of classy or formal choice. Oh the shop is Rathdowne Fabrics Remnants,might look at some fine wool from later for a pair of pants...

Just a little Velvet Gecko,a pretty good close up from my new phone!

Sunday long Weekend in March

Well i did get called to shop on Friday the girls were having a bit of trouble catching up and I did come down with a bug that appears to have gone away and left a mild sense of unwell and a touchy nose,Id like to think it was the zinc tablets I got into, 2 twice a day plus these natural things with Horseradish 2mg,Elderflower 2mg and White willow 1mg from Ethical Nutrients,very similiar to the Nyall Sinus relief. ZRoughly teh same ingredients as well, This morning I got the vitamins outs with more of the herbal stuff and tonight its zinc again,dont mix zinc and multivitamins as theres been a suggestion that together they can speed up senile dementia,forgetfulness etc
I made inroads into my very disgusting house,cobwebs everywhere and general clutter,i actually threw out some yarn today just a few balls of stuff I found at the op shop ages ago... i did repack the Twilleys Freedom denim half finished back for a cardigan started about 5 years ago,(my hands were blue after knitting with it)Im getting through a few UFOs simply due to study being on hold.Today im going trough Youtube for sock machine instructions and having a concerted effort at learning the Autoknitter (mines only a plain black one but it gives a clear idea of what it looks like ,oh and I havent got a stand yet either),if I can get it underw ay it ll put probably at least 120lites of sock yarn into my drawers and out of storage,most of it is Opal and that not very nice to knit,cashmere like Casbah  from Handmaiden has me spoilt now,still have afew left but dont know what to cast on for yet,one has faults in the dye so it will be sockies but the spare will be a cowl,just have to find the just right pattern..
Managed to get to the hair dresser yesty and got a shock at the cost,Ill be doing my own before long,lol,but Im happy with the colour and cut.
This is where I rather be today, this weekend....

Friday, thank God

Here I sit,hopefully a reprieve and the shop can run without me tonight,I think Im either developing my sons bug that kept him home last week for 4 days or a bad case of hayfever,bugger,have to get up early tomorrow too as I couldnt get to town for a hair cut this week, had to take an 8am appointment in the morning,that means up at 6.30 and on the road at at least 7.10 to make in time,and hopefully without being sick and enough time to grab a coffee before I get to the hairdressers...
One positive,Im half way up the shoulders on the Jo Sharp Ultra Vest,shouild in theory have it done tonigh but I cant see that happening,I also started the second green sock AND am nearly finished the first ball of some handspun for the Abalone Vest

Look at much yarn I have left,thats the best thing about Charleys angorino top,its weightless and goes forever.was supposed to be about 180 metres in that ball,I wish I could remember what its name was.This super light and quishy! I have other colours in the stash so theyll be on the hit list this winter.

I frogged this once,it looked like being huge,now Ive measured it(all I did was cast on small size rather than medium,and knit tighter on the 5.5mm needles at a tension of 16 sts per 10cm,the pattern called for 13) and its on par with the small size and although I tend to knit longer in the body with vests etc this time Ive stuck with the design as I thought being the elements of which attracted me Ill give it a crack,even if I dont like it it will be a great weekend top at home over a turtle neck.Valley yarns,Sugar Loaf,48% synthetic microfibre,had to put the nasty first but 52% merino,its soft and drapey so if I dont knit a cowl with the left overs Ill destash on Ravely,wish Id picked a different colour,maybe blue or deep red...

Look what the neighbours are sharing over the fence

 and even better look what on my Brown Turkey fig tree has....had to show DH what a fig flower was heheh!

 

Oh and a quick pic of green socks to refresh memory,such a pretty colour!