Autumn Days♡

 

Hello, lovely lovelies♡ Autumn has truly settled in with chilly, misty mornings, and a taste of what is to come; a landscape awash with those burnished hues for which autumn is renown. Ahh....yes,  nature has began to do its thing. 

The flowers are beginning to die off but in the process seeds are forming, then dropping to the ground burrowing into the soil in readiness for the magic of the flower kingdom next spring. How far away is spring again??!! =) Talking about flowers, autumn is the time when I pilfer proteas from my friend Trish's garden. Well, it's not pilfering exactly because Trish allows me open slather with her heavy-laden protea bush. Such a lovely friend, is Trish♡

Tomatoes and pumpkins are being harvested. Both did well this year as we've had a lot of warm and sunny days, though Jack Frost is just around the corner and the crop will be no more. I can see, in my glass ball, many a delicious bowl of pumpkin soup enjoyed through the coming months. My Pete cooks a mean pumpkin soup. A bowl of Pete's pumpkin soup with fresh bread for dunking, in front of the fire......yes please!

Fires have been lit this week, for ambience and warmth. A crackling fire with flames leaping upwards, coughing smoke up into the chimney really does induce one to read, to stitch, to knit....  or to do nothing at all but to get lost in ones thoughts. I've been reading and poring over each photo in a book, 'Chateau Awakening'. The story of a former Australian politician, Tim Holding and his partner, Felicity Selkirk, who bought and are renovating a crumbling 18th-century mansion, Purnon. It's a delightful read. Renovating an 18th-century chateau.....certainly not for the faint of heart.

There were also moments spent crocheting and hand quilting. Sweet Riley's vest is finished. I used leftover wool from my crochet cardie that I made last year. Little granny squares crocheted together which were rather quick to whip up.

The hand quilting of Flower Meadow is still happening, albeit slowly. Hand quilting is such a slow process, isn't it?? Most of the time I love  the slow and meditative nature of hand quilting but other times, not so.  Though I love all the bright and happy hexies in my Flower Meadow, and I'm loving the simplicity of the quilting, I'm finding it a bit monotonous stitching in and out, in and out; around each hexie. Sometimes my needle and thread skip around the hexies .....and other times, they don't. But I will persist; one hexie at a time, because it is a simple look I'm after. I find that when many months have gone by since I last hand quilted, and I start begin to quilt again, I feel as if I'm out of sync, with my stitches all over the place. They seem to be more wobbly and uneven than I would like. Hopefully the rhythm of the little stitches following one after the other in an orderly manner will eventuate. 

Ahh.....the dahlias. They rather adorn my floralicousness Flower Meadow rather gloriously. I'm going to miss my showy parade of dahlias when Jack Frost arrives.

The weather forecast is for grey skies and a little rain today.  They never get it wrong..... do they?? What the weather forecasters say is always gospel, isn't it?? Whatever the colour of the skies this Sunday I will throughout the day, enjoy moments of cosying down in front of the fire and practise corralling those errant, quilting stitches, and joining the other lovely slow stitchers at Kathy's place later. Though the weather may be a tad grey outside my window I must say inside my little place it is awash with floralicous delight. Hope the sunshine is beaming rays of happiness upon you♡ Have a lovely day, lovely lovelies♡

Until the next time......

Easter Greetings♡

Fond greetings to you, lovely lovelies, this Easter time♡

Easter ♡ Thankful. Grateful. Humbled. Appreciative.  Saddened. Indebted. Overwhelmed. Despair. Joyful. Blessed............

As I sit here, crocheting for Slow Sunday Stitching, so many emotions deep within my innermost being, the quiet of my soul this Easter time; but I think the most constant emotion is one of thankfulness. Thankful for so many things, but this Easter time, thankful that Jesus loves me and I love Him. Thankful for His sacrificial love and new life on that first Easter, so that I might have a relationship with Him for eternity. Thankful for each day  walking in His steps, following Him. Thankful for  walking along the path of life with Him, sometimes skipping, sometimes dragging my heavy feet along with me. And, in those times when I just can't pick up those heavy-laden feet of mine, when I simply cannot take another step, I am thankful Jesus carries me. For, as Larry Crabb once said, as a Christian 'it's not for me to ask Jesus to solve every problem I face but for me to move through my problems to find Jesus'. 

Thankful for His daily, saving grace. Thankful that over a half of a century ago Jesus whispered my name and in the deepest chambers of my heart, my soul,  I heard and answered, 'yes Lord??'. Thus, began my faith journey, my walk of faith.  So very thankful for that Friday afternoon, in a maths lesson when my friend told me about Jesus and how His love for me cost Him His life. It was as if the scales fell off my eyes and I saw life differently.  So very thankful for His  mercy and love which will follow me all the days of  my life. Yes.....just so thankful♡

I've often  imagined what it would be like to look into Jesus' eyes. What it would be like  to hear his voice....gentle, calming, peaceful, understanding, forgiving....reverberating with kindness and love. What it would be like over two thousand years ago, to  sit on that dusty hillside scrambling for a vantage point with thousands of others waiting to hear Him speak His pearls of wisdom of the sermon on the mount,  His voice filled with love; with me hanging onto every word.  I will hear His voice one day. I will look into those tender, compassionate, forgiving, love-filled eyes. I will see Jesus face to face. I will see the scars in His hands. Those torturous scars He suffered for me....and you. This fact, this truth, fills me with overwhelming emotions, but again, ever so thankful ♡

May you, this Easter time, hear when Jesus whispers your name, ever so softly♡ May your Easter be a blessed one♡

Until the next time.........

A Finished Flimsy♡

Hello lovely lovelies♡ 'Tis Sunday morning here at the bottom of the world and by the looks of it, it's going to be a cloudy and windy, autumnal kinda day. Just sitting here in front of the fire with a cuppa. An open fire to ward off those early morning chills. Yes indeedy, the mornings are in need of a little heat to warm my tippy toes. 

I hope you all enjoyed a pleasant week. I did. Parcels were sent to Riley, and to Maggie. I love sending parcels. I love wrapping parcels in pretty paper, or perhaps fabric or an embroidered fancy; and adorning with ribbons or whatever pretty takes my fancy. The art of gift wrapping is very serious business to me; as important as the gift itself.  There is nothing better than receiving a gift that has been lovingly wrapped. A beautifully wrapped present is a prelude as to what awaits hidden inside. True to form, like babies and toddlers since time immemorial, my sweet Riley was fascinated by the wrapping.  Oh, and I have it on good authority she loves her pretties, too. Why, she has been seen out and about wearing her crochet pretty.

I managed to finish making the rest of the blocks for the fundraiser quilt and assembling these into rows, eventuating into a finished flimsy. It was fun to play with each block, switching them here and there to see which ones played nicely together. Though, I find when there is a plethora of jewel-like colours and floralicious florals all dancing together, you  can never really go wrong. The result is always a delight to my eyes.  I've not yet fashioned a quilt where there's an explosion of colours and prints that it has not been pleasing to my eye. The exuberance of vibrant colours dancing a merry jig is what makes my world go round, as I've always viewed the world through a kaleidoscope of gorgeous colours and prints. Pattern on pattern and colour on colour truly makes my world spin on its axis.

Are not the colours truly scrumptious??!!

The quilting?? I will machine quilt this pretty but will have to think about the design. KISS. Again. Of course. =) Ahh...Sunday. The day for picking up my Flower Meadow and delighting in a little hand quilting of some flower hexies with the other slow stitchers over at Kathy's place.

May you enjoy a beautiful Sunday, lovely lovelies♡ May it be one filled with joyous colour and smiles♡