We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary this year.

Just a good sense of humour and realistic expectations.

And of course, love.

The Husband's Mending

Just because I quilt doesn't mean I can mend everything.
But my husband thinks it does.
 

 

I really shouldn't encourage him to think so.
I used upholstery weight thread and a crewel needle.
 

Of course a pretty pincushion always makes the job easier.

What's the strangest thing you've been asked to mend?

De-Constructed Car

Mr Fixit is living up to his name. Here is the state of my car with its guts scattered all over the garage. Hopefully by the end the old dear will be set for another 20 years (the car, not the husband).

Here is one of the gadgets which will fit in to one of the sockets shown in my last post. This gadget will turn your old FM radio into an mp3 player. It tunes in to one of the un-used FM frequencies. It takes a stick or a usb. There's even a remote control. About $7 on e-bay.

Fortunately I have this cheeky monkey to keep me company. Progress is being made when I'm not playing grease monkey. I'm getting pretty good at fetching a bent 12 or a socket extension (not that long one - the other really long one). And of course the requisite cups of tea and ginger nut biscuits. I have a feeling I'll finish my quilt before he finishes my car.

I do believe the washing machine has stopped, so away I must. Hope you all have a great rest of the week!

Two-Way Radio

I have the most interesting husband. This is what he is preparing to install in my 20-year old Tarago (Toyota van). He is replacing the old 2-way with a new one. The speaker is one we already had. He's fitted two additional 'cigarette lighter' plugs for 12 volt accessories and will also fit the usb sockets in an unused panel on the dash. It will be interesting to see if we use all these plugs, but we'll be ready for action if the time comes.

When you're home sick...

I'm in the hacking/choking cough phase of my cold and it is impossible to be effective at work so here I am at home drinking hot tea with lemon and trying every cough syrup known to man. Alas, time will be the best remedy. All is not lost however, as I can still operate my sewing machine between coughing fits.

Our dear friend Lurline started making a quilt with this pattern using Liberty fabrics. Her life is turned a little upside down at the moment, and she has graciously consented to allow a few of her friends to work on the quilt for her.

Our dear friend Robin pre-cut the strips and supplied us with block kits.

For the centre pinwheels, Robin prepared the half-square triangles (hst) by placing right sides together with this gridded paper and then sewing on the dashed lines. I will cut on the solid lines, remove the paper gently and voila! perfect hst's!

The top left block is one Lurline made and was supplied to us as a 'sample'. Our strips included two over-sized strips for the outer edge to allow for trimming as that mysterious quarter-inch seam can be elusive when shared in a group.

So while I am coughing and spluttering and feeling sorry for myself, my dear Mr Fixit is busy detailing (i.e. painting) our kitchen/dining/family area (still). It's a long job when perfection is demanded. If he were a quilter, any quilt he made would be a masterpiece.

And I discovered this little chore to do in the laundry.

One of my favourite and oh-so-necessary-in-this-weather turtlenecks.

I think I'll go and have a little nap. Coughing is too much hard work!

Bush Walk

While I'm working like a mad woman lately, it's not all about work. Sunday we had the opportunity to go on a lovely community bush walk called "Trek the Trail". While it did rain we did have 'lengthy fine periods' and managed to have a lovely morning. So here are some shots of our beautiful Australian bush. The old young guy at the end is my Mr Fixit. This is only 10 minutes from me! The interesting grass trees used to be called blackboys - but not anymore. Read about them here.

Hope you've had time to enjoy and appreciate the natural environment in your neighbourhood!

Cheers

Shari