Working things out

So when I work out how to get decent photos etc I will also upload them. Probably another couple of months or so with my intelligence.

DUH

Sometimes I am amazed at my intelligence. I had the most fantastic brainwave some months after the average intelligent person wouldnhave thought of it. Looking to see if there was a blogger app for Ipad. Of course there is. So after months of thinking I can't update my blog I can. See I told you I was clever.

So firstly the beautiful gorgeous Miss Riley Anwen Lily arrived on the 16th September. She is gorgeous with blue blue eyes and Chestnut brown hair. Mummies and baby are very happy.

Secondly my second son and his wife are expecting their first baby. Woohoo we are very happy. And yes we will be finding out the sex of the baby. I predict a boy, they predict a girl so one of us will be right.

Thirdly Alan and I went to Queensland for a week in October to meet our oldest grandchildren. They are gorgeous. Two girls and a boy and it was so lovely to see where Jacob lives with his Naomi and the children.

No Baby Yet

Well my overdue Granddaughter is taking her own sweet time to arrive and meet her Mummies and Grandmummies and the rest of the family. She was due on the 6th and she is still not here.

Not sure if I showed you the Baby blanket I crocheted her so I am sorry if I am showing it again.




Also have completed my 4th page of the Coat of Arms SAL. I just love this SAL. I will upload a picture when I have finished part 5 (stitching in progress). Page 6 comes out today.

i Stitches' mystery SAL is lovely and have I have completed part 2 so now I can have part 3 when it comes out this weekend.



Poor Carol had one lady (who couldn't take part in the SAL cause it was closed) tell her that she would copy it from the picture that are shown on peoples blogs. That is so rude.

Life down here in tree change land is fabulous. We continue to love our life and now my man has even decided to take a tree change in his career and he is happily working on a local fruit orchard. He works with our son on the same nursery and they are both as happy as pigs in you know what.

A Blog Give Away

Dear Babs is having a give away on her blog. It is her first one ever and in memory of her dear mother.

Go take a peak at all the lovelies she is including in the give away.

Pictures and Updates

Well I have my trusty old IMac back out and working. My dear little mac laptop is very ill and I have to wait until I visit Dr Jacob so he can get all my precious files off it. I am afraid it is not fixable. Well it probably is but I don't think I will worry to fix it.

Anyway here is the promised picture of the Carriage House Stocking. It is not ironed.

All photos are crappy as I am not taking them and the light is not terrific. I have still to find my camera.

The Quaker Stocking



I have also joined Carol's mystery SAL. I have just received part 2. I have to send a photo of each part to get the next part. I am stitching this on 40 count Lambswool Permin Linen with a Vikki Claytons silk called Heath Stone. Picture is a bit crappy.

Part 1



Next is my 2 parts of Wiehenburg's Coat of Arms SAL. I just love love love stitching this one. I am doing it on Summer Khaki 40 count by Zweigart using Dinky Dyes Kayla's Rose. I have since finished part 3 but haven't taken said photograph yet.

Week Three

Today marks the third week of living here in Kirup. Yes I know it has been a while since I have updated the blog. We did sell the house and the middle of August is settlement of that and then the ties in Perth will be people.

Speaking of People three of my babies will be down to visit tomorrow. I am so excited as I miss them. Kenric, Marilyn and Anthony will be down to visit. So much has happened in their lives since I have seen them. Marilyn has got into Uni to study part time midwifery. She will make a fabulous midwife and it is a type of nursing that she will love. Kenric got his first semester exam marks and has done even better than the last 2 years (mind you he has been the top medical student for those). He got all high distinctions. He just loves his calling to heal people. Anthony achieved his 2nd Barista's certificate and is now working on the Uni campus that he lives on in one of the cafe's.

I must also mention the rest of my family. Jacob has achieved a certificate III in Wharehouse & Logistic studies and next week goes to get his fork lift license. I am so proud of him. Jarrad and Megan are working for a company down here in Kirup that has the biggest fruit packing shed in the southern hemisphere and also owns orchards. Megan packs fruit and at the moment Jarrad is pruning fruit trees. He is loving it after 14 years working in a dental laboratory. Alan, my DH, has a full time position with a plumbing firm in Bunbury. Woohoo after 26 years of working for ourselves we are now on wages. I was so sick of working for ourselves.

On the stitching front I have been on a roll. I finished a UFO! Carriage House Sampling's Quaker Stocking. I need to assemble it but can't do that until I unpack. I am now motoring through Papilion Creations Midnight Garden. That is another UFO. Will I finish it? Anybody's guess.

My next post will be sooner and will include pictures because I will either find my camera or get Jarrad to take a photo of the Quaker sampler so I can show you.

Did I mention how much I love living here? Well I do and I am so glad we made the move.

A Bit of Stitching

This is a sampler I am doing from Sampler Antique & Needlework Quarterly. Not sure the year but would hazard a guess it is around 2002 because it is called Rhode Island Sampler 2002. The blue flower is all Queen Stitches. I love doing Queen Stitches.



I did a SAL on FB for the first week of June. I picked up my Bent Creek Snapperbet. I have almost finished booklet 3 now. Just have to do the stripes behind the Eggplant and then I get to move onto the 4th booklet. I will probably leave it until the first week of July and the SAL.



Teresa Wentzler, the guru of designing. This is the first design I have ever started of hers. It was part of a SAL in 2000. I have almost finished my second square so I am not hurrying. LOL I have to credit this design for meeting a lot of my internet friends.

I am almost about to start a SAL by HAED designs. Now I love doing their charts. The only thing is that I can stitch them in my head much faster than I can do it in reality.

Harry & kids

Harold Smith better known as Harry. He thought he might catch a moth by jumping off the piano in an endeavour to reach the ceiling. He didn't jump off the piano or catch the moth.




Three of my kids. Anthony, the baby, Megan, the second baby & married to Jarrad the eldest. They were gearing up for their Easter Egg hunt. Note the plastic bags.

Sold

Well nearly. That didn't take long did it? Actually the house is under offer but subject to the sale of the buyers house. Our agent tells us that her house is really priced well with many extras that the other houses around her don't have. Anyways, we feel good about the offer and think that it will come off.

We Are Up For Sale .....at last

Well it took us long enough but we are up for sale at last. Please send me good vibes for a quick sale so I can move down to my lovely house in Kirup in not too long a time. Here is the link to our Armadale house.

I haven't blogged for a while as we have been so busy here in the Smith house. My dear MIL had a heart attack. She is doing really well now that we have her medication tweaked. We had 3 trips to hospital in the ambulance and that was pretty worrying for all of us. The hospital and doctors were just wonderful and at last we could bring her home and she is doing good.

Jarrad gave his notice at work. I am guessing it is a bit scary for him and Megan as Jarrad has only ever worked at one job since he left high school. He is a qualified Dental Technician but doesn't want to do that anymore. So it will be a real change for him.

Alan told the guy who he contracts to that June 10th is the end date for work for him. Alan has contracted to Guido for nearly 26 years. Actually it is only weeks off 26 years. I remember arriving in Perth from the country very scared at what it would turn out like. We had been burnt by other employers and were wondering how we would go at contracting and if this guy would be loyal to us. I guess you could say he was. He has been a very fair person to us and has always paid us immediately when we presented him with our invoices.

So Alan, Jarrad & Megan leave here as soon after the 10th June as they can get organised. Well the organisation is taking place now. Jarrad's house is getting ready for being rented out. They have restored their roof, installed a new kitchen, a new bathroom all new tiling walls and floors in these 2 areas and then painting it. Then a major wash of the house and tidy of the yard. Alan and Jarrad have been working hard. Luckily for us Alan is a Jack-Of-All-Trades and not only a plumber and gasfitter. He has gutted the bathroom and redone that and all the tiling in both the rooms. Jarrad has been repairing walls in readiness for painting and Megan has been in charge of packing. Phewww.....

Excitedly we are off to Kirup tomorrow to visit our house. This will be the first visit since we have owned it. I am so excited. We are taking Beryl with us. She hasn't seen it yet so I hope she loves it since she will be living in it with us and is part owner.

I am hoping now that everything is settling here that I get to blog more.

Stitching

This is a picture of Harry. Probably taken sometime last week. He likes to be involved with whatever we are doing.


On the Stitching front I have been stitching away here at home. My new starts for 2011 only number 1. I have put that away and will not pull it out until we move to Kirup. On the other hand I have signed up for a SAL with allstitcherslounge for a Teresa Wentzler SAL. Well if you know me well you will know that I count her as the greatest cross stitcher designer to walk this earth, so I have a few started. I couldn't narrow it down to one UFO so chose 2. The first one is the very first design that I ever saw of hers and the very first I ever started of hers. It is the Floral Bellpull. This was the design that started my love affair with her designs. I have actually finished one of her designs. The Wedding Sampler. So here are some pictures of where I left off a good many years ago.




The second TW I chose is one of the Fruit and Floral samplers. I just love the delicate colours in this sampler. Another UFO. I have many believe me.




On the home front Alan is delighted to learn that the people we are buying the house from are selling him a ride on lawn mower with a trailer (he has always wanted one). I am so happy that he is getting what he wants because he so deserves it. And we go down for our final inspection on the 1st May. I can't wait to see my new home again.

Baby Girl

Did I mention that I am going to have a grand daughter? Laura and Natasha found out yesterday that they are going to have a daughter. I bought some pretty pink baby clothes today. Could have spent a fortune but will just get stuff bit by bit. Laura said last night that the baby will have so many clothes that she will never wear them all. She also said that the 2 who are moving down south with us need to produce because her little girl will need cousins to play with and climb trees etc. I think that is a forecast for a Tomboy. Everything is happening to this family.

Happy Dancing Around This House

Because my lovely old home in Kirup really will be mine. All approvals came through today. May 11th is settlement date. Mind you we wont be moving then cause we have to sell our house here. Anyone want a 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom house here in the city? We have just 4 more rooms and 3 more doors and door frames to paint and then set everything up and we can put it on the market. Yes yes yes.

Sarah Harris 1789

Wow I just am enjoying stitching this sampler so much I have stitched on little else for 2 weeks. I have finished 3 pages now and have 12 more to do. I just can't remember when I enjoyed stitching something this much. Actually I would have been onto page 4 by now except that the frog has been at the house. I think that I must have thrown it out with the 2 sandgropers that Milly decided to bring in last night. So with out further ado I present you the first 3 pages of SH.

And on the Stitching Front

I have been stitching on a downloadable chart from Needleprint. I bought this design last year and started it. I had finished the alphabet across the top and then life and other things got in the way. Last Saturday I bought it out and in the week I finished a page. It is not page 1 I finished but page 2 as it was easier to count from the alphabet. I am going onto page 1 next. I got sick of stitching on that so decided to stitch on another UFO called Justice & Peace. It has been charted by Dyan Allaire of Kustom Kraft. I started this one in the early 2000's and have only put in around 500 or 600 stitches so far.

Anyway here is a picture of the Sarah Harris stitching

More photos

Of the new house and grounds. Mel has requested to see more pictures. We or should I say Alan has had a busy weekend. It was his birthday on Saturday and he had a lovely (tongue in cheek) day painting what used to be the Colours Down Under stock room and also did the main WC (which is short for water closet or toilet). We now have the front hallway, 3 bedrooms, the back hallway, the main bathroom and the main toilet finished. We still have numerous door frames and doors and 2 bedrooms and 3 living areas to paint and then a big presentation clean up and we can finally put the house on the market. Pheww will we ever get there. After this post I need to get back to packing. This is some of the back yard.
This is the front verandah.

Hopefully Our New Home

Well the first words are always the hardest. So I will start off with introducing you to what could possibly be our new home(picture above). The real estate agent phones tonight to tell us whether the sellers accept our offer or not.

In October 2010, Alan and I went for an overnight stay down to a beautiful area two and half hours south of Perth Wow, we didn't know this place existed and we just looked at each other and said this is where we want to be.

Fast forward to now March 2011 and we are making inroads into realizing that statement.

Al's Mum's house has been sold. She is coming to live with us. (We are really pleased about this.) Dad's house is sold. He used to live 5 houses away and has now moved to a gorgeous 1 bedroom unit in an aged care facility in Armadale. The baby is now settled in Campus accommodation at Murdoch University and Jacob has gone to live with his lady Naomi on the other side of Australia, Queensland. Jarrad and Megan (our oldest son and his wife) have decided to make the tree change with us and are readying their home to rent it out. Kenric and Marilyn and Laura will also be staying in Perth so I will be up lots for visiting. Our house is still in the stages of de-cluttering and painting etc.

Anyway, the new house, is in a very small hamlet called Kirup. It is not far from anything down that way and even though it boasts a population of 324 there really is a terrific infrastructure down there with lots of other towns and a major town which has a big hospital and reasonable shopping half an hour away.

Kirup is in the heart of the fruit orchards and other growing things and apparently the areas boasts the biggest packing shed in the southern hemisphere. We were also informed that if a person wants to work down that way then there is plenty of work to be had. I wont be going out of the house to work. Just sayin...........

I will however, hopefully to doing lots of stitching......You will be getting updates on this. I will also be doing a bit of baking and I definitely will be having chooks (chickens for the non australians). Did I mention that the land is well over half an acre? Well it is and I am hoping for some vegie gardens as well. Also lots of flowery plants that I haven't been able to grow up here. I don't think that I mentioned it is much colder down there and much more rain.

Anyways, I think this is enough of an introduction to the new blog.

p.s. The real estate agent has just phoned to say the house is ours. Woohoo!!!!!