New stash ...

has arrived from the Silver Needle .

and its wrapped so nicely, it looks like you are getting a gift.

and you open the beautiful paper..

and their are my goodies ...

Shepherds Bush -Merry Be & Friends kits
With thy Needle & Thread - Miss snow fairy chart & fabric,
Fabric & threads for Shepherds Bush Harry stocking for Sebastian.
and a few Jelly Bellys & key ring floss holder as a gift from them.

And I cant stitch any of it, or my other wips at the minute..

I have pulled/torn a muscle in my shoulder and

bruised my joint, so in a sling

for a few days, and on anti inflamatries

boy is it hard to be a lefty, sorry if there

are spelling mistakes here lol

and think i did it hanging out the washing ..wont do that again ..hehe

Happy 223rd Birthday

AUSTRALIA ..

On the 26th January 1788

Cpt Arthur Phillip

led the First Fleet into Australia.

2 direct ancestors from my mothers side were among

the First Fleet passengers.

Andrew stole 200lbs lead and was sentenced to 7 years transportation aboard the

Scarborough

This is a memorial plaque

for Andrew, his wife Leticia was aboard the Prince of Wales

who was sentenced to 14 years transportation for

stealing 10 yards of printed cotton.

and embarked from Porthsmouth England

3rd May 1787

They were married 2nd March 1790

at Port Jackson.

They were then transported to Norfolk Island, then again to

Hobart Tasmania where they settled.

A day and night & Melbourne

We had a day in Melbourne, before Seb and his dad went to the soccer

Melbourne Victory V's Melbourne Heart.

and Mad & I met up with Helen, Lissy and her DH Chris at Crown

for tea at then dessert at a gelato shop

It was the most yummiest - is that a word ??

chocolate gelato, also tried Lissy's lemon -devine

will be back there ..

we started at Docklands.

Victoria Harbour shopping ...

and Mad posing Like Kylie ...


we also found at Docklands were Huey's Kitchen is filmed.

It looked like a store front advertising

his products..but a peek in the window

and it was his cooking studio.


inside is his kitchen

Then a trip to Vic markets,

we were a bit late and they were starting to pack up, so headed

back to the city.

These guys are always there, at Christmas 1 was a Santa,

and 1 has been a robot.

They just stand there and dont move for hours, if someone drops

a coin in thier donation tin, they move slightly or blink.

scares the crap - oops .. daylights out of kids ...

they are so good to watch.

while at Docklands / Victoria harbour

the kids found a small amusement area..

so a ride on the dodgems later, which Mad was

so fun to watch going backwards ..

Seb ..

then a go on the trapeze thingy ...

We also saw the sign for Costco. an American

introduced store of huge proportions

You can only go in if you have a membership, think its about $60,

we were allowed in as a "guest" but couldnt buy anything

the sizes of stuff were amazing, bulk buying only ..

Mayo anyone ??

this got my attention, I have only brought bacon in the deli / meat section

of the supermarket.

not in the dry / canned goods area ..

real crumbled bacon in a pkt ..wonder what it would taste like ..??

Nutella ..in double pkts, you have to buy 2 at once.

my kids would love that ...

Rice ... it looks like bags of cement stacked up ...

Cheese ..the American "orange" cheese as the kids call it,

and HUGE blocks of tasty ..

this is my 500ml water bottle

compared to the box of Coco Pops ...

and walls floor to roof

of toilet paper ..never seen so much ..

Cherry tomatoes ??

they sell everything you can think off,

food, fresh produce, electronics, clothes, outdoor furniture, bbq's,

pet food, hardware , books ...

and

books I love...but i couldnt buy it,

was going to approach a stranger,

shove it in their massive trolley, and ask if they could buy it for me, I was going to give them the money

the trolleys / carts are huge too, they have to be to put all the huge things in- you could easily

fit an adult in one ...

just a small container

of red vines ..

this store reminded me of the show

Modern Family, were Cameron takes Mitchell,

to a similar store and Mitchell is a "store snob"

and he ends up getting trolleys and flat bed trolleys full of stuff ..

Olives in 5kg jars ...

I could be Mitchell ..and I dont eat olives ...lol

My Yankee Candles have arrived

Ok so its not actually candles

but Melts & Lip balm ..

yes Lip Balm in little tiny Yankee candle bottles ...

Didnt know which one to order so whats a girl to do

but order 3 ...

just put on vanilla cupcake and its so smooth and creamy.

I have a lip balm addiction ..they are everywhere

car, purse, handbag, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom,

bag that holds my stitching ...

The melts smell devine, as soon as I opened

the bag you could smell them.

I will be ordering more ..melts and of course lip balm ..

of to burn one now..

LK Boo Club

Black Cat finished for January

January 15th 2011

stitched on Stitches & Spice - Manor House

I also started Jim Shores 12 days on January 2nd, have finished

the border but I am 1 thread out..BUGGER !!

so have to sit and try and find where it is, so far I cant

see it, so think a trip to spotlight

for a magnifier.

photos ...

santa is still growing
so is the dinoasaur.

Sebs lego table,he wont pull them apart..so they sit here

gathering dust..and now thats his job..

to dust the lego ..

with all the rain and high humidity we have had, I think it was

Thursday is was 95% here, my frangapanis are doing great,

( the pots need a clean due to the heat, wind, & rain..dirt everywhere ..)

us ..well we were dripping wet and so was the house, the tiles on

the floor were soaking wet, and the washing took 3 days

to dry.

so glad I dont live in a tropical area.

And Queensland is still flooding, and we have had it here

in Victoria too.

the eggs ....

santa egg is still growing

and its a baby dinasaur ..I think...

Sea Monkeys ae in, but nothing happening
so far ...

Take 3 .....

on the

110111....

what a date ..

11th January 2011.

with Sea Monkeys ....

we seem to have no luck with them, we are sea monkey killers ..

so this is our 3rd and final try.

1st lot think was a dud as they didnt do a thing in 6 weeks

except have a murky container of water on the bench.

2nd try..hatched in 1 day and all died 2 days later ???

3rd try ...well hopefully they will live

this is Santa today 11th Jan 2011

we are going to keep him growing, he is

nearly as tall as the vase.

and we also found another egg to hatch ...

day 1 of ????

Candles ....

I love candles .... I always have.

But its hard to find a really nice candle, I have had so many,

some really bad ones, ok ones,and nice ones ...

I have been burning Dusk melts, but when in the USA

I knew I had to visit the Yankee Candle shop.

We went shopping one day as it was raining in a

huge and I mean HUGE shopping centre,

Madeline & I were together and after visiting

the Hollywood doggy store and picking up Milo - our dog and

ice-cream shaped dog biscuit in a fancy bag for $5 ...

we headed out and walked straight in the

YANKEE CANDLE store..

and it was heaven ...

how could I get them all home ??

I brought home 3 small jars and 1 huge one ..

vanilla cupcake - above for me.

Then last yearI found an Aussie supplier and brought the smaller

one and a few melts.

These are the best candles & melts by far ...

and now I have just discovered a seller on ebay ..

so off I go ...

The Container ...

ok..you have to read the post below first to know

why I have posted this picture...

this is the TUSAL container in Disneyland ...

Totally Useless post ....

About....

TUSAL ...

Totally Useless Stitch/Save A Long ....

This is my container that I put all my useless ends of threads in when

I cut them off.

A.K.A. Orrts ... no idea what that means :-)

Instead of them going all over the floor/couch/clothes/kids/dog

I put them in here.

I started with a snaplock bag nearly 3 years ago,

and when we got back from Disneyland

I had this Goofy Cotton Candy - fairy floss container.

so I use this now.

I transferred all the threads in the bag to here ....

mental or what ???

Now I see a TUSAL group starting ..

hey I have been doing this for years and didnt know it had a name. lol

But they have all started their TUSAL containers /fancy jars / beautiful vases

afresh .. So do I do it too for 2011 ???

But yes.. mental me doesnt think I can throw out all those threads..

I have an attachment to them ...no idea why ...

but cant throw them out ..

I can put them back into a snaplock bag..I actually thought about getting a

christmas bauble that can open and put the threads

in there ...and have a stitchy christmas ornament ..

also do I get a fancy jar or keep using my Goofy cotton candy plastic container ...

There is a story to the container - when in Disneyland the kids wanted

Cotton Candy - fairy floss...mean me said no ..full of sugar ...

but on the last day before we left for the last time I got them a container

to share ..yes no more mean mum lol

we all ate some before we flew home, and we brought the rest home ...and couldnt throw out the container either ...its from Disneyland xx

and if you have read this fair and think I'm mental

thats ok, so do i !! ....xx

Day 19

And he has a little friend.

Boo club # 2 January finish

finished 1st January 2011

2 down 10 to go ..

now to start Jim Shores 12 Days for January

santa day ???

he is still growing...

and somehow I need to change the water,

maybe i will just add more lol