Secret Santa Christmas Swap 2013 - sent and received..............

I made for Annik in Norway in the Secret Santa Christmas Swap..............

This is what I sent to her..............A Natalie Bird Red Home bag and a table runner.............the table runner pattern is available here for a donation to Cystic Fibrosis

a full pic of the table runner...............

and my ornament..................I wanted to put a wooden star button in the centre but it was missing when I went to get it and shops are not close so it missed the star button..................

Now for who sent to me..................I was totally spoilt.........

Karol Ann @ Sew Kalico in the UK sent to me...........

well all these goodies were wrapped in parcels in the stocking.............

needle book, little zipper purse, tissues, key fob..........

Karol Ann made hats for herself and her Mum when they went to the tennis in summer............the hats are reversible

Fairy Girl modeled mine for me..........

She even included a parcel for Fairy Girl..........needle book and tissues in this little pouch.........

not the best pic but this is on a coat hanger........so I will hang it in my cupboard for stocking or the like to keep them together...........

And this wonderful bag.........it made it a bit heavier fabric.............a great size..........

and she even stitched my name on it................how special.................

just a reminder of the ornaments she sent to me.........

thanks so much Karol Ann for the goodies you sent to me.............love it all............
thanks to everyone for being part of the swap I am hoping to have the pics up in the next day or so of all the gifts exchanged........
I am really behind in checking out all your posts too but it's been a little hectic and stressful here so have not had time to get around yet........BUT I will get there....promise.......

Catch you later

Chookyblue

busy when I should be quiet...............

I have a couple more swaps to post about but it has been busy here when i thought it would be quiet............I finally got the pics taken and started to organise the posts..............but I had an unexpected day trip out yesterday to pick up one of boy wonders mates from away and hit the sales....never get to the shop sales........well just slightly did some shopping damage as Fairy girl needed a pile of bedding and I got it all on great sales.....I got a couple of pairs of shorts and a dress..........then today we are doing a thing with my side of the family so out again........and it is hot again..........3 days over Christmas between 30-33 now high 30's again well for as far as I can see on the weather forecast............we had a 11 day run before Christmas too.......it sure is summer in my part of Australia............"but it's only HOT when it's hot in the cities apparently"..........no mention of the heat otherwise.........stupid media people............Sunday will sure be a day of rest here..........well for me after we feed.............

and I haven't even had some time in the sauna Chookshed yet............

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

KERST Swap - sent and received...........

Very kindly Katrien hosted the KERST swap once again.........this is my second year participating.......you have to make/send gifts from the letters of KERST (Christmas) in dutch.....

below are the gifts I sent to Frederika in Norway
Most of the girls live in Netherlands or Norway you can see the list of participants here
It is difficult for me to work out words to translate to dutch with the correct letters........but google translate makes it so much easier.................
Frederika shared a post here with these gifts..........

K - kruissteek (cross stitch), kaarten (cards)

E - engel (angel)

R - Rode draad en stitchery (red thread and stitchery)

S- schrijfblok(writing pad), sleutelhanger (keyfob)

T - tafelloper (tablerunner)

I can't find my pics of this runner so I got this pic from Frederika's blog
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Below are the presents that Bizzy Martine in Netherlands sent to me...........

K - kaars (candle)

E - engel (angel)

R - rendier (reindeer)

S -
T-
I am not sure the correct words  in Dutch for the last 2 presents a mug rug and stitchery wall hanging.

She got her friend to design this stitchery just for me..............how special........I have a bigger pic below so you can see it better......Martine and I have been blog friends for many years now..............
I do love my international swaps...............

thanks so much for my gifts Martine and thanks once again to Katrien for organising the swap........I am so pleased to be able to participate............

Catch you later

Chookyblue

Merry Christmas...........

I survived and made it to Christmas.......another day sick didn't help.....not the most organised but it will be ok...........we will be together and have some food to enjoy........who cares if the windows are dirty..........Indy cleaned them with her slobbery mouth.........I need to teach her some better manners....lol...

If I normally visit take this as a Merry Christmas comment on your blog if you have done a Christmas post as I may not get there to leave a comment........

Hope you have a wonderful day.........

For those in the SSCS, FIS and KERST Swap that I am part of enjoy opening your gifts..............

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

aaarrrrrhhhhhh........

Dear Santa

Do you think we could jam a few more days in before christmas............

I completely lost yesterday.....I helped the boys "feed" the cattle and sheep to get it done quicker since it is SOOOOO HOT but it still took ages...........and then we did a job at the neighbours and as we were coming home for lunch at 2pm I started getting sick and spent the rest of the day on the lounge with tummy cramps..........of course they did nothing..........everyone is exhausted............

Feeling better this morning just flat but the boys are gone most of today and Fairy Girl had a headache so hope that is gone today............I have so much to do and it is going to be stinking hot again..........last night was terribly warm.............Mr Chooky had to go find the power cord for the air con.........I have got up this morning and swapped the air cons to the main area and I never do that..............the house is a mess..........I still have cooking to do for presents other wise I need to buy some more and I don't really want to do that.............I need to finish a present for my Mum and the Chook shed is like a SWEAT room and out of bounds..........I am working a 1/2 day tomorrow but have some other things to do while in town so that will ruin most of tomorrow..........See why I need a few more days in there......also worrying about sick people in my extended family..........The internet is over loaded so going slow til Chrismas day when it resets and I have lots of stuff to show and tell...........Christmas lunch food to prepare..........

Mr Chooky and Boy Wonder have to "feed" tomorrow at the other property and then if they get time "feed" here too otherwise they will be feeding Christmas Day..........won't need to mow the lawn isn't growing......2 are dead had to stop watering, since they are dead the roos moved into the front lawn..........so they are manicuring that one, the back lawn has the 2 calves Indy and Charlotte (the feral child) and 3 weak lambs picked up during feeding........

Anyone else in this big a mess??? 

We still have 6 parcels to be received in the SSCS...............very sad about that so SANTA get your sleigh busy and get them delivered in our last 2 days...................

When is the cool change supposed to get here????? Well not really a cool change but 34 is much better the 40+...........maybe tomorrow.............

Hope you can help Santa.......

Elf Chookyblue

PS Don't comment I don't have time to reply.............

Caring With Quilts.................

Finally I can say the Caring with Quilts project is all but done..................one quilt left to deliver.......done....

I meant to post an update in August but as you know August and September disappeared for me and not sure who stole October and here we are well into November December..............

It all started back here on Australia Day...............

I've included some pics of my travels............many trips into the fire area..............it was such a huge area I broke it down into smaller areas/roads to deliver the quilts to everyone............days of quilt delivery were held with Chris, Sue, Liz and Janette as travelling partners on various days.......

I cannot describe how special it was to be able to deliver the quilts that you sent to me and the CWA for delivery.

Many hugs, some tears, a few cuppas etc..............

It was wonderful to personally deliver these quilts as some people had not "qualified" for much assistance..............

We were so pleased to receive so many quilts we were able to deliver quilts to every property that was affected by the fires......this resulted in many many families being assisted..........and a few other special people we found along the way.......

quilts ready for delivery .......

piles of quilts ready for sorting and packing................so many sizes, styles, colours etc

A gorgeous lady who I met from St Aidans at Exeter who delievered a bundle of quilt..........

pictured with Chris holding up some of the quilts they made.......

Above months after the fire a shed destroyed by fire.............grasses returned but not much green on the hills................

naked mountains reveal amazing scenes/rock formations we have not see before............

members of the CWA held a morning tea for one of the members and her husband who lost their home..........

a large group of ladies from Walgett joined us that day delivering a big bundle of quilts............

on a very cold day this recipient was very happy to receive a quilt for her and a neighbour

3 gorgeous happy little girls................

Early one morning i met Chris for a coffee before a big quilt delivery day and she gave me 4 quilts that she had pieced and quilted herself.............

I didn't have any streets etc to deliver too..........everyone was on a farm or hobby farm........so local knowledge was essential......

a lucky boy home sick for the day got to pick his own quilt.........I saw him again the other day with his Mum and she said he loves it...............

very late one afternoon we made it to the top of Siding Springs Observatory to deliver quilts to the permanent residents who work there...............it was freezing cold and very windy but the sun was setting and it was stunning................

very hazzy out towards the plains..........and the Caretaker was telling us how they were seeing so many big eagles since the fires......Liz who was delivering with me snapped this pic..........

Now the problem I had - a good problem might I add is that you were all so generous I had too many quilts for children under 5yrs. There was very few in the area I had to deliver to so they had been sitting in the Chookshed waiting for me to make a decision............sadly that came with the terrible fires in the Blue Mountains........I saw Rainbow Preschool at Winmalee on the TV..........
they had terrible damage at the preschool......lucky they didn't lose the building but only just.........it was very close to the back door and completely destroyed all the children's play area out the back............
The day I called in they had just got the soil samples back and everything was going ahead the day after I was there restoring the play area.........(I got the pic below from there FB page the next day)

These are some of the children from the preschool...........8 children lost there homes but I had nearly enough quilts for all the kids........Joan the Director a lovely lady was so thankful.............they still had 12 children at the preschool when they had to evacuate in a fire truck with great urgency....the fire came thru very fast.....but I was happy for all the children to receive a quilt as driving into the preschool the whole area is fire affected.............the children will never forget this........they couldn't go outside to there play area............

 A sign they have hanging out the front.........says it all really............

So to anyone who supported the project the
Baradine CWA "Caring with Quilts"
THANKYOU
the people who have received the quilts
THANK YOU  for caring
we have received some amazing thankyou letters............

Just one suggestion.............if making quilts to donate make it big enough (50x50) most of the recipients who lost there homes wanted to put them on there beds to make things look nice
Also make them uni sex/age as I struggled to have enough quilts for men and also older boys......unless you know specifically what you are making for........
2014 I would like to make a quilt or 2 for a cause....yet to find the cause or need but I am sure that will develop............
THANKYOU
Catch you later

Chookyblue

feeding cows and friends designs..............

It's been a big week here with lots of things happening.........busy work, major milestones in some lives, chrismas catchups/lunchs etc and summer sure is here..........the last week hasn't been under 35deg cel and it's going to get worse before it gets better with the weekend and Monday 40++.......

so i will be trying to get things done while it is cool in the mornings.......the best news is school is over.......bus runs are done and dusted.......I have 1/2 day to work between now and 6th Jan....

hopefully we will have some family time which is seriously lacking....

Boy Wonder and Mr Chooky are busy busy on various properties.......

We have some cows starting to calve out in the paddocks..............cute black babies......

I fed the cows and sheep with Mr Chooky this morning............snapped a couple of pics of the cows..............

you only have to drive into the paddock and they come running..............

I had to get the latest Homespun.............2 of my friends have projects published..........

It's the Dec 2013 edition (best thing they ever did is putting the date clearly on the mag)

Anyway Yvonne's project is a quilt "Sweet Sorbet" soft and pretty...........very tempted to make this one. Has anyone started it? Planning to make it?

You can see a better pic here on her blog.....

Then my friend Leanne has Gemma's Crafty Bag...........

definitely want to have a go at this too........

If you want to see this in another colourway go to Leanne's blog............

Interesting article about "your first craft blog" please don't think you have to be good at your craft to blog..........none of us would have ever have started otherwise...........we are always our hardest critic.......anyone out there tempted to start blogging...........go for it..........it's been an amazing experience for me...........and you don't have to be trying to sell your stuff/have a pile of blog sponsors.........I don't have one blog sponsor and I am quite happy with that......

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I have to post some pics of things that have arrived in the mail over the last week but I took the pics and left my camera at work..............

My FIS Swap parcel has arrived too.......opening starts tomorrow...........

Catch you later

Chookyblue

PS 6 sleeps........hope you are behaving Santa is watching....lol

meet Charlotte..............

Indy is going so well...........she is a delight to have...........she is still in the garden............not sure how long that will last.......AS we now have 2 babies...........yesterday another one came home from the inlaws.............I tried to get a pic of them together but Indy wanted to say hi and walked up to me...........

Meet Charlotte..............Charlotte is noisy...........she bellows.............Indy rarely bellows and not so loud.........Charlotte was found down the paddock............very skinny........no mother around..........not sure if she was left by a poor drought mother or if she is a twin.......

She's a little flighty but I have given her one pat..........

We also have a bundle of cute black babies being delivered out in the paddocks here............they are so cute...........will try and get a photo...........

I have some mail to show..........just need to get some pics together.........

My KERST swap parcel and also a couple of goodies............

Catch you later

Chookyblue

keyfobs............

Sorry 2 posts in one day............
which one is your favourite fabric colour combination.................

I got a little carried away.........glue sticks make it quicker................

Has anyone got these supplies online lately.................it's been awhile and I think i got these from Etsy originally.............the webbing is 11/4inch wide.........and for some reason I don't have enough rings.............bugger..........but I would like to get a few more supplies........

Any suggestions???

Catch you later

Chookyblue

SSCS sleigh.......

92 parcels sent.............15 still on the sleigh..........

Ana, Cheryll, Diane, Grethe, Illene, Lurline, Lyn, Marica, Megan, Melinda, Nancy, Ruth, Sherry, Sonia, Tracee hope the sleigh stops soon...........

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

sheep, cattle and kids............

Last week I sold the last of my weaners....mentioned in this post.......I would normally keep the heifers as replacements from these.........and sell the remainder Sept/October next year........pretty sad..........I climbed up the top of the loading race to get a last snap of some of them.............

after we had the little sprinkle of rain I thought we may have the day dust free.........I was SOOOOOOOO wrong..............with in a few hours of the rain finishing the dust started.......the wind blew and blew all day.................

this was one of the paddocks on the way to town........the dust was blowing off a cropping paddock over the other side of the trees.............................

On the weekend Fairy Girl had the girls in her class out for a sleep over..............

they played went for a swim, did blind makeovers - something you never want to do, ran around lots, played spotlight in the back paddock after dark.........

some of them wanted to do some sewing..........they got into some buttons........

felt everywhere.....

But they did make some christmas decorations...........

and now they all know how to thread needles, start and finish on their own..........

there are a few more but I missed the pics..........

I went with Mr Chooky to feed the sheep last week too.........

It looks like there is more there in some patches but there is nothing...........the little grass butts you can see in this pic are the equivalent of eating cardboard I reckon........most of the ground is dead as you can see.............

heading out into the paddock with the feeder on the ute.......

a few sheep start running/walking in...............

gradually a whole pile end up behind you..........and they start circling the vehicle...........

looking threw the side view mirrow.......all trying to get on the feed line...........

Catch you later

Chookyblue
PS it's a stinking hot day here today.................