lzilulu's stuff......

washcloth swap.......

i have decided to join in for jellyware's washcloth swap..... am busy trawling through what seems like HUNDREDS of patterns for wash cloths before i decide which one to make for my swapper......hope she likes what i choose to make.........

have only made a couple of washcloths, just diagonal garter stitch ones....for myself...and i must say i love using them.....no more bought ones for me!!

i was reading jellywares blog one day and she had a link to a cloth with baby feet knitted into it....it just so happened that it was the day that i was going to meet my brand new great-nephew for the very first time and i was keen to include something else hand made along with one of my bibs....out came the cotton and needles and i sat myself in a corner and knitted for what seemed such a short time before it was finished.......

......cute isn't it?

....am still trying to get over to the shed :)

take care..... sloppystuff from lzilulu xox

hmmmmm........

'morning chickadees....brrr....a little chilly in my part of the world...what about where you are??

remember, way back in April i was telling you about our brand new chickens?....and remember how the other nanna and i feather sexed them when they were a day old???....and remember how confident we were that we had all the same sex??....... either 4 hens or 4 roosters....remember??.... you don't?...oh well, we did.....BUT...time has proved us a little wrong....don't be too tough...it appears we only stuffed up got one wrong.......pretty good i thought, until the other nanna boasted to me that she was a professional feather sexer of chickens....admittedly it was when she was fifteen, a lonnnnnggg time ago, but i had a lot of blind faith in her skills.....the chickens are "all growed up" now and one morning a few weeks ago mr lzilulu and i heard a distinctive, albeit very immature and croaky, cock-a-doodle-do coming from our chookhouse....gulp....

but, as a nanna, how could i not still love him?....his colours are scrumptious and in fact i am sure you will agree....he is absolutely scrumdillygorgeous.....

.......he certainly needs some voicework though.........

i don't know about you, but i am a sucker for chook bums..... no, not the cooked variety....the ones that are on glorious display when they are pecking.....

...don't you love their ugh boots???

....while i was braving the elements to get these photos, guess where the duchess was?

....yep, snuggled in front of the fire, in her own special chair, wearing her wool lined driza-bone and a look that definitely says "do not disturb"......

i'm off to the shed for another day of cleaning up....why does a general cleanup/de-clutter generate sooooo much mess?

.....until next time, take care and be kind to each other....sloppystuff from lziluu xox

....a little update :)

'morning chickadees.......

i know it has been AGES since my last post but i feel my mojo coming back so watch out :)

june was an absolutely crappy month on a personal level but some life changing decisions have been made.....

i have been nursing for over thirty years and for most of that time i have been absolutely passionate about it....but...over the last few years i have noticed that we are moving further away from the patient and closer to being paper shufflers..... and.... I D.O.N.'T. L.I.K.E. I.T...... a family tragedy in early june really brought it all home to me....and...i have ditched my job....and...you know what??....i feel GREAT!

as you know i built a shed about four years ago for my sewing room...and i share it every thursday with a wonderful bunch of local ladies....and we have the occasional weekend workshop.......so....i have decided to increase the hours i spend in the shed and have it open to the public on more days.....exciting stuff....i won't be retailing fabric as we already have a great local patchwork shop.....but i plan to have workshops, retreats and general information exchanging.....hopefully not restricted to patchwork but encompassing other crafts as well....eg knitting, crochet, cardmaking etc....

this is where you come in....i need some help with some ideas....what would you like to do in a workshop?...how far would you travel?.....to a country town in northwest nsw?...........with good local motel accommodation and lots of tourist attractions?......to stitch in a shed on a rural block just 6ks out of town?.......please let me know....i aim to please :)

'til next time, take care and be kind to each other.....

sloppystuff lzilulu xox

i'm off to search the web for a camper-trailer to buy .....mr lzilulu is keen to go camping :)

...scrummy journal covers.....

another post...gee, this will have to stop!!

have been busy in the shed making some journal covers. have used Janelle Wind's pattern called Journal Secrets.....and now I'm addicted to them :)

.....and it seems that there are several ladies who want to make some too, so have organised a workshop for sat/sun 25th and 26th april....want to come??...easy peasy...drop me an email and book your place.....most of the patterns have sold so i will have to order some more as soon as easter is over...

....told you they were scrummy!

....i have also finished the wonky log cabin....washed and dried in the dryer, so now it is all wrinkly and cuddly......also made a red/white wonky stacked coin cot quilt for my niece but alas, it was delivered before photos were taken....oops...hate it when that happens.....

......the photo doesn't show the wonkiness very well, although it is subtle it is effective.....

must away....we are going to have dinner tonight with some friends and my job is to do the veges....better get cracking!

...remember this cutey  from this sweet girl?........she is still hanging on our bedhead and making me feel especially "eastery" at the moment every time i walk past :)

until next time, take care and be kind to each other....

sloppystuff lzilulu xox

.......cool autumn mornings....

'morning chickadees.......sure hope your computer hasn't blown up due to the shock of a post from the home of lzilulu!!

things have been fairly quiet here....still all the usual day to day happenings of an aussie household with some hiccups along the way but that is life.....

the most exciting event over the last two weeks has to be the arrival of these......

......yes, they are cute and the most incredible time wasters......i could, and do, sit for hours watching their little antics and observing the wonderful mothering skills of the surrogate mother.

floss was our little plymouth rock bantam....an only chook....as seems to be the norm here in lzilululand......she was "sitting" for a couple of days with no eggs under her, so i sent an sos to a friend who has a rooster and harem of those "stuck up curly frizzly bantams" and she quickly brought over four eggs and floss sat....and sat....and sat..... until all four eggs hatched...a day early even!!......they all have their own little personalities and VERY quickly established their own pecking order!!........the other grandma and i have "feather sexed" them and we have either four hens or four roosters *gulp*

this morning was a little cool and when i went to have my morning "fix" they were all still snuggled in their bed......couldn't miss the photo opportunity....

...can you see baby no 4 poking through floss's wing?...

......they all became a little more curious...

......what better easter gift could we wish for???....well, maybe some chocolate will appear on sunday.....

happy easter to all

sloppystuff from lzilulu xox

....feeling numb.......

the bushfire crisis in victoria is just getting worse and worse. i woke to the news of over 100 lives lost.....just doesn't seem real.....or fair....

i got to thinking (i do a LOT of that!!)....just what can i do to help....yep, i could become a volunteer health worker, if only i lived closer.....i could busy myself making a quilt, which would make ME feel a little better but really, it would probably just overload the already overwhelmed volunteer relief organizations and become a logistical nightmare to deliver them.......

so............ this is what i am going to do

• make a donation through the red cross (tick)
• gather a group of stitchers, collect some donations and hot foot the proceeds to our local anz bank branch (already organized...will use my regular thursday gathering in the shed for this one...)
• "pass the hat around" at work and hot foot the proceeds to the same anz branch
• challenge fellow bloggers to "do something" and share their ideas of how to help best......contact me (hit the email link under my profile photo) or leave a comment, by clicking on the comment button at the end of the post.......

....are you up for the challenge? hope so..........

...'til next time, take care, hug your loved ones and spare a little thought/prayer for those Aussies in such great need at the moment....

sloppystuff  lzilulu  xox

....another addiction....hmmmm

 

afternoon chickadees!

as i sit here in my airconditioned comfort, i am thinking of all the poor people affected by the horrific fires in victoria....my heart goes out to each and everyone......an updated report has just confirmed the loss of 50 lives....

last weekend i attended a cardmaking workshop, presented by this very talented young lady. today, with VERY limited resources i made a card.....and i think i may have stumbled across another addiction.....bummer!

don't look too closely at the photo......i am very aware that i cut the overlay a smidgen too small.........but i promise to try harder next time. this one needs to be in the post tomorrow....actually it should have been reaching its destination tomorrow but never mind......

.......the "ribbon tie" is actually a piece of selvage, rather apt for the recipient, who is a quilter......

thank you alana for sharing so much of your knowledge last week, i could easily have stayed for days.............

until next time, keep well and be kind to each other

sloppystuff  lzilulu xox

.....scratching the stitch itch...

'morning chickadees....

am pleased to announce to myself and other interested people...i have scratched my stitch itch for the first time since the mad rush that was Christmas....what a bummer that i have to return to work next week!!

bernie bernina and i got up close and personal with each other yesterday...have been itching to stitch some more wonky log cabin blocks. i found a great tutorial here before Christmas. after using it for the Christmas tree skirt, i just KNEW i wanted to use the block for my "fresh and white" project...so, i did some stash scavenging and came up with the following blocks.....my "guidelines to self" included.......

• red/white spot for all centres
• white for all outer logs
• palette of red, aqua, pink, white with just a smidgen of that gorgeous "apple-y" green.......

...this is what they look like so far....

....yep, i'm loving it.....

to all my shed ladies who read this blog...and i know there are a few of you, because i ram it down your necks notify you of updates on a regular basis...are you ready to scratch your stitch itch yet??? how about we start the new year with a weekend workshop?? let's meet on Sat Sun 24th/25th january 2009?? yes, i know it's the australia day long weekend....but isn't it a good ole' aussie tradition to get together with your mates and do something you REALLY love????....pencil it into your diaries and i'll check with mr lzilulu...just in case he wants to whisk me away to the bahamas (LIKELY STORY!!)...so now you want a theme for the workshop???....how 'bout we embrace another aussie tradition and call it "anything goes"??? ALL blog readers are welcome....just rsvp in the comments section or shoot me an email...let's see how many real and how many virtual attendees i get....

must away...off to my lqs to add to my stash of reds....and try not to let too much else fall into the basket!!...well she is having a summer sale so what's a girl to do..... shop for groceries or shop for fabric??...tough decision......

'til next time, take care and be kind to each other....sloppystuff lzilulu xox

...more goodies

....was reading Susan's blog this morning and her reference to coffee fabric reminded me of this gift i received for Christmas....

...isn't it cute??...although i'm not ADDICTED to coffee i do like an occasional skinny-chino with a dash of hazelnut syrup, so i have put the appropriate amount of coins in it.....just in case.......

another Chrissy gift was a necklace made by one of my three very talented sisters...using some favourite to me vintage buttons.....

yes, i know i said it is a necklace, but really, i prefer to wear it as a bracelet...think it has something to do with not wanting to suffocate all those scrumptious buttons in my more than ample *gulp* cleavage.........

you know the drill...until next time...take care and be kind to each other.....sloppystuff...lzilulu xox

...lots of goodies...

'morning chickadees

remember "way back when" i was bribing pleading with you all to leave my blog via this blog so that i could win some of Emma's goodies???....remember?....oh!well! even if you don't, i do! apparently i was going really well with my scheming plan and it looked like i was going to be the greedy winner....until i was pipped at the post by someone else. i took my loss with the appropriate fair sportsmanship but luckily for me Emma thought otherwise and she bundled up some goodies and sent them to me...TRUE STORY!!....yep, there really are some generous people out there in blogland......

the parcel arrived in the pre-Christmas rush that usually happens around the world......i DID rip it open at the post office and was gobsmacked....but...i didn't want the contents to get mixed up with all the other Chrissy goodies...you know that "day after Christmas" feeling of "*&^% who gave me that and what goes with what??".....so i re-wrapped it and put it in a safe place to re-savour at a quieter time...well, that time came a few days ago, and i was able to drool over each and every one and re-purpose them all......

i warned you about their cuteness didn't i????..........

...the hanging heart ( with pretty smelly stuff inside) found a home here...

...yes, not far from the shoes!!

the hanging bunny has settled into her new home not far away, hanging on the bed-head in our pink/green bedroom...the bed-head is an old gate that my father in law made for his sheep yards MANY years ago...but i digress!!

am not sure if the cupcake is SUPPOSED to be a pin/needle keeper, BUT it works for me.....

.....amongst all the mess that would be my sewing area!!

...and the boob pin??? well, it gets LOTS of exposure....

....so, Emma, thank you sooo much for your generosity..... i feel extremely fortunate....

....my recent blogging hiatus was due in LARGE part by my "pissed-offness" with Typepad...it was just taking tooo long to write posts, the photos tooo long to upload and then it crashed before publishing just one time too many......BUT.....windows live writer is my new bestest friend and the blog mojo is well and truly alive and well...and i still get to keep my typepad account so i'm definitely a happy camper!!

until next time, take care and be kind to each other.....

sloppystuff  lzilulu  xox