Liberty of London comes to the Barossa!

Yesterday we had the wonderful opportunity of joining a group of quilters for lunch in the heart of the  Barossa Valley and what an unexpected surprise we found - and not wine! The delightful Jo Adams of Barossa Patchwork with Running Hare Designs opened her gorgeous home for us and Larry and little Wade joined us too.........the only two men amongst 20+ women...no wonder they were both smiling!.....

Poor little Wade had his 12 month vaccinations just a few hours later.....and golly gosh it was five jabs in total! So glad he had such a happy day beforehand and what a gorgeous house and garden Jo has.....I just wish I'd had my camera but the phone had to suffice.......

 Delicious after lunch treat hand baked by Jo........

 Jo had a beautiful embroidery reflecting her 'Running Hare' business name and even a wall plaque....

 And then up above the garden was a nook of sheer splendour....Liberty of London blooming in a Barossa garden........

 A little gem full of treasures to tempt us including these gorgeous hand stitched dresses.......

 Some of us left with a piece of this gorgeous print (and maybe a few other things!!)......

 Jo has regular classes and I think a weekend or mid week retreat with friends might be in order very soon. Do visit Jo if you are in the Barossa...it is well worth the trip and check her Classes and gorgeous goodies in her website shop. Thankyou Jo for your generous hospitality.......Wade enjoyed the toys and Larry the chat too. I found this lovely image of Jo with a story about a grant she received last year in her role as the wife of a rural doctor....you can read about it on the photo source link below the image. The reason for the grant reflects Jo's warmth and generosity and being an ex RN I know she would struggle with the business side of things....being an ex RN myself I can certainly relate to that!......

Photo Source

And how funny that I've been enjoying the company of hares these past weeks as well with the goodies for my first market day in just over a week...........

Our recent weather of summer one day and winter the next is all rather confusing but we have to be so grateful as we hear of extraordinary climate events with Sydney experiencing a month of rain in just two hours resulting in flash flooding and two tragic deaths, and then devastating bushfires in Queensland. There have been over 200 fires and thousands of people have had to be evacuated......so our thoughts are with all those affected. So while chopping and changing the wardrobe I found hidden in the corner my gorgeous Liberty of London designed Van shoes (that I bought five years ago in Singapore), and a lovely bright rugby top with piped collar that I'd quite forgotten about.....just right for these changeable weather days......

 A couple of days ago I received this surprise gift on my front doorstep.......a collection of bright and colourful AYU Batiks exclusively from Lloyd Curzons so my thinking cap is on for some bright new projects - thankyou Tim...........

Thanks for dropping by and have a great weekend x

Just one more month!

I cannot believe it is only one month until Christmas Eve is upon us once again! Time sure flies when one has had a very busy and full year! So with Christmas on the doorstep it means the shops are getting busy and Christmas events are brewing with end of year concerts and pageants as well. Sophie is still teaching dance and her students were performing yesterday in one of the local pageants, so we looked after little Wade while we watched and waited as she was dancing too! Lots of local businesses provide floats and it was a beautiful morning for it......

Local schools including kindergartens and dance schools are involved and this group were from the kindergarten Larry went to 60 years ago!....... 

 And even Larry's old Primary School.........

And then Sophie's group who all did an amazing job dancing non stop for an hour.........

 Sophie dashed over to say hi to Wade and you can see her dashing back to her position in the centre!........

 The Navy, Scouts, Girl Guides, Gymnastics, Emergency Services, the local Hospital and so many more were involved.......

 And who doesn't love a pipe band? The bagpipes always give me goosebumps and a tear in the eye........

 and then finally that jolly man in red with the long white beard arrived.........

 I recently had contact from a friend that I lived with way back during my nursing training over 40 years ago. It has been so wonderful to reconnect with her again so after the pageant we had planned to meet for lunch at a local cafe. I knew her husband from my days working as a GP practice nurse as he was a drug company rep who would drop in from time to time - what a small world and I didn't even know he was married to Pip! A huge group in the cafe were celebrating a 70th birthday and look at the cake!! An enormous creation filled with Italian Cannoli pastries - yum! I found the bakery online and thought I would suggest it to the family for one of our celebrations but maybe not at $300....but then again we could have a big party as there are 110 cannoli inside! What a work of art that you can see here at St George Cakes........

 The other little people in the family are also busy preparing for Christmas and Emily and Brett shared these lovely photos on facebook........

 I've still been creating but when does one say 'enough is enough'?!! The cotton rope bowls for my upcoming market have been looking at me all week and I decided that they were a little boring and plain. So I started adding some hand stitching, fabric strips, tassels and beads and even pom poms..... but maybe 'enough is enough'!!??....

During the week was a good time to be creating indoors as we had a massive storm of 100km an hour winds and our front garden took a battering. My beautiful rose arch was badly damaged and at one stage we thought we would lose it all together. So for now we have temporary stakes and ropes while we decide what to do as the structure is broken in several places. So it went from this glory......

to this overnight........

 I had only just picked some blooms the day before so I must have had a premonition......

But don't you just love these delicate herb seeds that hung on in the back garden? Parsley, dill coriander and sweet peas.....

 It seems crazy that at the end of November we have had to drag out our Winter clothes again - one day 37C and then the next only 17C. The local beach was blowing a gale but good for a walk in the fresh air and of course the mandatory coffee.........

So I hope life is treating you well. I will conclude with my favourite 'Happiness Is' quote that I forgot to share almost two weeks ago.....it says it all really.......