Pictures to Share

I have three pictures I want to share.  The first is a picture that I've added to the PhotographThis! Pool on flickr.  Kitty told me about the group and suggested it would be a way to stretch my photography.  The current theme of this challenge is chair/bench so I took a picture of the stocks.  This was literally taken as I was on the school run with my daughter.  It is the newly built stocks in the village.  Using Gimp I've aged the picture in an attempt to make it look more oldy-worldy. 

Next is this delicious mocha coffee that my lovely DH bought me on Sunday.  I think everyone was getting hearts on their drinks, but I like to think he asked for it especially for me :o)  It's not often that we get a chance to go for coffee as two adults (sans enfants) so it was extra special.

Lastly I had to share this fab picture I caught of the moon.  For those of you intrested in the technical side.  I used a manual setting aperture f/11.0, shutter 1/200 sec and a 200mm focal length. (following the Moon f/11 rule)  I was "over the moon" with how well this came out!!

Until next time...

Bonfire Night 2009

Over the weekend we celebrated Bonfire Night.  We got together with some friends, had hotdogs and roasted marshmallows over a BBQ.  This bucket BBQ was perfect and it was a great way to keep warm!  Who needs a patio heater!?

Although this bolt of light is going up, I thought it almost looked like an alien hit from outerspace!  I love taking pictures of the fireworks as it captures what is too fast for the human eye to see.

Until next time...

Halloween Review 2009

Another Halloween done and dusted.  Every year Halloween seems to get a little bit more popular here in the UK and every year there are more and more decorations to be found.  Even the cost of a pumpkin has gone down in price.  Seven years ago I can remember spending £4 on a pumpkin...I know, madness spending that much only to carve it up and then throw it away!!  This year I spent £1.50 per pumpkin and splurged and bought 2.  The girls had a wonderful time designing the faces and my eldest was allowed to carve hers completely on her own...I just looked away while she was using a knife!!

Until next time...

Quilt For Project Linus

Another quilt completed for Project Linus. The blocks are choppy stars à la Buggy Barn style and the quilt is sashed using scraps of blue fabric from my 2 1/2" scrap bin. I'm really pleased how this one turned out.  The pink fabric used in the borders was one I got from Lynda from the Linus fabric bin.  I thought it went well with the stars..bright and cheerful!




I machine quilted around the squares and then did some big stitch hand quilting in the stars with some crochet cotton that I picked up at the car boot for 50p.





Until next time...

Random Ramblings...

Over the weekend we visited some friends for Sunday lunch and while I was there I snapped a few photos from around their home that I thought would be interesting to share. 

They have 4 chickens which they keep for eggs...here is just one of them that I managed to catch on camera.  It wasn't easy as these birds never stay still!!

In their kitchen they had this lovely ceramic chicken..just as cute as the real thing ;o)

On the front of their house which dates back to 1836 they have a RoyalMail mail box which is still in use.  Apparently there aren't very many boxes that have V R on them from the Victorian Reign (most have G R from George V or E II R from Elizabeth II)  Just a little piece of history that you just don't see everyday.

Many thanks to D & S for letting me snap away... :o)

Until next time...

A bit of sewing going on...

It's birthday season, or so it seems, and my DD2 has had a couple of friends who have recently celebrated their birthdays.  In an effort to be a bit more creative, I've made aprons for the girls and then bundled that with a cookbook, a wooden spoon and some cupcake papers.  I think there is nothing better than baking with children and whipping something sweet up.

Until next time...

Pumpkin Patch Primitive's Giveaway

Don't miss this great giveaway on Brenda's blog!!  Hop on over to the Pumpkin Patch and sign up!!!  If there are more than 350 entrants then there will be 3 winners...the count at the time of this posting was 319!!! 




Until next time...

Fall Photos

The past weekend I took the children for a walk in Coombe Abbey near Coventry. The colours are always so pretty at this time of year.



After seeing some pictures on flickr using textures to enhance pictures I thought I'd have a go too.  The effect is very subtle on the picture above but I think it adds something to it.



In this picture I wanted to highlight the golden leaf so I darked the leaves around it and the edges of the picture to frame it.



You wouldn't know it, but right after I snapped this picture my DD2 fell off the log!  I literally managed to capture a moment in time! LOL
This picture was enhanced using a Gaussian Blur effect.
 
Until next time...

A New "Do"

This seems a little weird posting a picture of myself on my blog, but as my friends and family read my blog (or so I think) It gives me a chance to update everyone all at once.  I've had a completely new do...gone are the curly locks (and grey hair)!!  My DD1, who kindly took this picture of me, thinks I look younger :o)  Did I tell you what a great kid she is!! LOL
You'll notice I've updated my profile picture too. 



Until next time...

Vintage Love...

During my mother's visit a lovely squishy package arrived in the post.  I had complete forgotten that I was a runner-up winner of Evelyn's giveaway on her blog Use the Loot.  It was a wonderful package of 6" vintage sheet squares, which in my opinion are all ready to be sewn together.  Over a cup of tea, my mom and I looked through all the prints.  There was more than one pattern that my mother recognized and she told me how she was still using some of the percal sheets my grandmother bought all those years ago..."ah they don't make sheets like that anymore", my mother said.. 

Now all I have to do is convince my mother that they would look much better cut up into squares and sewn into a quilt! ...hmmm not likely!   :o) 

Until next time...