I'm so overwhelmingly intimidated by all the crafty women out here in blogland, and blokes too if you're there, haven't seen any yet...but you probably exist...It seems every day I stumble across another amazingly creative being and as inpiring as they are they intimidate me with their abilities....I feel so inferior, so juvenile in my knowledge, which is exciting- knowing there is so much to learn that is.

I showed the quilt I've been working on to my friend who recentlty visited from SA. I had to point out the inadequacies and imperfections. She, I know, is a perfectionist with the needle and can do beautiful embroidery and smocking. My primitive stitches probably made her blood run cold but was too kind to say so, she merely said she wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't pointed it out.

Anyway, I knitted these socks on circular needles and they turned out not quite perfect, but very, very warm. The orders from the family are rolling in...gotta love winter....

One of the best things about moving into our new house (which by the way is anything but new...except in the sense that it's new to us) has been unpacking all our "things" that have been in storage for 5 months. I'd started to think that life would be better without all the "stuff", without all the clutter, but having lived without it all I'm firmly resolved in the belief that we do indeed need our things...they define us, they adorn our homes and each little piece carries a story, a history, a memory....I'd prescribed to the modern thinking of paring life back to the raw basics and getting rid of all the useless bits and pieces that seem to involve so much time and energy to maintain, not to mention the cost of acquiring them in the first place.

Unpacking box after box was like a long drawn out Christmas morning where delightful surprises kept arriving. I'd forgotten about some of the gorgeous fabrcis I'd accumulated, the inspiring books I'd purchased, not to mention the photos and treasured trinkets. Who said there wasn't fun to be had moving? Here's a pic of my collection of glass bottle, my genie bottles that my husband on the surface barely tolerates but I suspect deep down has grown attached to (who couldn't???).

June has seen my baby boy turn THREE. He continually tells me he's a BIG BOY now...I beg to differ. He has grown out of his cot now and is only using this quilt for nap-time now. He calls it his "cowboy blankie". I've almost completed hand quilting his single bed size quilt. My first hand-quilting attempt I'm finding it isn't as slow going as I'd expected, the result is awesome, and it couldn't be a better time of year to sit and patiently and lovingly, stitch by stitch, finish off what has been a marathon project (that story for another day...). Anyway,

happy birthday to you big boy....

LAH-DE-DAH

I LOVE AUTUMN, I just adore the crispness in the air, the lovely freshness all around. Goodbye to summer's hot, humid, heaviness and hello to the promise of days spent cocooning by the fire with a warm mug'o'milo and a board game... I just love Autumn, and I thought I'd put it out there!!!

This is the lovely Lucy romping in the leaves at Mt Lofty. We all miss the Adelaide Hills and the friends we made while we were there....I fell in love with Autumn while in Adelaide, a very pretty place at this time of year.

FUN, Fun, fun...

I must have been having too much fun because time has been flying. Just celebrated 10 years of married life we went to Hobart, Tassie for 4 nights of child free time. Soooo good to be people and not parents for a few days.

Loved the Salamanca markets on Sat morning, brilliant creative locals selling all sorts of delights. Vintage stalls, craftsmen and women with ceramics, clothes, toys,....i could go on, by far the best markets I've been to, and believe me I've done the rounds. If you've been to Sydney's Rocks Markets the Salamanca version is along a similar theme with around 4 times as many stalls.

I rode (and crashed in spectacular stlye) a mountain bike down Mt Wellington, ate gorgeous food day after day and enjoyed the bliss that is the HOTEL ISLINGTON.... massage, private dining, complete luxury...unfortunately I'll have to wait another 10 years to celebrate like that again...

The image below is "The Rose Room", voted Hobart's most romantic room- it gets my vote. We had an amazing evening of fine food and lots of laughter...They set up a little table for two and our personal chef cooked just for us!! Wish I could have fit him in my suitcase and brought him home with me, he puts my cooking to shame. I fell in love with his toasted muesli at breakfast, don't even get me started on dinner...

And onto the craftiness that has occurred of late, knitted teddy bears....there are 2 more being stitched together at the moment as well as clothes and a world of cuteness to match. They're from the lovely Claire Garland's book- Knitted Bears.

ESCAPISM

What could be better than the rain after the heat? Hmmm, let me see, a quiet night sewing, after a stressful week of incessant bickering from otherwise adorable angels.... So I've been sewing to save my sanity, the normailty of sitting at my machine, or handsewing silver sequins on black singlets for my kids. Sometimes I question the hours I spend thinking about fabrics, about colour and patterns, but in moments like this I realise the importance of a passion, an interest, a means of finding normaility in the face of change.

We Angels are living with my mum at the moment, we were supposed to be here for a few weeks and a few months on we're still here. Everyone is out of routine and yet spending time doing what I love is such a source of calmness. The fires in Victoria are so heartbreaking. I lost my dad unexpectedly in October last year, which is why we're living with mum for now, and it's such a comfort to be at his home, where there are reminders of him and memories all around. I was watering his vege patch yesterday and my kids were gathering ripe tomatoes from the bushes he planted, it seemed such a strong image of life going on, of the legacy a parent or grandparent leaves on the next generations. My heart goes out to the people in Vic who've not only loved lost one, but also all the material reminders of that person.

I've made some special library bags for my two big brave angels who've settled in beautifully to their new school- yay. Haven't photographed my latest creations yet, but here's some pic of my babies, who are looking less like babies and more like the big people they really are...

HERe GoEs NOthiNG...or... SOMEThing....WE'll SEE...

Okay, so I'm ALWAYS telling my kids, it doesn't matter how well you do, just as long as you have a go and try your best. So why then do you think I've been lurking in blogland, ogling and admiring others for a year or more now and not stepping forward myself? My 8 year old, Chloe and 7 year old Lucy moved across country 5 weeks ago, leaving the safety of their lovely little idyllic rural school in the Adelaide Hills and started at a new school this week. SCARRRRY!!! They did so well, straight into it, best friends made by the end of day 1. In fact miss Lucy stated she's already received a verbal birthday invite- excited by such rapid progress I asked when her friend's birthday is- only 10 months away.....hmmmm. How simply they view everything, how black and white their world is. Unlike my mind which has been a myriad of what if's for so long now. This year is the time to ACT more: THINK less....And so sees the birth of AMONG ANGELS, so named because our surname is ANGEL and when you visit I hope you'll feel a part of us...so, Here's a quilt I made for a friend in Adelaide, she is having a baby boy soon, to add to her family of 2 young girls, it just had to be blue....it turned out okay i'm thinking, made with left over bits and pieces and no pattern or fuss it was a quick and easy little project- my favourite type.....