It's been awhile

Again. My health crashed pretty badly and we had a fair bit to do with the October Market and a couple of commissions. I got a diagnosis of a herniated disc pushing on my spinal cord in my neck and recently of Carpel Tunnel syndrome. Pain in my neck, shoulder, arm and hands has really limited my time on the computer and my migraines had been back to daily again. I've been told not to stop my handcraft/art though so at least I can keep creating.

I have been keeping up a bit more with our Facebook page and since I got my new phone I've been able to post photos on our Instagram again and post on our Twitter. These will probably be the best places to keep up to date with what's new for us.

We have finished many items since I last did a round up so I'll try and get the photos edited and posted but with our internet as slow as it is and sitting at the computer causing problems I'm not sure how long it will take.

For now I will share the photos I've managed to get to load on Instagram. Sorry for the low picture quality, My phone has never been good enough to have a decent camera. I hope to keep up to date with this blog more from now on.



Embroidery commission for a friend's niece. The power was off because of a storm so I sat in the doorway embroidering. Our house is pretty dark so doorway it was. I wish we had somewhere to comfortably sit in the front yard.


The little fuzz bucket, Dougall, after his summer haircut. Both dogs grow long hair over winter and we cut them short come spring.


And the big one, Pippin. Don't let the slightly worried face fool you, that was for the storm. He was ecstatic to have short hair again, bouncing all over the place. Excuse the feed bag of fleece in the background. There was nowhere else to put it.


The storm didn't last long


The roses on the fence are out and in the foreground you can see the Borrage and spinach


Sunset


Asparagus, feta and quinoa salad and an apple juice at The Wholefood Kitchen, Bathurst. We adore The Wholefood Kitchen. It's such a friendly place. The staff treat you like family and the food and coffee are excellent. Food is local and in season and amazing. It's right near the Bathurst Wholefood Co-Op too. We have coffee here most Wednesdays before I go to Hydrotherapy. We sit and work on what ever projects we're in the middle of. It's really worth a visit if you're in town. It's open Wednesday to Saturday from 8:30am to 2:30pm
49 William St Bathurst NSW 2795
(02) 6332 9327


The shawl Ruth was working on. Hopefully we'll get a full picture soon


We finally got around to trying Pizza Capers in Bathurst. So much of their menu is gluten free. It's fantastic to have this here as we don't have a Crust Pizza up here.
I've never lived anywhere that has as many Gluten Free options as Bathurst.


We shared a Bourbon BBQ Chicken pizza. It was a bit sweet for me but that's the style of pizza. Most importantly, I didn't get sick. We will definitely be going back.


More progress on the embroidery


Another storm


The front fence is covered in roses


Peach and nectarines with sugar ready to become jam


Orange and Elderflower jam from a friend


The garden. It's such a pretty time of year. It's full of ladybirds and butterflies and bees. Shame about the heat.
The darker rose on the far fence smells wonderful.


The result of the jam making. This one is such a beautiful colour.


The finished embroidery


Hipster Totoro. I was needle felting a big grey Totoro for a friend and then accidentally added a mustache.

kangaroos

One of my favourite things about Hill End is how pretty it is



We can see these guys out our kitchen window every day



It makes washing up during the day so much easier when you can watch a group of kangaroos eat and lounge around.

Orange

A sunny day in Orange at the Art gallery and library

Foggy mornings

Swaps can be great fun

Earlier in the year I signed up for a needle work swap on Flickr in the Phat Quarter group.
It's a great way to get involved and you end up with a wonderful piece of art for your wall. It's fun, if a little nerve wracking, to create something for everyone else.

The theme was Blinded By Science.
My assignment was to create an embroidery for Mooshee. I love their embroidery, especially their plus sized pin ups so I decided to mix that with science.




I was happy with how it turned out.

The most exciting thing though was getting this amazingly, gorgeous embroidery in the post from Sarah Hennessey. My photos can't do it justice. The stitching is so precise and beautiful.





Sarah's photo of the piece shows some more of the wonderful details.

You can find a similar design along with a whole botanicals series at her Etsy shop Sometimes I swirl.

 

Art prints

Some of the postcard photography prints that will be available at the October long weekend markets in Hill End