It's all over for another year!

Well, I don't even have a photo to share from Christmas Day, sorry.  This year, the kids went to their dad's on Christmas Eve. My family is very small...I only have 1 sister and her family and she was off to her in-laws for the day and my mother was spending the day with her friend who is also on his own. This happens every second year and last time Tony and I went to Mellow Manor which was absolutely divine.  Mellow Manor is a fabulous old house that has been done up to cater for wedddings and functions. It is just beautiful inside and the grounds are well manicured and perfect for lazing around on after one has gorged on too much Christmas pud!

So we booked ourselves in again and it was just lovely.  I am surprised by how many families go out for Christmas lunch. It's got to cost them a small fortune as it is $90 a head for adults!  Anyway, it's always fun people watching!!

It is a smorgasbord type lunch with the usual Christmas foods and I gorged myself, I must admit. Oh my, I haven't eaten that much in a very long time. I was going to get my money's worth, that's for sure!! So we headed home 10kgs heavier and had an afternoon sleep to recover!!

Because I was in no shape to tackle anything physical after such a lunch, I continued with my Christmas tree wall hanging. Too late this year I know, but it will be all done for next year now!

Still got 2 boxes and the pot to stitch but need to get some silver and metallic blue thread

Santa has arrived!

I finished him a couple of days ago.  He was very easy to make. Yo yo makers are the best invention!!! 

Anyway, he looks like he has had a little too much eggnog in this photo!! But I think he is kind of cute.

We have a winner!!

Firstly, a big thank you to all those who have entered my giveaway.  Some of you I already know, but I see lots of new faces. I am looking forward to visiting your blogs over the next few days.  I loved reading all the comments and have learnt so many new things about my quilting friends around the world.

 Anyway, without further ado....I used Random.org to pick a winner. For the life of me, i could not figure out how to paste the random number generator thing here. I am on a Mac, so not sure if that is why, but I have spent far too long pondering and wasting time.

So, the lucky person is 

Missy

 Missy said...

I'm a follower from the US. I'm in South Carolina and this part of the state we call a black hole for rain and snow. Everything parts right around us.

Congratulations Missy and I will send you an email to get your address.

Giveaway Day!

Sew Mama Sew is having its fabulous annual Giveaway Day on December 13th. I will participating this year with some lovely New Zealand fabrics. Up for grabs are 3 luscious fat quarters named after our New Zealand flora and fauna.

Source: http://www.paua.net.nz

Paua, also known as abalone, a univalve shellfish, famous for its irridescent blues and greens in its shell. The inside is also edible and is often made into fritters. The inside of the shell is glorious in its colours and is often used for jewellery, ornaments and trinkets.

Source: nzalpineplants.co.nz
Tussock, found throughout NZ, in alpine regions, forests and sandy dunes.

Source: nzpublishing.co.nz

The bush weta is about 4 inches long and is only found in NZ.  It is so old it has outlived the dinosaurs! There are 5 different types of weta in NZ and about 70 different species.  They are one of the heaviest insects when they are fully grown. They have ears on the front of their knees and can feel the vibrations of noises around them. They live in the forest and in dark damp places like the inside of rotting trees. My son has a fascination for them much to my disgust!!

Anyway, the giveaway is for this....3 fat quarters of Paua, Tussock and Bugs in the Undergrowth! Don't worry, I won't send you a real weta!!

Now that you know a little about my country, I would love to know a little about yours. To enter this giveaway:

1. Become a Follower

2. Tell me something interesting about your state or country.

This giveaway is open until December 17th and I will ship internationally. I will draw the winner randomly on the 18th.


Please check your blog email is set to receive replies. I am receiving a lot of comments that are set to No Reply and therefore will not be able to contact you if you are the winner. If you are unsure what this means go to your Dashboard, select Edit User profile and select Show my email address. If it is not selected then you are set to No Reply.  I reply to all comments via email so if you do not receive a reply from me, it more than likely means you are set to No Reply.

Good luck!

Giveaway!!

Sew Unique  is offering this amazing giveaway of a wonderful bundle of 28 fat quarters from the Shelburne Calico Garden fabric collection. Pop over there before December 16th to enter this fabulous giveaway!

Melbourne!!

Well, I have just returned from a fabulous 4 days in Melbourne.  We left early Friday morning and I crawled into bed at 3.30am this morning. Yawn! So that meant 4 very full days of shopping, eating, drinking and sightseeing. I lived close to Melbourne back in 1991 and spent a lot of time in the city, so I was looking forward to going back.  However, it has changed immensely and there has been a ton of development.  I didn't recognise some parts of the city, but other parts haven't changed at all.

 On Sunday we went to St Kilda on the tram. Trams are such a great way to get around Melbourne and we caught the tram just about everywhere. St Kilda is a fabulous wee seaside suburb about 15-20 minutes from the CBD. It that used to be famous for its red light district that developed after the war and then it developed a slightly alternative lifestyle with many bohemians and artists living there.  In the 1990s, as more and more people decided it was a great place to live due to its proximity to the sea and the CBD, the image of St Kilda changed and the lower socio-economic group was pushed out. It has lots of fabulous old buildings and architecture and I had fun wandering around exploring.  It is well known for its markets on a Sunday there and I managed to find some lovely gifts for family back home.

It was incredibly hot there. The temperature got to 31 degrees Celcius and the humidity was terrible.  I don't know how these people were managing to lie out and bake in the sun. 

Every day was hot with temps around 30 degrees C.  Here we are trying to keep cool in the shade of a tram stop!! It wasn't working.  

One of the little shopping lanes sprinkled throughout the CBD.  I spent lots of time shopping. Managed to find Material Obsession One and Two by Sarah and Kathy at a great price. These books were on my Xmas wish list so I bought myself an early Xmas present! Also managed to pick up some quilting mags that I have never seen in NZ and the latest edition of Australian Homespun.   Didn't come across any quilting shops though, which really didn't matter as there was so much else to look at.

Anyway, back to work and reality tomorrow...sigh