Hello November!

According to my Blog, October simply did not exist - in my life it certainly did, it was really busy - and I just loved it! My most special friend Linda from the USA and her husband Jerry came to stay with us, and we had the most lovely time flitting here and there visiting local landmarks - it was such fun being a tourist in my own city. 

After Linda left, it was hard to get back into the swing of regular life, but school, work and tennis commitments quickly beckoned and we're back into our regular routine again.

I have a couple of pictures that are lurking in my phone to show you ... not sure what order they'll come up in, but here goes:

On one of the days, we visited the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. They are just lovely, and right next to the square mile that makes up our city centre. I love this little cottage by the park entrance. The ivy growing over it is so pretty.

I have such happy childhood memories of this pond in the gardens - we'd visit to see the change of seasons and then linger to feed the ducks.

I had heard that the wisteria arbour was in full bloom, and it definitely didn't disappoint. Just beautiful!

And this is the Victorian Glasshouse - I remembered it being full of ferns, but lately it's home to lots of succulents. The building is so ornate, my picture really does it no justice.

After the gardens, we crossed North Terrace and visited Ayers House. This was the former home of Henry Ayers, a prominent businessman and Premier of South Australia. I have never toured the museum, but my wedding reception was held here in the conservatory - it was just lovely.

Here are a couple of interiors:

This coverlet was in the Gentleman's Bedroom. A reproduction of the antique Dancing Dollies quilt which belongs to the museum's collection. My lovely friend Irene Carrig has reproduced this quilt - it was featured in Australian Patchwork and Quilting, and she has patterns available for sale both in the Ayers House gift shop and on Ebay.

Another of our days was spent in Hahndorf, a lovely little village in the hills, though I don't have any pictures to share from my phone, I did find this one, which are two items I purchased at the German Village Shop.

I had wanted to visit this shop for the absolute longest time, and now I can check it off my 'things to do' list. My DH can count himself lucky that I didn't purchase a cuckoo clock too, but I can't promise I won't head back to do that very thing. I've loved them since I was a little girl, my great aunt had one and I can't even tell you how thrilling it was on the hour when it would chime.

The boys spent a couple of days at the station in the mid north, and while they were away, Linda and I took the opportunity to spend some time visiting quilt stores, and also just hanging out in my sewing room. I'm excited to report that I have a lot of the stars done for my Phebe project, and I've started working in earnest on the centre square. Here's some of the progress on the vase:

I've done more since this picture was taken - I've added all the stems, the small trees at the side and some of the flowers. I'm happy with how it's coming along at the moment and I can't wait to see it progress.

Next, I have a hopeful favour to ask. I have a fabric that I'd really like to use for sashing strips between the star blocks on the Phebe quilt:

This is a Judie Rothermel Civil War Dressing Gowns print, and I have a small amount of it that my lovely friend Donna gifted to me - this is the fabric that I've set my mind on, and I need just over a yard of it. It's an oldie, so I know I won't find it in stores - does anyone have a piece they'd be happy to part with? I'll gladly pay you for it and also for postage. It would be so much appreciated.

I've found a substitute that I can use if I don't find the fabric, but you know how it is when you really have your heart set on something - it's hard to look beyond it.

Last of all for this post (because it's so very long) I just wanted to share the cupcakes that I made for my lovely friend Lizzy's wedding:

I love working with the Russian piping tips, I'm getting better with them slowly, but I still have quite a lot to learn. Lizzy's wedding was just lovely, and I"m just thrilled she's found the most wonderful man to share her life.

Well, that's it for me for today - hopefully I won't skip another month before I post again - chatter soon!