BuTTeRfLy BaBy BluE

What a bloomin garden!!!

2011-12-17T02:23:00.000-08:00

I took 20 pics of the flag before finally getting the right shot!
The cannas are going balistic around the pond, and the fish survived the winter and doubled in size

We've been eating from the spud patch

The orchard, full of nectarine and peach trees is looking great yum

Our wild world

Some of our new babies, my favorites are the grey ones.

This was taken a few weeks ago, we are now eating crook neck zucchini

The path to the rose garden

Happy chickens and happy me!!.....Merry Christmas everyone, stay safe and enjoy!!!

More painting!!

2011-11-06T01:22:00.000-07:00

We've had a few hot days at the Hippy Farm, the seedlings have all been planted, garden hayed, and weeded, the garden is coming back to life after hibernating for the winter...and so have i .
I had lots of paint left after painting the sewing room, so i added some white paint to lighten the turquoise, so i could paint the outside of the house.

I'm rapt with it, the spouting and window frames were mission brown before i painted them white.
Much better and then............
when i was standing on the crate finishing off the windowframes, the stupid crate flipped sideways (i cant use a ladder, the crate is as high as i can go...im shit scared of heights lol), i fell off the damn thing straight onto my tail bone....so thats the end of painting for a few weeks, until that little hiccup is out of the way lolol

the orange room

2011-10-15T02:54:00.000-07:00

The neighbour was throwing this old pantry out.....i saw potential!!!

Now that the weather has warmed up i have a choice paint or garden...today i chose painting.
This is the stash room before...orange!!! UGH!!

Heres the after shot of the pantry...lots of room for material...YAY

I painted the walls turquoise and white....the old cd rack has a new job as my lace holder.

and some new curtains to finish the room....ahhhh all done.

The bike

2011-10-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

My new bike, was given to me, she needed new tubes and tyres, dang they cost me $70!!

The last time i rode a bike was with my daughter on the back in her baby seat. She is now 23!!

Can I still do it? Oh boy i was wobbly to start with but made it up the road followed by a magpie...great!! lol it was hard going, and yes im very sore, so the bike now sits under the verandah, waiting for my next ride, who knows when lolol

More new babies at the Hippy Farm , meet Jack and Jill, nicknamed wombat, shes a little fatty

Bindi and Bob...hes the boss!

Mother duck said...................

2011-08-20T03:16:00.000-07:00

the new additions to the hippy farm...13 gorgeous, bright sunny yellow ducklings, out for a waddle with Bubbles

Wait for me mum!!!

Ah Foxs Lane you've done it again!!

2011-08-06T04:11:00.001-07:00

We've just gone through the biggest mouse plague known to man, woman and erm ME!
Ive never had to deal with this being the city slicker that i was!
All hell broke loose when i found they had been having a parteee in my stash room, what a nightmare, everything had to be washed. Ten loads of washing and still counting..Not happy!!
Time to cull and pack into plastic tubs UGH!!
I couldnt part with anything, so thanks to http://foxslane.blogspot.com/ (yep i did copy your idea sorry, hope you dont mind)...the sewing room is now spotless full of "loverly" plastic tubs not! and ive managed to cull quite a bit by making the doona cover.
As if the ric rac wasnt enough!!....thanks for the motivation...I hope you have an awesome trip full of beautiful memories...Di

The ugly dresser

2011-06-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

Life is bliss at the Hippy Farm. This old girl needed a makeover, so after i painted the ceiling and one wall i tackled her. She was originally brown YUK!!

What a nightmare, it took 3 coats.

And i covered the two shelves and inside the cupboards with black and white tiles.

This lady was an original part of the kitchen... at least 50 years old.....she will be good for another 50 now!!

our house

2011-06-14T18:54:00.000-07:00

Our Hippy Farm when it was the post office, it had 3 rooms, we now have 8, which have been added during the years.

Kerbside rubbish day was yesterday....Hippy Man you are such a hoarder, tsk tsk,, lucky we have a big nature strip lololol...and lucky the council sent 5 guys to do the job.

Sweet sweet love

2011-05-14T05:20:00.000-07:00

Heres the new addition to our family, grandson number 5, Harlem Koa-Sydney,arrived 10 days late, April 7th............ just gorgeous!!!!!

Gentle Big Brother!!!

Ahhh thats better..............

Finding time to sew

2011-05-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

This summer was a very busy time, I finally managed to get on the machine and get a bit of sewing done. This was a $2 dress from the scab trolley at Kmart.

Just one cut and a bit of embellishing and a new skirt for layering during the winter.

But i have been busy on the knitting front, lots of beanies and gloves and this vest and hat, great now that the weather has cooled down and i can snuggle by the fire.

The meter box

2011-05-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

All on schedule for market day, I only have one more block of red to paint.
Today i finished the meter box, which was originally mission brown

Looked great until..............

I plugged it in, now it looks like its got a breathing tube in it !!!

the pressure is on!!!

2011-04-30T04:27:00.000-07:00

All is still amazing at the Hippy Farm, but gee we have been busy. Only four weeks to go until the big market & garage sale in our town, so im frantically trying to finish painting the farm shop, im about two thirds done, only one oopsie so far (well actually two) yes two broken windows while painting ....ooops! Never mind for now we have covered them with purple boards and it doesnt look too shabby lol

The old selling cart has had a revamp and is looking great. The warm autumn weather has been a bonus. So fingers crossed we finish on time!!!

Just fun

2011-03-26T03:19:00.000-07:00

This is how my saturday was spent on this glorious autumn day at the hippy farm..played with the pups, sugar, boofhead, maggie, dotty and molly...and then ZZZZz

hippy man is so proud of the watermelons,

watched the butterflies

maggie and hippyman

did somemore painting

i didnt think an artichoke had such a pretty flower

my first fire at the hippy farm.

What an awesome day!!!

My new second life!!

2011-03-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

After living in the 'burbs' all my life, the last few years threw me many stones.....but from now on I have only diamonds....
The move to the hippy farm was one of the best choices i have ever made.
Its been two months since i arrived here and its been awesome if i dont count the heat, flies, mozzies, spiders, wasps, crickets, ants and mice.ha ha
The hippy man has been patient with me, i freak at almost any bug that comes near me, he is so used to it he usually just laughs me off.

The flag that i gave hippy man for xmas takes pride of place in front of the farm.
The verandah(which also doubles as our food shop) is having a face lift when im done with it will be the 6 colors of the flag. Ive already done blue, green and purple will post pics of soon.

getting ready for the market UGH 6am

Our market stall

What i see when i open the back door

Yummo watermelon almost ready

doesnt every farm have an old bomb in the back paddock??

Ooooh Aaaahh!!

2011-01-12T02:55:00.000-08:00

Here is my poor attempt at growing garlic....."thats not a garlic"

"This is a garlic!" Straight from hippy mans farm to me, next to my pissy little bulb. I'm counting down the days...12 to go YAY!!

UGH!!! cold turkey

2011-01-10T03:07:00.000-08:00

My sewing corner in the dining room,,,before

Im getting ready for my big move in two weeks, to free up more packing time, i decided to pack my sewing things away...Ouch!!!!

Well just the machines for now, i shifted everything onto the kitchen table lol
Yes Im leaving Vic and moving to my 'hippy mans' farm in N.s.w....Im so excited, but feeling withdrawals from sewing already!!!!

The last of my sewing for two weeks

2011-01-10T02:58:00.000-08:00

I finished off some flares for my cousins little girl, she starts school this year

Stripes, from my stash, the two other pairs are made from thrifted doona cover

Two more pairs from an old vintage curtain and sheeting.

My Xmas week in Perth

2011-01-10T02:50:00.000-08:00

The beach at sunset, xmas eve.....bliss

My grandson I hadnt seen him for 11months very surprised by how much he talks now..non stop....

" your my best friend nana, i love you, your special" he melts my heart.

Full of beans

Milk and cookies for santa, he was sooooooooooooo excited

The colorful list

Xmas morning ...oh i wish i was a kid again!!

Sunday in pics

2011-01-09T04:41:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful day here, not too hot, perfect for gardening and the ground was soft after the rain we had yesterday ....

the roses are loving this hot weather

the back shed...the painting??? This is what happened when i gave up smoking!!

the girls jazmine rice and joanna goanna

sunkissed daisy

the keeper of the veggie patch

the perfect sunflower...so perfect it looks plastic!!

Barbie free zone...Meet Feral Cheryl

2011-01-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

My favorite doll ever!!!!!
+
http://www.feralcheryl.com.au/meet.html

ric rac cont

2010-12-01T16:55:00.000-08:00

This is what I will be using the ric rac for, because I spend ridiculous amonts on jumbo ric rac to finish things off and make them groveee babeeee

p.s thankyou to the lady from foxs lane

Second attempt

2010-12-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

Success at last this one is flat flat flat YAY!

More ric less rac

2010-12-01T16:41:00.000-08:00

To 'that' creative lady from here http://foxslane.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-crochet-ric-rac.html .... I can knit with my eyes shut, I do not crochet!!! How dare you 'hook' me onto this as if I dont have a hundred million other things to do!!! I have been sitting on my arse for hours trying to work out this cute ric rac crochet

this is my first attempt, Ive watched peeps crochet before but I still hold and hook like I am knitting. Half of this one is flat but there are more rics then racs, I keep forgetting to turn after each ric.

Beanies for the boys

2010-12-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

This weather is crazy, I packed my knitting things away weeks ago, since its been raining and coldISH, out they came again.
I wanted something fast and easy so made some beanies for the boys, (I have 4 grandsons and another being born in March) and a grandaughter who just turned one.
Does anyone in blogland know how to knit a erm..popple thingy to sew on top of the finished beanie? you know the "thingy" "stemmy" bit that makes them look like a gumnut LOL

Oranges and Lemons

2010-11-21T15:51:00.000-08:00

Love this Simplicity pattern (8812) so easy with infinite variations, I used up the seersucker cloth that I bought last week. My sewing urge has been itched!! For now anyway lol!!

big changes

2010-11-18T02:32:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pics of my stash its BIG...but its no longer here!
Big changes are happening early next year, I'm moving to the bush, will go into more detail soon, but the stash room is now empty, UGH!!! What was i thinking? I'm lost without it..... Quite a few of my things have already moved to my new home, my machines etc.are still here so the material I bought today was just too tempting to pass up .....

More Fabric

2010-11-18T02:26:00.000-08:00

Oppy finds today I couldnt resist all for $7

two doona covers and a sheet, which wont be staying intact for too long, I have things to make!!

green vintage sheet, and a splash of interlock, and a couple of vintage patterns. Three bright vintage seersucker tablecoths and a place mat love them.

2006-2010

2010-11-17T04:10:00.000-08:00

This gifted tee's original tag read 'spring collection 2006' it needed a bit of oomph so i cut off the sleeve and bottom bands, and lettuce stitched them to make it more feminine and bring it into 2010. I may still do the same with the collar. Cost $ 00000 YAY!

Cactus flower the dinosaur of the garden BEAUTIFUL!!!

2010-11-17T04:02:00.000-08:00

My mothers Hands

2010-11-17T03:58:00.000-08:00

One of my earliest memories was falling asleep to the whirring sounds of my Mothers black Singer, whipping up new creations for my sister and I.
As we were only 18 months apart ( and sibling rivalry was at its peak!), Mum new to keep the peace, our clothing needed to be as close to identical as possible.
Times weren't always easy for my parents, but Mum always managed to make ends meet. She would never waste a thing and was forever finding new ways to re-cycle fabrics into something wonderful for us girls.
She would analyse every piece of clothing that was no longer useable and remove zips, buttons or lace, anything that could be reused before discarding what was left to be used as rags.
My love for sewing and crafts was established very early in my life.
During the Winter, Mum would sit between us with her knitting, while at the same time be constantly interrupted by my sister and I. Our Barbies needed clothing too! We were attempting to knit. We would hound her with our little voices"Mum, Ive dropped a stitch!..Help!"..."Mum, I can't join the next color! Help!".
Our clumsy little fingers were never as co-ordinated as her graceful, delicate , manicured hands.
At 19., when pregnant with my first son, Mum gave that precious sewing machine, the black Singer, that she used all those years ago. I cherish the memories that it brings back to me from my early childhood days.
Mum inspired me to rcycle, reuse and recreate and with this gift, I will never want for anything.
I sew with joy and passion, it is my meditation, often using some of the patterns from the swinging sixties, similar to the ones she used., and wherever possible the fabrics are pre-loved and recycled.
And when I sew, I see my Mums beautiful hands guiding me. I miss you ...RIP xxx

Kalgoorlie

2010-05-15T04:44:00.000-07:00

The Super Pit is HUGE!!!! Can you spot the trucks?

Hows that for a tyre?

What an awesome mirror...does my bum look big in that?

Yes its a 100 year old brothel

Thats enough sightseeing, time for a swim AAAHHH!!!

Brissy here i come!

2010-05-07T04:33:00.000-07:00

I started with this gifted dress, very slinky, lots of lycra, but a boat neck! sooooo 80's..nope dont like it

Op shop find striped tshirt, perfect fit but ...I need a new dress

Two cuts and one row of sewing and I'm there!! Mary the model is way tooooooooo skinny for this dress!!! It looks like a sack on her tsk tsk

Lol I know more dodgy pics...but I'm working on it, and very happy with the way the dress has turned out

Wait there's more ha ha

I chopped up a belt to wear with it.

I'm going to Brissy for my sons 30th birthday, in a few weeks, this is the reason for the dress. BUT I wonder if its appropriate for a 30 pub, pub crawl lol and will I get any further than the fifth pub?? Nope I doubt it very much lolololol!!! Wish me luck... hiccup!......Di

Tshirt Love

2010-05-06T04:14:00.000-07:00

This tshirt was gifted to me, but the bows didnt do much for me

I cut them off and added two buttons

And used the left over for the ruffles.

I love this style

another from the stash

The bottom section of this one, was made from a tshirt which was too short, I cut it under the arm pits, added a polka dot yoke,(left over fabric from a girls dress) and some black ribbing under the bust, added a ruffle, and buttons and re-attached the sleeves from the original (too short tshirt)

And this is all I have left of the 'too short!" tshirt...the end lol

SAturday snaps

2010-05-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

My little shadow

"Drink please Nana!" "Let's rest"

"Whats that noise?"The Airshow was on. "Bot bot Nana!!" he refused to say plane.

AHHH I wonder if he will have a nap?? I'm ready.

Something for the boys! WOw FreeCycLerS

2010-04-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

Gotta love freecyclers, thank-you to the lady who answered my call for more material...
Two large bags of NEW yes NEW material, her brother works for a fabric store. Dang why cant I have connections like that, my bro is a boiler maker, grumble grumble.. I wasnt expecting anything like this, the pile is awesome, floral and cottons, stretch, cord, fleecy, and flanelette. So ladies how does that saying go?? "Ask and you shall recieve"....im soooooo greatful

So out of the stash today I made some cord pants for grandkids 3 and 4 (lol birth order)...J and K,

I love cord its soooo soft and cute on little boys

I included Number 3's initial on the pocket

I used lots of top stitching and played around with pockets.....little fellas need LOTS of pockets

and my 'famous" graffiti stitch lol... I had plenty of sewing 'meditation' this weekend, gotta love that byeeeeeeeeee Di

New Jeans YAY

2010-04-24T03:11:00.000-07:00

I found these Wrangler jeans for 2 bux at the market, too good to pass up, but alas, when i tried them on perfect!! Only if i choose not to sit or eat, walk or breath!!

Nice thick old time denim, no stretch

I found some black cotton stash lace

Cut the jeans from waistband to the hem line, on both sides

I lost the pockets but who cares, there are two more on the back, lol and my belt will cover the seam in the waistband

I cut some strips of denin (the length of the pants) from and old pair of jeans and sewed the lace to it

While the seams were open i sewed some 'graffiti stitch' on the legs

DA DA!!! Ive added about 7cms 3" to the width of the jeans...now i can sit, walk , burp and dance lol

and now for the dodgy part, self portaits are impossible lol

See great the belt covers the band and i still have little pockets for coins? ha ha

OOPS wait it gets worse

Boobs, tshirt bathroom u name it i snapped it...and missed the jeans completely
p.s had big sookies with my blog too, can anyone give me a brief outline on how to reset my big main picture and blog name..unfortunately im in here blind byeeeeeee for now Di

I'm back

2010-04-21T02:36:00.000-07:00

After much sadness and pain, grief and many, many tears, I've decided to get back into this blog and hopefully a bit of normality will return to my life.

My man aka 'the bull slayer' aka 'TJ' is gone. After battling cancer for 3 years, in March 2009 the doctors told us the cancer had returned, this time in TJ's bones. My man is gone, Feb 2 2010

at 11.30pm he disappeared from this world, to rest without pain and be with the ones he loved and also lost.

TJ thank you for giving me the privelege of your unconditional love. Physically you are not with me, but sleep peacefully knowing that there is a special place in my heart, only for you. Take my love with you and I will see you again.....one fine day....Di xxx

For those of you who have been devastated by this hideous disease, WE NEED A CURE!!!!

Feel free to read this website of a courageous man and father from queensland, who is campaigning tirelessly, despite his grief, to have the cyberknife brought to Australia.

Cheers everyone thanks for listening....Di

http://www.cyberknifeaustralia.com/fundraisers/win-a-house-for-100/

Unda Da Rotunda!!

2009-03-09T04:23:00.001-07:00

Came across the cutest op shop, on the Mornington Peninsula in the main street of Portarlington. (opposite the pub).Lots of bargains.

The volunteers have a view of the sea from the front door!!!

Open Saturdays.

swing baby

2009-03-03T04:10:00.000-08:00

From purple cushion cover and sarong, to sling bag in 2hrs...all from my stash...my daughter loves it and uses it everyday..and now her friends want them!!!

2009-02-23T04:43:00.000-08:00

gotta LOVE vintage linene

2009-02-23T04:40:00.000-08:00

I made these two pillowslip dresses for my friends two year old twin daughters, one with purple ric rac trim the other in pink. Made from 100% cotton reclaimed vintage sheeting.
The blue polka dot trim dress is for their big sister, who is four.
These are such easy dresses to make, can be worn layered on cooler days

2009-02-23T04:38:00.000-08:00

2008-08-07T04:10:00.000-07:00

The Book

2008-08-07T03:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest book I am reading its called
"Nouveau poor or how to live better on less."
It was written in 1976 by two English women Barbara Griggs and Shirley Lowe.
Its full of great Nouveau Poor style...............
"We've discovered that even if life can't be as materially easy as it was a few years ago, ago it can be every bit as enjoyable.
All you need is style.....Nouveau Poor Style!!!"
The book was written over 30years ago, who would have thought that things would turn full circle, with the price of petrol , groceries, cost of living and interest rates increasing the way they have. Even though it doesnt have a chapter titled "Sell your things on Oztion or Ebay" it does have some very useful information on surviving these crazy times, by reducing our costs and still being comfortable.
It was a 20c op shop find.