We interrupt our normal transmission ... for Book Week!

There are costume-challenged mothers all over Australia breathing a collective sigh of relief as they send their children off as their favourite book characters to Book Week parades. Can you guess who mine are? Please tell me you can guess!

EDIT: Yes, points to Janellybelly, Fiona & Maria for guessing Lola of Charlie & Lola fame for Littlest Blossie. We are big fans of Lola at our place. My son is dressed as someone more obscure. The bejeweled belt in the last photo is an enormous hint. Ask the nearest 9-12 year old boy, especially Australian ones, & they will probably know! EDIT #2: I am enormously relieved that Penny recognised Lief from Deltora Quest! This is a series of fantasy books written by Australian author Emily Rodda. Lief is the hero of the book who fights all every evil creatures imaginable in order to return each of the seven gems to the Belt of Deltora & thereby restore peace to his homeland. 

D = diamond

E = emerald

L = lapis lazuli

T = topaz

O = opal

R = ruby

A = amethyst

A classic tale of good overcoming evil, but with lots of twists & turns that have you wondering all the way through. Great story, especially for boys, but more than a little scary at times! 

Feeling flat?

Just keep smiling! Hoping for a bodily transformation, very SOON!

Cheerful pink amidst the winter gloom

Back to the farm for the weekend for the baptism of a nephew, so an opportunity to check on my garden. We managed to catch the Taiwan flowering cherry (Prunus campanulata) in full & glorious bloom. It only flowers for a week so we were fortunate to be there just at the right time.The remainder of the garden is still in it's dull winter dormancy, but will transform in just a few weeks as the warmer weather approaches. The wheat crop is looking alright considering we've had so little rain, but needs moisture soon. And of course, I couldn't miss the opportunity to bring a big bunch of cheerful daffodils back to town. Little progress to report on the bright idea from my last post. I have done a tiny bit of embroidery, but am hoping to get back to it tonight. Have a great week. Best wishes, Bloom.

What can you make of this?

Well, my husband would say, "A hat, a brooch or a pterodactyl". Hmmm, not so helpful! My littlest blossie has been home most of the week with an upset stomach & is in need of some cheering up. So I have a plan. Watch this space!

The Great Dear Jane catch up

The Dear Jane group has been in hiatus for a week or so to give some of the slower members (that would be ME!) a chance to catch up on some blocks.F2 Kaleidoscope - I really like this block. Must be the pinwheel shape. I have always loved pinwheels, & I'm happy to say my piecing of them is improving. Segments are foundation pieced.

A3 Hunter's Moon - reverse appliqued. A nice simple one.

C2 Streak of Lightning - I thought this one looked easy enough, just a glorified nine-patch, but the angles made it tougher than I expected!

So I am now only four blocks behind. But one of them is an edge triangle, and the dreaded 42-piece Battlefield is looming. Wish me luck - I may need it!

A is for apples & aprons

Playing with Mosaic Maker today when I should be doing a thousand other things! A little 'apple' & 'apron' inspired creative goodness: 1. Apples and Pears Kids Cafe Apron, 2. Autumn's Apple, 3. Valentine Apron, 4. Polkadotted apple, 5. Ginger blossom hostess apron, 6. Alexander Henry Apples Pears Fabric, 7. First Apple Blossom, 8. Aprons, 9. Emmeline apron, 10. Green Apron, 11. Barefoot Roses Apron, 12. 'the birds and the apple tree' fabric collage, 13. Apples, 14. emmeline apron reverse side with tie in back, 15. birdy_tree, 16. Technicolor Apron

Kids' Art on Saturday ... otherwise known as KAOS?!

After an encouraging start two Saturdays ago, the kids & I sat down yesterday afternoon to spend some art time together. This week we again used the Art Projects for Kids blog, and Kathy's Picasso Pastel Portraits tutorial. Again, her instructions were foolproof and each of my kids enjoyed their time enormously. I printed out a few examples of Picasso's works (this, this, this, this & this) as inspiration. Here are their creations:

'Waking from a Peaceful Dream' by Eldest Blossie, age 12

'Sleeping in a Garden Bed'

by Littlest Blossie, age 7

'Good or Evil?'

by Boy in the Middle, age 9

My husband asked our boy, "So what do you think makes a Picasso a Picasso"? His immediate response was, "Well you just make it look weird really"!!!

My first snow!

An amazing day for us today - snow!! Neither I nor any of my kids have seen snow before, so it was very special. The locals said the snowflakes were the biggest they'd ever seen - the size of fifty cent pieces. It was overwhelmingly beautiful, & a whole lot of fun for the kids at school. The photo below is my daughter's English class . Hmmm, not much English done today! The weather forecast is predicting significant snow to come. Very exciting! More snow arrived tonight, which inevitably meant some after dinner snowball fights! And would that happen to be my son in his pyjama pants? Well of course! I realise snow is a bit ho-hum for so many of you from the Northern Hemisphere, but for me seeing snow falling from the sky for the very first time today, I was overwhelmed by it's transforming beauty, and it's amazing silence! A friend's young child thought it was God fluffing his pillows & showering us with loose feathers! I was awestruck by His creation today.

Jigsaw puzzle, Dear Jane?

The latest blocks for my Dear Jane quilt:

A1 Pinwheel Gone Awry - not perfect, but finished!

H6 Pie Sale - not happy with how the seams are showing through from the back on this one.

Our fearless leader, Anina, has graciously given the Dear Jane group a break for a week or two to catch up on some blocks. I think I am about seven behind. Here is my Dear Baby Jane so far: Just like a big jigsaw puzzle really - except that I've never done a jigsaw with over 5000 pieces!!

Rustic sweet treats

Where did that weekend go? These little treats were the highlight of our weekend. Yum!

Rustic almond biscuits

125g butter, softened

135g (2/3 cup) caster sugar

1 egg

180g (1 1/3 cups) plain flour

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

175g whole unblanched almonds

Cream butter & sugar. Beat in egg. Mix flour with spices, baking powder & salt, then fold into the butter mixture. Roughly chop 125g of the almonds in a food processor until they are a crumbly texture - not too fine. Fold into biscuit mixture. Dot spoonfuls of mixture onto a paper-lined tray. Press a whole almond into the top of each biscuit. Bake, 180 degrees celsius, 10-12 minutes. Enjoy!