Another Christmas done

And so this festive season came to an end but apart from being extremely hot, it all went well and I regard myself fortunate to have both my kids living in the same city and being able to have them all over for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  Needless to say, overeating galore happens during this time.  I left it to the girls to decorate the table with only one request that it shouldn’t be red or green.  Red is just a way too hot colour for the weather we experience this time of the year.  I think they did well.

Dearest granddaughter however came over to stay earlier and still shows no signs of wanting to return home.  In fact, the moment her parents leave, she turns into a totally different person and wraps us around her little finger like crazy.  Swims with her Oupa, who obviously allows her to do things in the pool that would give her parents heart attacks and with total admiration, she’d come up from under the water, looks at Oupa with those angel eyes and say things like:  “Oupa you are so cool, no wait…. You are amazing.”  Now what more motivation does any granddad need?

Having her over and her extreme excitement over every single gift – she opens everybody’s for them – makes Christmas just so much more special.

However cleaning house and quilting will have to wait until this young lady decides to go home eventually.

Secret Circle project

For the last couple of weeks, this was all I did and I am finally done but still can’t show any photos before the end of January, as this is a surprise for someone special.

In fear of this person coming to my house and catching me working on the project I had to either do it early mornings (5 am) or late nights and should I dare to be brave enough to work a little during the day, I would have to take it out from under the machine, hide it in a cupboard whenever I got up for any short amount of time.  No fun working like that and my heart went out to all those crafters without a proper room to work in.  If I had to take stuff out and pack it away whenever done, I would never attempt anything.

My eyes have however not stopped wandering on what other quilters are doing and I saw so many interesting ideas that I’d like to give a try….. Graffiti quilts, gradient quilts (or then made with gradient fabric) and fidget quilts for people with Alzheimer’s.

My mom had Alzheimer’s and I remember she’d only read one magazine and the same one article day after day after day.  So I can imagine that a person with Alzheimer’s might find stimulation in unzipping a zipper or fastening a button over and over.  Something I would really like to do.

 I also downloaded a couple of free and paid for patterns but when I will ever get around to doing these, heaven only knows.

Enjoying our down time

Even though I still go in to the office daily, I don’t mind at all as all the other personnel is on their annual leave therefore I don’t have to open the shop for customers or answer the phone.  I just need to go in to update the little daily admin  and then I can return home.

This is the first year where DH and I are all alone at home when the kids do not come over to visit and strangely enough we’re not bored one bit.  Somehow you still find things you either need to or want to do and so I had a little more time to work on my mystery

While sitting outside trying to be somewhat cooler in the scorching heat I managed to finish the two opposite sides of this table runner which was the mystery I worked on.  Now I just need to add the centre piece.

Alternative sewing

I am still working on my secret circle project and cannot share at this stage but in between I’ve done some alternative sewing.

With the festive season upon us and it being a very hot summer in sunny South Africa, we spend most of our time around the swimming pool with the kids, granddaughter and other family members or friends.  Being the woman of the house, I however still need to attend to the normal household chores and has to get in and out of the swimming pool frequently to return to the inside of the house.

Now, walking around in a swimsuit while working in the kitchen and being a grandmother already, just does not sit well with me.  Especially now, my son is all grown and my future son-in-law also spends his days with us.

Then I saw these beautiful dress-like swimming suits on the internet and I thought these were absolutely perfect for women my age until I saw the price.  Totally outrages, I could care less about exactly how perfect they were.

So I improvised.  Took a bikini I already had, bought a small piece of Bon-bon fabric, measure myself and voila, stitched this to the bikini top and I have the picture perfect swimming suit at a fraction of the price, covering at least my behind.  So I reckon I am all set for this festive season.