Cicada Shell Craft

These pictures where taken before Christmas, but I thought I'd post them anyway...:)

They look very sweet sitting there crafting away.

About 2 months ago there was an abundance of cicada shells on the trees around our neighbourhood. My boys have gotten a nice collection of them to decorate.

They were painting them and decorating them for the Christmas tree and the nature table.

I love the sparkly ones with the glitter on them.......:)

{This Moment}

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Katie and Sunny Boy drumming in the park,

with gorgeous Emily and John from Hands, Heart & Feet

Ok, I know it's 2 photos, but I like them both.

Afternoon at the Park

It's been such a wet, misty, cold Summer here in the upper Blue Mountains, it was nice to get out of the house and enjoy Summer before it skips past us. We went to the local park to have a run around and get some fresh air.

Katie built another one of her faerie houses for the park faeries.

The maple leaves are just staring to change colour to remind us that Autumn is just around the corner.

Oops... Sunny Boy's faerie house just got stuck by hurricane Lou.

There goes hurricane Lou.

Busy Bees at work

It was nice to meet another mum with her little one at the park.

( Australian Magpie)

Teapot!....

Anyone for a cup of tea?

This is a free pattern from Living Crafts' blog http://www.livingcrafts.com/blog/ .

Type in 'tea pot' and scroll down until you get to the free teapot pattern by Patricia Kessler.

I made the teapot from wool felt scraps I found while going through my craft stuff recently. It's a great pattern for using up scraps of felt.

Tomatoes! Tomatoes!..........

Today, Lou harvested these tomatoes from our two bushes. With all this rain and me neglecting my veggie patch, I'm amazed we got these little treasures. My other veggies died or rotted, so I salvaged what I could and pulled out the rest. It's a bit heart breaking that 2 years in a row my veggie patch has been a flop. I wonder if it is because where we live now in the upper mountains, veggies don't grow as well.

Lou loved feeling the smoothness of the tomatoes. He was so tempted to squeeze them. He has done that to a few fresh eggs in the past. Now he's a bit older, he resisted the urge to squeeze. He seemed to be enjoying playing with the tomatoes gently so I let him play there for a while.

Lou's necklace is made of amber. I bought it in an opp shop for $3. It was tangled in the jewellery stand with some tacky plastic beads - the people who worked there must have thought it was plastic, not realising what it was. I was so excited because Lou lost his other amber necklace that he had as a baby.

The bowl is turned from a Camphor Laurel tree. It still has an amazing smell. I bought it recently in an opp shop for $3.50. It was under some other stuff so I was excited when I found it. Wooden turned bowls aren't cheap to buy (the ones turned here, not the imports) so to find one in an opp shop in good condition is quite rare for me. I have a thing for wooden bowls.

The Camphor Laurel is a weed in Australia. It grows huge and has quite an invasive root system.

Aren't these tomatoes cute - they remind me of light bulbs.

I think they are called Yellow Pears. Hopefully, I'll get to find out what they taste like...:)

Last Summer I grew them but Lou picked them and threw them to the dog next door to eat. We also had a lot of rain that split a lot of them, and the Bower Birds ate the rest. I thought I'd have better luck this season.

Beautiful Summer colours....:)

Roll up. Roll up. The circus is in town!.......

The Circus has come to town!

There was fire juggling,

tight-rope walking,

sword balancing,

hula-hooping while playing the violin,

and of course, a unicycle!

There were other performances I didn't get a chance to get photos of - I was enjoying the show so much. Doesn't matter - it gives you a general idea of the show. If you are a local, go check out the show. It will be finishing its season soon.

The kids loved the show so much they now want to join a circus! LOL

Katie's Fairy House.......

I found this out the back the other day. Katie's been building a fairy house with bits and pieces she has found around the back yard ...

... complete with a clothes line ...

... and half buried treasure.

Poncho In The Mist.....

After spending over a week down the south coast on the beach feeling like we just had a week of Summer, we said goodbye to the sun and came back to the cold foggy mountains. Here I am in the middle of Summer knitting away, rugged up under my quilt with a jumper on!..... Crazy weather!....

Last Sunday I met up the lovely ladies from the Ravelry group, " UP The M4", that meet at the Red Cow pub at Penrith one Sunday a month to do knitting in the pub. I caught the train down the mountain with all my layers on, only to peel off like an onion once I got down there. It was lovely to meet other people off Ravelry. Most of the ladies there I have met at the Blue Mountains Knitters' Guild. Hopefully, I'll be back next month.

My first finished knitting of the year! I won't mention the other items that I have being frogging.

Katie took these pictures. She is such a great photographer. The photos are hazey because I live in a permanent fog up here. The camera even picked up the fog (LOL).

The Pattern is from a leaflet by Heirloom. I bought the pattern years ago and the wool is Naturally Mohair plus(?). The colour of the wool is brighter in real life. The wool looks a little washed out on the monitor. This wool has been in my stash for while now. I did start something with it but didn't like it. I got the wool in the bargin bin at the Katoomba Knitting and Needle Craft shop, picking up the last 3 balls. My goal this year is to finish the knitting projects that I have started and get through my stash. I'm running out of storage space....(LOL)

Welcome 2011

New year eve fireworks at Ulladulla Harbour....