Monday, March 5, 2012

Thank God The Sun Is Out

You may be wondering why I chose this title for my blog today. I am so sick and tired of rain. This Summer has been so wet. We have had so much rain that all the dams that were nearly dry 2 years ago are now over flowing. Everywhere you go on the East Coast of Australia somewhere there is a flood. In New South Wales where I live 75% of the State has been somehow affected by flood. Apparently New South Wales is the size of France so that gives you an idea of how much water there is.

My friend Suzanne of Squazi & The Chicken posted photos of the Nepean/Hawkesbury Rivers that flow at the bottom of the Blue Mountains. Suzanne lives down the bottom of the Mountain and I live up near the top. This part of the river wasn't to bad but further down some of the lower bridges were flooded and had to be closed. Thankfully the water is starting to recede. A lot of the water in this river has come because of the non stopping heavy rain that we had for 7 days that came into Warragambah Dam which is the major water supply for Sydney. 2 years ago the dam was at 20% capacity and on Friday evening it started to over flow. BTW if you have ever read a wonderful book called The Secret River by Kate Grenville. This is the river that is in the book. If you have ever been to The Blue Mountains from Sydney, this is the bridge that you would have crossed.

Now back to important things lol. This is my progress on The Tablet Sampler. The Tablet Sampler is a very big sampler and it is sometimes slow going. But I think that I am doing well. I have already ordered the frame for it as I had a $25 off voucher that I had to use so hopefully the frame will arrive around about the time that I finish the sampler.

As you can see I am back doing Commandments again. Thankfully the ones on this side are short and sweet. The one that I have already done is the longest. A few of them are only one liners so that is good.

Here is the other side with the lovely white flower. The flower is stitched in stem stitch that goes around and around. It is quite simple and looks beautiful.

I forgot to show you the last time that I posted my Ann Grant framed. She is sitting in my stitching chair for the photo. She now hangs on a little wall in my dining room. I was quite happy with the frame. The frame goes perfectly with the colours of Ann.

I don't know if you can see on the table behind the chair a collection of decanters. 2 of these belonged to my Great Grandmother. There are 3 altogether and I have them all. When I was little they used to be in a beautiful rosewood box. For some reason that I never figured out (maybe because she was young) my Mother decided that she would paint the box pink. Then she decided that she didn't like it so she threw the box away. I often used to tell her how much the whole thing would be worth if we still had it.

A few weeks ago I happened to be looking on ebay and I saw this lovely wooden sewing box and showed it to my DH. It was listed as being in Sydney. My DH put a bid and we won it. Imagine our surprise a little bit later when the auction had finished when we discovered that it was in Wentworth Falls. 2 villages away from where we live. We were able to pick it up the next day and it now holds all my sewing odds and sods.

20 comments:

Melissa said...

That tablet sampler is amazing, Sandra! But then I am always amazed at your stitching. Ann looks wonderful framed!

You were very lucky to win that sewing box and the fact it was so close by - I guess it was meant to be.

I have read The Secret River and loved that book. I hope the rains calm down and don't cause further damage! Take care!

marly said...

Wow. That's a big sampler with a lot of stitching! Gorgeous. Glad the sun is out!

Margaret said...

I've read that Kate Grenville book! Loved it! Didn't know it was around your area -- cool stuff! I've read quite a few of her books -- she's a good author.

Love your Tablet Sampler! Have to stitch that one sometime for sure. Love how your Ann Grant looks too. Fun stuff about the sewing chest and it being close by!

Hope the flooding stops. You know how I feel about flooding after last year. lol!

alison said...

Nice sewing box! That corner is looking very tidy - in the picture at least! :P

samplerlover said...

It's always tidy there. Only thing that isn't in the photo is a quilt.

Debby said...

Glad the sun is shining! I love your Ann Grant!

Greetings from Debby,
www.crossstitchtstyle.blogspot.com

Chris said...

Beautiful progress on the Tablet sampler, the flowers on it are gorgeous! Ann Dale looks fabulous too.
The decanters are treasure and I love your new sewing box.

Anonymous said...

Your Ann Grant is gorgeous! Love the frame you chose for her. I also like that beautiful wooden sewing chest. Hugs from kentucky - kelley

Nicola said...

Your beautiful sewing box was destined for you.

Your tablet piece is AMAZING. Ann Grant is so beautiful I would love to have her in my home.

Ellen said...

Your tablet sampler is coming along nicely, and your Ann Grant looks wonderful.

Hope you're enjoying your new sewing box.

Deb said...

Your Tablet sampler is just amazing! I can see what it takes a while to stitch this sampler. It looks so complicated with those stitches in the flowers (and all that over one)!!

And Ann Grant is beautiful. I can't say anything more than that except that I wish I had done it too.....we know how I am about keeping up with SALS. It's beautiful though and a wonderful frame for it!!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

What an amazing and gorgeous sampler! Love, love, love the flower border!

Beautiful frame choice on Ann; she is on my list to do one of these days.

Congrats on the pretty sewing box!

Laurie in Iowa said...

The Tablet sampler looks fabulous. It's so nice to see Ann G. in her frame. I've been working on her again and have fallen in love with the colors all over again.
Congrats on winning the basket... it's lovely.
So sorry to hear about all the rain you've been having. Does this mean that you won't have as much danger with fires this year?

Mindi said...

I'm so glad the weather is finally cooperating to help dry out all that excess water. Even here in California we've been seeing pictures on the news of the flooding.

Sampler Tablet is looking amazing. Its one that's been on my wish list for a while, but I think its going to stay there a bit. Love the frame you picked for Ann Grant.

Karen said...

Love your framed piece...it does look great with Ann!

happy stitching.....

The Scarlett House said...

Sandra, do I need to build an ark and come rescue my friend? You sound positively water logged. Send some of that wet stuff over my way.
Your sampler is another stunner. You really do put must of us to shame, and your framed Ann is lovely, too. When will I ever find time to stitch mine?
Love your EBay find. Take care!

Katrina said...

Love the tablet sampler and Ann is gorgeous!!!! Hope you are getting more sun than rain :-).

Michelle said...

Your Tablet Sampler is gorgeous - you're making great progress. And I love your framed Ann Grant - she is beautiful!

Karoline said...

Your tablet sampler is looking lovely & Ann is gorgeous, great framing

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Gigi

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