Michelangelo When Will You Be Done

This is what I kept telling myself while doing the Second Commandment lol. The quote is from an old movie called The Agony and The Ecstasy about my favourite Sculptor Michelangelo. I have also read the book.

The line is when Michelangelo (Charlton Heston you'll get the connection in a minute) was working on one of his incredible creations The Sistine Chapel. Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison) kept coming in and asking him this question.

The Charlton Heston connection is that he played Moses of course in the movie The Bible. In this sampler there are 2 really long Commandments that go on and on - The Second and the Fourth Commandments. Thankfully these are the only two. All the rest are short in comparison. I am about to do the Third one which is 3 rows long.

I have really been enjoying working on the floral border. It is really lovely and such a change from continually working over one. But I suppose when you think of it The Agony and The Ecstasy also applies to this sampler as well.

Over the past couple of weeks we have been plagued with Bushfires. The first lot were a few weeks ago in Leura and Katoomba when I was staying with my Father. My poor DH who is in the Rural Fire Service was called out quite a few times to help put these fires out.

What is really upsetting is that all of these fires and there were a lot of them at the time scattered all over these 2 towns were deliberately lit. Two of the fires were very close to where I live. One was down the end of the Street and the other a Street away. The Police think that there were a few morons lighting these fires. The caught a 19 and a 14 year old and they are now before the Courts. The 19 year old will most probably go to jail.

Last Monday they struck again in Katoomba. Down at Echo Point. If you scroll down to a previous post on 7 May you will see photos of Echo Point in all it's glory. In the photo above you can see one really lucky house. The fire came right up to it. This house was selling earlier in the year for around 3 million dollars I think and then further in the distance you can see Katoomba Skyway. There is a Cable Car that comes from one side of the Valley to the other.

The fire came right up to the road

This is a 5 Star Hotel called Lilianfels. Thankfully the RFS and the NSW Fire Brigade were able to stop the fire jumping across the road and destroying this Hotel and the one next to it called Echoes. Another beautiful hotel.

This is the back of Lilianfels. You can literally go out the gate, cross the road and then go and get lost in the wilderness lol.

This would have to be one of the most luckiest people in Katoomba. I don't know if you can see it, but at the top of the hill, there is a house and the fire surrounded it.
Through the wonderful efforts of all involved, they only lost one shed. Which is totally amazing. There was supposed to be a very strong Southerly blow in and thankfully the winds that were supposed to be with it, didn't arrive. The next day the weather was wet and misty which helped to put the fire out. We had a couple of helicopters dropping loads of water onto the fire which also helped. But a lot of the times when there are fires up here and they burn down the face of cliffs they are really hard to put out as there are caves and overhanging rocks which protect the fires making them hard to put out.

In other exciting news my second DS and his lovely girlfriend got engaged on Friday night. So we have had a exciting week lol. They are planning on getting married probably in January 2013.

It is raining here again today. But I believe that the really hot weather is coming on the weekend. I like the warm weather, but not when it gets sticky. One good thing about living in the Mountains is that we don't get the Humidity and thankfully we are able to sleep at night.

Before I go, thank you for stopping by. I hope that you have a lovely weekend.

Not On Your Nelly

My goodness, it is a long time since I posted isn't it? Well, lot of things have happened and for a couple of weeks I didn't do any sewing as for one I left my glasses down at my Son's house and had to wait to get them back and also I have been quite ill with a Lower Respiratory Tract Infection and for a while I really didn't feel like sewing. But more on that later.

You maybe wondering why there is a dog on the blog. Well, this is the lady of the house (or she thinks she is) Sally. Today in the Mountains, it is very overcast and misty at times. We also have light rain. Sally is the only sensible one in the whole house today. She got up had a look outside and then looked at me as if to say "Not on your Nelly, I'm not going out there", and went back to bed and is curled up there happily snoring away lol.

Anyway, on to more important things. This is my current piece. It is called The Tablet Sampler by The Scarlet Letter. For some reason I have always like Tablet Samplers and have a few photos of them. I think that this one is really lovely and I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me with the 10 Commandments over one. But I have decided to break them up and do pieces of the floral border and a Commandment or two depending on the size and then it shouldn't be to bad.

The Tablet Samplers always remind me of my visits to one of my favourite places England. On a couple of my visits we went into some of the Churches all over the place and I remember seeing the wonderful Tablets on the wall. Some of them were really lovely. In the Church of England Churches in Australia, most of them have the Tablets on the wall, but they put the Hymn No's, etc, that are going to be sung during the Service.

The angels face is all over one and I quite enjoyed sewing it. I am about to attempt another large flower and probably when I finish that I will go and do the first Commandment. I am planning on doing the left side first and then going over and doing the right side.

This is the next in the special Stacy Nash series that my LNS has. Because it is a bit overcast the colours look a bit different from what they should be. It is a really lovely piece though and only took me a day or two (probably two lol) to do.

I have been putting all my pinkeeps in this bowl. Now all I need is the sewing room to put them in. Yeah right. Fat chance.

One of the reasons that I haven't posted is that I have been staying with my Dad for 3 weeks while my Sister and my youngest Son went to England. They had a wonderful time and my Son now has the travel bug and is saving up to go again. Maybe, the pair of them will go again. I know that my Sister will lol. She is the Jet setter in the family.

My Sister loves going to Portobello road and while there she bought me this really beautiful Victorian Locket. I collect Lockets and Cameo's. It is really beautiful.

While staying with my Father, I had a wonderful day with one of my Aunts. The pair of us headed off to a wonderful Bead shop in Sydney called Bead Them Up and it was like walking into a wonderful lolly shop. It's a shop where a girl can do serious damage to ones credit card lol.

I bought a beautiful string of aquamarines and also one of tiny pearls and my Victorian Locket is now hanging off it.

I also love coral and I bought myself a lovely string of red coral and have had many lovely comments about it every time I wear this. For some reason though the photo is a bit strange, sorry.

While away, my Sister took my Son to some of our favourite places to visit. He has bought everybody presents, but they are Christmas presents. He did bring me back the tour guide to
Buckingham Palace and I have enjoyed looking through it. I have also enjoyed looking at the book on The British Museum. I know that he really enjoyed going there and he also loves History and has got a lot out of it. He loved his visit to Buck Palace and has been telling me about the wonderful things that he saw there. He even saw The Dress and told me that I would have really loved to see it.

Well, I guess that I have waffled on long enough so I had better get on and do what I was doing. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and thank you for dropping by.

Anne Grant Is Finished

I am sorry that I have been MIA again. There has been a lot of illness again in my house. We have been all battling the Flu and some of us have had serious bouts of it. My DH ended up with Pneumonia and one of my Sons ended up in Hospital as well with it. He was smart though. He went to the Hospital where they put him on a drip straight away with the anti-biotics in it. My DH went the other way and went to the Doctors. After nearly 3 weeks off from work, 5 trips to the Doctors and Chest Xrays. He is starting to feel better. My Son spent a few hours in Hospital and had a week off work. I think he took the best option. But you know men!!!!!!!!!!

The best thing though lol, is that my DH has told my youngest Son and myself not to go giving him the Flu as he has been told to keep right away from it all. Excuse me. Who gave it to us in the first place.

Remember in my previous post I told you about a very special Stacy Nash Club that my LNS was having. This is the second piece in the series. Isn't it beautiful. I really love it. I notice though that Stacy has bought other pieces out in design. It would be lovely to have them all. I think the flowers are different though in the Pin piece that she has brought out for general release. I think she must have loved this design.
This is the 2 Pin Keeps that are out so far.

Last month was my Mother's 81st birthday and it just seem appropriate to do this special Pin Keep. This is a "freebie" that is on the Pattern Mart website and the Design is by Pineberry Lane.

I also did this one as well. I thought that the verse was lovely. This is also a "freebie" and is by one of my favourite Designers - Needlework Press. The verse is:-

The only everlasting flower is virtue;

The only lasting Treasure Truth.

Also I was fortunate to win this wonderful velvet carrot and book on the Middle Tennessee Samplers on Carmen's blog called Cardan Antiques and Needlework There was also a packet of one of my favourite little flowers called Love In The Mist, but because I live in Australia and I knew that they wouldn't get through our Customs, I asked Carmen to give them to somebody else. Carmen very graciously sent me this wonderful collection of her designs. I have been a follower of Carmen's ever since she started blogging and I had long admired her designs especially 2 of them - Jane Thomas and Philadelphia Botting. I love Philadelphia Botting's name. Probably because I have discovered that I have a GGG Grandmother called Philadelphia Stevenson which is a bit of a mouthful lol. Wonderful name though.

The bush around where I live is looking really lovely. All the Wattle is out and it is glorious. I am waiting for the winds to come to blow all the pollen everywhere. My grey car usually ends up looking yellow. I am so looking forward to the arrival of Spring. We have had some lovely weather over the last few days. But unfortunately the rain is on it's way. I'm wondering if we will get any of the cold snowy weather that New Zealand is experiencing at the moment. That is unbelievable.

Before I go, I would like to thank you for stopping by and saying Hi. I love reading all of your comments.

I'm Still Here

First up I want to apologize for the photos. It is as my DH calls a "Baby Weather" sort of day - wet and windy lol. It is one of those very dark grey, misty, wet and very windy sort of days. You get the picture lol. One of those days where it is good to be inside. I suppose you could call it bleak, but it isn't good for taking photos.

I haven't been blogging, but I still have been stitching. I have been plodding along on Ann Grant plus another sampler. Here is my progress on Ann and the end is very near. I just have to do a little bit more around the house along with finishing off the lawn plus the rest of the border and she will be finished. Ann and I have had a few moments along the way where she has nearly been in the fire, but I have pressed on with her and I will be glad when she is finished. She is really a beautiful sampler and I think I would have regretted her going in with the wood to keep me warm lol. But there were a few times when I was very tempted.

I thought that I would show you one of my Mother's Day presents from my children. It is a very special Stacy Nash piece that my LNS has. It is one of those special Stacy Nash Clubs and my LNS is the only shop to have this piece along with a few more that are coming. One is in the mail as we speak. Isn't it lovely. I did this a few days after they gave it to me which set on off on a Stacy Nash kick.

This is the Schoolgirl Pinkeep Drum. I already have it, but decided to make it a bit different by not doing the Peacock that goes on top.

I love this little piece. It is the Robin Pinkeep. I also have the Bluebird. I just have to sit down and do it.

I was also fortunate to win this lovely little booklet on Julie and Becky's lovely blog A Note Of Friendship I just noticed that there is more on the lovely story of Pandora. I have been enjoying reading this story so I should go off and read it.

Nothing much else to report. You know the old saying. No news is good news lol. My DH's leg is a lot better thank goodness, but it still lets him know that it is there.

Thank you for stopping my. I really enjoy meeting everybody who leaves a comment.

A Beautiful Day In The Mountains

I must warn you that this is a picture heavy post. I don't have any stitching to show today as I haven't been doing much lately, so I thought that I would show you where I live. All photos are clickable and will enlarge to see better.

Today was such a beautiful sunny day in The Blue Mountains. The sun was shining (instead of raining), the birds were singing and I went for a walk down to Echo Point in Katoomba. Echo Point is always busy with tourists who come up either for a few days holiday or just for the day. Katoomba is about 2 hours drive from Sydney. It is a place that always has a lot of tourist buses. People from all over the world are always coming here. It is a very interesting place to just sit sometimes and do some "people watching".

Above is the famous Three Sisters. The Three Sisters have a very interesting story:-

The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, 'Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.

These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry.

The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle.

As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.

They are 922, 918 and 906 metres tall, respectively. That's over 3000 feet above sea level! The Nepean isthe area below the Mountains.

In case you were wondering why The Blue Mountains are blue, it is because it is densely populated by oil bearing Eucalyptus trees. The atmosphere is filled with finely dispersed droplets of oil, which, in combination with dust particles and water vapour, scatter short-wave length rays of light which are predominantly blue in colour.

This is the new platform that was built a few years ago for easy access to viewing this truly beautiful place.

I don't know if you can see in this photo a rocky formation that is called The Ruin Castle.

The Valley where the Three Sisters and the above photos is called The Jamieson Valley on the other side of the this photo is Megalong Valley.


If you are lucky enough when you go to Echo Point sometimes there is this lovely young Aboriginal man playing the Didgeridoo. It is a magical experience to hear this beautiful instrument being played down here. By the way he is in full Aboriginal garb. Bit chilly though on a cool day.

This is a very special monument that was erected to remember the Convict Labour who built the road through the Mountains. If they worked the way the 2 men in the front worked it would have been very hard as they are wearing chains. There are 2 Convicts, 1 Soldier and 2 Aboriginal onlookers. They built the road from Sydney to Bathurst.
All the trees in the Mountains are showing their Autumn colours. It is really pretty here at the moment.
The building ahead is part of Lilianfels Hotel, a 5 star hotel. This is the actual Lilianfels which was the home of Sir Frederick Darley who was Chief Justice and Lieutenant-Governor. The house was built in 1889. It is now a Restaurant.
I hope you enjoyed seeing photos of this truly beautiful place. This is just one small piece of it. All the towns that form The Blue Mountains are surrounded by views such as this. Each one is beautiful in its own way.

Thank you for dropping by. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and Happy Mother's Day. I hope this day will be special for you.

Update on Queen Mary's Rug

I don't know if you remember, a few years ago I posted a few photos from a book that I have that had belonged to one of my Great Grandmothers and it was about Queen Mary

Among the photos there was a really interesting story about how Queen Mary started working on this beautiful Needlepoint Rug. She worked on it from 1941 until 1950. When she finished it she decided to give it to the Nation so that funds could be raised to help the war effort. I thought that you might be as interested as I was to see this stunning rug. I would really love to see it in person, but that isn't possible. Canada is a long way from Australia.

The above photo is of Queen Elizabeth (I think she was still Queen at this time and hadn't become the Queen Mother) and Princess Margaret looking at this amazing rug.

Here she is stitching in the Garden. Only a very regal Queen would sit in the garden dressed this way I am sure.

Today, some very kind person has sent me a link to see this wonderful rug in colour. I would like to say Thank You. I really appreciate it as I have always wondered what it looked like in all its glory. Isn't it beautiful.

The rug is in the National Gallery of Canada and because of its fragile nature apparently isn't on show.


Click onto this link to read all about this beautiful rug and how it ended up being in Canada. http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/search/artwork_e.jsp?mkey=3562

Queen Mary started this rug in 1941 when she was 69 and finished it in 1950.

I haven't done very much on my Ann Grant as my DH had a fall a couple of weeks ago and sprained his Lateral Ligament in his Right Knee. He has been home since than on crutches. The treatment for this injury is similar to having a broken bone which is just rest and keep off it. He fell while taking the little dog next door home in the dark. The dog had gotten out and was wandering around on the road and had nearly been run over. My DH fell in our neighbours drive way. My Son is also on School Holidays at the moment, so between the two of them, not a lot of stitching is being done lol.

Miss Ann Grant

Here is my current progress on the beautiful Ann. She is such a joy to work on but my progress is slow. I have had a lot going on in my life at the moment. I am slowly getting there on Ann that is lol.

For some reason I really love the flowers in these particular vases. I'm sorry if it has come out a little bit fuzzy. It is very overcast here today. I did try waiting until the light got better, but no such luck.

You can feel Winter's long cold fingers reaching here into Autumn. I really think with all of the rain that we have been having that Winter will be here long before it should be. I always enjoy Autumn. I love the trees changing colour.

I'm sorry that this post is short but I really have a lot to do today, so I had better carry on and do what I was doing.

Thank you for dropping by.

Miss Hannah Has Been Framed

Over the weekend I had the opportunity of framing Hannah Lancaster and here she is in all her glory. I think she looks lovely and she is hanging alongside my Sarah Moon.

I know I said last week that I was going to start working on Susan Rambo but somebody else stuck their hand up and started jumping up and down trying to get my attention. Anyway, she won, so I'm now working on Ann Grant from Shakespeare's Peddler. Ann is such a stunning creature (so is Susan btw) so I thought that I would do her before Susan. This is my progress. I just love the border. Now this is quite strange for me as I hate doing borders but this one is really lovely. I love all the reds and pinks in her.

I don't think I have ever shown these two samplers from my collection. I had to do a bit of rearranging so that I could hang Hannah where I wanted her and these have come off the wall.

The first one is a Shepherd's Bush sampler and is really lovely. I love all the little flowers in it along with the Arch. I'm sorry I can't remember it's name. I have the chart, but I am to lazy to go and find it. It is a very old Shepherd Bush Design.

This one is called Earth Laughs Sampler and is by Hillside Samplings.

The lovely weather from Friday has disappeared unfortunately. It is a bit miserable outside with light rain and overcast conditions. You can feel it getting cooler every day.

Well, this is it for me today. 2 post is a few days which is unusual lol. Anyway, I hope that you have a wonderful week and thank you for dropping by.