Bits and Pieces...The Catch Up Post

It probably feels like I fell off the face of the earth this past couple of weeks as far as blog land goes. Perhaps I work for the CIA and had to go on a secret intelligence mission, perhaps real life intruded, perhaps I had to go and lobby for world peace somewhere. Like the international woman of mystery that I am, much of where I went and what I was doing will remain secret. 

In my absence I was  still lulled here to lurk, I just wasn't commenting. It seems I am  addicted to you all. There is no way I'm going to be able to catch up on making   a week + worth of blog comments , so let me just say I did read each and every post and you all seriously rock. Your projects look cool, whatever you cooked looks delectable, your quilting is divine , your families are cute and wonderful and I stand in awe of you all, as usual. Do you have any idea how much you people inspire me every day?

Little P pointed for the first time last  week and said "U" whch means "Up". That kid is a genius.   He is now using "Up" universally as a communication tool. He may want food, he may want to be tickled , he may want to go on holiday to China for all I know - because everything is "Up" with a finger point.He has also discovered  preferences . Apparently pumpkin and Bella's mashed potatoes suck this week, but he's completely down with the fruit cocktail I made him last night. It's also hard to believe looking at him here, with no pants on that he's probably going to be Prime Minister of Australia one day.

My Mum and Dad visited for Mother's Day. Patty is Gluten Free so everything was gluten free including the cake I cooked, which was not your recipe P. I'm sorry. I got slack but paid the penalty because I dont think the packet cake was as good as yours would have been.  Mum was still appreciative of the effort, since anything that doesn't taste like complete cardboard is good in her book. If I had to eat GF food all the time I think I would kill myself since I pretty much live on white bread, wheaty carbs,  sugar and meat.

Miss P was stressed out about what to buy me for Mother's Day but I think she came up with the perfect gift, for a chick that quilts in her pyjamas,  and Little P chipped in (where is he getting cash from?- is that kid dealing drugs? ) and bought me a Bella gift. This being a grandmother thing kind of rocks if you want to know the truth. The being a mother thing isn't bad either. Along with these lovelies I got cash to buy the next season of Melrose Place on DVD  because I am after all a complete tragic. Oh how I love Melrose Place! Don't judge me.

I wonder if those pyjamas mean I can eat cookies in bed? And what the heck kind of animal did those other pyjamas come from? A demented leopard?

The delectable Cynthia (of Vegemite fame) sent me a parcel last week, full of awesome goodies as a payback for the Great Vegemite Incident of 2010.  Let's hope and pray that all of this  tastes as good as Vegemite.

I'm pretty sure it's payola so I don't send her any more weird Australian food and dare her to eat it. I'm also sure this was an unspoken challenge to eat all this candy in one sitting without going on a shooting rampage or developing temporary ADD. Cynthia, I accept your challenge.

Not only that but Cynthia sent me these two cute hair adornments ...yes that's right - I'm fortunate enough to be wearing Cynthia originals. Anyone who is anyone is wearing them these days. How clever and awesomely talented is she? And she sent me some charm squares of Nature's Notebook fabric by Moda. I'm feeling a bit spoilt.  Thank you Cynthia. You are a complete sweetheart.

My Mystery Quilt is coming along slowly but steadily. For a change I'm not stressing out about it not being perfect.  This is a sneak peek. 

Yes that's a box full of bits. What will I do with the bits next? Your guess is as good as mine. Let's see what happens over the weekend. I don't like to hem myself in with too many quilting rules.

I started to make a pair of oval hand mitt  pot holders last weekend. It seemed like such a cute and easy idea. I have ripped about 18 handfuls of hair out in exasperation since I started and have vowed never to get above my rudimentary sewing skill level again. I am also pretty much bald.  The oval potholder drove  me nuts. Next time I'm making rectangles. I did finish one of oval bastard pot holders because I refused to let the potholder beat me. I'm too ashamed to show it. Yes - that's right I had a personal vendetta with an inanimate object. My maturity levels reached new heights. P.S. Bastard is not a swear word in Australia. It's a term of endearment.

SAJ and I had a cooking session last week. We are up to the letter D but since I am a geography dunce, the only country I could think of that started with D is Denmark. I'm not fond of pickled herring so we cheated and did a city that started with D. SAJ suggested Dublin which appealed to me because I liked the idea of drinking Guiness while I cooked, and speaking in a fake Irish accent for the whole three hours.  SAJ's husband stood 5 feet away from us while we cooked with the fire extinguisher in his hand- just in case.  The beef stew had lots of red wine in it and some guinness ( I had to keep slapping SAJ's husband's hands away from the can ) and was delicious and SAJ made this awesome apple shortbread pie. It really is absolutely yummy and I am not a pie girl.  The potato cakes tasted like potatoes and SAJ was bitterly disappointed. I wonder what she thought potatoes should taste like?

This little lady found her way to my house today...and brought her own bag, and chocolate.  Dont look for the chocolate , I ate it already ..for lunch. With two ham slices (sounds like an episode of Slack Tea Thursday doesnt it?)

Thank you to the lovely and very talented Mistea. I have been secretly coveting my own angel for quite some time and she was kind enough to give me this one, along with this adorable patchwork bag. Again, I'm feeling very special ! Miss Angel will be sitting by my sewing machine as a good luck charm.

I think my canelloni is burning ..just as well you're all caught up. Happy Friday !

P.S. Blogger is still making me do fun things to have my photo's show up properly. I'm starting to think it's personal.