Holiday survival guide

This wee rocking raindeer was a project from a few years ago,
which turned out quite well I thought.

I have survived the first day of the school holidays!  I've been too scared to work out exactly how many days there are until school starts again... but I know it's heaps.  Our day yesterday was all planned out, then got turned upside down when Davey phoned up and announced that he had been rained off his job, so for us to wait until he got home before starting our adventures.  So we wasted half the day waiting for him to come home - no, I'm not bitter but I did start getting a bit pissed.   We visited The Warehouse and it's half price kids clothes sale and the kids also chose a new Xmas decoration each for the tree, then it was a treat at the Cafe, books at the library and groceries at the supermarket.  What an exciting day!  But we did get the Xmas tree decorated and while the photo doesn't do it justice - it looks adequately festive.

I have been making progress with my other more interesting activities - and am now doing the machine quilting on my totally over the top floral applique table runner.  Even though I have changed needle and tried a topstitch needle, I am still having trouble with my thread shreading.  It also has a tendancy to miss stitches so even though the needle goes up and down and goes through the motions, the bobbin thread hasn't connected and formed the stitch.  It's the sort of thing that just drives you mad!  I have added a hanging sleeve to the curved pieced flower and almost finished handsewing the binding so that will make two projects complete.  Roll on exhibition!  No, that may be slightly premature as there are probably three or four other things I need to finish, but you get the idea...

Oh, almost forgot - we have actually eaten things from our garden - well, other than lettuce.  So yesterday I found two courgettes (yellow ones) and about 6 bean pods - which were sauted up and eaten by almost everyone.  I must confess that I tend to grow things that I don't really like, with the understanding that I will probably never buy them - so if I grow them, there is more of a chance of them getting eaten.  It sort of works - and when you eat courgettes with coleslaw, you can almost not taste them.  Dylan ate all of his, and declared that they were nice - Nadia on the other hand tried and did not like, but that is OK too.  We have a lot of bunnies this year so I feel a bit like Mr MacGregor - but they are so cute.  Poppy (aka the Jack Russell Bunny Terroriser) almost sniffed her nose off this morning following the scents - which went all over the lawn.  We are getting two to three eggs at the moment, so hopefully the chickens will continue to behave.

I have already had small people making demands for food, so it must be morning tea time...