Project #14 Rock Garden

I keep on digging up rocks so I figured they may as well have a garden theme...

Lucky #13

Look mum I made my bed!

This was hard work over a couple of days; I dug out part of my garden (obviously the roses and the wisteria were already there) and made a new flower bed. My daughter helped me edge it with more rocks from elsewhere in my rock-filled garden.

I planted a bunch of seeds, because buying plants from the nursery is expensive and we have the climate here to grow from seed so it would be foolish not to.

Chelsea Flower Show, here I come......

Project #12; six years in the making

I started making this blanket for the 10th birthday of a family friend. He turned 16 three weeks ago...
Last night we drove over to his house and gave him the blanket. I'm sure it was his best gift ever. Give yourself a bonus point if you spotted my cat's tail in this photo. It's been perfect weather for a nice cosy blanket...

Onwards and upwards-at the rate I'm completing projects I'll be fine if I can just extend my lifespan to about 160 or so.

Project #11 Back to the Stone Age

Twenty down, twenty five thousand to go.....
If I paint every stone in my garden and sell each one for $1 each..I could pay for HBO..

At the movies (in 1989...)

Before there was 'Taken"...

before there was 'Taken 2"...

..and WAY before there was Taken 3 (yup it's filming, click the link if you don't believe me) , Liam Neeson was playing the same gritty, out-for-justice character that we see in his later work in the sadly under-rated classic of the 'Hillbilly Revenge' genre Next of Kin.

The surprisingly stellar cast of this cinematic gem includes Patrick Swayze, Helen Hunt, Ben Stiller, Bill Paxton, Adam Baldwin, and, of course, Liam Neeson of Ballymeena Northern Ireland playing Briar Gates, a Kentucky hillbilly.

 A hillbillies versus mobsters story (think Cowboys versus Aliens- yes, many great ideas were purloined from this movie), this film has it all; life, death, love, revenge, stereotypes, fiddle playing, shoot-outs in cemeteries, attacks with red paint and a school bus full of snakes-what more could you ask for in a movie? I would give you a plot synopsis but I would truly hate to spoil it for you. How was Next of Kin overlooked and Roadhouse becomes a cult classic with articles lauding its 25th anniversary in Entertainment Weekly?

Never say you didn't learn anything profound and useful from reading my blog.

You're welcome.

Project #10: The Stone Age

I've been doing some gardening (which I love), and this is basically what my soil looks like:

Rocky Road anyone?

Fantastic. When life gives you rocks, what exactly do you make? Rockade?? Needless to say I have decided to use these rocks to my advantage, and there will be a few different rock-themed projects coming your way (contain your excitement; please) starting with felted rocks. Let's face it, how can your life really be complete if you don't have a few felted rocks to cherish? Felted rocks are versatile and extremely useful. Obviously.

 

Wool Roving and Thor

Wool roving is what you use to make felted anything. My cat likes it...and then in the picture below; a selection of the finished felted stones. I will try felted soap eventually, once I've used every stone in my garden in an awesome craft project.

                                               

Project #9 Sow's ear/silk purse

Well clearly I'm well behind in my project postings. I have a super film review coming up too so watch out for that....
Almost twenty years ago, dear children, I started knitting a scarf for a friend of mine. I ran out of yarn and moved to a different continent, and the 'scarf' was in a knitting basket for years...

So, being the ingenious crafter that I am, I made it into a totes adorbs little handbag..

with an interior pocket no less