I took a little break yesterday morning

To fool around with my "new to me" Necchi sewing machine. I bought it off eBay and fiddled a bit with it in NC with my mom. She had tension issues. Mind you they were all my fault because as soon as I took her out of the box I tightened all her knobs not knowing what any were. Duh. Oh well I have finally got her tension and threading figured out. She sure is a powerful little thing. I have a pretty good plan for her too! See under the table in the big Laundry basket?

Yep...they are hides. I am going to make a couple leather bags! Well, leather and fabric-maybe some BDU? Who knows. I will have to find a source when theses hides get used up, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I have another design sketched out, I just need to get a better Leather needle for Nellie.

This is what my sewing room looked like yesterday morning...still a long way to go, but very usable right now. Very usable and very peaceful.

On a different note we are going to look at these guys this evening to see if any of them want to come live with us in our tree house apartment. They belong to a Selkirk Rex breeder here in Kansas who is moving and purging her breed stock. I miss Herman quite a bit, so I need warm furry body to take his spot in the scrap bin. We went to the Vet clinic on post yesterday afternoon to look at dogs for adoption, but each was a version of a black lab (it was almost like they were doing breed experiments with black labs. "OK, today we are going to cross the black lab with a basset hound, pit bull, Shepard and a giant schnauzer and throw that fluffy thing in the pin too.") and as awesome as labs are I just think it would be miserable to make him live up in an apartment without a big yard to run around in. Although that Lab/basset was pretty darn adorable and the old lab schnauzer was great too.

For those of you wondering what happened to Herman (the Aussie cat) he is living with some neighbors from the street behind us. It just cost so much to ship him back to the US and then board him until we were settled. I know that probably makes me a horrible cat mom but I am still "evolving" (That is the word I learned from registering the kids for school here and filling out their assessment forms). He is still happily hunting native mice, laying in the sun and stalking parrots and there are no kids in the house placing him in closets.

I will be nesting for a bit

Guess who came yesterday, more than an entire week early? The Big Mayflower truck filled with our furniture from Texas! Woohoo!!! It is all unloaded and up in the Apartment or down in the sorta creepy basement (no real need for a lawnmower when you don't have a lawn, hey?). Oh it is so fun unpacking and seeing all the things that have been carefully stored away for 3 years. Everything has a vile mildewy smell....is this normal or should I put in a claim? I am hoping everything will air out but I am not really sure. Everything was supposed to be in temperature controlled storage in Texas, but I sincerely doubt that since all the candles that were packed away were totally melted. I can't get over how large this house is. Even with all the boxes and paper there is so much room! I may be having some sewing classes here, there sure is space.


At any rate I am thrilled that most everything made it safe and sound (from Texas) we are still awaiting the shipment from Australia that has my sewing machines and fabric. I am NOT ready for orders ladies. I will let you know when I am, no worries!


Oh and just a word of advice....if you are going to put all your furniture and possessions in storage for 3 years, don't even bother storing kid clothing and most toys.


Well off to unpack and sort more! Have a wonderful week!

Home sweet Home

Greetings from Ft Leavenworth, Kansas! We made it safe and sound. Not only did we make it safe and sound but we already have our new quarters. Well, new to us. They were actually built in 1902 and were originally used as an Infantry Barracks. Housing asked us while we were still in Australia which neighborhood we wanted to live in. I asked my girlfriends who were already living there or had lived there in the past for their recommendation. Nicole and Kerri both recommended Infantry Barracks...so here we are.

Inside, the quarters are deceptively large with high ceilings and entirely floored with wonderful old wood. This view is of the Dining room, Living room and what will be my sewing room in the distance. Oh all that lovely sunlight! As soon as we signed for this apartment I opened all the blinds and don't plan to close them until we move out. Now, I just need a couple Roman blinds strategically placed so Stu and I don't embarrass the neighbors.

This is the view from the Sunny Sewing room back through to the Kitchen door (the boys are in front of the kitchen door). I love the old radiators, so much charm. The kitchen is pretty small, but I am sure it will be fine. We are excited to have a gas range again. I plan to set out some window boxes on the fire escape so I plant a little herb garden.

Look at that long hallway! There are 2 count them 2 walk in closets off the hallway. One will be my fabric closet. Yummo!

Here are some of the windows in the Sewing room. It will be like sewing in a tree house. Oh, and there is an attic too. I am not supposed to go up there, but I sure as shooting am going to explore it!

This is the view from the front door. There is a steep stairwell that leads down to the main entrance to the building. My arms are killing me today from catching myself as I almost plunged to my death yesterday. That is what I get for clomping down the stairs in my heels, hey?

In a nutshell I LOVE it! I can't wait to get all my lovely furniture and dishes and STUFF. I can't wait to nest and get all set up. I know we will be moving again in a year, but I am so happy to be here. The post is lovely. All the old buildings....even the old penitentiary is neat looking. It is so green here and so many trees. Alice had lots of trees, but these are the ones I grew up with...Oaks, Elms, Maples, and Apple trees.

I have spent the morning cleaning up a bit as the apartment has been empty for the past several classes. Seems like there used to be quite a few very romantic lady bugs who were brutally murdered, but I guess a thousand dead lady bugs are better than a thousand live wasps....right? Gotta look on the bright side.

I want to post about my Necchi sewing machine and my doll quilt I made for lucyellen sometime this week....we will see what I can get together.

xo,

Tia

Bush Fire quilt update

I have been lax about blog posting, but we have been having a great time getting readjusted to living back in the USA. Sounds kinda silly I guess, but it is a bit of a readjustment. I will miss my easy going Alice Springs days and my scant traffic time.


I just wanted to give you who donated to the Bush Fire Quilt project a bit of an update. All the quilts have been delivered to Jan of "Oz Comfort Quilts" She will be in Kinglake passing them out.

Here is what Jan wrote me this morning

We delivered the quilts yesterday and the lady who is handing them out was thrilled with them. We took down 220 quilts so almost all of the ones you made have been sent down already. She was so touched when she read a message on one of the stars and she messaged me this am to say that she's already given out 10 quilts last night and will get the rest out ASAP. She is a teacher at Kinglake and is working with one of the local churches. We've sort of started an outreach program with the quilts and knitted hats and scarves and the people are so appreciative that all the work has been worth it.I really appreciate your donation of quilts and trust that I could get them to where they are most needed. The winter is very hard in that area but we had a lovely sunny day yesterday, thankfully as we had the quilts on the 4WD roof rack and a trailer as well as the car being stashed full.

You can keep up with the Oz Comfort Quilt project via Jan's blog ( http://ozcomfortquilts.blogspot.com/ ). I still have 3 tops and a smaller one with my household goods which I will be finishing and sending down when I am all linked back up with my things.


I have enjoyed working on this amazing project so much. I have loved meeting all you wonderful people and we will find another good cause to quilt for when I am settled in Kansas. We will be setting off for the last leg of our road trip either tomorrow or Monday. I had so much to blog about while I was here in NC, but time just got away from me.


Have a great weekend!
Tia

First week in NC

We are really enjoying being close to family again for a while. This is what we have done this week...

Stu and the boys built up a little pool and caught crayfish in the stream beside the house.

We had a lovely 4th of July BBQ here at mom and dad's house. We have listened to rain on the roof and the stream flow and the birds sing...

We went up to Devil's Courthouse and rode up to Waynesville to see Stu's mom.

We are being tourists in our own land and that is fun.

Dad had this guy tip toe across the porch and ran up to get the camera so we would all believe him. You can't tell but there is a tiny Boston Terrier pursuing the bear into the treeline barking his head off.

We also now have cell phones, we bought a mini van, I have been shopping a couple times but I swear the selections are all so overwhelming I really do not buy that much. The Biltmore Square Mall has a cheap Dillard's (all the last season garments go there at insane sale prices - for example I got a $300 Ralph Lauren Dress for $9 and it would have been 2 for 1, but I was tired of looking for other things that fit me that were $9 dollars) and Mom brought me there to do some shopping.

Then Stu and I had a car buying date. We spent all day Monday going around driving mini vans. I know they are not the most sexy car on the road, but it sure is nice for the kids to be able to load in and out and not have to bicker with one another (as much).

I was so excited about the new VW mini Van. But we saved that one for last to look at since we had good Intel that it was not what it appeared to be. And boy was that Intel correct! The VW mini van was in fact a Chrysler just pretending to be a VW. So much for German engineering. There are VW mini vans all over Europe and Australia, but for the US market they don't want to bother with importing them, so they just buy Chryslers and slap a VW badge on them. Oh and they were so cheaply put together inside! It hurts me to say that, but they were. Stu and I have always had one VW or another, so we are big VW fans, but I am so annoyed with their sellout. The car salesman was a real toot too. Anyway we went back and bought the Chrysler Town and Country with a 4.0 engine and leather seats so the terrorists (my children) I roll with can be cleaned up after. I am still trying to figure out how to use the radio...a little fancy for my taste but it came with the van.

Yesterday Stu and his mom took the kids and went to Ghost Town in the sky and I stayed home with mom and quilted most of her Quilt. I ran out of thread, so we will have to go try to match some up later. How novel that will be instead of having to order some online and hope it matches when it gets in. I also unpacked my new baby...but I will save that for another post after I figure out how to operate her properly. She is old and her secrets are many.

Maybe we will go fishing today?

xo,

Tia

Home Sweet Home

My little family and I are home in Asheville, NC. My parents place is completely amazing and I have heaps of pictures, but the Internet signal is squirrely way out here (we are actually about 20 miles out of Asheville in the woods, back in a cove, so no cell phone and no wireless) so I can't figure out how to get the pictures from my little red lap top to Dad's big PC and up to here. I will put Stu on it and he will have it figured out speedy quick. No worries.


Yesterday was Independence Day and we had a wonderful barbecue. Most of our large wonderful family came and we had a blast talking politics, religion and Australia. We consumed gallons of Sweet tea and lovely little micro brew beers (they are only about $7 for a 6 pack as opposed to $18 to $20 in Alice Springs) I had a bit of fried chicken but saved most of myself for the dessert table. Oh dear Gosh. The taste of my childhood and holidays.


So I will go work on the picture deal and I think we are going to try to go to the Farmer's Market and take a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, maybe stop at Devil's Courthouse. Tomorrow we will go look at larger cars. Currently we have a very well maintained 2005 or maybe it is a 2006 VW Passatt Wagon with 16,000 miles, but it is a bit too tight for 3 booster seats on the back seat. Lots of laws here...stuff to re-learn. ;o)


I had a very short stop in the Ingles (grocery store) down in Lake Lure, but my Mom drug me out when she saw that I was going to continue wondering aimlessly around the tomatoes. Her fabric shop is closed today otherwise I would try to go there too and fondle bolts of lovely potential.


Oh and one more thing! My mom kindly set aside a quilt all stacked and pin basted for me to quilt. It is lovely...


xo,
Tia

We are back on US soil.

We are in Denver for today and tomorrow. What a lovely city. And I am again struck by how International the US is, truly a melting pot. If I would have been more with it in LA I would have gotten some great Latino food, but it was all Stu and I could do to herd our little tribe through all the lines and security checks. We flew United Airlines and they completely blew my expectations out of the water. Clean planes and one of the most friendly crews (Qantas still takes the cake on friendly crews but United was a close second). My children did awesome on the flights. I am so happy they are such good little travelers. They can't wait to see their grandparents - so that may have something to do with it.





Can I tell you how overwhelmed I am by everything? Last night we went out to dinner at Applebees. Stu wanted wings and just needed to eat something. I guess I forgot about how extensive menus can be here and all the options you have! The kiddos were so thrilled with "Real American Mac& Cheese". SO many channels on the TV! SO many new shows too. 3 years without TV and now all the sudden so much to watch. We have not been to any shops yet, but I kinda dread that. I know that might sound crazy, but being in such a small town with so few shops...it is going to take a bit to get used to all the people and the prices of EVERYTHING is so cheap! My exception is a grocery store. I want Stu to drop me off and come back in about 2 hours so I can have time to wonder around and take in all the produce.





Alice springs had shops, and they had what you "need" not neccessarily what you "want". That is something we go over with the kids often...need verses want. LOL!



Well, we are here and we love being back!


I think we are going to go to the Zoo.


XO,
Tia