Window Dressing

Hi there!
I am still being rather boringly domestically inclined.
Fired the cat and cleaned out the pantry to disillusion the mice.
Sigh. Country living!!
Everything in there is now in glass or heavy plastic containers. It was a long tedious job, but another tick off the list.

Another thing we had to attend to, were curtains in the top room

Not having any neighbours – just cows and the odd possum or two, we have never bothered with taking time to get any curtains up there. Poor Mum and Dad staying in summer get the sun in at about 4.30am so I haven’t been a model daughter in this respect.
However, when the fellow who is organising the international students came to inspect the house and room he was concerned that teenage girls might feel a bit vulnerable with a big open window to their bedroom/teenage retreat.

So…. off to the op shop (thrift store) and hardware shop.
Got 4 matching curtain panels for $12!!! Bargain huh?
Some stretchy wire, 4 hooks and a tall husband and we were in business!

They worked out looking way better than I imagined for a ‘dodgy brothers’ job!!  Not that they will block all the light but they will help with retaining heat in the room too. As these students are coming from a country that rarely drops below 10C and right now they are in mid summer… we don’t want them to freeze!

We only used three of the four curtain panels so we cut the remaining one up and made two table covers and also used the shortened top part to hang in the bathroom window and in the laundry. So we got good use out of it all.

I have bought extra hot water bottles so they have something warm to snuggle into bed with too.

I am also working on a little ‘Welcome to Australia’ pack for each of the girls.
My lovely friend Maureen gave me these fantastic bags she made – I wanted to buy them but we have settled on a trade (she gets 5 litres of plum pulp when she is ready to make sauce!!)(Gotta love a good barter!)
I am putting a few things inside the bag for the girls, including chocolates and I have made up a journal each for them. I just got a plain sketch book and covered them with some of the pretty art paper I have. I will write something on the first page for them to encourage they use them to keep a diary of what they have been doing every day. Something to look back on later!

Of course the evening knitting and crochet is muddling along – I am making a pair of navy blue cuffs for one of my cousins who is in the police force.

And – Tah Daahhh!! Blanket done!

In a fit of something or other, I even tucked those dreaded tails in this evening!!
I think this will officially be my first Christmas present this year done as I thought it would be suitable for one of my young nieces.
Now… do I have time to do one each for the other two nieces???? Hmmmm

Still, its cosy and I am happy its done.

In the kitchen, casseroles & soups are orders of the day, not to mention some fresh baked herb and garlic bread!

It may be dark, cold, windy, raining and generally miserable, but I am loving it all!!

Cheers!