BLESSED SPEEDY

 What a productive day Ive had today - 3 finishes and all different crafts! Firstly a sock - and this one is a test knit for paperdaisy1 and its in DK weight - great pattern, will be lovely and squishy and warm to wear.  I used Louie and Lola DK sock yarn and Id highly recommend it - its a joy to work with I tested the size small and its my size 71/2-8 foot perfectly Next finished is this small quilt - who else has heaps of scraps or squares or stuff???? I know I do and Im really pleased to make this from those leftovers and to make something useful - Does my scrap basket look much smaller - well no! And finally finished my second diamond art picture - I think its ok - not quite as pretty or cute as the first one I did but its done.  These are a bit tedious to do but you get a great result once its finished and perfect for doing while listening to an audio book!

 Painting - something thats been on my "to do" list for quite some time I have heaps of supplies and to be honest Im not sure what my "style" is or will be or what medium I like but these two small paintings (they are A4 size) are done with acrylic paints an even though Im a beginner I don't think they look too bad - yes there are errors, but that is how you learn PS Im not going to be putting day whatever of lockdown whatever anymore as its just depressing and it makes me feel under pressure to post something each day so Ill just post as I feel led - enjoy!

 Well here we go AGAIN!!!! Lockdown number 6 although some are saying its just Lockdown 5 extending as it never really finished. Our state went from no cases to 6 the next day to snap full on lockdown which at this stage is for 7 days. Lets see if thats all there is (and I certainly hope it is!) And also Ive added another layer of difficulty to this lockdown - Ive torn a ligament in my foot so Im not that mobile but hopefully the strapping will work and I dont progress to a moon boot and crutches.  So for todays fun activities (and yes Ive made a new list of this to do/learn/conquer) I started on the kitchen drawers and will do at least one a day - this is the "junk drawer" which Im sure we all have that now is a pleasure to open Also I pruned the rose bushes (sorry Grandpa I know we are supposed to prune in months starting with "J" but Im not that far off And finally I sorted out my Doterra oils - and I have an excess of a few (dont know how!!!!) so if you are inte...

Lockdown 5 days 10 & 11 As you can see Im not really good at staying the course and posting a blog post each day! Yesterday was Sunday so it was online church - still great service and super easy to just relax in the lounge room with a cuppa and watch! Then a bit more tv watching - this time Olympic games, where Australia was doing really well in the swimming.  I also managed to complete two nice and warm hats! Today (Monday) was list making day - and I managed to tick off half of what Id like to have got done, Im happy with that as the list was very ambitious indeed. Did all of this - - cleaned diffusers - ironing - cow computer work - sorted out my oils - cleaned the washing machine filters (this has been on the to do list for a while!) - antivirus scan of the computer  and a bit more work on my diamond art  Also went and visited Mum and Iris at the village.

 Lockdown 5 days 8 & 9  Whoops I forgot to do a blog post yesterday! SO catching up................Yesterday I had zoom meetings and farm computer work and then went and visited Mum - yep still talking through the glass, but as Ive said before she really likes to see my face even though I talk to her at least once a day on the phone. Apparently yesterday they had their own Olympic Games in the village with bean bag tossing, quoits etc.  Mums team didnt win - they came second - but she still won a Kit Kat so she was happy. Here she is waving "HI" just like the queen LOL Today (its Saturday) I must admit I hit the wall.  Lots of stuff has been going on that Ive had to deal with, plus an injured foot so I "managed" to fit in two naps - nice! Also got some knitting done - and a catch up zoom meeting with my knitting friends around the world - from USA Argentina and the UK The first of these socks I finished ages ago so its good to get the second one done! This pair ...

 Lockdown 5 day 7 and its been a week! Ive achieved a good chunk off my list of tasks and today I added a few more as covid case numbers dont seem to be reducing so who know if the lockdown will end next Tuesday or not. So today was a bit of a "back to basics" day - firstly housework which has got a bit behind - Im not sure how and to be honest not a lot to do but the lounge room and kitchen got a deep clean.  Its lovely to walk in the house and its clean and tidy. Also the usual washing, dishes etc but a clean house does feel good.    Tonight it was herd test night - this happens about once every 6 weeks.  We milk as usual but there are little flasks attached to the cups that take a sample of each cows milk.  This is then sent away for testing and we get back a report showing how many litres she produced, the components of that milk, her cell count and lots of other data.  Its usually a long process but pretty quick today as more than half the herd is...

 Lockdown 5 and day 6 and today has just run away! Which is one of the main reasons Ive made my list of things I want to get done and also why Ive been posting daily on this blog. If we have to be locked in I might as well have a purpose. A large chunk of today was spent getting my lovely father in laws new phone we bought him set up  - frustrating at times but its done and he's happy - just worried Im now going to get calls about "how do I do this" but thats to be expected. Another zoom meeting too. And Ive started another project that was on my "to do" list - this time diamond art - Ive never done it before so rang my lovely friend Carol who has done lots of them for some tips.  I dont think this will be finished quickly any time soon but Ive started! There was also some hat knitting - but they are being gifted so I cant show you them as yet until the lucky person(s) who are getting them get them!

 Lockdown 5 day 5 and today it was announced the lockdown will be extended for another week! So I think Ill have to add to my list of "things Ive been putting off but lockdown is a great time to get them done" It was also freezing cold today and raining most of the day - but being the good daughter that I am I went to visit mum and talked to her through the glass in the pouring rain and 8 degrees - thats dedication for you!!!! Mum does enjoy seeing my face though - much better than just talking on the phone Apart from that excitement - another teleconference and thanks to that Ive finished the peasy cardigan Ive been knitting for a while.  All that long stockinette rows were not that exciting but its finished and Ill probably gift it to me - she likes blue :) I used Bendigo Woollen Mills tweed yarn in a beautiful shade of blue - it took almost 4 balls but it will be nice and warm 

 Lockdown 5 and day 4 and we are not yet back to business as usual Theres been more cases and more in Regional Victoria so I really doubt the restrictions will ease tomorrow night at midnight. Still working my way through my list though! A big chunk of today was taken up by an online meeting which went for 4 hours - this to me is the absolute MAX I will spend in an online meeting - I get distracted and bored and to be honest the meeting wasn't that exciting.   Shhhhhhh I did get some knitting done though!   I also made another 6 cards with the card making kit leftover stuff I had - so thats a big tick off my list - I think Ive had these card kit things for well over 10 years to make up and now they are done.  I wonder who I will send them too??????

 Lockdown 5 Day 3 and its Sunday Some things today were business as usual - on the weekends our lovely staff dont work so Gary and I milk together Saturday and Sunday - so thats what we did.  Cows dont have time off for covid and we are an essential service so nothing really changes for us in our farming life.  Its just the stuff outside the farm gate that does change. Oh and anyone that comes onto the farm too! Usually though on a Sunday we would be going to church but due to the lockdown it was online - still good but not quite the same as being in the building. As I was home though I took the opportunity to make some yummy pumpkin soup for our lunch and it warmed us up on yet another cold day - although there's wasn't any rain, wind or frost today which is a nice change.  After lunch it was back to my list of "things Ive been putting off, wanting to do etc etc etc" Todays task was to clean out two cane drawers I have which yielded a few things Im happy to move on ...

 Day 2 of lockdown 5 Ive made a list! Of things that Ive been wanting to tidy for ages, or annoying me, or just havent got around to doing. Today I managed to tick off 2 of them so very happy indeed.  For the record the list has 12 things on it - I do hope the lockdown isn't that long that I get them all done, to be honest. Anyways todays progress - firstly I cleaned out a weird sort of cupboard in my office desk, I think when the desk was made it was made for the hard drive of a computer to sit in it, so its an odd shape and hard to store stuff in.  Heres the before and here's all the stuff I pulled out of it - its a loooooong cupboard!  And here's it lovely and tidy.  The bonus was I found two folders in there that I can use for our farm accounts for the next 12 months, plus one for mums paper work too.  And even a set of those tabs for each month of the year - winner indeed! Now the next tidying task was a big one - I have a lovely big bookcase that I st...

 So here we go again - Lockdown number 5 - this one (fingers crossed) is to be for 5 days So what did I do today? Firstly, I had a meeting on line that had originally been scheduled to be in Echuca.  Id been looking forward to it, to meet those involved face to face and also to do some shopping in Echuca.  Well thanks to the last minute lockdown it was rescheduled to online. Of course my internet was dodgy so I couldn't have my camera on - so I got some knitting done - Im working on the  peasy cardigan  (ravelry link) I got a bit done, had a great meeting and to be honest today is a cold and rainy day so much better at home in the warm than driving on wet slippery roads! The meeting didnt finish until after lunch, but Im keen to achieve some things Ive been putting off as I did during the last lockdown, so this afternoon I decided to clean out our pantry.   It wasn't that messy really but Ive had new tupperware containers for ages to put stuff in, and ...

 Recently I was looking through my mums quilt stuff she hadn't got around to doing anything with and found a panel which you iron 2 inch squares onto and sew together - this was the result However I thought it looked a bit plain and needed something added to it So I found some Hawaiian quilt designs and thought I might see how they looked on it - they looked great! But I had to work out how to attach them for sewing - bit complex to just pin on so quilt basting spray to the rescue! And this is the final result - and Im super happy with it!

 As many of you  know I enjoy doing craft stuff - particularly knitting and quilting and well I might have started a few things All At Once cos the lure of starting something new is pretty strong Firstly a jumper for me that will be pretty warm and cosy as its from 16ply Bendigo Woollen Mills Yarn - its a pretty simple design just basic stockinette and super thick yarn so it shouldn't take too long to make. Next, and also knitting, is a gorgeous shawl pattern from Joji Locitelli - the lightweight hipster shawl.  Ive already made this pattern in a heavier weight yarn and love it and thought this would be really nice to make too - it takes one skein of sock yarn.  And finally a quilt, or actually a wallhanging Ive started.  Im using some fusible backing and lots of 2 inch squares.  Once Ive seamed all these together I think I might add some flowers, butterflies and maybe trees to it.  So as you can see Im definitely not what is called a "monogamous" craf...

 Day 7 and its been announced from midnight the restrictions will ease for those of us in Regional Victoria :) however Melbourne is still in lockdown - yes still have to wear masks, still no visitors to our homes but we can travel and go out for no reason at all. Exciting times! Today I thought I would share with you my love of reading.  This pic is the bookcase on my side of our bed and yes these are all books in the "to be read" pile - and yes its constantly being added to! I also love to listen to audio books and my app of choice is audible and its so portable (I have it on my phone and my iPad) and has a great range of books to choose from.  I tend to listen to books I probably wouldn't read in a physical copy so something like Anna Karenina, super long books like those from Diana Gabaldon etc.  I listen while driving, exercising, knitting, sewing and well almost anywhere.  Its great to be able to do this. What books do you like to read?  Ill read anyth...

Well its day 6 and the government have announced our restrictions in regional victoria will be easing. We will be able to travel more than 5 kms and not be restricted on reasons for leaving home, but still no visitors in our homes and still need to wear masks :( Today I thought Id share with you my love of music. When I was 6 or 7 my Pa had an electric organ he liked to play and he taught me how to play it - I loved it and he bought me a piano so that I would have something to play and enjoy at home. I went to music lessons (with the lovely Mrs Harvey) in Bendigo where we lived and stayed learning from her until she sadly had a fall in her garden and passed away.  I then went to Mrs Sworder - who although a hard task master, taught me a lot. The last 18 months of learning, we had moved to Kerang, and Mum drove me to Bendigo once a week for lessons - thanks Mum! Only recently Ive had my piano (yes the same piano Ive had all these years) moved to our home and Ive so been enjoying pla...

 Day 5 of lockdown and its also world milk day - so cow pics it is! As most of you know my husband Gary and I are dairy farmers in Northern Victoria and we (mostly) love doing that.   Yes there are challenges at times  - the weather (sometimes super hot or freezing)  - cows doing stupid things - calves doing stupid things  - us doing stupid things  - machinery breaking down at just the wrong time  and the list goes on. But we do love our "girls" and yes we are tied to doing something every morning and night but the rest of the day could be anything! So enjoy your milk in your cuppa, your breakfast, your cooking and think of us occasionally when you do #dairylove