A Sunny Winter Day

Finally! A nice sunny day in Melbourne after weeks of mostly grey and gloom.  It gave me a chance to get out into my garden and take some photos of what's happening in mid-Winter. The Ornamental Quince (aka 'Blossom' in Australia) in front of my house is full of buds and flowers.  I'll pick the little quinces that the possums don't get and cook them with cinnamon, cardamom and ginger.

The white, pink and red pink Epacris impressa (Common Heath - the floral emblem of the state of Victoria) are in full bloom in pots amongst the Hellebores by my front door.  These are the last half-dozen or so pots I have left from what I grew from cuttings for my Masters research. They are pretty spectacular when they're in bloom and the Hellebores smell wonderful!

In the back yard, Mai li inspects the parsley in the veggie patch.  Behind her is Papyrus in old metal autoclave trays that were being discarded from the lab when I was at the Burnley campus of the Univsersity of Melbourne.

Sublime Embroidery

I decided to embroider my jeans jacket for my third Sublime Stitching embroidery project. After carefully following the instructions for the iron-on transfer, I discovered that the pattern was almost invisible on the denim. Oh no! A visit to a local embroidery shop got me set up with sheer dissolvable stabiliser fabric and a wash-out transfer pen.  I traced the pattern onto the stabiliser, pinned it on and was ready to go (if anyone knows of stabiliser that irons-on and washes out, please let me know - I think it may not be chemically possible).  When I finished, I cut most of the stabiliser away, soaked it in cold water and all the remaining bits were gone!

The book: Embroidered Effects by Jenny Hart

Mai li's New Coat

From this vintage pattern:

 Press studs to close the collar; Braided trim

Another view of my stylish pooch