Thirsty??

Miss A and her friend Miss A decided they wanted to have a lemonade stand and after about a month the two mums realised they weren't going to forget about it so we planned a date.

Yesterday the exciting day came.  Rain in the morning resulted in tears but by afternoon it was a lovely clear sunny day.

So chalkcloth bunting was hung...

Everyone helped with the decorating

Signs the girls had made were put up for all to see...

Lemonade, Anzacs and choc chip cookies on the menu

Straws and cups had been decorated...

Fantastic free printables came from this fabulous site

And of course lemonade had been made...

Love me a striped paper straw

The weather stayed fine and the customers started to roll in...

Yes that is Cookie Monster on the sign - they are six years old after all!

The two little shopkeepers worked hard for two solid hours...

Serving all who came - including their school Principal who they decided to invite!

Counting the money and making change was a bit of a challenge!

They were friendly and kind to all who came...

Two little buddies

And worked really well together to serve customers ...
"you hold the cups and I'll pour this time..."

They quickly discovered teamwork was the way to go.

And everyone had a great day.

More fabulous free printables cut with a pinking rotary cutter

Half the proceeds will go to the Social Services collection at school and the other half two little girls split.

And the next lesson is spending versus saving!!

Do you play croquet??

Ooops - sort of left you hanging there again didn't I!!

The big brown box contained this gorgeous thing...

The new 'baby' of the house!! Pic from You Sew Girl

It's the Bernina 710 - the machine that will last me a lifetime, and I feel very, very lucky to have it.

The things this machine can do amaze me, it is so easy to operate with a fully-computerised touch screen and sews through multiple layers like they are butter, and every time I use it I discover something new that it can do.

I borrowed this pic from Nikki's blog, she did a review of our wonderful Sewjourn weekend.

Lara did too - and read the post above this one to see how much she got sewn - she is a fabulous seamstress, she is so efficient when she sews.

As always, Sewjourn was a wonderful chance to relax, rejuvenate and refresh myself creatively in the company of a really wonderful group of women.  If only our husbands and kids heard some of the conversations, it really is a scream at times.

I used some of the time to work on the teacher bags I was supposed to finish for the Bag Adventure Cam ran in August...

I totally love those big silver rings! (Another of Nikki's pic)

This Mod is shaping up nicely and using Tan's edgestitching foot I was able to get a lovely finish on it too.

I also whipped up a series of small girl nighties which have already been washed and worn and washed and worn again and this, the Oliver + S Croquet Dress.

New dress = Happy girl

This is some fabric I picked up at Spotlight on the bargain table and it was probably a little stiff to try this cute sleeve application I alluded to here, but I love the results none-the-less.

If you want to give it a try then click here for the details from StraightGrain Blog.

Something a bit fun for the sleeve

As always - a lovely finish and a very happy little girl.

This is view B and I kept it very simple - just adding the contrast bow for a pop of colour.

View B of the Croquet Dress - simple, classic design.

She's been itching to wear this dress - trying to put it on for dinner each night (because as you sit down to spaghetti bolognese is just when you want the six-year-old to put on a new dress...)

Today was the day - she ran a lemonade stand with her friend, and said this was just the right dress to wear... more on that tomorrow.

Love in a brown box...

Last weekend we took another little road trip.

We went for a visit to somewhere I have been meaning to go for a while, Millrose Cottage in Ballan.

Apart from wanting to peruse their gorgeous fabric collection and have lunch in their cafe I wanted to meet up with my bloggy friend, lovely Lizzie.

While we were there we saw Jan taking a class just outside the store, printing images from nature onto fabric - just one of the courses available through Millrose.

This stamp is made using five erasers on a block of wood

The girls, of course, showed an interest in what they were doing and before we knew it they had been invited to join in, were aproned up and stamping and printing to their heart's content.

Jan was such a patient and welcoming teacher!

They used rollers and stamping blocks and printed leaves onto fabric...

All dressed up and ready to print

They told me all about the techniques they used and how lovely the ladies were...

Using a cardboard roll to print was one of the techniques used

They proudly showed me their work - each having a large piece of fabric to take home with them...

They thoroughly enjoyed their printing session under the trees at Millrose. 

And so did I, because it gave me the time to sit down with the shop owner, Sue, for her to teach me the basics and get me started on the lovely thing that came home in this box...

Love really is a brown box tied with a red ribbon!!

Here's one example of the results of their work, pretty good for their first session...

So thanks to these three lovelies...

This ace guy...

and the very lovely Lizzie and Sue from Millrose for enabling me to have such a great day.

I think all my Christmases really did come at once!

All the fun of the fair

I seem  to have missed the last day of Blogtoberfest - oops sorry about that!

I had a great time posting for the month of October, I posted 24 times - so missed the equivalent of a week - not too bad I think - I wasn't quite as tuned in as past years but it was fun.

Now onto the present...

On the weekend we went along to an agricultural show with a real country feel - The Whittlesea Show just beyond the far northern suburbs of Melbourne.

Ready for blast off!!

Miss G was invited by her kinder friend, Master L (seen in the background of this pic) to join him on this special outing that he goes on with his dad.

Master L choosing to invite a little girl it made it tricky for his dad, after all, as a father of two boys, what would he do when it came time for the loo!
So 'The guy who lives here' went along with them and I travelled up separately with our two oldest, leaving the small kids to explore together.

They flew...

And away we go!

and jumped...

A personalised session in the jumping castle

and spun...

Just watching made me dizzy!!

around and around...

Glad this was before ice creams and doughnuts!!

had a win on the Laughing Clowns, and yes she did wear these as we walked around - much to the delight of passers-by...

Pretty pleased with herself don't you think!!

they slipped and slid...

Emerging from the shark's mouth

and literally drove their Dad around in circles!

Small kid at the wheel - pedestrians beware!!

There were new experiences to be enjoyed, tentatively...

I think she liked it!

and with gusto!

Flying high - in her element

Of course I couldn't go past the homecraft section without having a look.

This dress made entirely from recycled business shirts, by a secondary school student, really caught my eye...

Why didn't we do things like this in textiles when I was at school???

There are crafty ladies I know who might like to enter something next year, my girls are keen to have a go like I know Tan's kids have (just couldn't find the post on her blog!!)

Lara - you must have many projects worthy of an entry??

and there were the works of others to be marvelled at.

A worthy winner

And what would a country show be without some woodchopping and show jumping (which I didn't get a picture of!)

What the real blokes were doing!

This guy demolished the log - it was amazing to watch, he was so powerful.

This guy would make short work of getting firewood!!

There was an animal nursery...

A cute chick with a cute chick!

and of course some vintage machinery that I couldn't resist checking out!

Fancy a spot of sewing anyone??

It was a really lovely day and we fully appreciated that Master L's dad, having done it all before, had the details all sorted and gave us the excellent advice of, get there early!!

When it was time for us to leave, the queues for the tickets were huge - to say nothing of the ones for the rides themselves.

Do yourself a favour and check out the ag shows local to you - or take a day trip and support the great primary producers this country has - after all it is The Year of the Farmer.