Needlework

I must have been about 12 or 13 years old when I first learnt to knit and crochet. My maternal grandmother was a great teacher, and I remember sitting and watching her, fascinated with the clicking of the knitting needles and the way her hand moved around when she crocheted. My mother was also very good too, but she was an expert in sewing. She made all three of her daughter’s wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses. I mention this, because I think I got the love for needlework from my mother and maternal grandmother.

I sewed and knitted a lot after Sven was born, and made most of his clothes and eventually I got to make all Trevor’s shirts and our tracksuits. We had new jersey’s almost every winter for quite a few years.


In 1993, I turned 40 and really felt like my child-bearing years were slipping away fast. Although Sven was a surprise after giving up trying, we felt we had to try again. While I waited for another miracle or surprise baby, I kept myself occupied with my needlework. I began making clothes, for a baby girl, just in case I would be blessed with one! Of course, she never arrived, but I still have all the clothes and outfits that I made during those couple of years. They are now being kept in mothballs for a future grandchild, whenever he or she arrives…LOL !!

These are only SOME of the little outfits I made. I chose the best out of them all. There are just too many to put them all up here…!

First up are a few knitted shawls, with wool and one with cotton!










A few jackets, dresses and full baby outfits.


























I also sewed a couple of little frocks and I embroidered the bodices and the little T-shirts. Trevor had by this time, bought me an embroidery machine and I had such fun experimenting with all the patterns and embroidering all my linen and towels!











In 1997/1998, my sister-in-law asked me to embroider the boddice of her wedding dress. Although she herself was a professional wedding dress designer and had her own wedding shop (9/12 hours drive away from where I was staying at the time), she wanted me to do it for her. It was a case of posting the dress pieces back and forth until the final was done. Needless to say, no-one in the family knew about it except Trevor. It was announced at the wedding reception! I must say I felt proud of myself at the time. I had accomplished something, and it looked stunning!


After I had exhausted all my knitting and crocheted patterns, and come to terms with the fact that Sven was going to be an only child, my beautiful mother introduced me to cross stitch. She had herself by this time, completed a whole range of angels, which the patterns I have since inherited, but as yet, I have not started. My brother actually was the one who gave me my first cross stitch pattern for my birthday. So I started on a big project, rather than a small one! LOL


Cross stitch!! I had found another craft that I loved very much. I completed yet again, another pattern........


and then Trevor made a floor stand to make it more comfortable for me. My mother had bought one, and he basically copied the design!! I got a cross stitch program from my mother for the PC, and then attempted my first project by taking a photograph that I had of my niece and using it in the program to generate a pattern sheet with relevant colours.




It is still a work in progress (almost 10 years now) and it has some colours that must be removed. The program selected some strange colours for some areas of my niece’s face.

I certainly want to finish this, and I am determined I will. My hands and wrists, unfortunately, don’t always operate the way I want them to!
I have decided that next time I go away on holiday; I am going to take the “unfinished” cross stitch rather than the PC!!! In case you don’t know the reason why I say this is because there is a joke in my family that says, “Felicity doesn’t go on holiday without her PC and her Sims game if she can help it!” LOL LOL!

At present, I don’t have any needlework that I am busy with, but I am seriously considering finishing this project, even if it is only on the odd occasions that I am able to…………

2009 Trevor and Myself

I stuck this photo in because it is my favourite of Trevor. This is what he usually looks like when he has returned from an offroad trip into the mountains... lol
Of course I dont go with at ALL! Too hectic for the old bones!



And this one is very recent, taken about a month ago before I had my hair cut! Trevor had surprised me with a birthday present...a hair cut at a hairdresser! I say surprise because I usually dont go to hairdressers, because I have difficulty with my neck. But, being the wonderful person he is, he had pre-informed them about it, and I actually enjoyed the whole procedure, to say the least!

Our Paw Paw tree

I took these photos yesterday. We planted these trees about 5 or 6 years ago from seeds from pawpaw fruit. I am not sure what other countries would call them... we also call them papinos or papaya. I was chatting to a friend on Yahoo messenger this morning, and I showed her the photos. She had never seen one or even heard of one before. I forgot to tell her perhaps she knows them as "papaya".

Anyhow, I digress.. The reason I took the picture is because we have so many of them this year. I am going to be eating this until it comes out of my ears. Even though we give a lot a way, there is still so much. I sometimes make a smoothie with other additional fruit for a lovely summer breakfast... Yummy!

They normally ripen by November/December... At the moment they are still very green!

2008 Bike Trips with Hubby (Part 2)

A rest... time to kick back and take in the view...


Hubby strapping me into my "kidney" belt before we depart. It is rather uncomfortable but very necessary for me. Although I dont wear it anymore. These pics are over a year old. I have picked up a lot of weight within the last year due to meds and hormones! But I am happy with who I am at the moment, and I had a good time last year on this trip.


This was a little shop we found in the country...I thought these two old "people" were really cute!


Another little "out of the way" little store, we stopped for something to drink!


Outside a lovely guest house, one morning before we left for the next destination.

A very interesting little coffee shop where we stopped for breakfast. They had paintings on sale that were painted by the locals..

We got sopping wet because the rain came down. At least the paniers kept most of our stuff dry, because I was soaked right through and needed a complete change of clothes.

...the guest farm we held up in from the rain, had the cutest springbuck running around!

This picture Trevor stopped to take on the way back from the trip. We had decided to turn back and head back home, which took two days. The rain had stopped, and there was now snow on the mountains...

It was a lovely trip...it took two weeks...but I was glad to be back at home. It is over year now since this trip.....

2008 Bike trips with hubby (Part 1)

At the beginning of 2008 Trevor bought himself another motorbike, after being without one for a long time. I was so glad for him, because I had my PC to keep me company, and he needed to have something to do on weekends. We took quite a few trips on it, but, unfortunately, I couldnt take all of them with him. And this year, I seem to be taken less and less. My spoons run out a little quicker as I get older it seems.. lol

Enjoying my rest in a little guest house we found, reading until noon. Quite amusing to say the least because I dont read much, but I got so into that book, I couldnt put it down.

The view from the balcony of the guest house overlooking the beautiful sea!

A place called "God's Window" which on a clear day you can see as far as Mozambique.

Waiting to climb on again, and ride to the next destination....

A lovely road through the mountains reaching high on either side.

A little tourist place to rest up!



Part 2 to follow.

My beautiful companion during the day!

I had to put up a pic of my sweet little darling. She is almost 7 years old, but she is still the darling of my life. Follows me all over the house, and lays next to me while I am on the PC. I dont know what I would do without her sometimes.