days of beautiful patchwork and mad-lovely family

[ these wee green things are avocado FINGERS - have you ever seen them before?  We haven't so we just had to buy some - they're a bit green still.  I'll let you know what they're like!]

We’ve had such a lovely afternoon and evening!  Cate and I sewed from lunch until dinner - Cate is a natural patchworker - but boy oh boy does she perform some interesting manouveres with the rotary cutter! Good thing she and Mick are nurses - they’ll be able to stop the bleeding and hold her fingers in place when I have to drive her to the hospital.

And Mick and I cooked a fabulous dinner - Mick made wonderful meatballs and I prepared a rocket salad with roasted pumpkin and fresh corn from the cob, all washed down with organic root beer.  Yum!

But the best bit was the mad, funny, joyful family spirit that filled the house.  Little A and Harriet - one of the New Zealand cousins who is visiting for a fortnight - were out the back in the pool, diving for pebbles, eating punnets of strawberries and rolling down the lawn.  

Cate and I were cutting and sewing whilst Mum breezed in from work, sat at the kitchen bench, devoured the last HUGE slice of Joe’s (Cate and Mick’s son) birthday cake and had us all in hysterics with tales from her school.  

Mick was having a marvellous time thinking up witty retorts for her to use when he realised the children had devoured both packets of corn chips left over from Joe’s party that he’d been saving for weeknight nibbles on the deck.  They were completely unrepentant - he was outraged! And Joe - who celebrated his 18th birthday on Saturday - presented Mum with a bottle of Bailey’s liquour - he never wants to drink it again. 

Then Joe went to work, Mick had a nap, Mum left to run some errands, the girls settled down to watch Stardust - and all was so quiet and beautiful.  We kept sewing.

Ooh and by the way - Cate started piecing the quilt using her old Janome, but after a few seams, we had to write it off as not up to scratch.  She was going to borrow Hannah’s (Cate and Mick’s daughter) when she remembered an old Bernina Mum had found in a storeroom at school, and given Cate a few years ago.  

It is a beauty!  Cate spent a few hours cleaning it up whilst I googled it - made in 1954 and famous for its innovative clip on feet!  

Well it sews like a dream - now we just have to all try and stop bumping the knee lever - especially Stella the dog - she’s the most guilty!

How blessed am I.