We had a good Christmas – celebrated with my family for lunch and Mal’s for tea -both at Sewjourn.  The studio was ideal for fitting everyone in – quite a few trips back to the cottage for ‘forgotten’ items but that was OK.  My brother-in-law did try to set the place on fire while cooking the potatoes and pumpkin in the Weber but everything escaped unharmed and the spuds had a nice ‘smoked’ flavour!

Since the big day we have just been taking it easy……..have done lots of weeding and parts of the garden are looking lovely – still lots of plans and ideas (and work needed) for the rest though!

Mal’s cleaned out the workshop/storage area…….

And been for a couple of bike rides.

I’ve spent quite a few hours here reading this………….

(great book by the way – highly recommended!)

And the girls have been to the Lancefield Pool every day – sometimes there is hardly anyone else there so it’s almost like having your own pool. (Almost!)

But without a doubt LOTS of hours have been spent playing this………….

Most of all though it’s just nice to be here all together and enjoy this beautiful place without pressure of having to renovate, paint and be in a hurry to get things done!  (There will always be more things to do though…………………)

Christmas preparations continue at our house………….

Italian Panforte - a bit tricky but worth it!  It’s become a bit of a tradition to give to friends and neighbours.  It’s from Australian Good Taste 2003 - leave me a comment if you want the recipe and I’ll send it on.

And some last minute wrapping paper.  Still lots to do before we head off to Lancefield tomorrow but looking forward to it.  (Daughter No. 3 just a bit concerned that Santa will know to find us there!)

Just had a wonderful long weekend here

We did a bit of gardening (but much much more needed) - a few spots are looking good though……..

Went on a family bike ride to Romsey (8kms but a great bike track all the way) and everyone did really well, even in the rain on the way home!   The fit one in our family didn’t have much sympathy for my sore backside given that he’d riden from Melbourne to Lancefield the day before (and back today). The girls and I also went for walks every morning which is one of their favorite things when we are in Lancefield.

Mal couldn’t resist doing a few more ‘handyman jobs’ - and we have a sliding fly screen door at the back to show for it…………

I also got some much overdue ‘crafty time’ - luxury having the whole studio to myself!

I would have finished this simple quilt top (fabrics purchased this day) had I not left one of the fabrics at home!  Got some more yoyos done for the curtain in one of the bedrooms - only about half way along though…………

………and made some ‘Welcome’ cards for the next few lots of guests to stay.

These are on the wall of the studio at Sewjourn.  I made them by stretching fabric in an embroidery hoop and tightening the hoop as much as possible.  They are simply hung on a small nail.  I love the idea that they can be changed easily when a new look is needed.

We spent a lovely relaxing weekend up at Sewjourn - did a small amount of gardening but not much more - it was great as it was the first weekend of relaxing there since the renovations started around Christmastime.  There’s still lots of jobs to do but as they are not urgent…….  We do have a list to work through though otherwise all the ‘extras’ won’t get done!  I did take my sewing machine up to sew the cushion for the front bedroom…….but left my machine foot at home!

The girls started their embroidery however and are all loving it.  It’s great to see them so keen - embroidering last thing at night and first thing each morning!  They are doing a fantastic job!

Even sewing right through to her nightie didn’t deter Ella!

Saturday morning I discovered The Drapers of Mt Macedon - a gorgeous patchwork shop only 20 minutes drive from Lancefield.  Housed in a beautiful old wooden building they stock a fantastic range of fabrics from reproduction to brights - this shop is definately on my new list of favorites!  Pop over and check out their website - they have just started a new blog as well.

These are a few shots of the view last night as I was tidying up the studio for our next lot of guests this week………well OK the quilt wasn’t sitting there initially but the light was nice so I set it up.  I love this quilt and it is normally over the sofa in the family room at home - these photos are a reminder to get quilting on some more quilts for the beds at Sewjourn so that this one can come back home!

Over our months of renovating we have enjoyed pies, pastries and bread from the Lancefield Bakery but last week I got talking to the lovely owner, Rosie, and she took me out the back to proudly show me their 130-year-old Scotch Oven……..it takes 12 hours each night to cook the bread!  No wonder it tastes so special.

This Saturday was the Lancefield Farmer’s Market. Unfortunately I was working but Mal got to go up and snap some photos.  I love buying delicious local produce from this monthly market.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day so I snapped a few photos of the streetscape of Lancefield.  It was so sunny in the morning though that the photos of the north side of the street didn’t turn out that well……..and by the afternoon the sun had gone and the rain had come ( we can’t complain - at least the countryside is looking lovely and green).

I’m sure the garden enjoyed the rain and sunshine also - the roses are pruned and the bulbs are poking through - spring is just around the corner.

1. Plumbing is finished

2. Lots of help from family over the weekend

3. Boards looking great

4. Kitchen in studio half re-installed

5. Stained glass window fitted to studio bathroom - looks excellent

6. More gardening - weeding and mulching - done………as long as it looks tidy this will be a WIP over the next couple of years!

7. Going back today to do some touching up of painting

8. Tables (2 for studio and 1 for cottage) - all BIG! - well on the way to being made

9. Great response to ‘Christmas in July’ days

10. Another booking!

11. Have Tate Stars class tonight and haven’t done my ‘homework’

12. Under pressure to get things ready!!!!

13. Sent out newsletter to people on mailing list - quite a few bounced back so if you didn’t receive and think you should have please contact me - or if you would like to receive do the same

14. Both feeling exhausted but the results we are seeing keep us going

Hope everyone has had a good week - will post some photos tomorrow.

My weekend consisted of 10 hours at a gymnastics competition followed by a 12 hour shift at work on Sunday…….the up side of the long shift is that I now have the next 3 Sundays off work so there will be no rushing back from Sewjourn which means more time to get things done……..and boy do we need the time to get things done!!  Everything is going really well but there is still quite a bit to do and time is running out….!

The floorboards are finally finished, I haven’t seen the end product yet but had a sneak preview when I made a flying visit on Saturday night to drop off 3 tired gymnasts to ‘help’ their dad on Sunday.  Anyway, it was looking great then and the photos look good so I’m sure it will be fantastic - it was a fine balance between having all the heating and fire on to warm the place enough so the polish would dry and letting the cold air in so that the flammable fumes didn’t ignite!  The joys of renovations!  My husband deserves a medal (and a holiday!)  Here’s a couple of sneak previews……..

Anyway, we have poured over the project plan again tonight and all going well we will be ready for July…….which is great for all the lovely ladies who have inquired about our ‘Christmas in July’ days.

Matteo came back on the weekend and fitted off most of the electricals……and more importantly as far as I’m concerned hung two of my chandeliers in the studio.  Again the photos look great but I can’t wait to see the real thing.

The outside painting is finished now and looks wonderful - I love the lace work back up on the studio.

Cottage

 Studio

And the wood shed is built to protect all our wood for some lovely fires next year….