Coite's camping

 About 12 years ago two couples were laughing and chatting

 and sharing a drink or two

they came up with the idea that they should take

their then young children

camping for Easter

they debated where they should go and ultimately decided to 

place a map of NSW 

on the garage wall and throw a dart

where ever it landed would be the place they would camp

over the years the group grew and grew as more friends joined the

Easter camp 

somewhere along the line the group gave themselves a name

The Coite family. . . .

there is some uncertainty as to how the name came about

it is now campfire folklore

some think it has something to do with antics around the campfire

reminiscent of the Russell Coight show

others think it had something to do with some one having 

an itchy Coite . . .

 These are the first arrivals for Coite's easter 2011

I travelled up on Wednesday with our good friends 

it was my first time towing the trailer 

on gravel roads and  I was  more than 

a little nervous, driving DH 's pride and Joy

but all went well and three Coite families were in residence by nightfall

by midday Thursday 

my DH and girls had joined us and we were expecting another

family after lunch

By ten on Friday all but one Coite family had arrived and they were expected

at any time

Saturday and our family was complete

we welcomed another new family into the fold this year

which brought us to a total of 8 families this year

Our family joined the Coite family about 4 years ago

at that time they were still camping in the same place

 they had first found with the dart

Sadly that place became too small for the expanding family

we were fortunate that one member of the family came across this great spot

and we have now had our second year at our new location

and we love it

To be continued . . . .

I have heaps more to share with you 

about my camping weekend

until then

take care

Patricia

An oldie but a goodie

I was over visiting linen and rasberry's blog 

and she referred to a UFO that she had retreived

 as an oldie but a goodie, and i thought to myself 

i like that phrase so here it is 

my own oldie but a goodie

This is little misses quilt

it was started about 2 1/2 years ago

it still has one more border to go

a border that has a spray of needle turn appliqué draped around the corner

This is not something that will be finished

 by then end of the month

but maybe by the end of winter 

( and i am only talking about the appliqué)

it may be possible

so i guess my goal is to have the borders on this quilt appliqué complete

by the end of  spring

(yeah i know i just sneaked another 3 months in but

 i do have my stitch a-long to do as well)

 i will be having a little break from blogging over Easter

so i would just like to wish 

all my new blogging friends

a very happy easter, may you be surrounded by those you love

and have a great project in your hands

Patricia

Dr Who, the football and a Mocha at my new favourite cafe

Miss M LOVES Dr Who she also loves the Beatles,

she inherited her great taste from her mother

I can vividly recall many afternoons hiding out in my room, watching Dr Who doing battle 

with the Daleks.....

although i have to say that Tom Baker is no where

 near as attractive as 

Matt Smith and David Tennant

anyway Little Miss knowing her sisters loves and having come across this

image of four of the doctors crossing the road 

in Beatles Abbey rd style

spent many hours free hand drawing and then cutting a template 

so that she could screen print the image

onto a pillow slip for her sister

she was a bit disappointed as the image smudged slightly

but honestly i think she did a great job

 Ausgrid stadium the new revamped Knights home grounds  
Ausgrid Stadium

we spent a sunny Sunday afternoon, with our very good friends watching the

the Knights play Cronulla

at one point it looked like we had the game easy, but Cronulla didn't let the 

score board stay like that and 

staged a comeback, making it a very exciting game

Now i know you are probably thinking, Hmm football, 

have i got the wrong blog ?

 My husband loves his footy and long ago i decided that to 

understand why he disappeared to the footy 

,i needed to go along and see what the fuss was about

 and now i really quite enjoy it

we always go as a family, 

okay granted the girls have taken there ipods, nintendo's and books at times

and i have been known to take my knitting

but we cheer and shout along with all the other die hard supporters

oh and this weekend i tipped the perfect round......

this is what's left of a really yummy  Mocha 

little Miss and i headed off this morning to the local op shops

 in search of items we need

for a fancy dress night we have coming up

Little miss was also looking for t shirts 

she could use to screen print on

we decided we needed to recharge the batteries and headed into a nearby cafe

i ordered a skinny mocha

(now the logic here is that if i have skim milk i won't feel guilty about the chocolate syrup calories), 

when it arrived i had a glass of coffee

and a chocolate stick which you stirred in the coffee until it melted

it was very yummy

and was balanced by a very healthy fruit salad

Miss M is on a promise to go for coffee very soon

Until next time

I hope your hands are working on something that you love

Patricia xxx

a sore tail and a new project

Cooper has had a miss- hap, 

we are not really sure what happened

but i did catch him tormenting our resident Blue tongue

but he also likes to bark at the dog next door, 

and one of our fence paling's is down

 so either way something got him and he has a nice chunk missing out of his tail

lucky mummy is a champion bandager

I purchased these about three weeks ago and have been anxiously waiting 

for the arrival of the tis the season book

a close up of some of the fabrics

Cath, the owner of my favourite quilt shop was a little surprised

by my choice

i am usually not a brights kind of girl 

and usually select country coloured fabrics 

but i just loved these

ready to go . . . .

got the light box out 

got my pigma pen ready

and the footy is on

hope your hands are making something you love

Patricia

Brambles beret and Gramma pie

 This is Miss M's hat

when i started little Misses hat, Miss M asked if she was getting one?

of course, what would you like .....?

"don't know".. . . .  was the reply

 so i visited my favourite free online knitting site,

knitting pattern central

and after opening many sites i found this

 Beret

Miss M likes berets so the pattern was approved and i set to work, 

this is not Miss M modelling the Beret, 

(she avoids the camera as much as possible)

i think the beret came out really nice. . . .and i enjoyed the challenge of the cables

maybe i should look for one for me. . . . 

do you remember this picture, and i challenged you to tell me 

what it was well it is a 

Gramma

i grew up around an area where pumpkins and Gramma's were a favoured crop

so  Gramma pie's have been a staple in my household

 since i was pretty young

this year for the first time i had a go at making it myself, 

the recipe  i made was pretty close to what my mum 

has always made,

 the pastry looked pretty rough

but the pie tasted great and was extremely popular, 

both pies were gone within 3 days

(we shared them with our neighbours and friends)

i have  lots more gramma, and a new recipe to try . . . 

so i guess it is back to the kitchen

i decided to do some playing with some night photography,

a glow stick, a tripod and a camera, heaps of fun

i know it looks fuzzy but that's not because the camera moved 

it 's the movement of the glowstick, i like the effect though

all you need is LOVE

i finished late this afternoon

and this is what i saw from the verandah

after seeing the beautiful sunset from  Chooky's place

 I thought i would share my sunset with you

hope you all are happy and healthy 

and your hands are busy doing what you love

Patricia

I ve been baking. . . .

with the onset of the cooler weather, and the rain

i have switched into winter mode and the baking has begun

(it never really stops, but i do love baking in the winter, 

the oven warms the kitchen up)

APPLE MUFFINS

from Donna Hay magazine

chopping, whilst my lovely assistant prepare s the other ingredients

Okay at the moment it does look gross and yes there is a lot of butter

in the pan, i love my new mini bundt tin 

it makes the cakes look like healthy  

donuts 

(well they are a little bit healthier)

Taahh dahh . . . they were so yummy, great with home made egg custard, it's a good thing my neighbours chook's lay well

more chopping

can you guess what this is ?

speaking of yummy things . . .

Tess has a give away.. to celebrate the opening of her new shop

12 really lovely fat quarters and a lacy button

you should pop over and have a look

Homespun and Beautiful

hope you are all having a great day

Patricia

Advent calendar

Another project out of the basket . . . .

Anni Down's Advent Calendar
from A Christmas Story

i really like taking these close up shots

i actually took these photo's a few days ago 

and was going to post them to show you all 

what i was up to,  

but things have been very busy around here . . .

and after a late night stitching session . . . .

taaahh dahhhh

sorry the photo is a little dull, but i was  having trouble with lighting

so i took it back outside , in between the rain . . .

sorry Chooky but we have had alot, i keep trying to send it your way 

but . . .

it seems to like hanging around the coast 

i am not sure why but this is my favourite bauble

 i made a  bit of a mistake with the baubles, i cut out a larger size template

and it wasn't until i had almost finished all the baubles 

that i realised

my girls very kindly reassured me by saying

don't worry mum

it looks like our Christmas tree

full to the brim . . . .

i still need to get the marking off this

but couldn't wait to show you

i guess now i have to wait a few months before i get to use it

hope your all happy and healthy

Patricia

Out of the basket: Stoner beanie

well i have been very into my basket this last week or so, 

and with the completion of another set of night duties 

came the completion of a project from the basket........

when i headed up to Nundle little Miss (my youngest) put in a request for 

some wool for a beanie

of all the beautiful colours i could of bought, she was adamant 

 she wanted black

 this is the completed beanie

she calls it a stoner beanie, i asked why

 she shrugged and said " i don't know"

i offered maybe it is because they can hide  their pot in the back of the hat

she grinned and said maybe

anyway she is thrilled with her beanie and apparently i have a few commissions

it was very popular at school

this is a sneak peak of another project in the basket, it's been lingering 

deep down in the bottom of the basket for a while

and has finally made it's way back into my hands i must say i am enjoying it and am playing with new methods 

of stitching thanks to chookyblue and farm girl

and  this is my supervisor and constant companion, Cooper

i had the opportunity to have some stitching time yesterday afternoon

so i made a pot of tea and set up in the lounge room

it was nice and sunny and everyone else was at work / school

a rare peaceful period

i did some stitching and cooper did some supervising the best way he knows how

with his eyes shut......

Hope your having a great day

Patricia