This blog is all about me......I come here for respite in between caring for JoJo (our Daughter who has Special Needs)......I am addicted to starting new projects......I am becoming a fabric-a-holic... I love to try out recipes... take a beach walk and breathe in that salty blue air......love to have coffee...sip a glass of champagne......read a book......I am Queen of the Armchair and am inspired by all the wonderful blogs out there!!!

Saturday, September 28, 2013

~5 Year Blogaversary~



97,665 views
378 posts
5 years

Whoever would've thought that when I clicked the button to start a blog that it would get this far!!!
My first post is here......I didn't even know how to add photos!!!



This is a framed stitchery I bought off Cathy Penton Designs when she was selling off some of her things


and I have a pattern for this that I won't be making up now
together with this Bareroots sewing machine cover pattern to celebrate my 5 years in Blogworld



Just leave a comment here if you would like a chance to win them and I will get JoJo to draw a winner next weekend....

Thanks so much everyone for stopping by and leaving comments over the years
You're all such an inspiration and I love that I have met some of you!!!


Friday, September 27, 2013

~A Very, Very Special Visit From My Brother~


This is the gorgeous bunch of roses that my Dear Brother gave to me on his visit to our home


JoJo scored a bunch as well
When he first presented them he said choose one and I chose the roses


Brotherly Love here
He is only 14 months younger than I am
This visit was very special as it was his first time here
He has recently had major surgery successfully and still has other issues


but we feasted on these delectable Prawns for Afternoon Tea.......played card games and it was just like Old Times!!!



And here's another look at our flowers!!!

Thank you so much Charlie and Erin for your visit
We had the BEST TIME...

Sunday, September 22, 2013

~Surprise Gift From JoJo, a Blogger and the Smash Repairer~



I've had a couple of unexpected gifts lately

First of all the above fat 1/4.....little white bird and Pirate Pen from JoJo
The Pirate Pen she would of bought as I was in Bay Theatre's production of Pirates of Penzance last year and she still tells everyone I was a Policeman
She bought these last weekend when we had a little respite
so very, very thoughtful of her
Thank you so much Beautiful Girl xoxox


A surprise package a little while ago from Bev
2 little owl mugrugs......one for me and one for JoJo


No surprises as to which one JoJo chose
of course, the Christmas themed one


Thank you so much dear Bev
Mine gets used every single day
You certainly surprised us with these!!!


After Mr Armchair's unfortunate mishap with a kangaroo leaving the car like this


it came back from the Smash Repairer looking like this


I saw Mr Armchair come up the stairs with a bunch of flowers and I was thinking oh how lovely they must be for me
He said look what the Smash Repairer gave me!!!
How cool are they.......and what a surprise
Thank You so much!!!

Sunday, September 15, 2013

~Cook Up With donna......and Irina~ No 23


My latest cook up with donna hay and Irina saw me using the Spices Cinnamon and Star Anise 


Green Apples


and the last of the Season's Mandarins


All from this beautiful issue of donna hay magazine No 69 Jun/July 2013
Beautiful in that there are some lovely Flourless Cakes recipes in it.......Perfect for Gluten Free people

The menu......Mandarin and Soy Braised Ribs
Boiled Rice
Red Cabbage
Fennel 
Telegraph Cucumber with Fennel Tips

Spiced Layered Apple Cake


I started off by slicing the apples in my new super-duper Food Processor


Look how beautiful the apple slices look......seeds'n all!!!


I used Rapadura Sugar instead of White Sugar




The apples had to be held down by cans when finished cooking


donna's version above



and my version ready to be chilled for Dessert


Now it's back to work preparing the Ribs


All done now


Red Cabbage


and Cucumber


And here'tis......all ready
And the flavour combinations were just delicious!!!




The Layered Apple Cake was just sublime nice and cold
With or without some Whipped Cream!!!

I love doing these cook ups especially now that Irina has joined me
If you want to join in just leave a comment or email
It's all easy.......just cook something from the latest magazine and blog it!!!

Bon Appetit......Dzintra

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Unwanted Ads On My Blog

And the happenings get stranger......this morning I see that there are 2 game ads on my sidebar that I didn't put there ......  The only ad I have ever had is from Nuffnang.

I did tell Blogger about my Dashboard but haven't heard back yet.

I don't know what this is......maybe they're trying to take over this blog?????????

Perhaps I should start a new one somewhere else??????

I'm in a bit of a muddle now as what to do.........


Sunday, September 8, 2013

~A Workshop and Weird Happenings with Blogger~


This is the quilt Past Times by Lynne Wilson at Steph's that I fell in love with
It's a Fat 1/4 quilt made with 22 fat 1/4's




These are the fabrics I put together when I went 'shopping' on my shelf




And these are the first few blocks that are on their way
To me it looks rather 'wild' with fabrics I normally wouldn't put together but this quilt lends itself so much to that
A mixture of traditional and country fabrics
And I love them all!!!!!!

*************

Yesterday on arriving home I thought I would check in on my Dashboard and lo-and-behold under where it says blogs that  follow there were some really undesirable posts...
I'm wondering if anyone else has had this happen to them?

These posts go on and on and I seem to have lost all my regular posts that I follow but maybe they are there right at the end wherever that might be!!!

*************

Now I'm off to start putting more blocks together and off to a Sing-a-long with the gang from our Melodrama!!!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

~Hit by a Kangaroo~



Tuesday morning I woke up and saw Mr Armchair on the couch all dressed for work
I thought I had said bye to him earlier as he headed off for his long commute to work......2 hours
Turns out half an hour into the trip a 'roo came out of nowhere and straight into the right hand side
Can't even  open the driver's door now
So now we are waiting to see what the insurance says about the damage!!!

But the most important thing is he's all right!!!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

~OPAM August 2013~


Just a little Needlebook this month for OPAM (One Project A Month)





Pattern by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched

Thank you so much Sweet Peg and Kris for running OPAM
I hope I'm not too late for August!!!

Welcome To My World

Hello, my name is Dzintra Ingrid ... have been known as Ingrid and since our Sea Change I have started to use Dzintra ... pronounced without the D ... (but still known as Ingrid, I know, it's confusing ...)

Welcome to my world ... a journal of our Sea Change ... Mum to three wonderful children ... bringing up a daughter with a disability and seeing life through her eyes ... being a new Nanna ... photos ... inspiring quotes ... taking on a cookery course ... the odd recipe ... and trying to get some stitching done amongst all this ...