Benjamin's quilt

I finally finished Benjamin's quilt. It took me so long, I was worried that he would be out of his cot before it was ready. I love making things by hand, but the downside is they take forever if you're not working on them all the time.

Benjamin's Pram Rug

Benjamin's pram rug is finally finished!!! Knitting the squares was very easy, the hard part was cross-stitching them all together. Now that it's done, I'm very happy with it and the best part is that Benjamin likes it too!

This is my first attempt at making a little movie with my new camera. My 6 year old granddaughter, Hunter, was a willing participant.

Great Op Shop Bargains

I picked up these two great bargains today at our local op shop. Firstly, a 'My Little Pony' dressing gown for my 6 year old granddaughter for $2, which I'm sure she'll love. Also a pair of Trent Resort Linen pants for myself in a beautiful dusky pink colour for $3.

Wildlife Carer

Recently I joined the Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers and have done a few training sessions (Rescue & Rehabilitation of Native Wildlife; First Aid for Native Wildlife; Introduction to Possums, Gliders & Small Marsupials). Last week I took my first rescue call - a wallaby had been hit by a car close to where we live - and I was asked to see if there was a joey in the pouch. I filled up a hot water bottle, wrapped it in a blanket, put it in my 'rescue basket' and set off down the road. Unfortunately when I arrived, the wallaby was already dead from the impact of the car and it was a male, so no joey.
At the end of this month I'll be doing the 'Raising Maruspial Joeys' training, so hopefully when I've completed this I'll be able to put my knowledge to good use in the hand-raising of a joey possum or sugar glider.
Will keep you posted.

Knitted Pram Rug

Being the good 'scanner' that I am, I now have another project on the go. It's a pram rug which I'm knitting for baby Benjamin. I'm adapting it from the 'buggy blanket' pattern in the book "Essential Baby" by Debbie Bliss. I'm using 'Bella Baby Layette' (80% bamboo/20% Australian wool) which I bought from Spotlight - very soft. Instead of knitting it one piece, I'm knitting individual squares (in green/navy/white), which I'll join up later. I find knitting squares are great if you want to watch TV at the same time.
Will keep you posted on my progress.

Great Soup Recipe

Last night was cold and wet, so I cooked up a pot of red lentil & vegetable soup which I adapted from Dr. John Tickell's The Great Australian Diet Recipe Book. Basically, you pour a litre of vegetable stock into a pot, add a cup of red lentils, a chopped red onion, a clove of crushed garlic, and bring to the boil. Then add a variety of diced vegetables - I used potatoes, carrots, celery, corn kernels cut from a fresh cob of corn, red capsicum, button mushrooms, zucchini, green beans and a tin of crushed Italian tomatoes. (The recipe also suggests chopped spinach and leeks, but I didn't have any). Cover and simmer gently for about 45 minutes (stirring every 15 mins.) until everything is cooked. Add chopped fresh parsley, oregano and basil, salt & pepper to taste, then simmer for another few minutes. Serve with shaved parmesan and a loaf of hot, crunchy, wholemeal bread. Delicious! And very healthy!