LITTLE CHRISTMAS BIRDS

During the lovely relaxing few days we spent with my sister and her husband, these little birds were my sewing project, they are from a patern I had made some years ago but had not used before. My sister's family are all gathering down in the Sounds for Christmas and her daughter Vicki has decided on a Pacific Theme for decorations and the meal, which is in keeping with Christmas here falling during the summer. Snowmen .Reindeer etc are banned there this year down there, Joan had been busy with some NZ designed fabric and had made small padded ornaments, here is a few of them, mostly showing NZ birds.

As you can see I made these little birds in soft natural colours so they would show up on the Christmas tree and be in keeping with the other decorations planned however since then I have made two more in Christmas colours of red and white and these are going to wing their way across to America this week.

I plan to leave them unstuffed, so they will slip in an envelope and go as a card which hopefully might get them there for Christmas. If anyone would like the pattern, send me a message I am happy to share.

TURKEY DAY

To all my friend celebrating Thanksgiving day ... I hope you have a great day with family and friends.

We all have so much to be thankful for even if we are living in a different country.

Hope you like my Turkeys - I remembered I had these photos of two notice board displays I did at a gathering some years ago, they were done in paper sculpture quite large and lots of fun to make. 

Must dash.

A HOOT OF OWLS

A hoot of owls.......I thought that was a good title but I am told a collection/gathering of owls is a Parliament.... sounds a bit serious for this lot!   These owls are on the draw strings for the bags to be made up shortly for our junior embroiderers. Their bags have 4 outer pockets and the girls have been stitching the one owl shape using different embroidery stitches on each. I have made the owls in colours they have chosen to go with their stitching.

If anyone would like the patern and instructions email me and I am happy to share it with you.

 Next project.... its still in the planning stage, will share it with you soon.

STOP PRESS- LITTLE OWL

BIG NEWS-
Little owl manage to fly to Atlanta in time for halloween,
 I have received information on the arrival of Little owl, despite the NZ Post office stating he would take 2 weeks to make the journey, Heather has informed me little owl  arrived on Saturday 29th in time to have a rest before sitting ( hanging) on her halloween tree.

Happy Hallows everyone I see the children already on the street here door knocking. Tomorrow All Saints Day is the Special Day in our household.

THE LITTLE OWL IS FLYING TO........

The little Owl is flying to....... well not quite yet he needs to kinow where to go to.
Caitlin checked in on the blog yesterday after Junior embroiderers and declared the winner is .........................................geeky Heather as she is the only one to have completed all the requirement. and those were to leave a comment on the posting and also be a follower of this blog. so Heather contact me with a name and address and little owl will be on his way to you.

 It is school holidays here and we had an extra catch up day for the Junior Embroiderers before the start of the new term, one of the girls was followed in by a younger sister who had a big question to ask?
"How old do you need to be to join  and learn to stitch? " Maree who helps with juniors calls everyone poppet and "H" was truly a little poppet. I asked how old she was and with big pleading eyes she said her age was 6yrs. I turned and asked Caitlin my grand daughter who was at the table stitching what age was she when she started. The reply was "5 years old " So "H" is starting next week. Here is the earliest photo of Caitlin stitching.... she is now 14 and has never lost her love of stitching, another time I will share some of her work that she has stitched over the years.

TRICK OR TREAT ?

I have had a lot of fun making tiny felt owls. and decided to make a few "Halloween Owls" so named for their dark colours!!!  the one shown above has gone to Canada, another is about to fly off to its new home and I have a third one needing a new home to go to.
If you would like to have that one, become a follower and leave a message here. I will ask Caitlin to do a draw for me on October  18th when the junior embroiderers visit, and if the postman does his part the owl should arrive at its new home in time for Halloween.

WHEN DINOSAURS...........

I want to share with you something special, from Rawhitiroa School where my daughter teaches, 
The senior room ( there are only two class rooms at the school) as part of their study on Dinosaurs made quilt squares and I had the job of putting them together as a wall hanging. The Wall hanging is titled "When Dinosaures ruled the earth" and it  is now hanging out at school.

 Here is the hanging, I'm sorry the photo does not do it justice  it looks much better hanging than it does lying on my floor, but it was the only way I could get it all in the photo. The squares are just amazing and all so different..

The pictures were transfered on to calico using the same method  as putting a picture on a t-shirt, then each child embelished their chosen picture using a variety of threads, fabric pieces and beads. Some stitching had to be included, here is a close up of one of my favourite squares, note the stitching on the wing

GOING..... WHERE ?..... NOWHERE.!

"Where are we going?" said Pooh, hurrying after him, and wondering whether  it was to be an explore or a What-shall-I-do -about-you-know-what.
"Nowhere" said Christopher Robin.
(The House at Pooh Corner.)

I first wrote under the title of "Notes from under the Mountain" about 10 years ago, and then when I started blogging it seemed a natural choice to call my blog the same title. 'Notes' are mainly about embroidery and family, I am hoping that this new blog  .... Other side of the mountain..... will be more a scrapbook about the little things that give me pleasure and I hope might give someone else pleasure to read.

So to the words of Pooh    Where are we going?   I only answer not nowhere but now here... and so here I am launching a new adventure.

I grew up in an era of Winnie the Pooh from AA Milne not from Disney... it was war years and I remember our books had green mottled covers and thickish poor quality paper, we wore them out from love, not carelessness and so when my children were of an age to be introduced to this good friend, new copies had to be bought. Both of them own their own complete set of A.A. Milne books,

Barryn is a batchlor and so his copies are still here and often read by his youngest neice.

We can all quote favourite lines and poems  from these books, the piece I quote  often- is the last verse of the poem Teddy 'Bear' found in the book- When we were very Young.

A bear, however hard he tries,

Grows tubby without exercise.

Our Teddy Bear is short and fat

Which is not to be wondered at;

But do you think it worries him

To know that he is far from slim?

No, just the other way about?

He’s proud of being short and stout.

Do you have a favourte A.A. Milne poem ?  

   Will you leave a comment and share?   

 Thank you for dropping in. come again sometime and see what I have added

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