Busy Fingers

I find it very difficult to sit and do nothing on cold wintery nights, so I tend to pick up some handwork to do. This year as a change from my usual crocheting or cross stitch, I decided to go back to knitting. But what to knit - then Spotlight had a sale on baby wool. Just what I needed. Small quick items. But no new babies in the family, nor the likelihood of any for some years.


Then inspiration hit. The Chidren's Hospital. Surely they had some mothers come in who needed hand knitted woollies for their new borns. So my new craze began. Now, a few months later I have 20 little jimpers/cardigans and twelve little beanies to find homes for.

Just a few samples first


Now the whole lot.

Now to parcel them up and send the to the Children's Hospital. Hopefully they'll be able to find them good homes. Hmm what next??

Liz Needle

Sepia Saturday 639 - Mothers and Prams

This week's image shows a woman with a baby in a pram. And for once I seem to have a number of them in my family archives. So here goes.

This one is of my husband's grandmother, Rosa Needle with three of her four children. The babies in the pram are twin boys - Frederick Alexander and Ronald Arthur - and their older sister Phyllis Rosa. Ronald went on to be my father-in-law, but Frederick sadly died when he was 14 years old.

This one taken in 1963 shows me with our eldest daughter - one of the early colour slides -taken at the Darwin Show.

And here both daughters with their own prams/pushers. I have to say these prams more often held puppies, kittens or rabbits - neither little girl being very interested in dolls.

Then along came baby brother and the girls were only too happy to push around a 'real' baby doll.


These last photos are not family ones, but a few that I have collected along the way. Enjoy.

Sharing with the dog!!

A fun way to be pushed along.

A rather precarious way to take baby for a ride. Can you imagine this being allowed these days!!



Thank you for viewing my blog. To see how my fellow Sepians have interpreted this theme please follow the link Sepia Saturday.


Liz Needle

Sepia Saturday 638

I was quite amazed when I looked at the date on my last post and saw that it was October 9th - last year!! Where have the last 11 months gone and what have I been doung that kept me too busy to write up my blog? Maybe age has something to do with it. I find these days that I have less energy to achieve all that I used to do and less motivation to get off my backside and get things done. Not that I haven't been busy. The garden is looking very well considering that we have had a cold, wet winter and now that the Spring bulbs and flowering shrubs and trees are coming to life, I feel much more energised. I have spent a lot of time in front of the fire crocheting and knitting baby garments for charity and I have enjoyed that though at times my arthritis has made it painful. I will pit some photos up when I have found my camera. And I have also taken on the job of secretary for the local Lawn Bowls Club, so I guess I have not totally retreated into hibernation. So, now it is time to restart my blog!! This week I have decided to post to Sepia Saturday, a meme I have always enjoyed in the past. In fact my last post was for Sepia Saturday. The theme this week is to do with buses - I haven't many bus photos, but here is one of my favourites.
I think I have used it before, but your memories are probably as bad as mine.

This one was taken in 1951 while we were on holiday on Kangaroo Island just off the coast of South Australia. We were enjoying a tour of the island when the bus broke down and I used my new Box Browniw to get a shot of the gentlemen passengers all trying to contribute their expertise to get the bus back on the road.

The husband of one of my quilting friends spends his time restoring old 'double deckers' and the highlight of one of our quilting camps was a quilt shop hop in one of his beautiful buses. This photo is not of the quilt trip, but this is the bus we travelled on. My quilt camp photos are on a CD and the CD slot on my computer has given up the ghost!

And finally an "old bus" that was very dear to Don and I. This 1932 B Model ford was converted into a van and was Don's very first car. We painted it ourtselves and inside I decorated it with little paintings of beetles and bugs. This lovely old bus transported many of our friends to dances and picnics. With an old mattress in the back it made for travel in comfort in the days before seatbelts and other safety measures and it is still fondly remembered at college re-unions. >And that is it for buses from me.

Liz Needle - Linking with Sepia Saturday