The kids are away

We are having a lovely quiet afternoon while the boys are at a friend's house. Ahh, so nice. I took the opportunity to take down the big paddling pool which has been up all summer. There'll be complaints, but I'm happy to get the space back outside. After much sweeping and rearranging, we have our lovely sitting area back again. It is still a work in progress so more on that later. The lemon tree is bountiful as always, so we picked a load of lemons ready for making lemon goodies or giving to friends. Then we sat in our 'new' outdoor area for a well earned coffee. Bliss...

Carrot surprise

We have a loquat tree in our tiny garden. It's a lovely looking tree and at this time of year it is laden with beautiful golden orange loquats. They are nice to eat, although not everyone likes them, but you need to be quick as they turn brown after two or three weeks.

These trees seem to be quite rare as we always get lots of interest in the loquats from passers by. We encourage people to pick them as we couldn't possibly eat them all ourselves.

Last Friday there was a knock on the door at dinner time. There was a lovely girl with a bunch of spectacular home-grown carrots to swap for some loquats. I was thrilled! I've never seen such amazing carrots. Apparently they are an heirloom variety.

After we sampled them raw, I made the rest into a delicious stir fry. Just look at the beautiful colours in these.

They made my day. Thank you lovely neighbour ☺

Let's have a BBQ - BBQ cover tutorial

We have a very cute little Webber BBQ that sits on an old TV trolley. I have been using an old outdoor table cover to protect it from the elements, but it was way too big and the cover got caught in the wheels of the trolley every time we tried to move the barbie around. So the solution - cut up the old cover and make one that fits!

This isn't the best picture, but it was in an awkward spot. For fun, I decided to applique 'Tim BBQ chef' on the front of the cover in the hope that it would inspire DH to do some more BBQing!

Here is how I made it:

Step 1   I measured the BBQ (and the trolley) in several places and drew a little diagram with the measurements on it in cm. I added a couple of centimetres all around so the cover would go on and off easily, without being too tight.

Step 2   I cut out the fabric from the old cover, which was a nylony fabric with waterproof plastic backing. You could use oilcloth, tablecloth fabric or similar, sold in rolls from fabric stores (Homecraft in Vic Park, Perth has a good selection). 

I just measured the pieces from my diagram and marked where to cut on the wrong side of the fabric. I had two side pieces 67x50, A top piece 90x50 and front and back pieces, each 85x97. DON"T FORGET to add about 1cm seam allowance on all sides. I made the curves on the front and back pieces by folding them in half and tracing the curve of a big oval plastic platter I have (cost me about $2.50 in Woolies).

Step 3   For the applique, I wrote the words I wanted in a Word document and played with font style  and size until they were about right. Then I printed them out and traced them on to an old piece of white plastic shower curtain. I wanted it to be weatherproof. This also had the advantage that it wouldn't fray. Cut them out and glued them into place with a glue stick. Any glue that will hold them temporarily will be fine.

Then I stitched the letters on with white thread. I didn't worry too much about it being perfect.

Step 4   Once the letters were in place, I just sewed all the pieces together. The top and sides first then the front and back on to the sides. I found the middle of the top and matched it to the middle of the front and back before I sewed them together so it wouldn't be wonky. Then finish off the hem and it's done (I used the original hem of the cover and it didn't quite end up even at all sides, so I put a line of stitching in the front and back to even it up).

I thought it turned out pretty well and it's great having a proper cover that actually fits. Now I just need to sit back and wait for the BBQ chef to create something wonderful!