Crochet Dog

I'm still working on teaching myself how to crochet... and  I finally finished the Amigurumi crochet dog I was working on while we were vegging over the Christmas weekend.  I think he turned out kind of cute... 

While I was crocheting him though, I realised that I crochet between the two loops of the previous row instead of under both loops.   It still seems to work, but I wonder how differently the final product would turn out if I followed the instructions correctly?

Arabella Chickie in Palma de Mallorca

Sunsets

I love to take scenic photographs, especially of sunsets... The other crew usually laugh at me when I get so excited about sunsets and drop everything to go see them, but they really are so beautiful, and so different each time... I think they are very much worth it!  I do have to confess though that I am not so much of a sunrise person, not because they aren't as beautiful, just because I am not so great in the mornings...


Anyway, these are a few of my favourite sunset photos from our travels in 2006 when we were working on a sailing yacht. 

Galapagos Islands

Enroute, Galapagos to Tahiti

The British Virgin Islands

French Polynesia

Vancouver, Canada

Just North of Panama

Tahiti

Arabella Chickie in Palma de Mallorca

Sunday Stash #9

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Christmas break.

Today's fabrics are the Kei Honeycomb fabrics I purchased from Sew Deerly Loved on Etsy.  I love polka dots!!!

Arabella Chickie in Palma de Mallorca

And so this is Christmas...

We are just chilling out at home (the apartment we just found in Palma, which unfortunately is not as clean as I would like, but maybe I am just fussy that way) for Christmas and taking a couple of days off work.   We are looking forward to having a bit of a relax and maybe catching some Boxing Day sales ; )

!!!Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

Arabella Chickie in Palma de Mallorca

Christmas has crept up on me.

This year Christmas has crept up and taken me by surprise, so I havent gotten organised at all.  Our plan was to be in Palma de Mallorca by the 2nd of December, instead we only arrived here on the 20th!  Unfortunately we still have too many other things to arrange (like finding an apartment and organising work to be done on the boat) before we can relax, so I think I might postpone Christmas this year until March or so.

My only concession to Christmas on the boat this year is a little Santa advent calander I picked up while we were stuck in Brindisi.

Isn't he cute?

I hope everyone's Christmas preparations are going well.

Arabella Chickie in Palma de Mallorca

Sunday Stash #8

We are here!  We have finally arrived in Palma.  We had a rough trip, but I will post more about that later. 

Today is Sunday Stash day.... so here are a few fabrics from my stash.  These are from the Katie Jump Rope collection by Denyse Schmidt.  I love her fabrics.   I think it is the clarity of the colours she uses that appeal to me, and the simple designs.  I have ordered some of the Hope Valley collection, but it is still on its way.

Arabella Chickie in Palma de Mallorca!!! Yay!!!

Are we ready?

Are we ready to go to sea yet?  Hhhmmm....

Peppermint slice?
Check!

Chocolate, pistachio and almond biscotti?
Check!

Mini savoury muffins?  Mini savoury quiches?  Cheese toastie snacks?
Check, Check and Check!

Meals in the freezer?
Check!  We have Lasagne, Pasta Bake, Lamb Stew and Spinach and Feta Canneloni all ready to throw in the oven.

Okay... I think we're ready.

Arabella Chickie in Italy

Ciao Brindisi!

Yay! The word has finally come through! We are allowed to leave Brindisi to make our way to Palma de Mallorca. We will be leaving around lunchtime today and stopping for more fuel along the way.

Meanwhile, on the one day that it didn't rain in Brindisi while we were here, I took a few photos. It's not such a bad place really. And there is very a pretty cathedral and courtyard

And this is why we are so keen to leave...   Here we are right on the street.  We have had people taking photos, stopping to stare, and even kids throwing things at the boat!  So far only chewing gum, Christmas baubles and firecrackers... I am just thankful no-one has decided to tag the side of the boat!

Ciao Brindisi, you will not be missed.

Arabella Chickie in Italy

Turkeys and chocolates and champagne...

Sing along now... These are a few of my favourite things...

I picked up a small, fresh, free-range turkey to-day.  It's Grandad Chickies 60th birthday and I wanted to make him something special for dinner so I ordered this small turkey last week.

Trouble is, it's not small.  Well, I don't think 4kgs is small.  Butcher reckons it's going to take 3 hours to cook.  We'll be eating turkey for the rest of the week!

As it's quite cool to-day, I've decided to give my dear man a rest and cook the turkey in the oven instead of getting him to put it on the Weber.  I've bought a box of large oven bags, but somehow don't think this 'small' turkey will fit into it.  We shall see. 

Preggy-chick is making Grandad chick her famous chocolate cake for pudding.  I've bought some vanilla ice-cream and some fresh cherries.  Roast veg and some cranberry jelly... wish you were all here!!!

Oh, and there's champagne... or sparkling wine as we're not supposed to call it champagne unless it's French. It isn't.  It is a gold medal winning sparkling wine from Brown Brothers.  Will let you know what it's like.

April Blackbird

Sunday Stash #7

I almost forgot it is Sunday Stash day!

These fabrics are from The Oz Material Girls.

These are a mixture of fabrics from a few different companies. 

More Sunday Stashers can be found here.

Arabella Chickie in Italy

I think I have a problem...

a shopping problem.  Is it wrong to buy things that look pretty even when you don't know what you are going to do with them?

I just purchased these ruby, sapphire and garnet beads and pearls from Oh Gems on Etsy.  I'm not too sure what I will do with them yet though as I am not really into making jewellery... they just called to me.  Maybe I have some kind of Magpie syndrome?

Arabella Chickie in Italy

Holiday Crafts and Decorations

I just found a link to 100 Holiday Craft Projects over at The Long Thread.  Just the thing to get you in the Christmas spirit!

Some random other things I think are cute for Christmas decorating include these adorable little felt ornaments from All Things Small on Etsy.

And these Monster Stockings from Crafty Robot...

These Snowman ornaments from Wandering Whimsies on Etsy.

And... these are not so Christmassy, but I love them anyway... little mushroom houses from Cocoon Designs on Etsy.

Arabella Chickie still in Italy (wishing it was Spain)

Christmas Desktop Wallpaper

I just discovered that you can download free Christmas Desktop Wallpaper for your PC at Smashing Magazine... what a great idea!  These are a few of the designs I like...

Arabella Chickie in Italy

Maternity Pants Tutorial

Maternity Pants Tutorial

If you ever find yourself needing to alter existing jeans or shorts to maternity pants, this is a great, simple to follow tutorial.

Beats having to spend serious $'s on maternity pants.

April Blackbird

Brindisi, Italy

We arrived in Italy around lunchtime yesterday after a rather uneventful trip.  The internet wasn't working very well yesterday though.  We were all a bit tired, so we had an early night, and luckily were able to sleep with all the swell created from the ferries and tugs and fishing boats going past us.  Unfortunately we are not in a good spot... it seems like a temporary dock that is almost right on the street!  Last night I had visions that some young rebels might come along and tag the side of the boat or pull up our fenders so we crunched against the dock... it seems nothing like that happened though.  Rather just people trying to peer in the windows and taking lots of photos.

This is the view down the street.

 

This is the view across the water from us.

Arabella Chickie in Italy

On the road again...

Well, the sea anyway...

We anchored last night in a bay on the island of Corfu and were up and away again at sunrise this morning.

It was nice this morning to see that we hadn't anchored in some terrible spot overnight... it was a bit hard to see anything when we came in last night in the pitch black dark and had to rely on our instruments.  I always get a bit nervous in those situations, but thankfully my husband has everything under control.

This (above) is what things look like from inside the bridge.

And here are a few more pics from yesterday... the canal and the bridge...

That's it from me until we get to Italy...

Arabella Chickie in Transit