Ange's Ramblings

Quilt Top for Kelvo + Liam is 4 months!

2012-02-02T21:19:00.000+11:00

The WIP Quilt-along has been just the right kick up the backside that I've needed to get out some of my half-done quilt projects!

First cab off the rank was Kelvin's Quilt Top that has been in bits all over my sewing room for more than a year. It is a brick path quilt (loosely based on the Amy Butler one) with an added panel featuring the beautiful zoology fabric.

I think it'll look great with dark brown binding - to really pull everything together.

I've partially pieced a back and just need to add the border and find some backing fabric to finish this one. And then it'll be lots of straightline machine quilting before popping it on his bed!

And so that my third child doesn't have recourse for being neglected! Here's his 4 month photo (only a couple of weeks late)!

12 WIPs in 2012

2012-01-07T21:05:00.000+11:00

So there are a few "kick up the butt" type challenges out in the bloggy-world for the New Year but the one being hosted by AJ is particularly appealing! Trying to finish 12 quilt projects before the end of the year might be just the challenge I need.

I have at least 6 projects in various stages of incompletion. And I have a lifetime of quilt projects in the planning!

True WIPs
1. Matilda's quilt from the mystery quilt-a-long in 2009 (I was attempting to finish this for her last Christmas, it has been living in the linen cupboard for the last year!!).

2. Kelvin's quilt that is in parts.
3. My first ever quilt top to be made into a quilt.

4. The Australasian Quilting Bee blocks need to become a quilt top (and eventually a quilt)
5. I joined in the Fat Quarterly jelly roll quilt-a-long and have completed the top.

6. Travel t-shirt quilt to be made!

Notional WIPs
7. A quilt for Liam (using the Cluck Cluck Sew Bizzy Kid pattern and fabric from my stash).
8. A Noddy Quilt or Christmas Fairy Quilt for my Mum.
9. A Dr. Seuss Quillow (probably for Finley for next Christmas).
10. A Vintage Sheet Quilt (or maybe a doona cover).
11. A quilt top from my stash of green and brown and red owl fabrics (will hunt out the fabric line).
12. A "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" quilt from the kit I bought from the Fat Quarter Shop.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T20:05:00.000+11:00

Christmas was good this year, although I'm just starting to recover now (and it's been 3 days)! I'm even considering a no-sew December for 2012 since it seemed to overwhelm me this year - although I do have to remind myself I have a 3 month old in the house and I'm not superwoman!!
My family came to have lunch at our place on Christmas Eve.

And then we backed-it up with Christmas Lunch with Trev's extended family

Smile everyone!

And then an evening get together for ham toasties and left-over desserts at our place for his immediate family.

Toasties all round!

Handmade goodies were well received. The "Pimp Your Vans/Volleys" shoelaces were a hit with the 14 year old.

Apparently "Vans" are popular with Melbourne schoolgirls and these shoelaces make them even cooler!!

And I finished Liam's Christmas Stocking at about 10pm on Christmas Eve. I have IOU's for three others that are in various stages scattered about the sewing room!

Gotta love that face! Sitting next to his Christmas Stocking which is bigger than he is!

So I hope you have all recovered from the celebrations and are sitting back, relaxing and enjoying some sunny summer weather (or snow if your on the other side)!

3 Months, lots of making and doing!

2011-12-22T23:09:00.000+11:00

Firstly, Liam is 12 weeks today (which also coincides with him being 3 months old). He's stretching out and seems to be a bit more in control of his head which is always good!

We have also continued with our book and activity advent calendar. One of the most popular activities has been to paint our nails in Christmas colours!

I have also made a fold-over bag to contain the wool and needles requested by the mother of a 10-year old boy who recently learnt to knit from his Dutch Oma (grandmother). I'm not sure if being a knitter is cool when you're 10 but it sure will be when you have this hip and groovy bag to hide it in!!

Good books over the last week have included...

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss

Fold Out 12 Days of Christmas

The Night Before the Night Before Christmas by Richard Scarry

Father Christmas Needs a Wee by Nicholas Allan

Christmas Making for Girls

2011-12-13T20:04:00.000+11:00

Trev is the eldest of a hoard of cousins - the youngest three cousins are still at school and the very youngest is only a couple of years older than Matilda. We'll be seeing these cousins at Christmas and I don't like to do this empty handed so I have been sewing for the two girls.

I can recommend the Lil Cutie Pouch tutorial from Noodlehead's Anna - quick and easy to make and I think it'd be pretty useful to hold your house key, your phone and some lipgloss etc.

Red and pink for Emily (aged 14)

And then last week Oliver+S's Liesl posted about her handmade shoe laces. Let's just say I have been in a shoelace making frenzy since I saw this - I've made a pair each for the cousins and another 8 pairs for the kids in our Mother's Group. I made them 42" long which is long enough to put in your Dunlop Volleys and they would fit a pair of kids 5-hole lace-up boots.

Blue and green for Nina (aged nearly 8)

I bought the washi tape for the aglets (the end of a shoelace) on-line from NoteMaker and was really impressed with their service, my package arrived in only a couple of days - which is a surprise when you live in Tassie!

Carols by Candlelight

2011-12-11T17:00:00.001+11:00

Yesterday was a warm humid day and the evening was perfect for Carols by Candlelight at the local park. We had a lovely time although have discovered that Kelvin goes a bit silly when he's tired!!

Today we went to a work BBQ and my contribution was the usual Chocolate Ripple Cake (with a touch of rum).

And our calendar task for today will be to make some Lolly Holly to decorate our Christmas presents.

And our book is the beautifully illustrated The First Christmas. The words are directly from the King James Bible and the images created by Jan Pienkowski (who did the pictures for the Meg and Mog books I love from childhood).

Fabulous Christmas Wreath

2011-12-09T16:40:00.000+11:00

Our task for Wednesday was to make a Christmas Wreath for our front door. I was inspired by this post.

Matilda and Kelvin made one each and now I have a red wreath hanging on my front door (to welcome guests) and a green wreath hanging on my back door (to welcome robbers - noone uses our back door except us!).

I love the way they waiver in the wind.

I can highly recommended making one and my kids loved the stapling and glueing.

Childcare Picnic

2011-12-07T08:18:00.000+11:00

Our task for yesterday was another easy one - have a picnic for dinner if the weather was fine (which is was). It was the annual childcare picnic and it was in our local playground - there was a Christmas fairy, Santa dropped by and the kids got their faces painted.

Kelvin as a dinosaur.

Matilda, the 100th butterfly they'd painted (or at least it felt like 100)!

Santa Liam hanging with his Dad.

And our book for the day was the classic Golden Book version of The Christmas Story. I finally found our Fisher Price nativity scene so we read the story and found the characters and played a bit before bed.

Today our book is Aliens Love Panta Claus - all about decorating your house with underpants and Santa's sack being exchanged for a massive pair of bloomers!! And we're looking forward to a quiet day at home making a new wreath for the front door (and probably the back on too) - inspired by this one.

Another Christmas Book, Another Christmas Thing To Do!

2011-12-05T22:02:00.001+11:00

Today is a school day (Matilda) / childcare day (Kelvin) / work day (Trev) / rest day (Liam and me) so our Christmas countdown activity was appropriately easy. It instructed us to drop our presents under the Wishing Tree. Which is what we did on our way home from dinner at Granma's.

But on the way to Kmart we passed a group of Salvation Army horn players tooting carols in the street. We used to live in the area and this was always one of my favourite things in the lead-up to Christmas. So I swerved to the kerb and hauled the kids out and we listened to a few carols and then requested Jingle Bells and then I found myself squatting on a busy street corner with a child on each knee singing carols out loud and although the weather doesn't feel like Christmas it's beginning to feel like Christmas!!

My kids have never really been toy shopping with me before - it has always been easier to do it on our own. However, this year I decided to let them choose something each for a child the same age and gender as themselves and they were really good!

Octonauts Book & Kwazii Kitten playset for a boy who's 3.

A fairy Barbie with an extra outfit for a girl who's 5

And I chose a Fisher Price toyset for a 6 month old boy and added in some nappies, wipes and scented nappy bags and then we headed off to put our gifts under the tree.

And then fortune had it that our book for today was 25 December Lane by Helen Ward. This book was give to Matilda by my Mum - for her first Christmas as a big sister. Helen Ward has also dedicated this book to a Matilda and it's about a little girl who's searching for the perfect gift for a special little brother celebrating his first Christmas. My mum has written Kelvin's name on the last illustration, along with his birthdate and I can see this becoming a book to treasure.

Two More Days, Two More Books, Two More Tasks

2011-12-05T15:30:00.000+11:00

We're still counting down to Christmas!
On Saturday we were to visit the old fire station - celebrating 100 years of being on that site. Enjoying the old, old fire engines, honking the horn and dinging the bell. Pondering the no longer used fire pole. Wondering what Hobart would have been like back when they had hand-drawn fire fighting equipment!

Sunday's task was to go to the Sorell Fruit Farm. The heaven's opened just as we finished buckling the third kid into the car but the Oesch and Doots's were already on their way so we decided to join them!

It was our first trip to the Fruit Farm where you buy a punnet for each picker and fill it with whatever you can find. First we started with strawberries - the perfect fruit for little kids to pick (and delicious to sample too)!

Liam is not so keen on sitting in a stationary pram so Trev tucked him into his raincoat for a little bit - bringing baby wearing to a whole new level!!

Next we headed up to the very remotest part of the farm to pick some cherries - which is when we all got very, very wet dispite our coats and gumboots!

And the only way to get at the good fruit at the top of the trees was to work together!!

We also picked just over 1kg of silvenberries (a domesticated blackberry?) which were a bit prickly but delicious too. These were quickly made into yummy jam - a great rainy afternoon activity, with much sampling!!

And our books for the last few days? Wombat Devine by Mem Fox about a sleepy wombat and the Mr Men Christmas Extravaganza!

What Book Today?

2011-12-02T16:19:00.000+11:00

Our Christmas Countdown Book for today was Melrose and Croc a Christmas to Remember. I was lucky enough to win this in a giveaway last year and it's a sweet book about a dog and a crocodile who feel lonely at Christmas time and crash into each other whilst ice skating and the illustrations are lovely and a little bit retro in their muted colours.

And our activity for today was "To have a photo with Santa"! And we had a reasonably successful trip into the city. We didn't have to queue for a photo, there weren't too many toilet stops required, the kids chose some lovely presents to give to their Wishing Tree recipient, and the big kids both chose new sandles for summer without too many tears from anyone (including me!).

Advent 2011

2011-12-01T23:33:00.001+11:00

It happened again - I totally forgot that there are only 30 days in November! So at 9:30pm last night Trev and I were wrapping books so that we could have a literature countdown to Christmas Day (totally inspired by Dana)!

We already had 16 Christmas books in our collection so we wrapped them up in butchers paper (using the Christmas sticky tape) and numbered them and have lined them up along the window). Our book for today was I Love Christmas by Anna Walker - love her illustrations!

We also have a "things to do" countdown too. It's just 25 bits of card bluetac-ed to the window. Don't tell the kids but only one of these had an activity on the back - we're going to see what's happening tomorrow and write something on each evening!!

Today's activity involved cooking playdough and chocolate cake with our friends - courtesy of Holly the Tupperware demonstrator. I was roped into hosting a demo last week and I can really recommend the Kids in the Kitchen party, although the Flaming Pineapple party would be tempting!!

It's summer and we're officially counting down to Christmas at our place! I wonder what we'll do tomorrow?

Killer Coffee Cupcakes

2011-11-24T21:59:00.001+11:00

I made these cupcakes this evening to share at an afternoon tea Tupperware party tomorrow.

Of course, we had to try them to make sure they were OK.

Trev declared them some of the best cupcakes he'd ever tasted! He's a good man.

Coffee Cupcakes
125g butter, chopped, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups SR flour, sifted
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup strong black coffee, cooled

1. Preheat oven to moderate, 180 oC. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper patty cases.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar together until light and creamy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in flour alternatively with sour cream and coffee, beginning and ending with flour. Spoon mixture into paper cases until 2/3 full.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Icing
1 cup soft icing mixture, sifted
10g butter
2-3 tablespoons hot strong black coffee
12 pecans, to decorate

5. Combine icing sugar and butter in a small heatproof bowl. Stir in enough coffee to make a smooth paste. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and heat gently, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until mixture is a spreadable consistency. Spread over cooled cupcakes and top each with a pecan.

6. Eat with a hot cuppa!!

I struggled a bit with the icing - I think I put in too much coffee too soon and then had to add nearly another cup of icing sugar to correct it. Next time I'll be adding the coffee a teaspoon at a time!

2 Months Flies By

2011-11-22T21:34:00.001+11:00

Well, Liam is 2 months old. Time has really flown by. He is starting to smile heaps, especially at older ladies which makes him very popular when we're out and about. He coo's and really loves to watch his brother and sister when they are careering around the house (loudly).

He's sleeping well at night but in the last week he has decided he no longer does long sleeps during the day and is doing 40 minute cat naps which really doesn't suit me!

Especially when I had grand plans to get crafting in the lead-up to Christmas. Oh well, it can wait - this little guy is growing fast!

Oliver+S Hat Love

2011-11-17T20:45:00.000+11:00

We were given a beautiful hat for Liam, made by our dear friend Sarah. She blogged about it here.

Doots modelling the hat - I still need to get a picture of this on our boy!

It was from the Oliver+S book Little Things to Sew. It inspired me to make new hats for the big kids for the summer.

I was in Spotlight on the weekend and this linen fabric with retro bikes was willing me to buy it and make a hat for Kelvin - so I did!

He loves it.

So do I!!

The Graduate

2011-11-12T11:03:00.000+11:00

This has been sitting on my dining table overnight. It arrived yesterday.

I now have a Masters Degree. I didn't attend the graduation ceremony, but opening the postpack tube at home seems like a bit of an anticlimax after a decade of work.

I might spend a bit more time baby gazing!!

BlogtoberREST = LifeFEST

2011-11-01T14:34:00.000+11:00

Wow, where has October gone! My baby is nearly 6 weeks old, I now live with a 3 year old and there has been much thinking about projects (and reading crafty-type books whilst breastfeeding) - if only I didn't waste so much time waiting for the baby to wake up!!

Some photos from our October...

A family of five (sans the dog).

And a pirate family (sans the baby)

Ahoy-me-hearties - it's Pirate Liam!

The pirate galleon cake (thanks to the new Woman's Weekly Birthday Cake Book)

And Liam at one month (we did this with Kelvin too, here he is at the same age)

The first Irish Dancing competition!

I've also managed to squeeze in some sewing. Another pencil roll for a birthday gift. Some toy sacks to tidy the lego and baby toys (and one for another birthday gift).

I also made some pirate pants for Kelvin's pirate party (as well as a pirate sash). I used the Sewing for Boys Kickin' Back Sweats pattern. It's a fabulous pattern since it only has two pieces!! I must admit, that I wasn't that enamoured with this book when it arrived but I have changed my mind since and have cut out several more pairs of pants to sew for Kelvin!

I have been knitting too and once I've finished my Common Ground Cardi I have grand plans to knit myself a Coastal Hoodie using this...

Bendigo Woollen Mills, Classic 5 ply

It's going to be a hard slog swapping from 12 ply knitting to 5 ply!

BlogtoberREST

2011-10-01T12:44:00.000+10:00

I have participated in the annual Blogtoberfest for the last two years.

But given there is a new little man at my house I am officially having a BlogtoberREST!

This October, I may or may not post on my blog.

This October, I may or may not visit your blog.

For all the Blogtoberfest participants - enjoy, it's always fun to have new readers and to discover new blogs!

A Punctual Stargazer!

2011-09-26T19:43:00.000+10:00

Liam Charles arrived on Thursday 22 September 2011 at 11:02am - punctually on his due date.

Let's just say he was a big boy at 4.37kg (or 9lb 10oz) who arrived with much assistance in the end - looking at the stars rather than down at the ground! It was quite a different experience for his mum compared to the arrival of the other two kids!

There are two very excited and proud older siblings at our place!

We got home from hospital today and are very much looking forward to sleeping in our own beds.

Still Searching for the Perfect Nappy Bag

2011-09-20T11:58:00.000+10:00

The nappy bag has been the bain of my existence as a mother. I have never been able to find one I like. They either too big, too small, too overpriced, too many pockets, too few pockets, wrong colour, or wrong something!

When I had Matilda I bought a Kathmandu messenger bag to use as a nappy bag. It was OK, we used it to carry stuff about in but it was pretty bulky (even when it was empty).

For Kelvin I again tried the Kathmandu messenger bag but very quickly gave up on it when I was trying to lug it, a toddler and a monster baby about the place. I ended up swapping it for a $2 Betts Shoes bag! That was after trying several other types of "proper" nappy bags without success.

So third time round you think I'd know what I want/need. But I don't. I have been following Anna over at Noodlehead for a while and had purchased a couple of her bag patterns recently to try out - with the thought in mind that one of these bags might prove to be the ultimate nappy bag!!

First I attempted the Go Anywhere Tote - looks like it could work well with seperate pockets on the outside for mum-stuff (so keys, wallet, phone don't get lost in the tardis that can be the inside of a nappy bag) and heaps of room inside for baby-stuff. If this proves to be a good bag then I may re-make it in more "me" colours.

And then I tried the 241 Tote - which I love! It's not huge but it's not small. I think I much prefer my fabric choices for this one - much more me. It is pretty roomy inside, has only one strap and some great pockets on the outside for mum-stuff! I think I'll definitely be making more of these - and I would really like to try out the zipper pocket version (for added security for phones and keys etc).

And after all that, you'd think I was bag-obsessed. I'm actually the total opposite! Until 18 months ago I didn't own a proper leather handbag - I had a canvas Kathmandu travel pouch/bag that I'd been using since we moved to London in 2002. I think I prefer practical to pretty.

Please tell me if you absolutely adored or absolutely loathed your nappy bag. If you loved it - what kind was it, I may still be bitching and moaning about nappy bags this time next year!!

Turtle Birthday Quilt

2011-09-19T12:00:00.008+10:00

My mother-in-law had a significant birthday today and spent the weekend celebrating with family and friends.

I have been plotting and crafting for the last little while and managed to get a quilt together for her in some happy primary-ish colours (free pattern here).

I didn't attempt my own quilting on this one but instead the lovely Wendy at Lavender Blue Quilting did it for me - and it's fabulous!!

And I couldn't resist adding my own label!!

Sunshiny Day

2011-09-18T17:34:00.001+10:00

After feeling a bit down about being the size of a house and people only being interested in talking about the impending arrival of our new baby the spring sunshine over Hobart proved to be the perfect antidote. We jumped into the car and went to Richmond (for ice cream) via Sorell (for lunch at a cafe - we missed the market!!).

Fortunately we didn't take bread with us to feed the Richmond ducks because there were great slabs of bread floating in the river where the ducks had rejected the offerings!

It was a perfect spring day for eating ice cream, doing rollipollies down the hill...

...and making daisy chains.

I also couldn't resist snapping this picture. Do you think he might have the skill set to become a plumber one day?!?

Unplanned School Holiday Adventures!

2011-09-12T20:47:00.000+10:00

Well, today could have been a disaster. My car wouldn't start this morning - the battery was flat. So instead of worrying about it we walked the few hundred metres down the hill to the local shops for Matilda to get her haircut ready for a new school term. We were 5 minutes late but they weren't busy and Matilda was happy with her haircut, braid, sparkly hairspray and a couple of chocolate freckles.

Then we went down to the local bakery for a babycino/latte and a little sweet sustainance for our journey home. But while we were sitting there we decided we didn't fancy the walk back up the hill and caught a bus instead.

Although we could see our house from the bus stop, there is no direct bus home so our trip took an hour and involved two different buses - one of which didn't go the way we thought it would which always adds to the joys of using public transport!

So we then rang the battery man who came and started the car for us and then we had to go for an extra long drive to recharge the battery. While we were waiting for the battery man Matilda did attempt to find an appropriate sized battery from the stash - that's when I showed her under the bonnet of the car! And it was lunchtime so we decided on chips from a remote McDonalds (because we could do drive-thru and wouldn't risk the car not starting again).

A trip to Bunnings for some more storage boxes to tidy up the sewing/guest room (as well as something for Trev's upcoming birthday) and a bit of a play on the playgym. Fortunately the car started again when we got back to it - and if it didn't, I'd have bought myself some jumper leads and begged for a jumpstart from a passing friendly stranger!!

We then dropped off three bags of stuff to the nearby Vinnies. Matilda had her first real experiance of wandering in the treasure trove that an op-shop can be (I usually go in my lunch hour at work rather than dragging kids around) and we found some amazing stuff. I convinced her we didn't need the big plastic dolls house but we did find a Barbie motor scooter and two Barbie pushbikes (as well as some great fabric for me).

Altered yellow trousers were dropped off for the skinny cousin/nephew and I managed to score a cuppa and homemade brownies before heading home.

Coles delivered my groceries for the second time today. I somehow managed to place two online orders for delivery today (I blame placenta brain but it's more likely dyslexia in reading 12pm as midnight not midday but don't tell anyone). Fortunately we didn't really double up on anything so all is good. And the big order arrived in plenty of time for me to use it to cook dinner. In nearly a year of doing my groceries online this is the first time I've stuffed up and I can't recommend it enough - much more pleasant having my groceries delivered to my kitchen bench than dragging kids around the supermarket or having to go out once they are in bed!

All in all, a pretty good day! Just finishing off now with a banana split (thanks to the extra bananas we ended up with) and an evening cuppa.

Yellow Sandbox Pants

2011-09-06T14:35:00.000+10:00

My sister-in-law and her family relocated to Hobart today. We owe our nephew/cousin a 2nd Birthday present and apparently he's been asking for yellow trousers for a while.

What's a crafty auntie to do?

Whip up a pair of Oliver+S Sandbox pants in yellow drill, of course!

It wouldn't be my colour choice but then again who am I to question the desires of a 2 year old!!

Perfect buttons in my stash!

Unfortunately the weather isn't that inviting but it is Hobart in the springtime.

I'm Converted!

2011-08-31T08:55:00.001+10:00

So after my last post I was a bit sceptical about Trev's idea for a new religion.

But when I was hanging the washing out on the weekend - his iPod fell out of one of his shirt pockets, it had been through the washing machine. I thought his religion was dead.

I bought it inside and admitted to him what had happened (we agreed that it was actually his error - he knows I do not check pockets, if it's in the washing basket it's ready to go).

He charged up the iPod. Miraculously it was still working.

And what tune do you think it was playing!

Coincidence? I think not.

Can an iPod be the basis for a new Religion?

2011-08-23T11:57:00.001+10:00

Yesterday evening, whilst tidying the kitchen my husband was awash with the possibilities of a new religion.

Image from here

As the self-declared Grand Poobah of this religion he would send you a playlist to upload to your iPod. When pondering a life question you'd just press play (in random mode, obviously) and the answer would come to you through song.

Image from here

Interesting idea, huh? What songs do you think should be included on such a playlist?

Sick Days & Common Ground

2011-08-10T15:27:00.000+10:00

I have been off work this week with a yucky cold and a sore throat. Got onto the antibiotics today (for the sore throat) so should be feeling tippity-top very soon. However, taking sick days so close to parental leave has given me a lovely insight into those few weeks I'm going to have at home before this new baby arrives.

I have been enjoying sitting on the couch, watching bad daytime TV and knitting.

I'm knitting myself a cardigan - a Common Ground. It's knitting up really quickly thanks to the 12 ply Bendigo Rustic and I'm looking forward to wearing this little number really soon!

Swooning

2011-08-02T11:07:00.001+10:00

Look what arrived at my house today...

...purchased with credit card points, otherwise it would be very unlikely to be seen in my kitchen!!

It's lovely and shiny and I can't wait to test out its capabilities (once I've watched the accompanying DVD of course!!).

And on the crafting-front, I was well and truely drawn into the 40% off at Spotlight on the weekend. I bought myself some lovely wool since I've been enjoying some knitting over the last month or so. I found this wonderful 100% wool in a rainbow palette but I'm not sure what to make with it - something for Matilda, but what? Any suggestions would be gratefully received. I'm thinking maybe a Swing Thing or Tikki's Rainbow Dress.

I also had to tidy up my knitting drawer in order to fit in the new yarn and finished this vest just in time to fit Matilda. I knitted it using a free Guardian Angel knitting pattern from several years ago. I love the freebie patterns available through this Guardian Pharmacy campaign but have never found enough time to knit anything to donate.

Spontaneous Sunday Snow Trip

2011-07-24T21:14:00.000+10:00

One of the good things about living in Hobart in the winter is you can take a spontaneous trip to the snow.

Within 30 minutes of leaving the house we were trudging about on the top of Mt Wellington!

We timed our arrival perfectly - no queues up the mountain, no waiting for parking, not too many people at the top, space to enjoy the snow and the views. I think it was partly because we left home reasonably early and because it was the second weekend with snow on the mountain so the hoards had visited last weekend!

Trev had the forethought to throw the boogie board into the car before heading off and the kids enjoyed scooting around with their dad.

There has also been a lot of bike riding this weekend after finding training wheels and properly fitting helmets for both the kids. Needless to say there have been early nights and sound sleep from our little ones this weekend!

Blog Revamp

2011-07-18T12:47:00.000+10:00

After nearly 3 years of the same blog look I've decided to give it a bit of a revamp! What do you think?

Cheesy grins all around!

It was time to tart things up a bit around here since I have a couple of real-life friends recently start blogging - I have to keep up appearances (not really, there's no such thing as keeping up appearances when you're in our Mum's Group)!! If you haven't already you must check out the blogs of two of my favourite people - Sarah at Oesch & Doots and Kirstan at From Z to A!

Matching Beanies!

2011-07-11T13:21:00.000+10:00

We went to Canberra for the weekend.

Pretty good family self-portrait taken at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve

I madly knitted us all matching beanies in the lead-up (using Patons Jet and an altered Roll-brimmed Beanie by Amanda Keeys - ravelled here, here, here and here).

Family self-portrait with silly faces!

We wore them most of the weekend.

Family self-portrait with angry faces!

Yes, we're dorks!!

Wonderful Weekend

2011-06-27T17:25:00.000+10:00

I had a great weekend. Nothing happened that was amazing but it was a good two days. I think it was made better by the fact that I was a seriously cranky-pants mother on Friday and could have been seen ranting loudly at my two tantruming children at the local swimming pool at about 4pm! But none of that (or at least not too much of that) was required on the weekend thank goodness.

I managed an unaccompanied browse at Spotlight and brought some new wool for a Milo vest for Kelvin. I finished my first Milo on Friday night (using Sean Sheep wool bought at Big W - total cost about $5, for 100% Australian wool!).

Then Trev took the kids to the local football game with another family with similar aged kids. Sarah came over to my place for a chat and some crafting (but mostly chatting, and some devine lemon tarts from Hill Street). And because neither of us had plans for dinner so decided on pizzas to share and the kids had a lovely time - the girls decorated their feet and I couldn't help but snap a picture of their tootsies!

I finished a long unfinished quilt top during the week - part of the Fat Quarterly Quilt-along. I love the colours in this quilt - would be perfect for a baby girl. The colours are feminine without being too pink. I used a Moda Jellyroll but I'm not sure what the fabric line is now!

So one quilt top finished means I have my next quilt project planned. I cut this out yesterday and started sewing last night. Shh, it's a secret!!

Counting Down

2011-06-22T14:34:00.000+10:00

Well today marks three calendar months to go until our #3 baby is due to arrive - the day after Trev's birthday and the same week as my mother-in-law turns 60. So I'm sincerely hoping that this little one arrives a bit late - like both his siblings did.

And yes, I did say "his" because we found out some time ago that we're having another boy. Kelvin is happy to have a brother and Matilda doesn't mind, since Kelvin is OK and another one like him would be alright!

From here

We didn't find out the gender with the other two kids but this time around I have been feeling like doing the complete opposite of nesting and really want to declutter cupboards and get rid of outgrown clothing and toys. Knowing that this little one will not be requiring "pink or frilly" means that plenty of space will be gained through the donation of 4 years worth of "pink and frilly" to the new niece.

However, this 3 month milestone also has me thinking we need to get the cot back at our place, find where all the 000 growsuits and singlets are and think about how and where we're going to house this little man!

From here

She's older than yesterday!

2011-06-13T18:45:00.001+10:00

Happy 5th Birthday Matilda-girl!

We were really, really, really fortunate to have the most magnificently sunny winters morning to have Matilda's birthday party (with a ridiculous number of kids - note to self, just because her birthday is in the school holidays and on a public holiday does not mean you need to over-invite - I forget that families with 5 year olds don't really go away!!). Anyway, 20+ kids descended on the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens for a Carousel Party to celebrate my daughter safely surviving (and in fact thriving) the last 5 years.

And now that I have completed my study I seem to have a bit more time to go over the top with party planning! Apart from the obligatory cheesels and chips we made most of the other party food including the incredibly easy, ridiculously popular but stupidly time-consuming rainbow jelly cups.

I also attempted my own transportable version of a carousel cake using a cake stand (rather than trying to balance a massive cake on a cardboard tube on my knees in the car as suggested by the WW Kids Cake Book) surrounded by some cupcakes with cut-out carousel horses (yes, I was cutting those out at 11pm last night). I think it needed the party-goers to use their imagination a little bit - but that's meant to be good for kinder kids isn't it? The cake is a fail-safe boiled chocolate cake that can be easily adapted to be dairy-free (and works well with egg-replacer too). I'll post the recipe sometime!

We played pass the parcel and managed to wrangle the kids up to the carousel using a photo treasure hunt around the Gardens (to run off all that jelly and cake)!

And the big hit for the party was a ride on The Gallopers Carousel. I can't rave about Judy and Mark enough (they're the restorers/owners/operators of the carousel) - they were so helpful in accommodating a large group and Judy is always lovely to anyone on the ride (her day job is in childcare).

And (because this blog is all about me!!) the piece-de-resistance were the party bags which contained colouring books (thanks to the plethora of freebies images available on the internet - happy to share the pdf, just ask!!) and little boxes of pencils (thanks to Bunnings, but disguised with more carousel horses - although Trev did say the dads would have been impressed if I'd just left them as-is), and a restrained amount of lollies (I think).

Thanks to all our little friends and family for coming along and making Matilda's day so special. I think my gorgeous girl has had a lovely day and we look forward to another year of fun together!!

Oh, and the invitations we made for the party are over here!!

Grateful for ... the end!

2011-06-11T16:47:00.000+10:00

It's been 10.5 years since I started my Masters in Traffic Engineering. I have been doing this externally and it seemsm to have been forever since I started it. However, I justify the time it's taken by saying over that period I've also spent nearly three years out of the country and had 2.5 children - in fact two of my exams were completed in the middle of horrific morning sickness!

But this week, I finished my last subject - a Case Study in Transport. The result of which is an insomnia inducing report about the merits (or otherwise) of traffic calming and its impact on residential amenity!

And like Maxabella - I work best with a deadline. So the report was due in the post on Monday which meant a frantic weekend (thanks to Trev for entertaining the kids) and a 2am session on the Monday morning. It's school holidays so I was meant to be looking after Matilda on the Monday but dropped her at a friends for a "couple of hours" in the morning - this turned into more than 6 hours whilst I finalised a few bits and pieces, fixed endless paper jams in the printer and bound and posted the wretched thing! I couldn't have done it without the last minute help from K, Z & A.

Playing along with Maxabella again.

This week I'm grateful for...

2011-06-04T15:38:00.001+10:00

This will be my first time linking up to the very popular Maxabella "I'm Grateful" series!

But I woke up this morning overwhelmingly grateful for friends who are happy to send you home with some of their tea bags because they know you've run out and how difficult it is to just "pop to the shops" to replace them when you have pre-schoolers in tow!!

Image from here.

So thanks Mards - you're a legend!!

I'm desperately hoping that next week I'll be grateful for studies completed. There is an end in sight, submission required by Monday! Wish me luck!!

Carousel Party Invitations - OTT!

2011-05-29T19:28:00.002+10:00

So Matilda will soon be celebrating her 5th Birthday - my word how time has flown.

Anyway, we've decided to tempt fate and plan for and outside party at the Botanical Gardens including a carousel ride on the Gallopers Carousel - believed to be the second oldest steam powered carousel in existence!

And in typical over-the-top-I-can-make-that style I have made invitations for the party with assistance from the birthday girl.

We cut paper, we stuck paper, we cut flags from the scraps and stuck those, we've licked envelopes and found stamps and hope that not too many people will be away for the school holidays!

All paper is by Cristina Re (from Officeworks) and the font used on the invite is Boopee. The horse was a freebie off the internet with a black line drawn through the middle!

Now to stop procrastinating and finish my wretched thesis before next Monday.

Loving Rita @ Red Pepper

2011-05-21T12:21:00.000+10:00

I have been following Rita's fabulous blog (Red Pepper Quilts) since almost the beginning. She is a prolific quiltmaker and I love her quilt designs and the fabric combinations and the straight line quilting and everything!

Anyway, I was the lucky winner of a Pave the Way quilt kit (including backing and binding fabric). The Anna Maria Horner fabric is gorgeous and I'm itching to get cutting and stitching. So this will be my reward once I've finally finished my Case Study in Transport (yawn)!

I have snuck in a little bit of sewing and finished a couple of blocks for the last month of the Australasian Quilt Bee.

A Rainy Weekend in Melbourne

2011-05-17T12:31:00.000+10:00

We had a quick trip to Melbourne on the weekend to meet a new niece / cousin and play tourist!

But before that, I had 24 hours away from the kids to accompany my mum to see her old school friend perform with Andre Rieu!

We had fabulous seats, in the middle of Centre Court at Rod Laver Arena...

...and Mum got to catch up with Gary (although it was brief and the whole time he was being hounded for photos by adoring fans).

It was a great concert and we enjoyed ourselves but I really don't understand the mass-hysteria surrounding Andre. Nanna's screaming in adoration of Andre, much as a 13-year old girl might do for Justin Beiber - quite surreal!

Trev bought the kids over the following day so I managed an afternoon of shopping at one of the big DFO's and was very pleased to have found a good raincoat for Kelvin - otherwise he would have been very wet over the weekend!!

New raincoat from Kathmandu, grumpy face is models own!!

We stayed in a great hotel off St Kilda Road - can highly recommend it and if you book far anough in advance you can get great room rates. It's away from the inner city hustle and bustle, close to the Botanical Gardens should energy need to be expended by little ones, right on a busy tram line and the comfy rooms included a little kitchenette. The only thing we'd do differently next time would be avoiding the cafe at breakfast time - the business suits did not appreciate hungry hypo pre-schoolers!! Needless to say, Weetbix and milk were purchased for consumption in our room and everyone was happy.

Mirrors on the ceiling of the lift provided entertainment everytime!

We met our new niece / cousin, Maisie.

Caught lots of trams.

Went to the Zoo in the rain.

And had pasta on Lygon Street.

We also got to catch up with Pa (my Dad) but didn't really manage any decent photos!

It was a fun weekend and despite the weather I don't think we'd have done anything differently if the sun had been out. I love Melbourne as a place to visit but I also love being home and we lapped up the sunshine on Sunday once we were home.

Pedestrians!

2011-05-10T15:51:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post so you know I'm still alive! I'm reading lots of theoretical traffic engineering guff at the moment - with less than 4 weeks to get my case study finished and hopefully a Masters awarded I am head down bum up in the books.

But this I just had to share...

Pedestrians are the world's greatest 'Pythagorians' - always preferring the hypotenuse!

- Professor John Adams

From here

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T09:17:00.000+10:00

I hope the Easter Bunny left his messy magic footprints at your house...

...as well as some chocolaty treats!

We'll be overindulging on this banoffee pie after a lamb roast with the extended family at lunchtime today.

And I can't resist sharing the curious toddler footprint made this morning!!

Kids in the Kitchen for Easter

2011-04-21T22:18:00.001+10:00

I saw this post the other day and knowing the forecast for today was intermitent rain decided to stock up on supplies.

We had friends join us and we got cooking which involved spreading some jam...

...and squishing marshmallows...

...and decorating with melted chocolate and copious amounts of 100's & 1000's...

...and then the all important testing!

I can highly recommend these yummy and easy Easter Wagon Wheels for cooking with your kiddos (and I think the kids would recommend it too!).

Perhaps if your kids are over 5 they may look more like easter eggs than ours do!!

We might give these another go next year - they would make a great alternative to chocolate eggs for extended family and friends and teachers and anyone else you may include on your easter list!!

Wishing you all a Happy Easter and I hope you get to enjoy some time with your families and friends.

Fleetsuits and Unexpected Autumn Sunshine

2011-04-17T17:10:00.000+10:00

I have finished another three of these preemie nighties - now known as Fleetsuits (because they are sleep suits for Fleetwood). He is about to crack 2kg and will soon be able to fit into store bought clothing - but in the meantime he's happily clothed in his auntie-made haute couture!!

People have been asking his mum where they can buy these!! Which is a lovely compliment, but there don't seem to be enough hours in the day for everything as it is - although there is certainly the desire to one day get my act together and have a market stall or madeit.com.au shop!

After a week of solid rain it has been lovely to get outside and potter.

Whilst I was hanging out some clothes (and clearing out the backlog from the "Chinese-laundry") Kelvin discovered a bucket of rain water and played for nearly an hour with the water, an off-cut of wood, some fallen leaves and a tomato stake!!

There were whales, sharks, swimming lessons and seesaws (amongst other things) happening in his big imagination! So delightful to observe.

Tomato Love!

2011-04-09T20:16:00.000+10:00

We picked this from the garden today. I think it looks like a heart.

The kids think it looks like a bottom!!

Either way it should be pretty tasty!!

Toasties Alfresco & Premie Sewing

2011-04-07T21:01:00.000+10:00

Our Mother's Group still meet weekly after nearly 5 years. One of our staple lunches at the playground is toasties.

We cook them on the barbeque. Public barbeques are free here in Hobart which I understand (from Sarah) is not the same as Melbourne and other parts of Australia where they need to be fed with coins.

Our favourite is ham and cheese slapped between bread and cooked on both sides before cutting and serving to the hungry hoards!! Although there was salami and chees today and we have had avocado, tomato and vegemite added to the mix at various stages.

Yes, the top left corner on this bbq is the "hot spot"!!

We enjoyed another unseasonably warm Autumn day today in Hobart and loved hanging and eating with our friends.

PS. Prototype premie 000000+ kimono sleeping bag and matching hat has been finished and hopefully will be tested by my nephew who has moved from the humidicrib to a waterbed this week (and therefore into clothes)!!

Power Plant

2011-04-03T08:49:00.000+10:00

Tassie is in the middle of the Ten Days on the Island Festival.

One of the events is Power Plant. We rugged up and went last night and enjoyed exploring the Botanical Gardens after dark! Matilda was "so excited" as we walked from the car to the gates.

One of the highlights was seeing a possum trying to relax in a green illuminated pine tree whilst we were waiting to get in.

Possum not shown.

Kelvin loved the snail kaleidoscope, and Matilda loved the illuminated garden of dresses. Trev would have had aliens leaping out at visitors in the Conservatory and the flames shooting out of the Duck Pond were a highlight for us all.

Unfortunately no flash photography or tripods were allowed so I can only share my blurry massively long shutter speed photos!!

Although we had an early entry we didn't get home until 9:30pm and the kids were shattered (as was I). We'd had the forethought to change nappies in the back of the car. The kids fell asleep on the way home and were transferred to safe warm beds and slept the night away in their clothes!

And Power Plant is a travelling show, so if the show comes to a Botanical Gardens near you - think about taking the smalls, it's good fun for everyone!!

Friday Amusements

2011-04-01T14:48:00.000+11:00

Friday's round out a busy week for us. We have swimming lessons in the morning and both kids are pretty exhausted after lunch after 1.5 hours swimming at the pool. Matilda has gone from a gremlin (scared of getting her head wet) to a real mermaid and is loving duck diving for things off the bottom of the pool and swimming without floaties, or a board or a mum or a dad! Kelvin has always loved the water but today he had a go at swimming in our 'playtime' between lessons. He was popping his face in the water, kicking his feet up and gliding to me.

So after lunch, we tend to have some quiet time (and I often find myself asleep on the couch whilst the kids watch Playschool - but that's another story). However, today they haven't really wanted the TV on (which is a welcome relief from the guilt of too much TV, but also, when am I going to sneak in my afternoon snooze?). Kelvin has discovered scissors and can keep himself entertained for the best part of an hour!

He cuts the heads off paper dolls...

...makes 'feathers'...

...and a lot of mess!!

Matilda has also been loving learning her letters at school. She wrote herself a book today, about Clever Cat (the letter 'c') and another book about someone asleep (which includes some funny images of people waking up surprised and yawning)!

Productive Autumn Afternoon

2011-03-27T09:38:00.000+11:00

I managed a few hours in the sewing room yesterday.

I managed to applique some cool fabric (mainly scraps that I have been lucky enough to win in various blogland giveaways over the last year). I've had these t-shirts for more than 6 months waiting for some tizzying up - and Matilda told me that they were all pretty which I think is a good thing!

And I found some Far Far Away II fabric in my stash that arrived as part of a scrap pack purchase at Hawthorn Threads (I love these scrap packs - they're great way to get all sorts of different fabrics without having to think too hard about it. And it suits the kind of crafting that I do, making bits and bobs for kids birthday gifts, small skirts, etc).

I had two quite small pieces of fabric so decided to make a skirt very loosely based on the Oliver+S Lazy Days skirt. I ended up adding a waistband and doubled up some fabric for the hem. It's still a bit big for Matilda but that's probably not a bad thing - we were just gifted with the hugest bag of hand-me-downs and she wants to wear them all today!!

I really loved sewing with the Heather Ross linen-like fabric and it would make fabulous trousers as well! I'm tempted to get some more to play with but should probably focus on using what I have rather than buying more.

My sister-in-law was also busy yesterday! My newest nephew arrived yesterday afternoon about 8 weeks early. Both mum and baby doing well so far but it will be a while before the little guy gets home. I've been wondering whether there is anything I can make for them whilst in hospital. I was thinking it might be nice to make clothes for the baby out of some of mum and dad's old t-shirts so that the little guys still feels close to his parents whilst hanging in the humidicrib - but when do they start wearing clothes, and what size are they, and can they still smell with a nasal-gastric tube in?

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying a lazy Sunday morning!

Pre-school Paper Making!

2011-03-16T16:55:00.001+11:00

Last week our usual Mum's Group catch-up day was looking a but wet to go to a playground so we decided to have lunch at our place and make some paper!

Kelvin using the paper-making deckle in a tub of paper pulp.

Paper making is not a spontaneous activity to do with kids - you need to rip up and soak the scrap paper overnight.

Drying the paper on the windows - we'd run out of other options!!
It worked really well for a nice smooth writing surface.

And it's also a bit messy! But that's all part of the appeal I think. We made the paper with used white office paper and we added some glittery rainbow sparkles for that little extra pizzazz. And we also tried embossing some of the sheets using alphabet stamps!

Drying more sheets of paper.

And at one stage there were 10 kids under five years joining in the making!! But it was worth it - we ended up with lovely textured paper to draw on or just play with! And I had all the papermaking gear from decades ago when I made the paper for my own wedding invitations, plus Sarah bought her gear too.

And about half of our paper production - enough for a little book perhaps?

Gestating - again!

2011-03-09T22:07:00.000+11:00

Have been a bit absent around my blog lately. I have been feeling a bit lethargic of late and have barely moved from the couch once I sit down after the kids are in bed. Although I have made progress on my Tiny Tea Leaves cardigan and enjoying the return to knitting.

But I have a good excuse for my laziness (I think)!

Matilda is one very excited big sister! She's convinced that this little bubba is a boy but we'll have to wait and see. Kelvin is a blissfully unaware 2 year old but he'll be an excellent big brother - although I am a bit sad that my gorgeous placid happy little man will probably fall into the neglected middle child role very easily.

Anyway, that's my news, it's out there. Baby due in the middle of the extended family September birthday glut and could well clash with the AFL Grand Final.

Tea Leaves and Bruschetta!

2011-03-02T14:21:00.000+11:00

I have really enjoyed my last couple of weeks away from work.

I have played at being the good "school mum", walking my daughter to and from school, meeting the teacher and other parents and all that starting school involves.

I have had time to sew all the things I have promised the childcare centre (two big sheer curtains for an indoor gazebo they have) and even took a couple of the worse-for-wear dress-ups home from kinder to fix!

My sewing space is still as disorganised as when I started my holidays!! I'll get to it one of these days.

I have done lots of cooking (some of which has been described as "disgusting" by my daughter - at least Trev has appreciated it). We've visited the local farmers market for the first time and I have some yummy leeks to cook and delicious pink-eye potatoes to eat with butter and mint.

Autumn has hit Hobart in a big way - and we're only 2 days in. I really want to knit! So I've found the correct needles and am about to cast on a Tiny Tea Leaves cardigan for Matilda. And maybe enjoy a cuppa and some chocolate cake before the childcare pick-up!!

I also picked some more of our tomatoes from the garden. I'm hoping we get some more sunny weather soon, otherwise it'll be green tomato chutney central at our place!! I think Trev and I'll have some bruschetta as an entree to dinner tonight. I'm also planning on making this too (with home-grown zucchini received from a friend).

I'm So Excited.... And I Just Can't Hide It....

2011-02-22T10:43:00.000+11:00

This was Matilda this morning! She started school today. She's in kindergarten, two days a week, at the local primary school.

She wanted plaits in her hair.

I need more practice - that back-parting is atrocious!

Matilda insisted that her uniform include a dress. And that's what she wore today.

We took some pictures in the driveway...

...before walking up to the school.

There were no tears from her. There were no tears from me.

It's going to be good!

Do You Have Plans?

2011-02-18T20:35:00.000+11:00

I've taken 2 weeks leave from my part-time day job. I'm claiming it's so that I can walk my daughter up to school for her first couple of weeks - she starts kinder in 4 sleeps (she keeps telling me)! But really, I'm looking forward to having a few hours at home to myself.

I've borrowed a couple of Elizabeth Zimmerman books from the library. Worth hunting out if you're that way inclined! I'm seriously going to try and teach myself the speedy method of knitting, and knitting in the round may be just what I need to overcome my inability to sew anything together.

I've also bought some Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury wool to attempt a couple of Tea Leaves cardigans - a tiny (for Tilda) and a massive (for me). Everyone else seems to be churning these out (Kate, Tania, even the SouleMama!) - don't hold your breath waiting for mine!

I'm also going to sew lots, and tidy out the sewing room / guest room, cook delicious meals and make amazing packed lunches. I know that these are grand plans - I might just end up in the hammock, reading a good book and snoozing where necessary.

Stay tuned!

Wocka, wocka, wocka!

2011-02-12T20:51:00.000+11:00

No, it's not Fozzie Bear!

Image from here

It's the sound of our homemade cardboard box helicopters!

Generally I get really frustrated with overpackaging, however, you've got to love when you order something and the box comes in another box and you're all feeling imaginative and you have masking tape on hand and a plan comes together (including the use of the kitchen broom - we rarely sweep our floors anyway - that's why we have a dog!!).

And the Leatherman Pocket Knife I was given for my 21st Birthday still makes a mean cut (for opening doors and removing box flaps)!!

Penguin Parade

2011-02-11T14:15:00.000+11:00

Last week we had a lovely picnic at Nutgrove Beach, but it wasn't any ordinary picnic - it was a Penguin Picnic! It was one of the activities being run as part of the local Council Bushcare "Bush Kids" school holiday program.
Firstly the kids made some penguins in the shade of the pine trees, Kelvin seems pretty pleased with his little effort!

Kelvin with his penguin

And then we headed down to the beach - one of the hidden treasures of Hobart, with the most amazing views up the river toward the city.

A boat passing by!

We had our picnic before creating some sandy nests for our penguins...

A penguin lounging in its nest

And some face painting (that's a penguin in case you couldn't tell - see the little orange beak and feet)...

Penguin Matilda!

Kelvin getting in face painted.

And then we created ourselves a penguin hole and a special channel to guide them out of the river into their hole. We also lined up all the penguins for their own special penguin parade.

Our penguin parade!

Very soon after this most of the kids had their trousers off and were up to their waists in the water. A summer day in Hobart can provide some surprising moments of fun and frivolity with friends!

Camping with the Kids

2011-01-31T14:19:00.000+11:00

We went camping on the weekend.

I have no photographic evidence because my little pocket-camera has gone "kapoot" and is no longer able to zoom.

We camped at Dover - it was lovely.

In the morning we swan in the thermal pool at Hastings - also lovely.

What wasn't lovely was forgetting to take a pillow, not having enough room to sleep (TIP: two pre-schoolers do not equate to one adult therefore the three-man tent wasn't sufficiently large for us all), and Kelvin literally bouncing off the walls of the tent before going to sleep 2 hours after going to bed!

It was a learning experience. It was fun. It may be some time before we do it again!!

Demi-septuagenarianism (+ the giveaway winner)!

2011-01-26T20:49:00.000+11:00

It was my birthday yesterday. I turned 35, making me a demi-septuagenarian! Yesterday was a day like any other day. It was Tuesday, I went to work (except someone sent me lovely flowers for my birthday which I struggled to hide from my collegues), I went to singing and got home just in time to read stories before getting some dinner and crashing into bed. However, today involved a delicious chocolate cake that was lovingly made by my family, decorated in true pre-school fashion (on the sly while I was having a shower, in sugary technicolour glory) and friends came over for lunch and they sang to me - a lovely celebration of another year.
Anyway, enough about me! On to the giveaway draw.

Old fashioned, 20-names into the hat kind of draw!

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Cherrie at Willy Wagtail! One vintage sheet layer cake will be winging its way to your place very soon.

PS. For anyone who didn't win - go and try your luck over at Lila Tueller's blog, she's giving away some of her own gorgeous fabrics!

Another weekend of fun and sun!

2011-01-23T21:37:00.001+11:00

We have had a pretty cruisy weekend which started on Friday night with free tickets to the biggest event Hobart has seen for a while - the opening party for MONA (but we still haven't seen inside the museum). Apart from pottering in the garden and playing on the swingset we were invited to a celebration, have helped family move closer and generally enjoyed each others company.

Happy 2nd Birthday Oesch!

And this afternoon we went to the local Transport Museum for a wander. I think I have a couple of firefighters in training (Matilda has been doing "Stop, Drop, Rock n Roll" the newly written musical number ever since we came home).

Or perhaps Matilda could become a farmer ~~Farmer's wife~~* - she's a dab-hand on the tractor!

* It was pointed out to me that saying my daughter could only be the wife of a farmer could be a bit limiting. This was not intended, I know that my daughter can be anything that she wants and dreams of being. She has just finished telling all the boys at childcare that she can be a builder when she grows up (if she wants to)!

I also had to giggle at the Second Class Ladies compartment!

And Climax, the very large piston!!

Auctions & Giveaway

2011-01-21T14:40:00.000+11:00

I'm working full-time for the next couple of weeks so there has been little time and energy for blogging or crafting this week.

That's me at work, 6 years younger and trying to look sophistocated whilst standing on the side of the road!!

But I just wanted to pop in here to say - how amazing it is that we-bloggers-we have collectively raised $45,000 for the Queensland Flood Appeal. Again, a huge thanks goes out to Toni and Carli for getting our butts into gear.

One of my auctions still has no bidders. This photo box may not be the most exciting looking thing on the planet but my word it is useful. I have one at home and it is fabulous for safely storing photos until you get a chance to put them into albums - and to be honest, I actually have two of these on the go for our photos because I have the best intentions in the world to put my photos into albums but life seems to take over.

Anyway, a big thank you to the generous souls out there who have bid on my other two auctions - vintage sheet layer cake and EQ7 software + book.

And, for anyone still reading this - my 200 post, half-way to 70 birthday giveaway is still open so go and leave a comment for your chance to win.

Queensland Flood Appeal - Auction #3, Creative Memories Large Photo Sort Box

2011-01-16T21:51:00.002+11:00

** AUCTION NOW FINISHED**

** Winning Bid = $40 from Jeni**

** THANK YOU ALL FOR LOOKING AND PARTICIPATING **

Up for grabs is a brand new Creative Memories Large "Power Sort Box" - black in colour. Holds up to 2400 photos - organised in a way that allows you to see exactly what you have, keeping your pictures safe until you get a chance to put them into albums (and much safer for your pictures than an old shoe box)!

My apologies for the photo quality - please click on this link to see what it's all about.
Just remember, this Large Powersort Box holds twice as many photos as the Medium one (and isn't quite as pretty)!

This product is no longer for sale, however the medium box (which is half the size) has an RRP of $49. Please note, this item ships flat and requires assembly.

How this auction will work:

Bidding will start at ~~$50~~ $25 (Australian)
You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this post with your bid amount and email address. Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.
Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
This auction is open to everyone. Postage is FREE for Australian residents. International people - you will be charged for the cost (parcel and stamps) to post to International addresses.
The auction begins as soon as it is posted and will END at ~~midnight~~ 9pm on Monday 24th January 2011.
At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address). The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email. Once proof of payment (and international postage if applicable) has been received, I will post your goodies to you.
Thankyou for participating and happy bidding!

A HUGE THANK YOU TO TONI FOR COORDINATING THESE AUCTIONS!

Queensland Flood Appeal - Auction #2, EQ7 Software + Baby Quilt Book

2011-01-16T21:39:00.003+11:00

** AUCTION NOW FINISHED **

** Winning Bid = $155 **

** Congratulations to SEW HAPPY JAN from Queensland **
** I need you to contact me please !! **

** THANK YOU ALL FOR PARTICIPATING **

You will be bidding on a brand new copy of the Electric Quilt 7 software to help you design your own quilts! Minimum system requirements Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit), internet access, 750MB of available hard-disk space, CD-ROM drive.
I'll also throw in a copy of Cherished Quilts for Babies and Kids.

RRP $190 for EQ7 + $30 for book = $220!

How this auction will work:

Bidding will start at $150 (Australian)
You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this post with your bid amount and email address. Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.
Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
This auction is open to everyone. Postage is FREE for Australian residents. International people - you will be charged for the cost (parcel and stamps) to post to International addresses.
The auction begins as soon as it is posted and will END at ~~midnight~~ 9pm on Monday 24th January 2011.
At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address). The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email. Once proof of payment (and international postage if applicable) has been received, I will post your goodies to you.
Thankyou for participating and happy bidding!

A HUGE THANK YOU TO TONI FOR COORDINATING THESE AUCTIONS!

Queensland Flood Relief - Auction #1, Vintage Sheet Layer Cake

2011-01-16T21:26:00.002+11:00

** AUCTION NOW FINISHED**
** Winning Bid = $60, Congratulations Angela**

** THANK YOU ALL FOR PARTICIPATING **

Up for grabs is a "layer cake" (or 40 different fabrics cut to 10" x 10"). There are 40 different fabric prints in this pack - hand cut from vintage, retro or nanna sheets. Sheets have been laundered and are cotton or a polycotton blend.

How this auction will work:

1. Bidding will start at $20 (Australian).

2. You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this post with your bid amount and email address. Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.

3. Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.

4. This auction is open to everyone. Postage is FREE for Australian residents. International people - you will be charged for the cost (parcel and stamps) to post to International addresses.

5. The auction begins as soon as it is posted and will END at ~~midnight~~ 9pm on Monday 24th January 2011.

6. At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address). The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email. Once proof of payment (and international postage if applicable) has been received, I will post your goodies to you.

7. Thankyou for participating and happy bidding!

A HUGE THANK YOU TO TONI FOR COORDINATING THESE AUCTIONS!

Auction for Queensland Flood Relief

2011-01-12T21:42:00.000+11:00

I can't begin to imagine what people are feeling in Queensland tonight - nature is amazing and water can be so destructive. I've decided to join in with the auctions to raise funds for flood relief in Queensland. Toni and her sister are doing an amazing job coordinating these auctions of handmade items with a masterlist being posted on Monday 17 January 2011.

I'm planning to put together a few bits and pieces - some things handmade, maybe some scrapbooking supplies, a quilting book, and I think I'll even put together a second vintage sheet layer cake (the same as the one you can win in my 201 post giveaway)!

So check back here on Sunday which is when I plan to start my auction(s).

201 Posts = Giveaway!

2011-01-09T12:09:00.000+11:00

I'm finally up to 200 posts which means it's time for a giveaway. Thanks to everyone who has visited my little part of the blogasphere over the last couple of years! This blog is really my indulgence - I record details of my crafting which is really something that not many people in my "real life" know about and share some of the silliness that is my family!! For me this blog is a way to connect with likeminded people at a time and place that is conveninent (which is great with pre-school aged children - couldn't get out of the house after 7pm to attend a knitting or sewing get-together).

And I'm going to cut into my vintage sheet stash and make up a "layer cake" to share! Just like the Moda layer cake, there will be 40 fabrics, cut to 10 inch squares - more authentic than Dream On! I'm yet to see whether I have 40 different sheets so the layer cake may double up with the prints! I'll probably throw in some other bits and bobs as well!

Dream On by Urban Chiks for Moda (this is not what I'm giving away - my layer cake will be better!!)

So to be in with a chance to win all you need to do is to leave a comment on this post - perhaps tell me what you're looking forward to most in 2011. I'll leave comments open until my birthday (Tuesday 25 January) and draw on Australia (Wednesday 26 January). Open to anyone, worldwide.

Thanks again for dropping by!

Goals for 2011

2011-01-03T21:44:00.000+11:00

"Jo and Eady" Artbike rack at Salamanca Square, by K. Betlehem

Three days into the New Year and I've decided to list my goals for 2011!

Artbike Racks at Salamanca Square, by K. Betlehem

Do more exercise, drink more water and lose a couple of kilos
Finish my Masters (in Traffic Engineering) - likely completion Jun 2011
Have a market stall at a handmade market around Hobart (once I've finished my Masters)
Have more fun and enjoy my children more
Make more, buy less

Artbike Racks at Salamanca Square, by K. Betlehem

Tomorrow it's back to work. It's been a lovely few summer days potering in the garden and catching up with people from far and wide!

Artbike Racks at Salamanca Square, by K. Betlehem

Summer Holidays!

2010-12-30T23:03:00.000+11:00

We had a great Christmas - lots of practice on the Rip Stik (renamed the Swizzle Stick by us)!

There was also some post lunch, pre-dessert cricket in the backyard too.

We headed up to Devonport for a night to catch up with my family and I forget what a beautiful part of the world my hometown is.

Running around my great-aunts amazing back garden.

Rock-hopping at The Bluff and poking sea anemone in the rock pools.

And then a night camping in the backyard at my brothers new home in Launceston and loving his indoor in-ground swimming pool. My boy is definitely a waterbaby!!

Wishing you all the best for a Happy New Year - look forward to reading all about it in a few days!

Peek-a-boo Bags For All!

2010-12-23T23:08:00.000+11:00

So I'm totally addicted to making these peek-a-boo bags! Toni has a great tutorial over on her blog if you want to make a little bag to store all those Mr Potatohead pieces or the Duplo blocks or your Barbie and her gear (I'm going to be making another stack of these for my kids - but not before Christmas)!

Here's one for a friends little boy (old mattress cover for the lining and "Truck Stop" for the outer).

One for D who is going to be a train driver (if he's unable to find work as a cowboy). Again, an old mattress cover for the lining and the outer has concentric trains on it!

This would be my favourite! For R, made from retro pillowcase (my brother had the same sheet set growing up) and the mattress cover for lining.

For little A, outer fabric from Spotlight and the lining was an oppie find.

For Z, outer is Freebird by MoMo and the lining is an old pillowcase.

Another of my favourites, for G with bubushkas for the outer and a retro sheet cut up for lining.

For R, random red bird quilting cotton and an old pillowcase for lining.

And for J, robot quilting cotton and retro pillowcase for lining.

And for little G, some chambray from my stash and more "Truck Stop" for the outer but in a different colourway!

I have also made two others for the bigger cousins! So that makes 11 to date and I have a few more cut out for sewing at my leisure after Christmas - including a couple in Christmas fabrics to help store the decorations when they eventually come down.

I love how great this project is for using all those odd bits of fabric you buy but have no plans for. I also love how great the retro sheeting looks as lining but have been chuckling to myself that I'm cutting up perfectly good pillowcases to make something that is essentially a lined pillowcase with a window on it!

Merry Christmas to anyone who's read this far! I hope that you get all your making done at a reasonable hour, manage a good few hours of sleep and enjoy the delight of having family around you.

DIY Santa Snacks in a Jar

2010-12-21T19:35:00.000+11:00

Look what I've been making!

Gif animation maker

I used a recipe from Bakerella for Cowboy Cookies in a jar and bought the Crispy Peppermint M&M's so they look rather festive. I also made some labels which I'm happy to share with anyone who might be interested (just email me)! And then I made about 15 of these for various childcarers and teachers in our lives.

I also had one of those lovely moments when I went to buy these 1 litre jars. The wholesale jar shop would only sell orders of over $50 but there was another guy there wanting to buy some beer bottles so we combined our order and everyone was happy! I love a happy coincident.

Flower Sugar Giveaway @ Retromummy

2010-12-20T10:58:00.000+11:00

So I'm posting about this giveaway so that you can have a chance to enter too.

Corrie over at Retromummy is giving two people the chance to win a fat quarter bundle of the new Flower Sugar fabrics - click on over to have a chance to win yourself!

And this will be my 196th post so I will be having a giveaway of my own in the New Year - keep an eye out!!

I have been busy beavering away at my sewing machine for the last few weeks but can't reveal anything just yet for fear of spoiling the surprise!! Hope all your Christmas preparations are coming along - only 5 sleeps to go!

Are you the Lenah Valley Yarn Bomber?

2010-12-13T22:10:00.005+11:00

Because we'd like to say thanks for the joy you bring us every day. For the ladybirds, and rainbows, and flowers and for our monster postbox!

We'd especially like the thank you for the little surprise we woke up to this morning.

We love having our own little ladybird, sitting next to our letter box, right outside our front door!

How did you know?

My Happy List

2010-12-13T09:57:00.004+11:00

Kate has written her Happy List and then Sarah wrote hers and I've been thinking about mine all weekend! So here it is!

My silly family!
Kelvin's giggles when he's tickled or scared/excited or just plain funny.
Matilda's singing all day and night (with vibrato and all).
"All the Sing-a-lets, all the sing-a-lets, take out you're lets!" (sung to the tune of "All the Single Ladies"), picked up from childcare!
Having lovely friends we can hang out with, rely on, have fun with, plan our futures together, miss when we don't see them.
The wind down of activities ready for relaxed summer.
Sewing things that magically have all their seams hidden and look great.
Having time and space to spread out and sew (and a husband who tolerates the mess whilst it happens).
My placid, gentle, happy dog who spreads her affections far and wide, and a sister-in-law and mum who let her sleep on their bed when they stay!
The delight that comes when you make a wonderful op-shop discovery (and the horror on the faces around you when you say you're going to cut it up to make something else!).
Nice non-work related surprises on my desk when I get to work.
A great hair cut!
Nutting something out - like what to do my thesis on next year!
Our new Christmas lights.
Jokes with my collegues.
Turning off the TV and listening to music instead (and dancing around like silly duffers when the right song comes on)!
Singing with a great bunch of women, every week, without the kids, in my own head space, and coming away feeling lighter and recharged because of it.
Giving a handmade gift and people not believing you made it yourself!!
An unexpected sleep in.
Pottering in the garden.
The few moments of peace I get when I'm hanging out my washing.
Knowing that there is a world full of people who I can connect with and relate to because of blogging.
The fact we call farts "noisy bottoms" at our house and that Kelvin thinks pretend farts are hilarious.
The Amazing Race.
Having so many things to be ahppy about that I don't really know where to stop!

If you want to have a go of this yourself then please head over to Kate's blog and join her linky list!

Last Minute Advent Calendar

2010-12-01T19:40:00.006+11:00

So I've done it again. I seriously need to remember that November DOES NOT have 31 days in it! And I shouldn't leave my advent calendar making until the late night of November 30.

I think I've managed to make a pretty cool calendar this year - thanks to some inspiration from the Kids Craft Weekly newsletter.

First I dragged out all my freebie Christmas paper from years of subscribing to Better Homes & Gardens magazines. I cut them into 6" squares and made origami cups using an online tutorial. They're very easy to make once you get into the swing of things. And then I wrote on the numbers and used a hole punch and some curling ribbon to make handles.

The I grabbed some pegs off the clothes line and hang these up along one of the steel beams in our living area. I was debating hanging them on the Christmas tree but that would be too easy!!

And the kids seemed pretty happy with it when they woke up this morning (although Kelvin thought they were boats, but that's OK)!

Cover your Guitar Strap

2010-11-26T15:37:00.002+11:00

Well Christmas is very quickly sneaking up on us. All our regular classes are finishing and I haven't really had a chance to make any "thank you" presents for the teachers (which is what I had planned to do). However, I saw a great tutorial via the Sew Mama Sew! blog for a guitar strap cover which would be perfect for the front woman of the choir I sing in.

So I made one - in the choir colours of pink and black. I think it's great - I hope she does too!!

Things I'm Loving!

2010-11-18T07:28:00.002+11:00

- Fresh white bread from the bakery, sliced thick at home and toasted with scrapings of vegemite!

- Lior's new album, Tumbling Into the Dawn. The whole family are espcially loving the second track "I thought I coud sing on my own" when driving around in the car!!

- Being called clever and cool by my 4 year old. I'm enjoying it while it lasts because I'm sure once she starts school she'll realise that I'm certainly not cool and not as clever as her!!

- Brown paper packages tied up with string (thanks to the sharing of interesting fact that involved stinky vulture legs)! And the contents of the package are devine - head over to Myrtle & Eunice to get your hands on your own amazing tea towel and beautiful cards!

- And I'm especially loving some of the giveaways out there in blogland! Corrie at Retromummy and Judy at Green Fairy Quilts are both having generous fabric giveaways - hop over there and enter yourself (or not, improvem my chances of winning)!! Both these superwomen have newborns and are still managing to host giveaways - amazing!

Mister Maker Inspiration

2010-11-13T18:06:00.005+11:00

I'm not sure about your kids but mine adore Mister Maker on ABC Kids. And the last few episodes I've seen he's been using "sticky backed plastic" (aka Contact) to make stuff!

So I have been trying to organise my fabric scraps using and found a method which makes sense to me - over here! And as a result there were lots of useless offcuts in a pile on the table, some sticky-backed plastic in the spare room and a pre-schooler to entertain. As they say, the plan came together!!

You put the Contact sticky-side up and stick fabric, paper, cellophane, glitter, stars, etc onto the paper in a random fashion.

Then you cover it over with a second piece of Contact for a stained glass effect.

I think these might be a great basis for our handmade Christmas cards this year - either stitched onto cardstock or maybe stick inside a card frame.

I think Matilda enjoyed herself (and I did as well because I've achieved a lot of scrap management) - WIN WIN!!

What are you knitting?

2010-11-11T14:55:00.002+11:00

I don't know!!

I've joined in Georgie's Mystery Knitalong and am loving it and can't wait until the next clue is released on Saturday! I'm knitting Fratello for Kelvin (in the blue) and Sorello for Matilda (in the pink) and really enjoying my first attempt at seamless knitting - this could be my saviour since I detest sewing my knitting together!!

Photos by the Kids

2010-11-05T15:59:00.004+11:00

Matilda has a kids camera and I've just downloaded the pictures and there were a few that I thought would make some prefect animations (now that I know how, and it's slightly addictive)!

Gif animation creator

You can join in here!

Ham & Zucchini Risotto

2010-11-04T21:26:00.005+11:00

We made this risotto for the first time the other night and it was yummy and very easy! The recipe has been cut from a magazine but I'm not sure which one!!

You need...

1 leek (white part only), sliced

1 tsp minced garlic

2 celery sticks sliced

200g ham, chopped

2 cups aborio rice

3.5 cups water

3.5 tsp chicken stock powder

375ml evaporated milk

3 small zucchini, sliced

1 cup frozen peas (we omitted these)

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

You do...

- Heat a little oil in a large saucepan and cook leek, garlic, celery and ham over medium heat for 3 to 5 mintues or until leek is soft. Add rice and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until rice is coated.

- Add stock powder, water and evaporated milk and bring to the boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minnutes or until the rice is soft. Add the zucchini (and peas if you're using them) and cook for a further 5 minutes.

- Remove from heat and stir through parsley, cheese and some black ground pepper (to taste).

- Eat it (with 5 of your friends because it serves 6)!

Go check out other Easy Peasy Dinner Winners over here.

Blogtoberfest is over (and there is a winner)!

2010-10-31T21:42:00.004+11:00

Blogtoberfest has made me realise I'm never really going to have something new and exciting to say here everyday! I'm never going to be a daily blogger. But I have enjoyed trying to find something exciting and interesting to say (and I think I only missed one day) - so that's 30 posts in 31 days which is a pretty good result I think!

Anyway, without further ado - I did the random generator thingo and came up with comment 43 which belongs to Naomi at Beeshebags. Naomi had a pair of white ankle boots that she wore to death and still wishes she had!

Everyone seems to have some fabulous memories of clothing from childhood - many of you had boy-short haircuts like me in the 80's, or fabulous outfits handmade for you by your mum or grandma. Some of you liked the matching outfits - others of you didn't! So funny reading all your responses.

And to prove that I have actually been doing stuff other than blogging this month - here's my latest bee block. It's the most complicated quilt block I've ever attempted! I call it Geese Flying through a Spotted Technicolour Sky!!

Anyway, here's to the end of another Blogtoberfest. Cheers!

Lazy Saturday

2010-10-30T20:11:00.005+11:00

It's your last chance to enter my Blogtoberfest giveaway (being drawn tomorrow) - click over here!

This is the penultimate post for Blogtober and I've really run out of things to say. I think a lot of others have gone through the same thing, and I've been too busy blogging to have anything new to blog about!!

Although today has been one of those days - a busy morning with swimming, soccor and a birthday party but this afternoon seemed to be free! Matilda went next door to play and Kelvin went into the garden with Trev so I've been pottering at the sewing machine. Sewing together blocks for a baby quilt, finishing off some dresses and measuring some massive muslin wraps to hem for some soon to arrive babies.

And then dinner was fish and chips with the neighbours! Easy.

So I hope you haven't run out of things to say (like I have)! I have been enjoying the challenge of trying to find something to blog about everyday but short of ditching my day job and my kids I don't think I'm ever going to find the time (and the day-to-day of my life really isn't that interesting!!).

Bandana Day (and Animation Friday)

2010-10-29T17:24:00.005+11:00

So CurlyPops has been doing Animation Friday for quite a while now and I've been wondering how to create these and thanks to The Textured Leaf I have discovered my next time waster!!

Animated gif maker

So click here to waste so time (and have fun animating your family)!

And Trev bought a couple of Canteen Bandana's today and the kids decided they looked like pirates! What do you think?

Animated gif maker

To see more animations go to My Poppet!

Kids on the Computer

2010-10-28T22:04:00.003+11:00

Just before Kelvin was born Trev decided to show Matilda how to use the computer. I wasn't that keen on the computer lessons at the time (she was barely 2 years old) but it seems to be something she enjoys. She can learn new games and new things at her own pace. Games like Memory, dot-to-dots and jigsaws are all things that she likes on paper but also enjoys on the computer. She has also found some great drawing, colouring and music games that she enjoys.

Now, two years on she's a real wizz and seems keen to pass on her knowledge to her little brother!

We started out on the ABC Kids website and she particularly loved the games and videos on the Play School site and the Five Minutes More site and they were always very easy to navigate.

So what makes a good kids website? It has to be easy to navigate - not too much reading required (although there are still some words on the page), easy to click around (no clicking, holding down and dragging). The whole game should fit onto one screen (so there's no need to scroll up and down). If all these boxes are ticked then Matilda can be pretty independent playing on the computer whilst I'm pottering around her. She oftens plays whilst I'm cooking dinner and we keep the laptop on the breakfast bar so I'm right there to make sure she doesn't accidentally stray from the "safe" site.

Anyway, over the last couple of years we have started to explore other kids games sites apart from ABC. Matilda went through a masive Peppa Pig phase so we checked out that site and it's good fun - especially the mazes.

Much more recently we got into Poko and discovered the joys (and ease) of the C(anadian)BC kids website. Many of the programs are shown here in Australian and the site is so straight forward that Matilda is able to click from one game to another when she gets bored playing the games she's on.

We have tried playing Thomas the Tank Engine but I need to be hovering the whole time and everyone know how frustrating it is watching someone else drive the computer! This is the same issue we have with Angelina Ballerina and even The Wiggles sites.

So I'm interested to know if other people have computer savvy pre-schoolers (or is it just me)? Do your kids play on the computer?

The State Cinema

2010-10-28T08:24:00.005+11:00

This is a Blogtoberfest catch up post from yesterday. Instead of blogging I went to the cinema - for the first time in at least 6 months!!

The State Cinema in North Hobart is a fabulous independent cinema. There is a great cafe in the foyer so we got down there early and grabbed a slice of berry cheesecake (for Trev) and a slice of jaffa mousse cake (for me) as well as a cup of tea! Normally we'd get a glass of wine to take into the movie but it was a school night so we decided against it.

We went to see Eat, Pray, Love. It was alright, if not a bit of a self-absorbed movie (but it was based on a biography so I suppose that was what it was supposed to be). We both enoyed the "eat" part of the film, but the "pray" part seemed to go on a bit, and the "love" bit was OK (we were just hoping that the finale didn't involve a return to New York)! It was great to go to the pictures and this film was OK, with some great scenery and an enjoyable enough story.

What did I learn from the movie? If I was going to run away from my life I'd go to Italy!!

2010-10-26T21:59:00.001+11:00

I scheduled a post for today but it's ended up going up dated last Thursday - it's here if you're really keen!! It's also delicious!

Hawaii Photos - Only 6 months late!

2010-10-25T20:55:00.006+11:00

Can anyone remember the dress that I made for Matilda? Well I promised photos from the wedding and some from our Hawaiian holiday - I'm only 6 months late in sharing!!

We spent nearly 3 weeks in Hawaii - prompted by the last of my 3 sister's-in-law getting married.

We flew into Honolulu and stayed at Waikiki for a few nights - we wished we'd stayed a bit longer. The hotel was right on the waterfront, near the toddler beach and had good eating and entertainment within walking distance. It was the only time we didn't really need a car to get around which is nice when you have kids!

We then headed to Kauai where the wedding was taking place.

The Hen's Night was an afternoon whale watching. The bride-to-be and her sister enjoyed their time and I'm banned from sharing photos from latter in the evening - it involved blue feather boas, blue knickers and a mullety blue wig too!
And the wedding was perfect, on the beach and the sunset was perfect too. The bride wore a gorgeous English gown with some amazing shell-like beading on the top and a floaty overskirt and train. Matilda thought it was great hanging out with her aunty in the white frock and sat on her lap during most of the reception!!
And our family don't scrub up too badly either!!

And the few days after the wedding were spent on the beaches and swimming lots in the pool too.
And lastly we headed to The Big Island for nearly a week. We saw volcanos, more beaches and did lots of swimming.

It was a challenge taking two young kids to Hawaii and with travel there are always things thrown at you to mess up the best laid plans! We missed an internal flight and ended up on a standby list for half the day, and we also ended up having to spend a night in Sydney because of a missed connection back to Hobart which was very challenging after a 10+ hour flight!

The wedding was fabulous. Hawaii is pretty kid friendly. It's a great beach holiday location (although a bit on the pricey side when compared to Fiji, Bali etc). We had fun!!

Powder Your Nose!

2010-10-24T20:50:00.004+11:00

Matilda got a little butterfly-shaped compact containing eyeshadow powder, along with some hair accessories at The Show yesterday.

She decided it needed to be applied to every inch of her face!

At least there's not much left so this can only happen a few more times before it's all used up. Thank goodness!

Matilda, you are 4 (not 14) and gorgeous without all that goo all over your face - you don't need to grow up so fast!!

Two days outside and the kids are shattered!

2010-10-23T19:49:00.005+11:00

We've had two beautiful sunny days in Hobart and we've been pretty busy with it. So much so that Kelvin fell asleep on Trev's lap tonight (this is the kids who will not go to sleep in his big boy bed without me laid beside him).

Anyway, last night we decided to hit the "sandy playground" with some friends and have pizza for tea (and a sneeky beer) in the sultry psuedo-summer evening! It was surprisingly quiet at this very, very popular playground on such a lovely evening but it meant that our tribe of 6 kids under 5 could explore freely and feel like they ruled the place!

Captaining the stationary boat!

Singing songs from "Annie" at the top of your lungs whilst playing the bongos!

Getting ready to launch down the fireman's pole.

And climbing up the slide when you know you're not really meant to!

It was one of the best evenings we've had in a long time - spent outside with some of our wonderful friends, the people our kids are going to grow up with. I feel like I have been really lucky with my Mother's Group - the mum's are all intelligent, caring and fun people to be around; married to gentle-giant men; raising and ecclectic bunch of beautiful, funny, energetic and challenging children. As a female engineer I have often missed out on developing close female friendships within the workplace, and I didn't really go in for the bitchy-cliche that was girls at high school so although I sometimes feel I come across as awkward and incensitive with my Mum's Group friends I also feel like they "get" me - which is great, and I'm grateful!

Yes, that is Kelvin deliberately falling off the merry-go-round!

And today after swimming lessons for Tilda and soccor for Kelvin we pottered in the garden before deciding on the spur of the moment to go to the Royal Hobart Show. We didn't get there until about 3pm but we managed to avoid the show bags, pat some animals (which Kelvin adored, Matilda was a bit timid) and have a ride on the dodgem cars. Walking through the dog pavillion we were handed two inflatable dogs on wheels because they couldn't be bothered deflating them to pack away.

Mini-amputees!

2010-10-22T13:58:00.002+11:00

Apparently Daddy chopped off their feet with a sword!!

Kelvin looking a bit sick of the paparazzi!

And now they both look like they have a visual impairment as well as a lower limb missing!!

It's lovely playing in the sandpit on the deck in the sunshine!

Pesto Pasta Salad

2010-10-21T19:22:00.001+11:00

With the arrival of the sunshiny weather we have been eating outside a bit more. And that means easy meals and lots more salady stuff!

We tried this new Pesto Pasta Salad the other day and it was delicious. It reminds me of the Marks & Spencers Salad I would regularly eat for lunch when we were living in the UK all those years ago!
Cook 500g curly pasta, stir through a jar of green pesto (we used the Leggo's one - or you could make your own). Then tip on a 200g punnet of cherry tomatos and crumble on some fetta and eat it up (accompanied by a glass of cold white wine). We ate it warm but the recipe suggested letting the pasta cool down before assembling the dish - we couldn't wait that long!!

My kids liked the pasta and dodged the tomatos and cheese. But I don't let that stop me cooking things I like to eat!!Go and check out more Easy Peasy Dinner Winners over at Frog, Goose & Bear!

Jeans for 4 and into the Garden

2010-10-21T18:58:00.006+11:00

It was Hobart Show Day today so none of our usual rushing about the place and Dad was home too! So after a slow start we all pulled on our jeans and headed into our back garden to try and control the weeds, prepare a place for a swing set arriving for Christmas and to plant some pumpkins (hopefully to grow uncontrolled and smother the weeds at the bottom of the hill)!!

(That's the pumpkin patch covered in pea straw and you can see our quite pleasant purple flowered weeds that have taken over)

The kids split their time between the garden and the hammock. The dog enjoyed having everyone outside with her!

And after dinner on the deck I was mezmerised by the blue sky and the fluffy clouds!

And tomorrow will see everything back to the normal busy-ness.

More Op-shop Goodness

2010-10-20T19:37:00.008+11:00

Yes, I missed yesterday in Blogtoberfest but I had nothing to say and the computer was really slow and I was watching Packed to the Rafters!

Anyway, I had a fabulous day at a couple of the op shops near my work today! Got an absolute mass of stuff and change from $20 - I love a good op shop day.

Anyway I ended up with some music books...

A green heart sheet and some other fabrics...

And the very best Atlas from 1961!

And if you can guess which item cost me the most and how much I paid for it I'll send you some of my favourite chocolate truffles from Anvers! First correct is the winner. If there are no correct answers by Monday 25 October then the winner will be the closest to the price paid! I'll post this overseas but can't guarantee that they won't be melted in transit - they'll still taste good though!

If you haven't yet, please enter my other Blogtoberfest giveaway here!

EDITED: This giveaway closed. Correct answer was The Atlas for $6.50, and Teresa guessed it correctly!! The Heart Sheet was the best bargain at $2.50 and everything else was a dollar or less! Thanks for joining in. Blogtoberfest Giveaway still open until next week.

Move along, nothing to see here!

2010-10-18T22:07:00.003+11:00

It's been a long day - thanks to a very longwinded meeting that didn't start until 6pm. I've been home for an hour, the kids are finally in bed and I've had dinner, am in my pj's and enjoying my evening cuppa accompanied by one of these...

...and one of these!

Solo parenting is hard work - hats off to those of you doing it fulltime! And big thanks to Granma's who can pick up the slack while Dad is away.

Big Boy Bed!

2010-10-17T20:57:00.005+11:00

We decided to move Kelvin into a big boys bed.

At bedtime he's been running down the stairs in order to beat Matilda into her bed, where he promptly jumps under the covers and lies down and says "my bed"!

He was very excited. Matilda was also very excited.

Anyway, we got the disused single bed from my mother-in-law's place and set it up today and tonight we tried to get him to sleep in it. The doona cover is a great op-shop find (I love it, so does Kelvin).

It's 9:20pm and I think he may have finally dozed off (after I lay with him for a bit). He's been upstairs about 5 times since bedtime. He is so different to his sister who didn't realise she could get out of her bed until about 12 months after she moved into it - preferring to yell out in the evening and over night for mum or dad to do her bidding!! Matilda didn't sleep at all well in a cot and was into a big girls bed at 23 months and her sleeping and settling improved.

Speaking of Matilda - what about this face? Ask her to smile and this is what I get!!

Right Place, Right Time!

2010-10-16T11:59:00.005+11:00

It's been a great Saturday morning. Matilda had her swimming lesson this morning and was being pushed a bit more than usual! This was thanks to me becoming one of "those" parents - swimming this term has really, really bothered me for some reason. I decided that after one year of swimming lessons (30 classes and $450) she should be able to swim, even just a little bit. I know she's only 4 but she also a bit lazy when it comes to extending herself - so I rang the pool to see what could be done. I was thinking I'd have to pay for some private lessons or withdraw altogether (and go swimming with her myself) but they were fabulous and said there was an extra instructor and that they'd split the beginners class so there was more one on one time for everyone. Anyway, I feel like a weight has lifted - but it makes me wonder how I'll be once Matilda gets to school - will I have unrealistic expectations of her abilities? Will I become one of "those" parents, and is that a bad thing? Anyway, we'll see how it goes next year when she starts kinder!!

So after swimming, we went and had cino's all 'round with Sarah and Doots and then wandered over the road to The Quilted Crow to fondle the fabric before heading home. Anyway, both Sarah and I made purchases and then Leonie very generously gave the girls everything from her scrap bucket and then said she had some unwanted samples out the back if they'd like them. Well the scraps were generally fabulous fabrics (with a couple of daggy fabrics too) - is it bad that I want to hide a couple of the nicer fabrics to use for myself?

I was thinking we might be able to make some Cabbage Patch clothes from the samples but instead we decided to make a wreath with the thin scraps.

We cut the strips to about 10cm lengths (measured by wrapping them around the cereal box cardboard), stretched a wire coat hanger to resemble a circle and then tied the strips on the coat hanger. A lot of the scraps we ended up with were off-cuts from the Riley Blake Rainy Days & Mondays fabric line so look quite Chrismassy with all that red and green - now to work out how to hang it to our front door in December!!

1960's Love!

2010-10-15T13:07:00.005+11:00

Look what I found at the op-shop today!

I'm particularly taken by the first one - I can imagine wearing View B (in the middle) to work over the summer. I just hope I don't have to go playing in traffic although that is one of the hazards of my job as an engineer - when I first started work I had been sitting at a desk for about 3 weeks and decided it was safe to wear a summer frock to work, only to be given the opportunity to inspect the Tasman Bridge (which involved a short boat ride and climbing one of the columns).

Fortunately there was a one-size fits all pair of overalls available (which were massive on me - but I rolled up the arms and legs and resembled a flying fox!) and we were on our way!

Anyway, I digress...

I also found some great bits of stretch ribbing in plenty of bright colours - perfect for sewing up some more Lil Blue Boo hoodies and dresses!

And if you haven't entered my Blogtoberfest giveaway yet (and don't panic, I'm not drawing it until the 31st) - go here!

The kids books I love!

2010-10-14T20:47:00.009+11:00

I've always loved kids books - even before I had kids of my own I used to browse the childrens book section in book stores. I love the pictures, I love the words and I love the sentiment.

Since having kids and hanging out at the library I have also discovered that there are a lot of really bad kids books out there. Bad pictures, awful words and no story line - they are inane, and boring and why would they get published?

Also since having kids I have discovered some fabulous books that I love (and the kids love too).

Firstly, Moo Baa La La La! by Sandra Boynton. This is such a great book to read aloud and the pictures are simple and fun. And for both my kids, it has been the first book that we can read aloud together - I do the words and they do the sounds. It is also one of those books I keep "in stock" in my present drawer for first born babies as a welcome to the world book or for their first Christmas.

I also love to read aloud any of Linley Dodd's books. We have most of the Hairy Maclary/Scarface Claw books but Slinky Malinki Catflaps is my favourite. I love making the cat fighting noises, I love being the grumpy neighbours and I love the wood heater that Slinky curls up in front of! And I think the kids quite like this book too (although maybe not as much as I do).
Another book that the kids have both loved is Penny Dale's Ten in the Bed. We borrowed from the library for Matilda and I had to renew the loan about 6 times and only returned it once I'd bought a copy for her 2nd Birthday! This another book that is fun to sing to the kids and I love doing a really, really, really loud CRASH for when Nellie (because elephants make a lot of noise when they fall out of bed). This is fast becoming one of Kelvin's favourites - it must be a 2 year old thing!

Tree Ring Circus by Adam Rex is another book I love because of the elephants!! And the pictures in this book are amazing. Basically the elephant makes 33 creatures in this tree and the tree crashes to the ground. Ever since we started reading this book that is Matilda's explaination for any fallen tree we walk past - OOOOO, elephants!!

Kelvin was given a copy of The Gruffalo last Christmas which is a great book and Julia Donaldson creates some wonderful rhymes (one of my faves being "Alright" said the Gruffalo, bursting with laughter, "you go ahead and I'll follow after."). But I really like Room on the Broom. I grew up on a staple reading diet of Meg and Mog books so perhaps I have a soft spot for any broom-riding lady in a pointy hat. But Room on the Broom has a great dragon who decides he feels like witch and chips for his tea - how could you not love it!! And in the end the witch creates herself the most amazing deluxe broom with armchairs for herself, the dog and the cat plus some special accommodation for the frog and the bird!

And my absolute favourite book is Pearl Barley & Charlie Parsley by Aaron Blabey. It is such a lovely, lovely, lovely book. And I think I love this book because I feel like Charlie is the author and Pearl is his wife. The pictures are gorgeous and I love reading it. This also doesn't seem to be a particularly well known book so I like to give this to little girls I know when they turn 3! If you're familiar with Henry & Amy by Stephen Michael King - it's a bit I think it's so much better, sweeter, more lovely. It's a great book!!
And the book we're enjoying at the moment is The Fly by Gusti. We borrowed it from the library and it's been a pleasant surprise (because the library bag can be a real jackpot). Lets just say it has graphic pictures and involves toilet humour which suits my 4 year old. It's good fun!

Oh, and if you haven't seen The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith yet (or heard the song) you're missing out! This is our "Break in Case of Emergency" CD in the car!! Clever humour, fun pictures and stick-in-your-head-in-the-middle-of-the-night song - you can't go wrong.
So do you have any favourite childrens books that you've discovered (or rediscovered) recently?

Blogtober Self-Portrait

2010-10-13T21:59:00.003+11:00

So this was a family self-portrait taken a few months back on a visit to the Botanical Gardens.

It's a bit better than the picture you'd see of me now. On the couch, in my pj's, ready for bed!!

Good night to you all!!

La, La, La, La, La!

2010-10-12T20:56:00.002+11:00

After more than 6 months away I went back to singing today!

I joined a new Women's Choir in March 2009, as a way to get out of the house and away from my little children for a few hours. It was fabulous and I loved the other women, and the choir master (sounds very proper but Betsy's not like that at all) and I especially love the singing and beautiful music that was created.

But at the beginning of this year I had tonsilitis, over and over and over again and singing went by the wayside. I've been meaning to go bak, ever Tuesday night I've been thinking about going back but life seems to get in the way.

Go check out Nourish Women's Choir on You Tube - http://www.youtube.com/user/nourishwomenschoir - this is such a fun song!

I'm not in the video because I have been absent the last little but but this is such a wonderful group of people that help to invigorate the soul and this video really shows it!

Hitting a Wall

2010-10-11T21:32:00.004+11:00

We had one of those nights last night.

Kelvin didn't sleep (or at least he didn't sleep between 2:30am and 4:00am).

I had to go to work today.

It was a long day.

But I didn't hit a wall...

...because you have to be up and running to do that!

Now I am 2

2010-10-10T19:56:00.004+11:00

Kelvin had a quiet celebration of his second birthday today!

It all started with present opening in bed, a relaxed breakfast (his usual, weetbix with a sprinkling of rice bubbles plus toast and anything else he can scrounge of other people's plates), then helping in the garden with Dad.

After lunch and his sleep it was time for more presents and cake. By the time he opened his last present he had really got the hang of ripping that paper!!

And he enjoyed playing with all his new toys!

And I made the lion cake out of the classic Women's Weekly Birthday Cake Book (the 1980's version - the original and the best). Kelvin kept calling it a yellow tiger and told everyone that entered the house about his cake!
He enjoyed being the centre of attention and had a good old go at blowing out the candles!

Happy Birthday little man. Hard to believe it's been two whole years since your early morning arrival on Black Friday (when the stock market crash, signalling the arrival of the GFC in Australia).

From this...

To this!