Two More Days, Two More Books, Two More Tasks

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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.