Jelly Baby Blog

we're all starting school

2012-02-11T13:16:00.003+11:00

Did I mention that I was starting school this year?... nah, probably not. I've known that I was starting for about a year now, but I just can't decide, still can't decide if this is the space for it.

Anyway, I've started... hopefully I'll learn some stuff this semester. Either way I have already discovered that I'll be shooting more and shooting differently, and that's got to be a good thing.

her first day of school

2012-02-09T21:05:00.003+11:00

Finally. Fi-na-lly... her first day of prep today. She was ready, as much as I was ready... it is with great relief that I finally send her off to school. Relief that she will have friends to play with all day long, relief that she will finally be in an environment that will stimulate her intellectually, creatively and socially. Relief that she is big enough, old enough, grown up enough for this. It is with a loving and hopeful heart that I watch her enter this new stage in her life.

It is also with a loving and open heart that I welcome her home at the end of her busy day... she didn't want to leave school, she was shrieking at me for trying to head towards the car, she was grumpy, 'yellie' and a bit 'hittie' once she was home... but you know what?... that was okay, for once I had the energy to deal with it, because we'd had the space that only a day at school can provide.

It's going to be such a different year for us, and one that I am so happy to embrace.

Well done Daisy, and the best thing honey?... you get to go again tomorrow. Yay!

first time at the dentist

2012-01-30T22:05:00.004+11:00

It's not often that my kids reach a milestone all at the same time, but this was one of those times. Our first 'family' visit to the dentist...

Daisy wanted to go first, and was quickly up in the chair with her mouth wide open {although there was no noise coming out, which would be a first too *wink*} and she happily let our dentist check her teeth with the mirror and count them with a nasty hook-like tool.

Angus was up next, and while he was okay with opening his mouth {somewhat} and letting the dentist check him out, it was not so good news for me and my future budget. It looks like he's heading down the same 'over-crowded-mouth-issues' as I experience in my youth. Unfortunately, I'm sure this will result in plenty of money being transferred to the dentist and orthodontist. On the up side, his teeth {well all of their teeth} were in exceptionally good nic.

and then little Mia took to the chair, and she was very brave, right up until the chair moved. Then, not-so-much, and she cried and cried. So really, she didn't even let the dentist look in her mouth at all.

I won't go into my ongoing dental sagas, but I will say that my middle {virgo} child was super impressed with all of the gore, and the number of instruments that were shoved in my mouth all at one time.

As entertaining as they found their 'adventure' I'm am glad that I don't have to do it again for another year.

home style

2012-01-29T15:26:00.003+11:00

It is no secret that I intensely dislike Summer. I don't like the hot weather, it saps my energy, sends me scurrying inside to the shade {and later in the day, the stifling heat} You just can not escape hot weather.

However, this year I have discovered that if you add some cold water, then it can be a little more bearable... in fact, after taking an hour long dip in a friends beautiful pool last week, I think I could be persuaded to like summer. Maybe not this year, but definitely as the kids get older and more able. Maybe then. Maybe.

Thankfully, I have people in my life who don't share my defeatist attitude [in relation to hot weather] and do cool things, like rig up a home-style slip-and-slide. Awesome fun was had by all participants...

I hope that you are all finding ways to make this blasting heat a little more bearable...

more holiday adventuring...

2012-01-20T18:21:00.004+11:00

today we visited the melbourne museum... and saw stuff!

i'm a little embarrassed to say that this is my first visit to the 'new' museum. I've had many excuses for not going, ranging from the kids not being old enough, to not wanting to go on the weekend, basically it's been chucked into the 'too-hard' basket... but with a willing chauffeur who was keen on a family visit, off we went.

and of course it was AWESOME!!

We started with the dinosaurs, and after reading dinosaur books to Angus for years, it was quite mind-boggling to see the bones for real {i have seen them as a kid, but everything looks big when your a kid right} ... but these skeletons are huge from a 'grown-up' perspective too. I was totally impressed with the interactive technology in the new museum, as were my kids...

... and really, did they design this computer for six-year-old boys? I lost count of how many times we had to return to it so that he could watch it 'poo' again!

This was another area that we spent heaps of time in, all of the animals. I am sure that I didn't notice all of them, but I can say that when I was standing right in front of the lion, it gave me a glimpse of how scary it would be if you were looking down the eyeball of a real {live} one... shudder!

We also spent ages looking at the creepy crawlies, something that Cam said he loved as a kid {personally I never went in for the kritters} but they found it interesting, and it is something that I would have spent more time in as a grown-up if I didn't have the kids in tow.

All in all, a grand adventure and one that we will do again {maybe in about 6 months} there was just so much to see, and so many things that the kids to touch and peer into. {i feel like I should be putting in stars here... okay 5 stars it really was that good}

waking up in her {new} big bed

2012-01-19T08:34:00.000+11:00

Finally we did it... at 2½ she finally got her own big bed, she is finally sharing a room with her sister, and she did us proud, sleeping through her first night and then peacefully settling down for her day time sleep.

I think she was ready.

zoo day

2012-01-18T15:44:00.003+11:00

We came back from the beach early this year, which meant that we still have Cam around for another week before he's decided to go back to work... one of our goals for this remaining week of holidays was to do some fun stuff as a family...

A day at the zoo was right up there on the list.

We strolled through the gates, giving each of the kids their own map and asked them to choose what they wanted to see, then we just followed them around on their 'choose-your-own-adventure'. I've got to say, that doing the zoo this way was... fun. I wanted to see the reptile enclosure {because we never seem to get there} so they found their way there, stopping in to see the Platypus and the giraffes first. After spending quite a while with the reptiles we headed past the lions, then had an early lunch before heading across the zoo to find the {sleeping at the back of their enclosure} tigers, then the butterfly's, spiders {ew... crawly, crawly skin!} elephants, then having a little rest at the orangutans {as well as catching up with their cousins who were also visiting the zoo}.

After all that we had a turn on the carousel, followed by the seals, but by then the kids were shot, so we made our way home.

A fun {but tiring} time was had by all, really the epitome of family outings, right.

Is a trip as good as a holiday?...

2012-01-07T19:52:00.001+11:00

I'm back at the 'camp' after a night back at home... It was just the change of pace that I needed, you know how it goes, nice to get away, nice to be back!

We enjoyed lots of little adventures on our 'mini-road-trip' starting with having to make our way through a herd of cows that were being moved from one paddock to another a few kilometers up the road... I am terrible with livestock, they scare the living begeazus out of me, the farmer gave the sage advice that I should be assertive as I made my way past, and my sister gave much needed tips and encouragement from the passenger seat, and of course I made it past in my big-black-4wd just fine (forgetting to even snap an iPhone photo) but it really did remind me of one of the closing scenes in the cars movie where the Colonial orders the Hummer to drive down into the desert and the Hummer is all indignant about getting dust in his wheels, watch the movie and that pretty well sums up how I am about MY car.

When we got home we enjoyed us some showers then headed out to the hairdresser to get Daisy's haircut fixed, and she is now sporting a super-cute bob, it makes her hair look so much thicker, and was quite the hit at the fairy party that she attended today (although, they've just spent a year watching her turn up to kinder with rats-tail hair at best and with a full dready-mat down the back at worst, so anything was going to be an improvement!)

I had a lovely catch-up with my best-female-friend and have been pleasantly surprised by just how much I've missed her company this past few weeks, nothing like a bit of girly natter to sooth the soul... and then I spent an hour on the phone this morning with my best-male-friend and walked away from that conversation with a whole other (more positive) perspective on some of the stuff that has been bothering me of late... and I enjoyed a pleasant 24 hours with my sister and my daughter, eating take-away, shopping and hanging out.

On top of that I had a chance to spend some time in my garden, mounding potatoes, harvesting onions and admiring my developing tomato crop, and that is always the stuff that I enjoy.

... then, of course, there was the reason that we went home, one of Daisy's friends fairy party, which was so beautiful... it was decorated perfectly, with just the right amount of pink and pretty decorations, the fairy was a huge hit, and the face painting devine. It was also nice to catch up with my mum-friends, a treat that I don't normally get in the middle of the summer holidays... and the hosting was amazing, drinks and food for the mums, just perfect.

Then we hit the road to make it back to camp in time for dinner. A mere days break, but so sorely needed that it felt like it was much longer...

Now onto the business at hand, being on holiday...

Holi-days

2012-01-05T07:49:00.001+11:00

I'll admit, I'm having trouble getting into the holiday vibe this year. I've had my nose stuck in the kindle that I got for Christmas, plenty... and I've been keeping to myself. Truth be told, it's the sort of break that I take when I've not had enough time to myself... I've found 2011 particularly difficult that way, I feel that everyone feels that I get a break because Angus is at school, and Daisy spends time at kinder or my mum has her on a Wednesday afternoon, but I fail to see how still having a full-on 2 year old with me qualifies as having a break. Even now that we are on holiday, and I have my nose stuck in a book, I can still hear them, they are all around me, asking questions and needing attention. So in short, I'm in need of a mental adjustment, and an attitude shift because really nothing will change except for my behavior towards it, right?!?

I'm still holding out for the Chinese new year, on the 24th, as I hold more with that change than the western 1 January new year... So until then, I'll just be hanging in, like I've done all year... and hopefully the changes that I've put in place for 2012 will see me in a happier, more fulfilled place.

Mobile Blogging

2012-01-03T10:05:00.001+11:00

After such a busy end to the year, I didn't get a chance to pop back into this space ... now I'm away holidaying (... well I've changed locations to the beachside, with three kids is it ever really a holiday?) and I've just realized that blogger finally have an iPhone app, so I can blog on the go (although the content may be a bit in holiday mode compared to the usual fare, as I'll have to use my iPhone camera too!!)

December 24

2011-12-24T08:39:00.003+11:00

I can just about smell the snow drifting in from the North Pole, the presents are wrapped, the tree is waiting, the excitement from the smalls is palpable... I think that this is exactly what Christmas should feel like.

I've been super organised this year {of course this has been made much easier because we're not hosting the Christmas festivities}, but for the first time ever, my presents have been wrapped for days and will be ready for the fat man to deliver once the children are tucked up in bed.

... and as promised, the photo above was the outcome of my kid photo session early this month, I didn't put the writing on the front of my actual cards, and I had them printed at a professional photographers printing joint, and they came out so beautiful. They've all been sent, and hopefully received, and now I have a beautiful keepsake for another year. However, the photo below was also one of my favourites...

... it just shouted at me "THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU TELL THE KIDS TO LOOK AT THE CAMERA AND SMILE!!!"

I also wanted to say thank-you to those of you who still drop by my space here, after a year particularly spasmodic blogging on my part {consistency has never been my strong suit}, and

a really big thank-you for those of you who take the time to leave me a thoughtful and lovely comment. I wish you and yours a wonderful, relaxing and happy Christmas and hope that you get all that your hearts desire.

So have a very Merry Christmas, and I'll be looking forward to showing you the wrap up of the day! x

December 22

2011-12-22T09:57:00.002+11:00

Oooh, what and exciting morning!! Our last day of school for the year, his last day of prep. The school report has been received, all of his journals and workbooks for the year have been sent home, and wow, don't they show a lot of learning throughout the year. The final school uniform has been plucked from the 'clean laundry basket', the final school lunch for the year packed...

As we were grabbing up bags and heading out the door this morning, I found myself quickly grabbing my iPhone for a 'spur-of-the-moment' snap, it's been a big year for him and for me, and I felt such happiness watching him head out, full of confidence {because we've done it so many times now} for his last day of prep.

When we arrived at school I had one of those cheesy high-jinx moments with another school Mum, as we were enjoying the same emotion, and happily said the same sentences at the same time - "isn't it so exciting" "I took a photo this morning of the last day of prep"... it's nice to see that we were all enjoying this little milestone together.

I sent him off into his {now empty} class with his wrapped teachers gift {a wooden chopping/cheese board, with a m&w cheese knife & pate knife} and a card that he had written entirely on his own... now I just have to remember to pick him up at the early finish time!

December 20

2011-12-20T14:51:00.003+11:00

I've been looking forward to harvesting my garlic this year, It's all grown beautifully, and it's just a little bit magical finally being able to see what's been happening under the ground for all of these months.

I know that you're not supposed to harvest the garlic until new years day, but given that we are going on holidays, and that it may need some time to dry out, I thought it would be okay to harvest my crop a little early... and I was not disappointed.

It's like a little bit of magic, really... I planted the cloves from two heads, and now I have head after head of glorious garlic, to share and enjoy.

December 19

2011-12-19T14:43:00.000+11:00

We've had an exciting day today :: her last day of kinder :: giving of teachers gifts :: losing mia temporarily {again!} :: finding out who other kids prep teachers are :: and enjoying the kinder concert {where Daisy was relegated to Donkey, as her recent track record of stage fright excluded her from playing Mary}

I'm not sure that she would have even come out as 'Donkey', except that 'Mary' had a sure hand on her reigns and didn't give her any other option. She played her role well, but when afterwards when her teacher said it was carol time, she headed straight into the audience to sit on my lap. However, she was more than happy to join her class mates once again when the singing was done.

When we got home our letter was waiting, so now we know which teacher each of our children will have next year. Exciting times I tell you!!

December 14

2011-12-14T14:41:00.000+11:00

Last night when we got home our landlord was burning off down the hill. This morning when I headed out to the car I found this delightful little creation...

December 11

2011-12-11T14:31:00.000+11:00

This year was our first time at the community carols, Angus' class had made t-shirts for their performance, and he was most excited. So even though Daisy was probably too tired, we were going anyway, so we got her ready for her performance.

As soon as she got on the stage, the stage-fright set it, and she sobbed for half of the performance before being lead from the stage and back with us.

Our boy, on the other hand, was more that ready to get on up there with his class and show us just what they had been rehearsing. He did all of the hand gestures, and sand all of the words, and looked like he was having great fun.

It was a fun little adventure, and I am sure that it will get easier for us as the years go on... there was a little sad moment at the end, where he had a quick photo with his best friend from his prep class, who has moved house and will start at a new school next year. It was probably the last time they will see each other, and neither quite new what to do with that...

December 9

2011-12-09T14:18:00.000+11:00

It's been a long time coming, but they* are nearly in....

* being my parents, and in being into their new {16 years in construction} house.

December 8

2011-12-08T14:05:00.000+11:00

It's been the season for babies!... one, much anticipated arrival, and one surprise text letting a nine-month-secret out of the bag!!

Lucking my shop is quite well stocked, as some late night wrapping was in order...

December 7

2011-12-07T13:45:00.000+11:00

This is one project that has definitely 'dribbled over the line', as much as I love this blanket, it has certainly been a labour of love, an exercise in 'sticking with it' ... it's taken much longer than I could have envisaged {and given me an insight into why they are called 'granny rugs' :: that's actually because they take so long that by the time you finish you'll probably be a granny!!}

Really as soft and beautiful as my blanket turned out, I wished more that once that I'd known to use 8 ply for it instead of 4 ply, not only would it have got bigger faster, I probably would have finished it much sooner.

That said, it's done now, in 'lap blanket size' and I am more than happy with it {and very glad so see it finished!}

You can see a very bad photo of the completed blanket here.

December 6

2011-12-06T13:41:00.000+11:00

When we first brought the babies home {many years ago now} our cat max made himself vary scarce indeed. A few years ago when we moved to this house, he spent the first year in the top of our bedroom wardrobe, only venturing out when the house was quiet, to grab a quick bite to eat...

It is so nice to now see him happily pottering about outside, sleeping in the sun, and even tolerating the children when they pick him up and lug him around. Who says that you can teach an old cat new tricks?!?

December 5

2011-12-05T13:35:00.000+11:00

It became apparent that the 'new tree' is slightly larger than the tree that we had last year, when we decorated it with the air dried clay ornaments... there wasn't nearly enough. We added a selection of silver baubles, and then it just looked a little too monochrome... the trick was to add 150 multi-coloured lights, flickering and flashing in their special way.

Now the tree looks festive and glorious, and certainly brings that festive mood home.

December 4

2011-12-04T13:32:00.000+11:00

Of course December can't be filled only with Christmas festivities... we have many birthdays to celebrate this month, starting with a very enjoyable day with family to celebrate Nanna-Jan's.

December 3

2011-12-03T11:39:00.002+11:00

I'm a little late this year, getting organised for the 'annual christmas photo', but really, December 3 is not insurmountable. We had fun playing outside with the bubbles, them in their fancy clothes. Of course there were lots of sillies {and a few grumpy's}, but I did get a shot that I was happy with.

The cards have been ordered and will hopefully arrive by the 15th, giving me enough time to send out our seasonal greetings...

I'll be sure to post the 'final' photo here once that is all done.

December 2

2011-12-02T14:50:00.003+11:00

Ooh, look... another Christmas themed activity! This one has been on my radar for a number of weeks, the notice that came home had more 'remember' dates than the days of christmas! There were notices to return, a t-shirt to buy {wash, dry, iron, label, hang & bag} and return to school on a particular day, there were working bee's to cut out shapes {which I didn't attend} and babysitters to organise so that I could be by his side while he created his christmas t-shirt.

It was nice to have some one-on-one with my boy though, as it's not something that we do very often, and I think we did an okay job on the t-shirt, although I did manage to write 2001 instead of 2011 in the sparkly puff paint! Don't know what I was thinking at the time?...

The t-shirts are now drying at school and will be worn while his class performs at our community christmas carols in a few weeks.

December 1

2011-12-01T15:31:00.008+11:00

Phew. I didn't think that I was going to make it, what with December 1st falling on a Thursday (!) but I bought* myself a few hours by skipping Mia's afternoon sleep today, and instead we hiked over to Chadstone {suburb, not the centre} to purchase an artificial Christmas Tree.

I've been trying to decide between between real or fake for a while, and for the last few years we've had the real deal, but it's been a pain to try and keep a real one in good nick for 25 days. By the time Christmas day rolls around, we have pine needles everywhere, the whole tree is looking a little dehydrated and a little worse for wear. Not to mention that we have to pack the tree up pronto {ie: boxing day} because we head out of town for a month the day after, and could you imagine the mess that we would come back to if we left our tree up until New Years!

I started leaning towards artificial, mostly because I wanted something that I could just pack up and stow away until next year. Then be able to pull it out with the minimal of fuss on December 1... a new tradition if you will. But, I didn't want a sparse looking tree, I wanted something that would look as 'real' as possible, but with none of the mess {cutting, transporting, SAP, pine-needles...} so I did my research and found this amazing Chrismas Tree shop.

I really did want my tree up today, so after kinder drop off I drove over there and had the. best. shopping. experience. {I really can't emphasize that enough, as I intensely dislike shopping experiences of the other kind!} The staff said hello when Mia and I walked in, even though they were busy, they had ample staff, so I was left to browse for a minute or so then someone {Lorraine} asked me if I would like some help, she chatted trees with me, made a fuss over Mia, answered my questions, and sorted out my tree for me. Then another lady chatted while she put my transaction through, wheeled my tree out and put it in my car for me, then while I was strapping Mia into her carseat, the lady dashed back out and left a lovely goody bag on my front seat, containing a little bottle of bubbly and some chocolates to enjoy while putting up the tree...

Seriously, excellent service and such a pleasant shopping experience.

The tree itself is now up, and I am de-lighted with how it looks. Lush and realistic. Exactly what I wanted.

Tonight's job will be to lug the advent calender and decorations out of storage, but so far I'm happy just having the tree up.

* meaning that I'll pay for it later when she is overtired and grumpy.

ninja

2011-11-05T15:26:00.005+11:00

We had a friends {daughters} 3rd birthday party this morning, it was a fancy dress affair, and as I'm not so enamored with the ol' fancy dress bash, I left it up to Cam to sort out the costuming.

The boys headed out early this morning to find something suitable for Angus, and as it was only recently halloween, they did have a little trouble finding something suitable for a fairy-tale theme... but they did come up with this awesome Ninja suit for him.

I love it when Angus can go to a party in dress up, because as long as we can find him something that covers his head {spiderman, batman, ninja!} then he really get's his game-on. There must be something totally freeing in the {percieved} anonimity for him; and for us, there's the satisfaction in seeing our, otherwise shy son, having great fun.

... and then {of course} he's enjoyed the rest of the day in costume and even managed to share {part of} it with his sister... good times!

reminiscing

2011-11-02T21:14:00.001+11:00

I was just looking through some old photos... my, don't the years fly by.

the gift that keeps on giving

2011-11-01T16:36:00.004+11:00

well, we've certainly had plenty of bang for our buck with Daisy's surprise birthday gift.. the guinea pigs. We've also learnt a great deal along the way, about housing, handling, feeding and breeding!!

I bought two girls so that they wouldn't fight, but they certainly did take a while to find their groove, and there was a little bit of fighting along the way. I bought two girls so that we wouldn't have any accidental breeding... I didn't take into consideration that the blasted pet store would sell us {already} pregnant guinea pigs. I bought a lovely {well priced} hutch from bunnings in good faith that I was doing the right thing, but subsequent email correspondence with the Australian Cavy Sanctuary soon educated me as to what our guinea pigs would actually need... so we bought a new, double storey, 'palace' hutch on ebay for $7 more than the {teeny-tiny} one that we bought from bunnings, and it was delivered for free.

I learned about what our guinea pigs should actually be eating, and it was totally different to what I used to feed my childhood guinea pig, I spoke to my local vet {who specializes in reptiles and exotic pets} who gave me an excellent fact sheet of what they could/should eat, and I bought some high quality oxbow pellets for them.

I watched, slightly baffled, while Smokey got larger and larger, and eventually got so wide I was sure she would explode... then {much to Daisy & Co's delight} she gave birth to three little guinea pigs on Sunday afternoon, everything went smoothly {thank goodness, because I'd been dreaming about that delivery for many nights prior!} and we quickly fell in love with the teeny-tiny little babies. We all have our fingers crossed that the jet black one is female, because that one is a keeper for sure.

Now, hopefully things will settle down a bit* with them... we will be 'sexing' them at three weeks, and removing any little boys, and then we'll work out the 'where to from here' part... in the mean time, there are lots of little cuddles with all of the guinea pigs, because dear me, those babies are just the cutest!

* of course Cam is now putting bets on Milly being pregnant, he seems to think that her abdomen is swelling accordingly... I am choosing to stick my head in the sand on this, what will be, will be... que sera sera

happy halloween...

2011-10-31T16:31:00.000+11:00

thank you to those who came to 'the party'... their great-grandmother gifted the projector torches, their auntie the masks, and nanna made the delivery...

while there was not trick-or-treating, or any lollies at all, there was an impromptue party in their room {with the blinds down} and torches with scary shadows projected onto the walls, much giggling, and an array of masks that are still attached to their faces*.

an understated, aussie version, for sure...

* there was a pumpkin face too, but I didn't get a shot of that one.

trials & tribulations

2011-10-25T09:37:00.002+11:00

Daisy and I have an ongoing 'battle' :: she likes to wear her hair down, and I'm fine with that. BUT {and it's a big one} she has the knottiest hair, in that we brush it {tears and all} and within five minutes, the wind has ruffled it, she's mussed it on a chair, or she's merely moved and ... it's full of knots again. They are not just little knots either, it matts! she ends up with the entire back of her head, including the part at her nape, in dreads...

None of this would be so bad, except that she also has the ... most sensitive scalp. Every time I brush her hair, no matter if I use de-tangler, hold it at the roots with my other hand, or try to be really gentle, we {both} have red faces, tears, and screaming. It really is quite unpleasant.

I've tried to get her to wear her hair up, but even if I put it up {amidst more tears, red faces, and screaming} she is soon to take it out again, and dispose of the hair-tie... or she'll leave it in until she gets dropped off at kinder, then rip out the hair-tie.

I've pretty much given up, other than suggesting to her that she would get less knots if she wore her hair up.

So you can imagine my surprise this morning when she came to me, hair-tie in hand, and asked me to put her hair up... and there it has stayed, in a beautiful, messy {but not knotty} pony tail.

THE fairy party....

2011-10-15T19:18:00.006+11:00

It all started with the invitations, and included a long enough lead time to really get caught up in the idea. The hired help* said that I could do as much, or as little as I desired. The fairy would entertain the {18} children for an hour-and-a-half, and the fairy's helper would prepare and serve all of the food, including the {supplied} cake, then they would clean up the mess.

I wanted the party to feel magical, so the decorating was where I put in most of my energy. The early weeks were spent online gathering ideas, then the school holidays were spent perusing the internet for supplies. The week before the party was spent tying up the loose ends, and awaiting the goodies to stock the party bags {they never arrived}. The day before was spent spit-polishing our home. The day itself was uber-relaxed and went off without a hitch. The after-math... we'll talk later.

So shall I fill in some of the nitty-gritty details?... if anyone is at all interested.

The first step was to make some magical flooring. After a little thought, I decided that it would be unreasonable to make a whimsical quilt in time for the party {mostly because I don't quilt}; but I've had the idea of making an artificial grass meadow for a long time {probably 18 months as it would be perfect on the concrete of our balcony, out the front of the cubby house} so I bought a couple of meters of the {cheapest} artificial grass from my favourite hardware, a few fake flowers {hydrangeas?} from spotlight, and a hot glue gun.

I cut the 'grass' into a more organic shape, then attached the individual flowers in a 'meadow-like' way. It was a pleasant way to spend some of the grand-final.

I also made some toadstool cushions using the foam from our old couch, but two was as far as that went...

Next I wanted some ambience for the ceiling, something colourful that would bring it into the awareness of the 5 and under crowd. I've seen these martha stewart tissue pom-poms around, and thought they would be the ideal solution. To buy them though, would have cost me a small fortune, so instead I spent my pennies on a bulk purchase of tissue paper and got folding. I used the directions from here, but used pipe-cleaners instead of the florist wire... and {after a little practice} they worked out rather nicely.

The 'fairy cage' was made from a packet of black pipe-cleaners {total price $2} and was supposed to house a fairy, but alas we were unable to catch one in the weeks leading up to the party...

The garland was made using a butterfly punch and a 1 3/4" circle punch, and some scrapbook paper {spotlight again}, then sewn together on the sewing machine. Fast and very pretty....

When I realised {on friday} that the party bag fillers {vials of fairy dust and fairy bracelets and a fairy ring} weren't going to make it {I ordered them online on the fifth!} I decided to make another {mega} batch of marshmallow toadstools... but this time I took some photos so that I could share them here. They are easy to make, but definitely time consuming. I made about 50 in a few hours, however only 25 of those had the dots done.

The process is this :: melt some white chocolate in a small bowl :: once melted and smooth, add the chocolate food dye {chefmaster candy color red} and mix until consistent :: place the large coles marshmellows on a wooden skewer, then dip and rotate in chocolate :: let excess drip off, then stand in fridge until set :: once all of the tops are set, place them upside down in an egg tray :: dip a white pascal marshmallow in melted white chocolate and attach to base :: place in fridge to set :: once holding together firmly, add the dots of {melted} white chocolate using the blunt end of a wooden skewer :: enjoy!

I used some to decorate the room, and the rest were added to the party bags...

There were other details that I did to make the day extra special, like the custom made chalkboard on the arch out front, and the balloons lining the way in... but mostly the magic all came together in the end because there were 18 awestruck little fairies, and a very talented fairy, who came and made a little Daisy girls day so very special.

It was great, and fun, and now I'm heading off for a little lie down and a well earned rest...

1. if there is anything I have forgotten, or anything else that you want to know, just drop me a comment...

2. * I almost forgot!! the hired help was Pixie Mischief ~ you can find them here...

some doings

2011-10-10T20:17:00.004+11:00

I've been doing. Lots.

I've painted my entry and hallway {finally} :: I've bought some beautiful ranunculus to brighten a few corners of my home :: I've made meters and meters of pretty garland :: I've made a custom chalkboard to house a special message :: I've tried to buy some grey paint, but realised that there are many {many} different greys :: I've settled on Milton Moon {I think!} :: I've put together a new guinea pig hutch :: I've done other stuff too :: what a busy weekend.

in the garden :: snow peas

2011-10-07T10:36:00.003+11:00

My winter garden hasn't been as high on my priority list this year, too many other responsibilities to take care of, I guess... but, I did find the time to plant half a bed of garlic, and another full bed of legumes. The broad beans {although not as large as last year} are absolutely covered in flowers. A good sign. The telegraph peas are leggy {as opposed to bushy} and are not looking very promising for a good crop...

instead, lets talk about the snow peas. Now they are gorgeous, I planted a LOT of seed along the bottom on a climbing frame {of sorts} and after a few months of them struggling along the ground, I realised that they weren't going to climb the frame on their own, so I spent some time carefully tying them to the string lines. From that point they have flourished, and it wasn't long until the flowers began to appear.

I took a peek at them last week and was pleasantly surprised to find snow peas all over the place. Even better?!?... the kids {especially the eldest one} are happy to eat them straight off the vine {and for vegetable adverse kids such as my own, this make this mama very, very happy!}

Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy a few weeks of fresh, home grown, snow peas.

making jam

2011-10-06T13:48:00.003+11:00

I made cumquat jam earlier this year, about five jars. Since then, I've been eagerly awaiting the next crop on the tree, and finally it appeared...

The whole process took me much longer than I would care to admit. First I found the time to harvest as much as I could from the tree {and not to get too freaked out by the occasional spider on a leaf}. The cumquats then sat in their basket for the better part of a week, before I spent two days {it didn't actually take the whole two days, but I could only slot in a few minutes here and there while looking after 2-3 children} thinly slicing the cumquats while saving the seeds and pith.

The actually making for the jam*, the cooking part, only took a few hours... I had a kilo of sliced rind, so I just guessed the sugar and water {i think} I used 2 kilos of sugar and 2 liters of water {but I may be remembering incorrectly} ... Either way, it finally set beautifully.

The easy part was bottling it in my {new} dozen ball jars, and eventually I got around to making a fresh loaf so that I could enjoy some lashings of butter topped with my homemade cumquat jam.

* the recipe is here if you are so inclined.

parcels in the post

2011-10-05T11:29:00.000+11:00

Isn't it nice to get a pretty parcel in the post... especially when it arrives in one piece! I've been wanting a glass dome cloche for a while now, and I found the perfect one online from The Little Big Company. I couldn't resist some pretty mini-milk bottles for any upcoming event either.

the day she turned five...

2011-09-21T20:55:00.004+10:00

As with all of our family birthdays, the bunting was hung the night before and their present left on the dresser in the dining room to be discovered when they wake. We were pleasantly surprised this morning to find that our newly minted five-year-old .... slept in! {something that never, ever happens}

Cam and I enjoyed some quiet time before we heard the excited thump of footsteps down the hall....

While she was delighted with her sparkly new sketchers {they have led lights in them that flash when she walks} she was decidedly underwhelmed when that was all she got...

We knew this would be the case, but the surprise that was coming her way later in the day would make up for this 'slight disappointment' {and them some}, we knew this, but still it was hard not to let her in on the secret.

We sent her off to kinder with a jar of treats for her kinder friends, and as luck would have it, today was special persons day at kinder, so she got a few hours of quality Nanna-time, not to mention that ALL of the grandparents {hers and all her kinder friend's} sang her happy birthday.

After that she headed back to Nanna and Grandpa's house for her usual weekly visit, although this time she also got to make cake with Nanna... a cunning plan, she enjoys making cake, nanna enjoys making cake with her, i don't have the pressure of making the cake, and when she get's home there is a cake for her birthday dinner. Win, win, win!

When she did arrive home though, her 'real' birthday surprise was waiting...

...

can you guess?

...

This is milly & molly {or is it milly & smokey!?!} her new guinea pigs. A surprise that has been much discussed and logistically organised around these parts... and well worth the wait, as she was delighted {as expected}

I'm sure that it will take us all a little time to adjust to each other, but so much fun for her to have her own furry little pets.

Her surprises didn't stop there though, as she also got a lovely surprise when she opened her present from nanna & grandpa... a {much requested} scooter, perfect for scooting up and down the balcony.

... and, of course, our beautiful girls day was capped off with birthday cake. The one that she made, cut and served to us all, in her beautiful caring and sharing way.

Happy Birthday my little Daisy-chain... I'm so looking forward to five!

happenings...

2011-09-19T21:09:00.002+10:00

We've come over all fairies here... Daisy's birthday is later this week, and this year is her turn for a party. We've settled on a fairy party, but for a number of reasons, {namely :: I left it too late to book the fairy entertainment [slash] catering} we decided to book her party in for after the school holidays... giving me plenty of time to come up with ideas {and also to discard most of them I'd imagine!}

The first party project {after booking the fairy} was to come up with the invitations... of course pinterest is my go-to, and I wasn't disappointed. I found these gorgeous invites, albeit for a baby shower, but I knew straight away that they were be just perfect for our invites. I mean, a detachable ticket, could it get any better?!?

So after many hours on the computer, this is what I cobbled together...

Quite happy with how they turned out, and lucky for me, Mum had all the supplies to print them onto card, tools to cut them out, and a nifty guillotine cutter that perforated the card, enabling the recipient to rip the ticket off. Not to mention the glue stick and glitter to embelish the front making it actually sparkle. Awesome!

I've spent the last few kinder sessions, skulking around the foyer and car-park, catching each kids mum or dad to pass out the invites. All done now, and I dare say that was the easy part.

Already I've had conniptions about where everyone is going to park, about the state of my garden, and just how much painting still needs to be done in the house. So first I'll take a big breath, try to relax, and then use the impending party as a big kick in the pants to get some stuff done around here.

Nothing like a bit of motivation...

a blast...*

2011-09-11T20:42:00.006+10:00

I'm sure that we all know the theory that, if you remember something going around the first time, then you are too old for it this time... well phooey to that I say {probably showing my age!}

I remember so vividly the first time the 'friendship band' phase went around. I was in grade 6, 11 years old, it was 1988, my bff Sarah and I would sit in class, our current friendship bracelet discreetly taped to the underside of our desk, our hands working frantically every time our teachers attention was else-where {although considering that for once it was our hands and not our mouths that were working frantically, I am sure she was aware what was going on, and just happy for the respite from the constant chatter {probably also happy to have some respite from the usual oovagoo chatter too!}

We only knew how to make one style of bands, of the knotted variety, with diagonal stripes along the entire length.

A few years ago, this japanese craft book caught my attention, and while it's been in my possession for about three years now, I've not actually made anything from it.

Well, last night while partaking in a little pinning, Nay pinned this [click the link to see] a link to a tutorial showing how to make a funky friendship bracelet, super quick, using a little handmade loom.

Oh, I couldn't wait to get me a little bit of that action. So this morning, I finished off my box of sultana bran, and before I had emptied my bowl, I had already cut out the little circle loom, picked out my threads {in rainbow of course, I mean how could I resist?... I needed 7 colours! ROYGBIV!!} and I was on my way.

In the quickest of flashes, I soon had a growing length of braid out of the bottom of the loom, and before long it was done. A happy, brightly coloured, friendship bracelet.

I might just add that few more followed, in various colours.

Now the question is... will this trend see a resurgence in the tween age-bracket, or will it show a larger trend in the thirty somethings wanting to 'go there' again?...

I'm in, are you?

* from the past

a {proper} garden of her own...

2011-09-10T20:55:00.004+10:00

thank-you for sending me such kind words to my last post, if i've not spoken to you, my dad is on the mend, and while still in hospital, he is recovering and we feel so blessed that he is still here with us ~ much love.

... continued from this post.

I've enjoyed seeing the pride that she is full of now that her garden is starting to grow. When we staked out her section of a garden bed {so that she could reach all of her plants, without climbing up into the garden} and she planted the seeds in there, she promised me that she would not walk on the garden anymore... and other than one little slip where all three of them got in it, she has been true to her word.

While at the hardware this week, I bought her a new watering can. It's just the right size, small enough for her to handle, but large enough to actually bring some much needed water to her garden... and use it she has, even though there was not yet any evidence of growth, she trusted my word that the soil needed to be kept damp, and she regularly headed outside to water her garden.

There was much excitement when she noticed the first seedlings popping out through the soil, and she came inside to get me, so that I could go out and see {although I will admit that I had already seen them as I was checking just as impatiently as her} ... I too am super impressed, as I've planted carrots three times this year in my garden, and I'm yet to see any seedlings pop up at all, so far I'm zero from many hundred. However, with her vigilant care, we are already seeing results.

In this end, we planted two potato plants and some spinach {or maybe it was coriander?... I forget} and a hyacinth bulb at the back... and as you can see, we've lots of green bits popping up.

and in the other end, we planted the carrots, and the coriander {or maybe it was spinach?... I forget} and another two hyacinth bulbs. The potted colour in the middle was a tactical ploy, in the hope that if something was growing, she wouldn't give up hope waiting for the seeds to germinate and pop up through the soil.

It appears to have worked.

and the best part... watching her proudly leading everybody who is important to her, out to the garden to show them HER garden.

anxiety

2011-09-08T14:07:00.005+10:00

When I am most anxious is when I need to move my hands the most. Small movements seem to be best. When my brother had us most concerned last year, my comfort came in the form of many little stitches, resulting in a hat for Daisy. Afterwards, I couldn't knit for months.

My Dad's had us most concerned this week. A trip to emergency on father's day, followed by an unfolding of worrying events. Hopefully yesterday was the bottom, and it will all be upwards from here. This time I folded lots of little bits of paper, and then slotted them all together. Very good for hands that needed to be busy, and a mind that needed an alternate focus.

I'm not sure that I'll ever get the urge to fold again. Tricky business it is. I'm thinking that eighty-five dollars is a bargain though.

pause for thought

2011-08-31T21:08:00.002+10:00

I've mentioned before just what prolific artist my children are, as I am sure many of your's are too... and while many {many} of their drawings go through to the keeper {read recycle bin} or are played to shreds with {such as them cutting out all of the details, or making them into wrapping for a gift, or making paper planes} some really do make me stop in my tracks and pause for thought.

I know that sometimes I over-think things, but this little family drawing, that he has stuck on the wall beside his bed, makes me so very happy. The first thing that I always look at is "are we smiling?" {ok, am I smiling} and I was so pleased to see that everybody in his family is happy; next I thought it was awesome that he remembered to include all of us, and in size order too, and of course, that he actually stuck it beside his bed. So nice.

I found this one the next day, left, forgotten on the hallway table... it made me smile, because he is currently obsessed with the idea of going to the snow. He's having a hard time getting his head around why it doesn't snow at our house, ever. Even in winter... and I guess he's heard about the other kids at school who took holidays with their families to the snow over winter, and he wants to see it too. Maybe next year. The other thing that struck me, the 6=ANGUS; it took me a moment to see it hidden in there amongst the snow, but it is such a snapshot into what they are learning in school right now, mathematic equations and obviously that something equals something. 6 = Angus, so perfect!

He's not been on his own in the 'show-stopping' art either. This gem came home from kinder last week, it gave me such a happy feeling instantly, because as you know, we love rainbows... but I actually found myself turning the sheet over to see if she had accidentally written her name on the back and then traced it onto the front, but no. That super impressive, mirror writing is all hers. I've heard that it can happen around this age, but seeings she has been writing her name pretty spot-on for 7 months now, I was a little surprised to see this?!?...

... and then I found this on her bedhead this morning. She had taken the letters of her name off her bedroom door and relocated them to her bedhead. No, this is not a reflection, this is actually what it looks like... all turned around. I'll be watching with interest to see when all her name writing becomes a little less topsy-turvy.

Of course, I wouldn't dream of leaving the littlest one out!... but do you really want to see the scribbles all over my shiny white entertainment unit, the one where she thinks it's her own, personal, whiteboard?... didn't think so. Instead, you can look at this uber-cute photo, showing her new, favourite game of 'put all of the clips that I can find in my hair at once, so that I can pull them out, and then get you to put them all back in again' again. again.

Happy days!

a pretty little pot

2011-08-29T21:49:00.003+10:00

Lately, she's been pestering me for her own little garden. It is not a wonder that she is drawn to do so, she watches me grow wonderful things in my garden {like the peas and beans currently wending their way up their structures} and sometimes has the opportunity to grow things at kinder {grass men and daffodils} but planting all of my seeds in her garden, and not seeing any results has meant that she is now asking me to please help her with her very own garden.

The little pot out the back gave us a lovely starting point; I'd originally planted it out with some succulents, but had neglected to use the right potting mix, presently it had become a dried out clod of dirt, with some straggly plants in it. The littlest one put it out of it's misery last week, by plucking each and every plant out and laying them on the table and ground. Freedom was not what they had bargained for either.

Some special mum and middle child time was in order, so we found ourselves wandering the isles of our local garden centre, and slowly picked out the supplies for her to make a new {happier} fairy garden... oh, and a little terra-cotta turtle to keep her company. I helped her clean out the old soil, but after that she did it all on her own, and a very pretty job she did too.

... to be continued.

sunday :: breakfast in the park

2011-08-28T21:18:00.003+10:00

When we awoke this morning, it looked so sunny outside our bedroom window that I suggested that we all jump in the car and head out for breakfast. An outdoor breakfast in the park.

Cam was sceptical at first, but I convinced him that throwing some cereal boxes, uht milk, bread and condiments in a tub, couldn't be too hard. Thank-goodness he thought to pack the thermos of boiling water, so that we could make ourselves some hot drinks.

So with a pile of parkas and a box of food, we piled into the car and headed out on an early morning adventure. The novelty of eating our breakfast in the open, and not having the stresses of home around us {to do lists, laundry, cleaning, television, etc} made the morning fun for all. Of course, as soon as they were finished eating, they were able to scamper off towards to play-ground.

We enjoyed our hot cup of tea, made toast on the barbie, kicked the pill around, then were off to see the sights...

We had such a nice time, and already they were asking when we could eat our breakfast at the park again!... an instant measure of success I would say.

a performance

2011-08-27T20:59:00.002+10:00

She gives us many performances each day, but this was one of her finest. There was no whining, or screeching, or crying... just a dash 'back-stage' followed by a grand-entrance. She put her soul into singing about her 'wonderful day', then gave it her ALL... all completed with a grandiose bow to the audience {me!}

I was 'official photographer' for this stunning performance, although it was demanded that I clap at the end. Her little sister had to cheer too, before she was finally allowed to take the stage to sing one line of 'twinkle star', before being ushered off by the star of the show.

I'd be happy to see more of these 'performances' in our days; and with the spring weather finally appearing, and some new words to inspire my inner-earth-mother; maybe we will.

zoo. baby!

2011-08-12T20:20:00.001+10:00

Thank-you to a {new} friend, who invited us to go to the zoo with her and her baby*, Mia and I enjoyed a fun filled morning looking at the animals. Mostly primates. We enjoyed a lovely stroll in the chilly morning air, around the grounds. We enjoyed warming up in the Butterfly enclosure, and most of all we enjoyed seeing so many babies.

The Spider Monkey was so delightful and tiny, playfully darting around his 'room'... and we were so lucky to see Dewi, the baby urangutan up close, as she and her mother were having a morning snack.

A fun morning out, and one that I will have to keep in mind while the bigger kids are at school next year.

* meaning child who is the same age as Mia, but also the youngest in the family, hence the term 'baby' seems to stick. We have one of those too.

macro

2011-08-05T21:22:00.003+10:00

I came across an article online last night that said you could take your prime lens off your camera, turn it around and hold it against your camera, and take macro shots with it.

Right then and there I got off the couch, grabbed my camera, and tried it. Lo-and-behold... it worked!

I have wanted a macro lens for years, but as I've not got one yet {and also as I'm not worried about getting dust on my sensor, it's filthy already} this is a pretty fun substitute.

This morning found me out in the garden 'playing'...

:: a flower on my thyme plant, the flower is about 8mm wide.

:: the tendrils on my telegraph peas wrapping around some garden twine

:: one of the little daisy's on her plant

:: one of the teeny tiny jonquil flowers that have recently burst forth, after sitting dormant in the pot for a year. I'm a bit shocked that they have bloomed, as I've previously had no luck with bulbs.

I've gotta say, I had a lovely time taking these shots, but if you're wanting to have a go at this yourself, be aware, the sooc shots are pretty terrible. These have been post processed, exposure increased, contrast increased, and clarity improved. The results of which I am happy with.

par.tay.ing

2011-08-01T20:27:00.004+10:00

Sunday was party day, and we started off early with a trip to the bowling alley. Not something that we've done before, but it was fun. It didn't matter that it was 10am on a Sunday morning, the fluro lights were on, the music was pumpin' and it could have been 10 o'clock on a Saturday night. Technology has moved along since I last went bowling {about 20 years ago, no joke} and now the computer scores for you, and the gutter guards come up automatically for the kids {but not for the grown-ups, much to Cam's horror}. One game was enough though, and by the end they were ready for some arcade games, and then a quick trip to Maccas.

In the afternoon, we enjoyed a family get-together, where he got the 'mother-load' of his presents... a haul of star wars lego, a new bike and some roller skates {!}

We then followed up with a rocket birthday cake, with sparklers as it's jet flames {at his request} and to top it off, his first tooth came out while he was eating his cake, with his whole family looking on.

So a very exciting day was completed with our first visit from the tooth fairy. All in all, a very exciting and fun day.

losing it...

2011-07-30T05:04:00.004+10:00

4:58am Saturday 30 July 2011, Age 6 + 4 days :: "Mum, I have a crack in my tooth" comes the stage whisper through the cracked bedroom door.

After our conversation before bed last night, about them staying in bed until 7 o'clock, it was probably the only thing that he could have said that wouldn't elicit a grumpy response from myself at that ungodly hour of the day.

Instead, he was told to "come here!" where I could inspect this wonder further, and sure enough... our first wobbly tooth. The lower right central incisor. Right on time too!

Funnily enough, I've often wondered about this day, and whether it would be strange, or confronting. Whether I would be upset that my baby is reaching the next stage {I did a lot of reading when the kids were younger about the waldorf philosophy, and the link between losing their first tooth and reading readiness always stayed with me} or excited ... and now that it's finally here, I am excited.

We fought hard for all these tiny little teeth in his mouth, so long ago now. But he has grown {and is growing up} and those teeth that looked so huge in his baby mouth, now look much too small for him. Yes, we're ready for this next phase, and I find myself excited for him to be taking this journey. I remember having wobbly teeth as a kid, and worrying at them until the tip of my tongue hurt, but never having the stomach to tie a string to the door to yank it out {as was often suggested at the time} so instead I would wobble, wobble, wobble... and eventually, often in an unexpected moment, the attachment would become so precarious, so minute, that... pop, it was out.

and then of course, the excitement began. The Tooth Fairy!

Daisy stood by my bed in the early hours of this morning and explained to me how the tooth fairy works, that Angus would leave his tooth out and the Fairy would come and give him a magical gold coin for his tooth, which he could then go and spend on whatever he wants. I'm not sure where she learned this from, but I did think it was pretty cool that inflation hasn't had much impact on tooth prices over the years.

So now in the circle of life, I'm the Mum, and so I get to worry about the logistics of the tooth fairy... I think as a child we would leave our tooth in a glass of water by our bed, and in the morning we would wake up to a coin in the bottom of the glass*. Should I do the same?... or should I make a new tradition for our family?... I could make one of these cute little tooth-bags, or invest in The Official Tooth Fairy Kit, I guess I've a few days to think about it as I've no idea how long it will take for his tooth and actually unhinge.

* except for the one time where Mum was working night shift, and I may have kept from her that my tooth finally fell out. It was that same year that I realised the tooth fairy had a very strong link to the presence of my Mum, as my tooth was not collected until Mum had finished her night shifts for that week, and could sneak in once I was asleep to make the exchange.

baby essential bags

2011-07-28T19:19:00.005+10:00

When I cleaned up around 'here' last week, you may have noticed that I added a new link to my 'shop' right up there near the top of the page... that's it, just under the header. Well since it's just sitting there, awaiting your click, I thought that I'd better get busy and fill my shop up with some new Baby Essential Bags.

I've spent quite a few days sewing and preparing these little bags, just perfect for your handbag if you're still in the 'nappy phase' or even better, if you know someone who is expecting a new addition to their family, and you are looking for a sweet little gift... well I know just the place.

Each bag is made with much care and attention to detail, and is re-inforced in all the places that matter. I still use mine regularly, and find it such a relief when I'm out and about to just pull out my Baby Essentials Bag {which has been discretely tucked into my handbag} and change my 'baby' in comfort with the minimum of fuss.

... and of course, each bag is made with lots of love {and in this case} with the help of some imperial guards, storm troopers, and little Daisy's.

If you'd like to know more, or want to buy a Baby Essentials Bag of your own, then just head over to my shop, everything that you need to know should be there, but don't hesitate to contact me if you need any more details. Enjoy.

5 + 365 = 6

2011-07-26T22:11:00.001+10:00

I'm sure that we're not the only household where birth-days start very early. It was still {very} dark outside when our early riser spotter her brother's presents and went and roused him {and us} from our slumber to come and discover what was contained within.

At their age it's not really that important who's birthday it is, the present opening and subsequent playing is pretty communal... and even though we're 365 days on from his 5th birthday, it looked pretty similar to me. A flourish of unwrapping, some quick playing with the exciting stuff and then onto the lego building.

The big difference this year?... the lego had to be built super-quick because this year he had to be at school by 9am {with his new lightsaber in tow of course}

For each of my kids birthdays I spend some time writing a veritable essay in their birthday card, tiny writing encompassing where they are at this year, what they have achieved, and my thoughts on them in general. So I don't feel the need to write it again here, but I will say I am so proud of my little prep boy, grown so big and learning so much. He is a charming young man and I've very much enjoyed 5 and am looking forward to enjoying everything that 6 has to offer.

Happy Birthday my gorgeous boy!

found...

2011-07-20T16:15:00.004+10:00

I'm not sure what this says about us, but it's taken us two-and-a-half years of living here to finally discover this great playground and green space. I think it took about six minutes to drive there from our house, and we found ourselves happily playing for a few hours.

Next time we are going to take supplies so we can make breakfast on the barbecues right next to the adventure playground. Mostly so we don't have to go home so soon, the kids really didn't think two hours was anywhere near enough.

swimmers are grinners

2011-07-13T11:16:00.007+10:00

taken with my iPhone4

We’re halfway through the second week of the school holidays, and already I can see that what started off full and fun is going to peter off into a slippery ‘plunk’ back into school and kinder routines next week.

Our very first moment of holidays started with Angus pulling some kids toy light saber out of his school bag {I'm sure the kids Mum is glad of the break, because she never rang me back about our aquisition of said saber} so the first week definitely had undercurrents of Star Wars ringing through it... so far we've watched episodes IV, I, V & II {in that order} and obviously they've spent much time playing pretend with the light saber.

Come the Monday of the first week we jumped straight into swimming. At 9:00 each morning we headed off to a local swimming pool so that a&d could hone their non-existant swimming skills.

I’ve been a little remiss in teaching them to swim, again we started off well {swimming classes each week until daisy was 18 months} then she wasn’t so keen of being left in the pram, the money got a little tight, angus started sporting ear infections, and it was soon moved to the too hard bin. Where it stayed for a good long while.

Recently I’ve been speaking to friends about the swim program that the school will run towards the end of this year, and given that angus can be quite unsure about new things, I decided to enroll both him and daisy in the intensive school holiday swim program.

After an initial bumpy start, where Angus was put in the level 2 class {with no swim experience at all} he was promptly transferred into the beginner class. From there on it was excellent, not only because they both finished the week with a far better attitude towards the water than the one they started the week with, but also because it got us all up and out of the house each morning. No loafing around in our pj’s watching tv all morning. We enjoyed the structure of swimming, then heading home for a hearty snack, before enjoying a play-date with friends each day.

The week ended with me heading away with a lovely group of ladies for a weekend of chatting, crafting, eating and relaxing… unfortunately I got home Sunday afternoon and feel like I’ve been paying my dues ever since.

Probably due to the pace we kept last week, all of my kids has come down with a cough and cold {including the littlest one with croup} so we’ve spent all of this week holed up inside, cancelling play-dates and keeping tucked away from this miserable weather. I fear that it is going to be a very long week.

towards the light

2011-06-25T22:04:00.006+10:00

While we enjoyed our experience at the solstice bonfire last winter, we decided soon after that this year we would be having a fire with friends in the comfort of our own back yard. We wanted the kids to get up close and enjoy the heat and ambience of the fire.

So with a lovely group of friends on board, we've spent the last few weeks planning what we wanted to do, we collaborated so that the load was shared, and finally today we implemented our ideas... and it was a light-hearted and fun evening, where the kids all got to enjoy the magic of staying up late{r} and playing outside with their friends in the dark.

While we didn't have any guest fire twirlers, we did have some fun activities for the kids to do... Nay & Nic brought sticks and dough and helped the kids make 'bread on a stick' which was then cooked on the fire and smothered in butter and syrup to be enjoyed by all.

Next up was the lantern making... we didn't do the lantern walk last year, but wanted to include it this year. I remember when I was a kid, the idea of walking around, outside, at night was quite thrilling. The kids made an assortment of tissue paper covered jar lanterns, which were lit with an LED tea light, making them not only pretty, but very child friendly too.

For the lantern walk, we all lined up with our lanterns and wended our way down the hill, through the gate, then off across the paddock {with every second kid seeming to fall in a hole, oops} then down through the very long grass until we reached the creek in the gully. I think some of the kids had hoped we would see a fox, but with the sheer volume of noise that 10 kids and 7 adults generated, I don't think there was a fox within a kilometer radius... so while there was no wildlife to be seen, the glowing kids were quite a spectacle.

It was short and noisy, but I think it was a success!?!

We spent the rest of the evening overindulging in much food; sausages in bread for the kids; baked potatoes with the lot for the adults; a very enjoyable session making s'mores on the fire {aussie style :: mcvitties digestives, cadbury chocolate & marshmellows}; apple pie with lashings of ice cream and cream; and mulled cider by the fire. oh my stars. too much food. {in a good way, of course}

While this was all happening, I noticed a few cozy corners with a couple of kids tucked in together with a lantern and a glow stick each, having little chats; and then later when it got a bit closer to bed time, there was much running and sillies, with awesome lightsaber activity with the glow sticks.

Ah, it was exactly what we had planned, and I can see this becoming an annual tradition... great friends, fun kids, much food, and the magic of an open fire. Thanks for a great night my friends, well done for making it perfect for everyone!

up ~ and ~ down

2011-06-17T14:55:00.003+10:00

:: on the down side, our washing machine died

:: on the upside, we acquired an excellent commercial Whirlpool to replace it

:: on the downside our new machine doesn't have a delicate cycle

:: on the upside I am now consistently on top of the laundry in the house, the machine is fast and furious

:: on the downside, the fast and furious in the warm water with wool wash is not very good for looking after hand knits, a fact I discovered after testing what I thought was the delicate cycle... a lot of wrecked knits later....

:: on the upside, if I ever want to do any machine felting, my machine would be perfect

:: on the down side, all {remaining} woollies in the house will now have to be hand washed

:: on the upside, since we are now down two handknits, I had the perfect excuse to order new yarn

:: on the down side, winter may be over before I get around to finishing any of them

:: and so it goes on....

{in remembrance of a lovely cardi that served us well}

{and an admission :: I'm sorry mum, the powder blue jumper that you knitted for Daisy last Easter was also ruined... good thing you just delivered her an updated knit!}

in the [winter] garden

2011-06-10T07:27:00.000+10:00

I've been sneaking out into the garden so many times throughout this week, I have seeds sprouting their little heads up everywhere and while I don't know why I find this endlessly fascinating, I have come to accept that I just do. So out I pop, peeking through the netting, trying to figure out why the seeds at one end seem to be coming on just that little bit quicker that the seeds at the other end... is it because the morning sun takes longer to warm up the earth, so the side that it hits first is a smidge colder that the other side of the bed that gets the sun for an extra little bit at the end of the day? {that's it, that's my only theory!}

I planted two different varieties of garlic this year, Tasmanian garlic that I bought from Bunnings, and two heads of Australian Garlic that I bought from the organic section at my local fruit and veg; the reading that I'd done indicated that because the organic garlic is grown without harmful chemicals, there are no inhibitors to growing it in the home garden. We'll see in six months or so I guess... the Tasmanian Garlic is supposed to be grown in the home garden, so that's a bit of a safety measure, after enjoying the beautiful {three} heads of garlic that I grew last year, I wanted to have more this year. I've planted about 48 cloves which should {magically} grow into 48 heads of garlic for us, fingers crossed.

I also planted red onions again, the ones from last year were sweet and full of flavour, so this year two rows are in, interspaced between three rows of All Season Carrots. After learning the hard way last year not to transplant carrots once they are in the garden, I've direct sewn my carrots, one seed at a time, 10cm apart... also not as recommended, but I have issues with 'thinning' in that I can't decide which one to thin, I mean who am I to decide which seedling looks better than another?, so then I don't thin, and that never works. So this time, I figured that if any any of the seeds didn't sprout, then I could just plant another seed in that spot?... we'll see.

My other garden bed, the one that's been providing me with the lions share of peeks, has legumes in it {of course}... I've {well technically Cam} added higher nets to my middle garden bed, which means I could build the support structures that the peas and beans need to grow. I've 2 {going to be 3} wigwams {is that the right word?... three stakes in the ground, joined at the top in a teepee shape} in with a telegraph pea seed planted at the base of each stake, then I have a row of snow peas in, that have trellis to grow up, and another broad bean paddock {same as last year}.

So far, two of the broad beans have emerged, all of the snow peas have sprouted, and four or five of the telegraph peas. It's all very exciting!

{Daisy's pilfered seed experiment...}

On my to do list are a few little jobs though... I have another garden bed in but not quite finished, it needs a few more boards, a little more soil, and netting. Also, I need to green mulch in the 6 or 7 packets of seeds that Daisy planted into it {taken from my seed stash without permission I might add} ~ maybe this long weekend I'll make some time to get out into the garden?

crochet cowl

2011-06-07T17:48:00.002+10:00

While not so easy to photograph, this cowl was so easy to make, and has been keeping my neck snuggly and warm for the last week or so.

I started with one ball of Patons Wilderness 0507 and a size 15mm crochet hook and after a couple of false starts {one involving finishing and weaving in the ends before frogging the lot} I settled on a 35 chain, joined in the round, then trebled around and around and around, until the last complete round before the yarn ran out.

All finished, it's about 8" high, and because my chain was tight I wear it at the top, technically making the cowl upside-down. Whatever, I'm happy with it, and its been thrown over my head and around my neck most mornings...

A Birthday Party

2011-05-30T09:19:00.004+10:00

She turns two during the week, so we celebrated her upcoming birthday with a little family party over the weekend. It was perfect just for her, all of her adoring {and adored} family coming to celebrate her antics. She was in her element.

The preparation for the party {while frenzied at times} was a communal affair; Cam and I had separate 'workstations' in the kitchen, where he cooked up yummy apricot chicken balls, and I whipped up some 32 chocolate cupcakes, a quick clean then it was onto the mars bar crackles while I did the 'ikea' clean and vacuum, and made up the party bags.

The cupcakes were a family affair, I made the cake, the kids iced them and Cam decorated them, and the kids were allowed to eat 1 each before the party.

Shall we just have a little chat about the party girls outfit?... sometime ago I saw this gorgeous creation by Stella McCartney which I've been meaning to make for her, so when I saw a similar tutu for sale in Cotton On kids on Saturday morning, I couldn't help but to grab it. Finding a plain grey hoody was a little more difficult though, so out with the trusty hoody pattern and some polar fleece on Saturday night, and this was quickly whipped up...

... The gorgeous pair of boots that she recieved from her Aunty were the perfect finish to the outfit... and as you can see she received plenty of clothes {which was the main request} as we have wonderful toys that have been built on over the years, and which {mostly} last the test of time, so while she doesn't want for more toys, the hand-me-downs from her older sister and pretty slim. It was brilliant to receive so many clothes that we can put together into everyday outfits for her.

Thank you to our family who came and brought food, presents and a willing audience. It was so nice to see you all in one place, and of course the older kids were just delighted that they were able to hang out with their cousins again.

make your own juggling balls

2011-05-27T16:04:00.002+10:00

Have you ever made your own juggling balls?... we used to make these all the time, way back when I was working for AMP {before I was married} ... Cam and I took a weekend trip to Sydney and at one of the markets was a guy selling juggling balls, we didn't buy any at the time but it did plant the seed and for a long while after we would practice our juggling skills.

Unfortunately my skills have long since dissipated, but when D started asking if we could make some juggling balls I discovered that, yes, I could remember how ::

step 1 :: gather your supplies :: uncooked rice, balloons, some scissors and a vessel to get the rice into the balloons, we used an empty squeeze bottle with the top removed.

step 2 :: fill the bottle to the desired height, this way each ball will be the same size.

step 3 :: place the balloon over the neck of the bottle, tip it upside down and squeeze the bottle until all of the rice is transferred into the balloon.

step 4 :: push the rice in the balloon down, so that it is away from the neck of the balloon. See how it looks squashed?

step 5 :: cut the entire neck of another balloon {and you will cut the necks off all the balloons from here on}

step 6 :: hold the neck of the first balloon over...

step 7 :: and stretch the next balloon over it so that they hole ends up on the opposite side of the balloon, effectively sealing all of the rice into the first balloon.

step 8 :: repeat stretching another coloured balloon over the ball.

step 9 :: repeat with another coloured balloon

step 10 :: cut a few extra small holes in the next balloon so that the last two coloured balloons will show through.

step 11 :: round out the balls, and there you have it... Juggling Balls

Go on, make some more and learn to juggle. It's fun!

the minutiae*

2011-05-26T14:25:00.002+10:00

I can't remember if I've mentioned 'the computer' in this space; but the kids got a new {to them} computer for christmas last year, as well as a desk for it to sit in the dining room. The idea was that it was a place for them to watch their movies {if someone else wanted to use the television} and an area ready for A to do is homework in the new year.

Well it all went well for the first few weeks, then the computer made a funny noise and ceased functioning. Upon a bit of investigation, we found that the kids had posted a few pencils and a magnet into the empty hard-drive, straight into the motherboard. There really wasn't any coming back from that. So the tower was taken to the doctor, and the peripherals have been sitting on the desk ever since.

Each night after dinner, A sits at the desk with my laptop and does a round of reading eggs, and so the 'the computer' has sat gathering dust. It wasn't until I started to pack it up {to slowly edge it out of the house} that a new level of interest suddenly arose... the girls spent a lovely while playing offices at the table, and when they were done {ie: lost interest and moved onto making other messes} I snuck it away into a cupboard. They haven't missed it yet.

Isn't if funny how * so many things happen in a day, and even though I had the presence of mind to grab my camera to record Cam sticking A to the wall, for the life of me, now that I wanted to write up what happened that was so funny, I can't remember. Weird. I'll have ask Cam if he can remember which random comment lead to this crazy moment after dinner last night?

a little crafting

2011-05-24T13:46:00.002+10:00

I haven't done much sewing of late, so after an evening of surfing around the net {again} looking at pretty things, I decided that it was high time that I actually made something. The kids were all sound asleep, Cam wasn't home, it was the perfect opportunity.

I had just been looking at pictures of bedrooms on Pinterest, and it dawned on me that my orange carpet may just work with a white and grey colour scheme; so I pulled out a gorgeous wool fabric that was languishing in the stash, loaded up the machine, did a few measurements, and voila ~ a cushion for my future bedroom re-do.

Considering that I didn't bother with a zip, I just sewed the cushion insert in {if it ever needs a wash, I'll just unpick that seam} it probably took about half hour all up. Now I can sit back on the couch until bed time, happy in the knowledge that I have something to show for myself today!

organising their art

2011-05-23T09:50:00.003+10:00

As any parent would know, it is a challenge trying to keep on top of all the creations that our kids present to us, there's {massive} paintings and collages coming home from kinder, very important learning sheets from school, mural sized art displays, and of course the prolific drawing that happens at home.

Up until now, I've had an awful time figuring out what to do with it all. I have a massive plastic tub in one of the cupboards stuffed full with 3 years worth of kinder paintings, I've had it piled on top of my fridge, in a blue ikea bag in the laundry, stuffed under paperwork, in binders, it's taking over my house!

Many people have suggested solutions... make it into wrapping paper, only keep the 'best'{?} ones, get the kids to choose their favourites, frame it and rotate the image regularly... all excellent suggestions; but still i've stalled.

My dilemma is that I love it all {ok, maybe not the carpet scraps glued to a bit of paper, but whatever} I love the growth and development that it shows in each of my children, I love watching the blobs start to develop faces and belly buttons, and then legs and arms, then fingers and a separate head. It truly is fascinating. I watch with interest whether the faces that my kids draw are smiling, or yelling, or frowning. I'm interested in the colours that they use, and how much of the paper they use... clearly I'm going to have trouble getting rid of any of their art.

But now I've finally found a solution that is working for me.

I have a blank area of wall in the dining room, and when I unload the worksheets from his school bag, or wrestle the {massive} kinder art that she's made, through the door, I pin it up on the wall with a few pieces of bluetac, take a photo of it, separate it into piles {landfill or recycle} and get rid of it. The brilliant part of this method {according to me} is that all of the files are dated, so from here on in I really will have a chronologically ordered record of their art|development to look back on and share with them, and it takes up next to no {physical} space, just a couple of external hard-drives.

Of course, I will keep the occasional piece of art {a little helicopter that angus drew in kinder springs straight to mind} but on the whole, I can feel guilt free getting the bulk of it out of my cupboards and out of my house; and believe me when I say, that there is a whole lot of weight off my mind.

on the wall

2011-05-18T21:31:00.001+10:00

The littlest and I took a trip into Ikea this morning, and as we were running a touch early {and my tummy was growling} we stopped for breakfast while we waited for the doors to open. The stingy part of me couldn't have been happier, for a mere $4.45 we both had full tummies, and were ready to shop.

After a little indicision, I settled on the Ribba 30x40 frames, 3 in black, 3 in silver & 6 in white, I also grabbed a few smaller ones for the school photos while I was there. Then it was off home, to trim a smidge of the sides of the mats {already fitted to the photos} so that they would fit in these {off the shelf} frames, and load them up.

Wow! Talk about the photos coming into their own once they are in the frame. Delighted would be a good word for how I'm feeling. Oh and sore, my poor fingers after bending all the fixtures at the backs of the frames, then fitting the hanging wires too. Boo! {oh hang on, ikea, cheap... Yay!}

I then spent a considerable amount of time moving three sheets of paper {cut to the size of the frame} around the wall, testing layout positions, and eventually settled on this...

Now I just need to get the big family shot framed, and await delivery of one more print {and paint the lounge room walls} and we may see some more on the wall. Stay tuned...

are you [P]intrested?

2011-05-17T20:25:00.005+10:00

There are so many blogs online that showcase products or looks that the author is interested in, and many of them I subscribe to, but for my space {here} it's never been something that I've been interested in doing. Sometimes I will mention that I have been inspired by a look or product, and sometimes I'll even show a product that I've bought {rarely} but now I've found a space where I can keep track of all the things on the web that I love!

You may have heard of it, you could already be a part of it, or you've heard of it and don't {yet} know what all the hype is about, OR you may not know what the heck I am talking about. Here, let me enlighten you{!}

I am {of course} referring to Pinterest, no longer the new kid on the block, and definitely showing signs that they have moved in and are here to stay.

I began my love affair with Pinterest late last year, but back then mine was a superficial love where I liked her for her pretty looks and where she could take me {aka the all page with a revolving selection of pinned images and the links embeded in them that took me all over the Internet, many places that I'd never been before}

But still I was wary, another online time suck? Could she commit to me as much as I would to her? Would our souls be linked?... I wasn't sure. So for months I saved pictures to my desktop and resisted becoming a member.

Until one day I realised, I had over 700 images in my folder, and I didn't know where most of them came from. I couldn't give due credit, {quelle horreur!}... so I requested in invitation to join...

and now I am all set up and 'populated' and more in love than ever.

To me it is a place to, not only, tap into to a huge amount of {pretty} inspiration, but also a hub to visually file all of my bookmarks. I can see something on the net, 'Pin It' to one of my boards, and then go back later and instantly find the link to that place. For example, I see a recipe online that I want to refer to at a later date, I pin it to my 'to eat' folder, and then when the urge strikes I know exactly which picture to click to link.

Another thing that I've noticed, just watching the 'trends' of what I pin, are some things that {while I know them} become blatantly apparent about my tastes :: if you have a look at my pins you may be surprised to find :: I like a muted colour scheme :: except when it comes to Rainbows {I ♥ rainbows} :: I like words and sayings :: I like the word fuck {a lot} :: I have a thing for food in jars :: and who knows what else...

Either way, come on over, have a look around, request your own invitation, pin away, and be my friend... See you there!

warm arms

2011-05-16T19:48:00.004+10:00

I saw a similar pair of arm warmers while out shopping a week or so back, and while they certainly weren't original {i've seen many similar on ravelry and fell in love with the pair that Alice wears in New Moon an eon ago} it took this little push of inspiration to get me straight onto the needles.

The weather has been rather chilly of late, and I love the idea of layering up my usual long-sleeve-tee with a scarf and some arm warmers, so I was quick to take a peek in the stash, find a snuggly ball of wool {straight from the sheeps back too, this one is not dyed, but taken from a flock of dark fleeced sheep} and cast right on... I didn't even do a gauge swatch, I just guessed and then tried them on as I knit, to make sure that I had the right lengths going on.

I am very happy with how they turned out, and wore them layered up this morning. Now back to the needles and onwards with the next article that I want to be wearing as soon as possible....

{top three photo credits belong to Angus!}

{arm warmers and corresponding 'pattern' raveled here}

our photos have arrived!

2011-05-13T11:27:00.000+10:00

A very exciting day for me... my photos have arrived! Beautifully packaged, beautiful presented, beautifully captured. To say that I am delighted would be an understatement.

I love that we have this special time in our children's lives captured so beautifully, I can't tell you how much this process has been so wonderful to me. I was worried that with such high expectations of what Barb could do, that I was leaving myself open to being disappointed... I am so relieved to say that at no point of the process have I been disappointed, only delighted and inspired. So, so good...

[Our photos were captured by the amazingly talented Barb Uil of Jinky Art you can contact her here]

* now I just have to deal with the stress of finding the perfect white frames, at the perfect cost, so that I can get these babies up on our walls. Any help or suggestions on this front would be appreciated.

fruits of my labours

2011-05-12T10:31:00.002+10:00

Earlier in the week, while I was out harvesting my potatoes {which is still only partly done because now that it has rained and rained, the soil is so waterlogged that I can't dig through it), I had a pot of Green Tomato Chutney simmering on the stove*. Once it is safely in it's jar, it's supposed to age for about a week for the flavours to develop ~ but I didn't quite make it. On a bleak afternoon how could I resist making a few cheese & chutney crackers to savour?...

The result is a sweet and rich chutney, where the only improvement that I could suggest for next time, would be to cut the tomato and onion into small chunks (like the branston pickles that I so love) instead of the thin slices. But other than that, nothing, it is so yummy as it is.

Green Tomato Chutney

adapted from here

makes 2 x 270 ml jars

should keep for up to 6 months if bottled appropriately

INGREDIENTS

750 grams green tomatoes

250 grams red onions

2 teaspoons table salt

500ml malt vinegar

250 grams brown sugar

125 grams sultanas, roughly chopped

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper (or 6 grinds)

METHOD

• Finely slice green tomatoes, discarding any rotten or discoloured bits. Remove onion skins and finely slice the onion flesh. Place the tomato and onion in a bowl and mix together with the salt. Cover with cling wrap and leave in the fridge overnight so that the salt can draw the liquid from the tomato.

• The next day :: place the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved then bring to the boil.

• Add the sultanas to the simmering vinegar, then bring back to the boil.

• Take your tomatoes from the fridge, remove the cling-wrap and drain off any liquid. Do not rinse as this will introduce more water. Add the tomato mixture to the saucepan, add pepper and combine well.

• Bring the mixture to a gentle boil for 1½ to 2 hours, stirring regularly. The goal is to reduce the liquid to a thick mixture and allow for enough time to soften the tomato and onion.

• Prepare your jars while you are waiting for the chutney to reduce.

• Once your chutney is thick enough {ie: once you can pass your spoon along the bottom of the saucepan, and you can see the bottom for a little while afterwards} then you are ready to transfer the chutney into your jars.

• Holding your jars with oven mits, carefully fill with the chutney then tap the jar on the bench to remove any air bubbles. Seal appropriately.

* being made in collaboration with my sister, who made sure to stir the pot every so often, while it reduced down to a lovely, sticky chutney.

getting cozy

2011-05-11T21:46:00.004+10:00

My goodness, wasn't it cold today?... and it's not even Winter yet.

While Angus was at school*, Daisy at Nanna-Gill's, and Mia tucked in for her afternoon sleep, you could find me here, right in the space between my knitting, hot cup of tea and the heater.

Keeping cozy.

* he was supposed to go on an excursion to Healesville Sanctuary today, imagine all those little preps out for their first excursion in this crummy weather!?! Thankfully {I found out when I picked him up from school} it was cancelled at the last minute due to the inclement weather. Instead he spent the day following the 'rainy day time-table' and was delighted by the idea.

[trying to be] in the garden

2011-05-10T21:31:00.000+10:00

I've been watching the foliage on my potato plants die back for the last few weeks, and although I've fossicked out a few of the spuds for various reasons, I was waiting a little longer in the hope that the tubers would grow just a little bit more.

It's reached the point that I doubt they are growing any more and I don't want to waste all of my effort and have the potatoes rot in the ground, so with the weather so mild {fresh, cold but not raining or windy} it was the perfect opportunity to get out and see what was hiding under all of that soil.

[to be continued...]

* and for those of you who wondered how my slice went?... there were rave reviews, it was one of the first items to sell, and I had a few people complement me on it the next day, as well as ask for the recipe... so maybe I'm not crazy after all *wink*

competitive vs. being a pleaser

2011-05-09T19:51:00.006+10:00

I was standing at my kitchen bench this morning, packing slice for the school prep cake stall, thinking to myself "what is wrong with me?"...

Let me explain.

Last week a notice came home from school asking parents of prep kids to donate a cake, slice or biscuits to the {fundraising} prep cake stall. The notice stated that 'cupcakes tend to sell best'; well I couldn't be bothered making cupcakes {what with Mothers Day being the day before the stall} so I advised the organiser that I was happy to make a couple of slices ~ she said that was fine, but also pointed out that slices don't always sell very well. I asked her if I should cut them fancy, {like in the cafes' 1x3" rectangles} but she said, oh no, just cut them into the usual chunks {not very fancy at all!}

I made sure that I was organised in advance, and dragged the kids off to the supermarket on Saturday {=chaos, noisy chaos} to gather supplies, then once home I promptly forgot about the whole thing... until Sunday night. Mothers Day done {tick} and I'm ready to sit and take a load off until bed time, until I quickly check my schedule for Monday "Prep Cake Stall" {insert expletive here!}

So I spent the remainder of my Sunday night making a double batch of Mars Bar Slice and a Lemon Slice, and making a fine mess of the kitchen too.

I awoke this morning, to 'no healthy food options for school lunches', 'no clean clothes for dressing kid for school', and a kitchen that looked like a tornado had been through; did I jump in a get it sorted?... we sort of, but first... {and this is the part where I found myself questioning "what is wrong with me"}

I cut each slice into {exactly} 2x2" squares, using my quilting ruler and a large chef knife, then I cut a 2" wide strip of baking paper with my guillotine {again using the quilting ruler}, then I packaged a piece of lemon slice & a piece of mars bar slice together using the baking paper, and tied them up with string. They looked pretty impressive {if I do say so myself} and I just knew that my slices would sell. I wanted to label each one with "The Afternoon Tea Pack" but seriously, it was probably more important to get my kids to kinder/school on time {oh, and dressed and with food on board too} so I had to settle myself with boxing up the slices in a pretty box and adding a label on top.

Seriously! "What is wrong with me?!?*"

* obviously asked tongue-in-cheek! I'm very insightful, I know exactly what is wrong with me, as said by my best friend, you are just a freak, a very nice one, but a freak all the same!

mother's day & high tea

2011-05-08T17:39:00.003+10:00

Happy Mother's day to all of the wonderful mother's out there... I really hope that you were spoilt and cherished on this special day.

Myself?... I've had a beautiful day, I wasn't expecting a sleep in, but I was grateful that with the kids up at their usual 5:30am, that they weren't fighting. I even dragged myself out of bed to turn the TV on really early so that I could at least spend another hour dozing.

When I did arise, Angus asked me if it was mother's day yet?... then {when 0 more sleeps was confirmed} was off like a shot to bring me my 'present', he had wrapped it himself. While I was opening it, Cam rang from Adelaide to wish me a good morning, and ended up on speaker phone with the kids while I unwrapped layer after layer of A4 and sticky tape. Eventually I found one of A's matchbox cars, and a brochure for a car finance mob; coincidence I ask you, or is he already sick of the new wheels?

After a little prompting, he remembered that he actually had a 'real' present to give me, and I was presented with a big box {that Cam had wrapped and hidden before he left} and a little gift bag...

Such special gifts {the first one I knew about as I ordered it from here a week ago} and the second, such a lovely surprise! He made it at school, and you know I may even wear it, I really do like it. The beaded necklace that Daisy made me, seems to have disappeared?... I'm sure that it will turn up in her dress-up box or something similar.

I was then blessed to spend my afternoon with my Mum, my sister, my grandmother and my kids, enjoying High Tea {in my dining room}... it was a beautiful spread {if I do say so myself} and I am now feeling very full of both food and love. I Hope that your day was filled also.

a bag for the books

2011-05-04T22:44:00.001+10:00

See, nothing like a deadline to get me sewing... I received a notice home from kinder on Monday advising that library day was starting this week, and considering the library bag that I made for Angus last year {that is still going strong as his library bag at school this year} I knew I had to make one for Daisy too.

I wanted to make something a little more girly for Dais, so this pink japanese (?) fabric came out of the stash {she's already added a few more drawings of her own I noticed this morning!} together with the rest of the black denim from A's bag.

Some tracing and careful sewing later, we had a girly{ish} library bag, personalised with her name... and in the back of my mind all the while I'm thinking, thank goodness our third child only has three simple letters in her name...

flashes

2011-05-03T22:33:00.001+10:00

I'm still patting myself on the back, and self-nominating myself for 'wife-of-the-day'... I spent time yesterday making lemon slice so that Cam could take a 'plate' to his band AGM last night. Then once he was at said meeting, I spent a few hours making 'flashes' for his uniform. I made two colours because he couldn't decide which he preferred, fully adjustable straps, and fancy ribbon... all so that he can look 'schmick' while he is competing in solos in Adelaide, this coming {mother's day} weekend... see, what a good wife am I!

for the love of horses

2011-05-02T22:17:00.000+10:00

What little girl doesn't love horses, right?!? My little girl has been asking to go horse riding for about six months now, and lucky for us one of Cam's work colleagues has a beautiful property in the Yarra Valley with three horses* on it... and lucky for Daisy, one of those horses is the lovely 30 year old, and so very gentle, Cocoa.

My kid had so. much. fun. They really could have hung out with and ridden Cocoa all day. We did manage to get them to sit and have lunch {albeit briefly} before they were off to find more adventures; climbing trees, petting chickens, trying to catch pigeons**, and nagging to be back on the horse.

We had an enjoyable couple of hours exploring the 'farm', but I've gotta admit, at their young age, and with all that exuberance, I was utterly exhausted by them. I can only imagine what a culture shock they were to our generous hosts!

* and lots of chickens

** there was about forty in the coop, who all flew out their 'little exit ramp' as soon as the kids left the coop...

Out! and about

2011-04-28T19:56:00.004+10:00

Earlier in the week I was talking to some of my girls about how I find it so hard to take the kids anywhere new on my own. If a friend wanted to meet me at the park, and I hadn't been there before, chances are we would be finding some new plans. If I go anywhere, it's somewhere that I've been before, usually somewhere that I've asked Cam to come along with me so that I can check out the lay of the land, how to get there, where the car parks, where the amenities are, etc.

I was not like this before kids, but since having three of them, I think it's come about because I like to be in control of the outcomes of any situation, and know that I can handle my kids in the environment. It's become very limiting on what we do.

So it was really bizarre when another of my girlfriends rang me last night and suggested that we go to the park, instead of our usual play {at home} date, bizarre because she was not privvy to my conversation earlier in the week, but she suggested that she would come to my place then I could follow her to to park in my car. Clearly she is aware of my inability to just get out there and do it.

Of course we had a lovely time, and the kids were beautifully behaved, and the weather was glorious.

... and now, I know one more park that I can visit. Time to keep pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone I'm thinking.

Our Easter Hunt

2011-04-24T18:11:00.007+10:00

7:36

7:39

7:41

7:42

7:45

7:46

7:50

7:50

7:50

7:51

7:53

7:55

7:59

8:00

8:01

What a lovely way to spend Easter Morning... our thoughtful bunny set out a treasure hunt with maps directing the kids all over the back garden. They thought that it was wonderful to be on an expedition... and we thought that it was great having all this fun for five eggs-a-piece.

If you want to enjoy the magic, you can watch the vid of all the stills here.

Enjoy!

and a Happy Easter to you too, I hope your EB was just as much fun.

Finger Buns

2011-04-16T20:24:00.004+10:00

There are a number of reasons why I bake, the first is because I like to eat, especially sweet, baked food, but I also bake because sometimes I'm too stingy to pay for baked goods :: because I feel like eating something, but I don't want to put three kids in the car and head out :: and also because it feels so satisfying to make something myself that is as good or better than what I can buy.

Yesterday I made finger buns, for all of the reasons above. Firstly, we had a play-date scheduled and I wanted to have a snack for all the kids {and maybe a little for us Mums} to enjoy :: I felt like eating finger buns, but couldn't be bothered piling the kids into the car and stopping at the bakery :: because I worked out that for 3 kids + 3 kids + 2 mums, it was going to cost me $12 {at least} at the bakery for said buns and I didn't want to fork out that money :: AND because I have google, and google delivered GOLD on the recipe front!

I'm getting quite used to making my own bread, so it was no extra effort to make these buns instead, I had some little helpers for the whole process, so it was actually a fun thing to do while on school holidays. The finished product, while not quite as light as those from the bakery, was still pretty light, and tasted so sweet. It was also pretty cool to finally find out how to make an icing that tastes fairly similar to the stuff that they use on the boston buns... next time I may even try to make a big bun for slicing and buttering... mmmmmm!

Recipe adapted from the Finger Bun recipe at Best Recipes.

Ingredients

Bun Dough

2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon bread improver*

3 teaspoons dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon oil

2/3 cup saltanas

3/4 cup tepid water

Icing

1 cup icing sugar

2 tablespoons margarine

1 tablespoon warm water

100s & 1000s

Method

Combine first five ingredients in a bowl, add oil and water and stir until a dough starts to form. Flour hands then start kneading dough in the bowl until is comes together. Turn out onto floured surface, then knead for 10-15 minutes until dough is elastic {note: I found this dough quite sticky, so floured my hands quite regularly while kneading} Add sultanas at end and knead through.

Place dough in bowl and cover with a clean tea-towel. Place somewhere warm and drought free until dough has doubled in size. Once doubled in size, turn out onto a floured surface and knock back. Cut into 8-10 portions, roll each one into a sausage and place onto a floured tray, leave 1-2 cm between each piece. Cover with a tea-towel and leave to prove in a warm, drought free place until each portion is slightly touching.

Cook at 190℃ {I cooked at 160℃ because my oven is fan forced and HOT} for 15-20 minutes, checking regularly for colour. Cool on a wire rack.

To make the icing, place the ingredients in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Ice buns once they are cool, and roll in the 100s & 1000s.

* because I use such cheap plain flour

in the garden :: a lesson for us all

2011-04-15T21:50:00.007+10:00

The 'top growth' is starting to die back.

With the nets off, it's easy to see that the plants have actually died back more than I originally thought. Much of the growth was being held up by the nets.

I've donned my big kitchen gloves {there's lots of creepy crawlies in this soil ~ very good that is, but not to touch and not to be bitten by} and I'm starting to investigate what lies beneath.

Eureka!

Spuds!

But wait, before this appears like I am the master gardener, let me continue::

I must admit, sometimes gardening and my garden leaves me feeling so stupid. Take my potatoes for instance; I have read so many articles on how to grow potatoes, and the many experienced gardeners in my life have said to mound my spuds {jo, aren't you going to mound your spuds a bit more?} You know, heap the dirt up around the base of the plant; and I did {sorta}, but all the while I was aware that my spuds were already in the raised beds, so they had heaps if room to grow their bounty within the soil already in the bed. Right?

So I thought...

{and this is the bit where I feel so stupid, so please refrain from reading on if you are a seasoned potato grower, but if you're not, please do read on and let my stupidity teach you a valuable lesson}

I mistakenly believed that the potato plants would grow down, that the potatoes formed at the base of the seed potato. Ha! Not so. What actually forms at the base of the seed potato is roots, roots for the plant to obtain nutrients with which to grow. What grows out of the top of the plant, the long vine(y) branches is where the tubers {or spuds} grow... so when all the books say "mound your spuds" they ain't kidding! Because it is in that mound where the spuds grow and need to be protected from light. {Duh!} Here, let me illustrate...

Now that I've had the wool pulled from my eyes by digging up one of my own plants, I now know just how it works, but of course, now I feel so STUPID that I just didn't get it before... and {sob, sob} now my harvest is going to be so much smaller because of my said stupidity {although my bestie assures me that he didn't mound his last crop, and he still got p.l.e.n.t.y of yummy potatoes out of his soil}

So next time, I will be planting my spuds in much shallower soil, and then mounding from there, just like it says in the books.

Click Images if you want to read the article

Yes I get it now, loud and clear.

a stitch in time

2011-04-13T21:06:00.003+10:00

While the older kids were out having adventures of their own, Mia and I spent a lovely day at home. Just the two of us. There were games of peek-a-boo and row-row-row-your-boat; and much giggling and cuddling. With this wintery Melbourne weather, I've even been inspired to pull out the crochet again!

* Photos taking on my iPhone using the Hipstamatic app

in short :: day 1

2011-04-11T22:05:00.003+10:00

First official day of school holidays, and I can tell you right now, we're not going to be doing much fancy around here...

I awoke this morning and actually had some energy! Woo Hoo! It's been a long time... my cold {and sinus infection} is on the mend, and my iron supplements may well be starting to kick in. So I cleaned, my house is clean, the laundy is done {for five minutes anyway}, and my hair done.

The kids have been parked in front of the TV since they got up at 6{ish} this morning, and are alternating between lolling about, and driving each other crazy with the sillies. I finally managed to shoo them outside around one, when Mia went down for her sleep. Then Nanna-Jan came over, and give me the luxury of doing the weekly food shop without kids in tow.

We have a few play-dates sorted for the rest of the holidays, but mostly I think that we are just going to hang out at home, let everyone find their rhythm again, and try and recuperate from the exhaustion of first term, all the while trying not to do each others heads in.

If you were hoping for some pretty or inspiring school holiday adventures, then I am sorry my friends, I think that you will have to look elsewhere...

auskick

2011-04-09T13:58:00.000+10:00

We've been pretty keen to get involved in our local auskick this year, not so much because we are a 'footy family' but mostly because it's such a good way for the whole family to be involved in something healthy, cheap, and community orientated.

So this morning was it. The first one. I tried very hard to keep my expectations realistic and under-control, but as with anything that you've looked forward to, that is easier said than done.

We arrived a few minutes early, so that our kids would have a chance to mingle and settle in {well that was the plan} but it was apparent very early that the only kid that was going to take it all in her stride was Mia, and that wasn't much help to us.

We'd already registered Angus to play a few weeks ago, but we also recently found out that Daisy could also play this year, because her birthday fell 9 days ahead of the cut-off, so in a last ditch effort to get the kids to participate, we registered Daisy on the spot. Again our parently strategy failed, now we had two kids whining, crying and refusing to join the other kids in the footy drills. I could feel myself getting both frustrated and embarrassed, you know how it is, it looks like all the other kids are being angels, and your own are, well, not!

Eventually though, we won through; Cam got involved in helping out with the drills, even though our kids weren't doing them, and sure enough, after a while our kids started to join in.

An hour in, when they gathered all the kids in and gave them a jersey to wear for a game, my kids were hooked. They had a great time, and hopefully will get in on the action a lot quicker next time, especially since we've delivered on our 'bribes' and they now have their footy kit. Angus is a hawk {his own choice}, Daisy a cat {my choice, for her Dad} and my baby is a bomber {just like her Mummy}...

... game on!!

scenery

2011-04-06T13:40:00.000+10:00

:: a few more sights before I move on... the chandelier in the ladies room of the balcony. I loved this, I walked through the door, saw the pink doors, the multi-coloured light, the flowers and candle on the vanity and thought, how ladylike.

:: this was the sugar bowl on our table, I don't know if the other tables were the same, but now I wish that I had offered to actually buy the sugar bowl. love it. how strange!... so universe, i'm just putting this out there... "I would really, really like a sugar bowl, just like this one"

:: the cake shop down the stairs, I resisted, but only because I was so full from breakfast!

:: my new hat, now I can take my hair to a new level of lazy, not only do I like the hat, but I think that I am going to be grateful for it on many a school morning.

:: as you were...

flying away

2011-04-05T08:23:00.000+10:00

It's not every weekend that I get to run away up the coast for a weekend away with not only no kids, but also with my husband... but if there was ever a good reason for it, a ten year anniversary is right on up there. So that is what we did.

We woke up at 3am on Friday morning, very quietly got ready, and snuck out the door to make our 6am flight to Brisbane. Once in Brisbane we picked up our hire car {with a scrape on every panel, so we didn't need to worry about being too careful!} and headed on down the coast to ... ta da ... Byron Bay!

I've been wanting to check out that little coastal town for about eight years now, and we've never gotten around to it. So this was perfect. We spent our first day exploring the quaint little town of Bangalow {while I battled a newly acquired head cold} ducking in and out of the shops, looking at lots of treasures, and sampling the local fare... I think that I had the best pizza ever at the EspressoBar, the texture was divine, and it looked amazing, unfortunately I could not taste it, at all, all taste sensation gone!

Eventually we'd had enough of our exploring, so we headed to our accommodation an hour earlier than check in time, I so needed to be in our room, out of the public eye, and asleep. We stayed at the Byron at Byron and they were so accommodating, even though we were early. We sat by the pool until our room was ready, sipping tea, and checking out the facilities. Any other weekend, I would have been by the pool, or in it... however, this weekend, I was happy mooching about our suite. I got lots of sleep, could skype the kids on the free wifi, submerged myself in the deep spa bath, lolled about on the recliners reading magazines, enjoyed the peace and quiet, and revelled in the company of my lovely husband.

In the other moments, we explored the township of Byron Bay, ate lots of yummy food, contemplated getting a tattoo {well I did, Cam wasn't keen AT ALL} strolled around the monthly market, oohed and aahed at this shop, took a quick spin up to the lighthouse, enjoyed a lovely walk to the beach and a quick walk on it {again my head cold brought us undone, the sun is too bright when your in that state} and bought lots of cookies from here.

Even with our health issues, we both had a great break, and thoroughly enjoyed three full days together, I mean when do we ever get that!

and of course, thank you so much to my Mum and Sister for holding the fort at home... the kids had a lovely time, and we were so grateful for the break.

Now, back to reality.......

ten

2011-03-31T08:30:00.005+11:00

ten years today I have been married to my sweet man. ten years of life together. ten years of countless ups and downs. ten years and only the beginning of the life journey that we both willingly signed up for. ten things:

one :: we met in the summer of 1987. i know this for sure because my grandmother has a letter that i wrote to her while on summer holidays mentioning that i had met him. we were formally introduced after him and his mate {both 14} threw banksia nuts {tree seed pods} at us and declared war. is that where the belief comes from that if a boy is mean to you it's because he secretly likes you?... it wasn't long after that that we became mates and spent the rest of that summer {and many more after} swimming, reading and hanging out.

two :: each year on my birthday cam writes me a lovely poem in my birthday card. he's always done it, and i hope that he always does. the poems are always rhyming verse and are a reflection of our life at that time.

three :: one of the poems that cam wrote me early in our dating years was re-written as song lyrics and sung at our wedding. when i think of our wedding i always think of smiling, the first lines of the song :: you asked me, what i thought of you, on a windy cold dark night, and midst the boom and crash of tin, i think i got it right. i said that i thought lots, and certainly i do, but from a work smith such as i, more should be said of you :: and all of our wonderful family and friends who shares such a happy day with us.

four :: in the years after we met and before we became a couple, he would take me to an extremely posh restaurant for each birthday. he would show up at my parents house in whichever car he was driving {they got better each year or so} and take me on a real grown-up date. he never asked for more, just kept his "hat in the ring" as he says now. in a landscape of school then uni and boyfriends, he was the one constant, classy man in my life. i miss those days a little.

five :: as wonderful as he has been to me as a husband, i had no way of ever knowing what a wonderful father he would be. he is patient and kind to our children, he takes them to kinder, school and extra-curricular events. he revels in playing silly games with them, and listening to their take on life. he patiently explains things to them {even when they move on to other things and have lost interest in the original question}, and he mucks in and helps out with all of the not-so-glamourous jobs that having young kids entails

six :: growing up i always said that i would marry a cook. i was never interested in marrying a chef because i really think that the work hours would be shit, and if they are anything like the plumber and mechanic mates that i've known over the years {and the chefs that i worked with in my uni days} there wouldn't be much inclination to 'work' at home. ie: cook for me and the kids; but marrying a cook was always high on my wish-list. he is a marvelous cook, and while I easily hold my own in the kitchen these days, i am eternally grateful that for the first five years of our marriage he owned the kitchen. he did the shopping and the cooking, he could cook up a five star celebration meal or stick to a shoestring budget when we over-extended ourselves mortgaging two houses. now i just love that if i have an off afternoon and don't feel like cooking, he will walk in from a long day of exercise and work and take to the kitchen with grace. so important is it to both of us to be able to sit down for a home cooked meal together at the end of our day.

seven :: he always backs me. in saying that, i mean that whenever i have a new idea, or a new direction that i think we need to be heading, or i come up with something new that we absolutely must have, he supports me. he's not a pushover or a yes man, but if i've given the matter some thought {which i invariably have} he listens to my reasoning and supports me whole heartedly, so much so that in the end it's hard to remember who the idea actually started with. of course, this can sometimes be a double edged sword, because in hind-sight {ten years of it} some of the decisions that we've made have been terrible, but you know what, i really don't regret any of them, because the things that we learned along the way, together, have made us so much stronger as a unit {and i'm sure will also come in handy when our children are grown so that we can share with them some of the lessons that we have learned {even though i am sure that they will not take heed!}}

eight :: i am so proud of him for getting out of bed each morning and heading our for a swim, ride or run. i married a big man, and i love him, but i remember how much happier and comfortable he was during the years that he was a triathlon 'super star', and how attractive his jaw bones are, i know how hard it is to keep at it, trying to shift a few kilos {i've already fallen off my wagon, but only until next monday i assure you} and each morning when i wake to an empty space next to me all i feel is proud.

nine :: i love that i am married to a man who i find so attractive, i never realised just how much so until the day that angus was born. i remember laying on the operating table, being absolutely terrified of everything that was happening {not least of all actually having our first baby} and seeing him in my peripheral vision, hovering protectively over my shoulder... but when they wrapped angus up, and held him in front of my face so that i could see him, the first thing that i felt was flooding love, soul filling pure love filled my heart, because my little baby looked exactly like his daddy and i knew right then what pure love is, and just how much i loved his daddy's face.

ten :: after ten years of marriage the one word that i would use to describe him would be tender. he has enough for the both of us. in my not so nice moments i have a tendency to be fiery, irritable, angry, and pretty {loudly} passionate, in short i get pissed off and i'm not at all shy about letting him have it {deservedly or not} with both barrels. i love {love, love, love} that he rarely fires back. he just lets me get it out, finds my shouting both endearing and funny, gets the {fucking} point from the tirade, lets me calm down, then works towards an amicable, mutually beneficial solution with me. seriously, does it get better than that?

so ten years. ten full of life years. ten wonderful years. needless to say, i love you babe, happy anniversary!*

and eleven :: i love that you have absolutely no memory, good, bad or otherwise... "hi honey, i'm your wife, jo... we've been married TEN years TODAY!!!!!"

teeny tiny tea leaves

2011-03-24T20:26:00.005+11:00

Isn't it amazing how you can look at your kids all day long and never really see some of the details and traits that make them who they are?... I was just looking at some photos that I took of Mia this morning, and realised that she often has her hands folded just like this. It's not something that I ever noticed, until I looked at the photos, then I realised that yes, she does this a lot. What an old soul.

Of course the reason for the photos was the cardi... This one has been on the needles for a very long time, and perseverance {and winter looming} was why I put in the big yards to bring it on home.

I haven't felt like knitting of late, I can't crochet because of a 'thingy' on my finger that is slowly being rectified, and I can't be bothered sewing {although I did make two more summer tops that I never showed in this space}. Not that I need to be doing any of these things, but my life is just very full right now with other stuff... stuff like family time, cooking {cumquat jam, yum!}, cleaning, reading, and surfing {internet. obviously!}

But I did {finally} finish it, and it looks just as perfect on her as I imagined. The colour matches her eyes perfectly, and the design? well I loved it on Daisy and I love it on Mia.

Now I'll just wait on patiently and see where inspiration strikes...

counting down

2011-03-22T12:58:00.004+11:00

After much talk and a few trial runs, I think I am finally sick of feeling like crap and of lugging around these post baby kilos. So I've been doing a little something about it... Last week I loaded a little calorie counting app to my iphone, and it's been an excellent tool to keep me on track each day.

I find that it's easy to eat a slice of bread laden with butter and peanut butter when no one is looking {or two, or three!} or have eight or nine cups of tea {with two sugars in each} throughout the course of a day... and then be-moan, "why can't I lose a little weight?"... "is it because I'm getting older?"... "why doesn't it just drop off like it used to?"

I've used a food diary before, but never been bothered counting the calories, so it came as a bit of a shock once I started using my little app. It soon became blatently apparent why the weight wasn't shifting. It's a fairy simple equation, energy in must be less than energy out to lose weight, and my calorie dense diet was far from that. Now I'm sort of surprised that I'm not bigger that I am!?!

So I've been using this approach since last Thursday {a very short while} but all other attempts have failed after one measly day, so I am pretty chuffed that I am on day 6 and am starting to see some results {ie: less tummy bloat} I have also cut down my tea intake, because at 60 calories a cup, it's not doing me any favours.

Also, I'm sure I've mentioned in this space that I've been feeling a little tired?... so last week I went off to the doctors to have my bloods done. I got a call to go back and see her, so this morning I did just that. It turns out that while I am not {yet} anaemic, my iron stores are really depleted*. I think my number was 22 and they should be 30-200, so while not dire, it could explain the lack of energy. When I asked, she also told me that drinking that much tea will be blocking my bodies absorption of both iron and calcium. So hopefully the benefits of cutting back my tea intake will be two-fold.

* edited to add ~ while my diet is on the improve, I don't think cutting my tea will be enough, so for the short term I have opted to take a course of iron supplements to balance things up, with a plan to include more leafy greens and some more red meat in the longer term.

some little things...

2011-03-21T21:30:00.000+11:00

As always life is chugging along over here, boring un-bloggy stuff {read: cleaning, dishes, more cleaning, laundry, kinder runs....etc}. I don't have a lot to say in the space right now, have a cuppa with me and I'm sure to have plenty, but writing it down to an empty room?... not so much.

Some little things that have been happening ...

A morning spent on my own, shopping at the garden store for some succulents, and dirtying my hands in a little soil. All so nourishing for a tired Mama, sorely in need of some ME time. Something that we are working on {again!} this time I've told him exactly what I need. ME time, every weekend for a few hours. It's in the diary, scheduled so it will happen. Something to look forward to, something to help fill my cup. You know how it goes.

We've been doing this regularly, the bread is simple, and it's good. We make it in the traditional way, kneading, proving, kneading, shaping, proving and baking. It's about a dollar a loaf {hence why we're making our own} and tastes excellent. If you want to have a go yourself, I found this recipe via The $120 Food Challenge blog.

We've been and registered Angus for this years Auskick {he's finally old enough this year} and he was super-chuffed with the backpack, footy and swap cards. It's awesome value, and we're looking forward to getting a little more involved in our community. Not quite ready to become a volly yet, but maybe next year?!?

and last {but of course, not least} we braved the local festival this weekend {thanks Mum for stepping in for the absent husband} and hit the face-painting stand again, the animal nursery, and oohhed over the size of the camels... then we played on the cheapest ride {the local slide} before heading home for food and rest.

A good weekend for sure.

Lessons in the garden :: Tomatoes

2011-03-12T10:34:00.003+11:00

I'll be the first to admit that I have been shocked by the insane growth of my tomato plants this year. When I first planted out the seedlings I was very careful to also put in the stakes at the same time, so as to not damage the roots down the track. The problem was that I put in four foot stakes, and a foot of that disappeared under the ground, leaving me with three foot stakes... if you look at the height of Mia compared to the height of my tomatoes then it's fairy apparent that my stakes were never going to be enough.

Luckily for me there is a lot of 'stuff' around this property, so it wasn't all that hard to find some seven foot stakes to put in later {and clearly my plants roots haven't been to badly effected} and as I've mentioned before, my Uncle surprised me by putting much better netting over my plants... but still they grow.

One of my plants has grown up to the top, then bent over and is currently tied to the other side of the structure {making the plant about twelve feet from base to tip} and is completely laden with truss tomatoes.

So while I will take some lessons from this adventure, like more aggressive and decisive pruning earlier in the season; and better staking and spacing between my plants; overall we're pretty chuffed with the outcome of this one.

I've also been reading the new issue of Organic Gardener Essential Guide which is all about veggies, and there is an excellent article in there about growing tomatoes where they talk about starting them off really 'meanly' in a dry, root bound pot. The ultimate goal is to get earlier fruit I think, lower on the plant, to I think I'll make a note-to-self to have a go at this method next year.

In the mean time, tomatoes are in season, and I'll be coming up with lots of ways to enjoy or store them for later.

When Barb came to town....

2011-03-08T11:44:00.002+11:00

{image by Barb Uil, Jinky Art. with permission}

I've been keeping something a little quiet, something that we had a lovely time doing while we were away over Summer, something that we will treasure forever. Something that I can finally show you a little sneak peek of... We had a {very fun} photo session with the amazingly talented Barb Uil from Jinky Art.

I tried to book a session with her in the Summer of 2009 {when Mia was 6 months} but you have to get in quick, and we missed our chance that time... so I popped our name on the wait-list for this Summer gone. When the time came to come up with some locations and ideas on what we wanted from our session, then only thing that I could think of was "wouldn't it be excellent if Barb would come to our beach". I couldn't come up with anything else until a ruled that option out, but when I asked the question {and gave Barb a little of Cam and my story} she was all too happy to trek on down the coast. Awesome!

The session itself was fun, we dragged Barb around to our favourite little corners of the property, and bumped around the paddocks in our little car, and showed her our {faux} private beach {well there is like, never anyone else on it} and all the while she took lots {and lots} of photos.

Then she worked her magic, and came up with about 80 photos for us to choose from {which of course we've done, and I'll be sure to show you when we get them} but in the meantime, you can have a look here at her write up.

at the fair

2011-03-05T21:17:00.003+11:00

taken with my iPhone 4

A big thank-you to my sister staying the night at my place last night, and providing me with just the reinforcement that I needed {ie: 2 adults : 3 kids being much easier than 1 adult : 3 kids} to brave the local, annual strawberry fair this morning.

It was fun. We lucked a car-park, wended our way in via the play-ground, bought some strawberries and biscuits {which the kids ate while I tried to talk them out of the rides}{didn't work!}, watched while they partook in a few rides, watched while Daisy patiently waited at the face-painting stand, then confidently asked the lady to paint her face as a butterfly, then sat beautifully while it was done, then got up, looked in the mirror and beamed "beautiful!".

We played in the play-ground a little more, then bribed the kids to exit with a bag of lollies, play-ground quickly on the way to the car, and home in time for lunch.

It's the first year that we've attended. Total spent $32.00. I'd probably do it again next year. They'd definitely like to do it again next year.

change

2011-02-24T20:40:00.004+11:00

Wow, sort of left this space hangin' a bit there... so Angus' first week of school went brilliantly. He got up each morning, had his breakfast, then got into his school uniform {and waited} until we could take him there. Drop offs have been easy, he rolls through the motions and happily joins in with his class. Couldn't be easier, really.

I pick him up at home time, and he's content with his day, no grievances being aired. Him and Daisy play nicely for about, say, thirty seconds. Then we're back to niggly normal by the time we get to the car. He comes home and finishes anything that still remains in his snack box or lunch box, while I lean against the bench {just like my mum did} and read or fill out any notices that have come home with him. Then we sit together for ten minutes while he does his reader. The school part's been a breeze.

It's the bit in between that I'm struggling with.

The first week, on the Tuesday and Friday, Daisy doesn't have kinder so it's me and the girls at home; we buzz around and get Angus off the school, then we get home and just look at each other. What now?... Daisy was really grumpy, clingy, and quite lost that first week. I didn't cope will with being the Angus-stand-in, but I also couldn't find any motivation to do my stuff either, so the house was messy, projects at a stand-still, lots of yelling, and clinging, and crying. So much fun, not.

I actually got off my butt and started to look into 'what now'. You know that reality that comes crashing down as your kids start to reach school age, and you realise that you're not going to be their 'complete world' for much longer, and your life completely revolves around them. Sometimes it can be very confronting for me. So the words "what now?" spent a lot of time spinning around my head that week.

This week has been better, and worse. Angus has missed two days of school this week, on top of the Wednesday that they have off anyway. He vomited {in my car!!} on Monday and stayed home, then this morning he was crook in the tummy, so stayed home again. So it's been one of those weeks were most extra-curricular activity has been curtailed. These walls are a-starting to close in on me.

On the up side, Cam agreed that I need just a little me time each day {something that is VERY hard to get} so for the last two days he has walked in the door and taken over dinner duties, while I go and work up a sweat on the treadmill. On. My. Own. ~ bring on those endorphins, I say. Hopefully a bit more of that and my mental outlook will be on the improve.

Next week is looking just as crazy, as Cam is heading off to a fancy overseas destination for work... so needless to say, I'm feeling just a little sorry for myself, that my employer can't afford to send me on a seven day junket to an exotic location.

So that's it. It's gotta get better from here right?... change is just hard.

first day of school

2011-02-10T13:49:00.002+11:00

We're here, after a rather over-excited morning {the kids, not us} we dropped him off for his first day of school...

He woke up this morning and ate a good breakfast, just like I had told him he would need to, then he got into his school uniform {that was put away in it's place in his cupboard, there was no laying it out ready} without any help, he just went to his room and got dressed. Two hours before we were due to leave the house.

There was much asking if it were time to leave yet, and how much longer, and when are you going to pack my lunch... so eventually after I had my shower and got dressed {a little bit fancy, you know, gotta be in the photo's and all} I packed his lunch and snack box, and showed him where everything was. Then he took his boxes and slid them into their spots in his school bag.

When it was finally time to go, he picked up his school bag and slung it onto his back, made his way out to the car and got in. No whining, no nerves, just ready to go to school.

We got there with plenty to spare, and made our way to the classroom {stopping while another Mum took our family photo... sweet!}

We had a 'moment' on the precipice of entering the classroom, where Angus froze up a little {pretty much every kid was already in the room, and it was a little overwhelming} but with a teeny-tiny bit of coaxing, we made our way into the 'bag room' and found his name, deposited his bag and took out his art smock, library bag, and box of tissues {apparently preps use a lot of tissues} then we put his stuff where required and went and sat him down at his chair.

He seemed to be doing okay, so I said goodbye, and reminded him that I would be there to pick him up after school. His Daddy said goodbye, and Angus' little arms snaked up and gave him a big hug {and yes, the tears welled in my eyes a little bit here}

and we made our way out of the room. Leaving our big school kid to enjoy his first day*.

I think I'm okay.

* and I've only just realised that I forgot to pack some {spare} clothes in his bag, so hopefully he's okay too.

grown-up chocolate chip biscuits

2011-02-09T09:35:00.003+11:00

I was going to write about the {really quite} fascinating ant farm that Angus got for christmas, and populated on the weekend {the one that I was very dubious about having in my house} but the inhabitants seem to be having a confused dilemma on whether to survive or not... so, considering that it's not all "wow's" and recommendations, I'm going to save that one until we see how it pans out.

Instead, I'm going to share the. most. amazing. {grown-up} chocolate chip cookie recipe love!

I was introduced to these cookies, and the gorgeous trotski-ash website by the beautiful Bianca from Sadie & Lance fame {who I had the pleasure of meeting at sewjourn a while back}... and at the time I made a mental bookmark to make these myself.

I opted to impress my friends, so I pulled out all the stops, they were made with Demerara sugar, maldon sea salt, and Lindt 70% chocolate. Need I say more?

I made one batch for a play-date in the morning, and then another batch for knitting* last night... then there is a heap of dough in the fridge for freezing for later.

All I can say is, do it! These are the most sophisticated ccb's that I have ever eaten, the dough is sweet and syruppy {flavoured}, the chocolate not so sweet, and the salt that is sprinkled on top is the perfect end note to each mouthful. Bliss. Truly.

You can find the recipe right here.

* when I say 'knitting' I actually mean sewing, talking, teaching, blog surfing, and magazine/cookbook reading... just so you know.

First Day

2011-02-07T05:52:00.001+11:00

First day back at kinder for this year, she was totally underwhelmed, although I did convince her to turn around and look at the camera for me. Eventually.

Just a short session for her today, with only half the class... I'm sure that once she gets used to her teacher, has made new friends, and re-aquainted herself with last years friends, then her enthusiasm for kinder will return.

While his sister was at kinder, Angus was busy have his interview with his prep teacher {doesn't he look so grown up}... the big day is Thursday, and I'm not sure if he's excited about the school part, or just the 'school uniform' part.

[twenty] months

2011-02-04T07:36:00.000+11:00

I can't believe you're twenty months, I thought for a week there that you were twenty-one [months] but then I realised that it was still another four months until your birthday, so I got out my fingers and had another count. So twenty months it is.

That's the thing with you as my third child, I love and adore you, but the details?... sometimes things get missed {like daytime sleeps, immunisations, gift ideas} but it's ok, you seem to be coping just fine.

Getting away this Summer and spending time with your 'extended' family {Nanna, Grandpa, Aunty R} and Daddy, seemed to do you the world of good. You always had someone to ask for a cuddle, or to push you on the swing, or feed you biccies and dip, or teach you new words {your new favourite game}.

All of a sudden you have so many words, it's like your mouth just figured out how to make all of those sounds, and you've been listening for so long and now you can try them all out... many times a day you point to your various body parts and tell me, nose, eye, hair, ear, {knashes teeth together}. You know where your hands are, knees, legs, feet, fingers, bottom and tummy. You can say wring {for the ring on my finger}, Dink {drink}, bix, max, pa pa {grandpa} and so many more. Won't be long until your talking at me too.

Now that we're home again, you get left to your own devices a little more {'cause it's a bit safer here at home} and I often find you sitting quietly entertaining yourself, sometimes a book {this glitter one was Daisy's favourite when she was little too} or tucked away in the bigger kids room playing with cars or dolls. Sometimes I just sneak my head around the door and watch you, then sneak away with you none-the-wiser.

Not one to be solitary though, you are usually trying to mash yourself right into the middle of whatever the bigger kids are doing, and you are usually successful. They are very patient with you, and you really do think that you are three {not one} keeping up with their climbing, or building {if they don't like you playing then they just pick you up and place you elsewhere, something that you find quite rude}. Mostly, they seem to just accept you as a part of the pack, and just accept that you are a part of it with them.

Angus, particularly, still loves to make you laugh, whether it be with funny faces, or peek-a-boo games, you give him endless opportunities by obliging with your easy grin and your funny ways. Daisy still likes to look after you, and will try to end to get a hairclip to stick in your barely-there-hair, or beg me to put a 'whale-spout' in the top of your hair.

Me, I just love having you with me {hence a very late withdrawal from childcare this year} and I'm very looking forward to having some 'us' time this year...

In the garden :: Part 3 - Tomatoes

2011-02-02T10:07:00.000+11:00

As to be expected I guess, my tomatoes were out. of. control. upon my return. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that in my absence my Uncle had built a new net over the garden bed {how lucky am I?}; much better than the one that I'd done originally. It is also very, very high... even so, it's possibly not high enough to completely contain these ginormous tomato plants.

I'm not sure that you can tell from the picture above, but there was so much foliage and the stems were all over the place, falling down, or growing up another plant. I knew that it needed cutting back, but where? and what should I sacrifice.

I spent a couple of hours in there, cutting, tying, trying to untangle it without damaging the plant too much. I swear I had 'tomato stress'; was I cutting the right bits, was a trashing the whole plant, was I cutting enough.

When I finally lay down to sleep that first night all I could see was tomato stems, and that middle growth that you're supposed to pinch out {or in the case of overgrown tomatoes, cut out with the secateurs} and still they weren't done.

I spent more time with them, tying stakes to the garden bed edges, because the plants are so heavy that they are pulling the stakes over. I cut off more new growth, and sacrificed more of some plants because they had bent over and been damaged.... and finally harvested the first of my tomatoes.

I've gotta say, I was a little disappointed. It was on the powdery side, which I really shouldn't be surprised about considering that they've only been watered daily and have been spending {obviously} a lot of energy in growing extra limbs that they probably didn't need.

Hopefully now that I've trimmed off the excess, and started feeding them {weekly liquid fertilizer, and fortnightly, generous lashings of potash, according to this book} hopefully the new ones will be better.

In the garden :: Part 2 - Potatoes

2011-02-01T09:37:00.001+11:00

Back in December, after the broad beans were finally finished, I found a spud in the compost bin that had sprouted, otherwise know as a chit. I rescued him and planted him in bed no. 2... then I invited his mates to come and join the party.

On one of my sneaky trips back I caught up with a friend of mine, with the sole purpose of acquiring his stash of chits... even as we planted the bed out, he was laughing at me "you are going to have so many potatoes, are you sure you know what you're doing"

Well hell no! but isn't that the fun of gardening?... the experimentation?... the journey?... the result?... the lessons?

On my return I discovered that all of the chits had grown, and they were ready for mounding, more than ready really... I emptied my compost bin {the one that had been resting for 6+ weeks} and then I used another two bags of store-bought compost, and I still needed much more.

The solution, or so I thought, came from digging the soil out of my other big garden bed. Half the bed has nothing in it right now, and so I transferred it over to the spuds, mounding around each plant.

and still it wasn't enough.

and I had a big hole in the other bed.

... ta da! Amazing, patient, hard-working, easily convinced, husband to the rescue {thanks honey!} and I had another square meter of soil to fill in the hole, and finish mounding the spud plants.

and this is what they look like now...

I've mulched to top with lucern, partly to assist with water retention in the soil, but also to help stabilize the soil as it's piled so high above the level of the garden beds. I'm hoping in the end all the effort will we worth it though, with many of these to harvest and share.

In the garden :: Part I - strawberries

2011-01-31T09:00:00.000+11:00

As much as I love heading down the coast for a month each year, I have to say that I knew that I was going to miss my garden this year. So much that I actually snuck back to Melbourne, twice, just for a day trip each time, so that I could observe, tinker and tend to my bourgeoning garden. There was a little fertilising to be done, some pruning and tying, and a little eating too.

When I did finally get home, and back to my garden, there was lots of work to be done, hours and hours in fact. Mostly I did enjoy it, although I will admit to a little 'tomato stress' but more on that later...

The first job was to tend to my strawberry plants, partly because there was some lovely, ripe, juicy fruit {with much thanks to my Uncle who watered my garden {amongst other things} throughout the time that we were away} providing incentive for my little helper to come and join me.

With so much rain this season, I was not surprised to find quite a bit of fruit rotting on the plans, so we had two tubs on the go. One of the tubs was for the runners that needed removing, and the fruit that had gone past it's best, but still made a great addition to the compost heap; the other tub was for the ripe fruit, while plentiful, didn't last more that five minutes once it was harvested from the plants... my kids made off with it and devoured the lot in a couple of minutes {very similar, I believe, to the way that they ate your blackberries Dad)

I will confess though, before you think me an exceptional gardener, my other strawberry patch, the one where I planted the runners way back in August, is a disaster. The strawberries are just running amok, literally, there are runners everywhere, down the side of the bed, all through it, and none of them are fruiting, not a bloody one. On top of that my herbs are out. of. control... and on the whole, I am still ignoring that bed, it needs quite a bit of work. Maybe next week?

Meanwhile, I'm going back out to see if I can find another little red gem.

Our Shack :: where the living is easy...

2011-01-29T08:59:00.001+11:00

Most of my friends who go away at Christmas, go and stay in gorgeous holiday houses over the Summer break, most are owned by their parents, but still, they head on down the peninsula or the coast and stay in a house {possibly} nicer than the one that they live in year round. I've always thought that the digs that we camp in over the Summer holiday is unusual, that maybe we're the only ones who do it this way.

According to a new book on the market, this perception that I've been harbouring is not so... Simon Griffiths has put together a beautiful book celebrating the iconic Australian Shack, in it he says:

"... todays shacks are cheery places. Many people choose to live in one rather than a 'proper' home, or to take a break in one rather that a luxurious holidays house. They opt for an uncomplicated life and a place that makes few demands on them. Many also want to help reduce our footprint on the planet - it's an ecological as well as a lifestyle choice to consume less, to reduce energy usage, to make family and friends rather than possessions the centre, and to enjoy the simpler pleasures. Shacks make people happy."

{+click image for larger}

I heard Simon talking about his book last week on the radio, and he talked about the years that it had taken to fossick out all of these hideaways, the traveling around Australia and meeting these people who choose a more simple approach to life {or at least a part of their life} and of course it made me think about our 'beach shack'.

Considering that the book has flown off the shelves over the Christmas period, it goes to show that we really do like looking at other peoples spaces, not just the architecturally designed, and designer appointed spaces, but also the more down-to-earth spaces that make us feel closer to nature, where the taste of the food, the sound of the wind and waves, and the converstations with family and friends are what take centre stage.

So on this basis, and before that Summer vibe totally fades away, I thought I'd give you a little look around our 'beach shack'

This is our actually camp, there is a toilet and another caravan {the 'back-van' for guests} behind it, but this is the space that we eat in, sleep in, play in and relax in. Our queen size bed is in behind that brick wall, and has a massive mosquito net over it which keeps the bugs out, while we lay in bed with our fluro light on, reading. The kids all sleep in the old caravan, it has two rooms, the back on with two single beds where Angus & Daisy sleep and store their clothes, and the front one which has Mia's full-size cot and her clothes. We bath the kids in here each night, and sometimes hide in here if their is something going on outside that we don't want to be part of {ie: a swarm of bees passing through springs to mind}.

This is where we hang out. A couple of lounge chairs that get the midday sun, a school desk for the kids to draw or paint at, the table {because I must have one} where we eat, read magazines, chat, and dump our stuff on.

We have a massive fire-place {you can see the chimney at the top right of the photo} that we use for kitchen purposes, a camp-oven roast perhaps. I think we'll use it more in years to come, when the kids are a bit more aware, but for the moment it's just had an overhaul to make it draw better. For most of our cooking we use a three-burner gas cooktop... so cooking at the camp is remarkably similar to cooking at home.

Right at the top you can see our dishwashing space, that's the only tap in our camp and carries beautiful cold rainwater in, we boil the kettle on our gas stove for hot water, but the cold is great for drinking, and handy that it's right there. The sink is 'plumbed' so that the water is carried off down the hill when we pull the plug out {so much easier that lugging a tub of water outside to chuck out}.

We didn't build this camp, I have my Dad to thank for that, but since we took it over we've certainly changed it a lot on the inside to suit our family... and now we are lucky enough to have a totally relaxing space to escape to for a month at the end of yet another busy year and reconnect with each other and with the environment that surrounds us.

Of course there are always some of the 'locals' that are glad when we finally pack up and leave, I bet they missed their comfy-cozy home that they moved out of the first night we were there.

We're home... in more ways than one.

2011-01-28T13:34:00.002+11:00

We're home. A day pottering around dismantling some infrastructure {like the 4 man dome tent that served as a play room}, an evening gathering our things from near and far, and a morning of packing and loading up the cars and trailer. We were ready to hit the road at half-past-ten... not too bad really.

Our drive home was safe, although not without a few scares {namely some moron who pulled across the front of Cam to pull over on the wrong side of the road, with Cam coming towards him at 100km/h....!) and the kids descended on our house like they had been totally toy deprived for a month. It kept them busy while we unpacked.

... or so I thought.

I looked at Daisy about an hour {or so} after arriving home and thought to myself, gee she looks like I used to. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I jerried as to why; she was sporting a very short fringe {just like to one that I had in grade five}.

Turns out there was one stray pair of scissors in the house {that Angus had received for Christmas} and she'd decided to give herself a haircut {and hide the evidence under the couch}. Of course I did my block at her, but later {much later} after I'd evened it up a bit, I could recognise that it does look quite nice. The chunk out of the side can be pulled back with a pretty hairclip, and the short length of the fringe really does suit her.

.... and she saved me ten bucks at the hairdresser, so really I can't complain too much.

summer holidays :: all good things come to an end

2011-01-27T11:41:00.001+11:00

Our summer holidays are quickly drawing to a close, even though I'm ready to go home, it's still hard to leave this place. The nights spent listening to the waves rolling in, the wind through the trees, the dog snoring under my bed, my kid sleeping a meter away from me grumbling in his sleep, the freedom to roam, to play in our very own creek, to catch butterflies, to climb trees, to collect pine cones, to see beautiful wild animals roaming free, to walk to any number of different beaches, and not see another soul...

We took our last trip to the beach today, and it could not have been more perfect. The tide was really, really low, and had left a tidal pool just perfect for littles to swim in. The sun had warmed to water so it was more like a salty bath, and they splashed and 'swam' and ran between the breakers and the pool for an hour or more. The time just flew by.

Eventually the excitement died down and the chill set in, and it was a pale and shivering daisy that emerged from the water to be rugged up in a couple of towels and sat in the sun while I plied her with popcorn. We then played in the sun until their skin was lovely and warm again, a quick dip, and it was time for our final goodbye to the beach {for this summer at least}

and back to camp via the very well beaten track...