Kids, Knits, Krazy - my life

A day at the park

2011-09-28T03:21:00.000-07:00

We are thoroughly enjoying the school holidays - staying in pj's, chocolate and ice cream for breakfast, long snuggles and many movies have all been features so far!!

We decided to take advantage of some gorgeous weather and head off to the park yesterday - and I'm so glad we did as today was an awful day weather wise!!. I decided to take my camera and see if I could get some nice pics of the smalls. I'm really happy with the results!!

This is my absolute favourite pic of Izaak - we had lots of fun and a fair amount of laughter getting these shots!!

And this one would be my fave pic of the little miss - she is so cheeky!!

Nighty night

2011-07-04T22:49:00.000-07:00

Remember a while ago when I posted about my new bedroom furniture? It arrived a few weeks ago but after our recent trip to Sydney (with the obligatory IKEA trip!!) it has all come together.

I was torn between two different settings but was sold once the lovely salesman told me that the other one was made in China and the suite that I chose was Australian made down in Victoria. Anyway, this is my new room!!!

I *love* all the storage - apart from all the shelves at the back of my bed I've also got this brilliant shelf at the end. Target recently had 30% off all storage so I took advantage and got these great baskets which now hold a heap of essential bits & pieces.

I love the unique look of my bedroom - it's not like anything I've ever seen before and I love that it's mine, all mine!!

The new suite also means that the large white wall which used to be full of yarn and a large chest of drawers with a mirror is now empty. Add a new, bright spotlight which was initially purchased for my reading and the new blank wall has suddenly become a very appealing shadow puppet theatre.

This new development has proved to be a hit with the kids. Of course there are puppies who love to chat and play..... .

Then there is the princess who simply must practice her ballet moves....

Until the mummy monster starts getting grumpy and attempts to eat her head....

Unravel.....

2011-06-21T23:29:00.000-07:00

Today I was at work to get through all the mandatory training updates that I have to do each year - the pain management ones, fire and emergency training, infection control - all the usual subjects. The final one of the day was basic life support and it was at this point that the day started falling apart.

Let me go back a few months....we had a patient who I had nursed on a number of admissions and each time this wonderful woman came through the ward doors I was always keen for a chat to find out how life had been going for her and her boys (she had two boys, one of which was autistic so we had a bit in common). She had been a historian and had PhD for which she had worked on tracing acient langugaes - how they travelled to different geological locations and how they developed over time. She was amazing.

2:22 on a Thursday morning there was an emergency resus code on our ward which I was involved in and which resulted in this womans death. It was the first time I had ever performed CPR outside of a training scenario. It was awful. During the resus we applied an AED which is an automated defibrilator and we did shock her. It was awful.

Fast forward to today and as soon as the instructor ripped open the packed on the AED I had a lump in my throat. A big one. Then I heard the automated voice and I wished an enormous hole would open up and swallow me whole. I closed my eyes and all I could see was this dead womans eyes, the way her jugular line would ooze every time we compressed her chest. The phone call I had to make. I felt absolutely ill.

I walked out of the room, head spinning, eyes wet and feeling just awful. Composed myself, went back in and finished the session but as soon as I got in the car I burst into tears and cried all the way home. Cried for the loss of a woman who was amazing, cried for two little boys who will have a lifetime of mothers days, birthdays and christmas celebrations without the woman who bought them into this world. It sucks. Life sucks.

Beating budget blues

2011-06-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

I desperately DESPERATELY want to have a mortgage. I want a home of my own. Now I know that it is just not going to happen in this town - property is ridiculously over priced and there is no way I can afford anything here on just one income so I have been glancing further afield.

Tamworth is a big contender given that I spent a large part of my childhood there. I know the town fairly well and it's big enough to have a hospital that offers alot of services but small enough that it has that country feel to it as well. Apart from the crazy few weeks in January when the country music festival is on I really like the place. The only down side for me is that it is quite a way away from the coast and therefore the beach.

Wagga Wagga is also a big enough but small enough option although I don't know all that much about it. I need to research schools in the area a little bit more but the hospital seems quite okay - smaller than Tamworth but it's something I'm willing to go with for the opportunity to have a place all of my own.

Any other suggestions? I'd love somewhere on the coast but that just doesn't seem to be a realistic option - there isn't anywhere that has reasonably priced homes for sale and a decent sized hospital and services for my little spunk. I'd love to hear ideas though!!

Looking at properties and mortgages also makes me realise and get motivated about my budget. Examining and re-examining, trying to find the fat and trim it off - I think I'm on track at the moment!!

Housey stuff

2011-06-12T03:22:00.000-07:00

So last year I blogged about my struggle to keep the organisation up and the messy down within my house with, in my mind anyway!, the infamous 'before' and 'after' pictures of the house. Since then I have acquired a few more pieces of furniture and this week another piece of furniture will arrive in my lovely little abode.

And in my previous post I talked about wanting to get a new bedroom suite - the one I have is the only piece leftover from my partnered days. Every time I walk into that room and see that bed it has too many memories attached to it. This is my bedroom as it looks like at this minute....

As I said earlier I have made a few furniture purchases and I like to think that I am a considerate and thoughtful purchaser - I like my pieces to be able to used in a variety of situations and rooms. One example is this 'easy build' set from Howards. It has been a TV unit, makeshift pantry and is now in the corner of my bedroom and houses my stash of yarn and also my telly - you can just see it in the corner of the piccie above. I don't have the wine rack and have extra shelves. I love this system because you can add more shelves and different accessories as the need arises. It wasn't cheap but I really have got my moneys worth out of it and as I said it's been used in a variety of rooms already.

My newest purchase will arrive on Tuesday and I'll need to rearrange things. I've got my island bench in the kitchen, book shelf in the lounge, cupboard in the kids room and shelves in my room.

The options are.....

- move the island bench to the garage for a while, use the shelves from my room as a portable kitchen unit for all the stuff out of the island, move the books from the shelves downstairs to my new purchase and shelves upstairs to house the stash

-keep the island bench, move books to new purchase and shelves upstairs to house stash then move the shelves from my room to the kids room and then the bookshelf from their room to house the towels currently in a smaller shelf in the upstairs landing then move those downstairs to the lounge for the kids books.

ARGH!! I just don't know what to do and need to hurry up and make a decision - I need to be ready at lunch time on Tuesday for my big new delivery!! So exciting....

Close but no cigar....

2011-06-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

.....$204.87

We had a party at work on nightshift this week and the girls requested Portugese Custard Tarts from me which I've made a few times for them now. Unfortunately the pantry didn't have the ingredients I needed so a trip to Woolies was made and I did go a little over budget.

Talking about food I am heading over to a friends house warming at her farm tonight and we are all bringing a plate of food to share. I resisted the urge to make all the usual suspects and am trying something new - Lemon Puddings from my new Donna Hay cookbook the kids gave me for mothers day. Not sure how they will go but they smell lovely ;-)

Budget Smudget

2011-06-05T05:39:00.000-07:00

Long time....no blog...... Rather than tell you all the reasons why I haven't blogged for months I'm just going to dive right in and write about my current focus.

Given that I desperately want a new bedroom suite, a Tasmanian holiday with the kids and then a solo trip to Europe all in the next eighteen months I really needed to take a serious look at the budget and try and work out how to trim some of the fat out. My wonderful bank has an automatic budget tracker which records and categorises all my expenses which has certainly been an eye opener!! One area that I am currently trying very hard to get under control is my grocery bill.

Over the past six months my average spend has been between $500 and $600 now for a family of three which has two small children who don't eat that much I really think that it's too high. Looking at all those transactions it's not that I'm spending alot in a few shops but I'm spending $20-$30 every day or two and clearly all those little trips add up to a BIG bill. This pay fortnight is almost over with three days to go but so far my spend this fortnight on groceries is $148.39 and while I might need to buy a loaf of bread and perhaps a potato or two before pay day I'll definitely be coming in under the $200 limit I had set myself.

So - what's changed?? I'm menu planning which has been good both in terms of the actual shopping but also for the 'OMG what am I going to make tonight' thoughts. Planning has also meant that there have been significantly fewer left overs being thrown into the bin. This disturbs me in two ways - firstly that is my hard earned cash going into the trash and secondly it is a complete waste of food and that does not make me feel good. I've gotten more creative with ways of using left overs and it probably helps that I've had some great food bargains this fortnight - I found drumsticks on special at my local butcher and managed to score 12 drumsticks for $4. I baked them as a tomato based traybake with veges and that has made a meal for all of us plus another dinner for Izaak and I've just stripped the meat off the final two to add to some risotto to take to work tomorrow night.

I AM going to go to Tasmania

I WILL be getting a beautiful new bedroom setting

Europe IS GOING TO HAPPEN FOR ME

Dream. Believe. Plan. Achieve - I CAN DO IT!!

I got it!!!

2011-01-06T01:04:00.000-08:00

It seems crazy that 12 months ago I was nervously and excitedly starting out on my journey into the new graduate program and my new career. I was looking forward to placements in gastrointestinal surgery, stoke & infectious diseases and then finally in paediatrics and while I have enjoyed and learnt skills on each of these rotations one in particular has stood out as an area of particular interest for me.

12 months on and I've almost (9 shifts to go!!) finished the new graduate program and am moving onto a transitional nursing position. We were required to put in preferences for work areas and had to complete and submit a professional portfolio. The preferences, along with our portfolios would decide on the positions for 2011.

For me it was a no-brainer when it came to preferences, I was desperate to get back to gastro surg. It's a very acute area (often described as a step down ICU) and I love the thrill and adrenalin of the very very sick patients. The anatomy and surgical interventions are also extremely interesting to me and it's an area that is constantly developing with new things to learn all the time!

So I put my preferences & portfolio in, crossed my fingers and waited....and waited....and waited.

I GOT IN!! I GOT GASTRO SURG!!! Starting back on the 10th of February I can't wait to get in there, use and learn some skills and be part of an amazing team! 2011 is going to be an exciting year!

2011

2011-01-05T00:55:00.000-08:00

What are you and your family planning for 2011? Are you a resolution maker? I can quite firmly and surely say that I'm a breaker not a maker!!

I have hopes rather than resolutions for the 12 months ahead.

I'm hoping for....

a good start to school for the miss
a good continuation of school for the master
more quality family time
less stress
more exercise
more organisation within our home
continuing good health
slightly more wealth definitely wouldn't go astray!!

I'm looking forward to....

the next big step for my baby!! (starting school!)
a new phase in my career
our first family overseas holiday
spending more time and investing more energy into particular friendships and relationships

And that, my friends, is how 2011 will be shaping up for us!!

A belated christmas round up

2011-01-03T23:25:00.001-08:00

Thought I'd share a few of my fave pics from Christmas 2010....
My gorgeous although slightly wacky sister....

My nephew Conner

This picture makes me giggle every time I see it ;-)

My overall favourite picture of the day.... this is my support network, my babysitters, counsellors, friends, foes, laughter, smiles, tears, my everything.

My sister & family...

My favourite picture of my big girl.... she's looking so grown up these days!! I love the little girl that she is turning into. She's thoughtful, appreciative, caring, loving and just a real little character!! I'm going to miss her once she starts school in a few short weeks

Looking back it was just a few weeks ago but it seems like AGES ago now! It's funny how time seems to be moving faster and faster for me lately!! Onwards and upwards as we move into 2011!

I love my work

2010-12-14T04:21:00.000-08:00

I honestly feel really blessed to be in a job where I wake up 90% of the time and think that I really do want to go to work.

I love....
..... being able to contribute to serious medical discussions and decision making meetings
..... making a difference to the lives of sick children and their families
..... learning new things every single day
..... smiling - and having a little person smiling back at me
..... going home and realising that although things in my house aren't perfect - they are a damned site better than what it could be
..... my job!

Crazy Times

2010-11-29T14:53:00.000-08:00

I could bleet on about how long it's been, why I haven't blogged and all that jazz but I don't want to waste my time (or yours!!) Let's just say life has been crazy and lovely and wonderful but I haven't been online very much so the blog has been neglected.

Events from the past little while though.....

Nanna had a visit not that long ago and we got some lovely photos of the family. I know that our time together is limited so each time I see her I seem to take more and more photos. I am anxious about making memories for the kids about their great grandma - she's the most amazing, wonderful, resourceful woman and at time I've wondered if I really belong in this family because I am SO different to the rest of them but I talk to Nanna and realise that I belong. Completely. I love her so much it hurts. This would have to be my absolute favourite photo - this is my entire family - all 10 of us!

Gee.... forced much? This was at the park recently where the kids have really enjoyed riding their bikes now that the weather is getting a little bit warmer.

With the weather warming up we've also bought a blow up pool. Now, in my defence, maths is not one of my strong points, so converting feet to meters didn't really go so well - the pool takes up my ENTIRE back yard! I can't hang washing on the line now, thank goodness for drying racks! The kids have thoroughly enjoyed it though and have had plenty of pool play dates - this pic is of our little neighbour Katie. Hard to believe but Miss Katie is actually six months younger than Charlotte - she's a tall girl!! Both the girls are heading off to school next year so it's an exciting time for everyone around here ;-)

- Charlotte turned five and we had a nice quiet dinner at home with the family. I seem to be raising an amazingly responsible and socially aware little person as when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday I was told no clothes or toys because she has enough of those and other kids don't have any so it wouldn't be fair for her to get more. In some ways my little angel is so much older than her five years.

We've lay-byed her school uniforms for next year. I'm feeling so conflicted about her starting school - I'm excited and looking forward to it because she is SO ready and needs the extra stimulation and learning opportunities but at the same time I'm sad because she is growing up so fast and starting school is one of those big milestones.

It's that time of the year yet again and the kids had a great time putting the tree up - I need to get some better pics of the tree but I put the lights on and then let them go for it and I'm pleasantly surprised at how well they've done! The tree looks fab and it was so nice for me to see them co-operating, negotiating and just being nice to each other while they were getting the tree done! As they are getting older it seems like they are fighting less and less - it has been rather pleasant in my house of late although I'm conscious that it may not last so making the most of it!

Charlotte is graduating from preschool today so I've made the fairy bread, charged the camera batteries and put the waterproof mascara on and am off to see my little honey ;-)

Domestic Bliss - or something like that....

2010-09-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

Remeber that day not so long ago that was the down side of the roller coaster? I think today must be the flip side then. Although I didn't sleep well (I'm dreaming alot lately and not in a good way!!) I found these when I opened the front door this morning... What a nice way to start the day! and considering they were accompanied by some mint chocolates I'd say it was an awesome way to start a Sunday. A few hours on and they are sitting on my kitchen bench making me smile ;-) I'm cooking dinner for the neighbours tonight and thought I'd go out on a limb and try something new (see I am getting there with my goals!!) so we are having twice cooked pork belly which smells divine and looks like this at the moment (excuse the dirty oven door!)....

The two little people of the house and playing together quietly upstairs which, is itself, a miracle. Had to get a sneeky shot of them - if they see me they immediately turn on each other and then to me! They are delightful little ones at the moment - this week saw Izaak turn nine. We had a nice, small, family gathering and quite a low key birthday after last years big party it was nice. Charley is Charley as always ;-)

I'm spending quite a bit of time reading and re-reading parts of my book for this month and am really getting alot out of it. Strategies which I have started to use and slowly but slowly I'm feeling like I'm turning a corner. I'm not sure how much of it is the strategies, how much of it is thanks to my newly found homeopath and how much of it is time or a combination of all three but in any case I am learning alot.

I'm learning that it's okay for me to feel angry. It's okay to feel sad and hurt and upset. It's how I choose to deal with these feelings that is really the test of my character - I'm learning to take time to spend just with myself and my inner feelings. I'm *trying* to learn to meditate. Previously I started a gratitude journal (and even blogged about it!) but as usual life got in the way and it fell by the wayside. My book talks about the value of gratitude and I've re-started my journal - I'm sitting here right now feeling thankful for the beautiful flowers I recieved today, the peace of my children playing together, the love of my family, my skills in the kitchen and the lovely smells around me. On a recent trip to Civic my Mum bought me an electric oil burner and I'm loving it! Today I've got 'strawberries & cream' in there and it smells divine ;-)

There is alot to be thankful for - it just takes the time and mindset to find them and recognise them, a path that I hope I'm on!!

I'm a duck

2010-09-06T02:41:00.001-07:00

I feel like a duck sometimes - above the surface it all looks good but underneath the surface I'm paddling like crazy to keep my head above water!! This week I'm determined to keep my head held high, think positive and be kind to myself.

We set off at 5pm for a quick ride/scoot/walk around the block and I was really taken by the blossom trees in our street. I love driving home in the mornings and afternoons and watching them bloom - they have been a crafting project for Charlotte at preschool as well so she is always on the lookout for them. They make me smile and realise that there is always another day.

Baking away the blues

2010-09-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

I'm trying hard not to let myself go down the slippery slope into a big black hole so I've been keeping busy and doing a fair amount of baking. The family decided to have a morning tea get together for fathers day with each of us bringing something to share. I decided against the fool-proof one-bowl chocolate cake that I take EVERYWHERE and thought I would try something new.

I spotted these Portugese Custard Tarts over at Not Quite Nigella and I had all the ingredients in the house so thought I'd give them a try. I had never had one of these tarts until a friends daughters birthday morning tea and I fell in love with them straight away but tales of pastry woes and oven issues had put me off them.

This recipe uses puff pastry and they turned out beautifully!! I made a batch of 12 on Sunday for Fathers Day and then another one Sunday night for neighbours/lunches/desserts. It's now 12pm on Monday and I have none left!! Clearly they are a hit and definitely something I'll be including in the repertoire more often now ;-)

Bleugh

2010-09-05T03:52:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling bleugh. Really bleugh at the moment.

There is alot from my past that has been reignited lately and I really am struggling to come to grips with things right now. It's hard to be objective and to think of what's best for my daughter as opposed to what is what I want.

I'm trying hard. I'm trying to be that smiling little yellow chickie but unfortunately the days lately seem to be more blue than anything else ;-(

Spring has sprung!

2010-08-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

well it will be tomorrow so I thought it was a good chance to come and look back on August and see how I went with my goals.....

Work...... Well the transition has been CONSIDERABLY harder than I thought it would be and to be honest, I'm really not feeling the love. The standards and practices of the ward leave alot to be desired. I've also managed to get on the wrong side of one of the senior staff already so I'm pretty sure it's all downhill from there. I was asked to give meds to a patient through a tube feed but when I asked for a new syringe since the old one was crusty and disgusting I was told "it doesn't matter, he's leaving tomorrow, just use that one because they are so expensive". ARGH!! So many things that I've seen there go completely against my core values and what I see as being good quality nursing care. 32 shifts to go and then I'm out of there!! Bring on November 11!!

Housework.... I promise, other than doing this mornings brekky dishes this is the true representation of my house. I'm proud of myself for really keeping on top of things over the month. It makes me feel so much less cluttered in the mind as well as feeling happier and more in control of my physical surroundings.
This is my new kitchen island bench that my wonderful neighbour built for me which I am currently in love with! So much space now!! Plus it breaks up the kitchen area from being one big area into a clearly defined space. Love it and for the bargain price of $150 I couldn't be happier! The stain came out exactly as I was hoping and it matches the new bookshelf and TV unit really well. The house is certainly coming together and it feels great!!

Knitting.... I cast on and cast off this neckwarmer made from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn which I was lucky enough to recieve in a swap on Ravelry. This yarn is super yummy and while I'm happy with my neckwarmer I think it needs to be re-blocked a little wider. I'm also heading to spotties in the next few days for buttons. What do you think??

Reading.... I was able to finish the power of one and I have to say I was somewhat underwhelmed. It wasn't as good as I had remembered it to be but I still enjoyed the writing style. This month I'm delving into the world of self-help with "Road testing Happiness" - I started reading it last night and so far I'm picking up a few things and have found myself nodding at quite a few parts of it!! I'm also going to read "The Time Travelers Wife" which I picked up at the oppy for the grand sum of one dollar the other day. I've heard good things about it so hopefully it will live up to it's expectations!!

Blog... Well the post count is up and I've enjoyed writing. I'm also starting a personal journal which is giving me another writing outlet. I feel somewhat lighter letting go of my head and getting it down onto paper.

Friends..... I've been spending a fair amount of time with the above-mentioned new neighbours and it has been lovely to share time with a family who has similar values and principles as mine, as an added bonus the kids get along swimmingly and have been bike riding/scooting/playing together quite a bit.

Menu planning..... let's just tide that one over to next month shall we.......

This is exactly what I was talking about

2010-08-16T00:30:00.000-07:00

My day goes something like this....

Woken up by children fighting - crap
Settle them and go back to sleep - yay
Wake up and get them out the door - okay
Zoo trip - awesome
Pick mr up from school and hear about his day - okay
Wait over an hour to see the paed - crappy crappy crap
Talk to the paed while trying to ignore the children who appear to be trying to kill each other - crap
Get told he needs more meds and that I'm not meeting some of his needs - CRAPPY
Come home to find that the osso bucco I put in the slow cooker for dinner is inedible since I also cooked the plasticy things that are under the meat in the supermarket - CRAP
Find that we don't have enough cash for take away - SHIT
Fight with Izaak about homework - SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT

I'm tired, frustrated and sick of the ups and downs. And I think I'm drinking too much ;-( Argh!

Rollercoaster Riding

2010-08-15T05:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes life here feels like such a rollercoaster - we go from the highest of highs to some quite low points. I think this weekend has been a really good example of that - from yesterday morning where the house was cleaned to within an inch of it's life, the kids were happily playing together and I even did some baking!! - to tonight where I'm feeling pretty darn crap. Tummy doesn't feel right, children are cranky and fighting with each other, head feels cloudy and the house is less, alot less, than perfect. Yuck. Yuckity, yuckity, yuck. So I did what I do and abandoned the book and tucked myself up on the couch and watched telly.

I flicked between dancing with the stars (because I'm a sucker for the costumes - give me a sequin and I'm yours!!) and the offspring premier. I happened to be on DWTS when the elimination bit came on. David Wirrpunda eliminated himself and it was such a lovely example of true sportsmanship and grace that I've seen in a long time. He was scoring well below the other couples and really didn't seem to be in the same skill level and so decided to step aside for the sake of the remaining contestants. What a brave and couragous decision. They had footage of him going to a remote college for Indigenous students as well which I thought was really lovely - to see someone so involved and passionate about their community and the younger generations. I was impressed!

Anyone else watch offspring? Thoughts?

Sometimes life feels like such a roller coaster - the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in just hours.

Staying on track

2010-08-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

It's now half way through August so I wanted to post about how well (or otherwise) my goals are going....

reading - I'm about two-thirds through my book and am thoroughly enjoying it. I must admit that it somehow seemed different (better?) in my memories but I am still reading every night and snatching moments here and there to get through a page or two. I know that I'm better when I'm focused and goal setting and this has been proven yet again over the past fortnight. I'm watching less TV in the evenings, going to bed earlier and sleeping better - all of which I am contributing (at least partly) to my reading. I'm wondering what I'll move onto next? Suggestions??

friends - well there have been numerous lunches and a dinner date over the past fortnight with various friends and I am very much looking forward to lunching on Tuesday with twitchy fingers who I haven't caught up with for quite a while now. We are heading to Dobinsons cafe in Civic who have the most amazing lemon & white chocolate cheesecakes - yummy!! I've also had my new neighbours over for dinner which was lovely - I think Charley is really loving having another little girl so close by - the two of them giggle away at each other playing mums & bubs, dollies etc

blogging - 'nuff said really. Post count this month is significantly up on past months and I am enjoying writing and getting things out of my head and onto paper. I'm wondering, fellow bloggers, do you write posts and then not publish them? are some things just too sacred to get out there publically?

knitting - I've cast on yet another clappy - this time in bamboo and a scarf rather than stole. I want something quite summery for when the weather warms up and I love this pattern so much. This will be my fourth and each of these has been different and wonderful in it's own way so I have hope. So far I'm up to the straight sections so I'd say about a third of the way in.

work - let's not go there

housework - success!! the house is definitely looking quite different to what it did a month ago. We had the big clean and since then I've also made some cosmetic changes to teh place - bought & installed some might fittings, curtains and some new furniture. I'm enjoying the house more and more - seeing it now as a santuary where I can relax and just chill out. I'm giving the kids more and more jobs around the house which they are at times relishing in and at others resisting.

menu planning - uummmm...... let's stay away from that topic too!!

Considering there's two weeks left of the month I'm feeling pretty happy with myself. I'm on track. I like the feeling of being on track.

Bloggers Book Club

2010-08-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

I love to read. Really I enjoy finding a good book and getting transported into a completely different life/place/family etc. Unfortunately for the past three years or so my reading list and time have been completely dominated by textbooks and after I finished uni I sort of lost the desire to read and revelled in quite a bit of TV time. During lunch last week with Bron we were both talking about how much we love to read and how easy it is to get caught up in the washing, crafting, housework, kidlets (for me!) etc. So I decided to ammend my August goals to include some reading time each night and Bron and I came up with the idea of a little bloggy thingie (aka Bloggers Book Club) where we could post what we are up to in the reading department each month.

So we'd love you to join us - post about what you are reading, what you want to read, what you have read and whether it was good, bad or indifferent or just if you've read a review that you think we'd like to hear about. Clever Bron is thinking about a button and a link list so we can follow along with everyone. I'm excited to see/hear about what others are reading!!So.... This month I am reading The Power of One

Food & Friends - the perfect blend

2010-08-04T05:02:00.000-07:00

Today I met a wonderful friend for lunch at a local Turkish restaurant and it was delish! Service was good, waiters cranky as always but the conversation was easy, food was lovely and the bill was very reasonable. We wandered around the shops and contemplated dinner settings, books, fashion and shoes before going our separate ways. Then completed coincidentally I ran into another friend (while buying something naughty for dinner!) which led to wine, chocolate lava cakes and wonderful conversation.

And now as I sit here contemplating the meaning of life (haha haha) I feel so incredibly blessed to have such great friends around me. There have been a few parenting decisions lately that I have posted on facebook as well where I have had a wonderful response from people I know in real life and from my cyber friends too. I just feel so lucky that I have people around me who genuinely care about my family and myself. Just like my last post I guess, it's all about perspective.

So far I'm meeting the goals - I see you roll your eyes and look at the calendar - yes it's only four days into the month but I'm all for celebrating achievements, big or small!! I'm catching up with friends, the washing is up to date and I'm blogging more often. I'm planning (in cahoots with others) an amendment to the August goals but will post more on that later.

Cheerio

More public ousting

2010-08-03T00:55:00.000-07:00

So it seemed to work with the house so I've decided I'm going to publicise my goals for August. I've fallen by the wayside when it comes to goalsetting in the past few months so I figure if I put it down on paper (or the web!!) then I'm more likely to stick to it since others can see (and keep me on track!!) with what I say I'm going to do.

So, in August I am going to....
.... be kind to myself with the change of work areas - things are going to be very different and in the first few days there is going to be alot for me to take in and to learn so I'm just going to take it slow and steady and not to expect too much of myself
.... cast on and FINISH a knitting project. No idea what it's going to be - large? (doubtful!) for me? or the kids? or someone else entirely? accessory? homewares?
.... keep on top of the housework - trying not to let things get on top of me again
.... blog more diligently - I like writing. I like sharing what's happening in my life and what is going on with the smalls
.... make more of an effort to keep in contact with friends - I miss them ;-(
.... menu plan for at least two of the four weeks of the month
.... related to the above - try out some new recipes and not stick to the same old, same old.

I think that'll do me for now!!

Perspective

2010-08-02T05:20:00.000-07:00

It's really all about perspective isn't it?

Humiliation = motivation?

2010-08-01T20:49:00.001-07:00

Thank you for the lovely comments, both here on the blog and in real life about my 'before' pictures. I feel strangely proud about posting them on here - I'm not too proud, too unrealistic or too unreal to show the 'real' me and my 'real' house. If they did nothing other than make other people feel less guilty about the state of their own homes then it was a good thing. It did much more than that though. A good dose of public 'outing' (for want of a better word!) does amazing things for the motivation so this morning I donned my oldest, daggiest trackies, cranked up the tunes and set to work. It really is amazing how quickly things come together in such a small space and now I'm sitting here writing this I am amazed at how just a few hours can transform my home. I'm also amazed at how much my clean, organised home can change how I feel - somehow more calm, less chaotic, more organised. I like it! Now just to keep it that way....

I had to post this - do you have odd socks? how do you cope with them? Clearly I need strategies since you are looking at the 47 odd socks that have accumulated at my house. I have sorted and made pairs where I can but Charlotte particularly is known for wearing odd sock pairs. I think it's a complete waste of time, money and resources to throw one-off socks out but I would like it if she had more matching pairs. All suggestions greatly appreciated!!!

Our weekend

2010-07-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

.... was spent celebrating my sisters birthday.....

.... building lego

.... baking (and of course the obligatory bowl licking!!)

and just generally chilling out and enjoying each other. We've also met some great new neighbours who also have a little girl Charley's age so the girls have had a lovely time baking, playing, dressing up, stamping and juts getting up to all the fun, girly stuff that four year olds love getting into/upto!!

I've also spent a fair whack of time getting stuff done around the house and have filled up a wheelie bin and a half already plus there are a number of piles next to the front door ready for various deliveries to friends/neighbours/charities that I will get to in the rest of the week. The laundry is finished and is looking nice and shiny at the moment but I've decided I'll leave the 'after' photos until the end of the week when the whole place is nice and shiny!! Hope you've all had a great weekend too ;-)

The "before" pictures....

2010-07-30T23:19:00.000-07:00

That I didn't want to post because I'm so ashamed and embarrassed that I have let my house fall down around my ears. At the same time I'm sick of reading the blogs of perfect women and mothers with perfect children and perfect lives. My life isn't. And that is the reality - these pictures are the reality of my house right now. I've got five days off and on Thursday I plan on posting the "after" photos to show you all. These go some way to a public-accountability of sorts and I'm sure will give me the extra motivation should I lack some during the next week or so!!

Recently I've had that unsettled feeling where I want things to change. I want to move to a newer/bigger house, wanted to sell my car & buy a bigger/newer car etc. Reflecting on 'why' and talking to my Nana I realised that these are 'wants' rather than 'needs' - our current accommodation and vehicle are more than adequate for our needs. I'm also reading a book about parenting heavily based on Buddhist philosophy and I'm currently working my way through the chapter on respect. It's interesting and thought provoking and while I sit here posting these pictures it is ever so clear to me that I'm expecting my children to respect what they have while I am clearly demonstrating the opposite. I'm hoping to implement change and hope to be modelling the behaviour that I want my children to develop in myself in the coming weeks/months.

Just an update...

2010-07-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

... and a thank you to my wonderful friends for their kind words on my last post.

Well almost two weeks in and there are mixed reports. On the sleep front there has been a miraculous turn around and he is now sleeping between 8 and 10 hours a night and boy does it show. My little man, who for years has had dark purple shadows under his eyes, is waking up clear eyed and bright faced almost every morning! We are in a good routine now where he takes his meds at 7pm and then has a bath and reads to me and then normally he's asleep between 8 and 8:30. None of this midnight nonsense. For the first few nights I honestly didn't know what to do with myself. Interestingly enough, I didn't give him meds one night as we went out for dinner with my folks and I didn't want him nodding off at the dinner table. We were out from 6pm-9pm then got home and all went to bed - I checked on him at 01:30am and he was wide awake.

Not such good news on the mood stabilising drug front. He's had up days, down days, inbetween days. This was not the plan. There have been massive issues with behaviour at school and they have seen an aggressive, angry, mean side of thim that previously had been under control. Crisis talks with the school and our behaviour therapist and it's a wait and see approach. Fingers crossed the next week or so goes well!

As for me - well between work & kids there isn't much time for anything else. Would love to have some crafty things to share but there just isn't time lately - I'm living vicariously through buttontree lane, kuka and knitting sprout with their sewing/cooking/knitting achievements!

Fork in the road

2010-07-13T03:24:00.001-07:00

The past few weeks have seen us come to a real fork in the road with therapy for Izaak. He has previously been assessed for a program called The Extra Lesson and to be perfectly honest I don't think I would have known about the program if it wasn't for a friend who is a practitioner and is just getting herself set up after having time off to have her own babies.
During the assessment Izaak was his usual combative, defiant, non-compliant self. It was tedious. Anyway, the assessment basically showed all the things that I knew about him as well as a few extras. He has too much cranial pressure. And he has auditory processing issues. The cranial pressure is being worked on by a local osteopath who has made some interesting observations about my little man. His hips are not aligned and as a result his neck is compensating. We are progressing well and will see him weekly for a while to see if we can get it sorted out. Back to The Extra Lesson though - they recommend an auditory program to help him with his auditory issues which I'm okay with - until I heard the cost is upwards of $1000.00. I don't want to sound like a stingy parent and I do have the funds to cover the cost of this treatment but I am extremely wary of shelling out that sort of cash on a program that doesn't have main stream science or the ASD community behind it. This is along the 'alternative' therapies stream and while I am willing to try almost anything to help my little boy, I'm not sure that it is really the best option given that kind of money would buy us almost 20 occupational therapy sessions.
So totally opposite to that philosophy - we went to see the paediatrician yesterday afternoon who couldn't believe that we had made it this far without medications. He has prescribed Izaak a mood stabilising drug and a sedative. Given that he has really poor sleep patterns I'm all for the later - he goes to bed between 7:30 - 8:30 and at 11:30-midnight is still wide awake. So tonight I gave him the first dose at 7:30 and by 8:20 he was sound asleep. Amazing.

Although it's working (well it's only night one so I'm cautious of saying that but after so many of unsettled nights, even one is 'working'!!) I'm struggling with the social stigma and judgements of people in regards to medicating my eight year old. Effectively I am giving my child psych drugs. I don't like how that fits, how it feels but I am coming around to the fact that I have to do what is best for him. As the paed and my family have all said - there is potential that is being hid away behind all the behavioural issues. Hopefully, the medication plan will lessen the behaviours so we can get more of the learning in. Tonight he read me two home readers that I thought were at the level he needed. He read both without missing a single word. I need to get over myself. If only it were that easy!

Adventures - day one

2010-06-30T04:55:00.000-07:00

We headed off from home early in the morning and drove up to Sydney to collect our Jucy van. Kids were over the moon when we finally picked her up and for the first few hours there was lots of jumping around, curtain opening and closing - just checking out all the great stuff!! We went past the dog on the tuckerbox at Gundagai which was cool although I have to say, as a single mother of two, taking pictures of all my family is rather difficult. However this task was made significantly easier thanks to this little gadget....

Screw camera in, set timer, smile and then done! I thought it was rather cool that mail posted from here gets a special stamp too!!

The kids played around on some old farming equipment that was close by as well.

We continued onto Albury/Wodonga and stayed there for the night after having some delicious pasta at a little place we found in a side street near the city. It took forever for the kidlets to get to sleep - emotions and excitement were at a high point. Finally after looking at the maps and talking about our plans a quiet settled through the van and we all got a well deserved rest!

Making do

2010-06-15T00:28:00.000-07:00

We head off on our big adventure in just a few days now and unfortunately the finances have hit a snag. Not too dramatic but enough to give me a few worries. As a result we are having a 'make do' week here. Now my friend Eilleen is the queen of the 'no spend week' and although I don't have the positive factor of time to plan and prepare I am finding it interesting and surprising. It's amazing what can be made from what's around the house.

Fruit is a big issue in our house - the kids either demolish the lot within a day or two of our shopping day or it gets to the end of the week and very little has been eaten. Last night I was wondering around the house at about 8pm having that niggling snack-need feeling when I had a bright idea. Using the apples that had been sitting in the fruit bowl for a week I stewed them up and then found a recipe for a crumble topping in one of my favourite books. No piccies - the result was rapidly disappearing and to be honest, it wasn't pretty. Ugly? Yep Tasty? Absolutely!

Ugly but yummy fruit crumble topping

1/2 cup flour

50gr soft butter

1/2 cup soft brown sugar

1tsp cinnamon

1 cup chopped hazelnuts

Mix dry ingredients. Rub butter into dry ingredients until it resembles bread crumbles. Top onto fruit and bake at 180 degrees until it's hot, bubbly & brown. Add ice cream, cream or both!

I also have a bag of frozen berries in the freezer so tonight I'm going to try a new recipe for the crumble and see how it goes - I'm liking this one because any unused crumble can be frozen. I think one of the reasons last nights crumble didn't go so well was because I had too much crumble mix over the top of the fruit.

Crumble for fruit topping

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

60gr chopped butter

2/3 cup flour

Rub butter into flour until it resembles pea-sized pieces

Add the other ingredients

Top fruit to a depth of 1cm

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to be the recipients of a home grown pumpkin but given that neither of the kids are keen on soups and I really didn't have any other good ideas to make with it the said pumpkin has been sitting and waiting. Tonight we are having roasted pumpkin & creamy spaghetti. Not sure if the vision in my head will be what turns out on the plate but we'll see what happens. It's amazing to really sit down and evaluate the food situation and see exactly how much we waste or misuse. I am here to publicly declare that from yesterday until Sunday (departure day) I will not be spending a single cent on food (or anything else for that matter!) - we have enough in the freezer & pantry to make it through, more than half a tank of petrol in the car and a new found will for saving money!

As a side note blogger recently discovered a blog of mine that I started AGES ago - it's so funny to look back. It was almost like another life back then. Anyway, if you want to have a look it's here. Pumpkin smells delish so I'm off to create an either perfect or perky pasta! Wish me luck!

We're all booked & paid...

2010-06-10T02:55:00.000-07:00

... well, the deposits anyway!

Later on this month, the kidlets and I will be heading up to Sydney to pick up one of these....

Which we will use to drive around this....Before we finally head home on one of these... Needless to say we are SUPER DOOPER excited about it all !!!

Snotland

2010-06-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

Our house has been retitled - 'snotland' - at the moment.

Son has respiratory infection in the lower bases of both lungs.
Daughter has same in upper airways.
Me? I've got tonsilitis, ear infection & respiratory infection.

This sucks. Bad.

Who would've thought...

2010-05-31T00:40:00.000-07:00

...that these could solve the penis issue for my boy??

I know it's a 'typical' boy thing to touch their penis but Izaak was doing it more and more and more. As he gets older it becomes more socially unacceptable and it had started becoming an issue at school as well. I know that this is sensory/autism related and as a nail biter, I know what it's like to have a habit that you are doing but don't conciously know you are doing and I think that is exactly what was happening with him. Subconsciously, whenever he was getting stressed/anxious the hand would wander straight to the pants.

Many moons ago a speech therapist suggested that we get a bracelet for him that he could fiddle with when the anxiety/stress became an issue. We did but he wouldn't wear it because it pulled at the hairs on his arm so it lasted all of about 10minutes before it was off and in the bin. The penis issue has gotten worse and worse over past weeks so when we were looking for hair ties and spotted these old phone cord type thingies in the hair isle I immediately knew I needed some. And knew exactly what I was going to use them for. He headed off to school today with 2 wrapped around his wrist and with me talking alot about not touching himself. I pick him up at the gate this afternoon with great reports from his teacher that the penis issue wasn't an issue at all today. I'm going back to the $2 shop tomorrow to buy the rest of the stock - just in case!!

Fingers crossed the penis issue is over for good now!

I'm off and running

2010-05-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

I'm embarking on a new fitness regime given that I was feeling fat, frumpy & grumpy with myself. My work pants were getting tighter and tighter (and I even went up a size!!) and I was puffing going up just a few flights of stairs at work so I'm starting on the fairly infamous couch to 5ks running plan. The general idea is that in 8 weeks time I'll be able to run 5 kilometers.

This week is week two for me and today I did day one at the gym and felt really great!! I actually could have run for longer than the program directs me to but I want to succeed so I'm sticking with the schedule. As I'm doing it at the gym, on a treadmill, I can monitor my progress. Today I walked the walking sections at 7km/hr and jogged at 8-8.2km/hr. Over the 30mins of the program I covered 3.55km.

Weight wise I'm now down about 5kg since I started back at the gym just over a month ago which fits with my realistic weight loss goals (0.5gr-1kg per week). Apart from the weight loss I'm enjoying feeling stronger and fitter. I'm doing the weights class at the gym and have put my weights up over the past two weeks and it feels so good to be able to get through the class. Similarly, my cardio fitness is improving and it feels great!!

I'm posting this here as a sort of public pledge - that I will complete the program and will continue on my fitness regime. I'm counting on this blog and my fellow bloggers/readers/commentors to keep my honest and on track!!

My other life...

2010-05-24T05:27:00.000-07:00

...as a nurse can be seen over here, however, due to the content I've restricted access to it. If you'd like to read it, comment here or email me. I'm happy to share ;-)

More of the same...

2010-05-18T04:08:00.000-07:00

...cute kidlets that is

I feel like we are in this love-hate relationship at the moment. One minute I am tearing my hair out at them tearing each others hair out and the next we are all the best of friends and life is going swimmingly. I know this is normal family relationship stuff but I wouldn't complain if life calmed down a little and we had less of the up and down.

OBDM - Yarn Day Round Up

2010-05-18T03:40:00.001-07:00

So these are the goodies that made their way home with me....

Firstly, this yarn is not for me but for an autumn swap I'm participating in over on Rav so I hope that my swap partner will be suitably impressed with this yarn - I certainly am!! It's from Carrie over at Fibrewebs and the pictures do not do this yarn justice - the colours are absolutely gorgeous!!

Secondly, as a uni student for up-teen number of years my wardrobe consists of a ridiculous amount of jeans so when I spotted "blue jeans" I decided it would make a great little lace scarf/small shawl with the added bonus that it would go with everything already in the wardrobe.

This green just jumped out at me from Fibreworks and it'll either end up as socks for the young man of the house (whose autistic tendancies towards green would be thoroughly thrilled with!) or again, another small shawl (thinking 198 yards of heaven/travelling woman). Yet to be decided....

I did a round of the markets, had some lunch with Charley & then had dessert with some chocolate covered strawberries (oh so delicious but oh so naughty for the waistline!!) and then decided to do another quick round in case we saw something outstanding that we'd missed on the first trip. We went to say our goodbyes to fellow crafters Carrie & Michelle (who were also having shoe wars with my daughter!!) when I spotted this skein from Carrie but was restrained. Earlier this month I had a girly get together and had gifted a skein of Noro to Carrie as I was unimpressed with the colours in the ball and so she dropped this one into my shopping! Argh!! Lovely. Just lovely to have friends who are so nice and giving! Not sure what this one is going to be yet although the three sister scarves are calling my name!!

In the meantime I need a project which I can just haul everywhere - therapy appointments for Izaak, car trips & associated waiting for school to start/finish etc. I had found a lone skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn in the stash and was trying to come up with the perfect one-skein pattern which would also show off the gorgeous colours and long colour repeats of the yarn. Lots of good suggestions were made by friend on Ravelry but eventually I went with the simple, tried and tested, old fave of many - the one-row lace scarf. Not far in but am loving it. Simple TV knitting as well as the haul-around knitting project. Although the yarn is quite scratchy, the slow colour changes more than make up for that fact - especially since this isn't something that is going to be worn close to my skin.

I know I'm biased....

2010-05-17T02:54:00.000-07:00

.... but these two are just adorable!

I'm excited...

2010-05-15T05:07:00.000-07:00

.... tomorrow is the Old Bus Depot Markets - 2010 Yarn Day.

This will be my third year in attendance and each year that I've been I feel like my knowledge and purchases have been just that little bit better each time. My first year trip can be seen here and is a testament to my newbie purchases. I can honestly say that the Blueberry ridge did indeed become a beanie for my mum which I am almost certain she has never worn. All other purchases were either overdyed, swapped, gifted, destashed or chucked out. I made less purchases last year (mainly 4plys for shawls) and again, 1 skein I sent out in a swap, 2 are still sitting in the stash and 1 is still awaiting it's dye bath. So why am I going in this year?

Well I've decided I deserve a reward for myself. In the past few months I have knitted quite a few laying garments and accessories and all of these have been from stash. So far..
** Tappan Zee from Lincraft Balmoral Tweed
** Estelle from Cascade 220
** Mondo Cable Cardi from Lincraft Cashmere Blend
** Vortex Shawl from some stash baby yarn
and tonight I finished a Just Enough Ruffles from some Rowan Kid Classic which I am really looking forward to wearing to the market tomorrow. So, given how much stash I've used up in the past few weeks/months I feel that I deserve a treat.

I am setting the rule though that I'll only be buying yarn which I can see a clear purpose for and which I can use in the next few projects ie - no buying just cause it's pretty/different/'my' colours. I have managed to pick up a six-pack (sounds like a beer buy!!) of Bendigo 8ply in Cranberry which is a colour I love from a fellow Canberran Raveller which I'll be collecting tomorrow as well.

So what's next on my crafting list?? I've been super inspired by Michelle's Noro Shawl and am going to attempt something similar with a skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn from the stash. I am planning more FO posts on the above mentioned projects but need to find the time and octopus arm skills to get some decent photos. Will be back soon with the market haul - of course that fit into the rules....

Tappan Zee

2010-05-10T21:17:00.001-07:00

When I saw the Tappan Zee in the latest issue of Knitty I knew that it was the perfect layering piece for my autumn/winter wardrobe. I went stash diving and came up with a bag of this mossy green balmoral tweed from Lincraft which I was concerned wouldn't come up to gauge but this yarn blossoms beautifully with blocking and my swatch came up right on gauge!

I knit the 40' size which is the perfect fit for me but modified the pattern to have buttonholes right through and I also eliminated the diamond pattern from the hemline. I also extended the length of the body given that I'm quite tall. Again, with blocking, it came out perfectly. The buttons are just a regular everyday Spotties find but I think they go well with this.

Worn for quite a while now it just gets better with wear. Looking at Rav too I was really excited and quite proud that 51 people have favourited my version of this pattern. Yay for me!!

Mothers Day - Shmuthers Day

2010-05-10T00:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Mothers Day and while I saw and heard of lots of mums getting brekky in bed, pressies and being thoroughly spoilt my day was not like that. My day started with my children having round four of world war twenty-two. Followed by a number of messes created by children. Morning tea with my family which was painful. Then my computer died. Again. Dinner burnt. It was crap. A totally crap day. Crap.

Slacker!!

2010-05-06T20:24:00.001-07:00

Gone for three months and all I'm offering is a dot-point list... Anyway, since last post I/we...

Have become single again - dramatic, hurtful, yukky - enough said about that other than the kids and I are fine and I think that it was all for the best.
Knitted a whole heap of stuff which really deserves its own post but there are 3 cardigan/jumpers finished & being loved
The little lady has learnt to write her own name & is now starting to read - she is only just four and a half and has taken it upon herself to learn to read. Not sure how I feel about that but will explore at a later date
The boy child is embarking on lots of new academic programs although is driving me and everyone else crazy with some of the behaviours lately. We are about to start working with a new therapist so it will be interesting to see what happens on that front.
I am absolutely LOVING work - it makes me feel amazing. There is definitely an amount of emotional drainage as well as tiring physically but loving, loving, loving it. Great staff, interesting cases. All good on that front.
Have finished my probation period with work so I am now a fully fledged member of the working mother community now!
We have hired a nanny/sitter which is working out beautifully - kidlets are happy with her, I'm happy and she's happy - what more could we ask for?
Nanna has been & gone for a visit - involved lots of cakes & eating out, knitting, chatting, crosswords, tea & snuggles. I hope that the kids remember and are creating memories of these precious times that we have with her.
I finished my mums birthday quilt (again, separate post coming)
I've started back at the gym - my legs/butt are killing me. So far this week I've done a pump, step & hook up (boxing) class. Aiming for 3 classes/sessions a week but will see how that goes with work commitments/children etc.

Doesn't seem like much but life seems to have been crazy busy!!

Changing it up!

2010-02-04T22:06:00.000-08:00

I love the idea of Kukas to cook from a different cookbook each month. Last month I was salivating over her chilli and then delicious deserts. So for February I'm adopting the same approach hoping that for me this should a) liven up the dinner table b) challenge me in the kitchen and c) make me actually get motivated and excited about cooking.

I picked up this cookbook from the oppy a while back for the whopping sum of $1.00 but mainly bought it for an interesting read rather than the actual recipes. Printed in 1976 it has some really concepts that are fairly foreign to me and I would think, most of my generation. One section, entitled 'to store foods' recommends to keep butter in earthenware dishes and stand these in another dish of cold water, cover with muslin and allow the ends to stand in the cold water. Yep - this book was written before refrigeration was common place. I need to do some converting as well as all the recipes are in pounds & ounces. Some of the recipes I would think are definitely out of cooking fashion - I can't imagine cooking calf's head brawn (where does one buy a calfs head these days?) or diving into a liver and onion ring or pigeon cutlets - but others are obviously the tried and tested type of meals that never seem to go out of favour such as egg & bacon pie and desserts like apple pies, bread and butter puddings and the like. Alas, it's not the book of the month - a bit too much offal for my liking!

This month I'll be scouring the pages of 'Cook' from Kate McGhie - I love a cook book that has that running commentry style with lots of personal stories and tales of how recipes came to be and this one certainly meets that criteria. I'm looking forward to trying home-made skinless sausages, lamb in wine, lemon and parsely sauce and lemon custard slice to name but a few!

To all the nay-sayers...

2010-02-04T01:09:00.001-08:00

...bugger off!

Seriously, I'm so sick of people rolling their eyes, grunting, sighing and generally raining on my parade when it comes to work. People can't believe that I'm excited about starting work and when I say I am I'm so bloody sick of getting negative responses.

After eight years out of the paid workforce I am excited at the prospect of a pay slip, after three years of full time study I am thrilled at the opportunity to make a difference in patients lives, I'm happy to be given the opportunity to put my education into action.

In three days I will put on the uniform, pin on my watch & be excited, motivated, positive and enthusiastic about the challenges and triumps that lay ahead!

Camping at the Cotter

2010-02-02T04:59:00.000-08:00

We made a last minute decision to take the kidlets camping this weekend and given our late start we thought a trip down to the Cotter might be nice as it's just 20 minutes from home. Camping rates are very reasonable at $7.50 for adults and kidlets under 10 free. The facilities are really good with washing up sinks, flushing toilets & hot showers. It's just up the road from Casuarina Sands swimming area so we spent lots of time swimming & hanging out to cool down in the river.

Sunday morning we took a walk up to the Cotter Caves which is a 1.6km return walk although parts of the walk are moderately steep both the kids managed up to the caves and back without too much drama. We had a really nice short break away and it was nice to get out of the routine and do something a bit different with the kidlets before the school/preschool/work stuff starts.

I have to say that it's also very very handy to pick an ex-scout bloke to bring along on a camping trip. There is nothing quite like a glass of wine, good conversation and toasted marshmallows to end an evening.

January round up

2010-02-01T19:16:00.000-08:00

Quick round up of the January crafting projects. Totals...
- 2 tops
- 3 skirts
- 1 quilt top
It's nice to do some selfish crafting for a change and I think this months challenge was fate as I'm doing the whole wardrobe sewing thingie. Feeling very 'together' still and loving some new bling and other stuff thats very matchy-matchy.
This top is fast becoming a favourite pattern of mine. It's cool and comfy and super quick to sew. The fabric came from the remnants bin so not bad for $1.30!!

This skirt is made up on the spot as I found this piece of knit fabric in the stash. It goes with lots of the tops that I have so while I'm not in love with the fabric pattern it goes well in the wardrobe and is easy to mix and match with all my other stuff.

This is the first garment that I've ever made with pockets!! I'm in love with the pockets! Fabric is a grey suiting from Spotties and while I love the skirt and have already worn it out a few times I'd love to make another one with something that has a little more drape.

This skirt is based on the tutorial here - black poplin & a quilting fabric from Spotties. I like that I can tie it higher up on my waist if I want something 3/4 length and then can tie is lower down on my hips if I want something in a longer length. Again, fits the black/grey theme so is easily interchanged with all the tops in the cupboard.

So... onto February... something in a knit fabric. No ideas/plans as yet, I'm waiting for a hit of inspiration!

New chapters

2010-01-27T03:21:00.000-08:00

It feels like there are lots of new chapters in our life/lives at the moment as this little man starts grade three...

He is anxious about going back to school tomorrow and it's times like this that I wish I could take it all away - take away the sleeplessness, take away the yukky feeling in his tummy. I can't though and I've come to accept that ;-( According to our behaviour therapist year three is often make or break and is, statistically, the year that main streaming will either work or it won't. We are hoping that we'll be in the former rather than later camp but only time will tell.

and the little lady starts preschool - seen here meeting "Boris", a friends bearded dragon...

She is *so* ready to start preschool and is eager to learn writing and reading although is somewhat upset that there isn't any homework!! I feel like a whirlwind of emotions with her. I'm sad that she's starting preschool because it's such a developmental step into the 'big kid' world but at the same time I'm loving the little girl that she's becoming. Her temper is there but seems to be simmering rather than exploding these days and I feel closer to her than ever before.

As for me, I'm embarking on new adventures, opening new chapters both professionally and personally. Professionally there is just two weeks until I start my new job which I am thrilled with. Personally, I'm starting to plan our first 'family' weekend away as things go from strength to strength with TOH.

Scarf Style

2010-01-25T04:28:00.000-08:00

So it's been so bloody hot here lately that I've been dreaming of winter and looking at lots of weather porn like this....

image from here

and remembering our own snow experience which of course got me thinking and planning the winter woolies that are necessary for our Canberra climate. Perhaps by chance? or fate? I found this blog post showing a few different ways of tying a scarf - some of which were new to me too. Can't wait to try some of those ones out and thanks to Penny I've got an awesome new purple wrapy/scarfy thing to keep me snuggly & warm... when the weather finally changes!!

Through my eyes

2010-01-20T18:33:00.001-08:00

I haven't blogged alot about Izaak or our families journey through the joys and hells that are Autism Spectrum Disorder but when I heard this song I knew that I wanted to share it with all of you. I think I was crying before the first verse was over because as a parent and particularly a single mamma it hurts like hell that I can't understand, no matter how hard I try, his world. I can't see what he sees or think how he thinks and that frustrates both of us (equally at times!). I'd like to think that the lyrics of this song represents all the things that Izaak would like to say to me at one time or another.

You can buy this song from here and I'd strongly encourage anyone and everyone to purchase as all profits from the sale of this song go to Aspect - the main Australian body for the research and development of therapy and research strategies for ASD. These are the lyrics to the song...

See the world through my eyes, it changes shape and it changes size
It's not quite the world you see
If you could find a way to look around inside my mind
Maybe you would understand me

I'm not blind but I can't always see
I'm not deaf but things can sound strange to me
I'm not trapped but it's hard to feel free
Imagine what it's like to be me

It's hard for me to try to think things through or talk like you
Everything can be a blur sometimes but if you walk along beside me
Hold my hand and guide me together any mountain we can climb

I'm not blind but I can't always see
I'm not deaf, but things can sound strange to me
I'm not trapped but it's hard to feel free
Imagine what it's like to be me

I'm dreaming of my future and it's brighter then you know
I'll get there on a different road when I am ready to go

I don't need pity, I don't need tears
I just need someone to help me understand my fears
Show me you believe in me, let me know I'm okay
Help me feel safe in the world and I will find my way

I'm not blind, but I can't always see
I'm not deaf, but things can sound strange to me
I'm not trapped but it's hard to feel free
Imagine what it's like to be me

Introducing...

2010-01-18T02:26:00.000-08:00

TOH aka The Other Half

The man who adores, challenges, infuriates and motivates me. The man who makes me laugh, cry and finally get my ass of the couch and into all the things I've been putting off for a long time. The man who never makes a judgement, accepts and appreciates my past and how it is intertwined with our future, a future that we are starting to plan together. I'm scared. He knows I'm scared and is patient and kind with me. He loves the kids and they love him because he's such a big kid at heart and is always up for a game. Once upon a time it hurt so bad that I didn't think I'd want to share my life with another man again - things are changing and apparently a change is as good as a holiday...

My perfect Sunday is...

2010-01-17T00:47:00.000-08:00

... spending the morning cleaning and sorting the mountain of stuff lying around our place that we no longer want or need.

... dropping off 4 black bags to the Salvos

... sending yarn to a new house where it is sure to be loved and used ;-) and to see a lovely lady who is gentle and kind with my children and who has a record player - too cool!

... seeing another friend and dropping off fabric for her to create with while watching our beautiful children play and create together

... catching up with the extended family

... and finally...

... nachos, skittles & a movie with the smalls. Perfect? Much!

Working on the wardrobe

2010-01-15T22:29:00.001-08:00

So after all my research I've been working on the wardrobe do-over over the past few days with great results!! I decided that denim, black & grey will be my 'bases' so I've got quite a few pairs of jeans - as a mum and a uni student jeans have pretty much been my uniform for the past seven years!! Then when we were out on Friday I managed to find a great pair of full length black pants and a lovely grey linen blend skirt. I'm still after a pair of 3/4 length black pants but couldn't find any that were a good fit. I wore the grey skirt out on Friday night and realised that I actually really do like wearing skirts so decided that my wardrobe really could do with a few more.

A while ago I had favourited this wrap skirt and after I had a dig through the fabric stash and found some skirt-friendly fabrics I got started. Given that my colours are black/grey/red I thought that this skirt was a perfect way of using up some of my fabrics (black poplin) and some of my quilting stash (contast). I finished the hem with 10mins to spare as I ducked off to stitch & bitch this morning!! It's hard to get any good photos of yourself when you live alone and the smalls really don't understand how to get a good shot! But here it is both on the hanger and on me...

>

My printer wouldn't print the pattern sheets out so I looked at the screen and guessed with a piece of chalk directly onto the fabric and I'm really pleased with the results. Being a wrap skirt as well it will fit me as I gain/lose weight over time. It's a really good length for me as well.

Tonight the sewing bug hit again after I found a piece of knit fabric that suited my colour palate. No tutorial/pattern for this one, I just started sewing and altered until I had what I wanted. This skirt will go with all my black tops, a few of my white and a red top that I bought last year but that has long sleeves.

A few tops are cut out but we'll have to take a trip to spotlight for some supplies to get them finished.

I'm happy to say though that my wardrobe is looking far more 'together' than it did and I'm pleased with all my purchases and productivity! I wore the wrap skirt out to SnB this morning and felt very co-ordinated which is a change!!

And just cause she's cute.... Super-Charlotte....

Sewing with a plan

2010-01-14T16:27:00.000-08:00

I've been sewing a bit for myself lately but have realised that I see a fabric, think 'that's cute', buy it and make it into something but nothing in my wardrobe actually co-ordinates! Argh!!
So I've been researching different 'systems' of wardrobe planning.

Firstly the 'capsule' model as described here... I like it but it doesn't really suit 'me' because I rarely go out and mostly it's just me bumming around the house with the kidlets although there is the occasional lunch out... and I definitely have no need for suits/office attire.

Then there is this plan which I get because it's in stages so you can gradually add to the wardrobe and there are different items for the different seasons. Downfall? I'm also not so keen on having an ENTIRE wardrobe of only three colours. I get bored easily and I could see this happening rather quickly!

I thought this plan has a few good ideas in it as well - there are some common themes - picking a neutral base from which everything else stems etc. I'm embarking on tip number 7 this afternoon - taking EVERYTHING out of the wardrobe and sorting/organising what fits/what I wear and all that jazz. Then I can start really working out what I need/want.

A common thread in these plans is to have basic colour themes and looking through some of the stuff I already have I'm thinking denim/black as my base with red/teal/purple/grey as my 'accents'. I've still got a little voucher money left (thanks dad!!) from christmas so I might just be going out this afternoon to do a little shopping. Do you plan your wardrobe?? I'd love to hear from you if you do - how do you do it? Is it successful? what model/plan works for you?

2010 Sewing Challenge

2010-01-11T04:08:00.000-08:00

Carolyn over at My Favourite is running a 12 month challenge which I've signed up for hence the new button in the side bar. Basic deal is that every month for 2010 there is a new sewing challenge - sign up for one or twelve, it's up to you!

January is 'Something for me' - I've already made a skirt for me but I'm definitely unimpressed - the pattern is good, fabric is great, just a bad choice of pattern for me I think. The skirt has a dropped waistband and gathers which sit right on my hips (ie - the widest part of me!!) so it may well be unpicked and put back in the stash. I do love this wrap skirt pattern which may well end up being my project for the month. I'm also loving checking out lots of new blogs and seeing what other crafty chickies are up to during the month too!

I know another mumma who is just getting started in what I'm sure will be a long and industrious love with sewing so come on Mrs B - sign up with me!!!

Trip Around the World

2010-01-07T01:16:00.000-08:00

A while ago I spotted this 'trip around the world' quilt pattern and knew that I wanted one. I knew that there wasn't anything suitable in the stash so when I opened a gift voucher from my dad on Christmas day I was hoping that the quilting shop would accept the shopping centres vouchers - they did!! The other half and I took a trip out there and he helped me pick out fabrics, a day and a half later and it's all done!

I'm really happy with how the top came up although I'm going to omit the borders that are in the original pattern as I don't want it to be too big - just big enough for me to snuggle with on the couch of an evening. Currently measuring 66inches square I'm happy with it's size. It's about to be sent off to Raylee at Sunflower Quilting to be made into a sandwich. As a plug for her and a heads up to other quilters reading this she is currently having a 10% of sale. Any quilting job booked in January and delivered to her for quilting before June gets a 10% discount. I've got the Japanese Garden quilt with her at the moment, the trip will be going up soon and I'm about to book in a quilt that I'm doing for mums birthday. I love the fabrics in this quilt although they are not what I'd normally pick for myself - much more feminine and girly as I'd normally pick more funky/brights.

There has also been some knitting going on but as it's gifts I don't dare to show on the blog on the off chance the recipient pops by. It's been nice to pick up the needles again after a few months break!

December 15th 2009

2010-01-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

Back from the blogging break

2010-01-04T01:57:00.000-08:00

The break which I must declare was not of my own making. Just before christmas my laptop died - as in I was using it in the evening, woke up the next morning and it just wouldn't turn on ;-( According to Asus, 3 weeks later, the entire power system had to be replaced. It's at this point that I am extremely glad I purchased extra warranty!!

So much has happened I'm not really sure where to start....

Graduation was on the 15th of December and it all went swimmingly - the dress was lovely, shoes were looking hot if I do say so myself!! The gown was hot & itchy and the hat refused to stay on but I had a great evening celebrating the achievement with my dearest uni friend and of course with the family. Dinner out afterwards was nice but it ended up being a very long night!! Kudos & thanks to my sister for looking after the small people for the night which made it even easier & stress free for me!! Graduation involved pressies too which was rather unexpected. Mum & Dad paid for my quilting of the very appropriately named Graduation quilt, the other half gave a gorgeous freshwater pearl & Swarovski crystal necklace and Nanna got me a very practical card swiper thingie engraved with my name & graduation date on it. I was feeling very spoilt!!

Birthday was OK - I spent it in Tamworth with Nanna. Quiet lunch out. Nothing to write home about.

Christmas was lovely - the kidlets got major spoilt but it's okay because it is christmas, they are grandparents and according to my mother 'that's my job!'. I got a really lovely sapphire & diamond ring from my folks, a gift voucher from dad, perfume, wall hangings & CD from the other half, towels and an assortment of other very useful and practical gifts!

New Years - Was spent at my darling friends with lots of wine, a load of laughs, board games, wine, food, conversation, wine, kidlets, wine. We had so much fun we almost missed the main event but watched the fireworks on telly & from their balcony and then soon after crashed into bed.

And so here we are ;-) Will post piccies when I finally find the camera cord & will update the crafting news as well - there has been much productivity lately!

Just as a complete side note I'm off to have pancakes for dinner. Personally I can't go past lemon & sugar but it must be freshly squeezed lemon, none of the in-the-bottle stuff. What about you?? What's your fave pancake topping/combo??

Wednesday afternoon....

2009-12-10T00:41:00.000-08:00

.... pizza

.... park

.... picnic

PERFECT

Gratitude

2009-12-08T21:38:00.000-08:00

"Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow"

I don't think I'm an optimist by nature and especially given the crazy christmas season I think it's easy for me to become one of the whingy, whiny, baa hum bug christmas crabbies. So to try and overcome this I recently uploaded the gratitude journal application onto my iphone. It's been almost a fortnight now and I'm pleasantly surprise at how well I'm doing at taking the time and energy to reflect on the day and write in my journal. Each day I can 'rate' my day with a number of stars and it's interesting to look back over the two weeks and see which days are better than others. Life today is so busy, people are often rushing here, there & everywhere to do everything with everybody and to have everything and I know that I am somewhat guilty of falling into the same pit. This experience has made me sit and focus about the positive rather than the negatives of the day which, unfortunately, I feel is my more natural tendancy. I'm hoping to change that through my journal.

To me it's like little kids who get asked "what happened at school today?" and the predictable "nothing" answer. Previously, I'd rate my day as "ok" but not really take the effect to really sit and think about the events of the day and how these have made me feel. Now I am taking time out at the end of the day to just sit for a few minutes and really think about what has happened and how much I'm thankful for - it's often the little things like spending unexpected time with the kids, the man who gave me a thank you wave when I let him into the traffic, sitting outside in the evening and just sitting, the quiet of the house and the love of my children, I'm even thankful for the reminder that I need to be thankful as it gives me the opportunity to see exactly how much I have rather than haven't.

So to end this post I thought I'd share my journal for today....
... I'm thankful for the peace and quiet of the house when everyone is at school/daycare. Life seems just that much more peaceful and relaxed without the noise!!
... I'm thankful for the skills that I have which allowed me to finish Izaaks quilt today!
... I'm thankful for the huge smile on Charley's face when she saw me at the door to pick her up from FDC ;-)
... I'm thankful for my family who are all gathering at the park for pizza dinner tonight. I love having time & location which allows me and the kids to be close to the rest of my family
... I'm thankful for the excitement, frustration, laughter and joy that new relationships bring to my life

What are you thankful for today??

It's official....

2009-12-06T01:30:00.000-08:00

... after three years, plenty of tears, triumps and tribulations....

I'M A REGISTERED NURSE

Wow. It finally feels real.

Bugger - blogger won't link what I want it to. Searching under my name (Rebecca Caulfield) shows I'm an official, financial, RN - WOOOHOOOOOOO

Zig-Zag

2009-11-30T23:55:00.000-08:00

Remember last week when I was inspired by the zig zag quilt over at CrazyMomQuilts? Well I had a few greens in the stash and the boy of the house loves green so I set to work and finished the top this afternoon.

I enjoyed constructing this and seeing how the rows came together made it go really quickly! I'm planning a trip to Spotties tomorrow for some quilting thread and backing and then plan on getting to work quilting this little one. Any ideas/suggestions on quilting designs? I'm thinking of just following the ziggy zaggy pattern and was thinking of a green variegating thread to pop a bit of the black out so it's not so dark. I can't get a decent photo of the colours but they are way brighter than they both appear in the piccies.

Remember Charley's quilt boo-boo? I became friends with my seam ripper this afternoon (much like the lovely Kuka) and have just finished putting it back together. Again, thread & backing tomorrow and then I'm going to start quilting. I'm thinking of a white/pink/purple variegated thread for this one and just plan on quilting horizonal lines on this one.

So that's been my day - loving my sewing machine at the moment although I think I'll have to give her up for a while soon. She really needs a service. Anyway, I'm hoping to get the quilting & binding done on these before Christmas so both the kids have got some handmade love from their mumma to open on the big day!

Christmas.... crafting and other stuff

2009-11-25T15:15:00.000-08:00

I've just come from the shops after joining the crazy crowds to grab a few things for christmas gifts for my immediate family and it was interesting to see the different reactions/attitudes of different shoppers. From the stressed out, hurried mum who had five children with her trying to rangle kidlets and find the right sized shirt to the little old lady who stood in the christmas decoration isle for ages just looking and touching all the different deccies. It made me think about how I perceive christmas and particularly the gift giving aspect of the season.

I think I'm fairly lucky - I have a small, immediate family and a select group of close friends who I will be buying/making/baking for but even then I've found myself caught up and stressing. Is what I'm giving worth/as good as what that person will get me? Am I spending too much (ha! hardly likely!)/too little? Is what I'm making good enough? I hate that I have those doubts. In terms of family I'm not making much, they don't appreciate the time/effort/energy that goes into handmade so this year I can't really be bothered. Remeber the christmas sock monkeys of last year? They are disgusting. Absolutely foul. The stuffing is coming out, they are stained, stink and are just generally revolting so I've decided to make new ones this year with some swishy merino socks. I'm hoping that the improved sock quality will result in improved monkey quality but we'll wait and see.

Anyway, the whole point of my post was to nut out this christmas thing. Why do I feel the need to conform to the consumeristic christmas? Why do I have this anxiety that what I give won't be good enough? Why has this consumerism culture taken the joy and fun out of christmas and replaced it with self doubt and concern?

This christmas seems to be hard for me and it's not even December yet! I've got anxiety over the gift issues, concern over going away and how the kids will handle christmas away from the family and worried that this will be my last christmas with my nanna. I think it's probably the last issue that is weighing most heavily on my mind. I don't want christmas to come because I don't want to be a step closer to losing her ;-(

So little time.... so much to try....

2009-11-22T22:50:00.000-08:00

... because I'd love one of these

Blueberry Pie from Crazy Mom Quilts which I'm in love with and am thinking of in reds for my loungeroom. It's been brown/blue for years and I'm over it. Thinking new cushion covers & a new quilt over the lounge is just what I need.

... and one of these

Also from crazy mom quilts I'm in love with the zig-zag quilt. I love and have always loved zig zag quilts but as a beginner sewer/quilter the concept of triangles scares the bejesus out of me. The potential for stretching and skewing of fabric on the bias is just too much for me to take so when I saw this and the instructions for zig zag without triangles my eyes lit up! Again, thinking reds with a cream/beige for the lounge room.

Finally I'm in love with these pinwheels which I think would be great in pink/purple tones for the little miss of the house or in greens on beige/browns for the little mister. Tutorial for the block can be seen here.

ARGH - so much that I want to do but I just don't have enough time (or moolah!) to get it all done! Christmas crafting has started for me which I plan on posting about tomorrow - a bit of a conundrum for me but will get through all that later - for now I'm off to browse more awesome quilt patterns and dream!!

Photo roundup

2009-11-10T23:16:00.001-08:00

I've been sewing in the past few days, finally overcoming my fear of stretch fabrics, and getting some new tops ready for summer. This one was just some fabric that was sitting in the stash and a super quick and easy pattern which only took an hour or so. It's a really lovely loose weave and it's going to be really cool in summer for lazing about the house. I've also done a black t-shirt with gathering in the front but it's in the wash so no photos just yet!

These are the two projects for tomorrow.

This is the quilt that I started for my bed months ago when I delivered the one for my grandma. She bought me a new jelly roll and although tempted by lots of lovely patterns I decided to stick to the tried & trusted. Sounds silly but I'm going to like having a 'sister quilt' just like nannas. It took me two days to put the strips together but then I couldn't find denim anywhere and couldn't find a suitable substitute for the sashings. Yesterday I was just meandering through spotlight, as one does, when I stmbled across the very denim that I'd be searching for months ago. The roll did look very thin though - I wasn't feeling confident as I approached the counter. I needed 2meters and was hoping & praying that there would be enough. The lady rolled it out and there was 210cm on the roll. Yay! Today, the top is finished & I'll be contacting Raylee from Sunflower Quilting in the next week or so to organise the quilting of it. I love it!! The birthday girl, complete with red rings thanks to a raspberry split ice block!

Last weekend was lovely weather so we headed out to the markets and the little miss twisted my arm for a ride - who could say no to that little face?

I absolutely adore this pic of my two - I'd have to say that this is one of the best of them together. Love you guys!!

ETA - forgot to add the piccie of Charlotte's quilt top - thank goodness I took a photo and posted it - I've just realised there is a boo-boo! Off to find the quick unpick.....

Can't believe...

2009-11-10T02:12:00.000-08:00

... it's been almost a month since I last posted...

Lots has happened in the past few weeks.....

... the little Miss has turned four. I can't find my external harddrive so can't find all the old photos but it's hard to get my head around that the little bub who was so eager to arrive and who I first met in a humidi crib with tubes and wires around her is the little girl who is about to embark on her preschool adventure, was so incredibly brave for her needles, who makes me smile most days and who is a joy in my life in more and more situations. We had a family dinner with the extended family and then just a little dinner at home with the three of us. She was spoilt as always!!

... the little Mister has started swimming lessons. Thanks in part to the school swimming program. Day one of the program he wouldn't put his head under the water, day 10 and he was a different child, 4 weeks into regular swimming lessons and he's diving to get rings off the bottom of the pool. He's definitely in no way a proficient swimmer but his confidence in the water is just amazing. It's been good for all us to get in the water - we all head down on Tuesdays now to have a splash about. Tires everyone out as well which is an added bonus.

... there is someone else who is sharing in our life now...

... uni is over - yep OVER - my undergraduate student life is finally and thankfully over. Graduation is exactly five weeks today!!! Student life is not entirely over though... I'm heading back in February to start my honours program. I've got my topic semi-covered, have written the application and have been talking to uni about possibly supervisors. It's an exciting time!!

... I have a job! I've been offered a place in the February intake of graudates for the new grad program. I've put in preferences for 10A (gastro surgery), 8B (ENT, cardiothoracic, maxio facial, opthamology & plastics), 7B (medical assessment and planning, PaTCH (paeds). I should know by christmas where they are going to send me. I'm looking forward to seeing where I'm heading on my clinical pathway. Given the honours though I plan on working part time, studying part time and losing any sense of sanity for any other time I have!!

... given the lack of uni, readings, assignments, essays, clinical and the general lack of routine and 'stuff' I haven't got much crafting done. I've got two quilt tops in the works and tops for each of the kidlets finished. I'd love to get them both quilted and finished for the kids for christmas and at least one of them finished for me before the end of the year. It's do-able but I've also been sewing some tops for me for summer.

Anyway, that's a quick wrap up of life here at the moment. Will post again soon with some photos of life around the place!

Productivity News...

2009-09-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

... so knitting has taken a back seat over the past few weeks to my new favourite crafting pastime - quilting!!

It started after my last teary post about Nanna and then a trip to George's and a squizz at her Jelly Roll Quilt book. A trip to Addicted to Fabric and two days later the top was done. Recommendations from Michelle for Sunflower Quilting meant that just a few more days and I picked up my very first quilt!!

I can't recommend Raylee from Sunflower Quilting highly enough - she was warm, friendly, caring, professional and her work on my quilt is just amazing. I'll definitely be using her services again!! Nannas face was gorgeous when I presented it to her and I cried (of course!) explaining to her that it was my tribute to her for all that she did and continues to do for me and my family. It is now taking pride of place on her bed at her house - I'm so proud of myself, my nanna and my quilt!!

The bug had bitten and of course now I wanted some beautiful handmade love on my own bed and I had purchased a pattern & some fat quarters from the Quilt & Craft Fair a few months back. I finally got the courage to take the rotary cutter to the gorgeous fabrics and there were a few swear words, a boo boo or two but overall I'm uber impressed with how this one came out as well! I'm perhaps even more proud of this one as I had to cut the fat quarters, sew all the blocks, quilted it myself (and without a walking foot!!) and it's binding is hand sewn down. It took alot of work but it is so beautiful it was well worth it!!

I've got so much to blog about - the little mans birthday, nannas visit, my holidays but I'm too busy - I got another jelly roll and am in the process of putting together my third quilt top! It's so much fun!!

Struggling...

2009-08-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Last post I forgot to mention that I put everyone's name in a hat and the lovely little man pulled out Trudi's name so I'll be in touch soon to organise a little something heading out your way!!

In the recent news - I'm struggling. It's now 3:22am on Saturday morning and I'm wide awake and in tears. I feel the need to share her life with you all.

My nanna was put up for adoption at birth and was taken into a family of two sisters and a brother whom she called Aunty Hilda, Aunty Martha and Paul - they lived on a farm outside Toowoomba where she rode her horse to school and lived the typical life of a farm child during the years of the depression. She tells stories about rationing of food, life before refrigeration and the like. She did her nursing education and met my grandfather but he went off to war and she travelled overseas to do her nursing. They met up and married on their return in Adelaide. I have their wedding picture hanging on my wall as we speak and they look so deliriously happy. She tells me that they moved into their first home with very little money and milk cartons as chairs but that they were so happy and in love that it didn't seem to matter.

Her first child John, was 'difficult' from toddlerhood and never had a good relationship with my grandfather ('poppy'). My mum came along next and then her sister after that who was born early and very small. Poppy worked in the airforce as a flight controller and they moved around quite a bit during his service before finally settling down in Tamworth where they both worked - he at the airport, she at the base hospital. My mum & siblings grew up and moved on but my grandparents took care of my cousin during her infant/school years and continued to juggle work and a little person. They both retired. He became involved in the Masonic movement, Legacy and bowls. Together they volunteered for meals on wheels - I would go with them when I was visiting during the school holidays. My grandparents drove Commodores - early models with the vinyl seats and I'm sure I've lost more than my fair share of skin on them during the baking Tamworth summers!!

I would fly from Brisbane to Tamworth during the school holidays to spend time with them and I have amazingly fond memories of cooking and sewing with nanna. She taught me to sew a pair of shorts as a beginners project, her famous tea cakes and a bunch of other stuff. She is a crafty lady who has the most amazing latch hooked rug in her loungeroom - no pattern just the bits and pieces of left overs from other projects that she hated seeing go to waste. She is so inventive and useful - hates seeing any sort of waste. She tells me that this comes from living through the depression and hard times when you made the most of absolutely everything. She is a thrifty little lady.

As a grew up and became a mother she was always on the end of the phone with advice and a knowing ear with Izaaks teething, fevers, immunisations and while we had some differences of opinions on matters she always loved and supported me. Charlotte came along and nanna has loved her as much as ever. I show her what I'm knitting, she encourages me. I tell her what I'm learning and doing in clinical and we talk about the differences of nursing 50 years ago. She is my rock. She 'gets' me like the rest of my family doesn't. I love her.

I am losing her. Her time on this earth is nearing it's end and I am struggling to deal with this. It hurts. It hurts so much that I wake up at 2:20 in the morning feeling like it hurts so much that I can't breathe. It hurts so much to imagine life without her, without being able to pick up the phone and hear her soothing words, her assurances, her advice and her love. I hope that she has been around long enough to make an impression on my childrens hearts, that they remember her and what an amazing woman she is and was. I'm trying to focus on her going to be with my poppy and remembering that she has lead a very full life, experienced so much but I don't want to let go. I want to hold on forever. and ever. It hurts.

Tranquility

2009-08-09T04:48:00.000-07:00

I love this time of the night - It's 9pm on a Sunday and all is well in the world.

We've had a lovely, lazy day. A bit of washing here, folding there, vacuming around the place but nothing too exhausting. Lunch was snag sangers and had as we sat out the back and enjoyed the tiny sliver of sunshine that lay across our courtyard. Some Wii play, a book or two later and we headed over to good friends for dinner. Kidlets playing and walking the dog, knitting, a glass of wine & BBQ dinner. Bliss. Pure bliss.

So now it's 9pm - my house is tidy, my children are tucked into bed and peacefully dreaming the night away, uni work is under control and in some ways I'm actually ahead, I'm listening to my favourite podcasts and knitting my latest obsession.

Seriously.... can life get any better?? What does your perfect Sunday night and/or weekend look like??

Milestones....

2009-07-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

...my first ever yum cha experience and wow! was it good. It did feel slightly strange going to a Croatian soccer club to have yum cha but the company was wonderful, food delicious and really reasonable pricing. Can't ask for more really.

...we have entered the Wii world thanks to my parents

...we also have a new T.V in part, thanks to the above point. Izaak attempted to connect the Wii all by himself, pulled the TV out of the cabinet too far and smashed the whole thing. New TV equalled moving all the furniture around the place as well because the new telly didn't fit in the old cabinet. I took it as a good time to have a clean up. Feels good to have a tidy home but unforuntely I know it won't last.

...I have started my final clinical placement as a student nurse. It's daunting, exciting, disgusting and wonderful all at the same time. I've seen and had to deal with more poo in the last week than in the previous two and a half years. I seem to have the smell permanently burned into my nostrils. On a happier note the staff are wonderful and so helpful and happy to have students around which is a far cry from my last placement and really makes all the difference.

...I finished my first ever triangle shawl. It is the Percy Shawl and I'm in love with it. I'm super happy with how it turned out and have started on my second shawl now. I really seem to have hit my knitting mojo lately which is a nice change. You can see it here.

...I've been crocheting as well. Dishcloths for my kitchen and face washers for the kids which they are loving. It's nice when the kids pick out the colours and tell me stripes or this for the border or loop/no loop and then within an hour or two they get their finished face cloth.

...My blue swap parcel is coming along nicely with some delicious yarn from Happy Spider that is going to be very hard to part with. A crochet neckwarmer has also been completed as well as a few yummy treats and of course some blue goodies from Smiggle.

...My laptop also died. I took it in and the techhy described it as "the blue screen of death" - apparently fixable but really difficult and expensive so she's been replaced with a smaller, lighter Asus and I'm really happy so far with how it's running. Much faster which is great and lighter meaning it's easier to cart around to uni etc and with the smaller size I am getting alot longer out of a battery.

...We've had our first overnight visitor last night. I really can't describe how exciting it is that my autisitic child has something that resembles a social life. Yay! for my boy! He's coped really well with the experience as well. It may well be one that is repeated.

...and finally, this is post 150 for me!! To celebrate I'm giving away a little something so leave a comment and on Friday night I'll do the random number thingie and be sending something lovely to one of you!!

From the mouth of babes...

2009-07-27T00:38:00.000-07:00

..... "Mum, can we please go ride biking this afternoon"....

.... "My button belly is coloured in today"....

A trip to the snow

2009-07-08T00:31:00.000-07:00

Last winter we were all packed and ready for a trip to the snow when both of the kidlets fell ill and we had to postpone the trip then life got busy and winter was over. I've got friends who live just outside Cooma at a little place called Numeralla. It's beautiful. Simply beautiful. Quiet and peaceful and most of all just so still. So the kidlets and I headed up last Friday to spend a night and drive up to the snow on Saturday.

We hired the snow chains, suits, boots and assorted snow paraphernalia and then drove up to the snowfields at Selwyn. The kids had a fabulous time - Izaak spent the majority of the day on the toboggan - up and down - up and down. While the little Miss built a snow man, snowballs and was happy just playing around in the snow.

This one is my favourite picture of my two - I love the expressions on their faces

I wish I'd been able to get better photos but the day was very cloudy/foggy and by the time we left visibility was down to about 50 meters. It was raining as well so it was nice to get into the car, turn the heater up and cruise back home. Both the kids are keen to go again and we had so much fun I'm looking at the diary trying to see when we might be able to do it all over again!

RIP Stuart

2009-07-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

Loved you buddy!

Random Stuff.....

2009-06-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

A milo vest for Charlotte (please excuse the snot & dodgy atop-the-kitchen-bench location!)...

Some new wooly pants from Grandma...

And my new, improved little man...

He read me 5 stories last night and told me that the glasses "make my brain smart 'cause the words are bigger" so here's hoping it makes things easier for the little guy!

In uni news I've just (literally 5 minutes ago!) finished my last essay and the final exam is tomorrow and then I'll have a whole month of class-free, stress-free, reading-free time - bliss! Slightly dented by the prospect of having all four of my wisdom teeth out but bliss none the less.

Master chef...

2009-06-12T00:13:00.000-07:00

... Izaak

He's decided he wants to be a chef "once I grow up to be a big man". I see opportunity so we've started some basic cooking lessons and as a result once a week he is going to (with assistance) be cooking dinner.

Last week he decided on enchiladas and while I fried off the mince he prepared the rest and this was the final result. Looked good and tasted great!

Any ideas on particularly kid-friendly recipes for budding chefs??

What a weekend!

2009-06-10T04:30:00.001-07:00

So for the long weekend the whole extended tribe headed over to Batemans Bay for a 'family' holiday. I use that term loosely because the tribe consisted of me with the two ferals, my folks, my sister & her partner and their two little boys. In the end it turned out much better than expected and I even managed, for the most part, to keep my mouth shut!

Kids had an absolute blast. Izaak has been wanting to learn to ride a bike without his training wheels for a while now but on the advice of his physio and occupational therapist I had decided to leave them on. I'd love to say that it was my intrinsic belief in my child tht I took them off but the reality is that my seven year old has amazing 'nag' powers and it all got too much for me. I should have gone with the first motivator because I put him on the path, gave him a little wobbling, pushing and lots of encouragement and he was off! This was the first day I took the wheels off and he did so well (and was so big!) that I got him a bigger bike while we were away. He rode 5km from the cabins into town and back again and was on the bike every free moment he had - definitely worth the investment!

Charlotte loves her bike too and did a great job on the massive 5km ride as well. It was crazy looking at this little girl and remembering that 18 months ago she was too scared to even walk on sand and I had to carry her when we went to the beach. A dozen camping trips later and she runs through the water, jumping in the puddles and having a great time watching the pelicans and seagulls in the water. She was fascinated by the boat ramp as well and spent a good half hour in the evening watching the boats come outof the water and onto the trailers. Same thing in reverse the next morning.

It's been a crazy ride but man do I love this little chicken...

We headed home on Monday around lunch time but had a quick stop off for a game of putt-putt. It was hilarious and wonderful at the same time. I loved seeing Izaak - waiting, sharing, talking, interacting like a 'normal' kid. Heart warming for this proud mamma!

Then it was back to reality - my law & ethics exam was today and went well. I've got one more paper to write and another exam then I've got a few weeks of uninterrupted, unplanned, creative crafty time that I am **so**looking forward to!

Clapotis v2.0

2009-06-01T20:52:00.001-07:00

Remember my first clappy? I love her and she'll always be part of the family given that she's one of the first 'real' things I have knitted but I have since discovered that mohair and I don't mix well. I itch. and itch. and itch. So I have been planning another one with various different yarns over the past months but had done nothing about it until we went to the OBDM wool day. I went with mum and it was a lovely outing with no children! Bliss! We made our way around to Helen from Waratah Fibres and I spotted some lovely 8ply in reddy/berry colours and decided I *must* have it. 200gr of "mixed berry" 8ply followed me home and the following weekend at our Brown Owls meet Clapotis v2.0 was cast on.

Fast forward 6 days and she was finished! A super quick knit for me given the time of the semester, kids etc. I had initial misgivings about the needle size and gauge but she has blossomed bautifully after a good soak and has already been taken out for a number of excursions!

Excuse the dodgy photos - just one of the many pitfalls of living alone ;-( Anyway, crazy thing?? I'm thinking I might just need another one. I do have some smoothie laying around.....

A new project

2009-05-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

Casting on for another project tonight. Thanks to Eilleens blog I've become aware of a project over at the National Gallery of Australia that involves covering their foyer in knits. Yay! Anyone else planning on knitting for it?? I think it would be great to see my own little strip up along so many others in a national institution. Can't wait to see this once it's all up and finsihed!

I put on a vest with an S on my chest

2009-05-23T16:37:00.000-07:00

I love the song Superwoman by Alicia Keys - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK8t0gP4isE
"even when I'm a mess I still put on a vest with an S on my chest...I'm a superwoman" for me it's one of those empowering songs that picks me up when things seem so bloody hard.

My last post was a list of things that was happening for my little family and me and things were looking pretty crazy. I'm feeling like a bit of a superwoman though - I've been able to cross off quite a few things from the list...

- Izaak has had his speech assessment with amazing results. In one of the subtests his raw score last year was 9. This year?...................... 22!!!!

- Green swap is finished - well almost. I just need to wrap everything up

- Stashbuster swap is finished. A fair isle cowl in Noro and a little choccie. Again just needs wrapping

- Cowl swap is almost done. I just need to graft the two halves together. I've been trying to do a 3 needle bind off but I'm thinking, after making upteen mistakes, that I'm just going to graft them together.

- 1 essay almost done.

In other news I applied for a scholarship way back in March and this week found out that I have been awarded the Lorna May scholarship for 2009!! This means that I can buy textbooks for next semester and apply for a few courses that I've been looking at without having to worry about moolah ;-)

So all my juggling balls - uni, clinical, kidlets, family, housework, crafting - are still up in the air and I'm still sane! Miraculous!! Must be that vest....

So much to do... so little time

2009-05-14T23:42:00.000-07:00

So in the next five weeks I have

- Woolaholics Cowl Swap

- Rav green swap

- Rav stash-busting winter swap

- My nephews 3rd birthday

- Speech review for Izaak

- 2 essays

- 2 exams

As well as the normal, everyday run of the mill stuff that happens around here.

How do you deal with deadlines? I could probably use a pointer or two!!

Knitting productivity

2009-05-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

Some more finished things from this week......

Pattern - Aunt Maggie Slippers (Rav) (Non-Rav)

Yarn - Cleckheaton Nautico? (I think??)

Needles - 6mm straights

Comments - We have slate floors and it's FREEZING in the winter time. I wanted something quick and cheery for Izaaks feet so he wasn't so cold. These were perfect. I knit the two at the same time using 2 different balls which made them go even faster - they took one day and that was between shopping, cooking, eating, playing etc. Perfect fit. Lovely.

And of course if one has something the other seems to think that they must have the same. Charlotte picked an absolutely fugly yarn - but she tells me it's like beautiful rainbows. Anyway, the yarn was worsted so I used it doubled and decreased the cast on to 21 which ended up being a perfect fit.

Pattern - Girls cap sleeved spring shirt (Rav) (Non-Rav)

Yarn - Vera Moda Tradition

Needles - 5mm

Comments - I really like this pattern. It's the second Shelly Floyd pattern that I've knit now and they are simple but really lovely. I ran out of the purple yarn so had left it for a while then while attempting to find something in the absess known as the cupboard under the stairs I found another ball of tradition in a lighter shade of purple so added in a stripe on the bottom. I'm thinking it might need some duplicate stitch something on the top to pull it all together?? Anyway, it fits really well, will last for a while and she loves it - perfect!!

My nephew turns 2 this weekend and given how badly he has trashed the sock monkey that I gave him last year I decided a new soft toy was in order. Made up as I went along with fabrics/felt/buttons out of the stash this little monster was born....

Let's hope he likes it!

Collector Pumpkin Festival

2009-05-09T00:34:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed up to Collector to their annual Pumpkin Festival which was great! Lots of yummy food, interesting things to see and lots for the kids to do. I was really surprised when they announced the heaviest pumpkin of the festival. How heavy you ask....

Yep - that's 253KG. It was huge! We did the totally tourist lean-on-a-pumpkin-for-a-piccie thing...

Then we checked out the decorator pumpkins - these were the kids faves... Patted the alpacas

Boys sat on tractors while girls had ice cream

Then needed to chill out after all the excitement!

Last but not least we had to have a squizz at the scarecrows on the way back to the car. This one caught misters eye...

A day in the life....

2009-05-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

.... of my 3 year old

Fridays are special 'Mummy-Charlotte' time and we have gotten into a routine - dropping Izaak at school then heading to our local shops. We each get a trashy mag from the newsagent and then head to the coffee shop for a hot choccie and piece of cake to enjoy while we each read our respective mags. Charlotte's this week also had a bunch of 'bonuses' - stick on earings, rings, lippy etc - absolutely perfect for a three year old girl!

Stuart has been staying with my parents this week and so after our coffee we went to pick him up and the little miss couldn't have been happier to get some Stuie love!

She dressed herself this morning - pick the child of the knitting mother!!

And finally, we picked up the little master of the house whose day at school included art and craft today - meet the newest member of the household - Mr Green ;-)

Tomorrow we're off for a family adventure to the Collector Pumpkin Festival hopefully it will warm up a bit - we're all struggling with the temperatures at the moment!

wow - just wow

2009-04-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

...nothing more needs to be said really.....

A knitting update

2009-04-15T00:09:00.000-07:00

To say that life around herehas been cazy would be an understatement and as a result any sort of crafty activities have been on hold. Until this week. Easter, while marking the school holidays and two weeks of my adorable boy being at home also marks uni holidays which means for two whole weeks there are no lectures to attend, no tutorials which I need to go to and relative freedom.

So... what have I been doing with all my free time? Getting crafty - that's what!

Pattern - Stacked Eyelet Cowl (Rav Link) (Non-Rav Link)

Needles - KP 4.5mm 40cm cable

Yarn - The Yarn Cafe - Sock club colourway "Pistachio"

Comment - When I opened my Yarn Cafe envelope and saw this yarn I knew that it wanted to be a cowl for this winter and the stacked eyelet is a pattern that I've liked for a while. Nice and simple, good for variegated yarns, I thought it would work well with this yarn which it does. I've used the yarn doubled as it was a 4ply and I wanted something a bit more chunky. It's snuggly and warm and just right for two brown winter coats that I have. I've still got about 30gr of this yarn left so I'm thinking I'll pair it with a plain beige 8ply to make some fingerless mittens.

Pattern - Tweedy Cabled Cap (Rav Link) (Non-Rav Link)

Needles - KP 4.5mm 40cm cable

Yarn - Some generic 8ply 100% wool picked up at Kmart for $2 per ball. Used about one and a half -not bad for about $3.00

Comments - Izaaks beanie from last year was looking pretty sad and more Jewish skull cap-ish than keep-your-head-warm-beanie so we decided he needed a new one. He sat at the laptop with me and we trolled through Rav for a while when he saw this pattern and loved the cable at the front. Apparently it's very ninja band like? Anyway, I didn't do as many rounds as the pattern because he doesn't like things covering his ears so it's quite a bit more shallow than the written pattern. Finished in a day though - quick, easy, nice knit with good shaping and I like the way that the decreases use the pattern as a design feature. If I could wear a beanie I'd want one like this

Pattern - Test knit for fellow Raveller

Needles - KP 4.5mm 40cm cable

Yarn - Malabrigo Worsted

Comments - This is a test knit for a pattern that is yet to be released and at the moment, doesn't have a name. I really like it though, nice lace pattern with straight rows for a rest. This pattern also recommended a Russian bind off which I had no idea how to do so it's been a good motivator for learning a new skill as well. It's snug and the Mmmmmallll is just so warm and cosy. This was my first FO in Malabrigo and it certainly won't be the last. This yarn is somewhat special, it being a birthday gift from George and all so I wanted to do a good job with it. I think I managed that! This is very yarn savy as well - less than half a skein for this little baby. I had 56gr remaining. I'm planning another one of these about half the size for the little miss of the house who is desperate for one "just like you Mum" Sometimes she's just too cute!

Pattern - Waffle Stitch Fingerless Gloves

Needles - 5mm straights

Yarn - Malabrigo Worsted

Comments - This is the 56gr left over from the cowl and given the cooler weather that we're having in Canberra this week a pair of fingerless gloves seems only fitting. It is strangely nice knitting flat for a change and this is a good looking, well written pattern which is perfect for the half skeins of the stash. I've done one and am 8 rows from finishing the second. There was a period of panic where I thought I was going to run out of yarn but I'm going to be fine and will end up with a few grams left over. I really feel like I've gotten the most out of this skein of yarn. I cast on 40 rather than 36 as I do have larger than normal hands and I'm a tight knitter but I need not have bothered. They would have been big enough with the 36 and are, if anything, a touch too big with the 40. I'm not going to block them - I don't want them to grow any bigger. Can't wait for the cowl to dry though - I can have matching cowl & gloves! yay!

So that's what has been happening in the crafty stakes here since Friday - I'm really enjoying having the extra time to get projects finished. I've also knitted exclusively from stash so that makes me feel good as well. The next things on the needles will be gloves for the kids and a beanie for Charlotte. I like the little projects too - being able to start something and finish it wthin a few days has fed my 'instant gratification' needs. I'm also feeling the need to crotchet so the hook may well come out in the next few days. Yay for holidays!

Easter...

2009-04-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

at our house included

...Easter crafting to share with some friends over lunch

...some backyard camping with George and her brood which was great. Nothing like waking up in a tent and then walking 10 steps to be inside a nice warm house with all the mod cons!

...a few choccies - a rabbit for each of the kids plus a few eggs

...lots of knitting - including 2 FOs - more details to come later and another cast on to happen this afternoon

...some chill out time at the National Folk Festival. First time experience for me but I'll definitely be back next year with the kids as well. It was a really great night out. Will post a more detailed post later but it was fab.

...having pide for dinner with my folks while watching the rugby

...the best bit of easter? Chilling out with these two adorable little people who really make getting out of bed each day just a little bit easier. I love them more and more each day

Tough times

2009-04-02T15:15:00.001-07:00

The past few weeks have been tough - well probably the past month really and as a result I haven't been online or blogging much. Things in our house are slightly messy and awful right now but I'm hoping it will all pick up again soon.

We're now just one week away from holidays for the boy and myself which I am absolutely and thoroughly looking forward to! We plan on doing lots of nothing during the break - a few day trips planned here and there but on the whole I think we both need time just to take a break, rest, relax and refresh. So six days, 3000 words and two shifts to go before the first half of the semester is over and done with for me. Izaak is doing well at school although this week has been messy with his normal classroom teacher being away. In saying that he has surprised me with how well he has coped with the change in routine. Charlotte on the other hand. Well, Charlotte is just being Charlotte. Enough said about that.

In crafty news I completed the favourite colours swap recently. My swapee is a purple lover so I went back to the old faithful - clapotis - with some 8ply Waratah Fibres. I'm not sure of the colourway because I'm not sure where the ball band got to. Slightly scratchy while being knitted but it softened beautifully on blocking. This swap had quite a long time from sign up to post out and as a result I collected quite a few more things that I had realised. A few things here... a bit there and it soon adds up! Anyway, the purple parcel that I posted out....

No parcel for me as yet but fingers crossed it'll be in the first few days of next week. In other yarnish news my absolute favourite store - the yarn cafe - had a recent offer which I couldn't resist so next week should be a deliciously yarny mail week. Due to the rather large amounts of yarn coming in I'm destashing this week to make some room (and dosh!) for the new stuff. Am working on a lace project for myself too but will share piccies once I've got more done.

Izaaks class are presenting their item at assembly today so the girl and I will head up to the school in a little bit and see how it all goes. Then it's cake and coffee with the people who we were neighbours with years ago. Her daughter is a few months older than Charlotte and the girls get along really well so it'll be nice to catch up with them again.

Anyway, that's all folks! Till next time....

It's been a while....

2009-03-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

since I've posted so here is a long overdue catch up post....

Kids - are lovely.

Izaak is doing well at school although there are some issues with one of his class mates which is causing much stress and tension for myself and for the little man. Trying to explain why some people make better friends than others to a seven year old is significantly more difficult than I anticipated. He has made a lovely friend though who is a really good influence on him and vice versa. He received an award at assembly last week "for a geat start to 2009. For trying very hard to finish work tasks. Well done Izaak!". I made it to the assembly and the look on his face was priceless. He's been really nice lately - let's hope it lasts!

The little miss is being a little miss. Three is much harder than two. I'm hoping four is the turning point otherwise there is quite a high chance she won't make it to five. There are alot of changes going on in her life though so it's kind of understandable. She is changing FDC at the end of the month so no doubt that will start a whole new set of behaviours! Overall though she is lovely when she isn't screaming, hitting or whinging. Really. She is.

Uni - Is feral. 'Nuff said really.

Craty Stuff - What? What's knitting? Seriously there has been no action on the knitting front. When I'm not at prac, with the kids, cooking, cleaning or doing homework I'm catching up on sleep. Maybe soon. There are grand plans if only I had the time! I'm loving Brown Owls - different crafts with different people. Can't wait for Sunday as we're doing embroidery which I haven't tried before. Fun.

Other stuff - We've been camping the past two weekends which has been great. I can definitely recommend Wombeyan Caves for any other camping families out there. About 2 hours from home and it's a beautiful spot. Quiet and peaceful but interesting as well. The kids walked and walked and walked which was nice for them to get out and get some decent exercise but was also good because they both were going to bed early and sleeping well! The little miss didn't make it home and those of you familiar with Georgie's work might spot a show award winner in the photo. My little lovely was lucky enough to be the recipient of Mrs Perkins which she adores. I feel so blessed to have such a talented and generous friend. Thanks George!

Thats about it for now. I feel like we've done so much but at the same time done nothing?

Using just one word....

2009-02-16T00:09:00.001-08:00

describe how you're feeling today??

Mine? Murky - there is much murkiness in our lives at the moment. Daycare, finances, visitation, school, relatives - things just all seem so murky and I don't particularly like it. I like to feel concrete about where we are and what we're up to and unfortunately much of the muckiness is things that I am totally unable to control.

Yuk

Blankets of friendship

2009-02-11T22:26:00.001-08:00

There are a bunch of us over at Ravelry who have started a group to knit squares, sew them into blankets and provide a little love to those who have lost so much. There has also been a blog started to keep track of all the donations

We'd love you to help out so here are all the vital stats...

- squares are 12"

- preferred yarn is machine washable wool but synthetics (acrylics, nylon etc) are fine too!

- no stitch preference - be as creative as you like!

- once your squares are finished you can post them to - P.O Box 212 - Jerrabomberra NSW 2619

Thanks to all those who have already donated yarn, needles, blankets or squares. I'm really excited by the huge response we've already got! The ABC is on board as well and I'll be doing an update with them next week so keep an ear out to hear how the blankets are progressing!

Not a knitter? There are plenty of other ways to help out - some of which can be seen on Kuka's blog as well as some auctions over at ozebaby, the yarn collective and this site. Treat yourself or your little one and know that you're helping a very worthy cause at the same time.

No words needed

2009-02-10T23:25:00.000-08:00

WIP round-up

2009-02-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

So lately I've had a case of start-itis and I've got more projects on the go than normal and there is only three weeks until uni goes back and I want to get the majority of these finished before that happens. So at the moment I've got on the needles....

** a scarf

** a pair of mitens

** a Mr Greenjeans - sorry but no pic for that one although I have to say that it is the most fab shade of green ;-)

Over at Rav I've been doing some karma swaps and was lucky enough to nab some Cascade 220 in a lolly pink, lavender and a lime green. I do have some of this yarn in the stash thanks to Bells but I haven't used any yet and these smaller amount (140gr in total) would make a good try-it project. I finally settled on some corazon gloves but unfortunately it's just not working. The colours together and just - yuk!. It doesn't look *that* bad in the photo but it's about 10 times brighter in natural light. I think this may just be the ugliest thing I have ever knit. Ew.

I wonder just how much I can get done before the first week in March?

Perfection

2009-02-06T00:11:00.000-08:00

I have had the most perfect day today and just wanted to share ;-)

Lots of running around today first of all dropping off a fridge, then collecting a rabbit hutch and some clothing for the girl for next winter (thanks freecycle) plus about a kazillion other errands being done today. Rent and bills are paid, centrelink and child support are sorted. I had spoken to twitchy fingers about some clothes that I had to pass on to her little man and organised to drop if off today. What I hadn't organised or expected was 2 big bags of clothes for my little lovely for winter. I *love* hand me down. Love them. And I love the condition of hand me downs - the tops with strategically placed buttons, the jeans with iron on patches, stains etc. They are all good. But this bag. OMG. This bag was the jackpot! 5 pairs of shoes - my child is a shoe addict - and enough clothes to outfit her for the entire winter! I hope twitchy realises how much I appreciate it! Life is good.

Then we got home and got dinner organised. I love BBQs and I love BBQs even more since christmas when my wonderful nanna bought me a new 4 burner, hooded one for a combined chrissie/birthday pressie. Fresh corn, organic lamb chops/sausages and potato gems (thanks to George I am now addicted to processed potato products on the BBQ). Life is fantastic.

Post dinner requires a dip in the pool, playing with the kids and watching cricket on the telly (yep - I've given in - at least for the sport!) while sipping a glass of my absolute favourite wine and enjoying some grapes, still chilly out of the fridge. Life doesn't get any better!

Before I go I have to share a moment with you.... as we got home I exclaimed that I was going to "fire up the barbie" to which the 7 year old autistic child replies "mum, you can't fire Charlotte's dolls - she'll cry and it's not nice to make Barbie go on fire - she will get too hot". Bliss. Absolute Bliss.

Bargain and blowout

2009-02-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

First off there was some bargains....

Jag bag (fab size for uni!), crochet blanket, pants for the girl, tops for the girl, tops for the boy, a top for me and 2 gorgeous little plates for the grand total of..... $20

Then there was the budget blowout but given the temp could hit 40 on Saturday I think it'll be worth it and even if it doesn't, the look on the kids faces when they got home from school/FDC and they spotted it was worth it!

My bad?

2009-02-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

Eye spy.... small things

2009-02-02T19:27:00.000-08:00

I've been enjoying reading the eye - spy posts over at Jetta's nest and vowed that I would join in and this weeks theme called to me.

Small things are rather abundant in this house - between two small children there are lots of beads, toys, magnets, puzzle pieces and with a crafty mumma buttons, snaps, stitch markers and pins are fairly common in the house but just after reading the posts at bugandpop and the crafty librarian I came across two small things in a rather precarious position.

2 lego figures were, according to the 7 year old, battling it out.... on our toilet seat. The victor won the rather 'interesting' prize of being able to drown the loser of the battle. Wanting to save you the piccies of our loo I've moved them downstairs again but this is the small thing I spotted at my place today....

A bit of this and a bit of that....

2009-01-28T02:55:00.001-08:00

A few bits and bobs that I want to share....

1 - For those of us who have little people residing in our homes Kids Craft Weekly is a fantastic resource that I stumbled upon this week. Some printable activities, lots of ideas and even a newsletter. Definitely some motivating ideas there!

2 - I heard this on ABC local radio tonight and it was the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. Google (what did we do before google!!) it and you can even see the video as well. Seriously, I haven't laughed this much in ages...

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puMz1Q3E000 - sorry but I can't get Blogger to play nice. Hilarious!!

3 - Earlier I posted about my desire to learn a new skill and I want to send out a huge thank you to a wonderful friend who got me started, motivated and definitely 'into' crochet. I've almost finished my first scarflet which I will share once I work out how to do the edging. It's so much faster! and I'm loving the one loop, no dropped stitches, easier frogging - bliss!!

4 - Above mentioned friend also gave my little family some frogs eggs to ?incubate? I have no idea what to call it, anyway, we have fish eggs and they are growing up and starting to wiggle! It's very exciting and so we've been reading/researching and generally just talking about life cycles. I think this is probably what home schooling is like on a very small, teeny tiny scale and I'm loving it. Between the learning, sharing, growing and developing we did on our holidays through to the life cycle of frogs I am thoroughly enjoying my children at the moment. Reading that sentence back it sounds like that concept is a novel one. It's not. But it's taken me a long time to adjust and feel like going with the flow and just taking the lead of the kids is the right thing to be doing.

5 - School went back today. I'm sad. I even asked the young master of the house if he had to go back to school. Reply - "Well yes mum I do have to go back to school.... (pondering)... I have to learn lots of things so I can grown up and know everything... (more pondering)... just like you". What a sweetie!

6 - School went back today. I'm very sad. To say that the other mums at my school aren't very friendly is an understatement and I'm not yet strong enough for this fact to not bother me. I know I'm from the wrong side of the tracks, I know I'm a single mama, I know I don't drive a 4WD tank, I know I don't have the guess handbag but I do have a happy friendly personality and I wish you would notice that. Just once.

7 - As previously mentioned we have a party coming up and it was such a joy to read on the invitation that they would like op-shopped, hand made or hand-me-down gifts. Very refreshing! Of course I had a ball at my local oppy finding lots of pretty, frilly, adorable things that one and three year old girls adore!

8 - The issue of comments was going around the blog world a while back and I've been contemplating this recently. What makes you comment on a blog? or not? If you have your own blog do you have it set to moderate comments before they are posted? why? or why not? I'm not sure why you would invite people to be involved and have input in your blog if you are only going to publish the comments that you like or that agree with you?? I know I'm slack at commenting so for the next week I am going to post on every single blog post that I read. Someone has taken the time to share their craft, stash, life and/or kids lives with me so I'm going to take a moment to tell them that I appreciate it!

Anyway, I'm off to watch Mr Williams again. And have another good chuckle. Again ;-)

Back to basics

2009-01-24T05:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight I have caught up with all my google reader items and I'm loving this concept from Belinda - I'm going to do fortnightly (or there abouts!) updates on what's happening around here. I think it will be a good reminder and motivator to think in a wider circle. We're tailoring the project to suit ourselves though and the few people who have come and seen my house (I think it's just you George!) know that I am not really able to plant/sow anything green. A teeny tiny courtyard coupled with a rabbit just doesn't work out although I have managed to keep a lemon tree and an orange tree alive for at least 6 months now and that *has* to be some sort of record for me. Lack of space, munching pet and inherited brown thumbs mean I'm not really up with the gardening side of things.

So... for this weekend...

Planning for The Future

- planned for this weeks meals - 90% of which will be coming from the freezer. Also planned (and actually managed to execute!) some baking meaning I don't have to buy snacks for school lunches this week!

- we have a 1st & 3rd (two sisters) birthday coming up and I had no ideas (or finances!) for pressies. My mums centre is getting rid of some equipment and I've managed to source an art easel for them. Making some paint (recipe here) sourced some paper from the local newspaper company (end roll for just a few dollars) and their pressie is sorted. Best of all the mama of the family is extra happy with recycled gifts as well!

Working for the Future

- it's only a tiny thing but we had a lot of lemons here that were starting to look like they had seen better days - rather than chucking them like I would have done 6 months ago I have juiced them and frozen the juice into ice cube trays and zested them into zip lock bags - also in the freezer. The above mentioned party has a massive lemon tree so I'm hoping to score some more lemons later this week to try the lemon sorbet from here and the cupcakes from here.

Building Community

- I saw this on Belindas blog "calling someone you just let drift out of your life" which is just bizarre because last night I looked up a friend in Brisbane that I haven't spoken to in ages. She is also a single mama but does things much tougher than me. We had a short but nice chat and it felt good to catch up.

- this year I am both child and class free on a Friday so am contemplating doing some volunteer work? I feel conflicted in this regard though as I am partially motivated by the Queanbeyan Food Co-op so does the fact I'm getting seriously discounted food in return for my volunteering mean it's not really volunteering?

Learn a new Skill

- I'm actually meeting up with a friend tomorrow for a lesson (plus some cake, hot choccies and a good old natter!) on crochet

- I also picked up a new bike for the boy at the op shop and the back tyre is flat so I guess my other new skill will be learning how to fix bike tyres!! Wish me luck with that one!!

7 days on....

2009-01-22T16:57:00.000-08:00

...and I miss...

- watching the cricket - the radio is a great substitute but sometimes I want to see the hawkeye decisions or amazing catches. I do enjoy watching the tennis as well.

- being able to distract the kids while I get dinner on, hang out the washing or just go to the toilet on my own!

- the background noise at night. Sometimes the quiet of the house is just too quiet - know what I mean? One of my biggest struggles as a single mama is the feeling of being lonely and just occasionally I feel like the lack of TV makes it even more prominent.

- being able to join in social situations when people start talking about something that they saw on telly or are looking forward to seeing.

but I am loving....

- helping the kids make a campsite under the dining table using lots of sheets and listening to them singing camping songs.

- Charlotte falling asleep in my arms while Izaak and I talk about the storm that is happening outside.

- the quiet and stillness of the house in the evenings.

- all the extra reading that we have been doing.

- listening to the kids playing nicely with each other for the majority of the time.

- the extra time that we have been spending outside at the park or just walking around looking at what is happening around our neighbourhood.

- the smell of the chocolate cakes, date and caramel muffins, brownies and other yummy treats that we have been baking together.

- not spending half my life looking for the remote control.

- spending time with Izaak helping him to make a book of his christmas holidays to take to school next week. I'm not sure how many other kids will have a book with wombats, koalas, kookaburras, kangaroos, water parks, movie world, the big banana, the clog factory, tamworth country music festival and various other events/places etc in it!

- not having to tell the kids 10 times to get dressed, eat their dinner, go to the bath etc etc because they are distracted by the television.

- the extra productive knitting & sewing time once the kids are in bed

- realising that a few empty boxes can entertain my children for hours while a $2.00 packet of balloons can keep them happy for days - tonight we are going to start our grass heads which should be lots of fun as well!

- not being pestered for lunch at fast food restaurants or a trip to the shops because they just *have* to have the latest toy, gadget, gizzmo or whatever they have seen being advertised on television. I'm not naieve and am sure this will start again next week when Izaak goes back to school but I feel like I've removed at least one source of this pressure.

- the state of our house - because of all the extra crafting/baking/playing the house seems to be in a constant state of organised, chaotic mess. One of our neighbours has the perfect door mat for us though - 'If a messy house is a happy house - this place is delirious!'

In other news we are heading off in the morning to enjoy a long weekend at the wombeyan caves and we're all looking forward to having a final hoorah before the reality and routine of school and uni starts again!

Have you travelled around much? I'm seriously thinking about taking off next year - buying a kombi, taking the kids out of school and just travelling around our big brown land for 12 months before settling down. I'd love to hear your adventure tales!!

Some sewing....

2009-01-19T18:26:00.000-08:00

Do you ever start at a favourite blog, click on a link to somthing else where a pattern/idea/piccie takes your fancy so you click on it, then something else pops up and soon you have no idea how you got to where you are? Well that very thing happened to me and I found myself at rostitchery's blog. A few of my friends are glamming it up these days and I've found myself thinking about more than just jeans and t-shirts everyday so my interest was pinched by her infinity dress - multiple ways of tying it, forgiving for tummies and hips, cool, comfy and most of all I had the perfect olive green fabric in the stash that doesn't ever need ironing - perfect! So I set to work...

I love that you can get so many different 'looks' from what is essentially a circle skirt with 2 straps attached. Amazing! I wore it out yesterday and did feel quite lovely, especially when a complete stranger came up to me in the supermarket and commentd on my dress! I think I will make it again but attach a boob tube thingie/bit for more coverage but for a first attempt, and with cheap stash fabric I'm rather happy with it. Thanks to my sister too who agreed to model for me!

I'm also super keen to have a crack at her little people dress for Charlotte as well as an origami skirt for myself. I do have lots of fabric in the stash so am planning on getting going once school goes back for the mister.