Green thumb for me, Red nose for the little one!

Today was Charlotte's first day back at daycare after 2 weeks away - 1 week when she was sick and the second week when we were away so she was apprehensive but excited at seeing her friends. I dropped her off at 10am - 11:15 her family daycarer rang to tell me that Charlotte had fallen off the step at the back of the house and landed on her face, was bleeding and very upset. I went to pick her up and once she settled down and I got a good look at her I couldn't help but giggle - check out the splat marks on the forehead and nose and yet she's still smiling.

Visiting my grandma has also inspired me to try and get some greenery into my life again. In the past my gardening skills have swung between really great and horrific but I've always wanted a lemon tree and haven't ever had one so today Izaak and I went for a look at Bunnings. I found a lovely little tree and a few other things too. I'd love to be able to grow what we eat at least some of the time although it is really hard because I literally have nowhere to garden and I rent so I want to be able to take things with me when I go. Late last year I found a display in a shop that was closing down that I thought would make a good hat/coat/bag stand but which really wasn't suitable but is just perfect for hanging pots. Hanging pots, I've decided, are going to be my best friends - they'll allow me to have plants but I can take them with me and no chance of Stuart being able to eat things he shouldn't because they'll be up off the ground.

So I've now got my wonderful lemon tree, broccoli, strawberries, lettuce, carrots, parsley and Izaaks choice - sunflowers - in pots. Nanna is doubtful as to how some of these will cope in pots but we'll just wander along and see what happens. If anyone out there is a successful, experienced pot-grower (ie growing things in pots, not marijuana thanks ;-)) I'd love to hear what works/doesn't. The kids of course had a ball helping out with the planting as well...

WOOOOHHHHOOOOO

Just wanted to quickly share....

The placements for clinical sites is out and I am doing my prac at.....

PAEDIATRICS

I'm so excited - orientation is in 2 weeks. I put paeds as my 1st preference but wasn't at all confident at getting it because a large number of students put it as their top choice. I'm so glad! Wish me luck!

Hooray! Home again!

It is SO good to be home - it was great to see my grandma but it's equally lovely to walk back into my own home, although that wasn't without drama. I locked myself out when I left last week so I rang the real estate agent and told them my parents would come and pick up the keys so I would be able to get in when I got back after hours tonight. So dad went in this morning only to be told that they don't have the keys so in the end he called a locksmith and got them to re-key the door, got inside and saw the inspection report (which was performed while I was away!) so they obviously have the bloody keys! GGGGGRRRRR - I'm unimpressed with them about the inspection too but have emailed them and will see what happens next week.

The kids had a great time at my grandma's and there was much activity in the garden. It's one of my big guilt areas as their mum. I would love for them to have space to run and play like they did at the house but situations and circumstances change and we had to move here. I like it because it forces us to go out and do things but I do have the guilts about the lack of outdoor spaces for the kids. Anyway, they had a great time in nanna's garden climbing trees ( I adore this photo - he was off in his own little world and was having a great time there - the look on his face is pure happiness hence why I love it...

Then they had to hide from everyone and thought it was hilarious that no-one could see them from the house with such a good hiding spot...

And finally some hopscotch because Charlotte has finally mastered getting 2 feet off the ground at once (I was SO excited for her because it's something she's been frustrated by for a while now) and Izaak had a great time writing the numbers on the squares...

SUPER excited about tomorrow - the creative fibre day is on tomorrow and I'm looking forward to getting some more yarn. I've got a project in mind so hoping that I can find just the right thing for it. I'd love to get my hands on some more Waratah Fibres yarn that I used recently for my mums beanie, it's lovely to knit with and the colours are beautiful.

On the knitting front Helena is coming along nicely and although it is the right length according to the pattern I think it looks a bit unbalanced so I'm going to do another lace repeat and see what happens. This is the KAL for July over at Woolaholics and one of the other members is actually using the same yarn in the same colourway as me. I really like her buttons so fingers crossed I'll be able to find some to suit. She's also further along than me so I have been able to pick up some hints/tips from her which is the nice thing about KALs. This pic is a few days old and only has 2 repeats of the lace on it - she now has 6 on there...

Oh and I wanted to share these too.... Does anyone else remember The Wishing Chair ?- it was a set of books that were my favourite when I was little and my parents found the stories on tape which were played nightly for many, many years. I found the tapes recently and played them for Izaak who seems to adore the stories as much as I did/do. We were at Spotlight in Tamworth when he spotted this little chair which, according to him, is the perfect match for the wishing chair. We went home and had to draw Peter & Molly (the children who find/get/use the chair), Chinky the pixie and a few other bits and pieces. He spent about 2 hours getting it all set up the way he wanted and occupied himself with it for ages!

And finally 2 piccies of the little lady who seems to be having a massive developmental growth period lately and is really my little girl, not toddler, now adays. She is growing up far too quickly for my liking and has such a temper on her (no idea where she gets that from! lol!). It's been a rough ride for Charlotte and I but we're having many more good days than bad now and I'm feeling really positively that things are moving forward for all of us.

Some holiday thoughts

The connection here is pretty shoddy so I can't get any piccie's to upload. To be honest, it hasn't been as relaxing as I would have liked. The kids have been fantastic although Izaak's behaviour today has been less than fantastic, he had had alot of changes to routine/environment over the past week or so. Charlotte is her usual charming self and hiding her sly little antagonistic behaviours but there has been hop-scotching, tree climbing and drawing going on. I am finding it hard as well as the 82 years are starting to show on my wonderful grandma. I love her to bits and contemplating a day when I can't sit in a recliner next to the fire and her knitting away while chatting together is breaking my heart. She is fit and healthy and for 82, doing really well but the thought is still there that we never know how long we've got. She has also lost alot of friends over the past 2-3 years which is hard for her as well. We've done a bit of shopping, cooking and organising the house a bit better so that her internal, spiral, staircase won't be so much of an issue.

On the knitting front I have been going hell for leather on Helena and since Sunday have gone from the cast on to almost 3 repeats through the lace section and hope to finish the lace before I head home. I have had some gauge issues though and so it is considerably longer than the pattern but I've decided it will be in a good - cool - jacket sort of way.

I've got a lovely forest green kid mohair that I had planned as a capelet but the yarn just isn't working with the pattern so back to the drawing board for that one. My aunt was recently visiting and wore my clapotis for an evening out on the town with my mum and loved it so today I've cast on a clappy for her in a Panda yarn called Lily which is a polyester/alpaca/acrylic blend which is quite nice to knit and the colours are coming out nicely. Set-up section done so far.

I think the wee ones and I will head home over this weekend - I'd love to be home for the fibre day at the old bus depot markets on Sunday and just feel like it's time for us to come home.

Some FOs

After a few disasters there have been some good things churning out of the basket in the past few days. Firstly is a beanie for my mum - she is a preschool teacher so this will be good for playground duty when it's freezing! Dead easy (read - boring!) pattern but she is happy with it and the little tassels can be tied together to give a more traditional beanie shape. She is at work so the beanie model was asked for a nice piccie and I got this first....

and then this....
I've also finished of the finished the fingerless gloves for a swap that I'm participating in. Again, asked for a nice photo I got one of feet...


then hands....

So these are the completed works for the week - not much but something at least!
My aunt and uncle arrive this afternoon so we'll be having a celebratory or commiseratory (is that even a word??) dinner as results are released at 3pm today and then tomorrow the kids and I will be heading up to Tamworth to visit family.

SUCCESS - on many fronts...

Fan-bloody-tastic day today!
Called and booked the EEG that the doctors want Charlotte to have because of her seizures and they can fit us in right when the doctor wanted it done so that was great.
I also called the ENT surgeon - we're now going to see him on the 22nd of July. I'm hoping that soon after that she will be scheduled for the surgery but of course all this depends on finances. I can't afford private health cover and the public waiting list is over 18 months and she is a relatively high category because of the sleep apnoea so I'm not keen on waiting that long. Luckily I have amazing parents and a wonderful grandmother who has offered to help pay for her to have the surgery privately. It's when the little people are sick that I really feel the pinch of single parenting. Watching your 2 year old daughter have a seizure is awful but having no-one there to back me up or just watch her for a while so I can have a break/go to the toilet/get a drink/food is frustrating and tiring. This isn't how it was suppose to be. Enough of the whinging.
I finished my Aussie Swap today which is another WIP off the list now ;-)
I still can't get the gauge right for Helena so I cast on a beanie for mum that she's been waiting for since the OBDM yarn day and have got about a third of it done ;-)

The little people and I are heading off on Friday to my grandma's for a break. I need one. Desperately.

So much yarn, needles, fabric, patterns & WIPs will be packed and hopefully I'll get some 'work' done while I'm down there and hopefully it won't be as cold down there as it is here. Yesterday the BOM had the apparent temp at -3.3 at 11:00am - just a wee bit chilly! Nan has a wood fire so we'll be going with a bag of marshmallows to toast - yummo!

Ever had one of 'those' evenings?

Where you end up so frustrated that nothing gets done?

After the events of recent days and unwell little people I decided last night that I needed a few hours of ME time after the munchkins went to bed so I sat down to work on V2 of Mrs Toone's clappy. Did the set-up rows & first repeat of the straight rows before I realise I've made the same bloody mistake again! Frog it and re-ball the Noro (which, by the way, I think is going to be the most perfect colourway for her!)
So, I then cast-on for the other fingerless glove for a swap. Stuff that up twice, frog it back to the cast on, got it right but forgot to do the cable. Frog back to re-balling as well. I started Helena a while ago but I'd put one of the YO's in the wrong place and it was right in the front so I frogged that back and reballed it as well.
By this point I was seriously annoyed and had decided last night was NOT the night for knitting so I've balled everything back up and packed it all away.

Woolaholics is running a KAL (knit a long) with Helena so I will cast that on again tonight with the new Knitpicks needles (they are delicious by the way! I'm really impressed with them!). I'm taking the small people to Kid City tomorrow so I might get an hour or two of good knitting in while they tear around and wear themselves out - that's the plan anyway!
Oh and I cast on and finished the other glove during the day today without making a single mistake!