the second stitch

G is for Gardening

2012-01-16T21:11:00.000+10:00

OK, I have put a couple of things I would like to get a bit of a handle on, back on the agenda. Things which have been on and off (and on and off) the agenda a lot over the past few years. Gardening and knitting. The knitting is just too traumatic to talk about tonight so I'm just going to go with gardening. Completely easy for some, not so much for others. Like me. I think the main problem is that I simply have not had the attention span or the memory, over the past few years, to make gardening a success. (I have to water them? Really?) But I don't ever like to give up completely, for ever and ever, so I'm having another shot at it. I started off with a store bought little green house thing to raise the seeds, and used the seeds I've been storing in my fridge for, ah, way too long. In fact I thought maybe they would just be too old, but they're going OK so far. Early days though. (oh, and for the completely clueless like myself, my seeds went from seeds to what you see below in about 4-5 days)

Ruby is my little gardening helper (and Clary, when he feels like it). Of course I could have, and will in future, bypassed purchasing things to raise the seeds in and just made it up myself like this lady here who has done a fantastic job making a mini greenhouse with toilet rolls and some plastic (and cardboard) packaging.

Now, bare in mind that I have been a lazy, half-assed gardener for many years so some of the pictures you are about to see maybe a little disturbing for some, but I'm just using them to show you other ways we have been able to incorporate the upcycling of goods in to our gardening ;) The crates below were found at our local dump and make perfect little garden boxes (yes, I am one of those people who sometimes goes away from the dump with rubbish).

Do me a favour and just ignore the sticks and weeds I am growing in the next picture and focus on the fact that those huge olive oil containers are actually quite ok for popping a plant into.

Galvinised buckets also can look good. Would probably look better if it was overflowing with flowers but, hey, baby steps people.

Got an old suitcase lying around, it can be broken, worn out, or just plain old and ugly? Get some flowers blooming in it and it'll be looking a whole lot cuter.

And if you're like me and have a bit of a habit of picking up kitchy ornaments when you're browsing the op shops, despite having absolutely nowhere to put them in your house? Stick those babies in the garden!! My super gaudy little gold deer just loves it out amongst the blooms :)

And, while we're on the subject of plants and seedlings I have to share this, which I found while googling for........I'm not sure now, something or other related to seedlings, I guess.

These are cupcakes!!! The cupcake toppers (the seedlings) come from an Etsy seller by the name of mimcafe Union and you can check her store out here. How good do they look?!

Meet Me at Mike's

2012-01-11T00:00:00.003+10:00

Hey, hey, was just snooping around my blog stats and that there below was my 200th post. So is anyone still reading? Leave me some love between now and next Monday (16th January), I have an as-new copy of Meet Me at Mike's to give away!! (it's a very cute book with simple little craft projects)

And it's entirely possible I actually have NO READERS at this point so leave me a comment, you may be the only one, lol, and the book could be yours!!

Isn't is enough that I'm posting? Do I have to think up a title too?

2012-01-10T23:48:00.000+10:00

I guess you wouldn't know it by looking at this sad and unloved blog, but I really do miss blogging. I simply have not have the time or the energy in the last few months. But I've missed it. Thought of it often. Have just struggled to actually get here in front of the computer and bang out a post. A couple of nights ago I sat down to draft out a post on a subject very dear to me.........but I just couldn't make it happen. I was swamped by my own thoughts and the words just didn't match up. So I scrapped it. I wanted to shout out my love for a book titled 'Simplicity Parenting' but honestly found it hard to do the whole concept justice. All I can say is that if you struggle with the stuff that can bog down our kids lives (toys, activites etc), do yourself a favour and get your hands on this book. I got it about 12 months ago, I love it. It echoed back to me a lot of my own thoughts, re-enforcing them and making me feel like a bit less of a weirdo for thinking the way I do. Our children do not need 50 000 Barbies, they do not need to be palmed off with electronic media and they do not need to have activites scheduled for every day of the week. Our kids need us. They need our time and attention. I'm not saying my kids don't have any toys, nor am I saying they never see the televison, they do. In short, simplicity in almost everything is best: that is the message in this book and I wholeheartedly recommend it to any parent who is feeling overwhelmed by 'stuff'. (you can check it out on Amazon here). And if you're feeling overwhelmed by blogs with more pictures than words probably best you check out now. Because it's been a few months since my last post so I'm easing back into it. Just pictures and a bit of this and that. And how embarassing that after my rant about 'too many toys', my first picture is all "Hey, look at my kids new toys!" Go ahead, make fun of me. It's OK. I had been wanting Waldorf dolls for the kids for years, but kept putting it off, for one reason or another. Then I came across Debs' gorgeous dolls on Etsy and I bit the bullet and ordered two. They are wonderful and the kids love them. Surprisingly, Clary REALLY loves his (he's called Boo Boo, Rubys' is called......Ruby), carts him most places and changes his clothes day and night. It's the cutest thing ever. I love them and I'm so glad I waited until I found Deb, the dolls are superbly made.

And then, just like that.......Gift Wrapping Season was declared Open. My favourite time of year.

I spent a night using my little envelope template to whip up some cute envelopes using old book/comic/magazine/map pages. Some have been used, some on standby.

Got lucky in the op shop one day and scored this old Singer for FREE. The lady said she couldn't charge me as they didn't know if it worked or not. Well, it works. Yay. Not that I actually needed another sewing machine, but if mine packs it in now I have a spare :)

What the heck. Wrapped more gifts.

Salvaged what I could from a couple of completely-busted-up-by-the-time-I-got-home-from-the-shops packets of Arnotts Royale biscuits to make some cute little puddings.

Here are some instructions on the Arnotts website, I used red Skittles instead of jaffas and chopped up green Snake lollies for the leaves.

We had a go at gingerbread houses (from a kit 'cause sometimes I'm lazy). What do you know, apparently our gingerbread men live in the ghetto. Cracked windows, bullet holes and all. These things taste like crap by the way, but they're fun to make.

I decided to make some fruitcakes and, unknowingly, chose a recipe with an insane amount of fruit in it. So the fruit I bought and macerated in Cointreau for two weeks to make three cakes turned out to be enough for six cakes.

Over the holidays we managed to hit quite a few op shops where Clary stocked up on books. (no, he can't read, he just likes books)

Spent lots of days at the beach. Discovered body boarding, so much fun and must be good for you because we were so sore afterwards!

Attempted cards which lasted as long as Clarys' interest in it. It was a great one minute game.

Overall 2011 was good to us and I'm hoping 2012 is going to be even better. Cheers.

we've been chilling out

2011-09-28T21:42:00.000+10:00

We've been waaay out west on holidays, visiting family.

The kids had fun mucking around in my old car, which is parked up in Grandmas' backyard awaiting restoration.

Lazing on the river bank while big people fished.

Searching the bush for echidnas, while the big people fished.

Had campfires. Big people still fishing.

Falling down in bars crying.

I'm kidding, this was on a walk down the street. He had HAD ENOUGH. This bench and chairs are on the outside of the pub. I did have to ring for his father to come and pick him up and give him a lift home though. The little legs just couldn't take any more walking.

the 30 minute TapeMeasure Cuff

2011-08-18T13:08:00.003+10:00

I have been admiring a lot of cuffs I have been seeing lately on Etsy, but funds are limited so I decided to try my hand at making one myself. It's pretty rustic, but really, just fine I think.

And it only took 30 minutes from start to finish. Win.

The hardest part of the whole thing was actually trying to photograph this on my arm. Really.

I just cut two pieces of ticking fabric (I think that's what it's called, feel free to correct me on that one) and a piece of felt the same size which I sandwiched in the middle for a bit of thickness. I have an abundance of tape measures (pretty sure you could call it an actual 'collection'), so I chopped one up for this project.

When I started out I planned to use some hat elastic for the loop to secure the button, as I thought I had oodles of that stuff stashed away somewhere. I didn't. So I used one of Rubys' hairbands. Ended up not fitting quite as tightly as I would have liked, but it's secure anyway.

Here it is in all it's wonky glory.

Small town. Australia.

2011-08-18T10:54:00.004+10:00

oh my goodness, it's been a while. I'm trying to find a rhythm with everything. So that my days can be calm and organised, with time for all of the things I love. Clearly I'm not there yet. But I have to believe I'm getting closer.

our Day. today.

2011-07-23T19:48:00.001+10:00

Our day. Via the iphone. I'd call it an iphone documentary of our day, but really, we were on a quest for vacuum cleaner filters which we never found and these pictures don't really cover that.

So, just pictures we took on the way.

Because we all know the journey is absolutely just as important as the destination ;)

Vintage Paper Pattern Give Away

2011-07-22T22:32:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post to see if any of you out there would be interested in some old paper patterns (free!).

These have got to go and if I can't give them away here on the blog they will be making their way to the op shop :(

I love them all and don't really want to part with them..........but I've made a commitment to make my 'work' space actually workable, and that means culling, culling and keep on culling until I have a space I can actually work in.

I have loads I want to get stuck into (photography, sewing and other) but my cluttered space is holding me back. I'm on a mission to clear it.

I have around 50 vintage paper patterns that have got to go. I haven't checked each and every pattern, some of the envelopes are torn, and some of the patterns MAY not be complete. Or they may all be completely all there, I have no idea.

I have childrens' patterns, dolls' clothes patterns, maternity patterns, all sorts.

Anyone interested?

2011-07-12T21:29:00.002+10:00

Ok, just between you, my lovely readers, and me (seriously, don't tell my husband), I've succumbed to the lure of the op-shops, yet again, recently. I try to remain under a self-imposed ban from visiting op-shops most of the time, as I really do just go nuts buying stuff that I just do not need (and do not have space for). Which is exactly what I have to share with you here. Stuff I just had to have despite the fact the I did not need one single one of these items. But they're cute. All so cute.

Like this little lamb-with-a-cart vase. I almost walked out without it. Almost. So close. I knew I didn't need it. But I just pictured it up on a shelf looking all cute with *something* in it. I still don't know exactly what yet. But when I figure that out I just know it's going to be perfect ;)
And this gorgeous vintage outfit for a little boy. A little boy way smaller than MY little boy? Well, my sister just had a little boy, so I'd say in about two years I might be able to talk her into popping this on him, just for the day even. Yep, that'll make this purchase totally worth hanging on to for two years.

I won't even pretend that I considered leaving this gorgeous girl in yellow behind even for a second. I love her! Her hands and feet, the little kitty, with those jammies.......she was always going to be coming home with me. Just have to decide where to put her. Probably Rubys' room, I'm thinking.

But try as I might even I can't think of a way to justify the purchase of a set of very old Salt and Pepper shakers topped with little monkeys. Maybe you can help me. Oh, they were twenty cents, so it's not like I'm blowing huge sums of money on this stuff.

Do you not love them too?

Dolly

2011-07-09T22:14:00.000+10:00

So I had planned to blog a little more of the past couple of weeks, but I didn't. I've just been enjoying the holidays. Although we haven't done most of the things I originally had planned, we've still kept ourselves busy. There are only two more days until school goes back, we're heading to the movies tomorrow, and will be doing things at home on Monday. The weather has been pretty chilly so I have had to improve my fire starting skills in order to keep us from freezing. Anyway, on with this post. About dolls. Paper dolls actually, which I'll get to in a minute. I am a doll person. Ever since I was a little girl I have loved dolls. Even when I was about 12 and no other 12 year old girl was still playing with dolls..........I was.

Even now I still have a few stashed around me, inspiring me and keeping me company.

Like Strawberry Shortcake here. She's looking a little dishevelled here as I'd knocked her off the shelf just before I took this picture and didn't tidy her hair up ;)*all of these pictures taken with my iphone hence the dodgy quality*

While I have a good appreciation for the quirky Blythe doll, my budget does not..............so I settle for one, ahem, Blythe for Littlest Pet Shop. She does me just fine :)

And lastly I have these ugliest-dolls-you-have-ever-seen-I-just-had-to-have-them. I got these a few years ago, I have no idea what possessed me to buy them but I really am quite fond of them.

Which kind of sort of brings me to this which was something I had planned for the holidays but we haven't done, so I will save it for the next holidays. Paper dolls. Like this one below which is from the Friends Around the World paper doll collection.

This is her 'Australian' outfit. I wonder if Bindi Irwin knows about this. Maybe Bindi copied HER?

These little ladies are the Gingham Girls, I love 'em.

I especially love their gorgeous outfits, very 'Anne of Green Gables' I think.

Betsy McCall, from the 50's and 60's.

And how could you NOT love these two below??

If you want to see more and download and print some for your little ones (or yourself), I found all of these (plus more) here at Teri's Paper Doll scans.

Bow & Arrow

2011-06-26T21:56:00.002+10:00

Yesterday we took to the yard with some home-made bows and arrows. I had wanted to organise some stuff for the kids to do over the holidays and while searching the web for ideas I came across some clever mums who had made bows and arrows for their kids. The first one I found, here had crafted up some bows using the bamboo stick thingies you use to stake things up in the garden. Yay, I thought, I have some of those already, too easy. But when I tested my bamboo for bendiness, they just snapped. Poo.

Then I found this here where they had used pvc piping to make their arrows. Again I thought, too easy, I'll just get some pipe at the hardware store. Ah, no, I won't. They don't have any. Of course. So I hunted around the hardware store until I found something else. What I found and used was very thin, lightweight dowling (dowl? dowling? is that even how you spell it?) You know the stuff I mean, don't you? Anyway I got the thinest stuff they had, and this is how ours turned out.

What I did was use a little hack saw to make small notches at each end.

I used string which I knotted at each end and slipped into the notches to hold it in place. Does this make sense? I pulled the string tight and curved the dowling up as I put the second end on so the end result was as above in the first picture (with Clary holding it). After a bit of a play I added the foam and strapped around it with electrical tape, this gave them something to hang on to, as well as a guide of where their arrow should rest. Arrows were made using the same dowling, just cut in lengths and a small notch (shallower than the ones on the bow) cut in the end for the arrow to rest on the string with.
Hmmm, don't know if this is all making sense, I should have taken more pictures.

Anyway, then it was just a case of getting your bow and arrow, lining up your mums head (Ruby below), and you're away!

I can tell you right now that Ruby loved it and Clary had pretty much no interest what so ever in this little activity. But I think Clarys' lack of interest came partly from the fact that he found it a little hard to do it.
Even with Ruby it took her a while to get the hang of it.
The next two pictures show how she was holding the arrow at first, it took her a while to get out of that, and hold it a little less awkwardly.

It was fun though! Ruby loved it, insisted on a minimal amount of clothing and no shoes because 'that's what the Indians do' (it's winter here, remember, we had a blazing fire going INSIDE the house).
This picture below is Rubes in her 'Indian' pose. It was very serious.

Happy Indian.

Not So Happy Indian.

I'm hoping to be able to share some more holiday activities with you over the next couple of weeks.

cheers

Holiday Books (journals, diaries, whatever)

2011-06-25T21:21:00.001+10:00

A little while back I splurged on a little book binder and went to work turning old books into notebooks, journals, doodlebooks which I have been listing over in my Etsy shop.

It is THE perfect way to combine my love of old books with my enduring stationary obsession. Love them.

The ones shown here are filled with fairly lightweight blank paper and although I've been experimenting with heavier, higher quality papers I actually find the lighter weight paper to be really quite a good fit for these (in my humble opinion), surprisingly.
The thicker/heavier paper of a higher quality means you fit less pages into each book.
I'm still experimenting and test-running, it's quite interesting putting these together.

For now though, it's school holidays here, with the kids home for two weeks so I decided I would make Ruby her own little spiral bound book to fill during the holidays. She loves to draw and write and scribble, loves pencils and paper, so I thought this would be great for her, and she loves it.

I used a pretty old book which was in very un-loved shape with biro marks on the cover. It was otherwise pretty much at the end of its' lovely life.
I filled it with an absolute mish-mash of paper goods.
Bits of scrapbooking paper, cardstock scraps,

one of these cool colour-it-in type maps (which I found on Etsy)

airmail envelopes, vintage postcards, anything at all. It's quite rough as you can see above. I punched the holes quite late last night, I was pretty tired..............on some pieces I hadn't got the holes quite right so I just chopped off the bits of pages that didn't fit. Yeah. I was pretty tired.

I also put in some stories which have come from other books I've turned into journals. They're short but complete stories, being just a few pages long, so perfect for this.
And as soon as Clary saw Rubys' book he had to have one too.
I kept his much the same as Rubys'.

More envelopes, cardstock, vintage postcards to scribble on, he had a map in his also although it can't be seen in these pictures.

A story for Clary also, and he insisted on some acetate sheet music, just like Rubys'.
For both of these books I've put an assortment of stuff in the first half and then pretty much just plain paper in the second half (maybe the odd thing mixed in here and there, but pretty well just plain), for them to draw, write, scribble or whatever takes their fancy.

Not obvious in this picture, but he was happy with his book :)

I can't wait to see what they do with their books.

What are you up to on the holidays?

Upcycled Tunic

2011-06-23T20:11:00.000+10:00

I am kind of mad for knit sewing at the moment, having discovered that it is quite simply, not scary at all. Why did I think it would be scary? I have no idea.

Armed with this fabulous pattern from Lil Blue Boo I hit the local op shop and turned six old shirts into this awesome tunic!

I didn't get a picture of the shirts before I hacked them up but what I used was

FRONT: top piece is cut from a long sleeved shirt from Target (I have some of the same shirts which I layer with in winter and I find the quality to be pretty good)

bottom two pieces came from boys shirts

BACK: top piece is cut from a top from Millers (if you're not from Australia, Millers is the place to shop if you couldn't care less what you look like when you get older)

bottom pieces are from a mens shirt (green) and a womens shirt from Colorado (the store, not the US state)

Again, I got all of them from the op shop.

The only 'new' parts of this tunic are the ribbing which is used around the neck and armholes.

I really love it, it's super comfy, can't wait to wear it in summer.

I used the small pattern size though, and will use the medium next time.

For my next project I remembered just in the nick of time to take a 'before' picture. Actually, as you can see, I had just chopped the arm off this jersey when I thought to take my 'before' shot, lol.

I got this jersey at the same time, same shop that I got all the shirts for the tunic.
It's a boys rugby jersey, I'd say about a size 10, and I've got a size 2 dress out of it.
The jersey is pretty old and I love the worn out look of the '17'

Not quite finished, as you can see, but I'm pretty happy with it, I think it's pretty cute.

The jersey wasn't quite big enough on it's own so I just attacked another shirt and patchworked them together.

I don't have an overlocker (serger) and found my trusty old sewing machine did just fine, all it needed was a ball needle, that's it. Of course it would be much neater it you had an overlocker but it's not actually a necessity :)

Lemon Meringue Pie

2011-06-13T21:21:00.001+10:00

I have been flat out busy the last few weeks, with different things and unfortunately, photographing none of it. I've been baking and sewing and, in a very conscious effort to be more mindful and 'present' I haven't been picking up the camera to document it. Which doesn't work for the poor old blog, I'm working on finding a nice balance.

But I couldn't resist picking up the camera for this today.

I was given a huge amount of lemons, mandarins and oranges a couple of weeks ago. More than we ever could possibly consume. I've given loads away but still I had lemons just sitting there.

So I thought I'd give Lemon Meringue Pie a go.

I used this recipe (except I used a store bought pie shell), but I must've done something wrong (no idea what), because the lemon part of the pie didn't set properly.

It's completely edible and it tastes great, but it just wasn't firm. It kind of had to be scooped out of the dish :(

But like I said, it still *tasted* good, so not a total write off (not by my standards anyway, lol)

So now I'm on a mission to try again and make it perfect.

If there are any lemon meringue pie experts out there................call me ;)

Project ReStyle 2

2011-05-10T19:47:00.003+10:00

So I fell off the Project ReStyle bandwagon, ah, after my first project. Although I think I've probably been reStyling things, I just haven't been documenting them.

But I'm going to claim this one as my second project and hopefully more will follow. Although sadly, as with my first project, I neglected to take a before shot.

Seeing as this dress was previously an old cot blanket though, I don't think it's too much of a stretch for you to imagine that.

I love the colour of this blanket.

I used mismatched vintage buttons, a doiley, and just a little scrap of trim to decorate.

It's a size 2, but the beauty of this most awesome style pinni is that a size 2 is perfect for a two to three year old as a dress, and still scrapes in OK as a top on a 6 year old.

I wanted to keep the original tag from the blanket so I removed it before I started and re-attatched it when I was finished.

I quite like it and have another blanket so think I might make a couple more.

2011-05-02T14:42:00.001+10:00

I made this dress this morning and have been unsure if I should show it on the blog. It's clearly a copy of a popular design. I have not made it to sell, it's for personal use of course. Just quietly I don't think anyone is going to see me as a threat, lol. But if you know different on this issue please do let me know.

It's made from a mix of new and recycled fabric. The light weight denim up top is new, all the rest is either thrifted fabric (the apron part, and straps), recycled clothing (the main skirt part was cut from a thrifted womens skirt) or old sheets (the bottom strip on the skirt).

The hardest part was definitely getting the gathers even-ish, and pinning that into the top. Fiddly, very, very fiddly.

I'm planning on making some pants to match, but as I let my entire house turn into a pigsty while making this, I don't know when I will get them done.

Little People Style I Love

2011-05-01T21:35:00.003+10:00

Although my kids pretty much refuse to wear anything I make for them anymore, I still have my dreams. For six years now I have fought hard in the battle to keep licensed clothing off my children, and I think I've done as well as, realistically, I could in that one. Ruby has one Dora dress and a pair of Tinker Bell pj's (both gifts). I can live with that. If she is ever gifted, say, some Bratz clothing or anything which announces to the world that "I'm a Princess" or anything similar I'm afraid those items will mysteriously disappear fairly quickly.

In a perfect world, these pictures below are how I would be dressing my children.

I adore this dress, and the shoes are just too delightful. I don't even know how to describe how I feel about those shoes, they're killing me. (from here)

I am loving the buttons on this, and the perfection of teaming it with brown tights and boots.

Brown cape with cap and knickerbockers? So simple, so sweet.

(here)

If only I had tried harder at getting my kids to love wearing hats even when not needed, just because they look so good, perhaps I would be able to pop one of these beauties on Ruby :)

(here)

I am a big fan of aprons or apron style dresses for little girls, so this is right up my alley. (found this one on Bellinipics)

I have chosen a lot of brown, and otherwise considered to be 'drab' by many, colours here, so I'll break it up with some red. A boys shirts all styled up for a little girl. Looks relatively easy, as well as looking great! Love the belt.

There is a tutorial to show you how to do this yourself over at Blue Bird Lucy's.

I think what I love most about this doiley-detail dress is that it is actually made from a wool blanket! I have a gorgeous blue woolen blanket lying around that I am tempted to cut into to make somethng like this myself, what do you think?

I found this on a Wardrobe ReFashion Blog

When I was going through images I had stored away to do this post I realised I had all girls clothes, nothing for boys. So I went looking for some boy stuff. And I couldn't find anything. At all. All the little boys stuff I found seemed to be geared towards an "I'm a budding Rockstar" kind of a theme. No thanks.

Then I found this PERFECT girls outfit (below) at Anais and found that they had boys stuff also.

Looking at these I know I am incredibly boring when it comes to colour, for my kids as well as myself. I have a wardrobe full of grey and navy. Must get more adventurous.

And kids underwear, do not even get me going on this subject. (seriously, I've been toying with the idea of making my own, especially since I found this) but I don't think I'll ever get there.

These, though, are just spot on.

(found here)

Although white jocks for Clary right now probable wouldn't be the best way to go (I do enough Napisan-ing already I think)

Sushi

2011-04-30T19:20:00.002+10:00

Are you familiar with these contraptions? I got this a couple of months ago and it's been pretty good so I thought I'd give it a little plug.

It's a Sushezi Sushi Maker, I got mine at Robins Kitchen. Basically it's just a device which you pop your sushi rice and filling into, compress, and then you push out it out straight onto your nori sheet.

Sounds like something you shouldn't need any kind of device to be able to do, doesn't it? Except I am exceptionally crap at making sushi rolls without it. Without it my sushi rolls are misshapen, deformed messes, barely resembling the shape of a roll at all.

But using this, much better.

I made these this afternoon, they're in the fridge ready for lunch tomorrow.

My sushi usually involves left over chicken (as above) or tinned tuna, with carrot, cucumber or avocado. Whatever is in the fridge, generally.

Therefore I will not be showing my kids the likes of this.

Not even sure what's in that, to be honest.

And while this is not sushi I have to share it with you because it is so stinkin' cute.

A Little Bit Royal

2011-04-29T12:21:00.008+10:00

Ok, so apparently not everyone is interested in the Royal Wedding, but it is TODAY and in honour of that, I bring you some crowns. (I neither love nor hate the royals but I will be watching the wedding and I do love me a crown)

Oh my lord, there sure are an awful lot of crowns out there, something to please everyone I think.

Simple ones such as this little lovely found here.

This feathers-and-butterflies-within-a-crown crown I have seen quite a lot on the net, so much so I have no idea of the original source.

One of my favourites, I think, is this book-ish crown from here

This one which I call the 'chicken wire and glitter' crown by the super talented Pam Garrison. Would love to make one of these one day. One day.

Oh dear, everytime I go to describe the next crown I find myself saying 'ooh, ooh, this is one of my favourites'. Can they all be my favourite?

Of course Etsy provides some of the very best in handmade crowns.

Such as these next two from sweetvioletjane.

A little more Regal from Kiss the Groom.

Completely perfect, completely simple, and completely accessible to the masses. In yellow. I love. (found here)

After breakfast here this morning we went all hoighty-toighty (I'd ask you if I spelt that right but I don't think they are actual words) and made some crowns of our own.

Ruby's features intricate drawings (done with Crayola Twistables) of the Palace, the Royal carriage, and Royal horses. She wore it to school.

Clary's features some very regal and posh scribbling (again, Crayola twistables, nothing but the best). He took his to kindy.

Mine (modelled by Ruby) is a dunny roll featuring cheap and nasty glitter as my precious pot of lovely vintage glass glitter is currently nowhere to be found. Actually I was surprised at how good that cheap glitter looked.

I'm not wearing it but I just might be thinking about popping it on for the rest of the day after this post.

*I totally want to scream and rant and rave because all of these pictures are so much nicer than they look here. Blogger is doing my head in*

Smile Sewing

2011-04-28T20:14:00.003+10:00

OK, I have managed one more sewing project for my self, here it is. Again, from one of my beloved Japanese sewing books 'Smile Sewing' (how cute is that!)

I chose this pinni/apron type dress because it's a style I love and it looked like it wouldn't be too hard.

Just a quiet word on the quality of these pictures. Yeah, it's terrible, I know. I am trying to work it so that my pictures can be bigger, but in bringing you bigger pictures I have completely lost the quality. So I am going to keep on researching this annoying issue, if you can bare with me. And if you have any tips on this, I'd love to hear them.

I used fabric I already had for this, some stuff I had picked up at the op shop. I'm not sure if it's linen or some kind of blend but when I saw these photos.............ewwww, it wrinkles up nice and good!!! (this dress had been ironed prior to wearing this morning.

I really love it, although sadly it's already got stains on it (chainsaw oil, don't ask).

The top from my previous post - stained also (splattering oil while making salmon patties on Good Friday).

I really must wear my apron more often.

Sewing for me.

2011-04-19T21:23:00.003+10:00

Super quick post as I am right in the middle of unpacking and re-packing right now. Travelled yesterday so Clary could have his full cast put on today. He is being very good with his arm, it does not seem to be bothering him much at all (it certainly has not slowed him down!!).

So, to help me deal with my grief over the fact that my children will no longer wear clothes which I have made them, I've decided to start making for myself.

I'm sticking with my Japanese sewing books and really loving them.

As I am not a super seamstress in any way, I picked something very simple, this top here.

I used a grey linen (I think it may have been a linen blend, actually), nice and simple.

My workmanship is pretty poor but I seriously could not care less in this case. I love it. It is super comfortable, my new favourite top.

My self portraits suck, but this is it, on.

I think the kids were up to no good when I took this one.

I have plans for more 'me' sewing, as soon as I can.

Un-Fun Times

2011-04-14T21:21:00.001+10:00

So just a word of caution which I am very sad to bring you following yesterdays post in which I was saying, in a nutshell, "I want to simplify my life so I can spend more time enjoying my family because they are so precious."

When you go to give your children some extra quality time and attention, choose your activities wisely or you might end up like us, spending the day at the hospital.

Yes. He has a broken arm. We were on the trampoline and had a bit of a collision. I landed on top of his arm.

We spent from 8.30 this morning until 3.30 this afternoon in and out of the hospital (in and out because they were super busy and we had long waits between being seen).

I've always thought it pretty amazing that he hasn't had any broken bones before now. I've NEVER thought that if there was a broken bone incident that it would be because of me!!

He has just a backslab/splint on there and we have to wait now for an appointment at the Fracture Clinic at a hospital which is about two and a half hours away, for a full cast to be put on. Just crap.

He is being a real trooper but absolutely hates that splint and I don't know how it's going to go. Will have a cast on for four weeks :(

I feel so awful.
P.S. If your were utterly dismayed at my sad Easter Bonnet in yesterdays post I'll just let you know that I did add a couple of little paper pom poms to it and perk it up a little more.........I still have a little way to go with letting go on this stuff. Ruby wore it proudly and Clary proudly wore his old Akubra with some cheap shop chicks hot glue gunned to the brim.

Keeping it Simple

2011-04-12T22:04:00.003+10:00

Today everything had to be simple, it had to be easy, it had to be enjoyable.
I am focusing on slowing myself down, simplifying EVERYTHING. I think I will do a whole separate post on this as I think the rewards for simplifying and slowing are going to be amazing.

For today.... just that, today. This is how we kept it simple, today.

In honour of simplicity all of todays pictures are from my phone (Retro Camera app for Droid)

So tomorrow is Easter Bonnet Parade day for Ruby. The old me would have searched and searched for the World's Greatest Easter Bonnet Ideas and be up until midnight tonight creating something that no-one but me would have the appropriate amount of appreciation for ;)

With my new way of thinking ticking over in my head, I grabbed a vintage hat, made some mini paper bunting, wacked it around the brim, and secured some little scary-eyed little chicky's in a basket.

And then I started to plan the rest of the hat.

And then I stopped.

And printed off a tag that said Happy Easter, and slotted that into the ribbon.

And I walked away.

It was hard to do that.

The manic part of me wants to change my mind and go nuts on that thing. But the part of me, which is the whole of me, that loves my husband and my children knows that going nuts on the stuff that just doesn't matter has got to stop. Because I get overwhelmed and stressed out and then I really don't accomplish much at all.

Not that I'm saying that decorating an Easter Bonnet would stress me out, it's my attitude to these things (has to be perfect) and the fact that I put way to many things on the old To Do List.

No more.

(I just hope Ruby won't get all heartbroken when she's surrounded by kids in hats that are pimped out with Easter-y baubles from the $2 shop..........but she has seen the hat and she seemed to like it)

Tomorrow is also calling for treats to be shared at Playgroup in the morning and, again, treats to be shared in the afternoon at school after the Easter Bonnet Parade.

So, the old me takes off with "What will I make? Must make something special, something Easter-y, blah, blah, blah.

My new and improved way of thinking kicks in with 'PACKET MIXES GIRL!!! GET SOME PACKET MIXES AND DO NOT GIVE THIS ONE MORE THOUGHT!!!!"

Done.
One Rasberry Swirl cake for school, and one batch of Vanilla fairycakes for playgroup.
I would show you a picture of those fairycakes (cupcakes) but blogger has reverted and is not letting me show more than 5 pictures per post.
And if I showed you the fairycakes then I wouldn't be able to show you this little cowboy who is one of the very reasons for all my gung-ho on the simplicity campaign.

Less time stressing over Easter Bonnets means more time to play Cowboys and Farmers (I don't think he's aware of that Cowboys and Indians game other kids play, lol).

Blog: Ugly.

2011-04-01T14:22:00.000+10:00

Just a note on the current state of my blog,I thought I was going to have it looking all whiz-bang-pretty by now............but apparently not :(
I waited so long before choosing someone to design my blog for me, initiated the process months ago and now? E-mails are no longer being returned so looks like I made a bad decision. Poo.
So for now, I'll be leaving it as is until I have some kind of light bulb moment on what to do.
In other news we thought our chooks had stopped laying but then we found this under the wheel barrow yesterday.

Lucky we found that because my husband was throwing around talk of chopping their heads off :O

And of course, I would never let that happen!!

Bath Painting

2011-04-01T13:54:00.002+10:00

I just want to share this little bath time activity which is really quite simple, but loads of fun for the kids. This picture was taken with my phone so........you get what you get :)

Shaving cream. Food colouring. Muffin tray (I bought a 12 cup silicone tray and cut it in half so my kids could have a 'palette' each). Paint brushes.

Serve it up and let them paint the walls from the bath tub.

As you can see I didn't have very many colours in my food colouring stash, must get some red/pink (hmmm, wonder why I don't have red food colouring in the house, weird)

And the amount of shaving cream I put in was HEAPS (way too much, really)

But they had fun.

And, of course, you just clean up with water and a cloth. Too easy.

Eye Spy Jars and other stuff

2011-03-23T21:29:00.003+10:00

I've been wagging the blog again, I know. My to-do list exploded and I became utterly over-whelmed, not only with the things I had to do but, in fact, more so with the things I *wanted* to do. Too much, too much. So I stepped away from everything for a while to try and clear my head.

I need to learn to slow down. I'm getting there.

My little big boy turned four just a few days ago and we had a little road trip up to Rockhampton where my husband was working, so we could all be together for Clarys' birthday. It's about a five hour trip, so not as bad as spending 12 hours in the car but still..............if the kids are unhappy the whole way 5 hours can be a very, very long time :(

I am always on the look out for new ways to entertain the kids in the car. When you travel the roads we do there's only so much 'I spy something with my little eye, starting with T' you can take (because IT'S A TREE, IT'S ALWAYS A TREE because there is nothing else to see). Actually Clary's only just graduated from the kind of 'I Spy' which goes like this

'I spy with my little eye something starting with..........five!!'

You cannot beat 'I Spy' with the little ones for some tricky stuff, that's for sure.

Anyway, these babies have probably been doing the rounds of blog-land for years but I have only just discovered them........Eye Spy Jars! Brilliant.

You fill are jar (or two) with rice and an assortment of little trinkets, shake the jar up and you're pretty much done. Before putting the little bits and bobs into the jars I placed them on white paper to photograph them printed the photos out (only just a little bit bigger than business card size), laminated them and then provided each child with a jar and matching card to see what they could find.

I did these at the last minute and didn't know if I would be able to find enough stuff to go in them but, ah, amazing how many little bits of 'stuff' I came up with by rummaging around (you'd be amazed what was in the bottom of my handbag). I popped a number 6 in for Ruby and a number 4 in the other for Clary, those two things came from my scrapbooking stash.

No I'm not going to tell you that it kept them entertained for hours and hours, but it did keep them busy for a little while. When I got a chance to have a go at them and the kids told me the things they hadn't been able to find.........it kept me quiet for a little while too :)

Even my husband was intrigued for a bit there.

Another last minute job was the train drivers' cap. I decided I would make Clary a train drivers' cap for his birthday after seeing a great tutorial/pattern here. I had only just a week or so before picked up some blue ticking fabric (very randomly, had no specific plans for it at the time in true 'second stitch' fashion) so I was all good to go.

I have never made a hat before and I was surprised at how well it came along.

I lined mine with calico.

But even as I was doing it........ I just knew........it was going to be too small. But I was pushed for time, no time for a re-do, so I just kept going hoping it might just be OK.

Uh uh. Too small. But I'm happy with the way it turned out and am going to make another one, a bigger one. Even though I don't actually think anyone else was excited as me over the train cap ;)

Get your skates on!

2011-02-17T20:09:00.001+10:00

Does anybody else remember these?

The skates that strap on to your shoes, they're adjustable in size?
I remember them so clearly. Cumbersome and awkward. We would skate around under our house for hours.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the way kids grow up today, compared to when we, their parents did.
We had just a few toys, if we were lucky.
Our kids have everything. Way too many toys.
Too much of EVERYTHING.

As a kid all of my clothing and shoes were second-hand or hand-me-downs.
My children have loads of second-hand clothes, but they have new clothes too.

As a kid, I was allowed to just be a kid.
I wish the same for my own children.

I want them to play and dream and be happy, without exposure to adult concepts, thoughts and worries, for as long as they possibly can. You would think that every parent would want this. But sometimes it seems that it's not much of a priority for some people.

Even looking through store catalogues sometimes, I get annoyed.
I see childrens clothing. But it's not. It's mini versions of adults clothing.
Why do people want their kids to dress like little adults?
I don't understand.
I love vintage childrens clothing because it could never be mistaken for something that might belong to a petite adult. 'Back then' there was clear definition between childrens clothing and adults clothing. Now, not so much.

Anyway, I'm rambling and I could go for hours with no direction, waffling on, and reaching no real conclusion.

Cut the waffle.

I found two pairs of these skates in the op-shop today and it made my soul happy.
Didn't know if my kids would feel the same but you know what? They do. They were so excited when I showed them to them, and had a blast mucking around when they got them on.

Score one for me in my battle to see kids being kids.

A Simple Scarf - from old sheets

2011-02-17T12:26:00.000+10:00

This is the easiest thing in the world to make, but still, it's cute, I think. I have oodles and oodles of old sheets in my fabric stash, this did not even make a dent on it.

Just grab a few different prints, cut out some squares and sew them together. This is backed with a piece of flannel sheet, a very well worn flannel sheet which makes it so super soft and snuggly.

That's it. It's simple and adds a bit of cute to your day.

It's not exactly scarf wearing weather here yet, so I was sweltering a little taking these pictures.

It will be perfect for autumn.

I have another one cut out and ready to sew up, I want to add a teeny little pocket to the end of it, just big enough to pop in a sprig of lavender so I can squish it up and enjoy the smell of lavender all day long.

Japanese Craft Books

2011-02-16T21:48:00.000+10:00

Like so many others I am a serious lover of Japanese Crafting books. I first became aware of their existence 5 or 6 years ago and I've been smitten ever since. Simple things, beautifully made.

Presented in the flawless, simplistic style that Japanese crafters seem to have running through their veins. I treated myself to a few books at the end of last year and I don't think I will tire of looking at them for a long time to come.

The way they showcase each piece just makes my heart go pitter patter (and the models are adorable too).

Look at these two, they are sweet enough to eat.

And this!!

I desperately want to make this cape and have been working on one for the last week or so, it is frustrating me no end. If you are not familiar with Japanese Crafting books, the instructions are entirely in Japanese (imagine! how strange?) and I do not read Japanese.

Just can't figure out how to attatch the hood to the cape, the pattern seems an odd shape. But I'm still working on it. Haven't given up. Yet.

I love yo-yo's (or Suffolk Puffs as my mum calls them), and would love to make one of the necklaces. So cute.

So much cuteness. I want to make all of them.

Please wait here.

2011-02-05T22:36:00.000+10:00

Please wait. I'll be back soon.

Bed Nooks

2011-01-21T22:16:00.000+10:00

I love little nooks, all kinds. Bed nooks, book nooks, brekkie nooks, any kind of nook at all. I don't really have any nooks in my home right now, apart from a couple of spots where I have pushed chairs into corners and declared those spots to be reading nooks.

But I'm always looking for inspiration both for the home we are in now, and the home(s) we may be in in the future. I hope one day to have bed nooks, reading nooks AND a breakfast nook. That would be dreamy.

For now I am loving this little blue bunk bed nook, ever so cute (picture found here).

This bunk bed nook with brilliant yellow curtains is just perfect. I have looked at a whole lot of nooks online and so many of them are 'design magazine perfect', which just isn't me, but I can imagine having something like the nooks above and below in my own home.

This reading nook (found here) is a converted cupboard.........AWESOME!!!

And this mishmashed up bed nook (image found here) with it's crocheted blanket and sigh-inducing quilt would be just the perfect spot to get comfy and read my favourite magazines.

I guess by the time I get my nooks we may even have some more pets so............why not....bunk beds for cats!!! I never would have thought of suitcases for cat beds (bunk beds at that), but the amazing LoveNostalgicWhimsy on Etsy did. She makes these to sell. Adorable.

What I (almost) Wore.

2011-01-21T15:32:00.000+10:00

A summer outfit for under $10. Easy peasy. This is my 'What I (almost) Wore' due to the fact that I had serious doubts over the length of that dress, and got changed, ha ha. But it certainly would have been a bargain basement outfit if it had been worn.

The dress came from Wayne's World. Yes......Wayne's World, the shop. For those of you who are not familiar with Wayne's World, it is a two dollar store. And yes, again, I shopped for fashion in a two dollar store. The dress was $5 and has previously only been worn over jeans, and after this brief trial in the privacy of my own home, will continue to be worn only over jeans. Way too short as a dress for someone who spends her days picking stuff up off the floor/ground.

The belt (I apoligize in advance for any horrific 80's/90's flashbacks any of you may suffer after seeing this) came from the op shop, I think it was about $1.
White sandals, also from the op shop, $2 I think (it was a while ago).
So that's a total of $8.
If only that dress (isn't that print cute) was just a smidge longer.

Day to day.

2011-01-20T21:05:00.001+10:00

This is what we have been doing a bit of in the past week or so. I have been starting my days with Green Smoothies, which really don't taste as bad as they look.

Really. I started having green smoothies a couple of months ago, for a couple of reasons. Mainly I had become even more tired than normal, to the point where I couldn't even exercise once a week. Completely wrecked, was the feeling. Also because I'm not very good at eating breakfast, and wasn't eating well in general. (I consume a huge amount of sugar, trying to cut back)

This smoothie is about two cups of water, two bananas, some mango (I got a tray of not-so-perfect mangos for next to nothing before Christmas and chopped them up and froze them), a couple of handfuls of spinach and rocket leaves, and a bit of protein powder thrown in as well.

Green smoothies aside I know that the best thing to make me feel better is to drink loads of water during the day and get plenty of sleep, two things I am still working on. I find it so hard to go to bed early as I have so much to do at night.

The sun is shining again but I have found the kids still at each other and seeming to forget that they have the ability to entertain themselves and don't need me to do it every minute of the day!!

So I have been packing up just the most basic of food and calling it a picnic, and heading to the park for a few hours each day. We have covered quite a few parks in our area doing this.

The 'picnic' usually consists of rice cakes, rye (or other) wraps, avocado, tinned tuna, cherry tomatos, and whatever fruit we have. Plus a thermos of water and green tea bags for me.

I have actually managed to read a page or two of a magazine or book doing this. Unheard of for many years, this 'reading' business.

Although one trip to the park did result in a foot injury for Ruby, and subsequent trip to the Doctor, antibiotics and three times a day foot soaking. But it's all good now, and fully enclosed shoes mandatory. Sorry kids.

We play, we explore, we soak up the sun, appreciate what we have, and rest (well, not so much on the resting)

And locals will wonder for days about the little boy with no face they saw at the park.

Just a Reminder

2011-01-18T21:10:00.002+10:00

Because sometimes we forget to just be ourselves.

Felting (beads)

2011-01-16T21:58:00.000+10:00

I have found an activity that is just perfect to do with kids on rainy days (I would say ages three and up but if you have younger ones that really love their crafty stuff, go for it!)

A little bit of a disclaimer here: I am not a huge fan of felted goods. I think it's the texture that puts me off.

I had seen the Felt-a-licious on-line workshop promoted on Emily Falconbridge's blog and thought it looked interesting, but not enough to sign up for it (with my aversion to felt and all, lol). Not long after I saw with gorgeous little felted play scene on Emily's blog and thought maybe I would give felting a go after all. I think this is so cute, I would play with it myself.

By that time the workshop was over but I was still able to sign up and have access to all the tutorials and videos that the workshop participants had.
I thought it would be something good to do with the kids, but I didn't have any immediate plans to tackle it (so many other things to do!).
And then the rain set in, and we spent a morning making felt beads (and also a little phone pouch which is as ugly as sin and I can't quite bring myself to photograph it)

We were wet felting, using wool tops (also called wool roving) which I didn't photograph before we started but you can see some here in Nicole Lawrence's Etsy shop (Nicole is a long time felter who ran the workshop with Emily).
We pulled our wool tops apart, dunked it into warm, soapy water, squeezed out the excess water and started rolling.

I have to say I think the whole process is pretty therapeutic.
Here is Ruby with one of her beads (a bit cracked but please don't bother us with the details).

She loved doing this. So while I don't love, love, love felted stuff, in general, I don't mind the beads and this is one of those things where, for me, it is the process of making them that is the best part (often I'm just chasing the end result).

Some of our beads which we will string together to make a little bracelet.

We have felted a couple of times since our first go (still just doing beads), and I have bought Ruby some wool tops (roving) of her very own which will be part of her birthday present in a couple of weeks.

P.S. My blog is getting a big make-over and I am super excited about that!!!

A Creative Space

2011-01-15T22:23:00.003+10:00

I am a little obsessed with creative spaces at the moment. Creative spaces to live in as well as those more specific creative spaces that we carry out whatever it is that we do, we make, we create.
Some people are lucky enough to have dedicated studios *sigh*
Others claim their creative space on the kitchen table, even the ironing board, permanently set up holding creative endevours waiting to be taken up when all the chores are done.
I'm know I'm not the only one claiming the spare room, declaring it to be the 'craft room' (although I do prefer to think of it as my little studio, however humble it is).
And what is a creative space to me, is the junk room to my husband.
For the purpose of this post I will refer to it simply as 'my room'.
My room is the spare bedroom, and I feel incredible lucky that we actually have one.
It has a double bed in it, the main purpose of which is to hide all the boxes of Christmas decorations, boxes of photos which are crying out to be sorted and housed in beautiful albums, and boxes of general paper crafting supplies.
It also has an old wardrobe which is home to all of my fabric, sewing notions and other bits and bobs.
My room also has a very old style computer desk on which I have my trusty printer, as well as shoes box sized boxes of gift wrapping goodies, and other odds and bods.
Then there is my desk where I have my laptop and external hard-drive (will be needing another one soon), and a very impressive collection of clutter. Stuff piles up on the desk very quickly.
My sewing machine actually lives under the desk and boots the laptop off when it's time for it to be used (which it won't be until it is fixed after my son 'fixed' it for me).
The double bed mentioned above, is also a great place to put things while they wait to be dealt with properly.
And the whole room in generally is the spot where my husband will open the door and throw in anything he doesn't want to have to look at in the rest of the house.
any of this sounding familiar?
I dream of the day when I have a room which is well organised, really wonderful to look at, and just generally inviting.
I have plans for having lots of storage space.
Especially for all the little things. I have a lot of those.
A wall like this (found at Making it Lovely blog here) would be so lovely, wouldn't it?

That wall of shelves makes me swoon. A little bit of pretty like this here from Danielle Thompson who does 'pretty' very, very well.

I love this idea of a little sewing nook like this, all neatly packed into a cupboard that can be closed up when you're done (my husband would love that too......all. out. of. sight.)
Image from Heather Ross.

But I think this is my dream, this really does take my breath away. I am in awe of this little studio, it's an absolute delight. It belongs to Jenny B Harris of the Allsorts blog.

So completely wonderful, and giving me loads of ideas.

Turning my face to the sun.

2011-01-14T20:31:00.001+10:00

My heart remains heavy and my mind fairly hazey. So todays offering is a short and sweet 'What I Wore'

I wore a skirt-from-a-tea-towel which I got on sale from this talented Etsy lovely last year.
NB: op shop = thrift store.
Witchery top which I got from the op shop a couple of years ago. Necklace, I think my sister gave it to me and I think she got it from an op shop. I love this necklace, I also have a white one, and I always feel a little bit Betty Rubble (the Flintstones) when I wear them.

Well, I had no shoes on so that's it for what I wore. Rather amazing that it's not a picture of me in jeans or shorts because that's what I wear 99% of the time.

Really the person who should be doing 'What I wore' in this house is my son.

He has regular outfit changes and is quite particular about his clothes. And he loves to accessorise with bags (shoes, not so much), his favourite one being this pink duck bag which he is sporting in the picture below.

Queensland Flood Appeal

2011-01-13T20:17:00.002+10:00

I cannot overthink this post and cannot put down too many words. The sadness is overwhelming me. Flood devastation is all around us. It's estimated that approximately 75% of my state has been affected by flooding in the last few weeks.

Many lives have been lost, thousands of homes, and who know how many have lost their livelihoods. Crops have been wiped out, shops have been wiped out. And so many more of us feel useless, what can we do? Australia is lucky enough to have an army of willing and trained volunteers, the SES, who are working day and night doing a million different things, to help others.
When a small flash flood came through our little town last Friday night the SES sandbagged until three in the morning. And that's the very least of it.
So many towns have flooded. Gympie, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Emerald, Alpha, Condamine, Theodore, and so many more.
And then Toowoomba, Grantham, Withcott and just the entire Lockyer Valley really, which I can't even bare to say any more about. This video shows parked cars being washed away, nothing else, but gives you an idea of how fast the water did come up.
Had trouble embedding the video so here is a link

And now Brisbane. And talk of possible cyclones up North. It's all too much.

I have listed these canvases for sale in my Etsy shop and 100% of the sale proceeds will go directly to the Premiers Disaster Relief Appeal.

Canvases aside, please consider giving a direct donation if you are able to do so.

If you cannot spare money simply spare your thoughts. For those who are gone, those who have lost loved ones, and those who are working tirelessly hoping to see an end to this onslaught of tragedy.

And believe that tomorrow will be a brighter day.

oh Lula, where are you?

2011-01-07T21:19:00.001+10:00

I love magazines. Really love them. I crave them. A magazine fresh from the newsagency shelf, all pristine and smooth, just waiting to be read........this is one of my favourite things.

It's a long time love which started when I was in high school. Dolly, anyone?

Dolly was the teenage girls bible when I was at school. I was completely devoted. I can even remember the cover of the first one I ever bought. I would read each issue over and over. Dolly has stood the test of time (that is the current issue in the image above), but I think the girls that read it now are a lot younger than I was when I was reading.

I moved on to Cleo, Cosmo and a bunch of weekly gossip mags. I was ever so sophisticated, lol.
The huge selection of magazines on the shelves these days makes my heart sing. There really is a magazine for just about any interest/topic you can think of (there is actually a magazine called 'Bacon Busters" - it's aimed at pig shooters)

While there is everything you could possible want or need to read, learn or look at, available online, not to mention the environmental issues involved with printing and distribution of actual magazines.............I just cannot go past them.

These are the mags that make my top 4 these days.

Frankie is an Australian magazine, and it's a very good one. A bit of art, a bit of craft, some fashion, and well written articles, what's not to love.

Although, quite frankly Frankie, I do find your covers a little boring. They just all look the same to me. I feel a bit bad saying that because she is otherwise a top mag.
Another local mag which is totally worth looking forward to each month, is Peppermint. In her own words Peppermint is "vintage organic recycled fair trade sustainable fresh. green. fashion." It's beautiful to look at, the feel of her recycled paper is luscious, and it's always got interesting things to read.

Boho is an American mag and, to me, very similar to Peppermint. I really should make a choice between the two of them, rather than buying both.

But the last of my top 4 eludes me right now. Lula. She is dreamy, whimsical, and oh so pretty. She is not on the shelf of every newsagency so I was quite surprised to discover her on the shelf of my local newsagency. I found her at issue 8 and then had the pleasure of issues 9 & 10 as well. But issue 11? Nowhere to be found. My newsagent told me she was due to arrive last October (yes, three months ago!!), but she hasn't and they were none the wiser at to what Lula is up to.

If there's anyone who knows where I can get my grubby little hands on the elusive issue 11, I would LOVE to hear from you. Or if anyone can actually get their hands on a copy and would to do a little magazine swap with me, I would be very interested in that too. I have found out I can actually subscribe to Lula from Australia now and I think that would be an awesome birthday present for me to give myself, but it would still leave me without the current issue. Can anyone help this magazine junkie curb her Lula craving?

Project Restyle

2010-12-28T11:28:00.005+10:00

I have just signed on for Project Restyle, a fabulous idea from Elsie and Rachel of Red Velvet Art.
The idea is basically (in my words): make new stuff from old stuff that may otherwise be destined for the dump.
I feel like I live this every day, trying to save old things, give them new uses. But I think it's a fabulous project to promote and can't wait to see what everyone else has done. It will be inspiring.

This is something I did a couple of months ago, but I think it fits in with Project Restyle perfectly.
My upcycled lampshade was something I'd been wanting to do for a while. It has been sitting there on my list of 'things-I-am-aching-to-do-just-as-soon-as-I-can-find-the-time'
I found a couple of lamshades in an op shop one day and snapped them up with exactly this project in mind. I still thought it was a long way off from actually getting done, but not long after I had a day where the kids where kind-of-sort-of behaving and kind-of-sort-of driving me crazy at the same time........and I just started it.

It was so much fun to make. I didn't really have anything specific in mind, I just started. I ripped up some fabric and started wrapping. And then I started adding.

Just adding little bits and pieces, anything that took my fancy. I really love the end result and I plan on making more of these. Very therapeautic to just make something. Anything at all.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T22:26:00.003+10:00

Wishing everyone a beautiful Christmas. Stay safe. Enjoy the company of your loved ones.

And if you will be at an extended family gathering................I hope that everyone behaves themselves ;)

Testing

2010-12-23T22:11:00.003+10:00

Hi-de-ho, just a little test post as I have, well obviously been absent from my own blog, but also had trouble getting in to my own blog lately. Blogger you banned me from my blog? I did not know you could do that. My punishment for abandonment I guess?
But I found my way in, I'm back. Is anyone still here with me? After months of nothing, I guess not.

Two more sleeps until Christmas, the gifts are wrapped. Some beautifully and some not. I won't share the ugly ones with you, lol.

For much of my gift wrapping I utilized a roll of childrens drawing paper (originally from Ikea, but found by me in an op-shop a long time ago).
For this teachers gift I photocopied a very old map of our local area onto some card and also photocopied an old envelope I have hoarded from when I was a teenager with international penpals. I reduced the size by 50% and covered the part where my address was with a shipping tag (prior to the copying). I used a dymo labeller to put the recipients name on. A bit of hessian (op-shop), a bit of fabric, and a little peg from a $2 shop and there you have it. I think it's a bit cute.

This sweet little paper rosette is made from a page from an old childrens book (the book was already ripped so I didn't feel bad about that), added a button and attatched it to a piece of fabric. Again, my beloved shipping tags.

This one is as simple as it gets but, in my humble opinion, still looks good ;)
A paper doiley, stamped. Add a bit more hessian and some string, you're done.

I love, love, love wrapping presents.
If anyone's still out there don't be scared to let me know. Say hello.
:)
Merry Christmas all.

The Apple Cozy you didn't know you Need to Have

2010-08-24T21:25:00.002+10:00

That's right. It's a cozy. For your apple.

How. Cute. Is. This?
I found this adorable pattern from this lovely lady on Etsy, but as I can't actually crochet I, ahem, had my Mum whip up a couple for me. Love them. I think they are perfect for leaving on a teacher's desk, don't you?

Just links for t-shirt bags

2010-08-02T17:14:00.004+10:00

As promised, a couple of links to some t-shirt bag making tutorials :)
This one is great (a 10 year old boy has started his own business making t-shirt bags!)
And, of course, Martha wouldn't be missing out on this either ;)
Let me know if you make some, and what you use them for!

T-shirt bags

2010-08-02T13:04:00.005+10:00

Hey hey, welcome to our first trial of making t-shirt bags. We just did these the moring and straight away it's obvious that the 'design' needs tweaking. There are heaps of on-line tutorials for making these and I think they are a great idea.
You just start with an old t-shirt, I raided my husbands drawers, he has plenty of shirts that don't fit him anymore.

Just a few simple cuts like this. You're taking off the sleeves and cutting a bigger neck hole. T-shirt fabric being what it is, you don't need to hem any of these cuts. Too easy.

Then all that's left to do is turn it inside out and stitch across the bottom of the shirt, closing up your bag!
I think my main problem was that the shirts I used were a little big? The fabric is so stretchy that you couldn't really be loading these up with anything heavy the way I have done them...........the bottom of your bag would just hit the floor!!
I will try these again with a smaller shirt I think.
(just click on these pictures to see them bigger)

On the plus side they do sit very nicely up on your shoulder.

So that's making a bag from a t-shirt in a nutshell, will pop back with some links to some tutorials for this later.

Chore Charts

2010-07-16T19:18:00.002+10:00

I probably don't need to tell you that I am not a naturally organised person, neat and tidy, with fabulous time management skills. No. My blog (un)maintenance probably speaks for itself. Going in to the third term of school most mornings still consist of me running around barking things like "Hurry up, go, go go!" "Move fast or we're going to be late"
It's happened more than once that my kids leave the house without having had their hair brushed (actually that's most days for Clary), and even (gasp) with unbrushed teeth. Disgusting, I know.
So in an effort to try and sort the lot of us out I have made the kids little charts for their rooms, reminding them what needs to be done. You could hardly call them chore charts because we are really tackling the BASIC basics here. Like make your bed and brush your hair, lol.

I would have liked these to have been made from fabric with little pockets for the cards, but once I decided to make these I just wanted them DONE. So I did them the fastest way I could.

I got photo frames from Big W, framed some scrap booking paper then put the hooks onto the actual glass (Command Adhesive hooks).
I had photographed the kids doing their little jobs and made them into little cards and laminated them.

Once they've done whatever it is the card tells them to they can just flip the card over to show that the job is done.

I have made them one each for the super easy mainly-in-the-morning jobs, which is in each of their rooms. I am making another joint one which will go in the living area which will have other things on it, such as feed the chooks, set the table etc.

Will probably be one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time but really doesn't change anything, I'll let you know how we go.

2010-07-15T21:21:00.002+10:00

I've fallen behind with the blog again, I know. Plenty to blog about, not enough time to do it, blah, blah, blah.
Anyway thought I would do a quick, although somewhat lame with completely no planning to it, post before I go to bed. I have just quickly taken these pictures with my little point and shoot to go with this so they're not too spectacular.
This first one shows, in addition to the mess of my house, the globe I just couldn't let go of when it broke from it's stand. A pretty cheap globe so I wasn't too surprised that it didn't survive my kids, but I couldn't fix it back to the stand and just couldn't think of anything else to do with it so I strung it up with a ribbon and it has it's new home up there with our hula hoops.

The top of that cuboard is not normally so cluttered (I mean it does have a lot of stuff on it, just not that much, lol), but it has some frames waiting to go up on the walls. I framed a strip of photobooth pics from our wedding, some of Ruby's art work and also a 'Second' ribbon awarded to Ruby in the school cross country. (as Ruby is one of only two girls in her age group for sports at school she will be lucky enough to always score a First or Second ribbon in sports events, lol. So far she has three 'Second' ribbons)
Also in the picture above you can see over on the right, on the wall down below the tutu which hangs from the curtain rod (hmmm, just typing that out makes me think that maybe I could do with some help from an interior decorator), the calendar I made for the kids.

It hangs low enough so that the kids can change it each day. It's a baking tin hanging on a ribbon, with magnetic dates, days and months, easy to change. I just printed everything out, mounted them on cardstock, laminated them and added self adhesive magnets to the back. I know it's very plain but it's practical and functional and that's what I wanted. With my never ending to-do list I really pick and choose now, what tasks I'm going to spend my time prettying up. Ugh, so boring I am. I already had the magnets which I've had for ages but I used them all up and would love to get some more so if anyone can tell me where I can get my hands on some that would be great. It came in sheets which could be cut to any size, peel off the backing paper, and you're done.

The other thing I'm on the hunt for is dishes that are both freezer AND oven proof. Cooking most of the time for myself and two kids that don't eat huge amounts I ALWAYS have loads of left overs. So I'm putting portions in the freezer to give to my mum, and occassionally my neighbour. As neither of these two own microwaves I need to be able to put the food into something that can, preferably, go from the freezer to the oven.

At the moment I'm using these things but I don't like them because they are disposable crap and I need another option.
Can Pyrex go in the freezer? Anyone got some other brilliant freezer-to-ovenware they can let me know about?

Cauliflower soup - success!!

2010-06-14T19:33:00.002+10:00

So I took my huge cauliflower this morning, and turned that baby into soup. I was really feeling at the start like it was going to be a huge waste of time (like most of my cooking efforts), but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved it! Yummo. Still couldn't convince the kids, although Ruby did have *some*.

If anyone else is tempted to give it a go, I'll share the recipe (for readers in Australia, the recipe is in the Donna Hay mag that's on the shelves right now)

Creamy Cauliflower Soup
25g butter
1 brown onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped (I used minced garlic, heaps of it)
3 sprigs thyme (I used dried thyme)
1 bay leaf
1 and a half heads cauliflower (1.5kg), chopped (I just used my monster cauli)
500g sebago potato, peeled and chopped (I'm not up there with my potato varieties, so I just used what I had, unwashed spuds, 4 med/big ones. probably too much, I don't know, but it turned out fine)
3 cups (750ml) chicken stock
2 cups (500ml) milk
half a cup (125ml) of cream (I omitted this altogether as my cream was off, ewww)
salt and pepper to season

Melt the butter in saucepan over low heat. Add onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf and cook for 5-8 minutes or until onion has softened. (you need a huge saucepan for this, btw) Add the cauliflower, potato, stock and milk, increase heat to medium and cook for 25-30 minutes or until cauliflower and potato are tender.
When I put the cauliflower and potato into the pot I just didn't get it because there was such a huge amount of veges for such a small amount of liquid. It was looking like this.

I put the lid on and figured the veges would start to steam cook but they didn't. think I just didn't have the heat high enough so I turned it up and ta-da, the liquid bubbled up and veges mushed on down.
This picture is a bit foggy because my lens got a bit steamed up.
At this point it was smelling GOOD. Very good.

So then you just take it off the heat and whizz it up with your stick/hand-held/whatever you want to call it blender.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve it up in baby sized bowls for the little people who probably won't eat it anyway, despite the fact that it is very yummy.

Serve up a big dish (with toast) for yourself, and then you still have plenty left for lunch tomorrow, some to take to your Mum, and some for the freezer.

2010-06-13T20:30:00.002+10:00

Just a little picture of our little guinea pig. Clary had named him Lightning McQueen (Ruby named hers Fragile, lol).

Despite the fact that today started with me digging a hole to bury poor little Lightning in, we've had a better day today. We went to some local markets this morning, then to a birthday party this afternoon. The kind of party with fairy bread, fairy floss (straight out of the fairy floss machine, how cool is that?), pass the parcel, and tons of lollies. We smothered the sadness with sugar.

I got a cauliflower the size of a small car while at the markets, planning to make some soup with it tomorrow. Will let you know how that goes.I eat loads of chicken soup through winter. Heaps. Lots. Figure I need to try something different. Probably destined for failure on this one as I'm not a huge fan of cauliflower, lol.
Also on my list tomorrow is to put some order into MY room. MY room is the spare room where all of my stuff I love to do is done. Photography, sewing, all of that. And that room needs some serious help. (needs to be way bigger for a start, but that's another story)

A giraffe bowling set?

2010-06-12T21:16:00.003+10:00

Yes. Really. I have started my Christmas shopping!

I have had the most foulest day ever with was topped off with the death of a guinea pig we have had for 10 days. Ruby is distraught and I'm not too far behind her. So I decided to veg on the computer and found the cutest little bowling sets for kids, on sale too!
Check them out here.

Nothing more from me tonight, I need to go to bed.

Clary

2010-06-01T21:29:00.002+10:00

Do you print your photos out and put them into albums? Playing around making this little mosaic is a huge reminder that I must do this!! I barely have one photo of Clary in an album.

I have *some* of Ruby's pictures in albums but not all, not by any stretch of the imagination. And the kids LOVE looking at the albums!!! I am surprised at how much they love doing this.
I put off doing it for so many reasons. One being that I want to find the perfect album, that won't cost me a bomb. Any recommendations??
Ruby's albums are cheap and nasty (Big W, slide in ones) and I want to replace those too.

2010-05-17T21:06:00.003+10:00

So, I think most people that know me well know that I dream of one day having a portrait photography business. To try and help fund my little venture I am trying my hand at selling some non-portait-y photo canvases in a local cafe. I hung five canvases last week and two have sold.
Tonight I have just ordered two more to fill those blank spots on the wall. This is one of them.It's one canvas, storybook style. Didn't really want that white space between the two but had didn't know how to get rid of it. What do you think?

2010-05-11T19:50:00.003+10:00

Gee, well some things just never change do they. I've been trying to load photos for this post for half an hour and blogger is being 'difficult'. I am going to go on regardless, in case I change my mind and can this now.
I am going to give you a very brief idea of what's been happening in my world since my last post. Very brief. I will gloss over lots of things and omit others altogether. And no, I 'm not omitting things because they are outrageously scandelous or anything exciting like that, I am omiting things that are tedious and boring. Although, no doubt, I will continue to include things that are tedious and boring.
I rely on your initiative to look at the stuff that interests you and ignore the rest.
OK?

Three weeks after my last post last year I lost my Dad to pancreatic cancer. I am not one of these people who writes beautifully and expresses themselves well with the written word, so I will not do him the disjustice of trying to say anything more about it here. I loved him very much and still some days when I think of him I 'forgot' that we no longer have him. It sucks. Plain and simple.

I have had to acknowledge that I am mum to two kids and will not be mum to three, four, or five children. That sucks also. Again I am not at all eloquent with words and won't try to be so. While I have constant reminders of how very lucky I am to have the children I have that doesn't actually take away the urge to slow down and grab things I do not, and will not, need as I cruise down the baby aisle in the supermarket. Nothing, if not utterly pathetic, really.

And that's all I have to say about the sad parts of life lately. I am not here to spread the misery, I am here to obliterate it.

On to the happy stuff.

My big girl turned 5 and started school. These two things happened within two days of each other. She learned to tolerate (oh, actually no she didn't tolerate it, scratch that) having her hair brushed properly and pulled up into little pigtails in order for me to indulge my love of hair ribbons on little girls. School was the perfect excuse. I told her she HAD TO have her hair done like that. School rules, I said. Yes, I'm quite sure there is a place in hell for mums like me, lol.

I turned into a mad woman, reigniting my passion for covering school books in brown paper and whatever else takes my fancy.

She had her first 'proper' party. The kind where you actually invite people who aren't related to you. It was still pretty small, we had it in our back yard. We decorated the Hills Hoist and had sack races and a pinata and one of those smash-it-up pinata cakes, do you know the ones I mean. It was fun.

I would show you pictures but Blogger just isn't coming to the party on that.

Clary turned three!!! I still can't believe it. He is hungry 24 hours a day, sneaky, and into everything, ALL THE TIME. So I guess, just another little boy, lol.

Oh, and I got married! Yay me. In fact got married so recently that I don't even have my photos yet to show you. Although I can give you a sneak peak over at the photographers blog here. Carsonhall Photography are Fiona and Bec and they are completely lovely.

We had the best day ever on our wedding day, it was fabulous. An on-a-budget, big fat country wedding. Fun. After eight years together and a seven year engagement I guess we just thought it was time, lol.

And in between all of that I continue to make big messes in my house, feed my magazine addiction and bake cakes and yummy bikkies to try and compensate for the fact that I am the worlds worst cook. Love to bake. Hate to cook.
And while this pav may look like a train wreck. It tasted divine.

And thank you Jody and Amber for your comments yesterday. Appreciated.

: )

2010-05-10T20:29:00.002+10:00

So if a man speaks his mind in a forest and no woman hears him, is he still wrong??
Oh, I am kidding people (although I still find that VERY funny), don't hate me. What I'm really wondering is, if I start posting again, will anyone actually be reading? Yes, it has been some time between posts. I think I am ready to blog again. Is anyone ready for the blah, blah, blah?

2009-08-03T20:36:00.002+10:00

Clary loves himself a little bit of ipod time. He is listening to 'She & Him' here. He loves popping in the little earpieces and wandering around. I do make sure it's turned right down and he doesn't have it long. Just long enough for a little fix.

And the big girl is turning in to a little bath diva I think. Like her Dad. He has a bath every day, up to three baths some days. For hours (if he's lucky), with either a book or Phantom comic, and snacks. And apparently Ruby's been taking notice. Yesterday morning she decided she absolutely had to have a bath. A very, very long bath which she cut short only when I told her that her little mate from next door was down at the fence calling out for her.

What a life.

Squeaky clean.

Hey hey

2009-07-27T21:30:00.003+10:00

I am quite embarassed at how long it has been since I last posted. I have been busy, really. There have been a few times when I have sat down to post but as more time went on it just felt awkward. Like when you ring a friend and it's been, ah, say 12 months since your last phone call. I mean, really, when there's been no legitiment excuse for letting it go that long? Except, that just 'things' popped up and stopped you. From ringing, or posting on your blog, or whatever it is that you just let go too long.
My sewing is pretty much non-existent. No time, no space. Frustrating. It's definitely still on my list of things I would like to be doing. But any spare time I do have (and I have none) I spend on photography. I feel very 'stuck' with my photography, like I'm just not moving with it anymore. Hilariously, given my track record here, I am contemplating starting a photography blog, LOL.

Anyway in other even more trivial matters, I am very much looking forward to Summer. We are quite lucky here as the weather really is pretty good at the moment. I even took to wearing my thongs (flip flops, whatever people) today and pretending that Summer is a lot closer than it actually is.
I am hoping that in a couple of months we might be able to head off for a week at the beach.
And I would love to be able to pack something like this. (Anthropologie)
Or this. (Pin Up Girl Clothing)

But let's face it, these are made for people with actual boobs. Which I don't have.
And, ooh ooh, I found this I would love for Ruby.

But more than likely I'll just be packing my trusty old black Speedos. And Ruby will take her pick of about five swimsuits she already has : )

And Clary? Well he won't give a rat's, he'll wear anything.

One of the other things we're doing is working on our little garden, getting ready for spring. We have silverbeet, brocolli (kind of), garlic chives and onion chives and plan on planting lettuce, zucchini, carrots, cucumber and, um, more, can't remember.

Not making any promises but hopefully it won't be five more weeks until my next post.

I can almost smell the Developer.

2009-06-15T19:52:00.004+10:00

I can still remember the first camera I ever had, it was pink and took 110 film. I can't remember the brand or model or anything but I can still see it in my head. It was like one of *these* (<- that is a link there, can never get my link words to look like links), but pink of course. I loved it and tried to take all kinds of fantastic pictures with it, I wish I knew where they all went. Although they were just all blurry-with-the-heads-chopped-off kind of pictures.

I took photography in high school and I can almost still smell the developing chemicals we used to use, mmmmmm. Loved it. Wish I could have that smell in a bottle.

I moved on to using my Dad's old SLR for a while, until it just didn't work anymore (although I still have it and hope I will be able to have it revived one day). Then I just fell back to point and shoot cameras until I remembered how much I love taking photographs. And by then things were turning digital, and so that's what I got.

But I've always wanted to have a film SLR again. Wasn't in a hurry, just something I wanted 'one day'

Yesterday I found one. I got this Minolta with three lenses and a funky carry case for $75!!!! Cannot wait to use it. I'm sure the results will be somewhat disappointing at first (it's been a while) but it will be fun!

And bugger blogger and it's crazy picture placement.

Blogging.

2009-06-11T19:56:00.002+10:00

I have been wondering if I can keep this blog up. My posts are getting further and further apart, and more 'nothing-ish' every time. I have a lot to say, but everything in my head spins around so fast, and more and more I just don't have the time to slow down, sort it out and get it out.
It's very frustrating. But I don't want to can this just yet. Want to get back to it. We'll see how I go.

So, as anyone who has kids would know, nothing is ever, ever the same after you have them. Grocery shopping, sleeping, holidays..............they will never be the same. Even making beds. Used to be that I would just strip a bed, get new sheets, make the bed.
Now I strip the bed, get the sheets, start making the bed, leave to check on my beeping washing machine which is threatening to back it in, then back in to the bedroom to this...........

What could it be??? Now I'm watching 'Ghost Whisperer' as I type this and I think maybe I have a ghost in my computer because I had another very cute picture of Clary playing in the sheets here...............it just disappeared. Hmmm.

So it takes a while to get new sheets on the beds these days with all the hide 'n' seek and peek-a-boo games.

Keeping with the theme of non-stop excitement, LOL, we now have chooks. Seven of them. Well, we kind of have them, because they came from our next door neighbour and they keep running away back to their old home. Ruby is monster excited, now calls herself a 'farmer' and spends a lot of time down in the chook pen 'cleaning', and having a blast spreading copious amounts of grain feed all over the yard. Clary just stands at the pen going 'book, book, book, book', it's very cute.

It's getting a bit chilly here. I have wasted a lot of kindling, fire starters and matches over the last few days, trying to get a decent fire going. I just don't have good fire starting skills unfortunately. Freezing.

Yesterday afternoon I thought I would have a go at getting some pictures of me with the kids. Not that I like having my own picture, but I hate the thought of not having pictures of all of us together.

As you can see Ruby really got in to it.

Not.

Clary wasn't much better. Look at that filthy little nose.

Such a cheeky devil.

So looks like I am destined to have any pictures which include me to be taken at arms length by me.

Will have to set the tripod up. And get a new remote for my camera. I had one but I think Clary's put it away for safe keeping somewhere.

On to lunch

2009-05-19T20:31:00.002+10:00

So we ended our visit to the library with free balloons (didn't I tell you the librarian is a gem) and Ruby informing her 'We are going to Jodys' shop for a special treat' (Jody lives across the road from us, she manages the cafe)
We ordered (our ham, cheese, and tomato toasted sandwiches and strawberry milshakes, very exotic, LOL), and then had to settle in and wait. Ruby periodically went up to the counter and called out 'Is my milkshake ready?' Suuuuuch a looong wait for her. But finally it came. Happy.

Clary, too, happy.

Little things can just make your whole day.

Like this.

And this. Although, honestly, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I found it. It's from a set of game pieces I got at the op shop, thought I might use them for scrapbooking or something. Was just flicking through them when I saw this, my mouth just fell open, I swear.

Oh dear.

I actually have more to say but it seems I just can't talk without pictures and blogger won't let me load anymore.

Multiple post??

2009-05-19T20:03:00.002+10:00

My posts are getting further and further apart, I know. I decided that I would set aside some time tonight to post and realised that, as blogger won't let me load more than five pictures at a time, I wouldn't be able to fit in all the photos that I wanted to. So I may do more than one post here, LOL.
It is raining here, second day of rain, seems to be setting in. It has been getting colder and I have been lighting the fire this last week. So toasty. The kids have been driving me a bit mad over the last few days. I have a bad toothache making me narky (well, narkier than normal) and I am making myself sick over it. I have the worst kind of dental phobia. It's been ten years since I saw a dentist. I think I need sedation to help me get there. I tried to ring for an appointment this afternoon (don't have one yet, the phone rang out, phew!) and just doing that..............I nearly passed out. Just ringing. Didn't even speak to anyone. Anyway. Enough of that.
So this morning, more rain, monster toothache..........what to do. Money is pretty tight here at the moment, as it is for lots of families. So I knew we really needed to stay home. But, ugh, really, look how bored my kids were So I took $20 out of the goldie jar (that's the jar you throw your gold coins in to whenever you remember to, for a rainy day, I'm sure you're familiar with it) and decided to treat us to lunch at the local cafe.
But first, to drag the outing out a bit further, we hit the library.

I love our little library. Even though I do get really envious when we go away and see ALL THE ACTIVITES they have going in the bigger libraries, ours is still pretty good.

You can draw pictures, colour in, do puzzles, read books, and take home books videos and DVDs'.

But the best part, that money just cannot buy, is that the librarian is soooo nice. She doesn't get cross when we take our books back late (which is every single time), doesn't frown when the kids are noisy, and not even when Clary pulls books off the shelves and throws them on the floor. Maybe she curses under her breath, or complains about us when we're gone, but she doesn't do it while we're there.

Can't beat that.

CWA Love

2009-05-08T21:50:00.002+10:00

I finally got a chance to sew some new pinnis' up today. None of these are finished, they all need to have buttons sewn on.
This one is my new favourite, I think. It's made from a CWA tea towel, the denim bits are cut from one of my old skirts, and it's backed with some thrifted fabric remnant. I'm going to get some red buttons for it, those whoppers on there were just for the photo. Ruby hates it.

This one I made from a thrifted skirt. Looks very wonky here but it's not. Really.

This one was formerly a table cloth, backed with thrifted remnants, again (they all were)

I lurrrve making new from old :)

She is.

2009-04-28T22:55:00.002+10:00

She is precious.
She is wee.
She is chilled out.

She smells all new.

She is loved.

She is the newest addition to my sisters' family
She is a little sister.

She is my new niece.
She is a new cousin for my own children.

She is 12 days old.

She is Gwendolen.

Showtime

2009-04-05T21:16:00.002+10:00

Sunday night already??? But I haven't done anything on my list!! My house is such a stinkin' mess.
But we had a good weekend. Went to Grandmas' (and Grandas') place. The local show was on and we all went. Spent a lot longer there than I thought we would. Pretty much the whole day.

Ugh, please excuse me while I change the TV chanel, there is a show about serial killers starting. Yuck.

OK, so we went to the show. It was very hot. I got burnt. I have bridesmaid duties in two weeks so I hope it's faded in time for that.

The kids (and I) had fairy floss, ice creams, and hot chips. So we had sugar, salt and fat covered anyway. Must catch up on vegetables.

We waited and waited and waited in the hot sun for the Grand Parade to start.

All worth it in the end, for Clary anyway, as he had a good spot to watch the feral utes pass.
He loved them.

And then he snuck himself a little go on a mini digger. There were three other boys on three other diggers/tractors as I took this picture. Little boys just love their wheels, don't they?

And this.

Scary, isn't he?

This morning we went to have photos taken at Kindy. Like many kindys' they had a photo fundraiser.

The photographer was super fast and cheesy but the photos will be lovely, and they will DEFINITELY be the kind of photos that all the grandparents and in-laws will LOVE. But it did re-inforce my love for a different style of photo. Those pictures of families, everyday, wearing their everyday clothes and just having fun. Naturally.

Oh my god, what is with Sunday night television, people are being killed on this chanel too!!! It's got to go off, I can't handle it.

The Usual Suspect

2009-03-31T20:43:00.002+10:00

I have a bit of a problem in my house, I have mentioned it on here before.
I have a kitchen critter. I bought another fridge lock today, to replace the last one which broke. The new one lasted about four hours.

Looks innocent, doesn't he? But he's sneaky...............sly................crafty like a fox.

If you have this kind of vermin in your house, you'll recognize his movements here.

He sneaks in quietly when he thinks no-one is watching. Sneak, sneak, sneak.

Gets that door open super fast.

And like a wild tiger, he's got what he wants (yogurt), and he's gone.

Yogurt???

Don't know what you're talking about.

The everyday.

2009-03-16T21:40:00.002+10:00

A couple of months ago we started a little vegie patch. We were a bit slack and didn't put a whole lot into it though. We used seedlings instead of seeds. We had a little patch that had been a garden at some point and just dug that up and popped our seedlings in. We've had zucchinis, tomatos, and today some eenie weenie baby carrots. The brocolli never had a chance. They're small but yummy.

Also, we've been doing some free wheeling. Ruby on the bike she got for her birthday. The bike I always wanted, really. With training wheels, a basket, and sparkly things hanging off the handle bars.

Ruby is choosing her own outfits more and more these days (I am very sad about this as it's one of my favourite things to do) and even though you can't see it very well in these pictures this outfit was quite hilarious when she first walked out in it. Those are pink socks with ribbons around the top, and they were pulled up, just about to her knees until she started riding.

I think I'm getting her standard 'NO PICTURES' in this photo below. Nothing's changed there. Hates the camera.

Unfortunately this morning the bike ride didn't last long before we got this.

A flat. Courtesy of a tack. Ruby was very, very, not HAPPY.

I love it.

2009-03-04T21:08:00.002+10:00

She, of course, does not love it. Excuse the less than stellar pictures but she wasn't moving to a better spot for anyone.
I love this skirt. It's made from some vintage fabric I have had for ages, waiting for the right thing to make. I was worried the fabric might be a bit delicate even though it doesn't look it, as there has been a couple of other times that I have used old, but sturdy looking, fabric and it has only lasted one wear before ripping. But she sat on the swing in this and kind of got caught up getting off and it didn't rip so I'm hoping it will be right.
The grey binding bit at the bottom I made from a sheet.

I really like it. If it fit me I would wear it.

Some days are just so much longer than others

2009-03-03T20:03:00.002+10:00

Like, for instance, the days that start at 4AM.
The days when the washing machine packs it in before 6AM.
And also floods the laundry.
And is only two and a half years old and we just spent $300 getting it fixed a couple of months ago (you may remember me hanging out at the laundromat)
The days when your kids just grizzle non stop all day.
And bicker.
And hit each other. Pull hair. And push each other over.
And all they want for breakfast is muesli.
And you have none.
And all they want for lunch is peanut butter sandwiches.
And you have it but, hey, how about a bit of variety people.
The kind of day when your toddler learns that that lock on the fridge is just no obstacle at all for him.
And you find this.
Said toddler with family sized block of Cadbury Fruit and Nut.
But at least I got a laugh out of the fact that, once busted, he apparently thought he could make himself invisible by hiding behind the foil he had ripped off the chocolate. (I think he has his fathers' brains)

If only I could show you what he looked like after I took it off him. Would've broken your heart.
So Ruby and I tried to chill out with some yoga.

Her form is much better than this, but she had been there for a while waiting for me to take the picture, LOL.

Yoga does make you feel so much better. I have been meaning to make more time for it............I'm still getting there.

Need it to relax and refresh my *self*

If you are cynical about yoga you should give it a little trial. You'll be surprised how much better you feel afterwards.

Beam me up Scotty

2009-02-25T22:15:00.003+10:00

I'm ready to leave Planet Sick, I've seen enough. Poor Ruby. It's been six days of sick. Sucks. She has been quite flat, sleeping a lot during the day, too tired and sick even for treats.

*I'm too tired for chippies Mum*

*I think I've watched enough cartoons, I'm tired*

What the??!!

This evening she too herself off to bed at 6pm. Well, my bed since she's sick and the man of the house is away. I like to have my babies close when they're sick.

We also like to make nests when sick. Usually on the couch. Although much to Rubys' disgust this particular nest became over-run with vermin (Clary)
Clary has zero sympathy for sick people. He thinks nothing of closing in on her when she is sleeping peacefully there on the couch, and planting a Tonka truck on her head. Or bashing her in the head with the bike tyre pump he found this afternoon. I think when she comes good he's gonna be in real big trouble. Better get your running shoes ready Clary.

While I was working in the kitchen yesterday I had to set up (two seperate) nests there too. These chairs are not normally at the end of my kitchen. Just a temporary hospital/observation bay, LOL.

I can't wait until she's up and running again because I'm really sick of wearing this medicine every time I try and get it into her.

Blah.

2009-02-22T22:07:00.003+10:00

My kids are generally pretty healthy, don't get sick very often, but Ruby has been down all weekend with an infected throat and ears. Blah. Poor little sausage. She went off to kindy on Friday morning complaining that she was tired and also upset as her 'best friend' wouldn't be there, she has gone home sick the day before.
Kindy rang mid-morning to say Ruby wasn't well, fallen asleep. When I got there to pick her up she was flat out snoring on the little couch, feet up on the arm rest.
With the exception on getting up for one toilet break and a couple of half wake-ups, incoherent mumblings then dropping off again, she slept from about 2 o'clock that afternoon until half past six the next morning. The whole time denying that she was sick, just saying that she was 'so tired'
A trip to the doctor revealed throat and ear infections. Hello antibiotics. Goodbye co-operative child.
Kids and medicine. They just don't go together.

I think she is praying for the antibiotics to just take themselves here.
She slept most of yesterday and through the night to this morning. A little better today but still having high temps, miserable, and just not herself.
But there is a little bit of her normal self starting to peek through.

She is funny. Sometimes when I am trying to take pictures of her she pulls silly faces and just generally acts ridiculous, and I'll say to her "Just act normal". Then she says "What's normal Mum, show me how to be normal" Ummm, asking the wrong person sorry darling.
She is currently snoring her little head off in my bed, vapourizer going (just because the smell of eucalyptus in that thing makes me feel better), and no doubt, recharging her little batteries for a big day tomorrow.

So I suck at blogging.

2009-02-19T21:00:00.004+10:00

There. The most accurate post title I have ever come up with. I like to blog but sometimes the days just come and go and come and go, without there being even one little opportunity to type out some mindless (in the case of my blog) observations of my day. And sometimes there is a lot going on but my head becomes so full of 'stuff' that it is impossible to get it all out and on to the keyboard in an orderly and appropriate fashion. If you know what I mean.
Maybe there are other muddle heads out there who will understand.

Anyway I have sewed a couple of things. Yes it's, ahem, that bloody dress again. But I just wanted to show it so you could see what can be done with old clothes that don't fit you anymore. You can make them into clothes for your kids. This was a denim skirt from Witchery, found at the op shop.....................didn't quite fit me though. Even though I held onto it for a while hoping that, oh I don't know, maybe I would shrink in the rain or something. But eventually I saw the writing on the wall and chopped it up, turned it into this Ah, yeah, that's Clary. He wasn't real happy about this but I managed to buy him off with a couple of crackers. It's just that he was the right size for this dress.

Ruby just scored the skirt made from an old sheet that looks like..........................ah, a skirt made from an old sheet.

It's a tad long but I figure that by this time next year it'll be the perfect fit.

Clary ended up with these pants, purple corduroy on one side and the other side cut from a thrifted skirt. Not everyones' cup of tea I guess, but I like them. Mr Secondstitch refers to them as the 'snazzy pants'

Perfect for mowing the lawn as it turns out.

oh, I know it looks like I must not have used a pattern at all for Rubys' skirt but I did glance at this (free pattern)before I started. It's so simple you really don't need a pattern at all but if you're a bit of a numbnut like me it's always nice to have something there.

Other than that I am simply trying to get a little more organised in my house and my head, so that I can, ultimately, have more time to do things which I really want to be doing.

Ruby has settled into kindy really well, she is loving it. The first few days were a bit rough but then she just decided that absolutely everything about kindy is fantastic. And that's that. And she wants to get the bus there and back like a lot of the other kids do. But I don't know. Of course her Dad has told her 'yeah that's fantastic, yeah you can get the bus'

Yesterday I got a little package off the lovely Jody which unfortunately I haven't photographed yet. It's a very Valentine-y collection of ribbons, tags, pins (with heart toppers) and teeny weeny little heart embellishments. I love it. Thank you Jody, you are a sweetheart.

And just this, to be sure you are aware of the disgust he felt, forced into wearing a dress.

It's in the lips.

My Dad

2009-02-04T21:38:00.003+10:00

One of my favourite pictures ever.

Taken about two weeks ago.

In the blink on an eye....

2009-01-26T20:22:00.002+10:00

..............this

became this..............
How on earth did that happen in just four short years?? She'll be four in a couple of days, and the day after that she starts kindy. Two days a week she'll run away from me to kindy.

I don't know if we're ready. In fact, I know Clarys' not ready. What's he going to do without her? No-one to play with, to read with, to watch the cartoons with? No-one to torment.

Oh no, that's right..............he'll be able to concentrate 100% on tormenting me!!! Yay.

So, although I've been talking about it for weeks, I'm yet to get her name on all of her clothes, as they require. Must do that.

And what am I going to put in her lunch box?

Is she going to expose all of our family secrets while I'm not there.

Will she tell the other kids that her Mum is in her pyjamas until 10 o'clock some days?

Will she tell her teacher (not sure what the kindy lady is referred to as, let's call her the teacher) that some days her Mum serves up scrambled eggs and baked beans............for tea?

I guess she will probably spill all of these secrets, and more.

Hopefully she won't inform anyone else that they have a 'big fat tummy', like she did in the fruit shop the other day.

I will miss her. Lots. But I do love to watch her making her way in the world, and this is part of it. I will let you know how she goes.

Add a Little Glamour to your everyday.......

2009-01-08T21:25:00.002+10:00

........grab your kids and approximately four days worth of stinkin' washing and head to your local laundromat. Go on. You know you want to re-live your uni days. It'll be fun. Really.

Have a little dance around while you're there. Although, can I recommend keeping your shoes on. Unlike Ruby here.

That's all I have right now. I'm hoping my washing machine will be working by next week. The repairman has assured me it 'might' be.

So there you go, take my advice. Go forth and glitz up your life.

No mojo

2009-01-07T21:25:00.002+10:00

My brain is a bit fried at the moment, I am lacking mojo.
House keeps losing power. Washing machine packed it in three days ago. May get fixed tomorrow, maybe next week. Ho hum. Promise to come swingin' on back next week, better than ever.

This is what Christmas smells like people.

2008-12-23T19:43:00.002+10:00

Mangos. Mmmmm. I splurged on a tray of mangoes for the family on Christmas Day. I wish you could smell these because they are to die for.
I know some people hate mangos but this is not something I can understand.
What is not to love.
Actually I think I like the smell even more than I like the taste of them.

These smell so good.
Ruby and I have been living on the smell this afternoon. Have shown much restraint and haven't eaten one yet.
Saving them :)

I was going to make Ruby a new dress for Christmas but living in 'Smallville' doesn't give a lot of options for last minute fabric shopping and I have nothing I'm really loving for Christmas in my own stash.
So when we walked into Target and I saw this on sale for $15 I snapped it up.

This picture doesn't do it justice. It does not look like a nightie in real life. It is adorable. I can't wait to put it on her. Unfortunately she has informed me that she 'hates it' but we'll see how we go on the day.

Apple Pie

2008-12-22T14:27:00.003+10:00

Ok, the apple pie which took two days to get made is finally done. We filled it up with apple. Ruby would have been quite happy for it to be finished then and there. Topped it with pastry and some fairly poorly constructed pastry leaves.
Yes, they're supposed to be leaves people.

I debated about what kind of pastry to make (shortening - is it butter or copha? Apparently the answer is Crisco which is an American thing, not available on the shelves in Australia). In the end I went with Rees' recipe which you can find here. I used copha instead of Crisco.

I think next time though, I will use butter. The texture of the pastry was fine, nice and flaky, but the actual pastry (not the whole pie) was quite tasteless I thought.

Unfortunately the kids didn't really like it so, as I had cut three pieces, I've just eaten three pieces of apple pie. With cream.

This and that

2008-12-20T20:30:00.003+10:00

I thought I had blogger beat by uploading these pictures in the reverse order of how I wanted them but it's done a bit of a random shuffle on them so scroll down if you would like to look at the quilt which this little bear is on.
I found this quilt at the op shop a month or so ago. It appears to be quite old, it's definitely quite delicate, has a little torn bit on one part. But it was just so lovely I couldn't leave it behind. I mean, really, it was two dollars.
There are some yellow spots here and there on it, I think with a very gentle wash and a day in the sun they may come out. The lady in the shop said "Just soak it in some Nappy San" but I think it's a bit too delicate for that. Raggedly Ann and Raggedly Andy in perfectly simple stitched detail.

I love it. Although I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. It's far too fragile for the likes of my kids. And there's no such thing as 'display only' in this house. Things are either out for use or packed away where they can't be 'got at'. My kids don't respond very well to 'You can look but don't touch'

So I guess I better pack it away.

We peeled and sliced up a bucketload of apples today.

I haven't eaten a green apple in a long time but these were so sweet. Yum. Ruby and Clary couldn't get enough of them, that's Clarys' hand sneaking in there.

Hopefully we will be making apple pies tomorrow.

It will be a first for me, so I'll let you know how that one pans out.

Mum and Dad came over this morning and Mum took the kids to the park while I did some secret Christmas business.

Ruby pilfered these flowers from various gardens along the way for me.

Honey, I've put the lights up.

2008-12-19T11:58:00.002+10:00

So, I just put my Christmas lights up. What do you think?

Kidding. Of course.

Although given what you've seen of my Christmas decorations so far (the lone bell, for instance), I suppose I shouldn't get too offended if some of you thought I was serious.

I pinched this idea from an e-mail that's doing the rounds.

Have you ever seen anything like this?

2008-12-18T12:58:00.002+10:00

Really. Have you ever visited a friend, maybe family, and seen the likes of this.
Child lock on pantry.

Child lock on freezer.

Child lock on fridge. Would you wonder what kind of animals the kids were??

I would.

If it wasn't my house.

This has just become our normal, but I've never seen anyone else do it.

My kids cannot stay away from food.

Although, yes, I do in fact feed them. Well I try to anyway.

And while photographing my fridge (this, also, is normal behaviour, isn't it?), I knew I had to share these magnets I got a few weeks ago.

So true to life.

Familiar?? At all??

2008-12-17T13:02:00.002+10:00

Please say yes. Please tell me you have days like this too.

Pictures in reverse order of how I wanted them, as per usual.

Even my poor tree doesn't escape.
Look at that pathetic tinsel, just all bunched up and trying to hang in there till Christmas Day. The decoration are practically non-existent now. I don't know where Clary's hidden there. How is it that there is just sooo much to do in the lead up to Christmas. I told Ruby I had to get a lot of work done today and that I wanted her and Clary to play together and entertain themselves so I could get on with it.

So I now have half nekkid kids running riot through the house. Amongst other things in the above picture is: dirty dishes, shoes and toys randomly discarded, vacuum cleaner (I love you, please don't die on me like the microwave did yesterday), saucepan on the floor (Clary), and a parcel on the table which means I have to head back to the post office. Have already been once today.

But this last picture pretty much sums up life over the last few days.

And please don't mention how pathetic it is to have one sad looking Christmas bell hanging from the ceiling with no other decorations. I know.

Better get back to it. Hope you are coping with the pre-Christmas madness.

Wrapped

2008-12-16T19:32:00.003+10:00

*I am so crap at post titles it is embarassing*

Anyway last night I was up until 1 o'clock wrapping up presents and checking that the contents of the Santa sacks were fair and even. Ugh. The kids were up at 5am this morning (nothing out of the norm, sometimes it's 4.30am) so I'm a little tired.
I actually culled some of the presents, putting stuff away for birthdays and whatever, as there just seemed to be too much. I don't want them to be getting snowed under with presents every Christmas and birthdays. I read on a forum the other day, someone making a suggestion that instead of giving a child an actual-in-real-life present that the mother make a charitable donation on the childs part. What the??!
Kids are kids and as far as I'm concerned, they deserve presents. By all means make donations with the child, participate in charitable activities together, discuss with them the fact that life is not always fair and in this world some people have much and others have little.
But to not give a Christmas present at all? That is very wrong. I hope that poor little kid doesn't get a card under the Christmas tree telling him that Mummy has bought a sheep for a village far, far away, in his name. Oh, and have a Merry Christmas. So, I didn't get overly excited with the wrapping. I couldn't find my little bundle of 'present wrapping stuff', to start with. Still got no idea what I've done with that. I had to sneak everything out to the lounge, past the bedroom door of Clary, AKA the-lightest-sleeper-ever-born-if-he-goes-to-sleep-while-you're-in-the-room-stop-breathing-immediately-so-you-do-not-wake-him-up.
Then, a fair way into the whole procedure, I hear the little footsteps coming down the hallway.
Nooooo!!!!

It was Ruby but I managed to steer her off at the pass. Thank goodness.

There are only one or two presents that still need ribbon/string and tags and it's all done.

Tonight, unfortunately, I have to tackle the Christmas cards. Ho hum.

The Dress I Had To Make

2008-12-15T12:35:00.002+10:00

Bloody blogger!! We have back to front order of photos again, such a pain.

Anyway this really is the dress I knew I would have to make. I've actually been making it in my head for the last 12 months, but finally I sat down, put sciccors to shirt and made it reality.
Ruby (and Clary for that matter) is obsessed with trains, as most kids are. My partner works for Queensland Rail. Ruby is obsessed with trains and her Dad.
So, naturally enough, she's been waiting for this dress for a while. Complete with reflective strips and dodgy button holes. I stuffed up the first button hole, as I often do, but decided it actually worked in favour of the whole deconstructed-work-shirt-reconstructed-as-a-dress thing. You know, the industrial look, LOL.

I used only one shirt to make it (it's just backed with a fairly light weight kind of denim I found at the op shop) but had to chop it up and kind of patch work it together to get a piece big enough to cut the dress out of. Again, I think it just adds to the look :)

So yes, it's very, ahhhhh, orange, but it looks good on, especially if she is accompanying Dad who also has his nice orange shirt on.

Note: Not appropriate for the girly girl. Obviously.

Busy

2008-12-12T21:09:00.002+10:00

I can't believe how slack I have become with the old blog. Weeks have passed without me posting, I have barely even noticed I have been so busy. Not doing anything even remotely interesting, mind you. The mundane things in life have kept me flat out. Christmas has come up so fast. The last time I looked the signs on the street said 7 weeks until Christmas and now it is just under two weeks to go!!!! How did that happen? I think I'm done with my Christmas shopping, thank God. I went into the shopping centre today and it was so awful. Rude, miserable people as far as the eye could see. I wish I didn't have to hit the shops again until the madness is all over.

We have been here, there, and all over the place in the last few weeks, imposing ourselves on various family members and tonight, it's just nice to be home. The bin stinks and there's about 6 loads of washing waiting to be done, but it's nice to be home :)

Our tree is up. I have not written out one single Christmas card. Have not wrapped one present. Ummmm, I have lots to do.
How about you?

A Day in the Life

2008-11-25T21:39:00.002+10:00

Clarys' day.
It starts with a bowl of cereal (or two), and a good book. Very bad manners to read at the table, but you can get away with it when you're under two, so make the most of this time. Suck up to sister early in the day. Look smug while doing so.

Be prepared to be hard. If others get smug you may have to wipe the smirks off their faces.

If you do choose to go around smacking people (especially if it's Ruby) in the face, you then have another decision to make.

Prepare for battle.............

.................or grab yourself another good book and hide your cheeky little ass.

Note: all photos in this post were taken on the same day and Ruby has allowed him to live to see another day

But wait, there's more.

2008-11-16T20:23:00.003+10:00

Ugh, blogger has uploaded my pictures all crazy so lets start at the back of the dress here.
Same dress, different table cloth, LOL.
And excuse the dodgy pictures. Yes, the dress is lying on a driveway for these. It also wasn't quite finished. I couldn't do the straps up as I hadn't finished the button holes. I lost my stitch ripper thingy and bought a cheap one and it was just blunt and horrible. When I went to get another one the lady in the shop nearly had a heart attack when I told her I wanted it for doing button holes.
I've always done my button holes like this, what's everyone else doing?? Are you using weeny little sciccors to do it??

Anyway I like this dress. Would have been kind of a crazy horsey table cloth though.

And check out this poor little fella. His Dad did it. Fancies himself as a bit of a master home hairdresser apparently. Says "It's only two weeks between a good haircut and a bad one"

He's such a trooper though, just soldiering on like he's not looking like some disastrous result of a mis-guided bowl-cut experiment.

Precious

2008-11-16T20:17:00.002+10:00