In the weeks before Christmas.

Christmas has come and gone again (where did that time go?), and I am left with the memories of all the joy and hope and love and happiness it brings...

This is my favourite time of year because the girls are always really keen to get their crafting on. The house is a hive of activity; bits of paper and tinsel are constantly strewn around the place. Treasured Christmas books are revisited and plans laid for creative presents for friends and family.

I am a sucker for a mince pie, I make my own pastry but I must confess I am a big fan of Robertson's store-bought fruit mince; it must be my English heritage coming out in me...

And really, what better way to enjoy them than with a delicious coffee in a beautiful gifted cup? 

This year I went blog searching for a reasonably simple and straightforward Christmas cake recipe, and found one here. Thanks to BabyMac's Grandma Dot and a few quick Instagram messages back and forth about the best type of sherry to use, I had some delicious cakes whipped up for the teacher's baskets and a nice big cake put away for my family's Christmas Eve's do.

Last year we made some clay ornaments. They were just so easy and fun that we decided to do it again. This is an air drying clay which just rolls out with a pin. Cut with cookie cutters and voila!

Decorate any way you want. 

Last year we imprinted leaves and nature stuff; this year we used stamps and ink. The girls also painted some with nail polish and glitter; they looked pretty cool too.  We used a bamboo skewer to make the holes for hanging. Just make sure to do this before leaving them out to dry!

There was also a stage production in the planning...a Christmas puppet show of extraordinary proportions. Check out Ruby's Santa puppet...

Into the teacher's baskets go a special handmade gift from each of the girls. Stella's was a carol singer ornament, based on one made a few years back (see photo above). We added a cute little woolly hat to keep her head toasty.

Ruby made her teacher the cutest little reindeer from pompom balls made from an old wool jumper of mine (some moths had feasted on this some years back so I re-wound the salvageable stuff ). Into the basket it went, along with some bunting, a homemade bag, a clay ornament, the previously mentioned sherry-infused cake, and of course, some champers and chocolate. Oh, and you might just see some mince pies hiding in there, too.

Pinterest is great, isn't it? Except for when your daughter is browsing through it two nights before her class party, and decides she wants snowmen skewers. At ten o clock the night before, I found myself putting these little guys together (faces were added fresh the next morning). I have to admit, they looked really awesome and apparently were gone in a flash.

Homemade peppermint foot scrub. Just because it looked and sounded so delicious.

Another Pinterest steal. Thanks to Bunnings for supplying the card stock, free of charge.

Hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas time.

(almost caught up now. Thanks for sticking with me!)

eleven

Stella turned eleven back in October. And it's been bothering me for a long time that I neglected to blog it. Time just got away, then it seemed a bit silly, then I felt I couldn't really go on until I'd put some photos and memories down here. I was stuck. 

I realised I have to backward in order to go forward. I got caught up thinking that I was writing this blog for other people, when in fact it started life as a journal record for me; my family and our story. 

So...

She turned eleven.

We celebrated like we always do. Presents in our bed, early morning. Breakfast of her choice; then off to school with homemake cupcakes (chocolate with popping topping.. crackle crackle).

She didn't want a "party". She's an interesting insular little personality sometimes, my girl. Not keen on being the centre of attention. All she wanted was her best friend to come and hang out for the day.  She was happy for Ruby to have a friend over too. 

Then she just wanted to organise some easy-peasy games for the four of them. 

We made a piñata; so, so simple; unpainted, sturdy and filled with treats.

They played Pass the Parcel, the Chocolate Game, Memory and of course Musical Statues, trampoline-style. There was a bucket of prizes, chosen by her and wrapped by us.

They were busy all afternoon; these four girls. And even though it wasn't officially a party, it just felt festive and fun and easy and stress free for me. 

And afterwards, there was some chill out time in the garden, with Smokey.

My girl is growing up. My sweet, sensitive, complicated, sometimes prickly, amazing daughter that I love to the moon and back. 

Happy birthday sweetheart. 

(May you always know we are forever here for you.)

(There's a couple more retrograde posts to follow. Bear with me!)

Saturday

This morning I woke up and had absolutely nothing pressing to do. 

The relief...

I think we all needed it. October's been busy; extra shifts at work, a home-stay student, a birthday and school camp to name but a few events going on... none of it blogged and although I feel a bit sad about that, I just lost my blogging mojo and felt stuck. Stuck for words and stuck for time. 

I just decided to concentrate on my family and be in the moment. I thought I would know when I felt un-stuck. But really, it wasn't until today, when Rubes asked me to find a particular photo, that I found myself trawling back through my blog and realising why I started it in the first place. Pure and simple, it's a record for me; just to chart my family's progress as we move through our days. So although I still feel sludgy and slow, I'm getting back on the blog-wagon.

So, as we head into November, this is what's going on at my place today.

Washing. Always washing. We're experiencing a heat-wave this week; not great for my new seedlings just gone in, but it does mean my laundry dries in record time; smelling sweet and fresh.

Quiet time on the day bed with Smokey this morning. A cup of tea, a good book and one whole hour to ourselves.

Coffee made on the atomic and savoured slowly.

Birthday lights giving Stella's room a lovely cosy glow at night.

Tomatoes, some planted, some self-seeding and some growing out of the guinea pig poo!

Bunting. It's going in the Christmas baskets for the teachers. It's not really Christmassy material, but it's red and green and I like it. And I think they will too.

Each one is 2 metres long. I've added some elastic rounds at the ends for hanging.

There's bits from old dresses, pillowcases and donated stuff, along with some good quality remnant offcuts.

My little craft guru Ruby is constantly making. Activity books are always a popular choice.  Gosh I love her stuff.

Go, on, tell me what you would draw...!

PK went grocery shopping, which was great because I just didn't feel like it. He came home with this whole watermelon which we cut into huge chunks and ate with spoons. Which makes me happy. 

Summer is coming and I am going to embrace it. There is so much goodness to be had in summer. Hot days, cool swims. Warm nights, gentle fan breezes. Mangoes. Holidays. Family.

Happy weekend. xxx

crochet FAIL.....(but it's not all bad)

okay, so I know that I said in my last post that I would finish this project....

Well, I'm giving up. 

Why?

... two words...

cheap yarn.

There. I've admitted it. For years I've been buying the cheap stuff from the cheap shops. In my past pre-blogging life, this yarn was fine for all the kiddie projects. Pom-poms, finger knitting, scarves for toys, weaving... 

But now a whole new world has opened up. Now I'm embracing more advanced projects. Ravelry cardies, beanies, mohair scarves... the possibilities are endless. So I've been buying up some nice yarn. I can get it locally, from Think Kids, or from op shops, or online (yes, I've been late night browsing). I even picked some up from the beautiful Children's festival on the weekend. My small but pretty stash is slowly expanding.

As I started to crochet around the edges of my cheap, nasty granny squares, I found I was not enjoying myself at all. The yarn was harsh, unyielding, plasticky. So when I noticed the centre of this square had started to unravel, I was ridiculously relieved. A solid reason to abandon this once and for all.

My apologies, Kate. To see Kate's beautiful granny hottie, click here. This is what it should look like. Not some cheap imitation version. 

So I delved into my new collection and started again...

This time I started with no particular project in mind. Just started by finding patterns I liked, and playing with colours I liked. Letting it grow organically, taking shape by itself...

 And putting them together with edging I liked...

Late at night, when the kids are in bed, I'm sitting and Pinterest-ing and learning and practising...

And now I have this...

I'm almost out of some of the colours. I've got enough of everything for four more squares. I've plenty of edging wool, a free ball from this lovely shop. So, I'm thinking a cushion cover? 

The main thing is, I'm enjoying every moment of this. But mostly, the way this yarn feels in my hands. It's a completely different experience from before. So although my hottie has bitten the dust, a whole new addiction has opened up before me.

Crochet, I love you.

And thank you, Kate, for providing the inspiration.

snippets

It's been a month since I last posted. I've been keeping busy and dealing with some aggravating health issues as well. I've been a bit awry and have been heading early to bed. Blogging just hasn't been on the radar. Yesterday when I read Kate's post, it seemed a good way to dive back in. 

So here are my snippets from the last month:

Wandering at the river at sunset; a walk with my sister, her daughter and my girls. Such a magical time of day.

Enjoying family time at the Peregian markets on the coast...

and in Brisbane with these adorable people.

Outside I've been gardening with the girls. they've each re-done their bed, taking full responsibility for maintenance (with some gentle "encouragement" from me). We've been planting and watering and waiting and watching...

On the knitting front I've finally finished this beautiful cardigan, for Stella, from Ravelry. My mum is knitting the same, in grey, for Ruby. She's almost done too. I love the shape and fit of this cardigan. Next one I'm doing is for me. On 3 and 3/4 needles with a 5 ply wool from Bendigo Woollen Mill. I'm awaiting delivery. Eeeek!

With the leftover yarn I'm knitting up some school beanies. It's a small cheeky deviation from our school's uniform policy. The colour is a perfect match and they've each chosen their own personal stripy design.

Crocheting some squares for Kate's granny hottie crochet-a-long. I'm running behind. Because crochet is relatively new for me I find I have to concentrate more. At night when I'm tired I find it's easier just to pick up my knitting and carry on. I will finish this though.  I love the idea and I like developing new skills.

Loving Ruby's owl school. Each night these nocturnal creatures are put through their flying paces; on completion they'll receive a flying certificate ( I shamelessly listen from outside her door).

Reading lots of books, lately. I've just finished a lovely book of short stories called "Emperor of the Air". Before that, the disturbing but totally absorbing "We need to talk about Kevin". Next in line is "Nest" by Inga Simpson.  I loved "Mr Wigg", so I'm hoping this will be good.

Crafting pom-poms, just for fun. A rainy day plus kids equals craft.

Dealing with BPPV. I'm not going to dwell too much on this but suffice to say this has been making my life a bit of a misery since April. I was hoping it would go away on it's own but this week I plan to seek out some help. I can function and work and I look pretty much normal (!) but it has been been making me chronically tired and a little bit anxious. Time to deal with it.

Experimenting with bicarb and vinegar. It's amazing how much fun you can have making things go pop and fizz...

Baking whatever comes out of Ruby's head. And biscuits. I just love baking.

So that's the last month, in summary. I'm hoping to be around a bit more in the coming weeks. Thanks for sticking with me, if in fact you are still there! 

Enjoy your week, wherever you may be.

Much love.