finishing the quilt

A day with the kids today. I am going to write what I want to get done and see if putting it to paper (?) will help me achieve it all.

We are going to the indoor (still raining) playground with friends this morning but this afternoon I am going to finish quilting Emily's quilt. I had planned to do it by hand but that is a dream that may be achieved once the kids are at school and I have more time. At the moment a machine is the way to go. It is a whole cloth quilt so not sure how it will come up with machine quilting. My hand quilting plan was going to be beautiful but it was started in September and barely been looked at. Time to finish it before I start another project.

I have Maddi coming over this afternoon and she can play with the kids while I sew. I can look forward to this while I clean the bathrooms and do some washing after lunch.

wild weather

The weather today is wild and crazy. Wind, rain pelting down and really cold. The kids got their gum boots and raincoats on for the first time this season. Sam's coat is too small and his pirate gum boots are faded to oblivion but still fit. Milly is chuffed with her new rainbow gumboots.

When they wake up we are going to jump in puddles in the rear laneway then run back into the house and jump straight into a deep warm bath.

gingerbread

This morning Michael needed a sleep in so I distracted the kids with baking gingerbread which is labour intensive and takes a while. I don't have a gingerbread man cookie shape but surprisingly Sam was unfussed about this

so we have stars, flowers, bon bons and rabbits.

The kids love baking and gingerbread is great, as I don't really like it there is no temptation to devour them. Unlike the chewy chocolate chip biscuits we make which are my dietary achilles heel.

While the kids baking, it is unlikely we will meet any food preparation standards, the kids pile onto the bench and Milly is constantly on the scrounge for a spatula, paddle or spoon to lick.

The kids are in bed at the moment and we will ice the biscuits once they wake up.

granny square rug

I have two ideas for craft projects at the moment. One is a piece of art/collage for Emily's room. The other is to crochet a rug.

My Nanna made crocheted rugs. She did not crochet granny squares and then sew them together to make the rug - her rugs were effectively one huge granny square (probably 150cm squares). I think I will make mine more manageable (and sorry Nanna, I think they look nicer as small squares). There is a Flickr project called "A Granny a Day". I am pretty sure that a square each day is more than I can manage but I can make a valiant effort. I may join the group but will wait until I have my design sorted in my head. I think granny square rugs can evolve and perhaps the most beautiful are the ones that do but I am not sure I can let go to that extent. I will do some research and look for inspiration....

I think the common element to the ones I like is the pale colour on the edge of each square. The squares in the second rug are 10.6" square which is really big. The creator has a photo of them on a single bed mattresses of bunks. They are really lovely on that scale. Definitely something to think about.

Time to go to the shop and look at yarn. The dilemma is - wool or acrylic? Massive cost difference and if it becomes a project that gets started and never finished I will kick myself for using wool. The flip side is that if I finish it and love it, I will be disappointed if it is not in wool.

[photos from the Flickr albums of: Adam's Acres, Hilde C & Yarn Jungle]

painting the kids' rooms

Sam's favourite colour is green. Going on the theory that a tin of paint is $80 and easy to change, we are going for this colour scheme...

Resene - Super Duper and Top Secret


Emily has a large, sun filled room so is going to get some intense colour...

Resene Pink Panther

the kids

Often parents are highly annoying because they declare their kids as the cutest, smartest, everythingist kids on the planet. But if I can't do it on my own blog, where can I?

cutest...

smartest...

Sam yesterday picked up our phone and punched in (seemingly random) numbers then showed me the lcd display - 5245 7845 and said "This our phone number isn't it, Mum?" Apparently he has learnt our phone number (oh - and he can add up two numbers less than five together, currently limited by the number of fingers on each hand. Soon he will take off his shoes and the mathematical world will be literally at his feet).

everythingest...

bottles

Amber and I were having our weekly phone date this morning (I miss her like crazy but our phone dates are a highlight of my week). We were talking about the important things in our lives which of course includes beautiful bottles. Her favourite bottle at the moment is the St. Germain Elderberry Liqueur, mine is Antipodes Water. I think I bow to her on this one. It is spectacular (and apparently lovely with a spritz of mineral water).

small projects

All over the house are jobs that need to be either finished or done. Some of them will take longer than others but none would take longer than a few hours.

Some of them were started months ago, some have been waiting to be done for years. It is time to get them done, here they are:

Make the last blind on our living room doors - During my holidays I made two blinds for the windows either side of the door. There is another to be made. The fabric is measured and cut, it needs to be made and hung. it is a slightly fiddly job so needs to be done on a weekend while Michael is home to be the go to man for the kids. I need a couple of uninterrupted hours and that should do it.

Sand and oil/wax side tables - This project has never been started, despite owning the tables for about 12 years. One of them has slightly longer legs than the other so needs to be trimmed down. They are made from oak. The top of one of them has been stripped. When I moved to Geelong it got a bit damp and the tread plate pattern on the floor of the trailer is stained onto the top. Somehow I have managed to ignore this since 2002 and used it nonetheless! Time to fix it up.

Repair underneath upholstery of my favourite chair - I love this chair. It is comfortable and worn and beautiful. It cost me $10 but caused marital rift. We were away for the weekend and I found it in a church op. shop - Michael was appalled at the idea of buying it. Of course, we did. The calico under the chair has come undone and is sagging. A quick job to replace it.

I am stopping at three. I think as these are complete I will add another three. I am giving myself a month to have them done. This should be achievable - the chair will only take an hour, the side tables a couple of weekends and the blind an afternoon. Sounds simple. Time will tell.

Update - 25th April...

Chair done. The saggy underside has been replaced with a taut, clean and hidden lining. Interestingly when the existing calico came off (easily ripped as it was so deteriorated) a number of lego pieces dropped out but no money - a sign of the change in our lives since having kids)

front garden

Kate and i share a love of gardening, she has taught me lots about dry gardens. Last year she spent months growing from cuttings and seeds then sold her house. In October she and I had a road trip, bringing back masses of plants from Adelaide in the back of my father-in-law's ute. We spent a day planning and a day planting. The end result is more beautiful than anything I could have hoped for.

Kate gave me salvia, yarrow, verbascum, micanthus, stipa, agastache, penisetum and bonariensis. I added Queen Anne's Lace, echium, allium, delphinium, sedum, relocated my existing cercis tree and the oriental poppies. It was planted in the last week of October, something has been in flower ever since. It is entering its most dormant season now but is still beautiful with seed heads of the sedum, fluffy wands of the grasses and the last of the purple salvia still hanging on.

Now that is it autumn I am starting to think about refining the design a little more. Adding some different flowering shapes, thinking about the life cycle of the plants even further and seeing what I can come up with.

I can't resist adding a couple of photos taken before the beds were planted. In early October we invited friends James, Gabby and their baby Eliza for lunch. Michael and James worked all day to clear the lawn while Gab, the kids and I sat around and relaxed. It is lovely to have people to do the hard work. James and Gab move into their new house this week so I am sure we will be commandeered for a reciprocal working bee.

BEFORE

AFTER

starting kindergarten

Sam's first day of kinder this year. Compared with the photo taken a year before for his first day of 3 year kinder when he looks sick with nerves he is VERY COOL.

2009 - day one of 4 year kinder

2008 - day one of 3 year kinder

spring garden 2008

my first post in this blog was about planning our spring garden. it was posted on the 8th of august. these photos were taken on the 20 august and show what we planted...

corn
cardoon (artichoke)
rocket
peas
lettuce
rainbow spinach

calendula
and of course - leeks and nasturiums

and then, in spring, they started to grow...

strawberries

The strawberry patch has been a big hit in the family. We started getting individual fruit in February that Sam "gobbled" before they ever come near the kitchen (or other family members) but the last few weeks we are getting bowls filled and a sense of harvest every week.

planted on august 24th

growing well september 5th

harvest on 4th april

milly's second birthday

Milly turned two. How quickly it flies. She was super pleased with her present - a doll's house we bought very cheaply at the second hand shop and spent a week decorating. Michael painted, I made curtains and Sam donated furniture from his rarely used barn (aka doll's house for a boy). She is also a puzzle fiend so a few more went into the collection.

Sam gave her a Pony, Mum and Dad sent a bike helmet - PINK! - a very exciting colour in her world.

Margarent and Tim came over for a tea party to celebrate and gave her some beautiful clothes.

She is making us laugh by telling anyone who asks how old she is that she is "half" (she has been hearing Sam say he is four and a half).

The only down side to the whole day was when we lit the candles - not at all impressed with the idea of setting her cupcakes on fire!!!

and then there was light....

Finally we have painted the timber work in our house. No more knotted, cheapo pine skirtings, windows and door frames. The colour is Resene Buttery White from the Karen Walker collection.

Mum and Dad came over from Adelaide for a week and worked to help us. Mum ran interference with the kids, Dad was on his hands and knees - filling gaps and painting.

The walls will be next, time to get rid of the yellow...