Eye spy Christmas wishes

So I'm being a bit greedy and having three wishes...... but I'm willing to share them!

Here they are:

HEALTH (Top)

What represents health better than a fat, breast fed baby (plus I had to squeeze a bub photo in somewhere). I can't remember how old he was there, 4 months maybe?

HAPPINESS (middle)

I saw these beautiful flowers on our walk yesterday, they were like an instant joy fix.....and smelled soooo good!

FRUITFULNESS (bottom)

I like all three, but this one is my favourite at the moment! A fruitful 2010 would be great! The photo was taken....ohhh so long ago in Ecuador. Ecuador is so colourful, there is a great culture of murals, should have taken more photos! Please excuse top, a gift from mother in law.

So health, happiness, fruitfulness to me and mine, and you and yours (and I'd like some perfume from Perfect Potion too)

Thanks for the theme! And see more eye and spyers at bug and pop

upcycle bibs

I don't have my camera at home, it was left at mum and dad's on the weekend. This is not a bad thing, as I have so many old ideas to stick into my virtual scrap book!

I loathe to throw out anything of little M's. It's all so tiny and cute, and yes, gasp, it means he is growing up! So I had a few t-shirts that were either too grubby or small for my little fatty to wear.

I was flipping through A Ervilha Cor de Rosa website (I love her site) when I found somthing she had written on converting t-shirts to bibs! I thought I can do that! And that I did, right away! I am very happy with the results, as I have got much more milage out of the ts! I should have bound the edges in some way, I didn't, and I think it would have given the bibs a more finished, professional look.

I now have lots of hot pink loops hanging in M's closet, an old t-shirt of mine, which has been cut up for other purposes.

Ps I hope daddy doesn't see this post, climbing on the sofa back is verboten....we will get into a lot of trouble!

pps thanks to Kate and Simone for the baking vibes! They worked! Both slices were very nice...especially the Almond, orange and carrot one!

Eye Spy-Joy

My apologies to all those squeamish! I did try to choose a less blood and lardy photo to put up.

This would have to be the most joyous moment in my life! Little M was born on a rainy Wednesday. I remember that it was raining because it was the first of the rain that filled the dams (08). We had been waiting for both M and the rain for what seemed such a long time. I had a large window in the ward, and would sit and watch the rain fall, while holding my little slimy one! The pregnancy had been a tough one, bad acid reflux, itchiness and the possibility of him being still born meant that I hadn't slept much in a long time (still haven't actually), the stress of whether we should induce, all came to an end, when he chose to come out early! The joy of holding a healthy little boy was indescribable!

Thanks Tara for such a wonderful choice for eye spy. And as always thanks to Cindy for being the hostess.

Rebecca

I think you would like this site. Little worlds!

Bake-a-rama!

This week is going to be a mega bake off. I have the weekly bread, M's play group Christmas party, and my birthday!

So far, not so good! I made the bread....... see the bread above? That was last weeks, now imagine a steam roller going over them, or better still, cow pats, that was this week! Thankfully they tasted nice and had nice crumb, they were perfect for dips, not for sarnies!

Last night I baked M's little biscuits from a new recipe (I know, I know).....terrible! It was so late, I couldn't start a new batch. I have most certainly not taken a photo! So I have just covered them in little cream cheese rosettes. I even considered buying a packet of Tim Tams on the way there!

So later on in the week I will bake bars for my birthday. New recipes (I know, I know) one is for luscious lemon bars, the other is for almond, orange and carrot bars. They sound good, don't they?! All recipes (except the bread) are from a new book I bought, Cookies, Brownies, Bars and Biscuits by Catherine Atkinson (I think she compiled them). The bread is cucumber pickle juice and rye. It's a Dan Lepard recipe from a book I borrowed from the library. I don't remember the name of the book, very sorry!

Well gotta go and wrap the Christmas present! Please send baking vibes this way!

Eye Spy-Adventures (of the imagination)

Cow looked pretty nervous..... Sheep waved hello to freedom, as the animals flew safely over the meat factories and away to greener pastures. What a great escape plan from the man on the outside, Farmer Joe.

As crafty mums, and crafters in general, I'm sure we all love to collect every cardboard tube, roll or box (egg cartons are my fav). Over the past three months little M's imagination has just taken off (bad pun, which I shouldn't have pointed out!) I love to watch him transform boxes into houses, ferries, cars tunnels, horses.. you name it really! He really does have some fantastic adventures for such a little fella.

With Christmas on it's way, and all the junk mail with it's glossy toy adverts, I find it very hard not to jump on the next bus and high tail it to Target to buy the complete Little People barn yard set, or Dora the Explorer adventure hide out for my little angel!

I have to take a deep breath and remember that these toys are not necessary for adventure, and that kids are very resourceful when it comes to play. I saw a really great documentary on ABC a while ago called Consuming Kids. It made the point that kids don't make things as much as they used to, you can buy everything ready made. I had a doll house (which I absolutely loved) set up on the first three shelves of my closet. Mum and I made it together, it was one of the biggest highlights of my childhood holidays! Would it have been the same if it had come in a big box? I don't know.

I'm not saying that I won't buy my little one anything ready made for Christmas, but will try to keep a healthy balance. For as long as I can!!

Look to Cindy for more experiences.

Happy adventures everyone!

Eye Spy-Adventures

It's not Sunday yet, but the weekends are usually very hectic around here so I'm posting the Sunday Eye Spy theme now. Photo thanks to Emma from one of her many trips around the world.

And the theme is.... (drum roll)... Adventures, big or small, near or far.

Remember to check in with Cindy so that we can all see what adventures you want to share. I will be doing my official eye spy adventures after the weekend craziness subsides.

Hope you enjoy it!

Teeny tiny stitches

I hate to harp on, but I do love hand sewing. One of the reasons is that I love to look back at the teeny tiny stitches I have sewn. I don't know how this reflects on my personality, I'm not really a tiny detail kind of person. I love the stitches in knitting too. With this in mind, I realise that I have never really done any thick wool, large needle knitting. It has all been small, and I really get a kick from all of these tiny stitches making up the whole.

On a less philosophical note, I am making two more Archie & Olives for M's little friends. I love Hillary Lang's style of doll. I could go on making them for ever. I have lots of little arms and legs at the moment, all waiting to be stuffed and sealed.

Eye Spy-Gadget

Gadgets. Great idea Kellie. At first I admit that I thought that I didn't really use them! Then I thought a little harder and I now have three.

The top one is the coffee machine. Where would I be without my morning coffee? Well, still here, but a very grumpy mummy. We wake at 5.00 am (we live in Queensland and have a 21 monther) so a good cup is neeeded. I had managed to wean myself off coffee using the nescafe instant coffee methadone programme. But when big M brought this wonderful gadget home one morning, it was back to the hard stuff. Oh how I love my morning coffee.

Middle pic, super scissors! I was such a bad cutter outer of patterns until these came into my life. Then it dawned on me, you need a sharp pair of scissors!! I love how these lie flat when you cut. My Tintin in Tibet agenda from 1994 is actually where I keep my recipes.

Bottom pic curvy needle, sticky round needle gripper thing and carpet thread (from mum's stash bought in the 60s). Ok, I don't know if any are classified as gadgets, but I got to love them last night as I repaired the push chair seat with denim....and it looks very spiffy.

To see our hostess of Eye Spy visit Bugandpop

70s fun for everyone

The last box from mum and dad's loft. Imagine my joy at finding my paper dolls, I would say they would be late 70s. I loved them and thought that they were very exotic (don't know why, I think they are French) and took real care of them. As a result they are in very good condition.

What to do with them? I had kept them all these years for my daughter. I now have a car mad son who would probably never be interested in paper dolls....apart from various forms of paper doll folding and tearing. Anyway to cut a long story short, my friend Rebecca loves all things retro, it was her birthday last week, and she makes special collages from retro paper dolls. All this added up to posting them to her. I figured if she couldn't use them in her collages, she could at least get a night of tipsy fun (bottom photo) playing with the wardrobe, as Emma and I did one evening with a bottle of red (and yes I know it's rude to play with someone's present before giving it to them).

I still know I have a farm yard and lots of model horses up in the loft......but I think the doll finds were the most exciting!

Eye Spy-Shoes

Hmmmmm this would have been a no brainer a few years ago, when I had a shoe lover's problem. Actually it would have been very, very hard, as I had soooo many shoes that I loved, that I wouldn't have been able to choose. Back in Brisbane, I know there are cool shoe shops around...... but they are very expensive, and so in a one salary household, my shoe thing stopped. Nowadays, it's hand me downs (excellent ones......5 pairs! including cow boy boots and yellow jellies! from Simone) and the occasional splurge. These sparkly red slippers have been put away for next season, it's bear (grrrr) foot in the house for summer! Every girl should have a pair of sparkly/red or both shoes! Oh, if you love shoes, you need to check this girl's flicker photos out, she has tonnes of fantastic shoes! This is one pair in particular I would love to get my feet into!