Rest is good

I haven't been well for a couple of days but in a few ways it's been a good thing. My husband was able to stay home to care for the children. I was able to rest, like, actual bed rest! I even napped!

I knitted. I read. I dozed.

The children brought me flowers in bed. They climbed up and hugged me and told me stories and looked at me with smiling concern.

I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoy reading. I finished off Perelandra by C.S. Lewis and almost finished The Pilgrim's Regress, also by Lewis (not to be confused with The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, which is also excellent).  Did you know C.S. Lewis was a total genius?

It's been a good reminder to me. I can't go flat out all the time. I can't always care for everyone else. I need to rest. And my family really, really loves me :)

Snippets of life

I received this week some very beautiful hand dyed cotton from Melissa at Rainbow Made. I'm knitting up some dishcloths using this famous pattern.

My heart flutters when I look at this photo.

We have so many tomatoes this year. These ones are partially oven dried and sitting in olive oil for sandwiches, salads, pasta etc.

                                                 The love affair with books continues.

Have you tried achachas yet? They're really good! A little like a mangosteen in flavour and Australian grown. We've been getting them at an Asian market  where everything is fresh and cheap.

Today I'm working on a dress for an out of sorts 6 year old, knitting dishcloths, then there is that unfinished painting, embroidery and pattern to write up. Wish me luck!

In support of Nikki M

Disappointing isn't it? People steal things all the time but this is pretty personal. This bag was designed and handmade by a talented artist. It has sentimental value. Perhaps the person who took it will have a change of heart and pop it in the post back to it's owner? I hope so.

Today is a good day!

Sometimes it can feel that the happy days are few and far between but when they happen it's a wonderful thing!

The sun doth shine.

The tired grouchiness of a certain 5 year old that made yesterday so awful is gone and has been replaced with smiles and good cheer. Pheeeeewwww!

The little one is having a long sleep to respite from her teething troubles.

Before husband left for work we teamed up so that most of the housework is done and I can have some relaxation ie. stitching time this afternoon. Hooray for good, selfless men!

Something about sticking my hands into a beautiful piece of soft and sticky dough makes me happy.

I've baked fruit bread and pikelets for the Lord's Day and roasted a fresh batch of coffee beans.

I'm looking forward to the Quilt Convention tomorrow. I've saved my pennies and set myself a budget. It's so long since I bought some nice new fabric, so that's a priority!

I hope you're having a good day too.

I'll be back later to draw the giveaway, good luck!

Computer + me = disaster!

I've just spent (wasted?) a goodly amount of time making a new banner for my blog following a tutorial using Picnik. Very easy to follow. Only problem is, when I place the banner on my blog it suddenly becomes a headache inducing pixellated blur. Tried to fix it. A lot. Can't.
Any ideas?

A few pictures from our weekend sojourn

Apollo Bay beach

Our children would be quite happy to pitch a tent and live on the beach!

I've been featured!

My Etsy shop has been included in a Christmas gift feature on The Homeschool Classroom. There are lots of other homeschooler's shops there to check out too.
This site is a great homeschooling resource with links to heaps more information.

My hubby the budding photographer

These shots were all taken in our garden. None have been edited.

Love this one.

We're pretty pleased with our new camera!

Happiness is....

A jar of red roses freshly picked from the loaded climber in the garden, displayed on a just polished table. No finger prints, no colouring pencils and books. Wonderful.

Bloggrrrrrr!!

I have things to show. I don't really like texty posts, I like to have something nice to look at too. Blogger won't let me upload images. Not yesterday. Not today. Is it me? Is it them? What if I can't fix it? Am I destined to become a text only blog?! Hmm, a little dramatic perhaps, but I want my image uploader back!!

A nice morning out

The Werribee Mansion now has free entry. For a family of 6 this is a real blessing and we go there quite a bit now. The grounds are really expansive and beautiful.

A great place to stretch out.

Or climb a tree. 

                          And a great place for little people to test out those running legs!
I think we'll be picinicing here quite a bit over summer, and the rose garden is right next door.

It's Saturday

And a glorious Saturday it is too.

I was the lucky recipient of these gorgeous hand dyed, hand spun yarns in a swap with Nell. Aren't they beautiful, especially the rainbow one. I feel like I did when I was a girl and received a special soap or something and was too afraid to use it. I'd just admire it for a long time!

Nell kindly included an embroidery book (here's a girl after my heart!) and even a pack of lollies for the children! I can't show you what I've sent her yet as it may not have arrived.

We're headed into the city today for the Freedom to be Born March, it should be a great turn out on such a nice day.

All the best for the weekend, God bless you all.

I love breastfeeding, but...

I guess it's part and parcel of breastfeeding that you receive the odd nip here and there, I've certainly received a few over the years.
This morning's "nip" however, was perpetrated by a 14 month old with plenty of teeth who didn't let go until she realised I was screeching because of her! I have the wound to prove it too! Trust me when I say the offended area was throbbing and burning for quite some time.
In her defence, I think she thought she was biting my nightie which I was trying to wrangle out of the way in the wee pre dawn hours. My husband's instant response was that I will now give up breastfeeding altogether - it not being worth the trouble.
But... but... I don't want to! I'm not ready! Each of my babes have been the ones to give up, not me.
It's such a special thing to be able to nourish a child in this way and to have close bonding time (not that chomping does much for the bonding!) Perhaps it's because I know she may be our last baby because of my medical problems, that I'm more determined to hang in there.
Whatever the case, I have big apprehensions about the impending bedtime feed tonight.
We shall see.....

In much brighter news it's a glorious sunny day today so I baked some fruit loaves. The girls had their hair washed and put on some pretty summery dresses.

We smothered the bread with jam and pure cream. Marvellous. We ate both loaves!

Our garden picnic. Happy times and treasured memories.

Happy weekend!

A few snaps from the Melbourne Show

 The piglets are a popular attraction, for obvious reasons.

I thought this kid was really cute. (That's a pun)

I had to get a photo of this prizewinning turkey for my husband, who kept turkeys as a youngster. He was amused by my description of the rather irate caged bird, saying it was nothing to do with the cage, just the personality (turkinality?)

It really was a "fun slide"

Facebook

I'm one of those people who has resisted signing up for Facebook - until now that is! I really have no idea how to use it but have managed to upload some pics etc and would love you to visit via the link on my sidebar. I noticed you can also link to Twitter from there. Hmmm....

1000 miles an hour

That's my brain at the moment. No sooner do I sit down to do something than I have to leap up again and then there is the constant noise - none of it's very conducive to calm and rational thought. Add a teething little one (yes, again!!) into the mix along with sleep deprivation and life is, well, a little messy right now.

It's been a full on week with the show preparation, music lessons, stitching group and .... what else? I can't remember now.

Sound familiar to any of you Mums out there? :)

Creativity with the children has taken second place but I've managed to fit in a few moments here and there.

Jamming with the girls. Did you know that finger sucking can be quite instrumental? Speaking of unusual instruments, check out these guys who make all their instruments from fresh vegetables.

More colour swatches. I'm pretty much trying anything and everything now to see what effect I can get. This one was painted, scrunched then dried.

The results are pretty random, some turn out a little like preschool paintings!

                                I think salt resist is one of my favourite techniques thus far.



Christie over at Childhood 101 has recently suffered the tragic loss of an unborn baby and is asking for others to speak about their own experiences in order to help women going through miscarriage. I don't feel inclined to go back over my experiences but perhaps you would like to visit her blog and make a submission. It's a very good thing to have the support of others at these times and I think many of us don't receive the sort of support we need.

The most pathetic movie ever?

This one flew under my Superman radar for some reason (pun intended) and I never saw it. Now I wish I hadn't! With our 10 year old son being into all things superhero we thought we'd give it a shot, and besides, it was free from the library. 

Wow, was this movie a stinker! There was hardly a division between the geeky Clark Kent and the "supposed" superhero Superman, and as for "Nuclear Man", he was a total non event. 

As our son rather aptly stated after watching - "That was like one of my silly superhero stories from years ago".

I'll admit I got a chuckle out of the female character's pencil skirts, puffy blouses and boofy hair.

So tell me, what's your most pathetic movie ever?

Another embroidery?!!!

I can't seem to help myself, I'm now working on 5 separate embroideries and all I want to do is sit with my hoop and needle. This is my first attempt at ribbon embroidery and I think it is a gorgeous craft, so fine and dainty. I picked this Helen Dafter kit up from the Craft Fair. I'm only part way through but it's already so pretty! For my next project I want to try dyeing my own silk ribbon.

In other news, we awoke after a particularly blustery evening to find out Hills Hoist had snapped and collapsed. I wasn't too impressed when I realised how much new clotheslines cost (who would have thought some pieces of metal and plastic made and assembled in China would be so expensive?) but clever and thrifty husband has rigged up a temporary solution (kids, you don't mind those lines tied to your trampoline do you?)

Little A has taken her first unassisted steps and is quickly mastering the step - step - step - stumble - fall - giggle. I love this age - so much is new and wonderful.

The Craft and Quilt Fair and handling rejection

I was really excited about attending the C & Q Fair so perhaps my expectations were too high. The last time I went was 2 years ago and basically nothing much has changed. I did make a few purchases that I'm happy with, but as far as inspiration goes the fair did little for me. I guess by going on the last day you would expect some frayed tempers and tired stall holders - I know I would be.

And now to rejection. Yes, I've just had another magazine rejection which leads me to contemplate whether anyone is actually interested in what I do, whether I should be bothering to do this design course, whether I should be thinking I can make it as a designer / artist / craftist?!!
Rejection sure does hurt, but I know I'll get back on the horse - what else can I do? I love to design, I love to make things and I love the artistic skill involved in what I do. So, even minus the accolades I will keep on doing what I feel driven to do.

How do you handle rejection?

This week we......

Made mixed berry muffins (mmm - check my other blog for the recipe).

Celebrated a 1st birthday.

Tried out wet felting (and failed miserably but had a lot of messy fun).

Built block towers and knocked them down, built them again, knocked them down again...

Happy weekend to you all, enjoy your loved ones, families and crafts -  had to sneak that last one in!

God bless you all and thanks for reading :)