Tagged!

by Aimee at Aimee's Land. I hope you get to know something you didn't know about me before!

8 things I am looking forward to:

1. Naomi sleeping through the night consistently (maybe by the time she is in high school!)
2. taking my sewing to sell at a local craft market in a few weeks
3. trying the Cadbury's choc-mint drinking chocolate that I bought this week
4. our holiday to the Whitsundays in August
5. a lazy afternoon of sewing and baking scones this afternoon
6. bacon & eggs cooked by Brad, for breakfast tomorrow morning
7. lots of travel when the kids have left home!!
8. my birthday next month

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Posted off my first sale from SashaSews!
2. bought a new pair of jeans on sale at Rivers
3. made fresh pasta with Naomi
4. had lunch and a cuppa with my mum
5. fed Ryan
6. surfed the web
7. cut out fabric for a new bag
8. pushed Naomi around on her bike

8 things I wish I could do:

1. knit
2. live in the UK again
3. own a cosy cottage B&B
4. own a sweet craft and books store
5. lose 5kgs!
6. be more organised
7. find a gym with Pilates and child-minding on at the same time!
8. hug my dad one more time, tell him i love him and introduce my children to their Grandad.

8 shows I watch:

1. Master Chef
2. news
3. CSI
4. Law & Order
5. Playschool
6. Bananas in Pyjamas
7. Antique Roadshow
8. any classic British comedy or period drama

People I tag:

Emma at Heart at Home

Nikki at Nikki's Notes

Kara at EskimoKissesandAirHugs

Kimberly at Raising Olives

Melody at biglittlesister

Creative storage...

We now live in a rented house. It is has some great design features and some that I wouldn't mind changing, if it belonged to me.... Brad and I love the back deck, from which we can just see the mountains, while we nibble cheese and bikkies and watch Naomi ride on her little bike.


Naomi, on the other hand, likes finding creative ways of storing all sorts of things. Just look at all the different things that can be stored in the slots of a built-in wine rack, that is very conveniently placed at 2-year old level...



A biscuit container, a plastic lid, assorted hair clips and ties, both of Mummy's house shoes (neatly placed side by side in adjoining slots). And for the record, I had to take the camera out of one of the slots to take this photo!! Every time I walk past it, I notice something different slotted in one of the boxes. A juice cup. A baby doll. Naomi's hairbrush...

And one lonely wine bottle!

What a weekend!

We had a long weekend here in Queensland, and on the Tablelands, the May long weekend is always dedicated to the Mt Garnet races and rodeo. It is about 90 minutes drive out west into the bush. Mt Garnet has a population of about 100, and about 2000 for this weekend. The rodeo, races and obligatory B & S ball brings people in from all the stations.

I love rodeo - it brings back vivid memories of childhood times spent huddled against the cold, watching the open bull riding ... or working in the Scout canteen, selling burgers to fundraise. And the music, dust and checkered shirts just make me happy - I am a country girl at heart.

This was the view of the sky over the arena, as the sun was setting behind me -- is there anything as beautiful as big sky country?

We camped the night and Naomi was thrilled to sleep in the tent.... she even slept through the music, and the mine trucks that drive through the night along the road behind the campsite!

The way I was back then.....

This meme was over at Nikki's blog. It got me reminiscing about a few years back!

1. Did you date someone from your high school? Not in Grade 12.

2. Did you marry someone from your high school? Nope. Brad and I met in a pub in London!

3. Did you carpool to school? No, mostly the school bus (we were in a rural area), but sometimes would ride along with Mum, who worked in town.

4. What kind of car did you have? I didn't. Got my first car about 4 years after high school! I think only a couple of people in our year had their own cars.

5. What kind of car do you have now? I have a 1998 Toyota Camry. It's old, but the air-con still works, which is all I need in the tropics!

6. It's Saturday night now; you're...at home watching t.v. waiting for Naomi to wake up (she wakes around 3 times a night. Snuggling on the couch with my sweetie.

7. It's Saturday night then; you're... at home with a book, music or a family board game. Or maybe staying over at my best friend's house (she lived on a farm about 30kms the other side of town to us.)

8. What kind of job did you have in high school? I worked at the local Coles Supermarket, as a checkout chick.

9. What kind of job do you have now? Full-time wife and mum. Part-time aspirer to crafty goddess. Former marine lawyer.

10. Were you a party animal? Not in high school - no opportunity! But don't ask about Uni...

11. Were you considered a flirt? Definitely not.

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Choir. Still love to sing, but only get the opportunity in shower or to cd's now.

13. Were you a nerd? Yep, at least a bit.

14. Did you get suspended or expelled? No! Not even a detention, that I can recall. My dad was a local primary school principal. I can't imaging getting in that much trouble!

15. Can you sing the fight song? Not sure what this is.

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? My English teacher and music teachers were both pretty great.

17. Where did you sit during lunch? With my best friend, wherever.

18. What was your school's full name? Left blank.

19. When did you graduate? 1994

20. What was your school mascot? Didn't have one - this must be an American thing!

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Ummmm.... not sure. I did enjoy it lots, at the time.

22. Did you have fun at prom? Yes - despite what I now consider to be just about the most awful dress and hairstyle I could have chosen!!!

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to prom with? Yes, she was my best friend and we went together. Not many people went with a 'date', unless they were already a couple.

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? Possibly, if we are in the area.

25. Do you still talk to people from school? Some - the important ones.

26. School colors? Blue and maroon.

Feel free to cut and paste and do this one for yourself -- if nothing else, it is good for reminiscing!

Where do I blog?

My new friend Nikki at Nikki's Notes has tagged me to reveal where I blog from. Eeek! Well, here goes...

This is our office / my sewing room. And yes, it is pretty much always this messy! I don't get enough time to blog / sew / craft, let alone spending time actually tidying it up! Beside the sewing machine are the sweet little girl's aprons that I have been working on lately. There is a large wicker basket to the left of them (not in the photo), that is supposed to be WIP's - in fact, it's just another place for a fabric stash. As is that basket on the top shelf above the computer.

The view out the window is overlooking the front verandah and yard - which is a bit overgrown at the moment. It's just still too hot to get into the garden beds and give them the weeding they deserve.

Now, I am going to tag Kara and my sister Emma to play along and reveal their little corner of the blogging world.

WFMW - Kids parties

As previously mentioned, Naomi just turned 2 and we had a small party for her little friends, on Sunday afternoon. Here are a few of the things that I found worked for me --

1. Don't feel obliged to invite every child they know. We invited 5 children, and it was just enough to have some fun chaos, but not so many that we were frazzled and cranky by the end.

2. Keep children's ages in a similar range. This makes planning activities, and timing, much easier. Advise parents of multiple children that activities etc will be aimed at the age group of your birthday child, so that they can make alternative arrangements or bring along appropriate toys for their other children.

3. It's not rude to set a finish time, and write it on the invitations. The finish time doesn't have to be set in concrete, but it will let everyone know that you are not having an open house all day, with meals provided! We did from 2 to 4pm, with afternoon tea party food. Everyone was aware that we weren't doing lunch or an evening meal.

4. Have age appropriate activities. We recently went to a 3-year old's party where they did 'pass the parcel'. This was a disaster. 2 - 3 year olds do NOT share well, and didn't really get the concept of only opening one layer of paper on the parcel! For Naomi's party, I got some individual little art canvases from the discount store, and each child painted their own artwork. I also pre-cooked cupcakes, and iced them, then put a bowl of assorted decorations (marshmallows, lollies, sprinkles, etc) in the middle and each child decorated their own cupcake. These individual activities worked well - minimal opportunity for arguments!

5. For the butterfly cake, I ordered a half a plain vanilla sponge slab cake from our local bakery. I then just made a paper template of the basic butterfly shape, cut it out and iced it. Much less fuss than trying to bake cakes and stick them together.

Hope these tips make your next kids party a bit less stressful! For more tips, see Rocks in my Dryer.

Easy kids artwork

I have thought for some time that Naomi's room is rather drab. I made new curtains for her, but the paintwork really needs refreshing and she had nothing else interesting to look at. As it is highly likely that we will be renting out this house and moving some time in the next few months, I didn't really feel like painting and decorating (and the fact that I have been threatened with dire consequences by Brad if I even think of climbing a ladder at 30 weeks pregnant!).

So instead, I came up with this easy and fun idea for some interactive artwork to brighten the walls. I bought some cheap art canvases at the crazy bargain shop, and 2 tubes of pretty contrasting paint. Brushes, a roller and other bits and pieces we already had in the craft stash.

Step 1 was to roll the background colour on each canvas. Using a slightly damp roller produced the soft wash cloudy effect. Naomi loved this part, and proceeded to roller paint every surface in sight... thankfully, after I had rinsed out the paint and it was just plain water!

Step 2, when the background paint is dry, is to let your child go crazy with brushes and the contrasting coloured paint. Naomi adores painting, so this bit was easy to get her interested in.

Step 3, after allowing the painted masterpieces to dry, is just to raid your buttons / ribbons / scrapbook supplies and stick things on to your heart's content! Naomi helped choose the ribbons and buttons that she liked, and picked the flower stickers. She also pointed out where she wanted each one. Warning - this step can be just a little frustrating for the adult ... "there... no, um, there. This one. Or maybe this one...."

Step 4, we added a little ribbon loop to hang the canvases from, and allowed the whole lot to dry.

We think they came up looking pretty darn good. And when Brad got home, he actually thought we had bought them in a spending spree! In fact, he has taken one to work to hang on his office wall ... so we need to make another one for Naomi's room!

A couple of hints --

Check your perfectionism in at the door, before beginning this project. I had a mental image of what I wanted, which at times didn't coincide with my darling toddler's spontaneous creativity.

All sorts of ideas for embellishment spring to mind - sparkle pens? glitter glue? ribbon bows?

Stitching days...

What do you get when your lovely Mum drops by on her day off work, to enjoy a girl's afternoon of stitching, craft and cups of tea??

Mayhem in your button collection and days of finding tiny buttons throughout the house. Good one, Gran! But they had fun, and I got to make Naomi a dress on my new sewing machine.

The pattern is a McCalls, and the fabric is a cute gingham and cupcake print that I bought a while ago and has been sitting in my ever-growing stash of materials! Naomi of course refused to model my creation for the camera, so here are the photos on the hanger instead....

It came together very quickly, and you could have all sorts of fun embellising the basic pattern. My question for you all is, how much would you pay for a cute little girl's dress like this, if it was on sale at a market stall (or perhaps on a blog?) with other similar home-made things?? Would A$18 be too much?

Are you in the spirit yet?

My friend Kara at Eskimo Kisses and Air Hugs recently asked whether we all had our 'Jingle' on yet. Thanks, Kara! You have given me the perfect excuse to 'get Festive'! I adore Christmas ... but don't like when the shops start playing the carols in October. When we were kids, my family always had a rule that Christmas decorations and preparations started after the last person finished school for the year (in Australia we have our major 6 week school holiday break over December / January). This person was always my Dad - being a primary school principal, he worked until the last day of school, and didn't get out early for good behaviour!

So it feels a bit wrong to be doing decorating etc before early December. However, I have started trying to get things together so I am not totally "snowed under" (ha ha ha - the temperature here is scorching and humid every day!) for the Christmas rush.

I have been meaning to make a patchwork Advent calendar for the past couple of years - but it just isn't happening. So when I spotted one on a beautiful craft stall, at some local markets, I snapped it up. It has numbered pockets for each day and I love the idea of putting little trinkets and treats in each pocket, for Naomi to open. Far more personal -- and healthy -- than the commercialised chocolate-loaded 'Christmas Count Down' calendars that are in all the supermarkets.

I went to the crazy outlet shop and bought some little sheets of stickers, pretty jingle bells, and nice wooden ornaments for her to hang on the tree. Other things (like a book that was on special and a little plush toy), can be hung off the appropriate pocket the night before.

What have you done to start Christmas preparations? What is your favourite family tradition?

Middle Name Meme....

Kara has tagged me for a middle name meme.

Here are the Rules: Post the rules on your blog, and then give your answers. List one fact about yourself for each letter in your middle name. Each fact must begin with a letter from your middle name. If you do not have a middle name, use your maiden name(or create a middle name).Once you are tagged, update your blog with your middle name and your answers. At the end of your post, tag one person for each letter of you middle name. Leave them a comment on their blog telling them that they have been tagged, and that they need to come read your blog for details.

If my wonderful mum and dad had known when they were naming me that I would have to come up with something about me for each letter, I am sure that they would have given me a shorter middle name. Or at least, only 1 of them, rather than 2! My middle names are Genevieve Peta. I am going to stick with just Genevieve for the purposes of this Meme!

G - Gardening - I love it, and wish I was better at it! Hardy plants do best in my garden!
E - Enya is one of my favourite music artists. I was given my first Enya tape when I was about 12, and have loved her music ever since.
N - Not good at maths or science subjects. I know enough to count my change at the supermarket!
E - English is where I excel - I am a speed reader and enjoy writing.
V - Vintage. All things shabby-chic, soft, girly, country-ish. I love them all.
I - Ireland. Spent a wonderful week exploring County Galway, and County Waterford, with my mum, a few years ago. We booked a little cottage in the country and explored around as we pleased. We have some fantastic memories and stories from that week.
E - Elegantly dressed, I am not! It's comfort and easy wash / low iron that I look for in clothes. But I do admire women who look like they have a touch of 'polish' about them (their legs are shaved, for a start!!)
V - Very very very addicted to sweet things, since having Naomi. Savoury used to be my downfall - now I crave that sugar rush!
E - Every cloud has a silver lining. I am working on trying to see the good in things, and being more positive about life.

Now, I am not going to do specific tags -- but anyone who reads this and wants to play along, just link back to this post from your blog, and we can have us a miniature bloggy carnival together!

A nice recipe....

The Recipe For Sasha

3 parts Impishness 2 parts Tolerance 1 part Vitality Splash of Style Finish off with whipped cream

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

I played with this link this afternoon, while Naomi had a nap. Have to laugh at what it came up with for me... I am quite cheeky, but my patience can be seriously stretched, and as for vitality -- I can't even find the energy to take my multi-vitamins - what chance Vitality??

A splash of style - um, cargo pants and a weetbix-smeared t-shirt?. But give me the whipped cream, baby ... preferably on top of a decadent Death By Chocolate dessert!!!