When one thing leads to another...

This is what happens when you get your sewing machines out to give them a clean...

You remember that pair of corduroy jeans you bought ages ago that are still sitting in the bag in the wardrobe...

They were a bargain at $40 down from $149.95 - they are R.M Williams and are such a great fit... except for the length.

Then again, I always have a problem with length and am accustomed to shortening all of my trousers.

So, then I made up a little drawstring bag and burp cloths for a relative's new twin boys (who are oh-so-cute!) but I forgot to take a photo of it.  I got the idea from here.

And because I love Posie Patchwork's blog and would love to have a go at making some of what she does, silly me thought, "How hard can it be?"

So I gathered up some scraps from my scrap fabric bag and this is what I came up with.

It was going to be a bag but because everything was cut without measuring (why is it my things always go missing???  that's right, i have children!!!) it came out kind of crooked.

I had to do some trimming to try and get it into a square shape and decided it will become a (small) cushion instead.

I think it looks cute and quirky.

Not bad for a first attempt and I had no idea what I was doing.

Maybe next year I might invest in a cutting board...

The joys of life...

This is how I spend many of my nights.

Curled up on the couch.

Watching tv, knitting and chatting with the children.

Or sometimes we read to each other (they think it's funny when I read to them because I always tend to put on funny voices that never quite remain consistent...)

I'm knitting a scarf for when we go skiing.

This is wool that I bought for $2 a ball and so far I've only had to use 2 balls.

I think I might use the rest of the balls to make another scarf as a gift.

I love being at home with my family.

Bargain shopping

I bought some lovely wool on sale for $2 a ball yesterday.

It is a lovely blue/grey wool blend.

I bought five 50g balls and have already started on a new scarf (even though I am already working on another scarf).

And I will make a lovely knitted hot water bottle cover.

I saw one at a shop for $20!  I nearly fell over when I saw the price.

I'm not that good at knitting - plain and purl squares and rectangles are all I seem to manage.

The Groom is over seeing knitted dish clothes, so I'm sure scarfs and hot water bottle covers will make a pleasant change for him to watch me create.

I'm sure one or more of the finished items will end up as Christmas presents.

We're going to visit family overseas later this  year and I'm sure something will make their way over there with me for them.

If they're lucky!

If I don't keep it for myself...

Christmas Gifts

This is the season for giving.

Giving doesn't have to necessarily be about 'stuff' that can be wrapped or unwrapped.

Giving can also include those gifts that money cannot buy; consideration, time, love, hugs, laughter.

As a family, we have always donated something at Christmas time, be it under the Mayor's Christmas tree, the K-Mart or Target tree or the like, The Smith Family. I try not to donate money if I can because I find it detracts from the message I'm trying to send to my children.

I take them to choose a gift or make something if we can. Then we wrap it and deliver it to wherever it needs to go.

This year we donated excess produce from our vegetable garden. Hopefully this way, more than one person can benefit.

I would love to volunteer our time one year to the Salvation Army in preparing and serving a Christmas Day meal to their clients. That is something that I cannot do I feel until the children are older, I can't supervise them and devote my attention to the task of meals at the same time. That is something we'll do later, together.

I love Sew Mama Sew's blog and came across this challenge. I love the idea but we don't gift to anyone really outside of the children or to one niece (it's a long story) at Christmas. But I can do this for my random gifts that I like to do. I hope you like the challenge and be inspired to follow along. I know I shall, I love making bags.

A few of my favourite things...

My handsome 5 month old boy.

This is our second boy dog; we were given a 5 year old Wolfhound cross earlier this year. He was a big, hairy, dopey fellow, but sadly he died after being bitten by a snake. This new little fellow loves nothing more than wrestling with the girls and carrying around shoes and anything else he can get his mouth on to!

He is already as big as our 'middle' girl, who is 1 and who we got from the pound last year

I love picnics in the park, especially in a North Queensland winter.

The animals we find around our property are things we would never have likely come across in the 'burbs.

We found this poor soul floating in the dogs' water bucket. She had swallowed heaps of water and after an overnight stay at the vet, we brought her back home to discover she'd laid an egg on the drive back.

Unfortunately, I had the box upside down and the lid fell open as I was carrying her out to a lilly-pilly bush to release her close to an old nest.

I love sewing.

I love this tablecloth I made.

The colors are so pretty and brightens up our otherwise dark house. I can't wait until we repaint everything off-white.

Such pretty fabric.

This is the floral and lace false pelmet I made for my daughter's muslin bedroom curtains.

***

I also love the sound of the water falling in the fountain on the front porch.

I love eating mint Mini-Magnums in the afternoon - just before dinner-time. Who said dessert has to come last?

I love sitting at the computer feeling the gentle breeze of the pedestal fan on my back.

I love holding The Princess's hand as we walk along.

I love hearing the telephone ring and hearing my remaining grandmother's voice on the other end when I answer. It's a link to my childhood and reminds me of freshly made scones with jam and cream.

My favourite thing of all... life.

Starting to think about Christmas presents...

It's not that far away when you really think about it.

It's closer than you think if you are planning to make things yourself to give as gifts.

It's all so scary.

The Princess and I were wading through multiple pages on the internet today (actually, it was originally the one site that we looked at but you know how these things happen), and came across many ideas we could use.  My Princess is very 'artistical' as she once described herself, and is always making something or drawing.  Her favourite things to draw are fairies and mermaids.  She is currently designing her own clothing range - including prices - that I think is rather lovely.  I wonder if this may one day lead to something...

Anyhoo, we came across a wonderful site called Executive Homemaker and there were so many brilliant ideas on it we soon discovered we'd spent almost 2 hours looking and clicking!  

There was also this lovely alphabet poster at Yellow Mums that I think would be lovely framed for my nieces.  Never mind the fact that I promised one of them a lavender stuffed sleep doll to one of them once we'd got settled in at the new house!  I can pick up some cheap raw timber photo frames from the discount shops and paint them in a matching color and they'd look wonderful.

I would like to try soap making so I might spend more time searching through this site for something easy and suitable for a beginner.  I think that almost everyone loves hand made soap, especially when it smells pretty.

Of course, fabric bunting is on my list of things to make, too.  I'm going to make some eventually to drape through the trees in the chicken yard once it's up and going.  Hopefully it'll help keep the eagles and hawks away, and give the chooks something pretty to look at (and maybe take their minds off trying to escape into the vegetable patch next to their yard!).

As a rule, we tend to only buy for the children in our family.  We have one niece who lives overseas and unless they are out here for a visit, we don't normally give her anything.  It is too expensive to post things to whichever country they are living in at the time.  My nephew is really boy-ish and likes trucks, but I always try to give him books if I can.  Failing that it's clothing.  Another niece is very girly and loves dolls, dress-ups, and the bunting I gave her last year went down really well.  

We don't give anything to our parents or siblings.  We rarely give each other gifts, we just buy ourselves something we want instead.  Christmas is about children we believe.

What are you doing for Christmas?

My "MamaMoontime" posy

I was so excited to receive this gorgeous posy, from MamaMoontime, in the post on Friday afternoon when I got home.  I had to dash off an email and tell her that it had arrived.  So, THANK YOU!!!!!  I am so humbled and grateful.

The Princess was given this for Valentine's Day, and she was so excited she almost burst into tears.  I think it will go beautifully in a white ceramic vase when we eventually move.  We're painting her next room in a lovely light aqua and the pink flowers will stand out against the aqua.  

I made this tablecloth last Thursday out of some fabric I had laying around.  I paid about $4 for 1.5m of fabric from Spotlight ages ago as it was an end-of-bolt deal.  It's not quite long enough to hang over the ends of the table, but I made it for the outdoor table really.  I'm going to find some wide, white Broderie trim and attach it to the edges.  I am not a big fan of green, but this apple green gingham is so cute and fresh looking.  And it goes well with the pink flowers!

On the table, next to the fruit bowl (the metal basket was a wedding present years ago and I made the inner basket myself out of the things palm seeds are attached to - thanks to Marion Gaemers who had a workshop and exhibition at the Strand Ephemera), are some napkins I was making last week.  I bought the linen at the half-price Lincraft sale and appliqued some lovely little birds on them.  It is all the same pattern but in different pink patterned fabric.  I'm quite pleased with them and have used them every night at dinner since.  I've got four others sewn up and waiting to be appliqued.  I am still deciding what to put on them.  Underneath the fruit bowl is a 'place mat' that I bought as a bundle of 6 for ONE WHOLE DOLLAR last month at Pillow Talk.  They all have white embroidered butterflies at each end and are so cute.  I don't think they are big enough for place mats so I'm using some as doilies and the rest I think I shall incorporate into other projects.  I think the gods have smiled on me lately!

We have had no luck on the home-selling front which is annoying.  There was 12 less pages in the real estate lift out than there was in the Saturday paper, so it is definitely a buyer's market.  Could everyone else please just not advertise their home this weekend and let us get a sale???  There are so many things I plan to do but just cannot while the house is for sale.  We do have two more lots of people coming through tomorrow evening, which means I have to load up the kids and dogs at dinner time and get something from a drive-through.  I'm hoping these people won't spend almost 1 and half  hours like another couple did one evening!

Don't forget to check out the bag I'm offering to give away in my last post.  I will contact the new owner tomorrow.  

I'm off to take out the mini-chocolate muffins I've been cooking.  Yum!

It's here! My little bag give-away!!!

Ta Da...

I have finished my sewing today in order to get some housework done before picking up The Princess and Little Man from school, so here is the bag I have chosen to gift to a lovely reader.  I call it the "Amber" bag, in honour of MamaMoontime.

"Amber"

You'll have to excuse my dreadful lighting, it's been storming here for the past couple of days so there's no sunlight, only my ceiling lights, to show off this pretty little bag.

The bird is the Wendy bird pattern from Lolly Chops.  I love her stuff, it's so cute.  

I will be upfront and confess that I am not a perfect sewer, my seams and cutting has never been straight and measuring rarely enters my mind before I start cutting.  But, this bag is made with care and grace.  And I think it looks cute to boot!  Perfect for those impromptu shopping trips or just because you want to take it out.

I've done some shocking sewing projects over the years that I've been sewing (since I was a child actually), including my pouffy-sleeved 80's formal dress that looked lovely at the time but heaven's above - what was I thinking with all that pouff???  So, I'd love to hear from you about your hand-made home-made disasters.  And be sure to add me to the blogs you follow as I'm sure I'll have lots more to give away over time.  I'll be reading your comments and I'll let you know who gets to 'adopt' Amber on Tuesday.  

Sssshhhh, just don't look too hard at the seams!

Sewin' and a plannin'

I was lucky enough to be chosen by Amber at MamaMoontime to be the lucky recipient of her gorgeous posy of felt flowers.  It was the first time I put my name in the 'hat' for anything like that on a blog so I was happy to win it, I didn't think I would win as I only made a comment about my hopes for The Princess when she one day navigates the emotions of love.  

I've been making some lovely calico bags over the past couple of days in preparation for up-coming birthdays and Christmas presents, as well as linen napkins and tea-towels.  I would like to give away one of my bags to a fellow blogger, so when I've finished making some more I shall decide on one I am happy to give away (the last one was made last night as I was watching Cougar Town so there's a few little errors in stitching and I'd be ashamed to pass it on to you).   We don't have an open house this weekend so I hope to get more done over the next couple of days and I will post a picture of the selected bag that will be up for grabs.  My little bags are plain and simple ones with some little applique bits on them, so if you are interested, add me to your 'follow' bit and keep an eye out for them.

I'm so excited to be sharing something of mine with someone outside of my own family!

Latest Finds

Well, The Princess had her art workshop today so Little Man and I wandered around the mall, he in his new sneakers and me with my dodgy knee.  

The art Creation by The Princess is beautiful and ready to grace the wall in her new room when we move.  She put a lot of thought and effort into her work and she can't wait to show it to The Groom.

I found some wonderful treasures today while shopping.  

In an antique shop I came across a little wood and brass barometer.  The Groom has wanted one for ages.  Actually, the one I really wanted was $695 and really old and fancy, so I settled for a smaller, more simple version.  It is his birthday shortly so once I've gently cleaned it with an old toothbrush it should come up a treat.  Secretly, I coveted a copper Victorian bed warmer that was hundreds of dollars but as it rarely gets cold in the tropics I don't see how I could even begin to justify that purchase!  

In an op-shop I found two side plates by Wedgewood.  It is their "Avocado" range in yellow, both stamped.  One has a small chip on the edge but they are lovely.  They were $4.50 each.  I looked them up online when I got home and they are 1960's vintage.  Very cute even if they are not in my regular blue and white range.  I pictured them sitting on the outdoor table with a couple of ginger snap biscuits and a cup of coffee beside them.  

I picked up a linen hand embroidered and crocheted edged table cloth for $12.50.  I am soaking it in napisan at the moment and hoping the couple of feint stains in the linen disapper.  It is lovely and couldn't resist it.  The off-white linen goes well with the Wedgewood plates.

Little Man insisted on having a roulette game that cost $4.50.  I don't know why he would want it but I let him anyway.  It was more because he found a cute little stuffed teddy bear with a multi-colored jacket that he wanted to give to his sister that I agreed to buy the roulette.   He couldn't wait until she finished her art workshop to present her with the bear, it was so sweet.

I also found a $1 trashy novel for myself; a $3.50 Wilbur Smith novel for The Groom and a bunch of Pony Pals books for The Princess at $1 each.  So all in all, it was a lovely day - despite the massively long walk we had to undertake to avoid paying for parking.  But the best part of the walk was that I discovered a new fabric shop that holds quilting classes.  I've left my details so that I can be notified of their next lot of classes.  The fabric range was beautiful and my head is already filling with craft ideas!

Now I just have to get the house ready for tomorrow afternoon when the agent wants to bring a couple in to view the house.  Normally I'd tell them to come to the next open house, but you never know if this could be the person with a cheque book!

I'm off to wash the plates and then settle down with my trashy novel before getting started on dinner.  Tonight it is chicken stir fry with egg noodles.

A bit of a chuckle here and there...

We got the report from the real estate agent today on the 'feedback' from Sunday's viewing.  Let me just say it was amusing but very frustrating, with dash of optimism added for good measure.  Some people said the house is out of their price range (but there is currently no price on it as it's going to auction!!!???); another is looking for investment properties in the low $400k's; another said she liked the house but doesn't want to buy in this suburb (so you are here because...?); and, amusingly, another person said she wanted bigger rooms (sorry, love, I'll just whack on more square metreage for you while you wait).  On a positive note, two have indicated they would come to the auction.  Whether they turn up and bid or not is another matter.  So what have I learned from this exercise?  While I love my house others may not see it in the same light as I do, and everyone is out for a bargain, ourselves included when we were looking around for our next property.  Now the shoe is on the other foot and it's frustrating.  Oh well, my dream is on hold for yet another week.

Tomorrow The Princess will be attending an art workshop at a local gallery so Little Man and I have a few hours to ourselves.  I am trying to think of things to do with him that he is interested in, but sadly, our CBD mall is dead, uninviting and extremely unappealing.  I do have some errands to do that I can do in town, so once they are out of the way I think we shall head to the library or the museum until it is time to collect The Princess and then go home.  Mostly our aim will be to head to anywhere it is airconditioned or undercover.  It is hot and threatening to rain and being an open-air mall there's not a lot of places to escape to.  I also need to remember to pack her art smock and a light lunch for her.  Maybe there shall be some left over roast lamb from dinner tonight for a lamb salad or roll?

I'm itching to get back into sewing but I don't want to have to keep pulling out all of my stuff and then packing it away.  Instead, I've gone back to knitting more dishcloths to stockpile for Christmas gifts this year.  I hope to make some corn, cheese and chive muffins this afternoon since I'll be using the oven for the roast, and then I shall fold some washing after dinner is finished.  I just hope it doesn't rain tomorrow as we have a long walk into the mall - I refuse to pay for parking in a 'dead' place.  At least it is exercise for us all and we have umbrellas for 'just in case'.

A new year, a new life

It has been more than a month since my last post - how that sounds like a Confession!  I have been busily sewing last-minute gifts for Christmas, putting together gift hampers and preparing for life in general.  It seems like a lot has been done yet when you look at it things have been relatively quiet for us.  I am taking the view that children do not need their days crammed full of stuff or for me to be their entertainer.  So, much to their chagrin, I am allowing them to get bored so they have to find a way to deal with it.  I keep telling them "bored people are boring people".  It seems to be very slowly sinking in to them!

We went away over Christmas and New Year.  It was lovely but too long to spend with others for one to not go a bit insane.  Sadly, some people drink rather too much to the detriment of others.  Values and beliefs are really brought to the fore when staying with others, too!  Other than that, it was quite nice to get away.  But I could not wait to get home and back to all that is familiar and my own routine.  Now I have a mountain of washing I'm slowly getting through before we have yet another open-house this weekend.  

We have decided to place our house up for auction.  We are tired of tyre-kickers who are just passing an afternoon, or are looking for a bargain and aren't really interested in our home.  At least with an auction those who come ready to bid are serious about our house.  I hope!  We just want to begin our new life at our new property and all the space it will allow us.   The children got a little motorbike for Christmas and are eager to ride it.  My Little Man is really good at riding it after a couple of hours at a friend's property and he also learnt to lean in to the corners.  The Princess isn't so 'able'.  I think she gets her co-ordination skills (or lack of) from me.  The children have been interested in paint sample cards at the hardware store and are eager to take an active role in how their new bedrooms should look.  When we built this current house they were quite young so they didn't have a say really.  I'm a bit worried about the Little Man's choices though, dark blue and red are not really something I can readily agree to.  The Princess, being such a girly-girl, has gone for pinks, lilacs and aquas.  We shall see how it all goes I think.  

Today we made calico library bags and they painted their own pictures on them.  Little Man went a bit overboard on the paint so I'm hoping it will be dry by tomorrow so it can be ironed on to set the paint.  The Princess is more artistic and so she took a lot of time and put a lot of thought into hers, which came out lovely and I'm so proud of her efforts.  I bought some cardboard templates of flowers and people at the discount store yesterday, so later we might decorate them and they can be put aside for up-coming birthdays for cards or gift tags.  We also have a big ziplock bag full of shells and bits and pieces we collected at the beach on our holiday.  The Princess and I plan to make a lovely windchime for our new house to hang on the verandah.  With the rest of the shells I plan to use them to decorate old wooden picture frames with a friend's daughter when she comes over to play next week.  Myself, I'm just itching to get back into sewing but cannot really get too into it until our house sells and we move.  It's such a pain having to pack things up as soon as I've finished or at the end of the day - for 'just in case someone wants to inspect the house'.  The Princess and I plan to sell surplus vegetables at a little roadside market once our new place is up and running, and while there I thought I could sell some bags, pot holders and whatever else I end up making.  We have decided that whatever money we make will go back into chicken feed or seeds and things.  And it will be a good learning experience for her in money-handling and the like.

Well, we have just turned on the airconditioner and we shall settle down to watch some DVDs we bought for $2 yesterday while I fold washing.  This time of the year in the tropics is often unbearable without airconditioning unless you are at the beach with a good breeze.  This is 'the build-up'  time of the year where it is usually very humid with barely a breath of air; I call it 'the doldrums' because everyone gets cranky as the weather promises storms but never delivers.  But you know what?  I wouldn't live anywhere else!  

Today, I am grateful for the airconditioner and that we have money to pay the bill to run it!

Today I am grateful for...

I've been quite sad and rather reflective since my grandmother died.  The parcel I wrote about previously was not the one I was expecting.  Instead it was a rather mundane set of replacement number plates.  Oh well.

I am still trying to work out where I fit in this world, funnily enough.  I do not feel I have a close relationship with my mother or my sisters; I have always been seen as the 'odd one out'.  It doesn't really bother me as my values and beliefs are quite different to theirs, and this was really obvious to me after my grandmother's funeral.  What does bother me is the sense of loss in relation to 'connections' and 'belonging'.  Sometimes I feel like I am a bit of a "Nowhere (wo)Man" (John Butler Trio's wonderful song with its title paraphrased by me).  The Groom says that it's okay, we have each other and most importantly we have our own family we have created together.  He is right, of course.

Anyway, today I have been thinking about the things I am grateful for.  I try to do this when I am feeling down or 'sad and sorry' for myself.  So here goes:

1. A home to live in and to care for
2. A family to love and who loves me back
3. Money to buy whatever I need
4. My red dog who feels comfortable enough to want to lay all over me whenever she can
5. My white dog who is relatively small enough to still be picked up for a brief hug before I have to put her down again because she is too heavy for me
6. A nice car that can take me places I need or want to go
7. The sense of smell so I can enjoy the smell of our dinner wafting through the house as it sits simmering on the stove (it's a stew with leftover vegetables and roast lamb from during the week)
8. The gift of life for another day!

I sent off my other grandmother's hand made shopping bag and knitted dishcloth/duster last week.  I have also found a lovely doll pattern on AllFreeCrafts for a Sleepy Time Doll.  I am going to make matching dolls for my daughter and a niece.  But rather than fill it with wadding I shall use wheat and lavender flowers so it can be used as a heat pillow.  Both girls are very 'girly' and are looking forward to me getting around to making it!  I am also considering making some pretty bunting for my daughter's window in her bedroom and also a lovely string of fabric hearts.  Considering Christmas is coming up I may even make some Christmas-ey ones!

I love searching for other people's blogs and see what they do and how they live in order to make their lives and the world a better place.  So far I am liking Little Eco Footprints, Frugal Family Fun Blog, and as always, Down to Earth to catch the latest words of wisdom from Rhonda.  In a sense, I consider Rhonda as a kind of mother or grandmother figure for me.  A woman who is dispensing all the sorts of advice my mother ought to have, and the type my grandmothers did but I probably didn't take notice of as I was just a typical  teenager who couldn't be told anything at the time they were trying to teach me things!  

A big hurrah for women around the world who are more than happy to share their knowledge like Rhonda does.  And a big hurrah to you, too, for being who you are!