Project 52, Week 12

The kids have been pretty well spoilt with visits from both Nanna and Nanny Ann this week and the local show at the larger town next to us. Mia and I went to CWA and then our favourite day of the month, Craft (where I am slowly but surely hand quilting a baby quilt for a friend). There was also the swim club windup and tennis closing day. Ian and I even went out without the kids to a quiz night since Nanna was available to babysit.

The weather has finally turned too. 

Happy Easter xx

Project 52, Week 11

Slack on the photo taking this week, only 3 days!

Had my first weekend to Perth for the year. So proud of myself for sticking to my resolution of not making so many trips this year. We went for a family reunion and my Dad's birthday. We also met friends for a picnic breakfast at the beach who also happened to have their birthday on Saturday. I have wanted to make it to the Sculptures by the Beach at Cottesloe for a few years and I finally made it, though I don't think any of my pictures do it justice. Next time I will have to be more dedicated and be there for sunrise and the pretty light.

It was off to Beverley during the week for Great Grand Poppa Will's funeral. A beautiful goodbye.

I hope you had good week!

Mx

Project 52, Week 10

Another weekend full of cousins and Grandma which is always a delight, with sparkler fun if they're lucky. Unfortunately we got the phone call on Sunday morning that sadly but expectedly Ian's Grandfather passed away. Then it was a short week for school with the labour day long weekend and a staff development day.

I actually enjoyed Charlie's electronics ban and not having the idiot box on all the time. Ah the serenity! The little man has taken his ban very well and I'm happy to see he does still know how to play without a screen. We will be starting back with the iPad with some new rules and limitations, but I would just love to continue with a blanket ban. I don't think he'd take that quite so well however.

And I've been a little sad, I think I've worked out part of the reason. I'm turning 40 this year which I'm not thrilled about, though I'm happy to have another birthday as the alternative is not life. Anyway, in an effort to save money I have stopped a couple of beauty treatments/maintenance and I think unfortunately it has been false economy in a way, because as much I believe beauty is only skin deep and not who I really am etc. etc. it makes me a little sad when I look in the mirror and don't like what I see.  Now if only I could be bothered to put makeup on maybe it would be ok, but that means being organised and washing it off at night! I have made contact with a BAI brow artist and just taking that first step has made me happy.

I hope you enjoyed last weekends extra day!

Mx

Project 52, Week 9

Ian was away for a night doing a mercy dash to the chiropractor for his back, and then worked the weekend to make up for it. We had another Saturday night without power from a thunderstorm. I am pleased with myself for not doing what I did last time that exact thing happened. I still have not had an alcoholic beverage since that incident. Pain is a powerful motivator!

I'm worried about wasting time getting sidetracked by a FarmVille/Nemo's Reef game on the iPad, this one Charlie wanted, it is all about dragons..... thankfully we deleted that game and I don't have to use any self restraint in keeping myself away from it. It's the only way it works for me.
Ian was away again for meetings in Perth and a review of his sleep apnea at the Sleep Centre. Yep, he still needs it. We were hoping his weight loss would have improved things. It has helped with the frequency and ferocity of his snoring though but he doesn't snore using the CPAP.

But the major event for me this week was having to decide how to handle our five year old punching me. We try and stay away from punishments and rewards but I was so upset by the event. Not just the fact that my boy hit me but then all the worries and fears that I'm doing a terrible parenting job and raising an arsehole. So upsetting I made myself sick. Anyway, we are on a total electronics ban for a week.

I think I need to reread some of my parenting books.

Mx

Project 52, Week 8

Well this weekend is almost over and I'm trying to remember last weekend for week 8. We had a trailer load of wood bought up from the city and I got a new wood box made out of an old ute tray. CWA started again for the year. I picked my Mother's Day present up from the nursery at the hardware store, I ordered myself a Mother's Love rose bush. I didn't want it till closer to Mother's Day, but they ordered it and it came. I also picked up another blueberry bush and that pretty you see up there, an echinacea/coneflower. One of my goals for the year is to really make some headway with the garden/lack of garden here...
And..... it was Photoshop Week all week on CreativeLIVE so I've spent a bit of time watching that....

Anyway, I hope you had a good week and the week coming is good too.

Mx

Project 52, Week 7

Just an ordinary week. We had a new couple to town over for dinner, we played tennis, Pa came for a night, I stopped being so sad but then felt a bit directionless, I sewed the top of a dolls quilt, we had a heat wave so I was diligent with getting up and watering the garden, we ignored valentines day, we searched and destroyed calthrop (the weed with diabolical prickels).

Whatever your week entailed I hope it was good!

Mx

Project 52, Weeks 5 and 6

Week 5 was tough!!  It was the first week of school. This is only my second year having a child at school and I get really sad. I was expecting to feel sad so I don't know why I was surprised by actually being sad. I was probably hoping that knowing I was going to feel sad would help me be less sad. Nope. Oh and more summer rain, and first day of school was freezing trying to get photos before class.

Week 6 was easier. We had a wonderful weekend with my Mum and niece visiting. Gosh my kids get excited about their cousins. Well they are precious really, they only have 2 and they aren't getting any more. Unfortunately hubs was in bed all weekend with headcold/dizzyness which he hasn't managed to fully shake a week later. At least it forced him to have a couple of days off.

I hope your back to school has gone well if you are in that stage of life. And I suppose happy Valentines for tomorrow. I'm pretty sure we have exactly zero romantic plans for the day... I would love to go out for breakfast if we had that option here in our town.

Mx

Project 52, Week 4

Week 4::

We've had very un-summery weather here for January this week, I wouldn't quite say it's been cold but certainly rainy or overcast. It is the last week of school holidays and our wee man starts back Monday, five days a week. I've been anxious about missing him but it has settled down somewhat. Next week when Charlie is in school my plan is to do what I wanted to do in January... get organised and go through a bunch of stuff. I figured that the school holidays with the kids underfoot asking for something every five minutes was not the best time to rip stuff out of the shed and the cupboards!

Hubby working too much, needs to recharge by having at least one day off! That's him top left taking a 3D scan of the side of the house, in hopes of designing and building a deck before my big 4 0 in October.

I'm not sad about the rainy, cooler, overcast weather we've had and I hope you've enjoyed whatever type of weather you've had wherever you are.

Mx

Project 52, Week 3

Week 3::

A wonderful weekend was had celebrating our littlest turning 3. The kids were so excited to have their two cousins here plus Grandma and Aunties Tori and Claudie. There was a lot of party food and a lot of Wii was played. We also enjoyed quite a bit of summer rain this week which means playing in muddy puddles. And I can't forget that hubby hung a vanity in the kids bathroom with only a slight bit of nagging, we've only been in a year and half!

Have a wonderful week!

Mx

The Minimalists New Podcast

[source: bemorewithless]

I've loved The Minimalists since I was on my minimalism kick and read Everything That Remains. I was so happy to find out recently they are now doing a podcast!

I love listening to podcasts as I drive the 100km round trip to do the weekly grocery shop, and this one reminds me that my life is easier to manage when I have less stuff. Excess stuff can get in the way of what's really important.

As the minimalists say at the end of their podcast "love people and use things, because the opposite never works".

Mx

Project 52 Week 2

Week 2 ::

The most memorable yet forgettable thing about this week was the power going out on the Saturday afternoon at the start of a summer storm. I blame that for throwing my normal plans out the window and staying up late drinking at a friend's house. Ugh. I can not ride a hang over any more and detest the wasted day afterwards. So, I'm breaking up with alcohol. It doesn't make me feel good, and I always regret it!

Mx

A 52 Project, Week 1

I am joining my MIL in a Facebook group of other women trying to improve their photography by encouraging one another in a 52 project. As much as I'd love to do a 365 photo a day project a weekly project is infinitely more achievable for me. (I have actually attempted a 365 several times and they end up being about 180's!)

I do love the visual diary they make of our lives though. To also sharing this project with my own Mother who is not on FB I will endeavour to post my photos here on this ole neglected blog too.

Wk1...

Happy 2016, I hope you have a wonderful year!

Mx

Quick Mosaic

Something else for my Mum to look at when she faithfully checks to see if I've updated my blog every morning.

Just my favourite photos from Instagram of the last couple of months. I've been continuing with Camera Club and won my second Gold for the year last month for this photo of Mia at the local Ag Show. She reminds me of a sad faced clown. 

We are all well, except I've been so tired for the last week I feel like I'm first trimester pregnant! And I'm certainly not. The end of the year is fast approaching and as much as I love Perth and all my friends and family there next year I'm going to be really tough with myself about not going quite so often. I only have two more weekends at home for the rest of the year! And I love being at home!! Anyway, if anybody else reads my blog apart from my Mum, I hope you are well and happy. And of course I wish that for you too Mum!

Mx

My Mother has been so good, it's been so long since I updated this here blog and she hasn't even reminded me. Perhaps it's because she knows a few of the reasons why....

My computer died and Mia dropped the iPad. I have a beautiful new iMac now so it all ended well. Thank goodness for the automatic back up system Mac's have called Time Machine, I lost nothing! And she knows how sick I got with that stupid flu because she came and looked after me after I got stupid vertigo after having the stupid flu already for over a week.

Enough excuses. I am quickly updating here before I tackle a massive laundry mountain. I wish it was only this big!

But sadly it is piles bigger and sitting on top of my dining table. I could stash it in the guest room but that is a dangerous step in to what flylady calls the stash and dash. I have been doing my flylady routines and my house has never been as clean or tidy. I think I am actually on the road to being organised!! Imagine that, I'm even dusting. If you've never come across her go check out her encouragement and practical steps that help those of us that were not born organised.

I hope you all have managed to keep your immune systems strong and have dodged the awful flu. Looking for silver linings at least getting sick was a good wake up call that I need to be doing more to look after myself.

Much love
Mx

Polka Dot Skulls Circle Scarf

 I spotted this skull polka dot fabric as I was headed out the door at Mum's local Textile Traders. I thought it was pretty cool and snapped a photo for Instragram.

A friend liked it and asked if I could make her a scarf. So I did. I actually made two, one with pom pom fringe and one without. One for her and one for her sister. It only took me... ooh, 14 months. Not bad! haha.

Anyway, they're made now, and now that I have photographed and dutifully blogged I can post them off. If you are interested in making your own circle scarf I loosely followed the instructions here on Purl Soho.

It's my beautiful Mother's birthday today. I wish I had this post ready for you to find this morning Mum, Happy Birthday xx

Mx

Ermm, Happy Mother's Day?

So my darling Mother doesn't have to see Ian's Muesli every morning when she checks if I've updated my blog here is a quilt I just finished :)
Just like all the other baby quilts I have made except with different fabrics. For a dear friend and her gorgeous baby girl who I'm proud to say has only had one birthday before she'll be receiving her quilt.

Next up I have Charlie's baby quilt which is really not a baby quilt seeing as he'll be five in September (how did that happen?!?!) and is probably single bed size. Am I crazy to be considering hand quilting it?

I wouldn't normally point out faults but you can see how the fabric has pulled with the quilting lines in this quilt so some of the squares do not look "square", it's because I can not seem to get an even feed through my machine, even with the walking foot. So maybe hand quilting is the answer...

I have nearly finished one practice piece of hand quilting. That means I'm ready right?! Well doing Charlie's quilt would give me a lot of practice (and it would be a great 10th birthday present, ha).

We'll see. Any way, Happy Mother's Day for Sunday Mum. I love you xxx. I love the rest of you too xxx.

Mx

Ian's Muesli

With Ian's new grain avoiding diet I have been making his breakfast "cereal" from scratch. I laugh because I made this a few times before Ian's change and he refused to try it, now I'm not allowed to let it run out. Luckily it is very quick and easy to make.

It is based on the Coconutty granola from the first I Quit Sugar Cookbook by Sarah Wilson.

Ian's Muesli

• 200g coconut flakes
• 80-100g shredded coconut
• 100g almonds
• 70-80g cashews
• 70-80g macadamias
• 70-80g cashews
• 60g pistachios
• 50g sunflower seeds
• 50g pumpkin seeds
• 50g dried cranberries
• 2 Tbs chia seeds
• 70g coconut oil (melted)

Roughly chop the almonds, macadamias, cashews and pistachios. Add to a large bowl with the coconut flakes and shreds, and sunflower and pumpkin and chia seeds. Warm the coconut oil if needed and pour over the mix stirring it through. You can add the cranberries now or after baking. Spread out over two or three large baking trays and bake for approx 15mins at 120-130 degrees celcius. Leave it to cook for a little longer if you like it more toasted. Let cool and transfer to an air tight container. 

Ian has it with rice milk for breakfast and I have it as an after dinner snack on top of vanilla greek yoghurt. So delicious!

Hope you have some lovely plans for Easter, even if it they are just to stay home like we are.

Mx

Camera Club

Now that Mia is 2 and I'm not worried about driving 50km's and half an hour away from her for an evening I have joined the local camera club in the next town. I am excited to be getting back in to my photography this year.

I went to my first meeting last week and it was good to hang out with other enthusiasts and get feedback from a professional photographer on the photos I submitted. Our theme for the month was water drop...

These are just a couple of instagrams of my attempts. These were taken on my big camera but I can now wifi images from my DSLR to my iPhone with the eye-fi card I got for Christmas. Fun.

I was heartened to get a silver for this photo of Mia and Pa that I submitted in the open section. The guest judge suggested photoshopping or cropping out the edge of the poster(?) at the top far right of the image. I find it hard to be objective about my own photos especially if they are of my babies, because the subject matter makes me love them regardless. I will go back and do that edit when I get a chance, I should also probably clone out that out of focus straw in the lower right too.

Our theme for next month is Mono Portrait. Just another excuse to take more photos of my babies! Which reminds me, I need to keep plugging away at last years photobook. I'm also shooting in RAW now too, so I've just subscribed to Adobe's Lightroom CC (which is bundled with Photoshop) but I haven't used it yet or done anything with my RAW files!

I hope you are all snapping a few pics of the special people in your life.

Mx

Imogen's Quilt

This little quilt is all washed and crinkly and ready to be delivered to it's intended, who is almost but not quite one! I have another just the same but with different fabrics basted and ready for quilting too. The intended for that quilt has turned one already however... Perhaps I shouldn't mention that Charlie's quilt top is ready for basting and this year he is turning 5! I have the backing and binding ready to go but have just had a thought that I might piece a block for the back if I can find one of Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon (rem, nope nothing like that out there, probably for the best!).

I let my friend pick out the fabrics so I can't take credit there. I did choose the pre made Liberty binding though and found I couldn't run my needle along the fold like I normally do and had to do little catching stitches, so as sweet as it is I think I'll stick to making my own.

Mx

Baby turns 2

This time two years ago I was in denial that I was having contractions and was actually in labour (you can read Mia's birth story here). And now Mia is having her afternoon nap and sleeping off a wee bit of celebratory sugar....

A very casual lunch with a couple of her little friends and blowing out of candles and Mia is pretty happy with this birthday thing.

The rest of the cake has been given away because Ian is off sugar and apparently my children don't like chocolate cake! The cake was pretty delicious and very easy. I have been wanting a piece of chocolate cake, specifically the kind that is usually available at random road houses and mostly for the icing, but the petrol station at York has failed me the last two times I've stopped in. I had to take  matters in to my own hands. Luckily the icing was spot on.

Mx