Joyce

While I'm on the subject of my relatives, this was my Gran. Such a beautiful little girl. Her creativity came out in the kitchen. I have her handwritten recipes which get more and more difficult to read but are a lovely reminder for me and my kids.

Great Granny's biscuits - Coconut Crisps

1/4 lb butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
2 cups cornflakes
1 1/2 cups coconut
1 egg
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Then dry ingredients. Add a little milk. Bake 12-15 mins.

To market, to market

Bit quiet on the blog front recently. I did actually write a post but felt it wasn't right and took it down - I'm a crazy worrier you know. We've had a sick, teething boy and various tradesmen in the house. Lots of tradesmen's bills to pay now. I've had a few of those "why do I actually persist with trying to have a business moments." It's pretty hard (as most of you will know) trying to juggle things around the kids. Generally it means, if I'm working, everything else slides - including housework, cooking and socialising. I've just cut Chloe back to one day a week in childcare and Arj had his first day (same day as Chloe) last week. The whole using childcare to work on a business that isn't really giving returns at the moment is very, very guilt inducing so if anything too negative happens on the work front it can make me feel like giving up pretty easily. Did that sentence make any sense?

I won't talk about the specific incident that triggered all this as it's over now and apologies have been made. The thing is I do love having my business (most of the time). It's been an amazing way for me to meet great friends (Mrs Burns and Mrs Smith, Kristen, Annie, Sophie, Selina and Jasperboy just for a start), it's given me so much more confidence in many areas - there was a time when I was embarassed about my making and challenged me to learn a huge amount. I get pretty toey if I don't get to sew or make for a while and, hey, I have to do something with the vast amounts of fabric that seems to make me buy it! So, I think the childcare is worth it. I think Arj will like playing with other littlies and I think it's been good for Chloe overall. I guess I'll always be in two minds about it.

Well, that was a bit of a stream of conciousness thing. It all just popped out. This was supposed to be about going to The Market in Hobart on October 3rd. Exciting. I'll come back later and do that post properly cos it deserves it.

Yergh and Eeww.

Poor Arj has been terribly sick this week. He's on the mend now but has teeth coming through too. Poor bloke.

Avert your eyes now if you don't want to know about baby poo.

He managed to splurt right out of his nappy and all over himself and his Dad, not to mention the floor. Ewwww. The good part - I was asleep and totally missed the whole occurence including the cleaning up!

Suprisingly I have actually managed a touch of sewing this week. The first since Niche and it felt good. More to come.

Happy Father's Day

This is the man. He never reads my blog so it's tempting to tell all sorts of funny stories about him. I won't though. I'll be nice. It is Father's Day after all.

He's had a hard week and is totally exhausted looking. So am I. I'm afraid I have to admit that he made the pancakes this morning as I couldn't shift myself out of bed. Oops. I did make him scrambled eggs for brekkie on Saturday and we did go out for dinner last night. Does that count?

I just read Gemma's post on Loz and Dinny. This one doesn't quite come up to the same standard! Sorry Sam.

Fashion Queen

Hmmm. Not doing a whole lot for my standing as a kid's clothing maker! This is how Chloe would get about every day if I let her.

Grrrr...

My good friend the other day commented that she tries to concentrate on the positives in her day. I am the kind of person who needs to be reminded to do this so it was great that she said it. I seem to get tangled up in the nitty gritty and forget about the big picture too.

It was a well timed comment. It's been one hell of a narky weekend here at grumblebum central. I'm wondering if the kids are getting sick again (or maybe are sick already). Arj is almost walking so perhaps he's just frustrated. He's raring to go but can only make it about 5 steps.

Some good things:

Enjoying sewing, sewing, sewing. I miss it when I'm not busy.

Listening to Sia - great sewing music and good for drowning out grumpers.

The almond tree next door has started to blossom (negative point: it's the only tree they didn't knock down with a backhoe a while back in their quest to have the largest, flattest, greenest lawn in our suburb - see I struggle to hang on to the good points).

Arj looks so, so cute toddling around.

Chloe has been singing lengthy songs about singing songs and having a lot of dvds.

Hot cheese scones.

Not having to cook the dinner (negative point: because the sink is leaking into my sewing room in a huge and scarey way and we don't want to wash up in the bathroom).

Red polka dot racing swimsuit I saw at the pool today. I may have to get me one.

This handbag

From Anthropologie. If I do OK at the market I may have to think seriously about this. The buttons are embroidered. Cute.

Sweet Tooth

**

Both my kids have definitely inherited my sweet tooth. Their Dad is much more restrained when it comes to fattening sugary things. Arj was in his element with the cakes at his birthday party. He was spotted determinedly licking his plate after demolishing a lump of birthday cake.

**AAARGH. Not again. I must be doing something wrong but I swear I already rotated this photo! I give up.

One

So, he's one. I'll follow the usual convention and say "Wow, I just can't believe how fast this year has gone." Totally true.

Arj is the happiest little boy you could imagine (apart from some occasions between about 2 and 4 in the morning and certain days when he crawls around behind me complaining.) He loves dancing and banging things. He loves a good wrestle and is completely adoring of his big sister. He makes me laugh even when my mood is pretty low and needless to say he provides me with a lot of cleaning, tidying, washing (note huge pile of laundry in photo background) and cuddles.

Mmmm, sausages!

Is there anything better than sausages cooked on the fire followed by a gentle walk in the bush? I love it. Three toasted marshmallow hyped girls enjoying a walk to Liffey Falls.

Food explosion

I'd forgotten just how messy mealtimes can be. Lucky I have Cinderella living with me.

Turn your head sideways now

Why, oh why does my internet connection dropout almost every single time I click upload photos in blogger. It drives me crazy so we're having sideways photos tonight. I swear I would blog more often if photo uploading wasn't quite so frustrating.

So what's news?

The kids are growing up so, so fast. Arj is 11 months now and I'm starting to think about birthday cakes. I love making cakes! Chloe has a thing about lighthouses so we went to visit one last week (and the fabric shop on the way!) and Arj has been getting in touch with his feminine side. And, oh, how cute he looks.

I'll be having a birthday very soon too. I'm hoping to have a celebration this year as last years got cancelled as my heavily pregnant self was sick.

I've been sewing but for ourselves and presents mainly. Still no work to speak of. The kids and I have been tag teaming with various illnesses. Not much sleep, a couple of late night trips to emergency (all fine now) and many trips to the GP. Fairly large amounts of cash have been handed over to pharmacists and tissue manufacturers. I'm hoping for a break now.

I've been dieting and exercising and am feeling so, so, so much better (apart from the colds) that I just can't stop telling everyone. Yay for online Weightwatchers. I never thought I'd join something like that but it has been so worthwhile. My clothes from before Arj fit now and it feels like I have a whole new wardrobe. I'm full of energy too and have been going for long walks and even the odd run.

I've been doing a lot of fabric buying in the (maybe deluded) hope that I'll get some work done soon.

We're getting weekly veggie boxes from Hilbarn and loving them.

This, if you know me, is pretty amazing news - I cook the dinner EVERY night (almost). Sam mustn't know what to do with himself now. This weird transformation coincided with the Hilbarn boxes, my diet and the realisation that cooking the dinner is something I can do myself without feeling guilty about not doing a jigsaw/colouring in/ sticking/ drawing etc, etc. Does anyone else have a child who doesn't want to do anything by themselves? It makes me feel terribly guilty as I feel like I say no all the time.

I seem to spend a vast proportion of my life folding washing. Ironing only when absolutely unavoidable.

I'm off to fold some now. Whoopee.

PS. I met a couple of very, very beautiful boys.

Cuties

Chloe is 3 in a week. I can't quite believe it. Arj is 5 months now. I find that even harder to believe. Thought it must be time for a photo!

Back from the brink...

... of becoming a non-blogger!

Blogging just hasn't been my thing for a little while. I expect I'll continue to come and go a bit. It's pretty hard to get anything done around here! Can't really blog endlessly about getting the kids up and dressed, changing the nappies, feeding Arj, not getting to the housework or the cooking, never mind the sewing endlessly. You (and I) would die of boredom.

To be honest (cos I'm not sure enough Mum's are) I've had some pretty low weeks and felt my emotions getting out of control. I feel like I'm getting past that stage now. Maybe it was hormonal - it seemed to coincide with my hair starting to fall out in a big way (Yay).



I have done a little bit of sewing. A pair of trousers for Arj and the beginnings of a quilt in American Jane's Wee Play fabric. I love them both and they've whetted my appetite for more sewing. Just got to work out how to get the kiddies to enjoy occupying themselves around me while I do it!



We managed to get away for a long weekend to Melbourne a while ago now. Had a lovely time wandering around the shops, botanical gardens and zoo. Had some great food and enjoyed the feel of being in the big smoke. Chloe, Arj and I had a lovely afternoon with Jen (Thanks so much for coming into the city to meet us) while Sam was cringing in the stands at the MCG watching his team disappoint him again!

Oh, yeah, and there's a few things listed on Etsy. Only what I have ready to go - I won't be making to order for a while.

Shopping

Meet Seagull. He goes absolutely everywhere with us and has done since Arj's birth. He was always a firm favourite but now he's the one and only. He's a goose or some insist a duck but around here he is most definitely called Seagull. Now when we see white ducks Chloe calls them Seagull ducks. This photo was taken yesterday when he was fresh from a little visit to the Seagull salon in our laundry. He could do with another visit already.

I recently hunted down a reserve Seagull online just in case. Needless to say the reserve is so white and plump he doesn't even look like the same species.



Slightly optimistic fabric buy. Quite a few yards from Joel Dewberry's new range. Deer Valley I think it's called. I love them but may have been kidding myself thinking I had time to do anything with them. And this is not all! I'm still waiting for another plump package to arrive. Not to mention the lovely goodies I've been snapping up locally.


Some letters for Arj's door or maybe a shelf. I'm desperate to get started on his room. The poor little bub is surrounded by our framed prints that haven't yet been given a home, a beautiful old huon pine chest I bought years ago for Sam to store his (annoyingly cluttering) piles of maps in and a few other small furniture items that we're yet to decide where to put. I wanted to get started on painting the old built ins in his room this weekend but it wasn't to be.

A spot of modelling

Chloe modelling her lovely Free Range Baby dress (Thanks again Jen. She loves it and so do I) at her Granny's house and Arj modelling his Granny's knitting (Thanks Mum. We love it too.). He's decided to think of it as an overcoat until he gets a bit bigger!

My photos are liable to get worse and worse - I just point and shoot without thinking at all now - time if of the essence.

Rain, rain, rain and mastitis. What fun we have had here! Oh, and I forgot to mention that Sam had a form of pneumonia resulting in excrutiating headaches for about a week and a half too. Things are looking up but the poor man has to go bring home the bacon tomorrow.

Lovely, lovely things!

We received the most amazing package in the mail the other day. It was from our lovely kind, generous friend, and true patron of handmade, Jen. I just had to show some pictures as it really demonstrates the amount of talented people producing great stuff. I was overwhelmed to put it mildly.



For Chloe, a beautiful vintage fabric handmade dress from Free Range Baby and a puzzle. Chloe is so, so into jigsaws at the moment so this is just perfect.





Romper suit and pouch from Grandy and Baa. This is a new design apparently and I can say it's just great. A car on the front pulling a caravan on the back. The fabrics are hard to see in my photos but they're perfectly chosen and very cute.



Gorgeous bibs in fabrics chosen by Jen and made up by her friend Janine. I'm very impressed - maybe a little business beginning! You obviously know my fabric tastes well Jen!



Stunning ball by Amy Badskirt (my photo is not doing it justice at all, the fabrics are vibrant and beautiful) and giraffe rattle in one of my most favourite fabrics (well chosen Jen!) from Ollie and Rose.



Cute birdie bib from Ivy Designs. I have a small stash of this fabric but not in this colourway. I have it in pink and also in yellow to make pjs for Chloe. I wanted to get the aqua but Chloe said no blue is for boys. I'm saving it for next winter now as she has an aversion to wearing pjs at the moment.



Last, but by no means least, some robots. A gorgeous bib from Curlypops and a cute, cute beanie from Olie and Rose.

So, as you can see this was such an exciting package, all wrapped beautifully in separate packages. Just lovely and so generous. And I've just spotted Jen here proving again how lovely she is. Not sure how I missed this before Jen, I was looking out for you on Badskirt.

Well, it took me a few days to finish this post. I meant to get it up really quickly to surprise Jen 'cos' she knows how slow I am! All is going well with Arj, I just have a lack of spare time!

Back to the seventies

Anyone who lived through some of the seventies will probably recognise what Chloe is up to in this photo. One of her favourite books is a kids cookbook that was mine. She has spent hours and hours of her short life poring over it so when Sam suggested she make the orange and cheese hedgehog (from the party snacks sections) she was incredibly excited. We now have an aging orange attached to chunks of dried out cheese taking pride of place on the kitchen table - because of course she didn't want to eat it.



Everything is going well with Arj. He's a good eater and sleeper (so far) so we're cruising along quite well. The only downfall has been battling bad colds and headaches for Sam and I. So far Arj has remained cold free which must be some sort of minor miracle given the amount of snot around here.

Thanks for all the lovely messages on the last post. I'm getting around to thanking everyone personally - it just might take me a while!

Just gorgeous

If I do say so myself.









Another denim dress for Chloe. The trim is vintage fabric found in Oatlands.

Is it just me or...

... do husbands stop taking photos of you once they have a pretty daughter? Hence this woefully fuzzy and unprofessional shot from about two weeks ago is the only one I have of me in my big bellied state. I've been meaning to blog since I took it but procrastination and slothishness has been winning.

The photo is taken in the soon to be nursery and the unpacking hasn't progressed much since then. It's starting to worry me but I'm sure the babe won't mind the odd packing box.

This is our messy new kitchen and one of our living areas. We've just had the floors in the other one polished so all the furniture is in here and the nursery. There's a lot to do still but we're having to just relax and put things off. Chloe was quite sick for a while so with that and me being too tired now to do much it's just how it is.







Sam and Chloe made this cake for me. We had planned a little gathering to try out the pizza oven but with Chloe sick and Sam doing house removals for the entire two days before we had to cancel. I hope the queen had a more successful birthday. I had a lovely brekkie out but things got rapidly less exciting and culminated with first Chloe, then me, having melt downs. Ah, well, we'll try to celebrate after the baby instead. The cake was very good!

House update

Got the keys. Yay! Lot's of people have been through our old house - let's hope one of them like it!

We had a birthday dinner for my Mum at the new place last night. Very simple but nice. We haven't moved much into the new place yet. Just enough to manage a very simple dinner and enough to camp if we feel like it. I resorted to a packet tea cake so I didn't have to go back to the other house to cook. I put apple slices on top and we had good vanilla yoghurt with it. Remarkably good!