YUK!

Moo was really sick this week. You could have filmed a remake of 'The Exorcist' at our house.

**insert horrifying picture here**

Poor little thing was so shocked and appalled every time she was sick. We had two very sleepless nights but I am glad to say that things are back to normal now and our cheeky 'diving from sofa into beanbag' monkey is back and smiling!

Dress

Do you think I could get the model to be still???? NO WAY!

This dress is from Amy Butler's, Little Stitches for Little Ones. I finished it a while back but gave it to my Mum to do the button holes because my machine is old and annoying. The size is 12mths and Moo is 18 mths so it's a little short. But she's skinny so it fits - just. I didn't make it for her though so it's alright......
I was very pleased with myself for making a fully lined dress. The patterns are so easy to follow in this book so I am glad that I bought it.

Sugar soap is not so sweet

So, there has been little done on the crafting front as I have been fighting the wallpaper in the bathroom and there are only so many hours in the day. I've finished half the bathroom and have only got to sugar soap off the rest of the glue off the walls. YUK! It takes a LOT of elbow grease to get that stuff off the walls and I have to do it while standing on a ladder and concentrating so as to not fall off! I managed to spill a giant bucket of warm soapy water off the top of the ladder so it was a good thing we have giant holes in the floor....... *yikes*
In other bathroom news we have ordered and paid for the tiles - unpolished dark concrete for the floors, white gloss on the walls and taupe pencil tiles as a border around the whole room. I borrowed a crow bar off my FIL and have taken the skirting boards off. I had a look at the shower base and it's not even stuck down!! So, that will be easy to remove. And then it's just the floor boards which I will do next weekend. ~PHEW~

Check it out.

My brother in law's website is up and running. Mike's work is awesome and you can see it here.
His next exhibition will be in December with the next solo exhibition being in May next year.
GO MIKE! (Yep, I like to cheer for my friends and family!)

Stay at home Mum. Chef. Accountant. Project Manager.

Feed baby and husband. Check.
Feed self. Check.
Turn on Sesame Street and The Night Garden to keep kid quiet while on the phone. Check.
Tax return. Check.
Call Centrelink. Check.
Wait forever to talk to someone. Check.
Get annoyed. Check.
Order tiles. Check.
Call Bunnings. Check.
Call glazier. Check.

And it's not even 10. I think it's time for a cup of tea!

It may not be craft but it's makin'

I put together the vanity for our new bathroom!

All by myself and without messing up the instructions! Good thing I was educated at a technical school and know how to use a screwdriver. My time in Sweden taught me how to appreciate sitting down for coffee and a kanelbulle (cinnamon bun) and also how to interpret IKEA assembly instructions......

Now all we need is walls and a floor - yep - that is the underneath of our house you're looking at there! Hopefully there are no elves or trolls living under there......or come to think of it - SPIDERS~~~

Soon to be ripping out the floor and old shower base. Sugar soaping the walls and then it's all up to Mr Tradey to do the rest. Can't wait!

Impromptu fun

Last week I spied what I suspected to be asbestos in our 'to be reno-ed' bathroom. I called the asbestos man who confirmed my suspicions and so they came on Saturday morning to clean up. This meant that we were banished from our house at 8am - Moo and I were still in bed when they rocked up!
So, what do you do on a weekend morning at 8am? Go and have a lovely cooked breakfast made by someone else! Woo hoo~~ Moo and I shared a 'Big ass breakfast.' (I didn't call it that. It was on the menu!)
After we got the all clear we had a home pit stop and after parting with a few hundred hard earned dollars trotted off to IKEA. We managed to stick to our list and picked up the vanity/sink, towel rails and mirror without incident and without any talk of divorce. Hubby actually felt like looking around (what kind of miracle was that!!??) so we looked around and dreamt about kitchens and window seats and an organised wardrobe. *sigh*
When we got home hubby said, 'I feel like having a BBQ.' So, we ended up having a nice relaxed Saturday evening BBQ. Beer. Irish cider. Steaks. Lemon and herb fish. Kartoffel salat. Friends. Fun.
Sunday morning hubby was really getting antsy that he had not started his homework (part time uni student) but he also admitted that he was suffering from a severe case of procrastination. Then the phone rang. BIL rang and asked if he could come over with the family (new nephew!) We asked them to stay for lunch and MIL come over too. We enjoyed some family time. Moo and her cousin rough housed (and nearly broke the joint!) and I had the perfect excuse not to make tea for everyone - a tiny one week old nephew asleep in my arms.....
For a weekend that had no plans it turned out to be exceptionally fun.

And I just noticed.....

.... that I've had my 1001st visitor. That's exciting!

I guess.....

This is......

... my favorite film(s). I have sooo many favorite films I just wouldn't know were to begin. So, here are a few favorites....

Garden State


You me and everyone we know


The Wedding Singer


Friends with money


The movie that I can never think of the title of and I always call, 'The film were the main character can hear the narrator.You know.....' I believe it's called 'Stranger Than Fiction.'Will Ferrel's character says he can hear 'a voice talking about me, accurately and with a better vocabulary.'



Also a big Tarantino fan. I love a good horror film - my favorite is 'The Shining' but no one does horror like the Japanese. The Hollywood versions don't cut it for me.
Don't mind an old movie or two, Hitchcook or Ingmar Bergman. Dam Busters.....

This week's 'This is...' was brought to you by Hokey.

Perfect

This morning Moo had creche. I dropped her off and then went to a local cafe and had a freshly squeezed OJ, a toasted croissant and a coffee. Sat and munched and drank and read 'The Financial Review.' Enjoyed the peace and quiet and the fact that no one was pulling on my leg saying,' Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!'
Got home and my bestis was there with her son 'O' and we walked together to pick up Moo. After arriving home we made picnic food. Got out the picnic rug and ball etc and went to a local park. We ate fruit, apple and cinnamon bread and strawberry yoghurt. Then we all went and played in the playground.
When we finally made it home (the kids wanted to stay!) we watched bestis' DVD of her little 12 week fetus rolling around.

The sun is shining. The house is quiet. So much to be happy for today.
Ooooo, and it's Friday!! Tomorrow we are buying all the stuff for our NEW BATHROOM!!!!
Woo hoooooooo~~

A Kodak moment

My BIL and SIL and my newest nephew, Ollie.

Where would I be without my Mum.....

... I certainly wouldn't have this choc-chip banana cake recipe!

180g butter
180g raw sugar
1 banana
3 eggs
180g wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
100g dark chocolate bits

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and flour (or line) a standard size loaf tin.
Cream the butter and sugar. Mash the banana and then beat it into the creamed butter and sugar. Sift the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl. Lightly beat the eggs in another bowl. Add 1/3 of the egg mixture to the butter mix. Beat. Add one third of the wholemeal flour. Beat. Alternate with the remaining egg and flour, beating between. Mix in the chocolate chips and pour into the cake tin. Bake for 45 mins or until a cake skewer comes out clean.

It's wholemeal and has bananas, right? Can't be that bad..... (?!)

Not a huge fan of green beans.....but.....

... we got a heap of them in this weeks Organic box. I searched on the internet for some recipes and found one for green beans with mustard vinaigrette. I modified it a little so here is my version:

Blanche and then plunge into cold water 2 handfuls of beans.

Make the vinaigrette by combining the following in a jug:

• 1 small squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp of mustard (I used German 'cause I like it but seeded would be better)
• 2 tbs ground almonds
• a small amount of crushed garlic (to your taste) I used the juice only from one clove.
• a pinch of sugar or other sweetener
  
• season to taste with salt and pepper

Pour an appropriate amount of the vinaigrette over the beans (enough to lightly coat) and serve. You could make it look pretty by sprinkling some slivered almonds over the top.

The vinaigrette probably makes a little too much for the amount of beans cooked so I ended up putting some in the fridge for tomorrow's bean cook up.

I don't like beans, but these are goooooooood~~~~~ mmmmm

Possibly TMI

OK, I am about to mention feminine hygiene products so if this topic doesn't do it for you stop reading NOW.....

This is a public service announcement. : P

For a while now I have been using a small face washer (folded to make 3 layers) instead of a 'panty liner.' I read about it on a blog and thought that I would try it. For a number of reasons - that I don't like chemicals, that I don't like adding to landfill and that I want to save money and find it outrageous that these 'necessary' items have a 'luxury tax' applied. I initially wanted to buy some cloth liners, then I thought I would make some and then when I came across the 'use a facecloth' post it just seemed like the thing to try first. Initially I was skeptical and I only did it at home but now I am a real convert. So much so that with the left overs from making Moo's fitted cloth nappies I have made some panty liners from toweling.
It's amazing how much fresher it feels. Yes, it actually feels nicer than a disposable pad. I really hate wearing the other one's now. Yuk.
If you change often enough during 'heavier' days you don't leak either (which was a major worry for me!). Because of the texture of the material it doesn't slide around in your undies so you don't need anything to keep it in place. As I already have a bucket in the laundry for soaking bibs and the like I just throw them in there when I am done and then it's into wash. They clean well and I'm not adding to landfill. Makes me feel good ; )
OK, you can't go swimming with it and I wouldn't recommend doing gymnastics....

But, if you dare, try it! You'll never go back. Promise.

It worked!

When Moo woke I up I changed her nappy/diaper to the one I had just whipped up. It was very easy to put on and didn't leak or anything. Yay!~
I am therefore going to make more. After use I am dry pailing and washing them every other day. Works for me. Hopefully we won't use as many disposables now because there will be a heap of easy to use, quick drying cloth bums.

An experiement in cloth nappies/diapers

Before Moo was born I told everyone that I wanted to 'go cloth.' As a result of this I was lucky enough to be given over 30 brand new toweling nappies at my baby shower. We also had a nappy service for the first 3 months and after that I have used a combination of old school cloth and disposables. I have always used the 'origami fold' as this fold seemed to contain Moo best but lately she's got too big for this fold (although she still only has a 13" waist!). I wondered about chopping some of my nappies into something fitted..... I have so many cloth nappies I thought, 'Why not?' It doesn't matter if I wreck a couple in my quest for a better bum!

So, I googled fitted nappies and frankly I just couldn't be bothered going to all the trouble that these patterns wanted me to! I already have velcro plastic lined/cotton outer nappy covers that I have been using over the cloth nappies so I thought it would be better to use what I have and come up with my own design. These were the stipulations that I had:

* Has to be easy and take 2 seconds to make (OK, a little exaggeration, but I don't want to spend 2 hours on each one.)
* It has to dry easily, so nothing too thick.
* I don't want to buy any extra materials - minky fabric or bamboo stuff, press studs or velcro

I thought about it for a few days and then today I did the following:
* Got out one of the nappy covers that fits her now
* Got out a disposable nappy in her size
* Got scissors and an old school cloth nappy
* Laid the nappy cover over the cloth nappy and used it as my basic pattern.
* Compared the shape and size of the disposable and decided that I didn't need it. Threw it aside. (tee hee)

* Reshaped the nappy so that it was about 1cm less than the nappy cover all around the sides but left the length the same. I went in a bit more between the legs.


* With the remaining nappy, I cut a LARGE rectangle that if folded in half both lengthways and sideways gave a pad that was 4 layers thick. This will be my 'absorbent pad.' I decided on this design as I want the nappies to dry quickly and folding an inner pad when doing the washing didn't bother me at all. So, this way there is only one layer of nappy to dry instead of several. The pad does not need to be fastened at all as the toweling doesn't slip as it is so 'rough.'

* I used my maching to zig-zag stitch around all edges. What I ended up with was a 'nappy shaped' piece and a large rectangle piece.

When I fold the washing I just need to fold the rectangle piece twice and lay it along the middle of the outer piece.
I place a large rectangle of polar fleece over the pad to keep Moo's bum dry (it wicks really well) and make it easier to remove 'solids' from the nappy. You could use flushable nappy liners too but I like the polar fleece and it's sooo soft!

And, once put together after washing you only need a 'snappi' keep the nappy fastened. I fold them like this before use and then it's just like using a disposable nappy.

There you go - one cloth bum!

I am yet to try it out so we will see what happens...... I am thinking I might need to make the 'nappy' shaped piece with two layers (for extra absorption) but we will experiment first with one layer.

Wish us luck!

This is...... my current reading material.

The Fatal Shore: An epic description of the brutal transportation of thousands of men women and children to Australia. Written by Robert Hughes and VERY interesting.
Saknaden efter Josef: A crime novel by Elizabeth George. Only into the second chapter.....
Back issues of Living at Home: I'm trying to cull my magazine collection so I am reading back copies and cutting out the bits I want to keep. This German mag has such great design ideas and lots of inspiration for me.
Amy Butler's little stitches for little ones: 20 keepsake sewing projects for baby and 'mom.' Great and easy to follow patterns. I've made two things so far - bibs and a little dress. Mum has the dress because she is using her new fangled machine to put the buttons on. My old machine is totally annoying when it comes to button holes!
Organic Vegetable Gardening: By Annette McFarlane. Speaks for itself and I can totally recommend it if you are interested in this topic. Has chapters on climatic influence, starting out, propagating and saving seeds, pest control and an A to Z of vegetables with everything you need to know to grow them.
And, I didn't photograph them, but what I am actually reading most of at the moment is children's books. Especially 'Baby Animals' and 'Baby 123.' Sick of the sight of them to be honest..... but I read them with enthusiasm because I have the best audience in the world.

Thanks to 'My Champagne Dreams' for this week's theme.

Playing "Catch up."

I missed last week's 'This is....' so I am doing two today. Last week's theme was 'This is..... my favorite kitchen gadget.' As always, I found it so hard to choose! I have soooo many gadgets (which my husband will attest to) so I thought I would go with a stainless steel theme.....

• 'La buona pasta fatta in casa' machine (17 years old! I bought this when I was 16.)
• My speedy kettle and loose leaf tea ball - perfect for making just one cup of tea. (The babies at about 2 years old.)
• Part of my espresso machine - good for just one cup of coffee (Already 7 years old!)
• My wavy vegetable cutter and potato press and meat basher. (All about 12 years old.)

I could show you so much more but I don't want to bore you to tears. Did I tell you I could spend hours looking around the chef shop on Elizabeth street?

What a ruse.

I told hubby about making new friends on the internet through blogs. He was interested to hear that we are having a 'Mitcham Blogmeet,' and said that my blog friends were probably truckers pretending to be crafty types. Always the cynic. I wonder what kind of person is seriously going to spend hours doing craft and blogging about if they are really a trucker who wants to lure me to meet in a cafe....... I'm watching you Nikkinoo and HoppoBumbo..... looking out for beer cans and trucking momentos in the background of your craft project photos!

Sheer luxury.

When I was a kid we lived in a cardboard box in the middle of the road and had to get up before we went to bed....
Hubby and I are thinking about having another baby so I am on the 'before pregnancy diet,' which is a healthy diet accompanied by pate, deli meats, sushi and all the things you can't have when you're pregnant. Today I bought some yummy Maggie Beer pate and was eating it while I watched Moo having a bath. Of course she wanted some. (She wants to do EVERYTHING I do. EXACTLY how I do it.) So, picture this, 17mth Missy Moo sitting the bath eating pate on garlic bagle toast. I don't think I did that when I was a kid.....

Why?

Our toilet blocked up on Friday morning. The kitchen sink tap broke on Friday afternoon. Our second bathroom is almost gutted and will be sparkling new again in a few weeks. Annie is growing out of her size one clothes. I hurt my neck and had to see someone to get it 'fixed.' AND Christmas is only a couple of months away...... Don't even get me started on this whole world financial thing!

All I see is $$$$$$ flying out the door...... *ching* *ching* *ching*

Welcome Oliver Robert

I went to visit my newest nephew this morning. All 3.6kg of him. He looks different to his brother when he was born. Not that I expect he should look the same, but you know, brothers often look a like.... Mum looked great (Y, you're a champ!) and baby was feeding and pooping up a storm. Big brother wasn't too enamored but Moo was interested on and off. She poked him, stroked his head and gave him a kiss - then ran off to play with big brother. I'm going back in a few hours for another cuddle. Just got to make an early dinner (grilled free range chicken thighs, garlic sauteed spinach, fried mushrooms, vichy carrots and creamy potato mash). Yum yum.

All is quiet on the crafting front...

I've been busy. And sick.
Had an excellent time at my nephew's birthday party on the weekend.
Hurt my shoulder/back/neck so I'm walking around like Frankenstein. (Not at the birthday party.)
So, I haven't had the time and then the physique for sitting at the sitting at the sewing machine.
Makes me sad : (
BUT, before I hurt my neck and got busy, I did manage to sew some pretty little skirts and some bibs which I will show some photos of later.
Just wanted to explain my absence for those who care. He he he.

Can't...... talk...... now......

... cutting out bibs...... hanging out washing.... cleaning up kitchen..... need to find and excavate loungeroom from under ALL of Annie's toys. Mother in law arriving in .... 5.....4.....3...2......

What to call it?

I thought I should put some labels on the stuff I make. Seeing as I am only going to do kids clothes I'm going for a childish name ; ) ha ha
I am thinking 'Jam hands.'
I wanted "moo moo" or something Moo related but it seems that name is quite popular and I have to come up with something different. So, "Jam Hands" it is - unless anyone knows of a brand called Jam Hands.....

Don't you hate it....

when you make something to sell but like it too much to want to part with it.....?

I love how there is a line of apples around the hem.

I made these clothes to sell at the market but I kind of like them too much to part with them.... I want Moo to wear them....

I found the two prints at Spotlight this morning for $1 each in the remnants bin - and just the perfect amounts for making a size 1-2 skirt!

I bought the shirt in Target on sale and put 3 tiny red heart buttons to liven it up a bit and bring out the colours in the skirts. Should I sell them or keep them?????

Happy Birthday Morri!

Morri LOVES anything fishing related so I made him these for his birthday. They all have magnets in their 'noses' and come with a magnet "fishing rod attachment" for him to put on his reel when he wants to fish for these little babies.

Morri's turning 2! Where did that time go? I remember going to see him all tiny and wrinkled a few hours after he was born. I was 3 months pregnant with Moo. Two whole years.....

Moo models her new skirt

Complete with vegemite face and slippers.....