two thousand and twelve

Firstly, I'm really sorry for my last post. I hope that I did not scare anyone off! I really wanted to write that post before the new year so that I could start fresh in 2012. Tom was really upset to read my last post and (being the eternal optimist that he is) said "What happened was tragic. It was completely heartbreaking and always will be, but you have two choices.. You can let the grief overwhelm you and give up OR you can realise that we are so lucky in so many ways and charge ahead knowing that life is going to be great. And actually, you don't have the option of giving up because we have Sophie and she still needs her mum and dad to be full of life." (or something along those lines).

And I agree with him 100%. Now, that does not mean in anyway that I am not allowed to be sad, to feel pain, to have days when things feel hopeless.. but, it means that I need to stop living in my little bubble of 'life is really cruel to me' and start appreciating what I do have. Tom's dad actually said something to me the other day that really stuck.. he said "every single day you get closer to the day that you will be pregnant".. and that's so true! I never looked at it like that before.. but today I am closer to being pregnant than yesterday and that is great.

(I think that it's been so hard for me because when I fell pregnant with Grace I had already been trying for years to fall pregnant again and had already had two miscarriages. I thought it could not get any worse.. and that was 2 years ago! The next time I fall pregnant will be my 5th pregnancy. I will have to spend the entire pregnancy on full bed rest and have a stitch put in my cervix that has a high risk of causing a miscarriage at 11 weeks. It's actually funny that I am so obsessed with falling pregnant when that is only the very first step in a very long journey!)

So anyway, I still would like to write about Grace and infertility and all those things, but I really don't want this to be a 'dead baby blog' and I just wanted you to know that.


Secondly, These tomatoes came from Tom's mum's garden yesterday, there are hundreds of them (or at least it feels that way).. Pretty awesome hey! (Tom gives me a hard time for having a blog called Grow. Cook. Sew. when we don't actually grow anything at the moment.. so this is for him). If I was allowed to use emoticons I would insert a face with a poking out tongue here.

Jiggity jig

Home again, Home again..







Sophie and I spend the day hanging out in the garden (and doing 2 suitcases full of dirty washing).. Fun!

EDIT: You may notice that all posts from here (going backwards) have smaller photos. This is because it was at about this time that I got my lovely new blog design. I could go back and change all the old photos to a larger size, but there are better things to do in life right? x

House-sitting

Tom and I are house sitting the most adorable little cottage for the next few weeks.
Complete with veggie-patch and sewing room.. It's the perfect place to play house!

Attack of the 40ft tomatoes

Tom has been giving me a hard time about having a blog called Grow. Cook. Sew. when I have spent very little time in the past few months doing any of the above! I did have a very good excuse though.



So our poor veggie patch has been completely neglected, but its actually been okay because at the beginning of spring we filled the veggie patch with tomato seeds.. 4 months later we have a veggie patch FULL of tomato plants that are now bigger than me!
I have never seen anything grow so fast in my life.. They are taking over the entire garden.

Bruschetta anyone?

Lazy days..

Can you guess what I am making...



Yes, I am slaving away in the kitchen (not really) while Sophie hangs out in the washing basket..



And Tom pulls carrots up from the veggie patch..

Harvest

There is nothing like spending the afternoon in the garden, especially if you happen to be collecting dinner at the same time..

Too much of a good thing

I made one of the first mistakes of an amateur gardener.. I planted all our broccoli seeds on the same day about 4 months ago.. So, you can guess what has happened, Right? Now we have all our broccoli flowering at once!



I have eaten so much broccoli in the last few days. You name it, I have eaten it.. steamed broccoli, mashed broccoli, broccoli pasta, broccoli salad.

This broccoli, chickpea and goats cheese salad was one of the highlights, But lesson learnt.. Don't plant a whole packet of seeds at once!

There's no place like home..

We had some friends over yesterday with their kids for a fathers day lunch. Tom made Jamie Oliver's BBQ marinade from scratch and it was so delicious. (Think fennel seeds, orange zest and balsamic vinegar = Yum!)

We spent the afternoon in the garden tending to the veggie patch..


We pulled our first broccoli from the garden (that I had planted as a seed in Autumn).. delicious!


Cabbage is almost ready to eat..


We passed the thyme (I know.. hilarious)..


Tomatoes all planted for summer..


Carrots are getting bigger..


My favourite place to be as the sun is setting..


Some of us got a bit messy..


There really is no place like home..

Another day. Another playground.

We seem to spend a large percentage of our weekend in the park at the moment. Or rather, in as many different parks as we can fit into two days.





On Saturday, We met some friends at the park (who are moving to London in a few weeks and I am going to miss them terribly). Tom made banana bread and tea, and I packed it in our new picnic basket that I found in the op shop last week for $6!



We spent the whole of Sunday in the garden, planting all the early spring veggies. We put beetroot, tomatoes and broad beans in our new wine barrel..



Until next weekend.. its back to reality..

Round and round the garden..

I have been so busy lately (sitting behind my sewing machine) that the garden has been a little neglected. So yesterday I was determined to spend the day in the garden weeding and planting..







Today, It is pouring with rain outside and Sophie has a little cold, so we are going to spend the day inside all warm and cosy. I plan to get a couple of sewing projects finished so that I can show them to you tomorrow, and I promised Sophie that we would make gingerbread men this afternoon.. Yum!

Our weekend..

What a beautiful weekend! This weekend we bought some new flowers to plant in the garden..


We went to the park..


We went out for dinner with friends..


We stole lemons from the neighbours tree..


We did some drawing..


We played with Charlie..


We made roast chicken with roast veggies.. (Well actually Tom did all the cooking, so I can't take any of the credit!)

We also did a whole lot of washing, helped my sister move house and cleaned the compost bin.. But I don't think you want to see any photos of that!

The veggie patch

About 4 months ago my husband, our 2 year old daughter and I moved from an apartment right near the beach to a house in the suburbs with a garden! It was the best decision we ever made! We now spend our weekends pottering around the garden and have started a little veggie patch that is doing so well..

I don't miss the beach at all (although it is the middle of winter and I may be singing a very different tune in summer!) I do miss rainy days spent in my favourite bookstore cafe drinking their famous chai tea.. but it is only 30 minutes drive away..