Sunday Stash - The Holiday Edition

I arrived home on Friday afternoon after five glorious days away, to find a few fabulous little parcels awaiting me.

I put a call out to my quilty friends in a couple of FB groups, and the lovely Anorina came through for me!  I needed some Sugar Flower scraps for a wedding cushion, and given that it's not my usual style, and I only needed a teeny bit, I am very grateful for the generosity! xxx

You may remember my post from a week or so ago, when I proclaimed I needed more Terrain after delving in to my scrap stash?  Well, I went on a bit of a search, and these delicious fat quarters and a little yardage arrived too!  SOOOOO thrilled!

And just because it's AUSTRALIA DAY today - I'm sharing with you some snaps of our little getaway last week.  It's a beautiful part of the country/world.  My husband has been holidaying in Sandy Point for his whole life.  I've been lucky enough to share it for the past twelve years.  If you haven't heard of it before, it's about half an hour from Wilson's Promontory - the southern most part of Australia!

I'm sure that when we tell people we are heading down to the beach house, they have grand illusions of a big white house on top of a sand dune!  Nope.  This delightful little three bedroom home is just perfect, nestled amongst the trees in a quiet little hamlet.  The kids can ride their bikes around the streets without us worrying about them getting hit.  And our little Chloe learnt to ride sans training wheels this trip!

In all the years we've been down there, not once have we ventured to "The Prom".  Well, I lie.  We went the first time I visited - heavily pregnant with Chelsea.  Andrew and I planned to do a walk, but as soon as we got there, it pissed down with rain, so we turned around and went back home!  Anyway - we took the plunge and headed there this time - and what a day.....

Wilson's is a huge national park, which means it is protected from all the crap humans do to the rest of the unprotected parts.  It is a truly pristine destination.

There were some pretty nasty bushfires there in 2009, but the rejuvination is amazing.

We had never bush walked before, so it was a bit of an adventure.  We chose an "easy" walk - the Lilly Pilly Gully walk.  The first part was all flat, and included this gorgeous boardwalk through a rainforest section.

All Chloe wanted to see were some animals.  She had to make do with wombat burrows and poo......

After breaking for lunch, we headed off in the direction that pointed us towards the car park.  3.2km it said.  After about 500 metres of uphilling it, we realised the entire 3.2km would be the same.  Chloe climbed aboard Lochie's shoulders, and he took her the whole distance.  We made it to the top......

And were rewarded with this spectacular view of the coastline!

And straight after the walk, we jumped in the car and headed to Squeaky Beach.  Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!

My favourite part of our trips to Sandy Point are the days when it's not too hot or windy, and we can head to the shallow inlet.  As you can see, we hit the jackpot on our second last day!  Perfection.  No waves for me to worry about the kids, and Andrew brought the fishing rods and attempted fishing before they all became bored with that and continued swimming!

And my favourite shot from this holiday.  My beach babe.

With only three more sleeps until the kids return to school, and four sleeps until Chloe begins Prep - I am well and truly rested, and have thoroughly enjoyed these school holidays. I'm now looking forward to returning to our regular schedule and routines - and a clean house!

I'm linking up with Sunday Stash - You can too!

Weekly Round Up

We are nearly half way through the Summer school holidays here.  And this week - Summer arrived!  We've had a very unseasonally cool few weeks, so we have taken advantage of the sun and heat and spent some time outdoors.  I thought I would share some evidence of such frivolity.....

We don't get to the beach much, it's a minimum 30 minute drive, but one of my best friends lives down near the sea, so we traipsed down there!  It was brilliant!

Chloe received this sprinkler fun set for Christmas.  Now up until a year or so ago, my kids had no idea what a sprinkler was!  You see, for many years we were on water restrictions here in Melbourne, so no sprinklers allowed!  We've had plenty of rain this year - so it's fun for everyone!

My husband plays cricket every Summer.  Yawwwwnnnnnnnnn.  I try really hard to make a concerted effort to get down and watch him every now and then, but really, I have sewing to do.  Anyway, my youngest son goes with his Dad every week, and is sort of like a club mascot.  He has his own club shirt etc, and is water boy for the team.  He takes this very seriously.  I don't.  This photo was taken yesterday, when I took the girls down for an hour or so, and I was laughing at Cadyn's enthusiasm.  God love him.

Anyway, I wanted to show you how I've been spending my time and exhausting myself, and why I haven't been blogging!  So I'm putting all the pretty photos in to one post to display my week of sewing!

I'm taking part in the Sweet Pouch Swap, hosted by the lovely Ros from Sew Delicious.  I've missed out the first two rounds of the swap, so am very excited to be joining in this time round!  I've been partnered up with Barbara from Germany - you have to go and check out her blog HERE.  Click on translate or just enjoy the beautiful photos!  Given the deadline for posting our pouches is the end of this month, and I am working quite a bit and will be going away for a week - I deliberated for a few days on what I would make, and then got it all sorted the other day.

Here's a sneak peak at the finished product.  Now to fill it with sweets!  I will do a big reveal of it once it's arrived in Germany!

The other project I've been working on is my Waterfront park quilt.  I finished another three blocks yesterday and then laid it all out to see what I needed to do colour wise for the remaining blocks.  It did my head in.

But I kept going and got another six blocks finished today!  Phew.

And last but certainly not least - I got my January block done for Fiona in our Wombat Stew paper piecing bee.  Now if you can't figure out what the theme of Fiona's blocks are, I'm in trouble!  This little beast was very fiddly, but I got through it!  It's another fabulous pattern by Kristy at Quiet Play.  All of her Star Wars Lego patterns are free - so head over and check them out!

And that's it.  I'm working the next few days, then have Thursday and Friday off before working all weekend - but am looking forward to then heading down to the beach the following week!  SO much to do - SO little time!

I'll be linking up with a bunch of peeps this week, when their linkies open up!

An Underwear Wrap

It just occurred to me, whilst sitting here looking at the screen blankly, that I failed to write a post about the Underwear Drive, and the end results!  Back in the first week of January (we're almost at February people!!!  How did that even happen?), bushfire season started with way too much of a bang, in the beautiful state of Tasmania.  We had just returned from a week there, we left the day after the fires began, and I entertained the idea of doing another Undies Drive.  I ran one back in 2011 for those affected by the devastating Queensland floods, and thought I would be able to get a box or two together to send to Tassie......

The difference between 2011 and now is that I have a much more viewed FB page, with lots of charitable people it seems!  I set up Events on both my personal and business pages and before I knew it, had parcels arriving on my doorstep, people I had never met before knocking on my door and strangers trusting me enough to deposit cash donations for me to purchase underwear on their behalf.  K-mart became my second home and I became accustomed to strange stares in the underwear department as I filled trolleys and baskets with a varied and interesting array of knickers, socks and bras!

The best plans can sometimes stumble, and when my hope for how it would all be delivered fell through, I went searching.  I found a fabulous page on FB that a lovely gal called Mel had started called  - "Tassie Fires - We Can Help".  I found a post from a lovely lady in Melbourne called Tess, who was taking a 3 tonne truck down on the ship to Tassie, and would be happy to take any Melbourne donations.  I got straight on the phone, and before I knew it, had a way of getting it all there!  I also messaged Mel to find out who I could donate the underwear to, and she pointed me to Foodbank Tasmania.

I was astonished and very proud at the end of the ten day drive to tally everything up.  The Queensland drive delivered just over 400 pieces of underwear.  The Tassie drive?

225 mens jocks, 102 bras, 528 ladies undies & 49 camisoles, 89 pairs boys socks & 6 singlets, 107 pairs mens socks & 6 singlets, 151 pairs ladies socks, stockings, 94 pairs girls socks & 19 singlets, 350 girls undies, 303 boys jocks, 4 schools bags, 6 lunch boxes, 2 drink bottles, 15 hand knitted jumpers & cardi's, 2 bags of school supplies and odds & ends!

That is a ridiculous 2029 pieces of underwear!!!

My house was taken over by bags, boxes and coat hangers.  My kids got used to strangers dropping undies at our door.  And I was overwhelmed with the kindness of people all over our beautiful country!

All the boxes piled up during sorting.

Waiting for more boxes...

All sorted and ready to go!  15 boxes FULL of brand new underwear!

I'm happy to say they were all delivered to Tess on Saturday the 19th of January, and they were to be delivered to Foodbank soon thereafter.

So a big THANK YOU to everyone who participated, spread the word and eagerly helped out!  I'm sure that all the recipients of your generosity would thank you too if given the chance.

And as our country continues to be ravaged by Summer storms, I would urge you to help out a little more if you can.  The Red Cross have appeals set up for bushfires, floods, everything!  You can find details HERE.

On a slightly different but same note, I was just reading over at Edenland, and Eden asked why her readers read her blog?  Amongst other things, Eden gave me a gentle nudge the push I needed to become more charitable last year.  I'm planning to continue.  Do you have plans to be charitable this year?

Ps - Giveaway finishes TONIGHT!

A Chicken Pox Survival Guide - According to Me

I am hoping and praying (as I'm sure you are!) that this will be my last EVER post on chicken pox!  The past 20 days has taught me soooo much about the pox I thought I should share.  If you ever have the joyful absolutely painful task of dealing with THREE poxy children in as many weeks, you too will write your own survival guide - if in fact you survive!  So here goes:

1. When your child shows you a spot, and another one the next day - don't dismiss them as sand fly bites.

2.  Plan your chicken pox outbreak AROUND public holidays.  New Years Day in rural Tasmania is not the perfect timing for medicinal needs.

3.  Keep note of the date your first child comes out in pox.  Then mark on your calendar precisely two weeks from that date.  Put an alert in your phone, something along the lines of "MASS POX HYSTERIA" to remind you that the remaining children will ALL come out in pox that day.

4.  Keep all supplies from the first child's pox episode.  You will need them - and more.

5.  Buy shares in all late night pharmacies NOW.

6.  Make friends with your local Naturopathic/Health Food store.

7.  Don't make the mistake of thinking because your child has been immunised, that they are immune!

In all seriousness though, here are the products and procedures we used that benefitted the kids the most:

* Pinetarsol - It's bright green and has a most peculiar smell that lingers weeks after use.  BUT it's quite effective in warding off the itches.  It now comes in a host of different forms, but we bought (thankfully) a decent sized pump pack of Gel.  Just work into a lather and cover poxy child in it, leave a couple of minutes and rinse off.  Can be used to wash their hair and soothe poxy scalps too.

Source

*  Solosite Gel - Comes in a tube from the pharmacy and was recommended to lessen the scarring caused by pox.  Tubes are not big enough for masses of pox - so buy a few!  It is a little annoying for the patient as it gets flakey as it dries, but seems to be working well so far.

Source

*  Calendula Tea - This mix of dried flowers can be made up as a brewed tea.  Soak face washers in cooled tea to use as cold compresses.  Reduces redness, heat, itchiness and swelling.  Can also use in the bath for soaking in.

*  Chickweed Gel - When the pox have dried out completely and the itching is driving them crazy, the Chickweed Gel worked quite well!  It has Aloe Vera and Tea Tree oil in it, so smells yummy!

Source

*  PHENERGAN - This is THE MOST essential item on the list!  Get a bottle (or two/three depending how many kids you've got) for the kids, and the tablet form for yourself!  You can use the lowest dose during the day to help with the itchiness, and the highest sedative dose at night to help the kids sleep.  My sleep cycle was completely thrown out, so the tablets over three nights got me back in to gear!

Source

*  The Ocean - If you are within walking or driving distance to a beach, make the trip there once the pox have dried up and are no longer contagious.  Whilst in Tassie we were a walk away, and it made a huge difference to Cadyn's sores.  And I took the girls last week two days in a row, and saw a HUGE improvement!  Salt water is a great, natural antibiotic and healing tool.

*  But the best thing possible to get through Chicken Pox?  Patience and a sense of humour.  If you don't laugh - you will definitely cry!  I can honestly say I have never been as cool, calm and collected as I have the past 20 days.  For some unknown and crazy reason, I just accepted that there was nothing AT ALL that could change the situation I was in, and I had to let go of ALL control.  Which, if you know me well, you would realise is a very hard thing for me to do!

All six of us have survived, with smiles intact.  I came home from work today to find that my nine year old Chelsea (who copped THE worst case of all) had returned in all her whinging, whining, sooking glory!  She's back!  Fingers crossed this is the end and we can all return to our regular routines.

Post Beach Happiness!

Have you had to deal with a trail of Pox?  How did you manage?

24. 25. 26.

Day 24 - Inside my bathroom cabinet.

Self explanatory really.  But I will explain anyway.  This is a family of six's bathroom requirements all stuffed in to one small bathroom cupboard.  Why?  Because our other little bathroom does not have any power points!  And it's in the laundry.  And I think everyone forgets we have a second bathroom, until I'm sitting on the toilet and the door flies open and a child jiggles up and down, round and round because "I'M BUSTING MUMMMMMMM!".  And I remind them there is another toilet a matter of seconds away.....

Day 25 - Green. 

Camilia Leaves.  My favourite kind of green.  You can see the couple of yellow leaves peeking out, reminding me that although Melbourne's seasons are completely up shit creek at the moment, Autumn WILL still arrive, and then Winter WILL blow in with all its might!

Day 26 - Night.

 Yep, the sky at 8pm on a very hot Melbourne night.  Still plenty of sunlight, melted in to the clouds that are becoming more menacing each hour.  We took the kids out for a surprise tonight, to Cold Rock Ice Creamery.  And on the way home, at 7.30, Chloe proclaims it's getting late.  I think it had more to do with being tired than the actual visual cues a three year old would look for.  Oh Summer, how I will  miss you. I know before too long, everyone will be locked inside past 4pm for fear of catching the death of cold!

A quick Holiday post!

Hello to you all from the sunny Gold Coast!  I have been MIA......and to be perfectly honest, this is the first time this year I have popped in to my blog!  I thought I would give you a quick update on our holiday adventure.....

It didn't start off so well - our 12.20pm flight was cancelled at approximately 12.10pm!  Thanks Jetstar!  We got on to a 3.40pm flight....but that was also then delayed for over an hour.  So our 1.20pm arrival on the Gold Coast actually ended up being a 6pm arrival!  Needless to say, I am thrilled we are returning to Melbourne on a Virgin flight.....

The kids after a long day spent at Melbourne Airport, and finally arriving in Queensland!

Arrived to our beautiful little abode that we now call home, a gorgeous house within walking distance from the divine Broadwater.  I am extremely lucky, and grateful, to still have wonderful friends from childhood here on the coast, so we are staying at one of my friend's Mum's house!  She has it set up beautifully for all six of us, and the kids loved all the personal touches she has added for them.  Read: x-box, dolls house etc etc.

Day one of our holiday saw us trek to Seaworld......seven hours later, we trekked home.  Kids had a blast, and the husband and I were wrecked.

Day two was rather relaxing.....wandered down to the broadwater for a swim, had some lunch at home and then off to another friend's house for a swim in their pool.  My Dad also came over that evening for a visit!  Needless to say, I don't see him often living two states away, so it was nice to sit down over a meal.

Day three was Movieworld day, aka exhaustion central.  Long queues, and very warm sun made for a long day.  We bribed the kids to leave early with a promise of a swim at the beach - which we did follow through with!

Day four (dragged ourselves out of coma state) Wet N Wild.  Probably the best day amusement wise.  Our youngest son, who we have found has an aversion to anything mildly steep, speedy or fun, finally found h is theme park niche.  Water slides, it seems, are not asthreatening as other amusement park rides.  Phew.  We left resembling drowned rats approximately five hours after arriving.

Today.  I very sneakily (ie. didn't tell boys my plans) took the two girls with me to meet up with one of my cousins (well, not a blood cousin, but cousin all the same) who lives in Paris, and happens to be on the Coast at the moment.  I haven't seen her for around 20 years, so we organised a rendevouz over FB.  Drove the half hour to Currumbin beach, wandered between the flags where she said she would be, and gave up looking for her after 20 minutes.  Girls had a wonderful swim and play in the sand, whilst I got sunburnt because I failed in my search attempts to remember to apply sunscreen to myself.  Currently feeling the results of this now as I sit at computer typing!

Not much else planned for the last few days of our journey.  Oh, except for a beach bbq with lots of friends tonight, perhaps a day at Seaworld's water park tomorrow, a christening on Sunday (I'm going to be a God-Mother!) and flying home Monday.  Yeh, not much planned.....

I hope you are all thoroughly enjoying 2012 so far.  I will need a holiday when I return to Melbourne.  But the odds of this happening are zero!

Merry Merry Christmas!

With Christmas Day 2011 almost coming to an end, I just wanted to take the opportunity to say Merry Christmas!  Thank you all for checking in every now and then, reading, sharing and taking an interest in my sometimes very mediocre life!

I wish you all much joy, stuffed bellies and over-loaded rubbish bins.  That's exactly what today has brought to my beautiful family.

It has also brought the priceless looks on my children's faces when they read their little letters (Dr Seuss style penned by Me) packed in their new bags, filled with Summer clothes, hats and thongs that they got as gifts....

We have managed to keep this holiday a secret from the three youngest children for approximately eight months!  My eldest son also kept the secret, so that is a feat in itself!  We are off to the Gold Coast this time next week......lots of fun in the sun, catching up with my childhood into adulthood friends and general family fun.  I cannot wait!

So as I publish this post, I am about to head out the door to visit some family, including my husband's 92 year old Nanna.  Once again, feeling very blessed to be able to share time with beautiful people.

Merry Christmas everyone xxx

What I LOVE about Melbourne

Amongst millions of other things, what I LOVE about Melbourne is the visual changing of seasons.  I can still vividly remember the long drive from the Gold Coast to Melbourne just a little over 21 years ago, when my Mum and Step-Dad decided a move was in store.  I was 15, and we piled all we owned in to a moving van, and Mum's hilarious Blue Datsun and started on a journey that ended in rural-ish Woori-Yallock.  Yes, that is the name of a place!

The thing I remember most from that drive, apart from the many toilet stops - for our pet chihuaha - was the crossing of borders, from New South Wales to Victoria.  It was mid-year, and I don't think I had ever really seen a true Autumn tree!  The colours were brilliant - oranges, reds and all kinds of gold and browns!  I was mesmerised.

So the fact that my children came in a couple of weeks ago and pointed out to me that Spring must be close, was really lovely.  My youngest son dragged me to the back door so I too, could witness this:

Our divine Plum Tree!

This is an amazing and huge Plum tree.  It is the most spectacular sight this time of year, and as its leaves turn to a brilliant green, it fills our yard with amazing shade during the warmer months.  And just to add to its brilliance, a beautiful old Wysteria winds its way through to bring lovely hues of blue and purple.  But it also becomes the bain of my life during Summer, when it fruits.  I am officially the only one in our family of six who actually eats plums!  So our Summer is spent raking up half eaten - by the birds and our dogs - plums, which then rot in our bins.

But back to the good bit!  I love that my beautiful city of Melbourne brings us such obvious signs of the changing seasons.  Because quite frankly - the temperatures do not reflect the seasons at times.

Welcome Spring - you are a sight for sore, and cold, eyes!  What do you love about your City or Town?

A new day

A new day for me today! I feel like the ten days leading up to my market debut were so hectic and consumed by sewing, that today brought some time to breath and just "be". So this morning I took the youngest poppet to her swimming lessons, followed by baby cinos! By the time we got home, I was feeling very zen......and proceeded to pull out a pattern I had purchased a couple of weeks ago but had not found the time to attack! And this is the result.......

I am so in love with this little design, but even more in love with my little darling wearing it. "Mummy, can I wear this to the beach?"........Ummm, sure honey - maybe when the temperature reaches 20+ degrees! Treasure.

If you love this little playsuit, feel free to pop into my Facebook page - MsMidgemadebyme - and have a looksy!