Meet me on the couch

I'm on the couch tonight.
I just gave my husband the cuppa tea vibe.
And incredibly, he appeared with a cuppa and two pieces of dark chocolate.

Now ... what's even more perfect is my new present to me.

Pip's brand new book, just launched last night.
Pip, of Meet Me at Mikes fame, craft queen, Brown Owls founder and blog mama - in fact all round good person.

So I'm logging off the computer and opening up my new book ... with my cuppa and my dark chocolate, in my pjs, under the snuggly blankie, to dip into some crafty goodness and dreamy projects.
Sigh

A stitch in time

Despite being completely exhausted and completely over it this week .... some stitching in the evening has helped my unwind, just a little.

I started this little piece from Sublime Stitching at the Stitches and Craft Show.
It was a free project available at one of the craft bars. Some nice ladies got me started. (They had the patience of a saint.)

When I got home, I added a couple of buttons and finished it off.

Not perfect I know, but it took me back to Mrs Nettlefold's class in year 6, when I completed my very first sampler. I wish I still had it.

I LOVE my new shoes

I am totally loving my new shoes.
Nabbed at the Prahran Mission in Chapel St.
I couldn't believe my luck.
French label
My favourite green
Unworrn
My size
SOLD to me !!!!!

Eliza is modeling them. She loves them too.

At the heart of things

I made this sweet little heart from scraps in my stash.
It's the heart for our new home.
We'll place it in a column in the kitchen and it will be clad with timber.
No one will be able to see it, but we'll know it's there.
Home is where the heart is ... at the centre of all the action, the meals, the family, the fun and the laughter for many lifetimes to come. xxx

My mum's not a virgin anymore!

I just got an email from my mum.
She told me she's no longer a virgin.
It certainly piqued my interest!!!

She's taken a huge step and entered a whole new world for the very first time.

She now blogs!
And has just written her first post!

Make my mum's day and visit her blog, and leave a comment too. She'll be absolutely thrilled.

Well done Mamma. I'm so proud of you.
Embracing new technology in your 70s is a wonderful thing.

Mail Swap Friends

There'll be some letter writing going on this weekend.

The names of Eliza's mail swap friends arrived today... and she's very excited.
She'll be sending letters and drawings to little people in the UK, Victoria,Tasmania and Germany. She'll pop some stickers in too. Nice and light and easy to post.

The Kids Mail Swap comes from Pigeon Pair.
A great idea!

It reminds me of pen pals I had when I was about Eliza's age. Pen Pals International was the name of the organisation I think. Beautiful postcards would arrive from Germany and Switzerland; and to a little girl growing up in regional Queensland, these far away places looked green and lush and exotic. Even the postcards themselves looked so different - with straight edges, and the colour picture framed in a white border. The stamps always caused comment too. Small square ones as I recall, with black postmarks from distant lands.

I love the idea of kids mail swap .... delightfully old fashioned snail mail might be making a comeback. Beats texting!

Buy, Swap & Sell

At the Stitches and Craft Show I spent a bit of time reading what was for sale, wanted and ready to swap.

A great idea for crafty types.

Then I read this ad ...

And LAUGHED OUT LOUD!!!!

The Colour Purple

I was rummaging through my wool stash this afternoon to remind myself of what wool I actually had ...
I saw a scarf at the Stitches And Craft Show last weekend and thought to myself
I could make that ...

So watch this space!

Not sure how long the scarf will take me, oh she of little time but lots of ideas.
I plan to make long skinny sections - some knitted and some crocheted - and then join them together in the middle.
Quite a clumsy way to describe it ... but I know what I mean, even if you don't.

I found some beautiful wool in shades of purple.
Purple will be big this winter. Well in my house at least.
You read it here first!

Hopefully I'll have a gorgeous purple scarf by the time winter rolls around.

I'm loving Fridays

Im loving Fridays because
The weekend is on the way
And that means ...
time to have a sleep in
and time with the family
and time for me
and time to do stuff that's not work
and time to be creative
and time to catch up
and time to hang all my clothes up
and time to walk in the park
and time to have dinner together
and time to read the paper
and time to have a second cup of coffee
and time to flick through recipe books
and time to flop on the couch
and time to visit our house
and time to chat
and time to blog
and time to do the chores
and time to get ready for the week ahead
and time to do it all over again until next Friday.
I'm loving Fridays

Kids Love Mail

Have you got a little person who loves opening the mail box to find a letter - with their name on it?
Usually it's a party invitation or a birthday card or a postcard from another little friend on holidays.

Eliza opened her own bank account last year ... and now can't wait to get a letter every month. That'll change ... But for now she's thrilled the bank writes to her every month to tell her how her savings are progressing.

So I loved the idea of the kids mail swap dreamt up at Pigeon Pair.
Register your child and be prepared to send 5 letters to another little person. And by letters - it could be a painting, drawing, postcard or just a note to say gidday.
Be part of it by emailing pigeonpair@hotmail.com before March 23. Letters should be posted by 6 April ... just in time for Easter.
Hop to it!

A crafty snapshot

I spent a whole day at the Stitches and Craft Show - child free and husband free ... yipeeeeee!

I wandered at leisure - looking, learning and soaking it all in.

Wonderful to see the film Handmade Nation and our own indie crafty types whose blogs I follow.

I bought a couple of little things ... but mostly I was inspired by people's passion for hand made.

Reality Bites

Attended the rather posh party at Government House for the opening of the Fashion Festival last night.
Celebs, designers, politicians, sponsors, the glamorazzi .... and me !
Tiny things to nibble on, tiny bubbles to sip, tiny people to look at and clothes to die for.
(Could someone give those models a feed!)
I frocked up in black (VERY Melbourne), added some killer shoes and this necklace, bought at one of my favourite shops in Clifton Hill.
I was chuffed when the gorgeous and talented Gwendolynne Burkin commented how much she loved it.

But reality came crashing in when I got home.
A sick child
A house that looked like a bomb site
Dishes piled in the sink
An unmade bed ...

Yep, we're keeping it real!!

Quick Status Update

Exhausted from the Stitches and Craft Show
Elated about seeing the house on the weekend
Disappointed that it won't be finished by the end of the month
Eating stir fried chilli chicken
Drinking .... there's nothing in the house!!!
Phoning James to bring home a bottle of something
Washing the dishes and the clothes
Needing to do my personal tax (still)
Measuring out cough syrup for Eliza
Looking for another box of tissues
Watching Wild Child on DVD - for the 65th time today
Hoping Eliza feels better tomorrow.
Pledging not to watch Wild Child again. Ever. Including the bonus features
Stitching a little sampler I started at the Craft show
Checking my email
Wondering what to wear to the Fashion Festival this week
Praying that little black dress will see me through xxx

Grandma's napkins

These napkins belonged to my Grandma.

I keep them in my picnic basket along with a blue and white damask tablecloth, which also belonged to her.

It makes eating alfresco extra special.

There are four napkins, simply made from gingham with a basic cross stitch border and white ric rac.

I love them.

They remind me of her.

xxx

Status Update

Thanks to Pip at Meet Me At Mikes for this idea:

I am :
Cooking tortellini with white zucchini and tomatoes from our plot
Reading the Age, today's Green Guide and Tuesday's Epicure, plus the junk mail that arrived today
Watching Grey's Anatomy. Just switched over to Q&A. Maxine looks good!
Using my blackberry and loving it
Craving a single piece of dark chocolate with roasted almonds. A cup of tea would be nice too
Going to Bendigo on Saturday to see the British couture exhibition at the gallery before it closes
Needing to do my personal tax
Planning some crafty projects - I'm itching to do some crocheting now the weather's cooler, and dressing up a couple of items I've found while thrifting at the op shops - some applique on an apron for Eliza and some buttons on a gorgeous red scarf for me
Dreaming of moving into our renovated house ..... sigh
Looking forward to the weekend
Thinking of going to bed now

Beside the Bed

What can you tell about a person by the stuff on their bedside table?

All sorts of things!

On mine I've got:

The Tastes of Chapel brochure for the Food & Wine Festival

Kath Kidson's gorgeous book Make - I love the strawberries and flowers applique

Inside Out magazine - for ideas and inspiration for our renovation (check out how it's going here)

CEO Forum magazine - unopened

The current copy of Delicious mag and the free DVD Bill's Holiday - haven't watched it yet (no time!)

My little radio that goes all night

A copy of A2 from The Age two weeks ago. I've been saving it in the hope of reading an article (I still haven't got round to it! One more week and I'll toss it.)

Um what else ...

Some books from Christmas that I've read and are now just gathering dust:

The book on journalist Matt Price - what a tragic loss

Catherine Deveny's book Say When; a compilation of her columns in the Age - I laughed out loud when I read it!

Princess Bitchface Syndrome by Michael Carr-Greg to help me cope as the tween years turn into teens. Scary. Very, very scary.

A heap of how to books on project management, budgets and running a productive meeting.

Ho hum

Elly Varrenti's This Is Not My Beautiful Life - I met her a couple of times at the ABC

And a lovely book I delve into time after time ... The Left Bank Book - Easy Parisian Chic Projects for Your Home and Clothes by Anne Hubert.

What does this say about me?

Clean up your bedside table! And give it a dust while you're at it!

I'm Loving Sunday Night TV

I'm watching my fantasy on TV.
A modern gal tumbles into the world of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice, in a kind of Narnia moment...
Gorgeous!
Needlework, dancing, walking and candle light.
Ahhhh.

But the story is not unfolding as it should...
What on earth will happen?
Miss Price just snogged Mr Bingley ....
And put her tongue in

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's completely delicious.
Smoulder alert.

Don't look now ....

I completely forgot until a few minutes ago. It's autumn.
It kinda snuck up on me.

It's been such a hot, difficult summer and the devastating fires which are still going after a month here in Victoria have overshadowed everything else. We are absolutely wrung out.

But I looked at the calendar just now and it's March already.
That brings the promise of cooler nights, crisp mornings, hopefully some soaking rain ... and of course, the glory of autumn colour.

A week of favourite things

I'm playing along with Pip at Meet Me At Mikes in A Week Of Favourite Things.

One of my favourite things happened today actually.

Rain

I woke to the sound of it this morning and it was completely unexpected. We'd all been sent a text message yesterday warning of extreme weather today - hot squally northerly winds and severe fire conditions ... but instead the gentle sound of rain on the roof drew me out of dreamland.

It even smelt like rain .... and it's been months and months since I've enjoyed that particular rainy, gardeny, leafy, earthy smell ...

I opened the front door and just breathed it in.

It was still dark, but I could still see the raindrops were decent ... not that annoying, pissy little stuff that just teases and clears away. But big rainy plop drops ... falling onto the thirsty garden, my dirty car and the parched patch of cornflakes that used to be lawn.

It didn't last long.
Please come back soon!

Girls, Women, Mothers

This is a wonderful photograph of 5 generations of women in my family.
My mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother.
I'm the baby in the arms of my great grandmother Ma Daley ...

It's a rare thing - 5 generations alive at one time, making this picture even more precious.

Eliza's been working on our family tree for a school project and it's made us realise how little we know about our family once we go back more than a generation. The project has sparked lots of phone calls and emails as we compile names, dates and details.

Have you done your family tree?