winter sweeties!

I have had a super busy day.

I managed to get the house and car vacuumed.
The car and laundry washed. Even the skirting boards got a going over.
I took the children to the dentist - with a clean bill of health :)
It was Woo's first trip and Tiggy was the most marvelous role model, thank goodness.

I completed a dozen other little tasks, pharmacy, grocery store, returning goods, collecting office supplies, meal preparation, flower buying (and arranging - fun) bill paying, plant watering, mothering, homework assisting, feeding, bathing, reading and putting to bed of the littlies - repeatedly!

Interestingly with a list like this I often feel exhausted but tonight I feel buoyant and happy that I was able to get so much done.

And finally, I managed a little online shopping which I cannot wait to play with, hopefully it'll improve the blog too!

The rest of my week is scheduled to be similarly busy. I only hope that by the end of this week I'll remain as upbeat and energetic. This week will culminate with the start of the school holidays and us going on a little holiday :)

That's about all I have today. Sorry it's just a boring run down of tasks but it's a rare event to get so many items struck off the list in one hit so it really should be documented ;)

My challenge to you is to get something really boring tackled.
You know, the item that seems to get left on every list and carried over to the next, day after day after day?
Yep, that one. Go on just do it!!

E x

winter cheer

We're headed for a few grey and chilly days I think.
I love winter, I mean adore it! I don't particularly like being cold but I definitely love getting warm after being cold. I love hunkering down inside, heating on, snuggly socks warming my frequently cold feet.

I love soups and hearty stews. I love puddings. I really love the beach in the winter.
And I love the kind of huddling that we do in the winter. But even for this enthusiastic winter-phile the grey can sometimes benefit from a bit of balance. In preparation for the next bought of 'bleak' I popped to the florist and grabbed a big bunch of creamy white jonquils.





And then I spotted these adorable old milk bottles.

It's a subtle lift but makes all the difference to me!

Stay warm this week - or cool if you're over the hemisphere!

Thanks for dropping by,

E x

the old phone in the banana trick

Since Cyclone Yasi hit Queensland earlier this year bananas have been a rare and costly commodity.
They are currently around $13 per kilo, which is about four times their usual price.

Woo likes to eat bananas but usually manages about half of one before mangling the remainder. Very naughty I know. Anyway I think my remonstrations must have partially sunk in as rather than eating this golden treasure, ,I found her engaged in an extremely animated phone call ordering take-out for the family and some imaginary friends too. At one point she asked the caller to, "Wait a second!" and then "Mummy, what you 'yike'? A 'yatte'? Yes? Sugar? Okay!". This went on and on until everyones orders were placed. She was madly flicking through my recipe folder checking things off as she talked on the phone.


It was hilarious and I wish I'd recorded it.

I did later discover a banana with two pen holes right through it -grrrr - how did I know it was a pen that was the weapon?
Mmm, well it was the grossly slimy one lying right next to the banana!

Thanks for dropping in and I hope you have the chance to go completely bananas this weekend!
E x

attempt no 1

All the gear...



...and no idea!



But I'm actually reasonably pleased with my very first attempt at 'proper' card making.

I have made cards for a long time now but mine have always been, well, a little unorthodox! I suppose there really isn't a wrong or right way but mine have usually been created on the computer.  I tend to favour a more contemporary clean cut style usually, the more white the better in my book.  They've always been nice, I think, and seem to have been received with pleasure.

My alter ego however, tends towards a pared back French Provincial influence. And in spite of my best efforts, with the assistance of my trusty laptop, I always knew that there was another way to make cards.  The 'proper way'. But I've had absolutely no clue as to how to go about it. That was until one of my most favourite bloggers recently offered me, and her other readers, some indispensable advice - the essentials of card making.  Carly utilises a wide range of techniques and tools in her  magnificent and drool-worthy studio .  She has a great talent, an eye for detail and a clean and simple style that I love. 
Her cards are really very lovely.

So as a result of Carly's fab video I had a little shop yesterday, and then a play with my new toys while Woo napped.

I'm not really sure what the pros do with their cards.  Perhaps they're never sent and are kept as works of art.  However, I figured that any of my attempts, particularly if they're nice, should be sent out.  This card went to my darling sister Flossy, who is the most extraordinary friend and inspiration to me.

I hope you have a super weekend and that you have some happy mail in your postbox!

Thanks for visiting,

E x

winter bright

Winter is typically a little bleak in the garden. So we decided to bring a little colour to our porch.  And although it's been pretty cold lately, albeit mostly sunny during the day, these pretties are happiest like this.  

 I also found the macro setting on my point-and-shoot camera!!So in between laying new bluestone pavers I sat on my bottom steps and snapped away.

Tigs and Woo chose a plant each at the market last weekend.  They'd be the yellow polyanthus, which is ok,  and the purple pansy, which is just about tolerable but the two look awful together.   

   I won't lie, I struggle with it and these two stand out glaringly in my otherwise tranquil plantings. But I'm learning, as a mother, to relinquish control of the small things.  Well some of the small things.  Who knows I could even grow to like them!

And then there's this beauty.  It, and it's friends, look this beautiful at anytime of the year.

After a very chilly start to the day it's now beautiful.  The sun is blasting through the window and warming me to the core.

I hope that the sun is shining on you, wherever you may be!

E x

If you click on the images they should enlarge.

twenty

Saturday was one of those perfect days.  The sort where the sky is vast and glorious and the sun is warm, but the air crisp.  The sort that feels so magical.  I don't know why, but when I'm alone on those kind of days I feel like crying.  Somehow I feel uplifted, but so small in the universe that I weep. Fortunately this Saturday I had the company of my family to enable me to fully enjoy the glory of the day.  As you can see it was a day not to be wasted.  Just look at the sky and our beautiful city skyline in the distance.

We headed to the beach for breakfast and a play on the wooden boat park, kicking swimming lessons to the curb.  I wanted to relish the day together and not be bogged down with the schedule.  Tigs had been unwell for much of the week and had even missed a few days of school, so I was not too fussed about him swimming.

As you can see he was flat out enjoying the winter rays too.  In fact he was 'dead' on the ground.  His games lately, are so wildly imaginative.

Tigs climbed ...

...and Woo followed.  She's taken to parroting him, including every stance , hand gesture, inflection.  It's very funny.  She managed to have plenty of fun in spite of the fact that she is now falling prey to Tiggy's lurgy.

What a day.

This Saturday also marked twenty (yes twenty) years since my love and I first met.

 We haven't had the chance to hang out together much lately.

It was a lovely way to celebrate, simply and together as a family. 

ruby ela

At last ...

... a new baby girl cousin has joined the family.

Woo is delighted and wants to "pat da baby" and Tigs lamented, "Not another cousin!".

Welcome to the world baby Ruby, you're a precious gem and we love you.

luscious

Subtle, no?
Mother was not amused ...
She's wicked, unstoppable and unrepentant!