Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
She is five.
Five years ago today she came into our lives in a way ony she was to determine. Here she is with someone very special to us.
I can hardly believe it. Five. We celebrated with a party followed by camping at The Block. She requested a splash pool party, and of course we indulged her. Complete with splash pool cake.
I spent a couple of evenings this past week back at my sewing machine fashioning her an apron and matching pot holder as a part of her birthday gift. She adores them and I must say I've adored sewing again.
Love you Lily girl. So lucky to have you in our lives. XX
I can hardly believe it. Five. We celebrated with a party followed by camping at The Block. She requested a splash pool party, and of course we indulged her. Complete with splash pool cake.
I spent a couple of evenings this past week back at my sewing machine fashioning her an apron and matching pot holder as a part of her birthday gift. She adores them and I must say I've adored sewing again.
Love you Lily girl. So lucky to have you in our lives. XX
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Workings of a weekend...
HIPSTAMATIC WEEKENDER!
(warning: many photographs accompany this post!)
Playing around with the Hipstamatic App on my iPhone. I will admit I was a somewhat reluctant iPhone recipient at first, mine being a hand me down from The Dada. A phone is just a phone right? People call you on it, you call them, there are these fancy new aged messaging thingos for the phone-a-phobic types like moi (that could fill another post entirely on its own!). Oh, it plays music? Oh, ok, you can go on the internet? And all these cute little things... you can do that too? I am here to say that the iPhone has grown on me and although I was not one to be lining up for the new version when it was released recently (I don't even have the old new version!), I am thoroughly converted.
The Hipstamatic App is an iPhone application that allows you the depth, feel and - dare I say it - blemishes of vintage film photography, with digital convenience. I'm not entirely familiar with all of the features of the app yet, so I decided to give it a run this weekend and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised with the results! So let me show you, and you can explore our Saturday with Hipstamatic...
On Saturday morning I emerged from an hour of lounge room yoga to find a bearded man wearing pigtails in my kitchen doing the dishes, while a princess in a tutu looked on:
That afternoon the block was calling so out we headed. The wee ones and I went for a stroll over the back of the block across our creek and through the neighbours paddock:
We've had the strangest weather this weekend! Sun shining, hot and humid one moment, torrential down pour the next. Needless to say we got stuck in the rain, but persisted on our walk. The kids got in on the action with the Hipstamatic too, excuse the very wet me in the the pics they took...
Our walk came to an abrupt halt though when one of the locals suggested it was time we returned...
Of course when we arrived back at the block and our new shed we had to peel off the layers that were soaked through, and considering that building sites normally have a lot of dirt about, which was now mud, gumboots it was:
It was a wonderful weekend all round. I look forward to blog browsing and seeing what everyone else has been up to!
(warning: many photographs accompany this post!)
Playing around with the Hipstamatic App on my iPhone. I will admit I was a somewhat reluctant iPhone recipient at first, mine being a hand me down from The Dada. A phone is just a phone right? People call you on it, you call them, there are these fancy new aged messaging thingos for the phone-a-phobic types like moi (that could fill another post entirely on its own!). Oh, it plays music? Oh, ok, you can go on the internet? And all these cute little things... you can do that too? I am here to say that the iPhone has grown on me and although I was not one to be lining up for the new version when it was released recently (I don't even have the old new version!), I am thoroughly converted.
The Hipstamatic App is an iPhone application that allows you the depth, feel and - dare I say it - blemishes of vintage film photography, with digital convenience. I'm not entirely familiar with all of the features of the app yet, so I decided to give it a run this weekend and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised with the results! So let me show you, and you can explore our Saturday with Hipstamatic...
On Saturday morning I emerged from an hour of lounge room yoga to find a bearded man wearing pigtails in my kitchen doing the dishes, while a princess in a tutu looked on:
That afternoon the block was calling so out we headed. The wee ones and I went for a stroll over the back of the block across our creek and through the neighbours paddock:
We've had the strangest weather this weekend! Sun shining, hot and humid one moment, torrential down pour the next. Needless to say we got stuck in the rain, but persisted on our walk. The kids got in on the action with the Hipstamatic too, excuse the very wet me in the the pics they took...
Our walk came to an abrupt halt though when one of the locals suggested it was time we returned...
Of course when we arrived back at the block and our new shed we had to peel off the layers that were soaked through, and considering that building sites normally have a lot of dirt about, which was now mud, gumboots it was:
It was a wonderful weekend all round. I look forward to blog browsing and seeing what everyone else has been up to!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Getting there.
Well things have improved somewhat... the washing has relocated to my bedroom and I've managed to pick up my floordrobe. I was able to vacuum this morning too. The mere threat of packing toys into garbage bags lead to a frenzied toy room clean up - its not sorted but at least you can see the floor (which means I can walk through it to get to my sewing machines, yay!).
I cleaned the bathroom and mopped both its floor and the kitchen floor.
My MamaBake group is due to arrive any moment to restock my fridge.
I didn't get the job I wanted... but I got the other. And when I think about it thats probably a better option anyway. Life is too short to be working with arseholes ;-).
I shut the study door.
I got into the doctor. Hormone imbalance coupled with magnesium and zinc deficiency. Fixable.
The sun is out. Its a glorious day.
Things are mostly good again. Thanks for all the support.
I cleaned the bathroom and mopped both its floor and the kitchen floor.
My MamaBake group is due to arrive any moment to restock my fridge.
I didn't get the job I wanted... but I got the other. And when I think about it thats probably a better option anyway. Life is too short to be working with arseholes ;-).
I shut the study door.
I got into the doctor. Hormone imbalance coupled with magnesium and zinc deficiency. Fixable.
The sun is out. Its a glorious day.
Things are mostly good again. Thanks for all the support.
Friday, October 14, 2011
I need help.
I am officially overwhelmed and in need of help. I'm putting it out there. Giving it a name, like an AA member admits alcoholism, in the hope that I might take the first step to recovery.
Whilst I sit here sipping tea, my gut churns looking at what lays about where I sit. It is too much. I don't know where to begin to fix it.
The kids room.
The toy room.
The washing waiting to be folded.
The study notes I walked away form in May still laying where I left them.
And it is also the unseen mess. The tax returns not done. The shed not finished. The car still broken.
And no, I've not heard about the job.
I used to do Fly Lady. But this is beyond that. Her mantra "don't do washing unless you can dry, fold and put it away" just wouldn't cut it here - we'd have no clothes to wear. Her "baby steps" would have us crawling again.
Its easy to make up excuses... we're building, we're working, The Daddy works away from home, we have small children, I don't sleep at night so I'm exhausted, we're about to move. But it doesn't stop it from overwhelming me. And that overwhelming feeling makes me want to vomit when trying to work out where to start it.
Its official: I am one of those people who "live like that". You know, the ones you cannot believe "live like that". I've tried to hide it for a long time, but its time to name it.
Time to make a change. First: call a doctor about the not sleeping. Next... I don't know where to start next.
Whilst I sit here sipping tea, my gut churns looking at what lays about where I sit. It is too much. I don't know where to begin to fix it.
The kids room.
The toy room.
The washing waiting to be folded.
The study notes I walked away form in May still laying where I left them.And it is also the unseen mess. The tax returns not done. The shed not finished. The car still broken.
And no, I've not heard about the job.
I used to do Fly Lady. But this is beyond that. Her mantra "don't do washing unless you can dry, fold and put it away" just wouldn't cut it here - we'd have no clothes to wear. Her "baby steps" would have us crawling again.
Its easy to make up excuses... we're building, we're working, The Daddy works away from home, we have small children, I don't sleep at night so I'm exhausted, we're about to move. But it doesn't stop it from overwhelming me. And that overwhelming feeling makes me want to vomit when trying to work out where to start it.
Its official: I am one of those people who "live like that". You know, the ones you cannot believe "live like that". I've tried to hide it for a long time, but its time to name it.
Time to make a change. First: call a doctor about the not sleeping. Next... I don't know where to start next.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Disappointment... and delight.
A wise man once said:
"There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love."
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)
And it is true enough.
Yesterday I had my first interview for a Midwife position, at my local hospital.
I normally walk away from these things knowing I did well. But not this time. I was so wrapped up in wanting that I lost it a little. I don't feel I answered the questions to the best of my ability, and I know I forgot to talk about things that I would do by instinct, without thinking about them when I am actually doing. Its hard to remember to verbalise these things when you feel you are on display.
I've grown very fond of Midwifery. A deep love.
When I asked her if she thought I'd enjoy being a Midwife, a wise woman once said to me:
"Learning and having to follow all the 'rules' will drive you bonkers, you will cry your heart out at how hard it is - life, birth and death - but then you will smile and laugh like you had forgotten how."
(Shannon, one of my dearest friends, who blogs here.)
And over the last 18 months and more, I've come to know what she meant. Shannon, I know you're reading my love, and I thank you for all your encouragement and support.
I do have a back up plan. There is another Hospital which has far nicer facilities and I have an interview there on Monday. But this is where more of the deep love comes into it. This hospital would mean an hour and a half drive, one way, to work away from my family and home. I would need to stay the night sometimes. I am only searching for two shifts a week, yet to be apart from my babies for even that amount of time hurts.
It was with a heavy heart that I left the interview yesterday. I hope that I am to be put out of my misery soon.
On my way home, I stopped off to collect the mail. I'd almost forgotten about Shannon's pin cushion swap in my despair. What a delight it was to find a beautifully wrapped brown paper package tied up with string, waiting for me at the post office.
Isn't he beautiful? He was made with love by Bec from Bec I am. I am in love with him. I adore him. I cannot imagine how much time and effort you put in Bec. Thank you. I need to name him. Rupert? I'll think on it. I forgot to pull out his comb of pins for the photo.
I must say, I fear my own effort might not have been quite up to scratch!
"There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love."
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)
And it is true enough.
Yesterday I had my first interview for a Midwife position, at my local hospital.
I normally walk away from these things knowing I did well. But not this time. I was so wrapped up in wanting that I lost it a little. I don't feel I answered the questions to the best of my ability, and I know I forgot to talk about things that I would do by instinct, without thinking about them when I am actually doing. Its hard to remember to verbalise these things when you feel you are on display.
I've grown very fond of Midwifery. A deep love.
When I asked her if she thought I'd enjoy being a Midwife, a wise woman once said to me:
"Learning and having to follow all the 'rules' will drive you bonkers, you will cry your heart out at how hard it is - life, birth and death - but then you will smile and laugh like you had forgotten how."
(Shannon, one of my dearest friends, who blogs here.)
And over the last 18 months and more, I've come to know what she meant. Shannon, I know you're reading my love, and I thank you for all your encouragement and support.
I do have a back up plan. There is another Hospital which has far nicer facilities and I have an interview there on Monday. But this is where more of the deep love comes into it. This hospital would mean an hour and a half drive, one way, to work away from my family and home. I would need to stay the night sometimes. I am only searching for two shifts a week, yet to be apart from my babies for even that amount of time hurts.
It was with a heavy heart that I left the interview yesterday. I hope that I am to be put out of my misery soon.
On my way home, I stopped off to collect the mail. I'd almost forgotten about Shannon's pin cushion swap in my despair. What a delight it was to find a beautifully wrapped brown paper package tied up with string, waiting for me at the post office.
Isn't he beautiful? He was made with love by Bec from Bec I am. I am in love with him. I adore him. I cannot imagine how much time and effort you put in Bec. Thank you. I need to name him. Rupert? I'll think on it. I forgot to pull out his comb of pins for the photo.
I must say, I fear my own effort might not have been quite up to scratch!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Garden Beginings.
Friends of ours have a delightful garden that they practically live out of all Summer long.
My friend's glorious vegie patch.
Please ignore the crazy ladies in the background wearing dress ups and drinking wine...
We were having fun ;-)
My father always gardened and we too grew up eating fresh from Dad's vegie patch. Even now I often go "shopping" at Dads - vegies galore, stone fruit all summer, apples all Autumn (if you can beat the birds to them!) and citrus all the cooler months. I will show you Dad's garden in another post one day soon, I promise.
Now that we are preparing for our simple life on our block, its time to start thinking about food security which will be a key feature of our quest to work more at home rather than in paid employment. Not that I don't love Midwifing, but I love being with my family even more. Working together. Food security is something we have been giving a lot of thought to lately. Of course there is a lot of talk about food security on a global perspective but I'm talking about personal food security, for our family. Imagine being able to live out of the garden only having to spend small amounts to augment, all year round? As I think more and more about this I am realising its something I need to do. Home grown vegetables, fruit and meat. A house cow, or trading for milk from the farmer next door. We already have the hens. The Daddy is learning how to fish, thinking about how to hunt.
The kids are getting to the age where they can start to work along side us too. They collect the eggs daily and the wee boy is able to lock up the hens at night to protect from predators. This week we started on the makings of our new vegie patch. As we aren't living at the block yet, its so far been about preparation. Turning the soil, adding compost, mulching.
Turning over the earth for our new vegie patch with our wee boy. He was helping, I promise.
We also started some seeds in trays, so that we can care for them here in preparation for planting out when we move. Its baby steps, but its exciting none the less.
The wee ones are old enough now to help out. One of our hard working hens in the background.
I'll keep the pics coming as we progress. I'd love to hear from others who are interested in personal food security, what you do and are planning. What you need to buy to augment. Your lifestyle - has anyone actually been able to live out of their garden almost full time? Do you stock pile food? If so what do you stockpile? How do you store your stockpile?
Until the next time I feel so inspired...
My friend's glorious vegie patch.Please ignore the crazy ladies in the background wearing dress ups and drinking wine...
We were having fun ;-)
My father always gardened and we too grew up eating fresh from Dad's vegie patch. Even now I often go "shopping" at Dads - vegies galore, stone fruit all summer, apples all Autumn (if you can beat the birds to them!) and citrus all the cooler months. I will show you Dad's garden in another post one day soon, I promise.
Now that we are preparing for our simple life on our block, its time to start thinking about food security which will be a key feature of our quest to work more at home rather than in paid employment. Not that I don't love Midwifing, but I love being with my family even more. Working together. Food security is something we have been giving a lot of thought to lately. Of course there is a lot of talk about food security on a global perspective but I'm talking about personal food security, for our family. Imagine being able to live out of the garden only having to spend small amounts to augment, all year round? As I think more and more about this I am realising its something I need to do. Home grown vegetables, fruit and meat. A house cow, or trading for milk from the farmer next door. We already have the hens. The Daddy is learning how to fish, thinking about how to hunt.
The kids are getting to the age where they can start to work along side us too. They collect the eggs daily and the wee boy is able to lock up the hens at night to protect from predators. This week we started on the makings of our new vegie patch. As we aren't living at the block yet, its so far been about preparation. Turning the soil, adding compost, mulching.
Turning over the earth for our new vegie patch with our wee boy. He was helping, I promise. We also started some seeds in trays, so that we can care for them here in preparation for planting out when we move. Its baby steps, but its exciting none the less.
The wee ones are old enough now to help out. One of our hard working hens in the background. I'll keep the pics coming as we progress. I'd love to hear from others who are interested in personal food security, what you do and are planning. What you need to buy to augment. Your lifestyle - has anyone actually been able to live out of their garden almost full time? Do you stock pile food? If so what do you stockpile? How do you store your stockpile?
Until the next time I feel so inspired...
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
MONEY SAVING GIMMICK BUSTERS!
It all began with the shampoo discovery: that shampoo is really a scam in the form of a marketing gimmick. Slowly as I'm learning about things in an effort to simplify our lives and health I'm finding more and more things we can do ourselves or do without. So, I'm going to start sharing my money saving gimmick busters as I discover them...
THIS TIME: LIQUID HAND WASH
Soap is soap. Its kinda important for cleaning stuff. If you are one of my few regular readers then you already know I've given hand made cold pressed soaps a run - and its turned out wonderfully - love the stuff. Its soft on the skin, smells pleasantly clean rather than all chemical-like, and cheap as (cheaper than?) chips. Made more today in fact. But cake soaps go crusty and revolting sitting on the sink waiting to wash hands, not to mention the waste as they slowly disintegrate sitting in mushy water. So we've always used liquid hand wash at the sink.
This pot contains around four litres of home made liquid hand wash.
Total cost, around $1. At the most. In fact that's probably an over estimate. I based my experiment loosely on instructions set out at Savvy Housekeeping. The difference was I didn't really take notice of the measures of ingredients - I used an entire cake (grated) of cheap Aldi lavender soap we had left over rather than the one cup of soap flakes as suggested, so added more water and glycerin as the liquid cooled to achieve the correct texture.
Imagine how lovely and how inexpensive it will be next time when I use my own handmade soap as the base!
I popped some in a recycled commercial liquid soap dispenser and the rest is tucked away in a repurposed vinegar bottle or two, and viola! Liquid hand wash that will likely last us a year... just like the bought stuff, for probably less than a buck! And to think we used to pay MORE for liquid soap (compared to cake soap) at the supermarket, and its mostly water...
THIS TIME: LIQUID HAND WASH
Soap is soap. Its kinda important for cleaning stuff. If you are one of my few regular readers then you already know I've given hand made cold pressed soaps a run - and its turned out wonderfully - love the stuff. Its soft on the skin, smells pleasantly clean rather than all chemical-like, and cheap as (cheaper than?) chips. Made more today in fact. But cake soaps go crusty and revolting sitting on the sink waiting to wash hands, not to mention the waste as they slowly disintegrate sitting in mushy water. So we've always used liquid hand wash at the sink.
This pot contains around four litres of home made liquid hand wash.
Total cost, around $1. At the most. In fact that's probably an over estimate. I based my experiment loosely on instructions set out at Savvy Housekeeping. The difference was I didn't really take notice of the measures of ingredients - I used an entire cake (grated) of cheap Aldi lavender soap we had left over rather than the one cup of soap flakes as suggested, so added more water and glycerin as the liquid cooled to achieve the correct texture.
Imagine how lovely and how inexpensive it will be next time when I use my own handmade soap as the base!
I popped some in a recycled commercial liquid soap dispenser and the rest is tucked away in a repurposed vinegar bottle or two, and viola! Liquid hand wash that will likely last us a year... just like the bought stuff, for probably less than a buck! And to think we used to pay MORE for liquid soap (compared to cake soap) at the supermarket, and its mostly water...
Pin Cushions.
My darling friend Shannon who blogs at Rhythm and Rhyme is running a pin cushion swap. She loves them. Dare I say she could even be slightly obsessed with them. Who am I to stand in the way of a woman and her love of pin cushions? So I decided to indulge her and feed her obsession...
For ages I scratched my head and pondered what I could create... really I am not as into pin cushions as she. My pins sit in a tub in my rather neglected sewing space, there or spread about the floor or even holding many a UFO together. (UFO = unfinished object). Recently I had to borrow my mother's pin cushion to work on that dress for my wee one.
So I was rather chuffed to stumble on this tutorial for a crocheted flower pin cushion! I made what I've fondly dubbed the "pumpkin flower pincushion":
I hope my swap partner will be as pleased as I. While she's not as fancy as some I've seen, she combines my new skill of crochet and my old love of sewing. I've finished her with a vintage button from my Nana's stash - and as much as I'm quite fond of the entire cushion, its that button that will be the hardest to let go of. But, she's made with love, and that button represents much love for me (oh Nana how I miss you). Such a sentimental sod really, aren't I. I think she'd tell me I was crazy and would be quietly pleased that I was able to reuse the button in such a way.
Looking forward to my wee package in the mail sometime early in October.
For ages I scratched my head and pondered what I could create... really I am not as into pin cushions as she. My pins sit in a tub in my rather neglected sewing space, there or spread about the floor or even holding many a UFO together. (UFO = unfinished object). Recently I had to borrow my mother's pin cushion to work on that dress for my wee one.
So I was rather chuffed to stumble on this tutorial for a crocheted flower pin cushion! I made what I've fondly dubbed the "pumpkin flower pincushion":
I hope my swap partner will be as pleased as I. While she's not as fancy as some I've seen, she combines my new skill of crochet and my old love of sewing. I've finished her with a vintage button from my Nana's stash - and as much as I'm quite fond of the entire cushion, its that button that will be the hardest to let go of. But, she's made with love, and that button represents much love for me (oh Nana how I miss you). Such a sentimental sod really, aren't I. I think she'd tell me I was crazy and would be quietly pleased that I was able to reuse the button in such a way.
Looking forward to my wee package in the mail sometime early in October.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday MamaBake
Has anyone heard of MamaBake? The general concept is that a group of mama's get together every so often and have a massive cook off, divvy up at the end and each of you takes home a couple of days meals already prepared... leaving mama free to, well, just be a mama! (Or sleep, or swan about or just get really really drunk on wine instead of cooking a meal that night).
What I love about this is the community. It takes a village to raise a family, yet unfortunately in our consumer driven mad hat society we seem to have forgotten this concept. Human beings are a tribal species. Mama (or Dada!) is not designed to be left alone to raise the babes all on her/his own, isolated away from their community, to be stoic in the perfectly kept home or with children dumped into childcare so that money can be earned to buy more things we simply don't need - things often designed to make life at home "easier" so that you are free to leave the home to earn more money to buy more unnecessary things to make it more convenient to leave the home, to earn more money so you can buy... you get the point. Long gone are the days where household chores and raising children and families were shared. When children were raised by families and extended families, who loved them and weren't doing it for money (to buy things so thay could leave their own home to earn more money...). Where Mama's were able to hold their babe's close, to keep them close. Where support didn't have to be searched for or even asked for, it just was.
Is it just me that thinks it is not coincidence that as our society surges to be more "civilised", and more "advanced" our rates of depression and other mental illness rises? While the push to leave the home to work and consume ensures we lose our support networks? Are separated from our babies? Does anyone else see how ridiculous it is that we live so close to one another in large towns and cities yet many barely utter a word to their neighbour other than a cordial hello in the morning on our way to work, yet struggle to get through our daily chores alone? Side by side yet alone?
When my good friend Meagan suggested we give MamaBake a go, I lept at the chance. The idea of sharing a daily chore - even if just one - with other like minded mamas, while connecting with a group of wonderful strong women (and thus supporting the social needs of being human) was just too appealing. Sharing the cooking, sharing the cleaning, sharing the child raising... even if just for one day.
We had our first MamaBake yesterday. Oh my. It was WONDERFUL! I cannot wait to do it again next week. And you know what else? We don't have to think about preparing dinner all week :-).
What I love about this is the community. It takes a village to raise a family, yet unfortunately in our consumer driven mad hat society we seem to have forgotten this concept. Human beings are a tribal species. Mama (or Dada!) is not designed to be left alone to raise the babes all on her/his own, isolated away from their community, to be stoic in the perfectly kept home or with children dumped into childcare so that money can be earned to buy more things we simply don't need - things often designed to make life at home "easier" so that you are free to leave the home to earn more money to buy more unnecessary things to make it more convenient to leave the home, to earn more money so you can buy... you get the point. Long gone are the days where household chores and raising children and families were shared. When children were raised by families and extended families, who loved them and weren't doing it for money (to buy things so thay could leave their own home to earn more money...). Where Mama's were able to hold their babe's close, to keep them close. Where support didn't have to be searched for or even asked for, it just was.
Is it just me that thinks it is not coincidence that as our society surges to be more "civilised", and more "advanced" our rates of depression and other mental illness rises? While the push to leave the home to work and consume ensures we lose our support networks? Are separated from our babies? Does anyone else see how ridiculous it is that we live so close to one another in large towns and cities yet many barely utter a word to their neighbour other than a cordial hello in the morning on our way to work, yet struggle to get through our daily chores alone? Side by side yet alone?
When my good friend Meagan suggested we give MamaBake a go, I lept at the chance. The idea of sharing a daily chore - even if just one - with other like minded mamas, while connecting with a group of wonderful strong women (and thus supporting the social needs of being human) was just too appealing. Sharing the cooking, sharing the cleaning, sharing the child raising... even if just for one day.
We had our first MamaBake yesterday. Oh my. It was WONDERFUL! I cannot wait to do it again next week. And you know what else? We don't have to think about preparing dinner all week :-).
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