Into the world of kiddy cakes...

Wowsers. Just looked at the last date for posting and it has just been over two years!!! Obviously when I've been saying to people that I have no time for blogging, I really mean it!

My niece turned nine the other day and she (bless her) thinks I can do anything so she asked me to make her a minion cake. This is what I was thinking...

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All I can say is thank goodness for the internet! Pintrest, and blog tutorials - you all rock. Without looking at other peoples fab work I really think it would have been a total blunder but I, at least, was happy with the end result. (Even if I kinda thought it was diabetes in the form of a minion!) Anyway, here he is in his short lived glory before we sliced him, ate him and had a massive sugar rush immediately afterwards :)

Picnic at the Botanical Gardens

Although it's come to an end, this summer has been great.  Plenty of hot days and fun things to do. We took a break the other day in Big V's lunch time and all went in to the Botanical Gardens for a picnic on the grass and were joined by some lovely little feathered friends.

They were so incredibly tame and fearless, at times running right over the top of us and onto the blanket if we weren't quick enough to feed them on the grass. Little G wanted to pick them up and Little A was just enthralled, not trying to touch them but just watching, totally entranced!  

At one stage one of the interlopers in the background (seagull) tried to get in on the action but the Mother Duck flew at him in a rage and both ended up flapping around Little A's head. It shocked her a bit but she didn't fuss.  The Gardens are such a beautiful place.  We will definitely be visiting them more often in the future.

Jelly excitement

You mean we get to eat Jelly for dessert? Awesome!!!

shameless baby promotion!

Little miss A is such a different baby from Little G. It has been really wonderful getting to know her and watching her grow and discover new things. She is a happy baby and seems to always be ready with a smile, something we had to work hard for from G!

Anyway, I couldn't resist entering her in the Baby Bonds 2012 competition! Here is the link, please vote!

I love you Little A.

back for more

Don't get me wrong, I love blogging. I always think up good things to blog about in my head when I'm out and about I just never seem to get to the doing part! I have realised that this is me, I always love the thought of doing things; blogging, crafting, designing, travelling, you get the idea. But the actual DOING part is the part that is hardest for me to start.

This is reflected in our house. We moved in 8 months ago and I still haven't unpacked everything, hung pictures and sorted general places for 'stuff'. We're not really any messier than the average household but we do have a lot of STUFF.  It is reflected in the projects I take on; I finished a pair of pj's for a friend's son the other day and when I started then I purposely made them bigger so they would last him longer. When I delivered, they fit him perfectly (thank goodness he has a younger brother!) I also used to be a very active person and during my second pregnancy, which wasn't the easiest of times, I really stopped doing the active thing so much. 

So I am making a resolution to change. A bit late to call it a New Year's resolution but what the hey.  Not that I am particularly political (read not at all) but it's like Obama says, 

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." - Speech following Super Tuesday results, Feb 5, 2008.

I have already started becoming more active which is so great and you forget how much of a difference it makes to your everyday energy levels. I am ordering the projects that were never completed and will hit them one by one (thus the pj's are done!). Basically, I want to live more, create more, travel more and just experience as much as I possibly can. Perhaps I won't blog every day or even every week but every month is the minimum challenge. Pfft and pshaw! How easy! I hear you say, well, with a wandering mind like mine it is challenge enough! Besides I have to fit in all that other creating, travelling, unpacking, improving fitness and living crap too ya know!

In a quiet moment

Introducing Little A, the newest addition to the household...

Picture love

There are so many pictures and prints that I would love at the moment. I have been wandering down to Salamanca the last few Saturdays and flicking through the prints at some of the photography stalls, mentally hanging them in places around my house.  

I've also been cyber collecting.  Looking through blogs and design sites for more hanging joy.  I tend to leave tabs open on my browser with them in it, always meaning to go back at some stage and purchase them, I think it drives Big V insane a bit to have so many tabs open but it's a kind of 'trying on' exercise.  It's the same one I use when I go clothes shopping. I pick up a few items, try them on and if I like them at that stage I'll walk around the shop browsing with them over my arm and just let it sink in a bit and if I still want them they get bought.  Many times they have gone back on the rack so I figure it saves on wasteful purchase and stops me from impulse buying.

Here's a few cyber prints I'm keen on at the moment.

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a Catherine Holm inspired print by Handz's shop on Etsy

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A print by danbobthompson on Etsy

 

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Land of Ampersand by The Wheatfield

 

They are all a good price but I have been curbing my wallet workouts lately for a few reasons.  We are looking to move so penny saving is definitely on the cards and I'm sure I don't need anymore stuff to cart to a new house.  I also have prints that I have not hung yet so I'd only be adding to my 'to do' pile which is already big enough!  

Flower sugar giveaway over at Retro Mummy

This is quite a huge giveaway I must say. Twenty fat quarters of the entire Flower sugar range by Lecien are up for grabs. Just head on over to Retro Mummy's blog and you'll find all the details there.

photo care of Retro Mummy

If only there was a giveaway for more free time so I could actually sit down and do something with it!

Number one on the wishlist!

Anyone who knows me knows I love books. One day I would love to have floor to ceiling bookshelves, maybe even with a sliding ladder! Lately I haven't had that much time for reading the books I like. It's mostly been 'The Gruffalo' or 'I know a Rhino' and books about shapes and colours, alphabet and numbers, all for a good cause of course but I am hanging out for a good read that is not in rhyme and lasts longer than the odd magazine flick in the bathroom (sometimes it's the only place you get a bit of peace!).

Browsing through a few gift idea blogs to get some suggestions for others (I swear!) I came across the most amazing book and I WANTS! It is the 'Pictorial Webster's, a visual dictionary of curiosities'.  It features over 1,500 engravings that were used in the Webster's dictionaries in the 19th century and they're fantastic! 

Picture from here

 

I found it on Amazon as part of a deal where you also get some rubber stamps featuring some of the same pictures and a set of fancy flash cards to match. I already have one of the flash cards, the letter V which I found in Store & Co a while back so it would be nice to have the whole set. Now all I have to do is leave a browser window open featuring said find and hopefully Big V will take the hint!

Picture from here

Best Friends

Little G has these two figurines, one is an echidna and the other is a rabbit. She tells me that they're best friends and then shows me how they kiss and hug. She often asks me to take photos of them and she'll arrange them and then stand back and say cheese waiting for me to take the photo. 

Echidna and Rabbit having a cuddle

She takes them on trips around the house, often using her shoes for their cars.  She makes little tents under chairs for them to sleep and will rush off to the washing pile bringing back some socks or face washers for them to use as sleeping bags and blankets.  She shares her food and drink with them, making little eating and drinking noises when it's their turn.  When we go to the car she'll ask where they are and then want them to sit with her in her seat.

It's the coolest.

A good day

Our weather of late has been a bit hit and miss. In true Tasmanian fashion you either get glorious sunshine or an absolute downpour sometimes within minutes of each other. This makes me very hesitant to go for bike rides in case I get caught out and have to be a poor bedraggled thing peddling madly to get home, not to mention that I'd also be toting an even more poor bedraggled thing in the seat behind me. I'm sure Little G would not appreciate a cold soaking. 

This pic is not actually from today but it is us!

Today we thought we'd chance it. We left quite early and headed off to Nutgrove park and made it there in record time. I love riding my bike but these days there doesn't seem to be as much time for stuff like that. My brakes had gotten a little squeaky, which shows it really has been a while since the last outing!

Only one mishap on the way back and luckily not a big one. Little G had been given a bikky to munch until we got back for lunch and I was peddling away when I head a little voice exclaim, "Oh no!" I stopped to see what was wrong and about five metres behind us was the bikky, I must admit I thought, "10 second rule?" and then considered how many dogs poo along this stretch of path and immediately dismissed it.  Little G was not happy with the decision of course and the rest of the way home I could hear her saying, "Bye bikky, bye bikky." in the saddest of tones.  Oh well, some dog or bird will get lucky.

In love with...

This project table and stools especially for little people.  It's made from plywood that is produced from a renewable species of Birch and is FSC certified and comes in a choice of four colours, all of which of equally lovely though I think I'm partial to the green, red, green.

 

 

 Unfortunately I think it will be yet another penny saving exercise :(

Bike ride to the Park

It is such a lovely day today. The perfect day for a bike ride to the park.  Rosie, Pippy and I all donned our helmets and headed off down to Nutgrove to have some fun in the sun. 

With the clocks moving forwards for daylight savings I really thought I'd have a bit of time to get back and have lunch with Pip before nap time, which usually is around 12:30-1pm. Here I was thinking she wouldn't be ready to go to bed until 1:30-2pm and surprise,  surprise as soon as we got in the door she started fussing and grizzling for her dummy (a very sure sign of tirdeness!) so I put her to bed and within a few minutes it was lights out. Nothing like a good ol' bike ride to tucker her out! Ah, the serenity!

Long time no see

Hello and hello. I haven't been in blog land for such a long time, to read or to write. There has been a huge amount going on in my life and I think (fingers crossed) that it's finally settling down. I have thought about being brave and blogging about it all but I'm not sure I'm quite there yet. I know I don't have to but I've never liked the fact that I have a tendency to shy away from difficult subjects as if they don't exist. One step at a time though, it's going to take more than a spare minute and those are in high demand at the moment.

However, I do not want to start blogging about poopy stuff when there is awesomeness to share! I finally picked up my new computers today. That's right! Computer times two! Woot! Woot! 

We've done the deed and replaced our old chug-a-lug laptop and desktop. Big V is TOTALLY over the moon because it means he gets to play the new Starcraft game. I am over the moon because my old laptop was slowly but surely turning in to a big hunk of electronic poo. This new and shiny piece of joy has been made by magical genies and blessed by rainbow dwelling unicorns (they would have made as well as blessed but you know, hooves aren't great for delicate work). It runs like a dream and the keyboard has just the right amount of clickiness! 

I am in love *sigh* and things are A-O-K.

image from here

A Pippy Post

My little Pippy is not so little anymore. She's is now more a toddler and less a baby. It's happening so fast and of course they tell you it does but you don't see it until, well, you see it! 

She's walking, running and jumping.  Granted her jumping skills consist of her bobbing her head up and down and saying 'jump' whilst walking around but that's cool, ten points for effort I say :)

She talks to me. A lot. Her words are amazing and I'm always surprised at how much she retains. I can't wait until she strings a whole sentence together.  The other day while changing her nappy she said 'careful!' which made me laugh but then I thought maybe I am being a little auto pilot, at least she can bring me back down now.

We sing songs together, which is mainly me singing every line and her singing the last word of each line but hey, she remembers and is mostly in tune. And she loves to draw and say her colours.  I love it all.

 

I try and take her to the park as often as I can as we don't have a back yard and she absolutely loves it. Most mornings she will stand at the safety gate saying "Park! Park! Sea-saw! Seeeeea-saaaaw!" This park visit we went with Aunty Rosie and big thanks to her for bringing her camera to capture my not so little Pippy doing what she does best :)

Just for the record this coffee cup is empty, I am definitely not up for a caffeinated child!

Special Birthday

It was Mum and Dad's birthday the other day, well the other two days seeing as they are a day apart :) This one was a special one for Dad. It was his eightieth! Mum and I planned for my brother to fly down from QLD for a surprise visit which I think is the best present ever because they only get to see each other once a year if that. My brother is not the best at organising trips!

Big V and I spent the morning cooking before we had to pick John up at the airport. It was pretty much the perfect day. We had great weather, crayfish and turkey for lunch and a yummo cheesecake for dessert. Passion fruit flavour; Dad's favourite. Dad was thrilled to see John as were we all. This is the first time John has met little G too so it really was an extra special visit. 

After lunch we all had a go on the Wiifit for a bit of fun. The wiiboard told Dad his wiifit age was fifty eight and that he was in great condition.  Dad took that as meaning he could have another piece of cheesecake.  Ah, he cracks me up! But if the secret to long happy life is an extra piece of cheesecake every so often then dish me up, I'm all for it :)

Pippy Cuddles

 

Little G is starting to take an interest in her cuddly toys and it's the cutest thing. I have come upon her feeding them with her spoon, plying them with cups of tea and even reading stories to them (in special gabble language of course!)  But the best thing is when she cuddles them, pats and kisses them and carries them round with her. I love that my daughter knows how to do these things for it shows that she knows how to love and care for others and that means that Big V and I are doing something right!

MIA and pin cushion love

I haven't blogged for the longest time and the trouble with that is life just keeps happening (thankfully!) and my 'to blog about' list keeps growing! So much has been going on I barely know where to begin...

I won't start at the top of my list though as I think I need to write this particular blog first. It is a thank you blog of sorts. I entered the pin cushion blog swap hosted by Kate over at Fox's Lane and have already received my swap. I have thanked the fellow blogger for her lovely pressie over on her blog but have not blogged about it myself so... here tis!

Thank you Briony, aka Freckled Sparrow over at little bon bon for this wonderful pin cushion. I love, love, LOVE little birds and green so this is such a perfect pressie for me :) I also got a pack of cute little buttons and a lavender pillow as extra treasure treats! Woohoo!

I also sent mine to Yardage Girl who has blogged a very nice thank you. I'm so glad she liked it, phew! I really enjoyed making them and even though I probably don't need to add more to my to do list, it was a great thing to be a part of such a cool swap and reach out to people in blog land. I'll definitely be signing up to do more swaps soon.

The two pin cushions I made for Yardage Girl. The one on the left is a simple stencil screen print and the one on the right is a half pear (I think half pears sit better than whole pears for pin cushions!) I also added some goodies just to make the package more pressie-like :)

Market find

Browsing through the bric-a-brac stalls at Salamanca on the weekend I came across a very nostalgic find. When I was little we used to have this exact same mug and I would always want my morning cup of tea in it. I loved the feel of it, warm and snug in my hands. It fit so perfectly and felt so smooth.  It's vintage Wade Irish porcelain which explains the smoothness!

Sadly one day the handle came off and my Mother said it was time to say goodbye to it so off to porcelain heaven it went *sniff*. I am so happy to have found another just like it and this one has (apparently) never been used! It still has the tag, so it could be true :)

Big V also reckons the mug rocks... I hope this means there'll be no fighting when it comes to cuppa time. I might just have to keep my eye out for another just in case!

Strawberry Shortcake

 Mon Pippy looking so strawberry shortcake.