tsk tsk

I'm living with bubble wrap at my feet

a few days away was just what we needed. Although the kids are still a little too little to truly relax. Especially when there is water nearby.I've returned to my work and will be busy for some weeks to come. I'm trying to spend any given break from 'tsk tsk' work cleaning up my house. Honestly, it is to the point where I can no longer yell at the kids about the state of their rooms and I'm waiting for one of them to say "but your room is messy too mum".

I'm living with bubble wrap at my feet, piles of swept cotton threads in corners of rooms and the tables and benches are quickly disappearing under all the paperwork. I can't find invitations for kids' birthday parties, or even the school fees invoice.

I want that studio space I dream of. A shared space set in an old Queensland worker's cottage in an inner city suburb.Or that mudbrick shack on a hill with an amazing view.

And then I wake up to Mr N coming in from his morning bike ride with a chin cut open and blood all over his cycle vest. 10 stitches later.....

And  It is only Tuesday.

I'm holding on to the first image of Miss M flying her kite whilst drawing in the sand.

girl's weekend in sydney

I just got back from Sydney. A friend and I have been wanting to escape for such a long time and we thought Sydney was a great place as both of us know Melbourne well and being an hour closer by plane, we'd get more shopping time in. Our one night away turned into two nights, and all we did was shop, eat and drink.

In short my shopping highlights were dropping in on Samantha Robinson's studio to see her beautiful ceramic works, the Kinokuniya bookstore where we spent close to 2 hours! I didn't even get near to the children's section. This store makes Borders look like a mobile library on the back of a truck! The other great bookstore was Ariel in Paddington, I had to leave quickly before buying too many wonderful things. And then there was Cloth and Ici et la...oh I could go on but then there is food.....

We went to some fab restaurants, including Longrain and Zushi, Bill's for breaky. OK so I'm eating thin this week.

It was just 2 days of jam packed, girly fun. Both of us have returned to sick kids (still) and husbands and me to school holidays.

But the weekend will be one to remember for a long time!

magical weekend

We had the most beautiful weekend. We celebrated a great birthday with fantastic people in the most heavenly place. It was really sad to see it all end and drive home to reality. Even the sunset was magnificent..like it was orchestrated just for us.

This week, the kids have 2 days off school due to the Brisbane Show holiday. On Wednesday I hope to be going to  A Walk in the Park and sell some of my bits and pieces. It is a fundraising day, and from what I understand there will be plenty of  F U N  for the kids. So if you are in town and want to avoid the show, look at this website, sign your kids up for a walk ( i think it a lap of the park) and come along. There will be lots of things to do. Starts at 10 and finishes around 12.

windy

promise that this will be the last of the holiday snaps....nothing worse than looking at someone else's holiday right?
I'd post something perhaps that I have completed or designed....Oh that's right I forgot....there is nothing to show. School holidays won't be over until next week. Apologies if you are still waiting on work or emails from me.
I'll try my best to get to these as soon as I can. I'm beginning to feel frustrated at not being able to commit to my wants and needs again. The PAUSE LIFE button seems to be working well.

Thanks to those well wishes for my father in law. He had two stents put in his 80% blocked artery yesterday and is already up and about in the ward wanting to go home. Very lucky man. Must be something about all those oragnic, homemade vegies he grows.
Sadly there will be very little home made vino now.

The wind turbines seen here are apart of a wind farm located just outside Australia's capital, Canberra. Mr N worked on some engineering components of these (in layman's terms he makes sure that they don't fall over). We drove up to take a closer look and holy cow was it windy. About 35 knots we think. Poor Miss M was blown over and I almost lost my camera whilst trying to get some shots. Serious wind factor. I guess that's why it was a good place to put a wind farm!!

It was a very, "yes this is nice dear. now can we get back in the car before our kids get blown away?" moment.

road trip

2 kids
1 car
many many hours on the road
counting cows
playing eye spy
snow.....oh please let there be snow!
stalagmites and stalactites
three sisters
2 states and 1 territory
wind farms
petrol stations
and hopefully one happy family.

a b c l m n o p

We've been away to South Australia.
It was so wonderful to see a true Autumn. The colours of the leaves were just so spectacular and I really miss living in a place where the seasons change in a significant visual way.
I sold some more works to One Small Room. So if you are visiting Adelaide, I can really recommend dropping into the shop at Croydon. There are some great things there at the moment. And I also met the very lovely Fiona from Hop Skip and Jump. She is as adorable as her beautiful handmade toys.

Sickness prevails in this household and sadly my grandfather passed away the other day. So I am only popping in briefly. Miss M has a quite a bad ear infection and I am nursing her back to health. But I really wanted to show and tell my little spot in the latest issue of 'lmnop' which is themed around the alphabet. My ABCme alphaposter is amongst some amazing products and designs. It really is worth the look. Thank you 'lmnop'. You must look at Geninne's watercoloured birds in this too. She is so talented!

.95 cents to save tears

Our last day was too windy for the beach, even though Mr N decided to investigate with the kids in the afternoon.

One sandblasted child, and a 400m run over the sand to rescue a .95 cent plastic bucket was enough to call it quits for him.

I stayed in the apartment, sewed some more on my new quilt, listened to the silence and scoffed "I told you so" when they returned.

time out

having a wonderful holiday. beach in the morning, pool in the afternoon. A spot of fishing, scootering, hot rock massage, cool beer, new book and plenty of blue skies!

the first day is already gone!

we've been away enjoying some time with family. I'm back for just a short time before we head to the beach.

My mum's birthday is this week so she received her present a little earlier..well actually she asked for this a long time ago....maybe even last year!...I mean 2007. Time goes quickly. Even the first day of the year is finished. Happy new Year to you all.

treasures from Melbourne and beyond

I managed to visit Zigu Zagu whilst in Melbourne, and it is much better than when I was there 4 years ago.

A wonderful warehouse full of vintage Japanese kimonos and kimono fabrics for sale. I did a little spending,

I bought this to make a foot quilt for the bed downstairs.



And this maybe for some more matryoshka dolls.



This vintage children's kimono for $10. From the 1920s.



And this vintage children's quilted vest for $15. Both are slightly stained, but I'm pretty sure I'll get out the stains. I like that some child from Japan once wore them. Where are they now?



And arriving home to these in the mail was very welcomed.



Also, if you want to see a peak at my house, Irene from Bloesem asked me to participate in her Open House Tour. I feel very honoured. Thank you!