Summer holidays…

Are getting a lot closer. just a few more days of work and I’ll be there. I has been a shock to the system this week as I had to relieve on Monday, and then I’m at a course today and tomorrow. I’m sure that I will be really tired by the weekend!! Crafting at my place has ben really slow lately. I have purchased some linen to make a friends wedding gift, though I haven’t yet gained the courage to start stitching. The pattern is a little daunting, but I had better get a hurry on if I want it completed in time.

The garden is starting to look really good. Well the vege garden anyway. I have attacked the majority of the other gardens with some roundup. I’m getting a little over having to fight with the grass and other weeds. Especially the oxalis. Whoever introduced that to my garden is in big trouble. I have been told it will take two years to finally get rid of. So no pretty flowers for me. Just a dead garden and some average looking dirt.

The holidays are looking really promosing for us. We have a multitude of friends and family visiting from around NZ and the world, and it will be so nice for everyone to meet and have fun in the sun. William is still not walking, but makes his way around just fine. He has even worked out how to get through the gate into the paddock! Water is an addiction, and I caught him in the paddling pool the other morning. He started off drinking the measly amount of water in the bottom, then shot in fully clothed. Not what mummy wanted just before our friends arrived for coffee group.

William will have his first meeting with Santa on Sunday as we celebrate with the others from daycare. Only a week left, then I will be a free agent. I am hoping this will mean that I will get a lot more done around the house, and do some crafting and re-cycling, but we will see.

Pictures will follow…

Back to routine..

We had a lovely time in Auckland. William was just brilliant in the car. He only started complaining on the last 20mins of the ride, and fair enough, he was over an hour late in having his dinner. He was very well behaved for the whole trip. We took him to the Auckland Museum, which was brilliant, and he had his photo taken with the dinosaurs.

He didn’t seem overly worried about them though. He was even cool with the tarantulas and Africa beetles and scorpions!

William loved the swing in the park in Parnell. I took him to the park yesterday, and he wasn’t overly impressed. Just had a look around at the trees and cars driving past. I think I only managed a couple of smiles out of him. What a meany! I’m trying to find a 2nd-hand swing on Trade Me, so I can hang it over the balcony and William will be able to watch the lambs frolick while he swings. Lots of fun times ahead!

Holidays

We are about to set out on a very long car ride. 6 hours Hawkes Bay to Auckland to visit the family and the Food Show. I have been packing William’s gear for a couple of days. By the time we have his push-chair, high-chair, cot etc, there won’t be much room left for us in the car. I have collected lots of goodies for the ride, and will make Simon his chocolate chip cookies soon too. Hopefully William will sleep lots and be a nice boy when we get there (fingers crossed0.

Tidying…

I’m not sure why, but when I start to tidy, I need to make a mess first!! The lounge and kitchen are now spotless, but the library/craft room/summer lounge is a pig-sty. I have started to organise my fabrics, and have even brought in a suitcase to clear it all away, but nothing seems to be helping. I’m also having a clear out of the bookcase, so there are books scattered all over the floor. I really need a day of peace and quiet to sort it all out!

Next, the bathroom…

Finally finished!

I have managed to complete a few things this week, inlcuding a cross-stitch I have had for over 6 years!! It feels amazing to have finally done it!! I don’t even want to know how many stitches I have completed.

I think it will be the last one I do for a little while. I have a few others sitting waiting, including a cute Beatrix Potter I have had since I was about 11. I’m really not all that good at finishing things.

Another thing I managed to finished this week was the patches and ballerina quilt. I think the binding fabric is a little brighter than I wantes, but it still works in well with the pointe shoes and some of the patches.

This will now go away in the cupboard until a girl arrives or failing that it will be gifted to one of the nieces.

William has shown an interest in cooking.

I found him playing with the whiz. It kept him entertained for ages, so I was very happy. He even gets into the spices in the other cuboard and has a good look at those too.

We bought a new cat the other day. His name is Oscar and he is 8 months old. He and William are getting on a treat. They even make music together.

It is amazing how well he is learning to leave William alone. William loves to bite on his tail, and grab big clumps of his fur.

The next job is to get him to use the cat-doors to get outside, rather than just coming in!

One of my next projects (not that I need any more), is to make another animals quilt of jungle animals. Mum has made one and it looks great, plus I found some lovely fabric in town the other day to co-ordinate with it…

But first, to finish the Pirates….

Bits and bobs

So my plan of updating this thing weekly has gone by the by. I really need to pick a time each week to sit down and get writing. The only good thing is that there’s lots of nice things to write about since last month.

I have already bought William’s birthday presents, and although it’s a few months away, I could help but get this one out for him. He thinks it’a great and makes a whole lot of noise when he plays with it.

The next thing on the agenda is to get him to learn smile or sit with his mouth closed when we take photos. He’s all for mouth open and lots of slobber at the moment.

I was very lucky for my birthday last week to recieve a sewing machine from my mum and step-dad. Nowhere near the flan dish I had asked for. I is a very good thing as the Bernina packed a sad the other day, and needs a serious fixing up. The Janome is a little scary though, as it has three speeds, is mostly electronic, and can quilt for me if I want it to. Mum has suggested I take a couple of classes so I know what to do with it. I think that’s a good suggestion.

Now that I have a machine that works, I was able to finish (finally) William’s animal quilt.

It seemed to take forever to hand-sticch the binding on the back!!!!

We had a fantastic couple of days visiting friends in windy Wellington. Only Wellington wasn’t all that windy this time. William got to hang out with his friend Harriet, and we continued to work on the ‘nice’ touching, instead of grabbing and scratching that he seems to really enjoy.

He really likes Harriet, and went from being a grumpy bum with mum and dad to a happy chappy with his friend. I’d really like to know what they were talking about as there were a few giggles and lots of face pulling!!

We took with us some eggs and a delicious carrot cake, made using the same recipe as the one we had at our wedding.

Just for you Laura…..

2c raw sugar, 1c wheatmeal flour, 2t cinnamon, 1 c flour, 2t baking soda, 1/4t salt

3c grated carrot, 4 eggs beaten, 1c oil, 1d plain yoghurt

Sift and mix dry ingredients. Add the oil, then add eggs, yoghurt and carrot. Stir in until mixed. Bake at 180C for an hour. Ice with lemon or cream cheese icing. (4T butter, 1/2c cream cheese, 2c icing sugar and a little lemon juice/rind. Beat butter and cream cheese until creamy. Add icing sugar and lemon, beating well to combine.)

I always though carrot cakes were very difficult to make, but the above recipe certainly isn’t, so I would suggest giving it a go. Plus it is the most delicious thing I’ve made.

Talking about baking, I made these Pumpkin muffins for William the other day. He thinks they are wonderful.

1 1/2c self-raising flour, 1/2t salt, 1T sugar, 2c grated cheese, 1 1/2t cumin, 1t oregano, 1/4-1/2t cayenne pepper, 50g butter, 1 egg, 1c milk, 1c mashed cooked pumpkin.

Mix dry ingredients. Add cheese and stir. Warm the butter, add egg, milk and pumpkin. Pour liquids inbto the dry ingredients and fold in. Spoon into muffins tins. Bake for 12-14mins at 220C

A very successful weekend.

This Queen’s Birthday has been the most successful of its kind in many years. I have got so much done around the house!

I made some great muffins for William’s morning tea, so many that they will last until the end of the month. He was pretty impressed by them, and even managed to get most into his mouth.

Simon was even lucky and was made some chocolate chip biscuits and coffee cakes.

Choc Chip Bickies

– 1/2c brown sugar, 1/2c white sugar, 1 3/4c flour, 1t baking powder, 150g melted butter, 1 egg whisked, 1t vanilla essence, 1c chocolate chips (we use drops). Mix all together, roll small balls of dough then place on a baking tray. Press with a fork. Cook for 15-20mins at 180C. Absolutely delicious!!

Yesterday was busy with school work and a visit to the local Arts and Crafts exhibition. It is held every Queen’s B-day, and this year was brilliant. I came away with a lot of ideas (not that I need anymore to keep me busy), and mum with a new wrap cardy. The visit even strengthened my desire to get into spinning. It’s just a pity the classes are on days that I work. I might need to visit Simon’s 92-year-old nan and learn from her.

Today I had success with catching two mice that had started to nibble away at the chickens’ mash. I’m very glad I decided to purchase two new traps in town on Saturday.

Saturday was also a day for shopping for quilting supplies. I needed backing for three quilts, and I even purchased some fabric for my new niece’s xmas present. Never too early to start is it! These are the purchases.

This fabric has lovely ballerina tutus and ballet slippers on it. I bought it to go with the squares underneath, which were pieces I got from Trade Me. It is almost 150cm square. Hopefully in the future Simon and I will have a daughter, otherwise this will become a gift for one of the nieces.

I LOVE these fabrics. I bought them when William was a few weeks old, with the plan to make a quilt for when he has graduated to a single bed. I am also excited as I found a great pattern for a bean-bag that I will make in matching fabric. For the pattern, look here.

I can’t wait to make this. In fact I may start cutting it out this afternoon! All  need is some red and yellow homespun, then I can start sewing.

This is for the new niece in Blenheim. It is such a cheerful seer-sucker, and will look beautiful with the bright homespun pieces and pink drill as the backing.

Yet another quilt for yet another niece. This is the result of the jelly roll mum gave me. I am going to use the same pink drill back this as the above quilt.

 And lastly, the ‘Sweet Dreams for Baby’ pack that mum bought for me. This will be a really nice cot quilt by the time I am finished with it. It is magnificent as it came with all the fabrics, so I just need to cut the strips into exact lengths and get sewing.

This will be for the next child, which is a lot more adventurous than what William got when I first started my quilting expeditions.

The final thing worth a mention for this weekend is my discovery of the Australian magazine ‘Country Bumpkins’.  It has some great ideas for embriodery and a beautiful set of children’s sheeting that I may just HAVE to add to my list of to-dos.

Horsing Around

I found this wonderful ‘rocking horse’ for William in the antique shop in Waipawa on Sunday. Simon and I agreed that if it was still there on Monday on my way home from work, I was allowed to buy it. Luckily it was, and now William can play giddy-up till the cows come home.

So close to finishing

I have almost completed William’s animals – supposed to be a book, now a quilt instead. I am really glad it’s almost done, as I have had enough of blanket-stitching. All I need to do now is complete the backing, and hand-quilt it. I am just waiting on a jelly-roll to finish it.

Speaking of jelly-rolls, mum gave me one to play with, and a few ‘strip crazy’ books to look through. I have now almost finished this one too. I just need to sew the panels together and choose some fabric for the border and I will have completed the front. The other thing I need is a daughter who can enjoy it.

Proud as punch

So I haven’t finished William’s animal book that I told myself I was going to do. I did buy the backing fabric and have cut out the letters this morning, but I saw something else that took my fancy. I have been in the process of making William some farm clothes, and have had an unfinished shirt lying around for over a week. I finally got up the courage to put the machine to action and attempt button-holes. The first time in over 10 years. Thankfully they were a success and William now has a new shirt to wear.

Maybe I’ll get the book done tomorrow…