A Woman of Notes

Spot the Difference

2012-02-16T09:51:00.002+11:00

Quick quiz:

Spot at least 3 differences between this scene and the one below:

Answers:

1. The exterior painting is finished

2. The scaffolding is gone

3. The sun is shining!

Woohoo!

(Now just waiting for that bin to go

and for 3 fine days in a row so the fence can be painted!)

Stairs and the Last of the Gyprocking

2012-02-14T11:42:00.001+11:00

Last week was a crazy week around here.

It began like this:

with everything covered late on Sunday night

in anticipation of the gyprockers

arriving at 7.00am on Monday morning.

But they didn't arrive.

Again.

So I prepared for a day of no progress.

Except for the painting outside ....

But ... then at about 10.00am the stair man arrived,

and the plumbers to install the taps and connect the water upstairs..

By the end of Monday

our beautiful staircase was complete.

Although the staircase intrudes into the living area

the posts line up with the side of the front and back door,

which is great.

here is the view from the other side,

showing space for the understairs cupboards,

which the carpenter is building as I type.

And our interesting angled toilet door,

the subject of a future post.

I love this view of the stairs where you can

see the light flowing in from the windows on the landing.

In the next few days I will start painting the bannisters in white.

All the maple (handrails, steps and postcaps)

will be stained and varnished in a few weeks.

The next morning we were back to this:

and this time the gyprockers did arrive,

shooing us out of the kitchen before breakfast ...

we grabbed our bowls, spoons, cereal boxes and milk

and huddled into the study,

the only "safe" room,

the four of us in one square metre.

Good times.

huh.

They sanded for the morning and left at 11.00am

in a cloud of dust.

I spent the afternoon cleaning.

One of the spaces they worked was here in the kitchen,

you can see in the top left corner where the bottom of the

staircase eats into the kitchen.

A similar thing happens in the toilet next door.

There were also plenty of repairs to the ceiling

and in our bedroom where a support post had to be put in.

So really, the only unaffected rooms during the whole renovation

have been the study (otherwise known as the holding room for

everything we've had to suddenly move!)

the girls room (nearly always a mess!)

and the shower/bathroom.

It was such a relief after the gyprockers left to

remove dropsheets for the last time from all the

furniture and floors in the living room.

Each day a little bit more is done

and we get a little closer to finishing!

The carpenter will finish today,

and then we wait for the showerscreen and the tiler to do a little more,

before we finish painting and have the carpet laid

in a few weeks time.

Yippee!

Preparing for Painting

2012-02-06T13:45:00.002+11:00

Photo by Emily

It was all on at our place this weekend.
Thankfully the sun came out
after a drenching week.

Steve replaced the timber battens on the carport.

I spent a few hours with a mattock (!)]
(in my stylish painting shorts)
to clear a decade of weeds and ferns away from the fence

so that it can be painted this week.

Photo by Emily

After two afternoons

the job was done.

Phew!

The painters have plenty to do,
our fence hasn't coped with the shade.

And previous painters didn't do a good job
which means some areas have to be stripped right back.

The front fence has been scrubbed ready to paint.

Today I woke with aching muscles
but the satisfaction of a job well done!

Photo by Emily

The plumber has been in today and installed taps and toilet ...

and the stair man is finishing the stairs.

Photos tomorrow.
We are soooo close to finishing!!!

Well and truly over it ...

2012-02-03T09:49:00.001+11:00

So this is the post where I have a big whinge

about how hard everything has been this week,

and how we are coping with the messiest

stage of the building.

Feel free to skip it and look at some pretty pictures

here, here and here instead.

I'm writing this so we can look back one day and laugh.

Or say "was it really that bad??

Why, we can hardly remember it.

And it's all been worth it"

Hopefully.

So ... here goes:

What's been off-limits for whole days at a time:

kitchen

(our only)

toilet

living room/dining room/craft area

laundry

hall

(except to walk quickly through)

our bedroom

carport and sometimes the driveway

(and it's been raining)

verandah

which leaves:

study (full of stuff)

girls' room (ditto)

bathroom (shower & basin)

Which explains why I spent a few days mostly shopping.

The mess and noise:

Tile cutting

Gyprock cutting

5 men talking in 5 different accents and various languages

cigarette smoke wafting inside

orbital sander and heat gun

globs of wet plaster left behind ... everywhere

globs of dry plaster left behind .... everywhere

Heavy rain all week = lots of mud

dropsheets down the hall

(because what's the point of moving them

with mud and dust everywhere?)

Every piece of furniture in the affected rooms

covered in plastic dropsheets

gyprock and paint staying wet in the rainy weather

On top of which ...

the girls started school

(taking up hems, labelling, shopping for stationery,

long long stories after school & more requests for

stationery, school meetings, packing lunches, covering books)

I started piano teaching and bible study again

the dishwasher broke down

the list of jobs to do this weekend keeps growing

the weather is cold and wintry and dark

and the rain just won't stop coming down.

Next week: more of the same, plus fine white dust everywhere.

And then we turn the corner, only small jobs after that,

a bit (a lot) more painting for us to do, carpet,

and moving in.

. . .

However, amongst the mess

there have been some quiet days

where no one has been in

while we wait for the gyprock to dry.

So I did get the study tidied up

and I can use the whole house again for now.

Which makes it all bearable.

The quiet before the storm.

We just have to focus on the end of the building,

and the fun part to come,

which is well and truly in sight.

On the perils and pitfalls of choosing neutrals

2012-02-03T09:12:00.001+11:00

Every half an hour I go outside and stare at the house.

Not because I love the roof, like on the Colorbond ad,

but because I'm just not sure about the colour scheme I've chosen.

And it's too late, really, to change it.

So what I'm really wondering is

"can I live with this??"

Our house has been two shades of bluey-green

for the past 12 years.

I have always loved the way those shades toned together

but time for a change.

Neutrals.

We decided to stick with Wattyl Solagard

and Wattyl colours.

Not a whole lot of neutrals to choose from,

really ...

The first sample pots were too

brown/purple.

Similar to this colour.

Not what we wanted outside.

So we went with

Rock Oyster,

Moon Shell

English Castle

Nature's Bloom.

After weeks of agonising, months ago,

I made that decision and stuck to it,

without trying sample pots this time.

Last week when the painting began,

we quickly realised that there wasn't the contrast we wanted between the

Rock Oyster and the Moon Shell

so asked the painter to double the tint on the

Rock Oyster, for the weatherboards.

Upstairs, on top of the new cement board and weatherboards

the colours look good in most lights,

grey with a touch of green.

But downstairs, over the old green paint,

and close up,

the colours look khaki

And now this is what I see when I open the front door:

Green, green, green.

Similar to a colour called Retro Avocado.

And not so different to this:

So instead of the "traditional with a twist of contemporary"

that I was hoping for,

the house just looks '90s'.

Or 80s.

Or 70s.

And the English Castle in gloss

turns out to be pukey brown-khaki in the sunshine,

not the sophisticated charcoal-brown I envisaged.

Nature's Bloom, while being a lovely light cream on the colour chip

turns out to be "white".

Also not the look I was hoping for, and adding to the 1970s effect.

But at least this works now:

The old white screen door matching the front door colours

for the first time ever, having had various colours on that door in the past.

So that's one thing that won't need to be replaced ;-)

The verandah ceiling is looking better than we've ever seen it

although we hadn't planned for it to be green.

The painters are doing a brilliant job,

scrubbing, scraping, stripping conserving and painting.

And even in the rain.

No complaints there.

Upstairs painted, part of downstairs painted. Original green still on weatherboards here.

So ...

If the upstairs and downstairs end up looking the same colour

(not greyish upstairs and greenish downstairs),

I can live with it.

We might plant more natives

going for an "Australian bush" look.

And the lovely Linda reminded me that one can go

too grey, and our house is definitely not that now!

. . .

But oh, why do paint colours have to be so tricky???

Linking to Metamorphosis Monday

Almost, but not quite

2012-02-01T09:10:00.000+11:00

Dark and miserable weather here.

The painters have half-finished,

which makes for a very odd-looking house.

The upstairs painting is completed,

but the downstairs is a mixture of new and old.

Today it is raining heavily at times, but the painters persist,

working on the verandah,

removing years of flaking paint from the ceiling.

* * *

Inside, two men work on the gyprock

around the stairs, kitchen and downstairs toilet.

Upstairs, one man tiles the new bathroom ...

... and I huddle in the study

surrounded by stuff which needs to be tidied up.

Yesterday the girls headed off to school

together for the first time,

both at high school this year,

another change for us,

one which gives me more free time and less driving.

I will be able to appreciate that better

when our building is finished,

and we are out of survival mode.

Which is thankfully not too far off now,

perhaps early next week.

Let there be light fittings

2012-01-31T08:54:00.001+11:00

Last week the light fittings went in.

Our new upstairs looks more "finished" every few days!

I have tried to match the style of light fittings to our

1920s/1930s bungalow, selecting an antique copper finish

for most lights.

Over the stairs I was hoping we could install the lovely leadlight

light fitting I bought at a market last year,

but sadly an important piece was missing.

I'll find something else to do with that piece.

Instead I was fortunately able to run out that morning

and find a match to the (discontinued?) wall light I bought

last year at Beacon Lighting,

One for the landing, and one for the top of the stairs.

Downstairs we had the original bakelite light switches

which sadly needed to be replaced for safety reasons.

We sourced some plastic imitations,

which are not so nice,

the screws show and they don't make a nice 'plunk'

like the old switches did.

The electrician doesn't like them

(too much work)

and they need a backing block when placed

straight into the gyprock.

But they do add to the period feel of our brand-new upstairs!

In the hall we have a lovely pendant light from Recollections.

I love the way it is not flush to the ceiling

but not too low, either.

We have plenty of height upstairs with 2.4m ceilings,

although not so tall as downstairs where we have 3m ceilings.

no poky low rooms for us

- we have lived all our lives with high ceilings!

When the sun shines in this hall is lovely ...

And when the electricity is actually connected

these lights will look even better LOL!

In the bathroom we are having a stainless steel/silver/chrome look/

This Ikea light was perfect, rated for bathrooms and only $12.00.

Woohoo!

And in the bedrooms we've installed fan lights,

simple, modern and clean.

These rooms will get really hot in summer so fans are essential.

Over the weekend we painted some more,

Today the tiler, the gyprockers and the painters are here.

More photos to come!

Linking to Tuesday's Treasures

Architraves, Skirting and Doors

2012-01-25T08:46:00.002+11:00

I haven't posted so much lately on the progress of our upstairs extension.

Last week the carpenter did a brilliant job with the architraves and skirting boards,

matching our original 1920s/1930s features downstairs.

This is Laura's room, looking much more like a bedroom now with a door,

timberwork and a wardrobe.

We found bungalow doors to match our original doors.

Here you can see down the hall into Emily's room,

with the linen cupboard on the left.

We decided to go with a flush door

for the linen cupboard

rather than have a door custom made,

it is narrower than the other doors

and once painted it should all blend in.

Now inside Emily's room looking back out to the hall.

I'm really happy with the doorknobs we picked out.

Our downstairs doorknobs are a mixture

of styles, along the line somewhere someone

replaced the knobs but not the plates of some of the doors.

So we picked out something suitable in style

for the age of the house.

I didn't want to walk upstairs and feel as if

we were suddenly in a modern project home

instead of an old bungalow,

so I'm glad we could source these features,

they are definitely worth the extra expense.

So now we have a lot more painting to do in the next few weeks!

Thankfully painters are up on the roof now,

painting the exterior, despite the damp, miserable weather here.

Tutorial: How to Block your Crochet

2012-01-18T20:52:00.000+11:00

I've been enjoying crocheting my pink-red-cream cushion

and enjoying the way the circles turn into squares.

This rug was my inspiration.

Once I completed my nine squares

it was time to block them.
As you can see from the photo above, they were more

circular than square in some parts,

tending to bulge on the sides.

I thought I'd give a tutorial on

Blocking Your Crochet

using the spraying method.

Materials needed:

*Crochet piece/s to be blocked

*stainless steel pins

(to prevent any rust spots appearing on your work)

*flat piece of polystyrene foam

(ours was part of the packaging for our new fridge

if you don't have polystyrene you could use a cork square

or a towel spread tight on a carpet or bed)

*ruler or tape measure

(to rule up straight lines and measure sizes)

* Spray bottle of water

(or you can use spray starch, depending on your item)

Start pinning your work in one corner,

along a straight edge, if possible.

Pin the two adjacent corners and lastly the diagonally opposite corner.

This is where you might want a ruler to measure your sides

to keep it square.

If you are blocking multiple pieces then keep pinning them as above,

taking care to make each block the same size as the first one.

My piece of foam was conveniently just the right length

for all my blocks :-)

I didn't bother with the ruler this time,

as it was easy to match the line of the foam board.

I love the first look of the squares like this

Neat and straight

all my wiggles stretched out!

Next, spray your pinned work lightly with water (or starch)

and leave to dry.

Here are the squares after they had dried and been unpinned:

Lovely and square, with nice sharp corners.

They are flatter than before, also.

When I came to join my squares

I needed to crochet around the edge of each of them

before joining.

In hindsight I should have remembered to do that before blocking.

Once I'd done the extra crochet and then some

not-so-neat stitching them together

it was all looking pretty wonky again.

I didn't take a photo of that, it was late at night

and I wanted to get on with blocking it again.

I blocked the large square using exactly the same method,

only this time I used a larger piece of foam

and added some pins in the middle of the work

to keep all the lines straight.

If you look closely you can see a few pins on inside corners.

Now I'm just waiting for it to dry

before I add some more granny rows around the edges.

After that I will block it again,

and photograph the finished cushion.

Depending on your work

and the size of foam you have available

you may want to block in stages, as I did,

or at the end when you have finished.

Here is a photo of my granny square rug being blocked:

This was before I had foam from the fridge,

I had to use an old (but clean) piece of carpet

which was curled up a little and only just big enough.

I had to block them all in a hurry because our renovations

were about to begin,

and it was hard to keep the pins in place,

hence the not-so-straight edges.

But they turned out fine, the finished

rug is lovely and square.

One day when our living room is not part of a building site,

I'll post a photo!

So you can see that blocking is very easy,

but it will make a huge difference to your

finished crocheted item!

Colour in my Kitchen

2012-01-18T12:57:00.000+11:00

It's not often that Steve unloads the dishwasher in rainbow order LOL.

And with the school holidays the washing is a lot more colourful than usual.

And right next to the rainbow of dishes

is a jug of spectacular bulbs

which are growing in our backyard as weeds,

below the scaffolding.

A good antidote to the sound of circular saw and nailgun upstairs.

Knitted Hangers - Bunchy Bloomers and Clean Striped

2012-01-18T08:52:00.000+11:00

Steve gave me the lovely Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Knitting for Christmas.

(which I actually found for myself a few days before, on special!)

and I couldn't get knitting soon enough.

On Christmas night,

Steve headed off to bed with a migraine :-(

and I sat down to watch

my new DVD

Lark Rise to Candleford

and knit.

I needed something quick and easy with little

decision-making involved.

I chose the Bloomer pattern hanger from the book

and a pale yellow acrylic yarn from my stash

and got knitting.

Then I added some cuteness.

Done!

Not as bloomer-looking as Jane's, perhaps, but satisfying nonetheless.

* * *

This week the knitting bug caught again

and I craved stripes in cotton.

I started knitting up some cotton yarns from my stash

which are really too pale to go with most of my cotton yarns.

And then for some contrast on one side I added a few brighter coral stripes.

After a couple of nights of watching

Mentalist and Band of Brothers

it was finished.

No rush here,

the pleasure is in the knitting

and the mixing of colours.

I sewed it over an old satin-covered hanger

And I love it.

But perhaps it needs something else?

A little more aqua?

Too floppy

Better.

Or maybe I'll go back to the plain, striped look?

Next up, something more ambitious ....

The Builders are Back

2012-01-17T18:28:00.001+11:00

After a 3-week break, the builders are back.

Actually, just a carpenter with other men dropping in occasionally ....

In those 3 weeks, we have ...

celebrated Christmas,

had a family get-together,

relaxed a little,

shopped,

been to church,

went on a picnic,

saw Tintin,

slept in,

watched DVDs,

Steve worked 4 days,

we celebrated Emily's birthday

and then we split into two groups (adults and children!)

for a short break last week (post to come!)

But mostly, it feels like we have painted

and painted

and painted.

At least the progress is obvious:

As we first saw Laura's new room on 20th December

Same corner early this morning

But there's plenty more to come,

today the carpenter started on the doors and door architraves.

Then there's the rest of the gyprocking to be done,

and the stairs to be finished

and the skylight to be put in ...

and then there's the slight matter of the toilet door that can't fully open

due to the new stairs above.

Yes, sad but true.

(But we have a plan for that!

Thanks to my dad.

Anyway, that's another story ....)

All of that will need to be painted.

We'll be at it for weeks yet.

But we were pleased to paint almost everything we could

before today, just one more coat needs to be done on a couple of windows.

Which is pretty good, I guess,

considering everything we've fitted into the last 3 weeks!

Emily turns 14

2012-01-10T10:22:00.000+11:00

Emily turned 14 on Saturday!

She is such a lovely girl,

we are proud to be her parents.

We celebrated with a trip to

the Olympic Aquatic Centre at Homebush

then a movie night at home

watching Fantastic Mr Fox.

Emily loved the Sylvanian Families ambulance

we gave her, although she asked for it months ago

she wasn't really expecting it!

On Sunday Mum and Dad came over for lunch

and yesterday afternoon the girls went to Mum and Dad's

for a 3-night sleepover.

* * *

And what are we doing with our child-free time, you might ask?

Well, yesterday afternoon there was lots of this:

Painting under the new stairs.

Apparently if you don't paint two coats under the stairs

they will warp and cup after you varnish the tops of the stairs.

Steve's job was the high parts, including this tricky and dusty spot

between the ceiling and the new floor.

And my job was to paint under the main part of the stairs.

To paint this I had to lie on my tummy

or my back

or my side

whatever it took to get each surface covered.

Yuck!

But it's done now,

and we have nicer plans for the next two days :-)

Stay tuned!

Our New Favourite Picnic Spot

2012-01-02T23:18:00.001+11:00

We took a day off from painting today,

before Steve heads back to work tomorrow.

A beautiful summer's day for a picnic

28 degrees: warm in the sun

and cool in the shade.

Turkey, bread rolls, chips, salad

boats to watch

shells to collect

chatting

sitting

and a playground.

This could become our new favourite picnic spot.

New Year's Day at Our House

2012-01-01T16:15:00.002+11:00

New Year's Day,

gorgeous summer weather

and we are working hard.

After church and lunch we got stuck into some work.

Sorry, no sabbath rest for us today

... there's too much painting to be done!

(before Steve heads back to work on Tuesday)

on 20th Dec the upstairs looked like this

but now after 5-6 days painting it looks like this:

(wardrobe and roofspace)

(loving the colour of the linen cupboard)

carpenters' notes

Stairwell still in progress - it's very hard to reach!

But it's all worth it when you get to this point

- where you can see the wall colour clean against the white cornice

... sigh ....

Emily's washing the car ....

I got tired of juggling ladders and the pile of timber in the hallway

so am taking a break to blog ...

Laura is in the front yard cleaning up

all the little bits of builder's rubbish, plaster, gyprock

... still looking at the stairwell and wondering how to get the next two coats done ...

Steve finishing the second coat in Laura's room,

soon I will go in and cut-in and that room will be done too,

except for the trim.

We have had a few breaks this week,

two walks to the park

a BBQ in the backyard

a visit to the cinema to see Tintin

... but I was so tired I fell asleep during the movie!

Time for a cup of tea

before I pick up my paintbrush again ...

Hope you are enjoying your New Year's Day too!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T15:36:00.002+11:00

Happy New Year!

This was a quick portrait taken on Christmas Morning,

as we headed out for church.

In the chaos we couldn't find the tripod,

so the camera was balanced on a kitchen stool

.... hence the odd angle.

Laura wore her yr 6 Dinner dress again,

Emily finally fit into a dress she got on sale last autumn

and I wore a new dress too

since the weather was lovely and warm for once ...

Today is a lovely 27degrees or so ...

If the weather stayed like this

summer would be perfect!

Wishing you all the best for 2012.

Gingerbread House

2011-12-24T14:13:00.002+11:00

Something else we "weren't going to be able to manage" this year ...

...but when we went to Ikea during the week and they still had

gingerbread houses

and our stairs were going in ...

... we decided we could manage it, after all!

Lots of Christmas Eve fun here.

And now am off to cook my first turkey!

(a gift with the fridge!)

A Day of Christmas Baking

2011-12-24T14:08:00.001+11:00

Yesterday we girls enjoyed a day of baking.

Something we didn't take for granted this year.

But we enjoyed it to the full.

Bing Crosby in the background

singing "Let it Snow"

Cosy un-summery weather

Christmas cookies, same as every year.

Only this year the girls practically did it all themselves!

A big change from the stressful old days,

when my helpers were little.

We also made Christmas Cake and Crackle Cookies

and Gluten-free/Dairy-free cookies for me.

And let's zoom out a bit on the scene, shall we?

A new fridge, an unexpected necessity last week,

as if the ceiling being cut out and Laura finishing Yr 6 wasn't enough for one day ....

... and the staircase.

Hopefully by next Christmas this season of building chaos

will be forgotten!

It's the simple things

2011-12-24T13:47:00.001+11:00

It truly is the simple things in life that make a difference.

Things like ....

... leaving things out on the kitchen bench

without them being covered in building dust.

... going to bed without covering every surface

with a dropsheet first.

... sleeping in past 6.15am

because the builders aren't coming today.

... being able to prepare for Christmas in peace.

And even when a builder does turn up, after all, at 7.20am

and you are still in your pyjamas

and he puts in a missing piece of stair directly above

your pretty Christmassy teatowels and greenery arrangement

(thus creating more dust)

you can still cope

because the sense of peace

and 'everything going to be ok for a few weeks'

has already sunk in.

* * *

But really, I can't complain about the last 6 weeks

or even the crazy last week.

Because it was self-inflicted and definitely worth the mess.

Last weekend:

a gaping hole over the living room, toilet and kitchen.

By Monday night:

And on Tuesday morning, when the glue had dried,

finally

got

upstairs!

After months of waiting

and looking at the plans,

we could see the rooms in real life,

just as we had imagined them.

Enjoying the view

(although the windows are coated in

that gunk they put on them before painting)

Yep, definitely all worth it!

And guess who will be painting all next week??

A Christmas Card a Day no.7

2011-12-21T09:02:00.000+11:00

Not sure if I have showed you this card in the past,

but it is also one of my favourites!

Using retired stamps from Loads of Love and Window Dressing

I created a little scene

added some snowflakes from Short and Sweet

(plus a little sparkle!)

and some quick shading using a baby blue marker

Cute and easy.

If only we could have a white Christmas here!

A Christmas Card a Day no. 6

2011-12-20T08:55:00.000+11:00

This is a card I designed for a workshop in October,

using one of my favourite Christmas sets

Welcome Christmas.

Once again loving the embossing.

I used the edge of the wreath stamp to add some interest around the main image,

using Sahara Sand ink.

The greeting is from the Four the Holidays set.

This was one of my favourite cards this year,

with the leftovers from the workshop I made quite a few to send out.

A Christmas Card a Day No.5

2011-12-19T08:47:00.000+11:00

I love the elegance of the layered flowers

with the embossed background on this card.

Not a Christmas stamp, but with Cherry Cobbler & Old Olive

and a Christmas greeting, it does the job!

I love how the Stampin' Up! stamps, punches and dies all work together ....

Last Day of Primary School

2011-12-16T09:12:00.000+11:00

Laura's last day of primary school.

Mufti, walking to the movies, and pizza in the park,

and then a farewell tunnel back at school.

. . .

And a last day for me, too.

I just dropped Laura off to school for the last time.

The last time I will stand at the corner

and watch a daughter run into school.

. . .

The last time I will stand in the street

and wait while the whole school walks by

before Laura eventually wanders out,

swinging her hat,

giving me a little smile.

After nine years of being at school every weekday

at 9.00am and 3.00pm

just

won't

have to

anymore.

. . .

And meanwhile a crazy, crazy day around here, kitchen, living room and bathroom ceilings being cut into
a new fridge being delivered, (meaning everything goes into eskies) gyprocking finished off ....

A Christmas Card a Day no. 4

2011-12-16T08:31:00.000+11:00

Today's card features one of my older stamps, a lovely PSX bauble design,

and the (sadly retired) Peaceful Wishes pine needles.

I added the appearance of dimension by daubing some brown ink

onto the underside of the bauble.

I used the designer label punch under the greeting, and also to make the top of the bauble.

I made a "loop" by punching two ovals, one inside the other.

Which is hidden by the ribbon, unfortunately!

A Christmas Card a Day no. 3

2011-12-15T08:24:00.000+11:00

Using a non-Christmas stamp set

I made it Christmassy with red and green

and a Christmas greeting.

Things I love about this card:

The greenery (punched)

and the stamped texture background on the chocolate chip card.

And on another note, the gyprockers arrived bright and early this morning.

Four days late!

But better late than never.

Stairs next week now, hopefully in before Christmas.

Please Do Enter

2011-12-14T14:53:00.001+11:00

Dear Mr Gyprock-er,

Please come.

Today.

Or tomorrow.

We've been waiting for you for two days now,

and we're tired of you not showing up.

We just want our building to be finished.

If you don't come soon,

our stairs can't go in before Christmas

and we can't paint the interior upstairs during the Christmas break,

which will put everything back about a month.

So, please please come.

Yours sincerely,

Fiona

A Christmas Card a Day no. 2

2011-12-14T07:37:00.000+11:00

I like the clean look of this card

... with a bit of punched lace on the side ...

All products by Stampin' Up!

A Christmas Card a Day no. 1

2011-12-13T07:33:00.001+11:00

I have finally finished writing my Christmas cards for this year.

They will hopefully be in the post this afternoon.

I thought you might like to see some of my favourites for this year,

I try to post one a day.

Love the texture on this one.

All products: Stampin' Up!

A Chocolate Party for Emily

2011-12-11T21:44:00.000+11:00

The end of November and beginning of December are always crazy.

But I think we are over the worst of it, now!

In the midst of that craziness,

the day of my brief Christmas Moment

and in the midst of renovations

we held an afternoon tea party for Emily.

Emily's birthday is in January, but it's hard to gather friends in January,

so sometimes we have a party in December, instead.

Emily is old enough to do some of the planning and organising herself,

so she took care of the games and the chocolate truffles,

I made the cake, tidied the house and planned the craft.

The table was set with a purple cloth and chocolate-themed serviettes.

(I was setting the table at the very last minute, throwing the streamers over the fan ...

it was a crazy day - on top of the mess of everything stacked up around the place,

I'd had an electrician in spreading dust ...

just as well

I'm used to moving boxes and furniture daily now

... running on not-enough sleep and adrenaline....)

We had a chocolate fountain with fruit, marshmallows and savoiardi,

a chocolate birthday cake (with cream and jam!)

chocolate truffles,

lamingtons

and chocolate biscuits.

Plus a few types of chips for something savoury.

All Emily's choices.

The girls played the chocolate game

and made dresses for Polly Pockets with lolly wrappers,

which they did really well at.

The girls voted for their favourite to choose a winner.

We made necklaces and the girls also took home lolly bags.

Emily's friends were lovely

and I think a good time was had by all.

And I leave you with this evidence of Emily's dedication to chocolate.
Her morning Milo
protected with a little dropsheet of its own.

Almost grown up

2011-12-10T22:23:00.001+11:00

Laura

off to her (end of) Year 6 dinner

in a lovely dress of soft blue/purple/green

with sparkly grown-up shoes

and a pretty necklace

lovely hair

and smiles and sillies that won't stop.

(so she's not really grown up!)

We love you, Laura!!

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-08T11:32:00.001+11:00

A happy hour spent on the sofa

in this cosy winter-ish weather

(although technically it's summer)

no builders here today

Bing Crosby walking in a winter wonderland

Christmas tree lights

A new crochet project

in colours inspired by this book I bought yesterday:

Lovely.

* * *

But keeping it real ....

in case you think it's all rosy and perfect here ...

the other half of the sofa I'm sitting on looks like this:

and behind our Christmas tree looks like this:

because we need to be ready for dust at a moment's notice

... and the other half of the living room looks like this

where my craft and broom cupboard was ripped out

and where stairs should go in, next week,

and the bedroom looks like this

where the carpenters unexpectedly ripped open the wall and popped in a pole.

* * *

So, I'm just enjoying sweet moments as they come.

Pink Hydrangeas

2011-12-08T11:24:00.001+11:00

On Monday a gorgeous bunch of pink hydrangeas arrived in our home,

from here.

I am so enjoying them

in the sparseness of my kitchen

... decluttered because of our building.

A look I could get used to ...

Christmas at the Piano

2011-12-06T10:58:00.001+11:00

Christmas has come to our home!

On Saturday we put up our Christmas tree, after all

Now we just have to cover it with a dropsheet every time the builders work inside.

Not a great look, but worth it for the evenings :-)

And one other area I managed to decorate ... our piano.

The piano is the centre of one of our Christmas traditions,

singing carols together.

And my piano pupils are in here each week too,

but let's face it, I really did this for myself ;-)

Over my vintage framed sheetmusic

(some of which belonged to my nanna and great-aunt)

I draped a white leaf garland.

Then I decorated with

a bottle brush tree

white lanterns,

a thrifted deer

and carols sheetmusic

vintage books

(about music)

All of which makes me happy!

(even though the rest of the room is PACKED full of junk

that had to be moved suddenly afterwards,

the building continues in the oddest places ....)

Cheerleading Girl

2011-12-06T10:45:00.001+11:00

This year Laura has danced in a Cheerleading class.

I didn't even know that such a thing existed here in Australia,

but apparently it does.

Her group of friends were all in the class with her,

and Tuesday afternoons were busy with cheerleading and flute lessons,

requiring 5 trips to or from school.

Way too much back and forth!

On Sunday we saw her perform in the dance school concert.

She did well.

Next weekend: ballet concerts.

And then for 2012, I think ballet and flute will be quite enough!

A Christmas Moment

2011-12-02T10:46:00.001+11:00

Despite ...

... a constrant stream of tradesmen inside this morning

... hammering, sawing and drilling above

... a birthday party for one teenager plus 9 friends to prepare for this afternoon

... dietary restrictions

... unseasonly cold (but sunny) weather

... and no Christmas tree until the builders' dust subsides in a few weeks ....

I still managed to steal a Christmas Moment for myself.

Lovely Christmas music

A gluten-free, dairy-free and delicious Melting Moment

A real cup of tea (for once)

A lovely Christmas magazine

Perfection.

And then the electrician came back in, this time for real with a ladder and drill, creating "snow" on my freshly cleaned surfaces.

But worth it, because the house is looking like this:

and this:

Couldn't be happier with how the extension is going

(once we get that pesky weatherboard cladding exactly right ...)

Day 7 - Roof

2011-11-22T13:14:00.001+11:00

By Friday the builders had the roof frames up, and left the big tarp over the top for the weekend.

This photo is taken from the backyard, near the clothesline. We can look up and see right into the rooms! So exciting to see it coming together.

Now (Day 9) they've progressed even further, but I haven't been able to take many photos

... either the tarp is on, or a carpenter is in the way ...

Meanwhile, the inside continues to look mostly like this:

and this:

since we've been having rain and the occasional leak dripping suddenly from nowhere ...

Today we heard that they aim to be at lock-up by the end of next week!

Woohoo!

Day 6 - Walls!

2011-11-17T14:47:00.001+11:00

This morning we woke to drizzling rain, after a rainy night.

I thought perhaps the builders might not work, but they did.

And this is what I saw when I stepped out the front door!

After months of waiting,

to finally see the extension taking shape

is so exciting!

New bedrooms on this side

On this side the computer nook and stairs.

And they even started on the roof!

All happening so fast at the moment!

A Trailride for Laura

2011-11-16T10:52:00.001+11:00

On Saturday, as part of her birthday celebration

and because of a long-ago promise ...

Laura and her friend Bronnie went for a trailride.

Laura's horse was called Boots

And Bronnie's was Lulu.

(Or perhaps it was the other way around?)

Poor Laura, she loves horses but hasn't ridden one for two years!

If only it wasn't so expensive ...

So, after that long, long wait ....

... she loved every minute.

And I enjoyed some peace and quiet in the beautiful surrounds

- an oasis after the noise of our building.

Building Progress - Day 4

2011-11-15T14:21:00.001+11:00

As we were promised,

our extension is going up in leaps and bounds

now that it's finally begun!

With MUCH noise, most of the roof has been taken off

to make way for the new level,

and today the floor is going down.

Pretty good for just 4 days.

A few minutes ago the frames arrived, so I guess we'll be seeing

walls go up in the next few days!

So exciting.

And not too much of this.

Just a little.

And it's not too bad ...

(I tell myself)

Here at the Circus

2011-11-10T15:22:00.001+11:00

Nothing but a striped tarp between our

old ceilings and the November rains!

Our builder was called out 8 times two nights ago

after the thunderstorm,

dealing with water coming in at other sites.

Which makes me a little nervous!

But oh, the sound of the angle grinder

cutting into our roof was music to my ears

after about 6 months of waiting for this day!

Glad that it's begun at last,

and hoping for only light rains!

Progress at Last!

2011-11-09T14:55:00.000+11:00

Our long-awaited building project is finally beginning!

Today the scaffolding was erected

and a portaloo delivered.

Please observe that I matched the portaloo colour

to the house colour.

On purpose.

No, not really, it just turned out that

the company with the cheaper loos

happened to have loos in that colour.

But it does sort of blend in.

Better than the one which was arrived this afternoon,

despite my having cancelled that order!

One portaloo in the garden more than enough!

That one was sent back.

12 Years Old

2011-11-09T14:42:00.000+11:00

So grown up,

and yet so young!

A busy Tuesday as usual for Laura with

band, cheerleading and flute lesson.

Then a disappointment as Daddy was not able to get

home in time to go out for dinner,

due to thunderstorms.

So we'll go out tonight, instead.

Then on Saturday Laura and a friend will go on a trail ride,

something I promised last year

and we are finally doing.

Which will make in total 8 days

from the first celebration of her birthday

to the last.

Well and truly celebrated,

with our love.

Sheep Birthday Cake

2011-11-04T20:07:00.001+11:00

For Laura's 12th Birthday Party today

I made a sheep cake!

I divided my normal butter cake recipe into two flat round tins.

One of these became the body and then I cut a sheep face shape out of the second cake.

The body is iced in white and then covered with popcorn,

and the face iced with chocolate icing.

Eyes: white chocolate melts

end of black jelly bean

Nostrils & mouth, Grass : cut from a Sour Strap lolly

Legs: Chocolate Rollettes

When I finished the cake I realised there was no good place to fit 12 candles!

So I popped the cake on a tray and made a fence out of lamingtons

that I had bought to serve anyway.

This was one of the easier cakes that I've made,

I love how the popcorn looked woolly

(and also helped covered any little mistakes)

And most of all ...

Laura loved it!

Vintage-style Stamped Menu

2011-10-24T08:54:00.000+11:00

More items from the table setting

last Saturday night

and the menu

of course the roses were fresh on the night ...

these photos were taken on my table a few days later ...

All stamps by Stampin' Up!

We also had this menu

- the best I could do for a blackboard menu

white chalk on black matt board (that I already had)

on an easel (that I bought for the same event last year)

Free and effective!

The weekend: boxes and more boxes

2011-10-22T20:12:00.002+11:00

With building commencing (hopefully) in two weeks,

this weekend has involved more of this.

Packing boxes

Walking around the maze of boxes

Swapping boxes

Finding boxes

Filling boxes

Labelling boxes

Trying not to trip over boxes.

Because we have to pack up all this:

and all this:

and this

and much, much more.

But the most important box we packed this weekend

was this one:

For Operation Christmas Child

packed with goodies, bought and handmade

and ready to gladden a girl's Christmas

somewhere in an impoverished country.

Good to think of someone less fortunate in the midst of

Things to Do.

Perfect Reflections

2011-10-22T17:26:00.000+11:00

Yesterday, I read this post.

And drooled over the lovely mirrors there.

This morning I went out early for a walk,

happened to find a garage sale,

and came home with this:

(no place to hang this yet)

and this:

and this:

Three lovely vintage mirrors

for $55.00

So happy.

One over the sideboard in the study,

where I always wanted one,

but never dreamed to find a lovely

Art Deco mirror for so little $$.

One in the hall,

where I never expected one

but I love it.

It goes perfectly with the hall table.

Made for each other.

Shame we will be moving the hall table at some point soon ...

But these mirrors will go anywhere.

Upstairs or downstairs.

And building the upstairs should start in a fortnight!

. . .

Linking with
Flaunt it Friday
Thrifty Goodness Link Up

Drying in the sunshine

2011-10-21T12:24:00.001+11:00

Vintage electric jug collection

taken down, scrubbed

and left to dry in the hot sunshine

source

like a flock of birds with their beaks open.

* * *

Packing and decluttering in preparation

for our building

which we hope will start very soon.

In the meantime, most of our living room

looks like this:

Pink & Vintage Table Setting for Six

2011-10-17T21:15:00.002+11:00

Photo by Juliet

Before, during and after.

Table Display for a church function

Trying it out at home

Goodies for the ladies

And enjoying the flowers at home afterwards.

* * *

A few more photos to come ...

But unfortunately I didn't have my camera

with me on the night :-(

In the early morning light ...

2011-10-13T21:35:00.004+11:00

Mornings have not been my strong point, lately.

In fact in the holidays I was regularly staying up late

and getting up around 9.00am.

Now school is back I really need to get up much earlier!

And I am.

But a couple of late nights

and a slow adjustment to daylight savings time

are not helping.

Yesterday morning I woke after 7.00

and this is what I saw at the end of the bed.

The hallway

bathed in bright morning light.

This only happens at this time of year

and only if Steve opens the blinds at the back of the house.

(and who knew our walls were so warped?

Can you believe we are going to add

another storey onto this old house??)

The light was so bright

and enticing

that I jumped out of bed and greeted the day.

Well, almost.

After a few minutes thinking about it.

And then I had to take photos.

btw: Oil painting by Steve's mum, of a local scene.

Stencilling by me, back in 1995

inspired by 'the movie Little Women'.

Enamel Pitcher

2011-10-10T10:48:00.000+11:00

Loving my new enamel pitcher

from Ikea

filled with erigeron

which is taking over our backyard

but is now making me happy

on the dining table.

Happy Granny Squares

2011-10-08T19:33:00.000+11:00

I am on the last square of my granny square rug!

After 18 months,

and lots of other crocheting in between,

looks like I will finish it this Spring,

rather than last Spring.

In fact I remember last winter

when I started this rug

I was loving it so much that I started another project

to make the fun of making this rug "last"

This last square is making me the happiest of all.

From its yellow-aqua-purple centre

to its pink and yellow goodness

and a few more happy rounds to add.

For a few weeks I was deliberating about ...

how many rounds?

how to join them?

and finally I decided to do a round of trebles for the 20th row

in the darker blue or pink

and then a round of single

(or double? I can never remember which it is) crochet in green.

Then I will stitch them together with green

and do some more rounds around the whole rug,

finishing with pink.

And I'm so happy with the green edging!

The other squares are stacked almost ready to join together

one needs its green edging,

some need the ends sewn in.

Soon I'll be able to show you the finished rug!

Linking to Fibers on Friday.
See what the others are making!

Teen/Tween Fashion Sense

2011-10-08T14:08:00.003+11:00

Life here is a parade

of colour

and

individuality.

Take Emily's favourite outfit at the moment (above)

Note the pretty Cath Kidston-style sundress,

the khaki sleeveless vest

the pink beanie

complete with plaits and badges

the cute non-matching socks

and military-style boots

Yep, she's got style.

And then there's the pink girl.

Favourite striped cardigan

A headband for every day of the week

or year

Fringe created from long hair folded back

(to try and persuade me to let her have a fringe cut)

fingerless hot pink gloves

(seen being created here by the wearer)

hot pink legwarmers

over black leggings

denim shorts over the leggings

and

for a casual day at home,

pink fluffy slippers.

Quietly crafting at Home

2011-10-07T18:27:00.003+11:00

This second week of the school holidays

we girls have been

quietly crafting at home.

Lots of mess.

But it's good mess,

don't you think?

I love to look up (from my ipad)

and see my girls knitting while watching Bewitched.

And until someone steps on a needle

and so long as we tidy up before Daddy's home ...

I don't mind a bit of felt-y wool-y fabric-y goodness spread around.

(oops, Daddy's walking in now and we forgot to tidy up!)

Long (Child-free) Weekend

2011-10-01T15:08:00.002+10:00

A long weekend without the girls ...

began with a candlelit dinner at home

(eating out is unfortunately not an option

at the moment,

my elimination diet goes on

... and on ...)

then

Crazy Stupid Love

(loved)

some thrifting

some duets

some rearranging of the kitchen

to accomodate happy new little casserole dishes

a card made for Steve's parent's 60th anniversary

and parents duly visited

some gardening

and soon afternoon tea of

yummy gluten- and dairy- free vanilla cookies.

* * *

The girls return home tomorrow

and the weekend still won't be over!

* * *

For now we are enjoying the serenity.

Vintage Suitcases and Leadlight

2011-09-24T11:05:00.000+10:00

Lovely old suitcases

found at a market in Leura

plenty of character

exactly what I was looking for

plenty of storage space

... looking forward to finding the perfect spot

for them when our extension is built

and I found this beautiful wall light fitting!

This will sit between two windows above our stair landing.

Cheaper and more beautiful than any new fitting.

Perfect for our house.

Two things I was hoping to find one day ...

... found when I wasn't even looking!

A Spacesuit for a Dog, and Other Things

2011-09-21T14:42:00.000+10:00

Among other things,

this week has included the construction

of a spacesuit for a dog.

Rana, the Border Collie
member of Australian Border Collies in Space

graciously cooperated in Emily's science assignment:

constructing a space suit suitable for visiting Mars -

the ultimate part of a term-long series of science projects.

The helmet: constructed using papier mache and fabric.

Rana will be comfortable in his heat-and cool-resistant layers;

breathing apparatus; paw grips; tail-operated location device and more;

and stylish with personalised logos.

There were times during the planning and construction of this spacesuit

where I could have used some breathing apparatus myself,

and a cone of silence wouldn't have gone astray, either.

But once we got over the initial stages,

Emily did it all on her own and did a fantastic job!

Emily has had loads of assignments due in the last month

and will really enjoy her school holidays starting this weekend.

In other news ...

we have bought a new (to us) car;

(to replace the car written off last week)

Laura has done her flute exam;

my knee is doing much better;

recent experiments in my diet had disappointing results...

... and last weekend I had a wonderful weekend here

studying Phillipians

with lots of good friends from church

and hundreds of other women;

staying in a bedroom which looked straight out to this view.

Lots of encouragement, lots of challenges,

lots of fellowship, lots of laughter.

All good.

Only upwards from here ...

2011-09-13T18:17:00.002+10:00

The day started like this.

Not my fault.

I left the car parked at school to teach recorder and

returned to find that a lady had somehow

crashed into the rear of our car

and then into the kerb in front of our car.

90 minutes

many phone calls

2 two trucks

2 police officers

and one good friend

later

... I thankfully returned home to Laura, still sick on the sofa.

Jacqui, my good friend,
not only
shared the waiting with me
and provided support and calm advice,
but she also helped by collecting some much-needed groceries,

and bought these:

... a birthday gift.

The mercy dash to the crash site was not the

fun get-together that Jacqui had planned to celebrate my birthday,

but hey, at least we met,

and chatted

... sometimes with the tow-truck guy ...

Then a day of phone calls and emails,

sorting things out.

Some brief attempts at relaxation in the lovely warm spring sunshine,

feeling thankful that my bad knee is very much better this week.

Laura recovered after Emily came home

and they must have felt Spring,

because they set up a picnic in the front garden!

Which is still continuing now, in the twilight,

despite Emily having been stung by a bee.

(am so glad my girls are not too grown up for picnics like this!)

That icepack must be working well.

* * *

It has been a crazy week for us.
almost too much,

what with sickness, knee pain,

school assignments,

and now no car for a while ...

What's going on?

Then this afternoon I read this, from Psalm 33

⁶ By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,

their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

^{⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea into jars^[a];}

he puts the deep into storehouses.

^{⁸ Let all the earth fear the LORD;}

let all the people of the world revere him.

^{⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be;}

he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰ The LORD foils the plans of the nations;

he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

¹¹ But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

... and I have to remember that God has everything under control,

that it's all part of his purpose of refining us

and building perseverance and hope

within us;

and making us thankful

for life and family and friends

and giving glory to Him

in it all.

²⁰ We wait in hope for the LORD;

he is our help and our shield.

²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name.

²² May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,

even as we put our hope in you.

Food - don't waste it.

2011-09-12T13:30:00.002+10:00

On my kitchen bench:

A poster dating back to 1915.

Found on the internet and printed out on A4 card.

The perfect size for a vintage frame that belonged to my Gran.

Food:

buy it with thought

plenty of that going on here - still on elimination diet

& avoiding all harmful additives

cook it with care

I am doing my best with the limited and expensive ingredients I have

trying not to burn anything, especially!

But sometimes it's hard when using unfamiliar ingredients

use less wheat and meat

currently I am on a gluten-free diet ... so no wheat for me.

Lately I've heard so many stories of people who are just

feeling so much healthier by cutting out wheat or gluten.

As for the meat:

Emily is a vegetarian, and as a family we have been

eating less meat in the last 18mths.

Beans are a great substitute for meat.

My current diet eliminates many vegetables,

which makes vegetarian eating more tricky,

so we have had a little more meat lately.

Previously we were all eating a vegetarian meal

about 3 nights a week,

and three of us had meat the other 4 nights.

buy local foods

when I can, I buy from our local markets on a Thursday,

but it's not always possible ...

serve just enough

I find this one very tricky!

The girls are fussy eaters so we don't serve them much at all

but even then it often is not eaten.

On this diet I can't keep leftovers in the fridge,

they have to be frozen.

Sometimes I am guilty of piling it onto the plate

just to save dealing with the leftovers!

use what is left

don't worry - I mostly keep leftovers!

Every Tupperware container I own is filled to capacity

at present, my freezer has a high turnover.

I don't throw out good food!

It's interesting, isn't it, that these directives from the US govt

almost a century ago apply so well to us today?

* * *

Today I've tried my first gluten-free loaf in the breadmaker, using a packet mix.

I manually set the breadmaker to rise and bake the dough,

but had to finish it off in the oven.

A little more experimentation required!

And finally, a photo of my cute new casserole and mortar and pestle,

birthday gifts from Steve.

I love to have a mini casserole to microwave vegetables for dinner.

Sweet and Sour

2011-09-12T12:33:00.003+10:00

A mixed weekend ...

It began on Friday with a funeral of a sort-of family member,
a sad occasion, although we did not know him well.

On Saturday Laura woke sick with a tummy bug,

she and Steve had to miss our big family party that afternoon.

She's doing better today, but still at home.

Emily and I enjoyed the party,

it was good to be with family and celebrate five birthdays!

On Sunday Emily began sewing a spacesuit for a dog,

for a science project.

Something I was apprehensive about,

but she is doing well,

Rana the floppy dog will look good.

Steve mowed the lawn - this was the before photo,

the violets above are thriving below the jasmine.

Last week I injured my knee playing futsal,

after a pain-free two seasons.

Turns out I have psoriatic arthritis, news to me.

Am off to the physio again today.

I've been hobbling around,

glad to be sitting in the sunshine when I can,

stretched out on the sofa

... sometimes crocheting while I watch one of my new DVDs

... and enjoying my lovely birthday gifts,

and cards,

Hanger (and Mary Poppins) from Mum & Dad

from Dave

from S & G, pewter native hibiscus dipped in silver

from Tanya, have been wanting to see Wives & Daughters again!

from A & A - can you see my reflection?

from Karen

and looking forward to getting into these:

from Steve and all the family - yey for Book Depository!

I think I will need to institute an

Alexander McCall Smith Shelf in our bookcase

- these are only my new books of his!

Our building plans have been approved

and now we're waiting for some action from the building company

and a start date.

How was your weekend?

Our weekend so far ...

2011-09-03T20:49:00.000+10:00

My birthday yesterday.

A quiet day at home.

Gluten-free, dairy-free cupcake,

lovingly made for me by Steve and Laura

(who was home, sick)

Lovely cards from friends.

A friend dropped in with happy flowers.

I was spoilt with books, DVDs, a lovely scarf, kitchen goodies and nice pens.

Emily arrived home from her overnight excursion around 6.00pm

and we had dinner together, happy to be together again.

Today, a picnic with my parents and nieces,

and a friendly wallaby

(can you see the joey?)

After lunch, a walk through the bush.

We hadn't told the girls they were going to see their cousins,

it was a big surprise on both sides!

So much fun!

Although these photos look like we had a peaceful walk through the bush

we actually had a non-stop noisy commentary from a certain pair of cousins,

complete with American accents.

And tomorrow: Fathers Day

When it's time to celebrate this nice husband of mine!

Spring begins

2011-09-01T08:07:00.000+10:00

The first day of Spring.

A day for picking flowers,

arranging them

and spring cleaning.

Instead, a busy day for me ...

leading bible study

making invitations for a church event

going to the chiropractor

and the shops

and taking Laura to ballet ...

... all after a very early start this morning

to see Emily off for an overnight trip to Jenolan Caves.

Fortunately I enjoyed picking freesias and lavender one evening last week!

Jasmine Love

2011-08-26T17:41:00.001+10:00

Come the last week of August ...

... and the sun which inevitably comes with it ....

.... and you will find me childishly and deliriously happy ....

... because the jasmine is out!

Rioting over our back fence ...

and shouting to me that my birthday is only a week away!!

Market Day

2011-08-26T13:38:00.001+10:00

I love a sunny Thursday.

After bible study in the morning I head to our local weekly markets.

This time I brought home a bit of spring!

Plants:

Pansies

Iceberg lettuce (the only lettuce we can eat on the diet)

Chives

Carrots and capsicum too ....

... and a ball of pink cotton yarn that I need to finish my granny rug!

Salicylates

2011-08-26T13:28:00.001+10:00

A few months ago I had never heard of salicylates.

Well, now I have, and I've been missing them for 5 weeks!

Until this week!

On Monday for lunch I sat down to my first colourful meal in some time!

Salicylates in the asparagus, pumpkin, snow peas and capsicum.

Since then I've been enjoying all sorts of salicylates ...

tea

curry

cinnamon

herbs

honey

apples

peaches

sweet potato

... so far they don't seem to be affecting me too much ... 3 more days of eating them as much as possible and then back to the normal diet for a few days .... and then I'll try amines.

In the meantime, I have also given up gluten and dairy, and am feeling MUCH better!

I'm full of energy this week!

Maybe I've been gluten-intolerant all this time!

Unfortunately Laura hasn't fared so well on a high-salicylate diet this week

so we need to review what she eats in the long term ...

Recipe: Sausage Cookies - Failsafe

2011-08-17T14:59:00.001+10:00

In our family, we call these Sausage Cookies.

Not because they contain sausages ...

... but because we roll the dough into a sausage shape before slicing them!

We're still doing the Failsafe diet here,

and I love it when I can use one of my regular (and favourite) recipes!

Sausage Cookies

Ingredients:

180g butter or margarine

1 1/4 cups brown sugar*

1 tspn vanilla

1 egg

3 cups plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Toppings of choice

Method:

1. Beat butter and sugar together in small bowl with electric mixer, until light and fluffy

2. Add egg and vanilla

3. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the sifted flour and baking powder

(at some point I have to turn off the mixer and stir by hand)

4. Roll out the dough into 3 long sausage shapes, about 4cm in diameter.

5. Refrigerate for at least 30mins (or up to a week, or can be frozen)

6. Cut into slices with a sharp knife, I guess I cut them about 8mm wide.

7. Bake in a moderate oven, on baking paper.

My oven cooks quickly and it takes about 10 minutes,

yours might take longer.

Also I like my cookies to be soft and chewy,

you might like yours crunchier, so bake them longer!

Toppings:

Here's the fun part!

You can add toppings before or after you bake, here are some ideas:

Glace cherries or nuts - add before baking, press into the top

Choc melts, Freckles, Choc Chip - place on top of each cookie

immediately after you take the trays out of the oven, they will melt slightly and stick on.

We are using white choc chips or carob buds while on the Failsafe diet.

I love that you can take one batch of dough and make it into different cookies by varying the toppings!

Enjoy!

*Some people on the failsafe diet may wish to use caster sugar instead of brown sugar

This recipe is from the Family Circle Biscuits, Cookies and Shortbread cookbook

Sunshine and Clouds

2011-08-17T14:37:00.000+10:00

The weather this week,

like life,

is a mix of

sunshine

and

clouds.

And even as we enjoy the sunshine

we are aware of the clouds gathering

to block out the light and warmth.

But what hope there is

when we look up and see the clouds breaking up

and the sun breaking through!

* * *

I wrote this yesterday, and didn't get to finish it.

Today I have been at our school athletics carnival,

shivering and doing duty with a stopwatch,

until the rains came down,

and we hurried home to change into dry clean clothes

and snuggle by the heater.

* * *

I am thankful that during the ups and downs of life

there is a Hope to cling to

that brings me JOY

no matter what the weather.

Though you have not seen him, you love him

and even though you do not see him now,

you believe in him and

are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

for you are receiving the goal of your faith,

the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:8

The Return of the Magnolias

2011-08-15T12:43:00.005+10:00

This winter we are having a lovely burst of magnolia blooms.

Some standing in rows like birds on a wire

... ready to bloom some more and reveal their whiteness within.

Ethereal in some light

In the past few years possums have clambered from our carport and eaten

the furry green buds before they ever reached this stage.

But this year the magnolia has fought back and is half-covered in blooms.

Just beautiful.