Summer Ice Skating?

On a hot day what do you do?

Grab your winter gear and head down to the local ice skating rink!

It's been years since I have ice skated. Katie had been ice skating at a party a few weeks ago and my 4 year old son wanted to have a go as well. That morning we rushed out the door (running late as usual) and I didn't think about packing suitable clothes for him. I promised him we would come back another day.

When we did come back, he was so excited. At first he tried the twin blades which strap on to his boots. He did a few laps with his daddy holding him up which took nearly half an hour to do one lap (LOL).

Then we swapped over to the single blade boots. After a while he started to get his little bearings. You should of seen the look of wonder on his little face. He was so fascinated with the ice. He kept looking down at it which would make him lose his balance and he would end up on his bottom. Up he would get and do it all again (LOL). After an hour and a half he was able to have a little skate on his own.

Christmas Lights

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!

My Christmas was a typical Australian one - wake up early, open the pressies under the tree, have breakfast, pack the car, head off before it gets too hot to be stuck in the car with the kids to do the rounds of the relatives (only 2 stops this year) and of course be late for lunch which consists of nibbles, a selection of cold meats, salads and prawns. That's a tradition I never seem to break with no matter how I try. I'm always running late.

Later on in the evening when lunch has digested a bit, we jumped in the car to go and have a look at the Christmas lights in front of the houses in the suburb where my parents live. People go out of their way to put on amazing displays. Some of the houses try to raise money for charities and have donation buckets. One of the houses we saw won a $10,000 prize for the best Christmas lights in Sydney. I didn't bring my camera with me so I had to make do with my partner's phone camera. The pictures aren't that sharp but it gives a general idea of how beautiful the streets look on Christmas night.

I love this part of Christmas evening. There are lots of people out with children walking around the street looking at all the lights, the night air is cool but not cold and it is a nice way to finish off an exciting day for the kids.

Orana (Carol Of The Birds)

Now just tilt your head to the left! :-)

A song from Katie to everyone -

Wishing everybody out there in blogland a very merry & fun Christmas.

Sunrays

I have been busy with the kids and have also gotten over a chest cold. Now I have lots of blog reading to catch up on. A friend gave me a flat screen monitor to replace our old bulky CRT monitor so now I can look at everyone's blog in a whole new light. Talking about light, here is some sun rays I've been making to brighten up your day!

Summer Nature Table

Summertime is here.

It sure felt like it today. It was a bit weird over a week ago - the upper mountains had a little snow - it's been weird weather.

First day of summer and I have a cold! I went to the doctors this arvo and I have to get a blood test tomorrow to see if I have whooping cough. WTF! It just feels like a chest infection. I took my boys to the local pool for a swim last Thursday and the next day I woke up feeling a bit crook with a sore throat. So I did a steam inhalation with some red thyme essential oil, thymus vulgaris (brilliant stuff). I find this stuff nips a sore throat in the bud. Hopefully, it is just a chest cold. This time last year I had shingles and that took me a few months to get over. I'm usually a healthy person. (LOL)

Anyway.... the Summer nature table. I had a great idea for the summer nature table. I thought, sand castle that was permanent so little fingers can touch it with out it falling apart. So I googled summer nature table sand sand castle to get ideas and came across Seasons Natural Toys .

There, I found a recipe for sand clay to make a permanent sand castle. So I got some sand from Mum when they went down the south coast, cornflower (the recipe said corn starch - I'm assuming it's the same thing), cream of tartar and a sand castle bucket for a mould. I was set.

I mixed it all together and left it in the garage to set for week. Anyway, a week later I checked on it. It had a crust on the top. I couldn't wait to see what it looked like so I cleared the kitchen table, got a board out to put it on, flipped it over and took the bucket off.......

Oh, my..... the smell. It stunk like a bucket of dead fish (LOL). This was a flop - it had only set an inch and the rest was like a smelly, fishy, sandy jelly. There had been a bit of rain here for the last week or so, and humid too. Maybe that's why it didn't set properly. I had to open all the windows in the house to get the smell out. Luckily, I was right next to the back door and out it went. So.... that didn't work. Maybe next time I'll use washed sand for sand pits instead.

So, plan B........

- a nice needle felted mermaid sitting on some beach rocks with some shells and driftwood ;)

Sunbaking Lizard

A few months ago I had been bitten by the creative bug (LOL) and after I'd been to one of the Steiner School open days, I quite liked how the school had mosaic spheres around the place in the gardens - some poking out of the bushes.

The battery in my camera died so I didn't get any pictures but it inspired me to do something outside of Katie's class room. I wanted to keep with the bush surrounding of the school. Outside of the classroom I would often see skinks (little lizards ) sunning themselves on the rocks, catching the morsels of the kids lunches that get dropped. I got approval from Katie's teacher, so I did a lizard sunning itsself on the rock.

....... and there it sat for nearly two months waiting to be grouted.

I was embarrassed. If it wasn't for wet weather, sick kids, sick inlaws and not having my driving licence, what should have taken maybe a few days became a bloody saga.

Yes, I finally got it grouted but I lost a few little tiles on the face and front leg. The right leg only has 3 claws which really annoys me every time I look at it. By the time I got up there to grout it, I forgot to bring up the spare tiles and glue. Also, I didn't have the petrol for a 40km round trip to go back and get it. It had to be done that day as we had the school fare the next weekend. I could only get it done on the weekends. It was too hard during the week as I need someone to watch the kids but it got done, finally. I was amazed that the rose quartz stay on.

It puts a smile on my face seeing the children touching and playing around it.

Katie's Nests

Nest found by Katie - she placed the rose in the nest.

Nest made by Katie aged 8 - the egg courtesy of a school chook.

It never ceases to amaze me, the spontanious creativity of children.

Awards and Rainbows

Wow, my first award! I'm so chuffed. Thank you Ariad at Rainbow Love Farm.

“This blog invests and believes in ‘proximity’

[meaning that blogging makes us 'close' - being close through proxy].”

My blog started off as a knitting blog but it seems to have naturally evolved into other aspects of the creative side of my life. I embarked on this journey to improve my rusty knitting skills and rectify my lack of computer skills. I'm now addicted, much to my partner's horror (he thought it was a passing hobby LOL). I have met so many interesting people/mums. As a stay at home mum that didn't drive and having just moved to a new area, it has been a great social outlet and another way of seeing the world through other peoples lives. I have met a few other bloggers in person as well. It's been great fun.

Now, I am to pass on the award to 8 other bloggers and they in turn pass the lovin' on to 8 other bloggers :)

In no particular order:

Mel at Seastar Craft

Lynne at Too Hot to Knit

Cadi at Coffee, Yarn, Nirvana Please

Jackie at Life in the Dome

Julie at Four Leaves

Nicole at Going Green

Toria at Unfinished Business

Kukka-75 at Soft Side of Life


Here is the latest needle felt creation - the Rainbow Maiden

~MUD~

Mud, mud, glorious mud

Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood

So follow me, follow me

Down to the hollow

And there we will wallow in glorious mud.

Look what happens while mummy is blogging! ;)

6 Random Things

Wow! Thanks for all your lovely comments. It was exciting to come back to the computer seeing all those comments.

I've been absent from blogging as we've been busy cleaning and sorting the inlaws house to get it ready for sale. I've also been doing lots of driving, of course, so I haven't been at home much and the dishes are mounting up.

Jacqui from Life in the Dome has tagged me for six random thing about my self. So here's six random thing about me:

1. I'm an Art School drop out - one day I would love to go back and finish what I started.

2. I would love to travel the world but I hate flying - it really freaks me out.

3. I lived in Ireland for about a year.

4. I love mangoes. Mango season. Yippee! - just bought a box for $10.

5. I just joined the parent choir at Katie's school. I'm a shower singer from way back. LOL

6. My most exciting opp shop purchase this year is the Le Creuset cast -iron frypan in practically new condition that I scored for $5.

Now I have to pick 6 other bloggers to tag -

1. Mel at Seastar Craft

http://seastarcraft.blogspot.com/

2. Cadi at Coffee Yarn and Nirvana Please

http://cadilily.blogspot.com/

3. Lynne at Too Hot to Knit

http://2hot2knit.blogspot.com/

4. Kukka-75 at Soft Side of Life

http://softsideoflife.blogspot.com/

5. Julie at Four Leaves

http://fourleaves-julie.blogspot.com/

6. Amber at The Nutrients of Life

http://thenutrientsoflife.blogspot.com/

I did find some time to do a Summer Maiden. I've been working on these dolls to sell for Katie's school fair. The kindy teacher has bought 2 of the dolls already, so I have to get my needle poking and whip up a few more for the craft stall.

Apple Maiden

I passed! I am officially driving. Finally, I got my red "P" plates - Yippee!

Now for the next challenge which I think, for me, is scarier than the driving test. It is to be driving own my own with the 3 children on the back seat!

On a lighter note, here is the latest needle felt doll I have done.

I was inspired by all the apples I have been seeing in blogland lately.

~Water~

Little Loopity Lou is fascinated with water.

What a fun way to play when you have a Flow Form to wallow in. :)

Oblique (disaster) Openwork

I've been absent from blogging due to sickness in the family. Little Loopity Lou's Poppy had a heart attack - he is ok for the moment.

Nanny's dementia has gotten worse while Poppy has been in hospital. She really misses him - 51 years of marriage on the 19th of October. The saddest thing is, Poppy is not coming home. My inlaws have moved to the next stage of their lives and we have been spending a lot of time with them. Time is really precious at the moment - Poppy has been on borrowed time for while. So, I haven't been doing much crafting.

I picked up and dusted off my knitting needles. Well, this blog started as a knitting blog but I seem to have been sidetracked by other woolly crafts. Anyway, a few months ago I bought 2 balls of Noro Silk Garden Col 255. Yep, another scarf!

I was looking through my Reader's Digest step by step guide to sewing and knitting (I got this book at a fete years ago for next to nothing. It was to fill a bag of books for a couple dollars. It is pretty daggy but I have gotten so much use out of it.) In the section on different stitches I saw this this stitch called Oblique Open Work. It consists of:

Multiples of 2st

Row 1: K1 *yfwd, K2 tog*,K 1

Row 2&4 : Purl

Row 3 : K2 *yfwd, K2 tog*

I thought the Noro would knit up nicely. It started off nicely but the book did mention that this lace stitch had a tendency to slant on the bias. I thought for a scarf it would be ok.

I did quite a few rows before it started to curl up at the sides. So, I decided it was just not working. It wasn't meant to be.... 8-(

P.S. I failed my driving test. My nerves got to me but I'm going to try again tomorrow.

Wish me luck. LOL

Garden Visitor

Another Spring fairy has come to visit my garden!

Needle Felted Spring Nature Table Doll

Remember the wool that I dyed not long ago? Well, this is what I've been doing with it!

This is my second attempt at a nature table doll. I think I have refined my technique a bit better. It is an ongoing learning process at the moment and I didn't stab my fingers at all this time.... Yippee!

Hopefully, I'll try to make dolls for all four seasons.

"B**bies"

I went to the Lower Blue Mountains Breastfeeding Association talk today on weaning. Little Loopity Lou is not ready to give the girls up just yet but I wanted some info about weaning when the time comes. I'm hoping he'll self wean but I have a feeling it won't be for a while yet. There's no pressure.

They where selling these cards at the meeting for $2. The cupcakes picture cracked me up and I really liked the image of the mother & child.

"Echidna"

I have 2 weeks from today until my driving test. I am currently on my "L" plates but will hopefully to be on my red "P" plates soon.

This afternoon I was out practicing for my exam (I'm still not very good reverse parking). As I was driving along, I nearly claimed my first road kill.

This cheeky little fella was walking along the roadside - isn't she/he so cute! I flicked on my hazard lights, pulled over and slowed traffic to make sure this little fella wasn't going to get run over.

The road that I was driving along was next to the rail line. The echidna had made it's way over the road to the railway fence. I wanted to make sure the echidna was safe before I left it. It was on sunset and getting dark quickly but I was happy with photos I took. I wanted to get a close up of its spines but it was too dark for my camera to focus for macro properly and the echidna wasn't going to stick around for photos!

Katie and her brothers thought it was exciting. It was the first time they had seen an echinda in the wild. I love that I have this amazing wildlife on my door step but I'm not looking forward to encounters with snakes (especially the red-belly and the brown snakes!). Well, I don't mind the diamond pythons - I have seen them in the wild before, if you call sunning themselves in the middle of the road the wild..... :-)

More info on echidnas ..... http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?id=4796

Wool Dying

I had a go at dying wool for the first time the other day. It was fun experimenting with colour.

I mixed some of the dye powders together to give different tones of green, red and orange colours It's a bit of a lucky dip to how well it will turn out for a beginner. I threw in a few slips that I tie-dyed to used up some of the dye. I plan to use the wool for needle felting, probably for nature table dolls, to sell as well as the slips at Katie's school end of year fair. I found the arms hard to make on the doll. The arms that I did seemed a bit chunky so I hid them behind some flowers.

One day I would like to grow a garden for dying wool.