12/52

Adventures in the library 

A'hoy Me Maties

Sometimes on trips to the park you're likely to make a new friend. We met Dorothy the African Grey Parrot, who is the same age as Lou - almost 7. We often see her around town on her lead with her owner. She seemed to like Lou as she kept flying onto his head. Maybe it was the pirate costume she liked because he wasn't the tallest person there. 

  

Mr F wasn't too sure - her claws were very sharp on his head.

Pirate Ships drawn by Mr F.

Autumn Hearts

Lou and I playing with autumn leaves in the Music School garden killing some time while Mr F is having his piano lesson. By the time Mr F had finished his lesson the lawn was covered in hearts in random spots by Lou.

Dahlias

My Dahlias are in full bloom at the moment, with their bright cheerful blooms bringing a smile to my face. I'm slowly collecting different colours. So far I have orange, pink, yellow and a red-orange colour. My aim is to plant them on my fence line and have a wall of colour.

When I travelled around New Zealand years ago, I saw dahlias being grown on the fence line of huge properties on the road side. They had been there for years - the bushes where huge. I would admire them as we drove around the country and I told myself that when I get my own place, I'm going to plant a wall of dahlias on my fence line.

I just experimented with a few plants as we are on a ridge upon a hill. We tend to get a bit of wind and we  have poor soil. I did add soil and cow manure but I need to keep building up the soil so the dahlia bushes grow nice and big. But for now I don't need to stake them. 

Katie took this picture of me at the coffee shop the other day. I had no idea she she took the photo. Usually she takes random pictures of me and I usually have my eyes closed or a grumpy, tired, or silly expression on my face. I'm still getting used to my hair being so short after years of having long hair. 

11/52

This week you started crawling on all fours.

You caught your first cold with a nasty cough,

Exploring your world with your inquisitive finger,

And drooling, lots of drooling, but no teeth yet!

10/52

Look who almost out grown the bathroom sink!

Treasures from the South Coast

Treasures that the kids picked up on the beach. 

9/52

This week you're practicing your standing! 

Still not crawling, but when I turn around you seem to move very quickly!

Katie took these pictures on the iPhone. 

Sock Monkey

I love how some days things sererndipitously happen. Last Wednesday after coming out of music group for little ones at the local school, Sian and I stumbled into a sock monkey making workshop at the Hub, next to the school. One of the mothers mentioned the workshop to me at the end of the class.

I just had to buy a new pair of socks for $3 because I didn't fancy using an old clean pair of socks that they had there for Sian. I started the monkey on Wednesday with the help of some of the lovely mums giving Sian cuddles as I quickly sewed up the monkey before she started freaking out. I was so excited that I finished it last night after getting back from the Knitter's Guild. I was worried that it would sit on my dressing table for the next few months.

It is so nice to finish a project. My world at the moment seems to be a lot of endless unfinished projects, hence the unfinished needle-felted Kracken in the background which I stated for Mister F a few years ago and the painting that I was playing around with last weekend. Katie and I were having creative time together in my art space. She came up with the topic of autumn and we both had to paint or draw something to do with autumn. I was playing around with autumn colours and Kaite drew a goddess which we both didn't finish, which is OK - it was more about spending time together. But this weekend, I finished the sock monkey and Sian's mobile which I will leave for another post!

Sian loves it. Her little eyes light up when I give it to her, but because of the buttons it is not really a suitable toy for her at the moment - she goes straight for the monkey's eyes.

My sewing  is a bit rustic but it was fun to make. Next time I make one (which will probably be soon - Lou has put in a request for one too), I'll sew it with a sewing machine and hand sew the fiddly bits. I can see how these are addictive to make!

I didn't crochet the little flower. It was off a hair clip that had fallen off and it has been in my sewing box for the last few years waiting to be used as a head dress for a sock monkey ;)