Fairysteps and 37

This beautiful bag arrived in the mail a week or so ago. It came all the way from England from a talented lady who has an online shop called Fairysteps. She makes exquisite one off bags and shoes. I'm not a handbag type of girl - I've been using a little backpack or shoulder hippy-type bags that I've been finding in opp shops for years. Then I discovered Fairysteps...... and I was in love. This is my 3rd handbag. I have a mustard yellow bag and a brown bag that I use for everyday. I have picked out a bag each year for my birthday for the last 3 years now.

I don't know what I'm going to do next year (LOL). It's not that I need a lot of hand bags (unless Ren makes a cherry red bag - hint, hint..;) ) but I know these will last a life time. They are built to last.

 Ninja Cat Marty had to pop in for a photo. I love the pink and purple - these are my favourite colours.

The scarf that I'm wearing is a Noro scarf that I knitted years ago - my first time knitting with Noro.

I was 37 on Sunday. I had a great day. In the morning I went to the growers market to get some goodies. When I got back home, Katie and Lou had made me lunch and had a hand picked bunch of flowers for me. My other son was at a sleep over at a friends place but I got lots of birthday cuddles from him when he came home. 

My birthday lunch.

Beautiful fresh flowers from the garden...:)

Sydney Biennale Part 1

Bhodi and I took a trip down to Sydney a few weeks ago to see the 18th Biennale of Sydney. We boarded the free ferry to Cockatoo Island and spent the day looking at all the art works. I'll post this in parts because I took too many photos to fit in one post. Some of the art work I loved. Some made you think. Others I walked past quickly! I loved this one - it's a shipping container that has been turned into an art work. I love the little characters that have been made by carving the metal. At first it looked like cardboard, then you touch the cold hard metal - it is not as fragile as it looks.

  

This is a space filled with wind chimes. The bottom parts that dangle are in the colours of the rainbow. 

Bhodi took a picture of me. I'm living in my Noro cardigan - I love it. The Silk Garden does stretch a bit after a bit of wear. Next time when I knit this pattern, I'll make the arms a bit tighter.

This one is hand made paper - it looked pretty just suspended in the air. I love the old windows in the background.

Nectre Bakers Oven

It has been just over a week now since we got our fire. It's made such a difference to our house. The house is not so cold and damp, and we don't have condensation on the windows anymore.
 

I've been borrowing a friend's gas heater until we got our fire. I think the gas was putting to much moisture in the air and giving me this cough, which has since cleared up after I stopped using the gas heater. I've been cooking a lot on the fire, making use of the heat. Tonight was the first time making bread in the oven to go with the soup I was cooking on top. The bread turned out beautifully and the house smelt amazing.

Here, I found Marty warming his belly up in front of the fire. He is such a character and he makes me laugh all the time. I love how his little paws are just hanging there.

Marty In The House!.......

We love our cat, Marty. He is a bit of a sticky beak and he gets into all sort of places. I have to be careful - I did lock him in the car when he snuck in once when I was bringing in the groceries. Luckily for him, it was a cold day or it would have been a cooked pussy cat. Another time, I had the window down in my car and I was about to reverse out my drive way. Ninja Cat Marty came jumping in my window, giving me a huge fright. The kids thought it was hilarious.

Here he is trying sit in Katie's doll house. This time he didn't knock too much down...:) 

Trip to Sydney

Katie, Mr F and I have just got back from Sydney. We stayed with our wonderful friends Sharon and her husband Bernard for a few days and got spoiled with home made ice cream, pizza and BBQ dinner. Thanks guys for a wonderful stay and time to catch up. It has been a few years since I've been in the heart of Sydney. Gosh.... Didn't I feel like the Country mouse visiting the big city - it has all changed so much. Most of the land marks I was used to and great shops like the Adyar book shop are gone. When we got off the monorail we kind of got lost and I had to ask for directions (LOL). I used to live in the inner city so I used to know my way around very well. It was sad to see that Centrepoint tower has a huge Westfield sign on it. Mr F was only 2 when we moved to the Blue Mountains, so he is used to the bush around him and open space. So, being surrounded by huge buildings was a whole new experience for him.

At St Mary's Cathedral we lit a candle and sat and marveled at the beauty of the architecture of the building.

We went to the Australian Museum and saw the Deep Oceans exhibition.

It was interesting seeing the deep sea creatures.

Gulper Eel

I forgot what this one is called, but those teeth look pretty mean.

Angler Fish

Deep Sea Squid

There were deep sea creature hats that the kids could wear for a little while. There wasn't enough to go around - lots of kids there.

Yummy home made pizza

Ginger was loving the cuddles and lots of attention.

Here's Sharon and Mr F making ice cream.

Sharon took us for a drive in her car, with the roof-top down, over the Harbour Bridge. They look a bit windblown but they loved it. This is when my camera died, so I don't have any more pictures of our stay.  We went to the Power House the next day and saw the Narnia exhibition, which was interesting looking at the costumes. It reminded me of the Lord of the Rings exhibition that my partner, Katie and I saw while we were in New Zealand years ago.

Mr F's Dragon

I love this picture that Mr F, who is 8, drew on a card for a friend's birthday yesterday.

I just wanted to share it.....:)

Faerymother Bunting

Wow.... I can't believe how time has flown by so fast since my last post. I have a big apology to Faerymother for not posting a big thank you for winning the beautiful bunting off her blog over a month ago.

Life gets so busy here, I've hardly been on the computer. Well, I have been checking out Pinterest. Some days I'm so tired. The kids and I got a bad flu over a month ago and I'm just getting my energy back. When I finally get on the computer after my kids get off, I just want to stare blankly at the pretty pictures (LOL)  and wonder how anyone has the time so find such amazing and inspiring pictures to put in one spot.



Back to the bunting.... My daughter loves it. It is hanging off her window and the faeries can view the valley below each day when she opens her curtains. They have a beautiful view, so thank you again for your give-away and sorry for not posting sooner...:)

Here's Marty the Ninja Cat checking out what I was taking pictures of.