Bye Bye Bliss - Hello Clocks

All good things must come to an end, for now anyways. It's these beautiful spaces of time in our lives that we live for, we plan for, we count down for, and when they arrive, we live and love each moment of them, dragging them out for as long as we possibly can.

Waking each morning with the freedom of our day spanning widely and enticingly in front of us. Hmmmm, where to start, what to do. This time of year, it's the beach for us. In the morning, in the evening, meeting up with friends, family, making new little friends, no matter what beach we visit, there are adventures to be had, waves to bash, sand to be dug into and drawn on.

We love the long drawn out days with no time to keep us in check. We eat when hungry, we swim when hot, we read, colour in, listen to music, play board games to relax. Although the weather is still gloriously perfect, tomorrow, school socks go onto brown little toes, lunches get packed, and the clock is very much the ruler of the household once again.

Not that it's a bad thing, because if we didn't have our little seasons of 'bliss', and each day was the same, over and over, then what is there to plan for, to look forward to and to appreciate when it comes around? Besides, the beach will still be there, waiting for little brown feet with sock elastic marks and bits of blue fluff stuck to sweaty toes, to run across down to the cooling waves at 3pm each day.

To the Mum's out there that are packing their first, middle, last child off to school for the first time, I feel your hearts bursting with pride for your 'babies', I feel you reminiscing the last 5 years of your little one remembering when they were born, remembering their first steps, lingering by their bed for that extra moment watching them sleep tonight. (I am one of these Mum's too) The tears of Mum's everywhere for our babies, the 'gulp' in the throat, it's a mixture of pride, sadness at time gone so quickly, excitement for the adventures that are ahead of them, little bits of fear that they cope ok, and make lots of little friends and are happy at school and don't miss us too much - we are allowed to cry, didn't we cry when we found out we were pregnant, I know I certainly did, and I cried when they were born too. I almost cried when my youngest said to me a few weeks ago while grocery shopping, would I miss him when he went to school and I had to go to the shops by myself. lol.

Thinking of all the little ones, heading back to classrooms this week, catching up with friends, making new friends, meeting their new teachers, opening the pages of their new school books, armed with new pencils - what will the pages of their books be filled with for 2010, only time will tell.

Wishing you well as you open a new door for your little one this week to the adventures of school and all it has to offer.

It's A Happy Australia Day

Wishing you all a wonderful Australia Day. A day to celebrate the beautiful country we live in, a day to celebrate family and friends, celebrate the food, celebrate the sun, celebrate that beautiful sea breeze, celebrate the shade of a lush green tree that has seen many Australia Days gone by and sheltered hundreds of families and friends.

Our thoughts go to our Defence Men and Women that cannot be home to share this beautiful day with their loved ones. Thoughts go to those that fought for our country past and present, so that we can do this, picnic with our families and friends.

Thoughts go to our hard-working farmers that bring to us the best and the freshest produce all year round, that they get much needed rain on their crops, so that we can continue to enjoy such fresh and delish produce.

To those that are fighting fires across our country, our thoughts also go to you, that your loved ones and homes are safe.

To all volunteers across the land, THANK YOU, we say thank you for putting yourself out there to look after those that need help, from home care, nursing, SES, medical, without you, our country would not be the most wonderful place on earth to live.

To our Aussie wine and beer makers, hmmmm, what can I say - gotta love the home grown stuff, there is just no comparison, so Thank You.

Here's cheers to all Aussies all over the world.

It's in the bag!

So ok, you saw I was making a little crochet 'secret' the other week, well ta-da, here it is. lol, yes, yes, I know the multi-coloured cotton I used in the first example is 'pretty' but THIS STUFF - are you serious!! ugg, it's hemp, it's rough, it's brown, it's hemp twine that has been crocheted (hope this spelling is correct) into . . . . . . . . . a soap bag!?? U-G-L-Y !!

Oh just you wait, just you wait til you put all your lovely homemade/natural soap scraps into this little bag and lather it up on your skin. OOOOHHHHHHH I did NOT want to get out of the shower this morning, between the smell of the wet hemp pocket mixed with lavender soap exfoliating my skin, I was in shower heaven. I don't suggest putting your brand new fresh cake of soap into this pocket and leaving it there, as the soap will soften and go to waste. I made it for my little soap scraps, because I buy locally made natural soaps, I just hated the waste when I got to the 'end' of my bar of soap, so this is how my little hemp pockets come about.

Now I will share with you the reason for using hemp twine. I was looking for a yarn/twine that was durable wet or dry, I wanted something that was mould resistant, I wanted something that was eco-friendly, animal-friendly, skin friendly, and budget friendly. This is it, this is the twine that ticked all my boxes. I just know you are busting to hear where I bought it from too. Of course I will share that with you also. http://www.alleco.com.au/ Nerissa has a huge and I mean HUGE range of beautiful cottons, yarns, twines of all colours and types. She even posted to me some samples of the hemp before I placed my order.

Now this hemp twine would also make perfect shower cleaning cloths, as well as kitchen cleaning cloths, of which I am going to make a few of and will share when done. Or if you like the look of the soap pockets, it would make great in the laundry if you don't wish to use on your skin.

Don't ask me about crochet, my Mum taught me and her Mum taught her how to crochet, no patterns used it was just a case of putting the hook into my hands and the wool in the other and this is how you do it. My Mum and Grandma ALWAYS had knitting needles in their hands, I am sure my Grandma is in heaven still knitting for all the angels up there. My Mum knits in Summer and Winter and in between the veges boiling on the stove, or waiting for the washing machine to beep it's finished load for her to tend to. She knits in the car, she knits on the bus. My Mum never wastes a single moment of her day in being idle. There just isn't time for it.

Ok time to sign off from here, we are going to go for a swim. It's a warm still day here on the coast and a dip in the ocean to cool off and refresh is just what we need this evening.

Please let me know what you think of my soap pocket, yes, you are allowed to laugh, I did when I finished it, but oh wow, looks are so very deceiving.

'In Betweens'

I love little projects like this, these are my 'in betweens'. You know, in between swimming lessons (yes, I take little projects with me), in between whatever is on the stove bubbling away, in between those lovely rare quiet moments after having set up the makeshift cubby house from the dining table/huge cardboard box slide in the backyard, sitting in the Dr's surgery, or just grabbing a moment when the kids are just happy in their rooms doing their own thing after a busy morning at the park/beach etc etc.

I love my little ice cream sundae magnet on my freezer door. I love to cross stitch and find at the moment, the bigger projects are just not for me, cause I know they won't get finished anytime soon. I have so much on the go for other people, which I love to do, but it's just nice to see some if it stay at my house.

The pretty lavender magnet is a little gift for my Mum. I hope she likes it, it's in the post tonight, travelling the road south to her house. I have been wanting to do this for her for ages now, and as small as it is, it's finally finished. With all the seed beads that I have here, I went searching to use some for the lavender, but don't have any purple. Oh well, it's still pretty as is.

I even managed some time this afternoon to tidy up my floss boxes. I have 4 of these and tonight, they are all in order and those that needed refilling are refilled. Yes, I even have another container with spares that I have collected when my threads have been on sale, they are also stored in numerical order.

Too bad my kitchen and laundry don't look quite so pretty and organised. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

I hope you manage to find some relaxing 'in betweens' that can brighten up your day.

A little bit of Yum!

No, you are not looking at gi-normous apricots, you are looking at very sweet, very cute, and very perfect for kids, little apples. Sooooo delish!!

Oh the yummi-ness (Yes, it's now a word, cause I said so!!) of the fresh produce markets. Coffee, fudge, eggs, honey, soaps, and all the fresh fruits and veges your heart desires.

My boys love going to the Thursday markets and so do I. Nothing beats knowing EXACTLY where your food comes from and how its grown. Better still, this stuff was only picked yesterday, you can smell it, you can taste it.

Thank you to our hardworking farmers.

It's the little things . . . .

Ohhhhh don't you just love when the postie brings you a little present!!

Thank you to My One Brown Mouse. Now let me see if I can attach a link here so you can pop over and check out these very cute and functional zippered pouches that are perfect for just about everything and anything. http://www.madeit.com.au/MyOneBrownMouse

Two of these are actually meant to be gifts, which two, and who for? I hear you ask, well that is my secret, oh and I am not sure which two. lol, might have to pop back over to My One Brown Mouse, and purchase a few more because I can think of many uses for these little treasures that are just too cute to part with.

I hope your day brings you little bits of joy, just like mine did today.

Oh and in regards to my crochet experiment, well I haven't forgotten, however, am investigating other yarns that will be more appropriate for my project, so you will have to 'hang in there' for just a tad longer.

Enjoy the little things.

Work In Progress........

........As soon as I work out what exactly I am making here! lol.

Well I am going to keep it to myself for just a little longer, however, what you see now, may well end up being circular, as the further I progress, the more I am sure it would be more user friendly if it were round.

Does this item have a use you ask? Yes, I do have something in mind for this, however, just need to work out 'getting there', and functionality of the finished product. (hmmmm, round,. . I do like circles and curves, so much more pleasing to the eye than edges and corners.........)

So stay tuned, and I shall reveal more/all soon. I can just 'feel' how excited you all are....... waiting....... waiting......... *giggle*.

Hijacked Camera

This is what happens when Mr 7 takes over the camera. I couldn't stop laughing when he handed it to me and asked me to put it on the computer. Thought I would share a few of the images that captured my little photographers interest this day.

This is vehicle and caravan, illegally parked in the duck pond. Complete with someone sleeping/shot to the side of the vehicle - knowing my 2, probably shot is more like it.

His lego house. Love the window shutters.

Dudes that live in the above house. (They all look a bit cranky to me, apparently they love their new home, so maybe the caravan was a bit small for them all, or that was their mate lying on the side of the car - lol.)

Can you tell, Lego was very popular at our house today!! Lego, the absolute BEST invention by far, ever!!

Happy New Year

Welcome 2010 - a new year, a fresh start, a clean page with which to fill with love, laughter, and times shared with family and friends. 365 blank pages of new opportunities await us, doors that will possibily close for alot of us, and doors that will open.

A door closing for me, is my baby off to school in 28 sleeps time, lol. No more babies in my house ever again now. The new adventures that school brings is just another part of their lives. The little friends they make now, could well be their besties in 20 years time. As much as I have been 'looking back', I also look forward to being a part of their little lives, such an honour to share this journey with my kids.

A favourite saying that has been running through my head the last few days -

'If you want your dreams to come true, you must not oversleep.' - Anon -

So make sure you jump out of bed and get those dreams to become reality.

Tell me, what do You plan to fill your pages with for 2010?

Oh and here's cheers to you and yours, may the best thing that happened to you in 2009, be the worst that happens to you in 2010. (Thanks Trevor, our local delish hot chips takeaway dude and his huge bear hug and wishes for us.)