christmas crazy

Here is a quick look at some of what has come out of this years craziness that is the build up to Christmas.

4 lazy days for the nieces.

1 pair short reversable overalls for the small child.

I had planned on making a couple of these just cos he looks so damn cute but alas, time is short



I still have a bit of work to do perfecting the pattern



but these ones have come out a whole lot better than the last ones.

I think the next ones will be exactly as I want them



2 pencil cases for the boys filled with colouring pencils



and this here is my favourite creation so far



a wee messenger bag for Master A made from the embroidery I did back here

Its fully lined in the same orange colour as the embroided dino.

I really enjoyed making this and now that I have made one I think I could quite easily make more. Callum has put in a request for a "mans version". I think it might have to wait until after christmas.

I still have a few things I need to get done before the big day. Eek, nothing like cutting it fine

selfish sewing

Despite having a whole stack of christmas presents to make I decided to take some time out and do some sewing all for me. My summer wardrobe was dire, I was down to only one skirt and even that had a few rips and holes. So I made myself three new ones.

Its ok to do selfish sewing every now and then right?

Even if you have a thousand other things to make?

And a sneak peak at a gift for a niece

I can't show too much just incase there are prying eyes around.

stockings

I am finally out of my sewing rut. Pity it didnt happen a bit earlier! At least I have another week to get things made. I am pretty sure that thats not nearly enough time but I shall just have to do what I can. Meanwhile the house is a pigsty and I can see no way that there will be a change in that before christmas.

I finally after 4 years made Alfie a stocking to hang, and one for Lukas too.

They each chose their fabrics (with just the tiniest amount of guidance away from clashing patterns)





Lukas' is the red trees one, and Alfies is the presents one.

I shall try and take some pics of the other things I am working on tomorrow but might have to be a bit sneaky in case of prying eyes.

Harvesting

I havent been having much success with my garden this year. The blame lies squarely on some small shoulders. Small,feathery, chickeny shoulders.  They have destroyed 5 lots of lettuce seedlings, 4 lots of peas, 2 lots of beans, 2 zucchini plants, 2 cherry tomato plants, several spinach plants, seveal silverbeet plants and the list goes on........

However we have managed to grow and finally harvest

red onions, about 25 of them in fact!

and some potatoes which the boys love hunting for in the dirt. they spent nearly an hour digging around in there.

We had them for dinner with some fresh chopped parsley and garlic from the garden and of course some butter.

Yum!

A day off

The very best thing about working five days a week is just how much I appreciate spending tme with my family.  I have just come to the end of my weekend and we had such a great time.

This is how we spent the first day of my weekend

we went and had coffee with dad

and went for a bike ride to the library

where we spent an hour and a half reading and choosing books.

before riding back again

I am so impressed with Alfies bike riding.  He loves it and just wants to keep going and going. he can bike for miles. Literally.  We even did a trial ride from our house to where he goes to montessori to see if it could become a regular morning ride. He made it easily and its nearly 5km!

We also put our christmas tree up over the weekend.  Something the boys loved doing. It has made me realise that i need to make some decorations. The tree is looking very sparse.

This is the first christmas that Alfie has really understood what is happening and he is so excited.

 

which has meant that for the first time in many many years I find myself getting excited about christmas. Perhaps the christmas joy is contagious after all

 

To work or not to work?

One of the reasons I have been such an absent blogger of late is that I recently got a job.  I am working in a retail store in town.  For the first three weeks I am working pretty much full time hours for training. After those three weeks it drops down to only two days a week.  For a long time I have been struggling with the whole idea of working while my children are still so young but sadly we have come to a point where it's really just not an option for me to not work.  To be honest this full time work thing really sucks. I miss my kids, I miss hanging out with them, going to the park, going for a walk, sitting down for lunch together and they are struggling with it too.  It breaks my heart to drop them off at their respective day care centres and have them cling to my leg crying, begging me to stay, or to come with me.

image from here

It really makes me wonder, is it even worth it?

 Now I am sure it will be different when it is only two days week that I am gone.  I am hoping it will make me a better mother, appreciate the time we have together a bit more.  Its going to be a constant internal battle for me I think.

To work or not to work?

My creative space

Tonight I went to a craft group at a local cafe along with the lovely Clare and many other lovely ladies.  This is what I was working on

It is the beginning of something I have planned for my dinosaur obssessed child for christmas.  The plan is to turn this into the front flap of a wee satchel/messanger style bag for him to put all his collections in when we go out waking, or even around the garden.  Hopefully it ends up looking like the picture I have in my head. Time will tell.

For more creative spaces head over to kootoyoo

A bike for me

Sorry for the long absence.  Things have been a bit crazy round these parts and there hasnt been much time for crafting, blogging, or much of anything really but thats a story for another day.

Today I want to tell you about me new toy!

A while ago I got this bike as payment for some work I did. t has taken a while for me to get organised and get the seat for Master L attached but finally it's done.

Last weekend while Alfie and C were away Lukas and I went for a ride to the playground by the beach.



He was a little bit upset that he wasn't going away too.

It didn't take long for his wee smile to come back though



He had such a good time and tired himself out so much he fell asleep in the bike seat on the way home. I wish I had thought to take a picture of that.

This was the view on our ride home.  It was slightly terrifying riding on such a busy road with a toddler on the back of the bike.



now all we need to do is get one of these to go on Callums bike for Alfie and we will all be able to ride together.



I love the idea of using the car less and biking more.

We are pretty lucky in Nelson, it is fairly easy and safe to bike anywhere





a tartare recipe

We were fortunate enough today to be given some snapper for our dinner so I made some tartare sauce to go with it

Here is how I did it

Tartare Sauce

1 clove of garlic

1 egg (most recipes call for egg yolks only but I have

always found it fine to use the whole egg)

juice of 1 or 2 lemons depending on how lemony you like it

pinch of salt

approx 1 cup of oil (I use grapeseed, you dont want anything too strong tasting)

Put everything except the oil into a food processor. Whizz for a few seconds.  With the food processor going very slowly start adding the oil one drop at a time.  If you add it too quickly it will speperate.  Once you have added about 1/8 of the oil you can start adding it a bit faster, but keep it to a steady stream and make sure its all being blended in as you go.  Keep going until it reaches the right consistency.

Add to this some finely chopped gherkin and capers.  I like to add some dill to mine usually but didnt have any today.

And this is what we did with ours tonight, some coleslaw, panfired snapper and homemade buns using this recipe which I can honestly say is the best and easiest bread recipe I have ever tried

Wardrobe Wednesaday

My outfit is a little bit of a repeat, well the skirt is anyway.  Its the skirt I was wearing in the very first wardrobe wednesday. 

skirt - made by me

top - farmers

pasty white legs (the reason I rarely show them) - all mine

shoes - #1 shoes

This skirt is starting to fall to pieces now.  I am very tempted to make another better version. This one could fit better. Is it weird to want to make another the same rather than something new and exciting?

For more lovely outfits head over to Clares

Puppy Fostering

This weekend we are fostering two wee puppies from the Nelson SPCA.  The boys are loving having them around to play with.  They are cute wee black lab x's a boy, and a girl.  The wee boy has the sweetest nature ever and just wants to follow you aroud and have cuddles.  The wee girl is a lot more boisterous and scares the kid's sometimes but it's only becasue she is desperate to play.



The wee boy pup

the wee girl

I think my heart may just break a little come Monday when these two have to go back.  Still it's totally worth it.

The week (and a bit) that was

Its over. What a long, exhausting, 10 days it's been.  The arts festival has been a  lot of work but also it has been a lot of fun.  I have seen many amazing shows and very talented groups and individuals perform. I got to hear authors talk about their work and attend the book launch for Peter Butlers first book 'gravel road'.  I have been lucky enough to go and see apollo 13: mission control twice  and honestly if you ever get the opportunity to go and see this show then do.  It was amazing! 

My neice turned five last weekend and somehow I managed to get this finished for her using this tutorial.  It was super fast and easy and whats best is she just loved it.

Masked

Few words today. Am too tired to think

Here are some pics of the Nelson Masked Parade (well the section we were in)

The theme for this year was "on the move"

Have a good weekend.  I will hopefully be back next week with a bit more enthusiasm.  Just 4 more days/nights of work to go, hooray!!!!!