Thoughtful Friday

"In the depths of winter,

I finally learned that

there was in me an invincible summer"

- Albert Camus

not a day for hanging the washing out...

There is a dust storm in Sydney today. When we woke up this morning, the sky was red. As the sun came up and a little light started breaking thourgh the colour has settled to a more warm glow. It looks eerie and smells/tastes very dusty...

Thoughtful Tuesday

I know I usually do a Thoughtful Friday, but when I saw this clip that Hanne had posted on her facebook page I decided to share it here as well. This was one of my favourite talks from last year. Enjoy.

my crafty husband

I must admit I was a little curious last night when MOTH came out of "the cave" (aka the study) in search of cardstock. We opened the craft cupboard and found some foil-lined card (unused lids for foil trays) after which he asked if I had a scalpel. He seemed pleasantly surprised to find that not only did I have an exacto knife, but also a handy-dandy cutting board.

Here is what he brought me some time later...... a stand for the iPhone.

(template)

It has a convenient slit to accommodate the charger cable,

and it is suitable for vertical and horizontal positioning (for watching movies...)

Will I now have one extra "customer" for my craft-cupboard? Has his appetite for craft been awakened? Will he take up scrapbooking? Watch this space.

streaky windows and parenting

Little Possum loves to clean windows, in the house or in the car. This is something we should encourage and hope will last for a long time :)
The windows may not sparkle completely, there'll be streaks and demarkation lines where she couldn't reach any higher.... but she has such a great time. She'll have a serious look on her face, occasionally she sticks her tongue out in concentration and she always looks really proud when she's done. So who am I to spoil that with a "Oh, but it's a bit streaky" or "You missed a bit". So I don't. I just enjoy watching her and hugging her afterwards.

Doodlebug photography

Doodlebug's Nintendo DSI has an image editor.... no further comment..... :)

Thoughtful Friday

"There are two ways to live: You can live as if nothing is a miracle;

you can live as if everything is a miracle"

- Albert Einstein

Fancy Nancy party time!

The party on Friday was a blast! The girls dressed up in their finery, including feather boas and sunglasses (I bought a really cheap joblot on eBay. Gotta love eBay) and bead necklaces. They all looked very fancy.

There was dancing, of course there was dancing! But we also did some craft. I had bought paper cutout girls for them to decorate and they set to work armed with scrapbooking paper, bed trim, ribbons, sequins and textas.

"Serena's School of Extrememly Fancy Manners" had a session where Madame Serena taught the girls proper curtsying and walking tall with a book on the head. They were "presented" to the queen (birthday girl). Very fancy.

The table was decked out ready for the guests.... there was enough sugar to cover the RDA of a small nation :) Just the way a birthday party should be....

I was wondering how the boys would cope with the extreme "pink-ness" of the party, but they seemed to have a blast. If the attention lavished on them by the girls now is anything to go by, we're in for a fun time when they hit the teens!!! I'm bracing myself already!

It was a great day....though there was sadly not much photo coverage since my camera (phone) was also busy being the source of party music. The wonders of modern technology...

A portrait

This particular artist is a favourite of mine. I love her style, her interpretation, her use of different textures and media. I love my Little Possum...

Thoughtful Friday

"I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life"

- Maya Angelou

the perfect bike

We were in the bikeshop today picking up Little Possum's new bike (birthday present...... shhhhhhh!) and I saw this beauty. I love the retro style, the hippie colours, and of course the name. Make: Felt, model: Patchwork!!!

challenge progress

It's been a slow couple of months on the finishing side of the crafts around here..... but there has been much activity all the same!

It's that time of year again - Little Possum's birthday! Last year we did the Fairy party and this year's theme is "Fancy Nancy". We made handbag shaped invitations embellished with rhinestones and glitterglue. All of my finishes this month are bound to be party related:

felt flowers glued on to elastic hairbands and felt party bags decorated with ribbon and individualised with fabric paint (fantastic stuff!!)

On the quilting front there has been activity as well. I have been working on my Butterfly Garden blocks - here are block 1 and 2 in progress:

cubs

Tonight Turtle and Doodlebug were invested as cubscouts..... it was a great occasion and they were very excited. Almost as excited as MOTH who went to the same pack as a cub, scout, venturer, rover and, now, cub leader. I think that my new role will be to sew on all the badges.... :)

 

one of my favourite songs.....

School holiday fun - card houses

week 2 of the school holiday and we're having an "at home" day today. In church yesterday Turtle busied himself building structures out of hymnbooks, and I thought that I would introduce him to card houses... The boys have been working hard at it for an hour now, trying to build 3 tiers. I am impressed with their patience and concentration. Every time their structures collapse, they start up again, tweaking the design slightly to make it more balanced and sturdy.

that's my girl

Here's Little Possum clutching a bunch of clovers. She said they are "lady-clovers". When I asked her why, she said "because they are pretty". Makes perfect sense.

Little Possum has very strong opinions on what to wear which occasionally leads to some eclectic ensembles. Sometimes I am tempted to interfere if the outfit is a little hard on the eyes, but I made a decision a long time ago that I would let her pick her own clothes as long as she is dressed appropriately for the weather and not attempting to go rock-climbing in a fairy dress. To give her credit, she usually does pretty good. Today she was very colourful. Matches her personality!

Kitchen chemistry experiment

Turtle had a science project for school which required demonstrating a reaction using kitchen "chemicals". We figured there'd be quite a few vinegar/bicarb soda volcanoes, so we thought we'd try something different. We settled on making a "Acid or Base?" demonstration:

First we needed a reliable indicator - the water from boiling red cabbage is perfect:

Our test substances:

Vinegar turned the indicator pink=acid Bicarb soda: blue/green = base

I, at least, was happy to see that our washing up liquid was neutral... must be better for my hands :)

lemon - no surprises there.... beautiful, pink colour.

Turtle documented the experiment, took photos and later repeated it in front of his class.

Rowan of Rin - a Doodlebug book review

"Rowan of Rin is an excellent fantasy book. It is a compulsory asset to any magic or fantasy lover's bookshelf.

Rowan of Rin is the first of five books, each with its own unique twist. Rowan of Rin (the first book) is when the water for the bukshah (half cow half sheep creatures) stops flowing from the mountain which causes a huge argument. Should a party be sent to investigate or should the town wait to die?

Anyone who enjoyed reading Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or even Eragon will love this book. I highly recommend this book for book lovers.

Unpredictable, shocking, non-stop! If you like this you must read Rowan of Rin"

(this was Doodlebug's entry in the UNSW competition in writing this year.... I'm a proud momma)

wrapped in my love

found late one evening as I was heading off to bed: One Turtle asleep on my office chair wrapped in the quilt I made him. As the middle child, he treasures all the occasions where he's special. He was the first of the children to receive a "grown up" quilt of his own and when I gave it to him his eyes lit up in a way that I will remember and treasure. Turtle - know that I love you and my quilt represents all the hugs I have in my heart for you!