Making Cards

In a couple of weeks my little one will be turning three. Where did that time go? Months ago she had already decided it was to be a pink party! Can you tell? I decided to have a go at making our own invitations. I gathered up some little fabric scraps and then found an online tutorial which gave me a few tips. Then I just simply glued on the triangles and sewed a simple line to make it look like bunting. Not bad for a first go. Isn't it just amazing what you can find on the internet! Looking forward to having an extra special day with our little one. And having a go at making a few of our own decorations for the party ...

New Beginnings

The weather is warming up and today my beautiful blossom tree began to flower. This is a photo of the very first buds as they begin to open. Every year I get comments on my tree. Its planted in the corner of the front yard and when it's fully in bloom I will share a photo of it. Spring is here and summer is just around the corner. The other day I decided to make a banana, walnut and chocolate chip loaf. I often seem to have over ripe bananas and the only way I knew how to use them up, was to make banana cake. Now this loaf is delicious, I found the recipe in the Countdown magazine. But more importantly than the loaf, I came up with a fantastic idea! How often have you lined a tin and then had trouble putting the cake mixture in because the paper keeps moving? Well, this time I had had enough! I found a few clothes pegs and pushed the paper down, made a few creases around the sides and then pegged the paper into place! Brilliant!! Of course, I did remember to remove the pegs before placing the loaves into the oven.

I've also recently participated in Megans Kids Rugby World Cup Swap.

Lucy and I had fun going around collecting up little souvenirs and things about New Zealand to share with a Maegan and her family in Lake Cherokee, Texas. We are doing a little swap with Karston age 5, Kyrie age 3 and Kanon age 2. We finally got our letter written and our goodies gathered so I was able to post the parcel today - hopefully the goodies will arrive before the final of the World Cup - and hopefully we are looking forward to the All Blacks being in the final!

Almost the end of the school holidays. Then there's only 8 weeks until the big summer holidays. Roll on summer!

Just around the corner

It really feels like summer is coming. Lucy and I have been enjoying ourselves out on the deck almost every day. Spring is certainly here and the garden is ready to spend some time in. Last year, my lovely Kaponga rhododendron barely flowered, I thought I had it in the wrong place, and my tomatoes had very few fruit. It was such a great surprise to see my rhody absolutely smoothered in the most gorgeous blooms just recently - now I think that means we're in for a great growing season. Things sitting in pots waiting for me to plant: Green and gold zuchinni Dwarf peas Italian parsley Rocket Telegraph cucumber 22 corokia (for our new hedge down our new driveway!) 5 standard Portugese Laurels (for a bit of fancy stuff with the corokia) The other day I froze some water and then Lucy had great fun exploring what salt did to the ice when she sprinkled it on. Then we used some droppers to drop different coloured food colouring onto it. I think she just enjoyed watching the colour squirt out of the dropper as she squeezed it hard. I've also been playing around in her room, actually, her room has been an on-going project and I think I can say I've almost finished. I found this delightful girly chandalier and it looks great in her room. At night, it gives off a lovely soft light and Lucy takes great delight in taking visitors by the hand and showing them "my beautiful light." I've managed to cut up some chipboard and found some fabric so my next job is to cover it and make her a notice board. Nothing beats playing with bubbles! Lucy is mastering the art of blowing bubbles and shes getting pretty good at catching them too!

I haven't been blogging for ages and have realised how much I've missed it. Hopefully I can get back into spending some evening time writing my own, rather than just pouring over so many others! It is just so inspiring reading what others have done and are doing. I've started a few little projects so hopefully can get these finished and share them on here.

Snow Lovely

I guess todays blog is for my friends around the world, especially those who grew up in Wellington and now live in other parts of the world.

Today it snowed in Wellington. Today it snowed in Lower Hutt. It hasn't snowed here since 1979! We even had snow down at our place and we live at sea level. So strange to see the flakes flutter down. I think I was as excited as Lucy as we ventured off to play in the snow. It was so much fun to be out in the soft, white flakes as they drifted down. The snow on the ground was crisp white and soft and light. We even scooped some snow up and took it home, although most of it was munched on the drive home.

The snow is forecast to fall for at least another day. Maybe tomorrow we'll wake to snow sitting on the lawn. Today has been a real 'once in a blue moon' kinda day - so pleased Lucy and I got out and enjoyed ourselves.

Back on track

After losing a close friend and work colleague, I guess you could say the wheels fell off for a bit. When someone you know well passes suddenly, you can't help but think about the positive things that they contributed to your life. Roger had to be one of the most caring and considerate people I've worked with. Our school held a memorial for him, with well over 1000 friends, family, and past pupils attending, it was truely something special to see how he had touched the lives of so many. It was incredible to see just what an impact a special and unique teacher can have.

What seems like months ago, I got a lovely parcel in the mail from Jude from Tassie. She has a blog called My Quilt Creations. We had participated in a tea towel swap. She sent me two lovely tea towels that go perfectly in my kitchen (think she must have spied our red splashback in a past photo) and some cute buttons. Much to my surprise, she sent then Lucy the most adorable Aussie pinny, and its double sided. Lucy loves wearing it and she even made it with the ribbon that I had used to wrap her tea towels.

Thank you Jude. It was my first blogging swap and what a neat experience. Now that things are back on track hopefully I can join in another. Today has got to be the coldest day this winter, in fact, the coldest day I can remember. I can see a dusting of snow on the hills just near where we live - I have only ever once seen the slightest smidgen of snow there. And then this morning, I saw a car that had snow all over it!! We never get snow in this part of New Zealand but today we have. Looking forward to getting back into some blogging and sharing some of the things we've been doing.

Peg Dolls

I remember peg dolls from my childhood so when I saw this I couldn't help but think, how neat! Small Acorns (a lovely shop in Wellington) is running a Peg Doll Competition. Last year they had over 200 gorgeous pegs entered. I'm not sure if Lucy is a bit young but I still think her and I will have great fun making one. I just think it would be a lovely thing to do with your daughter or grandchild! You can go to their website and all the details are there. You can even send them an email and they will send you a peg doll starter kit for free! This year, not only do they have the kids category, but there's also a 'grown-ups' category ...

This is last year's winner, Miss Coco Chanel. Gorgeous!

Entries close Monday 4th July.

Keeping Busy

With a week of being sick, I just had to make the most of the time and have some fun amusing Lucy, and myself! I've been following Megan's wonderful blog, mousehouse She has so many neat ideas for things to do with her kids, her blog is just full of inspiration and great ideas. A couple of weeks ago she made some sensory playdough with her children. I had made our playcentre playdough a few times so thought this would be something different. Lucy had so much fun adding in the ingredients and helping with the mixing. She especially loved adding the colour and then investigating the different smells for each one. The dough has kept really well. Megan's recipe for the playdough: For the playdough you will need... 1 and a half cups of salt 3 cups flour 6 tbsp Cream of Tartar 3 cups boiling water 3 tbsp oil Mix all ingredients together... Then divide the mixture into however many different colours/scents you are going to make. Carefully add your colour and essential oils and kneed in. (You might need to add a little more flour if your dough is a little sticky). We've also had a few really wintery days here and looking out our lounge windows we can watch the birds in the trees. Wendyl Nissen's weekly newsletter had a recipe for bird feed and a link to some cotton string bags which would be perfect for this (even though they are for when you buy fresh produce at the supermarket rather than plastic bags). Lucy and I went out and found the Wild Bird Seed and lard. Then we just melted half the lard, added the bird seed, some broken up old Weetbix and a few cornflakes, then left it to harden. Together we went out and looked for a spot where the birds would find it, but where the neighbourhood cats wouldn't and where we could watch from our lounge. I also climbed up and nailed on a flat board that the birds could sit on and where I could put out our old bread. It's all been there for a few days but we haven't seen a single bird so anywhere near it - plenty in the trees though ... THEN, I SAW THIS! I couldn't believe my eyes, our neighbours cat!! Sorry, the photo was taken through the glass doors on a cold morning. I'm out there tomorrow moving that table!