More happy days

The days have been beautiful lately. It's autumn so the skies are blue and it's not too hot, just nice and pleasant to actually get out and do things.

It's school holidays so that's exactly what we've been doing. We have a playground only a couple of hundred metres around the corner from us but just down the road at Landsborough there's this......

I'm only showing you a couple of small sections of this playground but it's very popular. There's fortress areas, swings for big kids, swing for little kids, swings for babies, sand and water play areas, slippery slide's, covered play areas with lots of touch things to play with and..

If you look in the background of the above photo you'll see a flying fox. It's perfect for kids as it's a seat which they get strapped into then you push then down the cable so that they go fast, come to a flying stop and laugh and laugh and laugh. My kids absolutely love it!

We've also done some more baking, this time making jam drops although I really needed to be an octopus to get them made. The kidlettes realised we were cooking before I had time to set everything up so I had to stop them a number of times before who knew what and how much got poured into the bowl.

We eventually were able to get some biscuits into the oven, the above photo is the second batch and that's all that was left of it because both kidlettes thought the uncooked dough was REALLY yummy. I'm surprised we got any cooked actually.

Mmmmmmm....they are delicious with my morning coffee.

Enjoy your day.

(I have shortbread in the oven now and only had one helper for that!)

xxxx Susan

Making bread

It's the first day of the school holidays and my little girl has just finished her first ever term at school. Aaaawww.....now only 12 and 3/4 years to go!

Little Miss R really wanted to make bread over her school holidays so that's what we did this morning.

Mummy made sure most of the ingredients were measured out and ready to go before hand (saves so much whinging let me tell you).

Then it's just a little bit of measuring by the kidlettes....

.....followed by some kneading....then rising.....then kneading again before popping into the oven.

Yuuuuuummmmmmm. Nothing beats homemade bread for lunch.

I will admit that the kneading process was a bit stressful (I was working with a 5 year old and a 3 year old!)

It was also made with a lot of love. Master M kept wanting to kiss the bread and it got plenty of those as well as one great big raspberry while in the kneading stage. Lets just say that close family only are eating this loaf!!!

xxxxx Susan

Family days as they should be

I woke up today to one of those perfect Autumn days. A day of clear blue skies, comfortable weather (which means not too hot and humid so I don't find even getting out of bed makes me too hot and sweaty), and just such a lovely day that makes my heart happy.

After a bit of a sleep in and a leisurely breakfast (which means that the kids spent AAAAGGGGESSSS deciding what to eat and then actually eating), we decided that it was the perfect day for a picnic. Because sometime during the next few months we'll be moving a few hours inland we decided that a trip to the beach was the best place for a picnic.

So of we went to Caloundra which is one of our favourite places because there are so many different beaches there to chose from, not to mention playgrounds, parks and shops to suit whatever you feel like.

We ended up at Shelley beach which is one of our favourite places to go to. I really don't know why as I know so many other people would choose nearly every other beach in Caloundra to Shelley beach but we just love it. I would NEVER swim there as there are a lot of rocks and no surf lifesavers around but it's a lovely spot for a picnic as the above and below photos show.

After our yummy picnic lunch of roast chook sandwiches, leftover mexican rice pie, apple and cheese sticks, we headed off for our favourite activity of exploring the beach.

There's lots of interesting rocks and rock pools around to see what treasures they have hidden.....

...perhaps some shells in one of the indentations in the rocks .....

...or maybe even a crab scuttling through the water (can you see it right in the middle of the picture there?)....

Of course the things to look at among the rocks only provided a brief look, the waves coming in so that we could run away from them provided the bulk of the fun!!!!!

(Both kidlettes fell over VERY early on during our walk so continued pretty soaked and loved getting as wet as possible for the next little while)

We continued on until nearly the Moffat beach headland but little legs were getting very sore and tired so it was time to turn around and head back to the car...

..but it's so FAR back to the headland there where the car is and I CAN'T WALK. MY LEGS ARE SORE.......

Oh dear, daddy really isn't coping well with Master M who is very tired as it's a couple of hours past his nap time. Mummy deals with this by taking Little Miss R's hand and walking further ahead to explore and find shells on the way home. The boys can have some time together methinks!!

The solution (below) to the sore and tired legs.....

What a lovely picnic and exploring time was had on this absolutely gorgeous day and what a very rare QUIET drive home we had because both kidlettes were so tired that they fell asleep and couldn't constantly chatter..........silver linings indeed!

New books

I've never been a crafty person, in fact I used to shun anything crafty because it bored me to tears and I hated doing it. That's why when I first started doing crochet about a year ago I not only shocked myself but utterly and completely shocked my family. Then realising that I absolutely LOVED to crochet has sent the shock factor beyond the nervous giggle stage I have to say.

Then I discovered the wonderful crafty blogworld that's out there with so many talented and inspiring women. The things that everyone does, not to mention some of the fabulous craft rooms and studios is enough to inspire anyone I think.

So I've decided to dust off my sewing machine (which used to be my grandmother's) and give a few projects a go. To help me get inspired I have recently bought two sewing books. The first is 101 ways to sew a metre and the other is a Complete Compendium of Sewing Techniques.

I love my new books so much and the compendium even shows you how to thread a needle!! I'm not that bad I have to say as I have sewn some dresses in the past and even made the curtains for the nursery room when Little Miss R was born. They may not have been perfectly made but they did the job.

These books show you how to make things like bed pockets to hold your goodies in....

...matching bathroom accessories....

...picnic lunch mats with a holder for cutlery...

...desktop organisers....

...paint brush holder rolls (or crochet hooks)...

...laptop covers...

...yoga mat bags...

...and grocery tote bags.

There's lots of wonderful little projects in which you use just one metre of fabric so I thought it would be a great place to start to help with my sewing technique.

The compendium shows you things like all the different kinds of needles and what they're used for..

It talks about the different textures and weight of fabrics.

A whole two pages about button holes!

Lots of info about hemming garments.

There's heaps and heaps and heaps of other fantastic information in the books too so I can't wait to get started although it does mean that I may have to clean up and declutter a bit more so I have somewhere that I can sew.

Wish me luck!!

Susan xxxxx

Sunday

Well it certainly looked like Sunday was going to be a rainy day with a few dark clouds around. It held off though and we were able to have plenty of play time in the back yard (as well as getting the washing dry!)

Lunch was a very yummy sandwich of leftover rosemary and mint roast lamb (from previous nights' dinner), home made tomato relish (yum), cheese, baby spinach and tomato. Thoroughly filling and enjoyable.

Hmmm....this looks like it's turning into a food post doesn't it? After much playing out the back, we had a platter of apple, cheese and crackers for afternoon tea. Then the kidlettes headed off next door to run off some energy with the 3 children that live there. They have a trampoline and a much bigger yard than us so the kids really love going over there to play.

My lovely sister Sandra turned up and we both sat on my outdoor lounge, listening to the laughter of the kids while they played and getting a bit of hooky time in.

We're both working on granny stripe blankets at the moment and I was amazed at the differences between the two. The colours of course make a huge difference (mine is the earthy coloured stripe while Sandy's is the bright one), but even the size of the stitches were quite different and shows just how individual a blanket can be. I crochet quite loosely and even though I'm using a 3mm hook for this project, my stitches were still bigger than my sister's who was using a 3.5mm hook. They both look fantastic though.

J (brother in law) came back to pick up Sandy after he had taken the dogs for a run. I couldn't resist taking the photo below and for dog lovers don't worry, they were only hooked up to the clothes line for about 1 minute. The faces on the dogs when they realised that they could only walk in a circle was priceless. Such funny girls are our Jess and Sophie.

Once our visitors went home then it was time for a bit of quiet hooky time while having a wine before the kidlettes came home from next door. The wine was completely for medicinal purposes only as my toe was getting a bit sore by this time you see.

A quick and easy chicken stir fry was whipped up for dinner then it was an early night for the kidlettes after all their running around. Aaaahhh, peace and quiet, perfect for a bit more crochet I think.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

xxx Susan xxx

A day in life:: Monday

Monday is still part of the weekend for me but that's only because I work on a Saturday at the moment so Sunday and Monday are technically my 'weekend' days.

I really like having Monday's off, not only because it is a day when I don't have to go to work but it's also a day I get to spend with my little man. As the second born, he doesn't get to spend that much one on one time with his parents so I've discovered that Monday's can be special days indeed.

My day started early with both children coming in to make sure I was awake and there was plently of cuddle time. There was also plenty of kicking time because two excited children in bed with mummy can't quite control all of their limbs.......ouch!!!!!

After finally getting out of bed it was time for breaky and the unanimous decision was porridge this morning. Now I do make a pretty good porridge and although it's made traditionally, it's definately yummy and well received in our household.

The kidlettes absolutely LOVE to help out because they love anything to do with cooking so much. It's just that there's lots of finger licking and double dipping so it's good that we don't have guests staying. (I'll give you my cheat's porridge recipe later)

Then it was time to make lunch for Little Miss R to go off to school so Cheesy vegemite sandwiches, apple, cheese and crackers, yoghurt and some watermelon are what get chopped up for the lunch box.

After dropping Little Miss R at school we head around to Nan and Poppy's because they are looking after Master R today (cousin to my cherubs). As there's only 3 month's between my Master M and Master R and they get along really well, we try to get them together as much as possible for a play. The only problem is the NOISE when both of them are together. I swear we need ear plugs!!

Then after a couple of hours of good play it was time to get home and finish the washing. I really hope those clouds stay away and I can get everything dry because it's still a bit too warm to be using a dryer which will heat the whole house up.

About lunch time Master M went down for his nap which I am so grateful for. Even at 3 years of age he still has a couple of hours sleep during the day and I will forever be grateful for this luxury especially as his elder sister never slept for more than 30-40 minutes from about 3 months of age!

Some happy hooky time for me I think. I could be doing some cleaning, painting, packing etc but I honestly couldn't be bothered and my toe is sore so I think some hooky time is the way to go. :)

All too soon it was time to pick up Little Miss R from school so off it was to find a car park somewhere in the vicinity of the school, then a walk through the Prep kitchen garden......

.....to pick up my little girl who was so excited because she had show and tell that day. Isn't the kitchen garden fabulous!!! Prep to Year 3 look after this garden and they get to learn all about looking

Then it was home for some more play time and a game of cricket with the kids next door. I then made some sausage rolls with some veges for dinner which went down a real treat as EVERYTHING on their plates was eaten.

So Monday was a pretty good day in our household this week. Next week it's the school holidays so I'll have to think of something I can get out and do with the kidlettes.

Susan xxxxxxxx

P.S. My porridge recipe

1 cup rolled oats

about 4-5 scoops of powdered milk (enough to make about 1 cup)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 1/2 cups of water

Put all in a microwave proof bowl, stir then microwave on high with the lid off for 4 minutes. Stir then microwave for a further 3 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes before serving. (I usually pop the kids bowls in the freezer to cool it down quickly or else I put an ice cube in it)

The powdered milk just makes it creamier and you can leave the brown sugar out if you like. I do that sometimes and add some honey and cinnamon before eating. Yummmmmmm!!!!

Something disgusting

I do have a few things I'd like to share with you but I keep forgetting to take my camera with me when I go out. That means I've had to use my phone and I've still yet to work out how to get the photos off my phone and onto the computer.

When I do work it out you'll be the first to know. Until then I'd like to share something with your which is a bit disgusting so if you have a weak stomach or have just eaten then it would be better not to look.

It's my toe you see. I kicked it last night and took half the toenail off. It's very, very, very sore and I'm feeling a bit whingy and sorry for myself so here it is.......

Disgusting isn't it! And very, very sore. I'm going to go make a cuppa now, put my foot up and do some crochet as that's a lovely thing to do when I have a sore toe. Any excuse to crochet will do, not that I really need an excuse mind you.

Hope you all enjoy you day!!