On the way to work

It takes me about an hour to drive to work each day and there are a couple of ways I can go. One of them is straight down the 4 lane highway until I'm on the outskirts of Brisbane city and then turn inland for the last 10 minute drive through the rolling hills to my salon.

This is the way I have to go when we've had a lot of rain like in the recent terrible floods that have affected our state. The way I prefer to go is a little bit more round about but is so much prettier and there's nowhere near as much traffic.
Once I leave my house I drive past the beautiful Glasshouse Mountains which I never grow tired of seeing. I've grown up in this area and have seen so many changes but the mountains always remain the same.

After travelling down the 4 lane highway for a bit, I get off at one of the exits and continue my travels past lovely little picnic areas and lakes (above and below).



I then have to go through a place called Young's Crossing (next two pictures below) which can be quite pretty but was devasted in the recent floods. It's also near the North Pine Dam and when water's let out from there then the crossing has to close because the road floods.

The water is still very brown and dirty because of the floods and a lot of what you can see was under water. In the second photo there are some picnic tables just out of the photo and up the hill a bit. They still have debris on top of them which just goes to show how high the water came. If I get the chance, I'll try and get some photos of those for you.

Young's crossing

Young's crossing (other side of the road)


Then after a few more twists and turns past some houses and shops, we get to the valley with the lovely little village of Samford nestled among the hills. On the left had side in the top third of the picture below you will see some buildings amongst the trees. That's the township of Samford and my salon is nestled in there somewhere.

I hope you've enjoyed a little view of my trip to work. I of course left out the traffic and boring house and road bits. They're not nearly as nice as the lovely views I've shown you and I'm sure you see plenty of those yourself!

Keep smiling

Susan xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Crochet

I've been quite industrious over the Christmas/New Year break and also into January. I've finished two blankets and have started on two throw rugs although work on the throw rugs has slowed down a bit since going back to work.

The first blanket completed was a flower granny throw rug for myself. It was originally supposed to be a single bed blanket for Little Miss R but she decided that she liked another one I was doing better so this one turned into the throw rug.
I love it and am looking forward to winter when I can snuggle under it on a cool night. The pretty edging was from a pattern by Lucy over at Attic 24 which you can access from my side bar. She's got some amazing patterns which are easy to follow and simple for a novice like me!

The blanket for Little Miss R ended up being a ripple blanket which I had been wanting to try for ages. I made so many mistakes doing it but crochet is pretty forgiving and I'm happy with the result. Little Miss R was very happy too until she started waking up with a 'furry mouth' from the wool and now it's been delegated to the corner of the room. Maybe she'll use it in Winter snuggling up on the lounge too otherwise we may have to put it away until she's a bit older.

I just love all the wonky wiggly stipes!

My current range of projects are throw rugs for all the nieces and nephews. My intention is to have one done for each of them by Christmas which gives me the whole year. I've been going quite well so far and am very happy with the results. The above black, red and white blanket will be for Master R who is 3 so I thought that boy colours would be great for him. I also love the stitch that I'm doing for his blanket which is a tricolour sand stitch. It's so effective and SO EASY!

For Miss T who is now 12 I'm making a summer granny square blanket in lots of wonderful bright colours. I've got plenty of circles done and have started on some squares so I just need a bit of time now to sit down and finish off the squares then it will be a process of putting it all together. I'll definately keep you posted on how they're all going.

Hope the sun's shining brightly in your patch.

I'm off to do a bit more crochet and try and get a bit more of the blankets done while Master M is having his nap and Little Miss R is at school.

Susan

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Cycling at the Bike Park

We have recently started to do a few more things as a family which is great as we don't often get out and about.

Just before Christmas we started going to the bike park only a couple of kilometres from our house. It's a brilliant place off the road and fully fenced so it's safe for the kids (unless they crash their bikes). It's also about 1.1km long so we can do a few circuits and to get the blood pumping and the heart racing.

The kids absolutely LOVE going to the bike park as they get to go for a long ride without having to worry about cars and road rules etc. It also means some precious time with mummy and daddy and other family members or friends that we meet with when there.

Unfortunately I saw a photo of myself on my husband's bike and realised just how much weight I had put on over the last couple of years. It was a bit of a shock and I knew that something had to be done so I requested (and was given) a lovely new bike for Christmas!

Isn't it lovely!

Cousin J showing he's a stuntman!

So now I can go to the bike park on my own bike or just go for a ride of a morning if I get the chance.
I love it so much and had completely forgotten how much I loved cycling.




The kids all love it when Nan and Poppy come too. It's great for everyone.

This is the dreaded photo of me that made me realise how much weight I'd put on. I can now happily say that in the past month I've lost 4kg and am feeling much happier about myself. I've got quite a bit to go but I'm slowly getting there and so much more positive than I have been in ages.

Until next time, I hope you all have plenty of happy moments!

Susan

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mulberries and storms

Yay!!!! The first storm of the season and my first at my salon. This photo below is taken from the back door of the salon looking towards Mt Glorious. I just love storms and the first one of the season is always pretty exciting. We actually had a couple go through during the afternoon then more rain and thunder during the night. Aaaaaahhhhh bliss!


The storm was pretty exciting on my first day back at work for the week but the weekend was quite lovely too. No storms but the weather was warming up so off to the park we went for a ride on scooters, bikes, then play time on the swings, slides and twirly things they have there.

It was all pretty exhausting so once we got home it was cold drinks, cold fruit then a nap (for Master M and mum - in the chair I know but I couldn't help myself!).

More fruity fun over the weekend too as we went to visit Aunty S who is home from her holiday. That means some lovely pressies for the kidlettes which is always exciting then it was off to the mulberry tree for some fruit picking time. Master M had a case of 'no like' when he tried a mulberry although I'm not sure if it even made it to his mouth. He did love helping Aunty S with the ladder though.

Little Miss R had an absolute feast and kept filling her little container up. I'm not sure who ate more, her or the dogs but our container full at home kept getting smaller all afternoon so I think she may have won. She's such a little fruit bat! The hands and the mouth were of course completely red as anyone who has feasted on fresh, sweet mulberries will know. I think the most exciting part was sticking out the tongue to see how red it was because she could do it without getting into trouble!!

Not much else planned for the next few days as it's more work for me but if anything does happen I'll be sure to keep you posted. (Especially now that I seem to be a bit organised again!)

Getting back on track

Well I know my blogs have been few and far between lately but I'm starting to feel that my life is getting back on track and starting to settle down. The whole owning my own business thing has been taking up quite a bit of my time as to be expected, and the rest of the time has pretty well been with family.



I'm learning what other full time working mothers have to deal with and it's a bit of a struggle. I'm lucky to have lots of help at home which I know so many people don't have that and I really don't know how they handle it all.







My work has been fantastic. I'm absolutely loving my business and loving the work that I do so much. I always wanted a career where I could look forward to and enjoy going to work each day so it's wonderful to have found one that's just right for me.



Don't you love the little vases in the photo above. I bought them for the salon as candle holders (which they are really) and found that they were the perfect size for some of my small makeup brushes. They're cute and look fantastic on my retail shelves.





The other exciting purchase I've made is some more Natural Compatibles makeup. It's the brand of makeup I use and sell in the salon and I bought some of their lip gloss and applishades. I was a bit taken aback because the lip gloss tubes are quite small but it's so creamy and luscious that you only need the tiniest amount for good coverage. The applishades are little eyeshadow shimmer pens. They're so much fun to use which is why I'm writing about them as I've been having a great time playing with the makeup. All good fun!! (I do know some who probably won't agree with me).

As my life is getting back on track a bit, I'm finding that I now have more time to do some crochet. I haven't done any in ages but over the last couple of weeks I've started on Little Miss R's blanket again.. As you can see from the above photo it's starting to come together and I've probably got about 1/4 of it made. Still lots to go but at least I'm getting back into it. Little Miss R is very happy I'm crocheting again too because she wants her blanket!

I promise I'll keep you posted on more comings and goings from now on. In fact, I've got some photos of the kids picking mulberry's at Aunty S's place over the weekend that I want to share with you all.

Until next time! Warm and sunny smiles for you all.

My salon

I haven't been lost and nothing bad has certainly happened to me, I've just been very busy lately and so finding the time to write on my blog has been very difficult. Lets face it, I've also had a case of the "I couldn't be bothered's too" so that's pretty well why I've been so quiet.

One of the reason's why I've been so busy is that I have bought my own beauty salon. It's a gorgeous little one treatment room salon in the town of Samford, just out of Brisbane and I just love having my own business. I find it quite funny that I had no intention of owning my own business for a few years yet but this one came up and after a bit of a chat with my very supportive husband, I'm now a business woman!


The first 3 photos are various views of the treament room.


Isn't it just gorgeous!

Funnily enough, the decor isn't something I ever would have done myself but I love it and it actually really suits me and the kind of treatments that I'm offering.



The last photo is a view of my reception area. Don't you just love the chandeliers! I'm loving going to work each day, especially when I get to work here.



Samford is such a lovely villagey place too and the clients I have treated so far have been lovely and very encouraging so I think that it's certainly a wonderful place to have a business.

I promise to keep you posted a bit more often on what's going on from now on (I hope!)

Keep smiling.

Susan

Happy Anniversary!

This is a little late but a couple of weeks ago (June 26) was my 6th wedding anniversay. Six years and two cute kids later and we're still going. We've had our ups and downs as any couple do but we're still going strong so I just wish to say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my honey, even if it is a bit late. Love you!





Just a quick note to say that I know I have been neglecting you all lately but I've been quite busy. Kids, the flu, work and a little bit of other news that I'll tell you about in another week or so once things are a bit close to being finalised. Want to know more? Then keep checking in!