12/52

Oscar, Isaac, Matilda - the only photo I had of you all last week after we took Milo for a run around the park!  Don't tell Darren he's made a cameo on here - he doesn't 'do' social media!

I couldn't not pop this amazing cartoon Isaac made for me up! I'm the character with the golden hair doing all the fancy moves.  My favourite bit... the opposition player in green in the last scene with the speech bubble incredulously wondering, "How is she doing this".

Simply Crochet Chunky Scarf

I've been addicted to the UK magazine Simply Crochet since it first came out.  I have a lovely newsagent who pops one aside for me every month and I get a dreadful womanly rush when I discover that both Simply Crochet and Mollie Makes have landed at the same time giving me reason to ignore everything else around my while I flick through both!

Each month they have a wee freebie something on their front cover and I couldn't resist making this scarf with the freebie giant wooden button!  Such a simple stitch too to create those ridges!  It almost looks knitted!

Given the distinct chill in the air I am feeling at the moment, I don't think it's going to be too long before I can gallivant about in it!

11/52

I'm late! I'm late, for a very important date!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Oscar, Isaac and Matilda - My three loves getting their own sibling love on, even if it does only last five minutes!



10/52

Matilda - who doesn't love some sandcastle making at the beach.

Isaac - running away from seaweed and jellyfish!

Oscar - having a think, I think.

Joining in with Jodi.

Homemade Granola

In January I signed up for Michelle Bridges 12wbt.  While I know there is nothing more boring than reading about someone's new exercise regime or wacky diet I must confess I have been loving this one!  I love her food plans!  I love her exercise plans!  I love her no nonsense, straight to the point video messages!  I love that queer little accent she appears to have!  The woman has constant Pep!  And of course, she now has Commando!!!!!

I have been whacking her weekly menus up on the fridge and pretty religiously following them.  She includes a shopping list each week too which makes it pretty simple.  I have been mixing up her exercise sessions along with my own running and my weekly visit to a personal trainer.  (I've entered in to the Run for the Kids in April which is 15km, hence the running, running and more running!)  I may also have stopped drinking alcohol... and that was a real killer!

One of my favourite breakfast or daytime snacky treats has been this homemade granola.  It's a bit of a mixture between a paleo recipe my sister sent me and a Sarah Wilson IGS one.  It is super simple, yummy and very moreish so don't over eat it!  

Whack 2 cups of nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, pepitas) in a food processor with a tablespoon of  ground cinnamon, a teaspoon each of ground nutmeg and all spice and a quarter of a teaspoon of ground cloves and ground ginger.  Cut up about 8 to 10 pitted dates and pop those in too.  Give it a big whizz until its all chopped up to your satisfaction.  Pour that nutty mix into a big bowl with 2 cups of flaked coconut and 2 cups of rolled oats.  Melt about a third of cup of coconut oil in your microwave and then mix a dollop or two of proper maple syrup into that.  Poor the runny stuff into your nutty stuff and mix it all together nicely.

Spread it out nice and flat onto some oven trays and bake away on 180 for about 30-35 minutes.  You will need to hang around your oven turning the mixture every now and then as it cooks from the outside in so use a lovely big spatula to turn it all over, reflatten and spread it out and cook some more.

When you're happy with it's golden appearance leave it on your trays to cool.  Try small pinches of it as you potter around your kitchen cleaning up because apparently you are the only one who knows how to clear plates and load the dishwasher!  When cool, pour into some containers and store it in the freezer.  It keeps nice and fresh in there and lasts for ages - although mine disappears within a week or two!  You can eat it straight from the freezer without a problem.  I normally have a dollop of yoghurt on it with some berries mixed in.  Or I take a small little snack tub of it to work to tide me over to lunchtime.

Hope you found it as yummy as I do!

9/52

Oscar and Isaac - fully immersed in Minecraft cheater books!!! (And off for a boys weekend in Tassie to watch daddy race his speedboat so a quick snap on the iphone before either of them realised!)

Matilda - cannot go past some rainbow face painting at the Red Hill Market with mummy on our girls only weekend!

Joining Jodi.

Handmade gift giving.... Crochet Placemats

Who doesn't love a good sniff around the Purl Bee blog!?  It's always full of crafty tutorials and inspiration!

 

I've been attracted to the pattern they shared on crochet placemats and thought they would be perfect for my friends upcoming birthday.

 

To give you an idea of size I've included my lovely Rob Ryan plates in each image!

 

I've used a cotton blend for mine so they should be easy to wash and care for.  They were simple to whip up as well and when I shared them on instagram someone said that the pattern they created looked a little like a magic eye image!  I'll definitely make these again but in future I might stick with one colour for the border.  While the bright colours I've used here look great individually, I'm not sure they work well together, and I really like the subtle look of the yellows used in the original pattern. Hope my friend still likes them!!!

8/52

Better late than never....

Oscar - pre 50m butterfly, calm and relaxed and just happy to be getting the morning off school.

Isaac - just casually walking into school in his homemade minecraft mask.... because why not?!

Matilda - getting comfy on the bookshop floor.

Joining in with Jodi at Practising Simplicity

7/52

Oscar - clearly iPhone images cannot capture the delight that are the freckles which dance across your nose!

Matilda - who knew that school would give me the opportunity to display my hidden talents as a hairdresser... this was my poor attempt at a love heart braid for Valentine's Day!

Isaac - obsessed.  Completely and utterly.  Minecraft and Terraria have provided this child with a vocab I simply cannot participate in!

I don't know how on earth I will manage to keep up this picture taking each week!  Once the kids are all at school, opportunities for a secret snap disappear.  And I'm embarrassed still that the iphone is my camera of choice! 

#notreallycuttingthemustard

6/52

Oscar - Sunburnt and squinty but clearly a winner at the swimming trials! 

Isaac - I have been in love with your beautiful lips and eyelashes since birth.

Matilda - such a big girl now at school during computer class (mummy was on parent help!)  You could not meet a girl who loves school more!

Joining in with Jodi at Practicing Simplicity

5/52 ~ A new Preppie!

Matilda - experiencing one of life's big moments this week with the first day of school!  She loved it!  And so did I....

Three kids at school for mummy! Yay!

 Oscar and Isaac - started back the day before Matilda with Grade 4 and Grade 2!

Such spunks!

Playing along with Jodi at Practising Simplicity



4/52

Oscar - exhausted after I forced him on a bike ride which, GASP, included hills!

Isaac - inherited his mother's love of craft of course, here in his homemade Minecraft suit! 

Matilda - school starts for you this week miss!  Lucky you have your own homemade hopscotch to take with you!

The 52 Project - a portrait a week, every week, for 2014

Slippers in Summer!

Last night I found the easiest, cutest granny square slipper pattern on youtube!  I have been searching for an easy pattern for these slipper socks for ages as they remind me of the knitted slippers my nanna used to makes us when we were kids - a fresh pair every season!

After a quick read through of the pattern, and a quick watch of the youtube tutorial, I had whipped a pair up last night in an hour and another came off the hook this morning!  I'm adding these to the presents pile... an easy, simple gift for my attempt at handmade this year!

The video tutorial is here and this particular lady has a whole channel on youtube of easy crochet projects.  I always find it funny to watch how someone else hooks!

The link to the written tutorial is here.

To fit my size 9 foot I ended up doing 11 rows after the toe of the slipper is done rather than the 9 suggested.  And dare I admit it, but I actually used a Spotlight acylic yarn for them.  I much prefer to crochet with wool or cotton but I figured these would get a quite a bit of wear and tear and to make them easier to throw them in the wash, acrylic it was... plus, I am trying to use some of my stash up!

Taking stock...

my craftroom view

Making : presents! Crochet blankets, slippers, cowls!
Cooking : pancakes for lunch, lasagne and garlic bread for tea.
Drinking : cider, lovely, lovely cider.
Reading: The Book Thief... for the 9th time. 
Wanting: a full body massage that takes all day, then an uninterrupted bath.
Looking: at the mess that is my craft room floor!
Playing: candy crush, the devils game.  Far too addictive.
Deciding: not to allow Nutella into this house anymore, for the good of everyone!!!
Wishing: I wasn't the only one that picked up after myself.
Enjoying: slow mornings.
Waiting: for school to go back - only 8 more sleeps!
Liking: fresh raspberries with everything!
Wondering: why people speak without thinking first.
Loving: clean sheets on the bed.
Pondering: whether to return to full time teaching or no?
Considering: loads of new school lunch box ideas.
Watching: Alias on DVD, realising I still have a girl crush on Jennifer Garner.
Hoping: for a good year at school for my big boy.
Marvelling: at the peace one finds in some early morning exercise.
Needing: to save money if there is any chance at FRANCE in 2015.
Smelling: chlorine on everyone, always.
Wearing: plain bonds t-shirts - my new favourite with everything!
Following: loads of lovely blogs.
Noticing: how tall my big boy is getting!
Knowing: that time goes by too quickly.
Thinking: about signing up to Michelle Bridges 12wbt.
Feeling: sad about some people's not so subtle racist comments.
Admiring: other crafty people and how quickly they can make things!
Sorting: old magazines, books and recipes.
Buying: cutesy labels for school clothes.
Getting: a new iPhone the second this contract expires!
Bookmarking: too many new ideas on Pinterest!
Disliking: nail polish that lasts 3.5 seconds!
Opening: fresh stationary and school supplies.
Giggling: at seven year old boy jokes always about bums and farting!
Feeling: just dandy!

taking stock comes from Pip!

3/52

I pledge this year to buy an actual camera!!!  The blurry, grainy iphone shot really does not cut the mustard!!!

Oscar - a little obsessed with a friends very sweet baby girl! 

Isaac - exhausted after 3.5 seconds of cricket!

Matilda - Braids, her signature hairstyle these days! 

Joining in with Jodi at Practicing Simplicity



Handmade gifting....

Would it be making bold statements to profess that the handmade gift giving commitment I made at the start of this year has well and truly started with a bang!?!

I started the corner granny blanket only two weeks ago and it has come together pretty darn quickly.  It is super simple to make with those rows of lovely trebles running down two sides.  I completed it with a simple red border since the recipient of this one is an Australia Day baby, hence the red, white and blue!

And all wrapped up...

I'm certain I saw this idea on Pinterest at one point - stitching names into paper doilies and then whacking them onto the gift, but for the life of me I can't find the linkyloo to it!

(yes, that's Christmas wrap... but it's Knitted!  Perfect for wooly gifts!)

I forgot to measure the blanket before I wrapped it up but it's certainly large enough for a toasty lap blanket for a grown up and since this is going to a nine year old girl I am sure it will be fine!  I used Patons Cotton Blend and went through a hole bunch of the cream but only a few balls of the blues.