Lazy January...

Made another batch of yummy lemon butter for a last minute Christmas present, it is so easy to make! Homegrown lemons (my Dad's lemon tree this time) and lovely brown eggs from our chooks of course!

Finally feel like the holidays are starting, this will be the first full week of me being home with the boys. Lots of sitting around in our PJ's & watching new Pokemon dvd's. Sitting on the couch watching the bunny run laps and do mad leaps in the air. Have to watch the little bugger though - last night it bit a button off the tv remote & ate it!!! Thankfully it was the settings button we never really use!

Hoping to get some sewing done too - now I have sorted out the massive pile of "stuff to be fixed" and the UFO's too. But I am itching to make some new skirts & bags. Excited about the maker faire we are heading to this Saturday! And of course we also have our tickets for Brickvention the following weekend, and the MSO Dr Who concert in Feb! wondering if I should try to print a Tardis t-shirt, or maybe make up a fez hat (I think I spotted a pattern over at konstant kaos) for the boys to wear!

Happy New Year 2012!

Welcome to 2012! Dunno where 2011 went, I'm sure I it was just here somewhere, then I turned around and suddenly it just disappeared!

Things have been kind of busy, with the mad rush to finish up at work for the year - try and catch up with all my families, 2 new referrals to make contact with in December - both of which involve booking interpreters for. Plus Christmas stuff, end of the school year.

My mum has been really ill & in hospital ( but came home just before Christmas & is slowly but steadily recovering), so I have been re-aquainting myself with country train travel a lot lately. Got some knitting a few weeks ago, but it is a bit too hot to knit at the moment.

You know it is really summer when you can't bear to even look any cool weather clothing - wool, polar fleece, even long sleeved t-shirts seem too much to even contemplate ever wearing again when the weather is pushing 35+!!!

One thing about train travel is reading - a great excuse to buy some extra magazines to read on the train. I have found a couple of really nice English craft magazines- "Mollie makes", "Craft Seller", and "Making" . I saw a copy of "making" in the hols in Leongatha of all places, but have yet to find anywhere near home which sells it. The newsagent in Bendigo where my Dad buys his lotto ticket has the best range of craft mags I have seen!

My new year's resolution - get more sewing/crafting done of course! And finally do something about renovating our house!

Crafty stuff coming up...

This Friday the Coburg Night Market - Vic Market is on at Bridges Reserve, next to the Coburg Leisure Centre. Brunswick East Primary are having a twilight fete after school, AND the Made'n'Thornbury craft market is on as well! I wonder if I can drag the kids to the school fete, then maybe nip across to Thornbury....

The Sisters' Market is on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th December at the Bruswick Town hall. Guaranteed to find some unique Christmas presents there. Can you believe that it is DECEMBER already?!?!

What great big ears you have...

Meet the newest member or our family - Merlin (or possibly Merlyn-with-a-y, it is tricky to tell with young rabbits!I have consulted the oracle of You-tube, the 3 staff at the pet shop, and am still not entirely sure if it is a he or a she!). But he/she is very cute, loves a cuddle, licks everything & everyone in sight, and will has yet to grow into those ears!

ALSO - craft group will be at the PO again next Monday . I hope a few people turn up again, I won't be able to make it this time, but please don't let that stop you!

Yarn bombing + a milestone

Well it is a couple of weeks on, and still brightens my day every time we walk to school! The blue section was a bit loose, but the mysterious yarn bomber (or a like-minded soul) came back with some black cotton and re-stitched it nice and firm. I love the gorgeous bright colours - a semi-permanent rainbow out the front of the school!

I only just realised - this is the 100th post for the Coburg craft stuff blog! Yay! I should have made a cake!

Entertaining the family...

You know I love my girls, so when the rain started bucketing down this evening, it was blowing straight into the chook house, and we were worried that it would get all wet inside (and might damage the amazing self-feeder device my H built the other weekend). So I donned a raincoat and braved the rain to go and shut the door, thinking the girls were all inside. But no - of course the cheeky things came running out again as soon as I came out the back door, hoping I might have food for them!

They would NOT go up the ramp and back inside, so with the rain pouring down ( and my H and the boys watching out the dining room window) I proceeded to let the chooks out into the back yard - of course they jumped at the chance to run out and eat some fresh grass, never mind the weather! - I shut the door and gate behind them, because I knew it would be quicker to catch them and put them in the chook house through the back door (where we put the food in and collect the eggs) than wait all night in the rain for them to go in by themselves. The first 2 were easy - I scooped them both up together and shoved them in the door, but the other 2 I had to chase around the back yard one at a time! The last one (tricky to tell them apart when they are wet, but I'm guessing it was Amy because she is the smartest and cheekiest) put up a bit of a chase around the yard. Of course the boys inside thought it was hilarious, but hey, it worked!

PS craft group is back on this Monday night, 7:30pm at the PO.

still sewing...

Still sewing for the craft stall this Friday, just finished a sign for the cupcakes stall. Missed the cup completely- I thought it was on about 3:20 (well it always used to be - just before school finished. When I was teaching in Mildura, I remember the teachers put all the kids in the library to watch the race on tv!). But we did manage to use up some of the lovely lemons I had been given, and the kids helped make a small batch - 3 jars- of lemon butter, and 2 bottles of lemon cordial! Very yummy, I have never made any sort of jam before (does lemon butter count as a kids of jam?), so it was quite exciting! I took some photos but have not had time to load them on yet.

We did go for a quick walk down to school to check out the yarn-bombed parking sign out the front. My H was walking past on his way to work this morning & spotted it, so he rang up to ask "which one of my buddies has yarn-bombed the school?"- I don't know, but it is a gorgeous rainbow up the post. Must remember to get to school a bit earlier in the morning to see people's reactions!!!