Friday Loving

Yay for Fridays! The light at the end of a dark weekly tunnel : )

Here's what making me smile today:

Teal the Cows Come Home:  I love this colour and will probably use up the whole bottle in time... so happy, pretty, summery, fun.  Catching a glimpse of the pretty colour on nails is almost an instant mood lift : )  As an aside, don't you love the colour names OPI come up with? Very entertaining.

Brave Daring Girls:  All the way to the top and back - definitely from her Mummy as Daddy never did and was having minor heart palpitations at the sight of it :)

Havoc and Bright Lights: Alanis Morissette's new album:  I've been listening to it for the first time this morning and am thoroughly enjoying - a perfect mash-up of her original and more recent style of music.  Talent.

This week:
Monday:  Sunshine, fresh air and a chance to finally play outside!
Tuesday:  Lemon Coconut cake - mmmmmm
Wednesday:  The way my 3 year old held her own and played with a bunch of 6-7 year old boys completely unperturbed and was even "allowed" to : )
Thursday:  A sick little girl struggling to sleep, holding on to my finger as if she will never let it go as she seeks comfort.

Have a wonderful weekend all!
L x

Joining in here.

The week starts here

Gosh time is flies... how on earth did we get to Monday already?

Happy Recap from the last week:
Tuesday:  My big girl's input and absolute delight at her toy cat's new dress.  Such simple little things :)
Wednesday:  Quilting on my machine - a first!
Thursday: Compliments from friends on quilts and cakes.
Friday:  Home-made Peanut Brittle from the Little & Friday book - so good, so bad, soo omnomnomsss...
Saturday: Watching Heidi at a little friend's birthday party - gorgeous, polite, sweet, kind and giving :)
Sunday: Priceless moment between Daddy and Liezel - her watching him with adoration and copying every move right down to the sound-effects.

In other news we all seem to be better for which I am infinitely grateful.  A busy week lies ahead on the work and sewing front, along with all the usual day to day items that are perpetual.  Looking forward to some sunshine and warm and ticking things of the list!

Happy Monday and Happy Week to you all!
L x

Nothing in particular...

It's been a funny old time lately, always so much going on, and the to do list is never-ending... Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

In all honestly this flu has hit really hard and is sucking the life outta me. I am however super grateful that the rest of the household are improving ... though it's a bit hard to remember specific happy incidents over the last few days... I must start writing down or posting more often...

But I can assure you there were many: baking sticky pecan buns, little dancing girls, Liezel wearing her hair proudly in a little fountain/ponytail on top of her head, great progress on my first quilt, an uber cute toddler with many adorable moments, big sisters looking after the little ones in their own different ways, discovering that the "mummy" guinea pig is going to be a mummy soonish by the look of her, and a few other things.

Ok lovelies - I'm off to tend to my duties.  First up - sewing a dress for a stuffed toy cat... : )
L x

Travelling Stash Box

Cat has organised a NZ Travelling Stash Box, and its first pitstop was my place.

The definition of a stash is a secret store of valuables. For crafters it's a collection of usable craft products. The stash should contain mostly fabric/yarn with a few patterns and/or books and other items.

Fabric - fat quarters, jelly rolls, charm squares

Craft supplies - this could be a great de-stash. If you have any craft supplies that you no longer want, someone else probably will. Items could include; wool, ribbons, buttons, card making items, stranded cottons and embroidery threads etc etc.

Pattern/Craft - any craft books you've finished with Should be in new or gently used condition. They should be kept to a minimum (books are bulky and add weight)

Magazines.

Kits - any unwanted little craft kits, even the little free gifts you get from craft magazines.

RULES:

Be an active blogger. ~ It would be nice if you could blog about the Stash Box arriving at your destination so others can follow the journey, however, not a requirement

There will be a note in the box which logs where the box has been. Please add your info and place the note back in the box.

There is a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box. Please read and follow these and return the list to the box.

You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken. See guidelines below.

Ship the box to the next person on the list in a reasonable amount of time.

Due to the amount of postage the Traveling Stash is only open to NEW ZEALAND Bloggers

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER:

If you receive a box with anything that is of "poor" condition you should not feel guilty in tossing it out.

Only put items in the box that you would be proud to own. The box is NOT a dumping place for all your outdated unwanted items.

Items should be free of smoke and pet hairs.

You must replace items you take with the same quantity of like-kind items. Replacing more than you take is always welcome. :) 

I've helped myself to some fabric and wool and replaced it with a few additional items.

Soon it will be making it's way on to the next recipient!

If you are interested in signing up to receive the box (and then send it on of course), leave a comment here or head over to Cat's blog and let her know!

I have high hopes to this becoming a wonderful rich source of crafty/sewing goodness!
L x

One + One = Two

I love my postie - even when he brings me bills he makes sure he also brings me some happy mail... :)

I received these two delights from Kelli in the mail last week - yay!

Thanks Kelli, we love them!
Not many more blocks to go before Round 2 and 3 are complete and I can then get working on bringing them together for a quilt for Anya.

Other stuff to smile about:
Monday:  a visit to the doctor proved we were full off flu viruses, infections and pneumonia... however Liezel was strutting around after observing the doc, pulling up her shirt or yanking at her singlet so that he could listen to her chest - so so cute.  And when he checked her throat she even did a "ahhh" : )
Tuesday:  My two big girls playing together almost all day without incident - a loving special bond and relationship that fills my heart with joy.
Wednesday:  Walking into Liezel's room first thing to discover she has managed to strip off her merino bag and pyjamas and was trying to work her way out of her singlet... what a sight : )

Happy Friday Eve Everyone!
L x

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

We are going a little bit mad on Mary Poppins at the moment... The girls keep singing songs from it over and over an over...luckily it is quite infections : )

We're a bit down and out with this nasty bug going around but we'll keep beavering on and have a good week if it's the last thing we do!

Happy Highlights:
Friday:  Just spending most of the day resting with m'girls watching the Olympics and having oodles of cups of tea... Oh and Liezel's version of saying Hot Tea - Inhale on the Hot, Exhale on the Tea - cute!
Saturday:  Whilst lying down, Liezel scooted over sat beside me and started stroking my face and giving me little cuddles... precious : )
Sunday:  Loving Heidi's langauge: One, Phoo, Phee, Pour, Pipe, Six, Sepen... Daddy, where's my Babboon?  Aka a Baloon : )

Have a happy week campers.
L x

I heart Baking

Cant believe it's Friday already... the week, like most weeks, has just zoomed past...

I've mentioned previously that I've gotten into baking bread recently.  And I am Loving it!
It started with a Sourdough Starter that was given to me, and then for my birthday last month I these...

They are my two new best friends : )

The baking book has a great section on baking bread - all by hand which is great as I dont have a breadmaker - and I have tried a number of different loaves from it: Sourdough, White, Wholemeal, Challah and a Feta and Olive pull apart... They have been Delicious even if I say so myself : )  One of my favourite parts is the kneading... I find it relaxing and therapeutic and most enjoyable : )

Many cookies, this lemon coconut slice and a cake/loaf or two have been attempted from these books too... Yummo... Yay for awesome books!

Other things loved:
Monday:  Liezel saying sorry with a kiss and a hug after hurting one of her sisters.  Warm fuzzies.
Tuesday:  Lemon Coconut slice - described as a mouth-gasm :)
Wednesday:  Heidi's fan club at kindy welcoming and announcing her arrival with pure joy, delight and enthusiasm.
Thursday:  Liezel doing an adorable little dance/twirl with her hands in the air - so gorgeous.

Happy Weekend Eve Everyone!
L x

Monday Monday...

It's Monday... Time for some weekly inspiration...

Happy Mail: From Linda at Sew Pretty for leaving a comment on her blog! Yummy colours!

And Happy Reflection:
Tuesday:  Delicious coffee at a favourite cafe with a scrumptious friend.
Wednesday:  I've just started baking bread - another successful attempt and deliciously warm fresh home-baked bread...
Thursday:  Making and enjoying a positive change.
Friday:  My husband arriving home after 3 weeks travelling overseas for work.
Saturday:  Enjoying family moments playing together and watching the olympics.
Sunday:  A fun family outing to the SkyTowerand around Wynyard Quarter.

Have a happy week!
L x

12 Inches

Every few years I get bored and crave a change...  with my hair...  In general I always grow it out and have long long hair.  But when I was 17 I cut the whole lot off into a very short hairstyle that was quite fun... then grew it out and again about 6 years ago I got the urge and chopped the lot off to just over 1" all round... Soooo not surprisingly the last few months I have been contemplating a change again... and then on Wednesday I saw this.  You can imagine what happened next...

I got on the phone, made an appointment with Emma at the hairdressers, spoke to a friend about babysitting my girls for a couple of hours, and 24 hours later...

Gone - the lot of it.  Not quite to an inch - I still wanted my children to have a shot at recognising me : )  But 12 inches gone and tomorrow winging it's way to the Pantene Beautiful Lenghts Donation Programme to be turned into a wig for cancer patients.  It feels great that what I no longer want or need is hopefully going to be used to make someone who is suffering feel a little bit brighter : )

I don't really do photo's of myself in general so finding a before was a bit tricky...  Cat was a little surprised as she suspected somehow, and my husband was too upon arriving home the next day after 3 weeks overseas!

I am enjoying the new "do" for now, and am really hopeful my 12 inches will make someone else feel gorgeous :)

Happy Tuesday Everyone!
L x