Icy outside, but tucked up inside

That's all the snow that remains on the hills.
They were completely covered in white.

Well, the snow seems to have gone, but the icy weather continues.

The sum total of snow that settled at our house on Tuesday night!
And it was slushy due to all the rain.

Yesterday I was tucked up inside again and decided I needed to do a bit more practicing ... first the ukulele (I've been trying to master strumming along with changing chords) and then some drumming.

Drawing - I really need to make this a bit more regular, but I felt inspired by looking at an aloe vera plant I'd recently moved and realised that I was visualising the negative space within what I saw and that I was mentally drawing it - so out came the sketch book and pencil and off I went.

I've been rearranging! Although our lounge is quite large, we're quite restricted on how to place the furniture. So after a bit of mental planning, I decided at 11.30pm Tuesday night that it *had* to be done right there and then lol. I don't usually like to cover over the window with the couches, but I find that the lounge doesn't seem cosy, or warm enough for my liking because it's so spacious and so much window (there is the same amount of windows/doors right next to this lot). So this way, it creates another area that we can now use as a comfy floor spot.

Kid decluttering - yep, while rearranging furniture I managed to find another bag of games and puzzles that are no longer used.

Crafting - I have been wanting to make one of these recycled woollen blanket buntings for a while now, but didn't have a suitable blanket, and hadn't gone looking for one. I did recall I had a very thin piece of woollen fabric though (apparently it was a very old-skool nappy-wrap back in the day and came from my nana...). Same red pin-stripe down one side and same size as a flannel nappy. So I made this up yesterday afternoon. I'm quite pleased with the results!

Sunday

Well, the school holidays are over and we had a really nice, relaxing time.

I was talking with the kids how Imbolc will be on Tuesday, and what we'd like to do to celebrate it. Imbolc symbolises The First Light - the start of the return of spring and new growth. The kids really look forward to a family meal (although Simon won't be here for this one), a story about the seasonal changes, and a few decorations that help us tune into nature and the seasons. I'll be heading off for a meet up with my women's group.

All that talk inspired Danielle to pull our our Earthwise activities book, find the winter activities and browse for something to make. She settled on these little paper decorations (although they are for valentine's cards and the wrong season for that ... as well as the fact we don't do anything for valentine's anyway lol).

Simon arrived home with another trailer-load of sand from a Freecycle offer. The base for our garden shed is almost ready lol. The chickens thought it was great having us all down in the garden - especially since there were bugs on offer! The kids spent ages sifting through the sand to find tasty treats for them to snaffle.

And there was plenty of sand left over to refill the sandpit! Enjoying a little play until they were shooed inside to get warm!

I'm now onto the fourth Earth's Children book - The Plains of Passage. I zoomed through The Mammoth Hunters last week while on holiday (and no computer in the evenings...). I realised while reading The Mammoth Hunters that I hadn't read this far into the series before.

I'm going to get back into my drawing this week and hopefully finish off the course.

Instrument bag #2

After making the bag for my djembe, I was keen to make one up for my ukulele too (it came in a plain little bag).

I found a piece of dark denim that was an off-cut from a long skirt that I refashioned last year, but it sat around while I spent a bit of time pondering how I could embellish it and figure out how I was going to close it.

Last night I found a wide strip of fabric with mushrooms on it that I adore. I used one strip when I made Danielle's foraging bag last year, but there were still two strips of mushrooms left. I think it looks great set against the dark blue of the denim.

For the closure, I kind of winged it. I don't think I could recreate it if I tried lol. I ended up putting a button on it, so will see how that works.

A quiet day...

It was a day of catching up on chores, laundry, and just hanging out. We had the perfect winter weather for drying clothes on the line (plenty of sun and a little breeze) and for heating the house without needing the fire.

The morning started off early (would have been nice to have a lazy start to the day) by taking Danielle to see the dental nurse, then home quickly to hang out two loads of washing before heading off to meet up with friends at the local theatre to see a production of Charlotte's Web.

The kids really enjoyed it, and it was neat to see a couple of ukelele players up there (including a very talented 8-9yr old).

After lunch Danielle wanted me to help her make a soft toy like one she'd been given by a friend while on holiday. So she designed a long dog (modelled off my parent's daschund). She sewed the body and stuffed it, and I completed the ears and tail for her.

A spot of sewing...

It's been a wee while since I have had my sewing machine out. When my drum arrived, I just knew that it needed its own carry bag. In the workshop I went to all the drums had neat patterned, padded covers. So last night, I googled for ideas on how to approach it. I didn't really want to buy padded fabric, so decided for now to just make one using regular heavy-duty fabric. After going through my stash, I came across a large linen bedspread that I'd picked up for a few dollars at an op-shop for the fabric.

Nathan helped me mark out the base and work out the measurements for the main part of the case (it's just a trapezium shape).

Enjoying putting all my pins back into the cushion - they had
all made it into the red accessories case for some reason.

The top is closed with a draw-string, and inside the opening there is a circular flap that is secured on one side and then flips over the top of the drum to give protection.

A week in our house...

~ Hmpf! We really are having a winter of sickness! Not all at once, and not even the same thing! So, we're all well again, but I feel like I lost a week looking after Danielle with some random vomity-viral thing that covered her in a red rash from head to toe. Onwards and upwards!
~ Good news on the chicken front - my very sporadic layers look like they're in for a change. Over summer I had a few broody ones sitting on the nest, then they all moulted, and now finally, one of them is back laying. Nathan came into the house a few weeks ago all excited that he could tell that Caramel was going to start laying soon. He'd noticed her comb had gone bright red and nice and plump-looking. Danielle discovered the first egg yesterday! The other two still have pale pink combs, but I'm hoping they'll be coming onto the lay too.

~ I got together with several friends on Thursday evening for a knitting/crochet session. I offered to make a friend a pair of the fingerless-gloves I made myself a wee while back, so made a start that night and then finished them off the next day.

~ I have a set of seedlings ready to pop into the garden tomorrow (yay for some lovely weather).

~ I bought a 2nd-hand square coffee table off Trade Me during the week. We haven't had a coffee table in the lounge since Nathan was a baby; just seemed to be a bit of a hazard and unnecessary. Now that all the kids toys have been removed from the lounge, the large space was no longer required for spreading out on. I have been wanting a large, square, low table that can be used when sitting on the floor - doing jigsaws on, eating at, playing card games, drawing, etc. I found the perfect table - 90cmx90cm and we chopped length off the legs so it is now only 30cm high. I intend on sanding it back and staining it a darker colour to modernise it. So that's my project for this week.

~ I've been drawing! An online friend recommended a book that sounded really interesting. I have always been one to think that I am very uncreative, can't draw, wouldn't know where to start, and told myself I wasn't really interested ... so wrote myself off as ever being able to. Well, this book basically told me that everyone can draw, and that it was really just in the way you "see". I amazed myself by drawing my first picture ever (that wasn't just a "kid" picture with lines). Now, I look forward to learning some skills to take the vision from inside my head and putting it onto paper, rather than just copying an item. So, here's my first picture (after being told that I can in fact draw - strange that it was all in  my perception). This is a sample before any instruction, and I'll keep it so I can do a comparison as I go through the lessons.

~ I've been drumming! Yes, I'm all about creativity this year! I am still practicing the rhythms that I learnt at my workshop last weekend (on my tiny little drum lol).

~ I've finished reading Nineteen Eighty Four (it all keeps playing through my mind), and fitting in another library book (along with the drawing book), before I make a start on the 3rd Earth's Children book.

~ The kids have got all creative yesterday - both had ideas for constructing, building, and creating - was great to see!

The seven stars...

I've been wanting to make a set of cute candle holders with the kids to represent the coming winter solstice and the return of the light and longer days. I proposed 5 as a number, but then Nathan suggested that we make 7 to represent the 7 stars of Matariki - the Maori New Year.

We made the holders using salt dough, and then baked them till hard (removed the candles and left the holders in place while they baked). Apparently though, while sitting on the table that night (before decorating), the dog thought they would make a tasty treat...fortunately I was able to fix up the one chewed holder with a little left over dough (and replaced the munted candle/foil holder!).

We then decorated them with water paints, sequens and paua pieces.

All scarfed up

Once I was on the better side of being sick I was able to power away through my scarf (and had memorised the pattern by that time, so could sit in front of the fire completing it and not rely on the computer for seeing what I had to do). Unfortunately I ran out of wool and not too much chance of finding anymore. So, I decided to call it a scarfette or neck wrap and for now have a kilt-pin to hold it all together until I come up with some other idea.

A new crochet project...

I have really taken a leap from basic fingerless gloves and beenies! I decided I really wanted a different looking scarf and spent some time searching Ravelry to find a free pattern. I had a lovely 10ply wool in a stormy purple in my stash that I've been wanting to find an appropriate project for, and finally found something that looked suitable.

Hmmm...well, it seems that it must have been rated by really experienced crocheters lol, coz even though it was rated on the easy end of the scale of 1-10, it sure is stretching my pattern reading skills! I can see there is a bit of a pattern occuring, but equally, I know I've messed up my interpretation a few times. I figured it doesn't really matter so much since it's a scarf, and I still like the way that it's working up.

Maybe I'll have it figured out by the time I'm finished!




Refreshing some skills...

I taught myself how to crochet a few years back using YouTube tutorials (knitwitch has some good ones). I have only made a couple of beenies and a pair of fingerless gloves. I had been getting an itch to pick up my hooks again and do a wee winter project. I really wanted another pair of fingerless gloves, and this time, one that has thumbs rather than just a hole to put my thumbs through. I found this cool free pattern a few nights back and made a start using a ball of variegated wool I had hanging around. It crocheted up really quickly, and the instructions were good for my learner skills (although I did need to learn a new stitch for casting on) and within about 5hrs going at a relaxed pace (and taking time out to pick up the kids from school, putting away chickens, hanging up washing etc) I had them made. I'm really pleased with them.

A little bit of handcraft

I've been searching for a simple little handcraft that I can easily pick up and put down. After being inspired  over at Watching Kereru with the gorgeous little hearts Jacinda and her girls have been making, I went on a hunt for suitable materials.

My first stop was at the Salvation Army to sift through the drawers of buttons. I only had plain and boring at home and wanted some cute little bits of colour. I then made a phone call to a friend who has been making winter coats for her girls from old woollen blankets, to see if she had any scraps she could spare. I then had a heap of embroidery thread that came to me with all my nana's sewing bits and I was set to go.

On one particularly dreary day, I sat down in front of the fire and quietly stitched away.

Not too sure I'm going to do with them - but Danielle likes the idea of pinning them to one of her bed cushions as a cover which seems a great idea (and I pinned one onto one off her fabric hairbands). I thought they could also look cute on one of her winter coats, or woollen hat or her bag.

These will be a neat little project for the kids to have a try at as well in the winter days ahead...

Special spaces - the little touches

I love making little crafts for around the home. I'm not into stitching type crafts such as embroidery or cross stitch (although I was when I was in my early 20s), but like to try out different materials and crafts.

Large wall hanging in my dining room that I made about 8yrs ago and set paua pieces on it (perhaps a bit out of date, but I still like it)

String of bright-coloured felted balls I made a few years back that I have across one of our bedroom walls

Cute glass jars with dried twiggy/branch things in them

Woven kete that my mum made me

Danielle's paper bunting in her bedroom. It's a few years old now, but still adds colour and cheer to her room.

Spending time with special people...

Grandparents: The kids stayed at Nannie and Grampie's for the night on Saturday night. They had fun helping make dinner, had a spa, then in the morning prepared morning tea for me and Simon as we arrived back to pick them up.

Danielle was busy looking at an awesome pop-up dinosaur book that my mum has. She then wondered if she could make a pop-up book too. Nannie, who has been well-educated on unschooling over the years, didn't fob her off as I was (coffee and muffins were calling my name), and went to see what she could turn up on Google. So they made some pop up cards that seemed to satisfy Danielle's desire to recreate the pop up book. This then inspired Nathan to make his own, and upon getting home, the crafting continued ... all afternoon...

Nannie then sent through a link via email with loads of other pop-up ideas for them to work on.



Monday date-day: Now that the kids are at school, Simon and I have Monday to ourselves. I could say that we don't know what to do with ourselves, but that isn't true.

It's kind of like having a date-day once a week. Or like those weekend days before you had kids.

We potter around doing some morning chores, sort out organising things around the house that need tending to (phone call to bank, another to sort out the broken dishwasher, replacing blown bulbs, odd house maintenance jobs that just aren't important enough to spend time doing but quietly start to bug you (me hehe), garden jobs etc). Then it's close to lunchtime, so we go out for lunch (we've discovered at 2 for 1 gourmet pizza deal at the Mediterranean Food Warehouse on a Monday, or we grab something from the bakery and sit down at the beach for a chat). Being gluten free the rest of the time, it feels a real treat to actually go out for lunch without wondering what is GF or about the cost to feed all of us. Then it's home again to potter until school pick up time. One of us picks the kids up from school and walks Nathan to Keas, and then continue the walk (scooter) home with Danielle.

Although it's the start of the school holidays today (yay! have really been looking forward to having the kids home), that's been our little ritual for the past 6 wks!

Extended family: Now that the kids are at school, I've been helping out my old Nan who has Parkinson's. I've been taking her out once a week to run any errands that she has (bank, shopping, library, etc) as well as checking in with her on an as-needed basis. It's been really pleasant to hang out with her and have more indepth chats and getting to know her on a deeper level. It's quite different than when the kids are around. They are pretty good at entertainment, but it has also meant that the conversations that I had with Nan remained on a superficial level. So, that's been a nice way to fill a few hours a week.

I've been sewing!

Over the last month or so I've been getting stuck into some sewing projects that I've been wanting to do (or rather, waiting for the inspiration or idea to hit me!) I have a pretty big stash of fabric that has been stacked up in my hallway on a shelf. So, pretty much in my face saying "what do you want to make?" every time I walk past it!

The shelf has now been relocated to inside Danielle's wardrobe, but still easy to access.

A dress for Danielle. Made from a fleecy cotton fabric I picked up from the Sallies shop for $1 a few years back. I lined it with a green t-shirt that didn't really work for me and scrappy leftovers for the pockets.

A merino dress for me. I bought this fabric for $10 from a local merino factory shop a few years back. I made the pattern up using an existing dress I have (and got the idea from a friend who'd already made several).

A tunic top for Danielle using a large size top I found at the Hospice shop. I worked to keep the cross over neck line and waist band.

I have a few overnight trips coming up soon and really wanted to make a funky bag to take my stuff away in (I only have one of those generic black overnight bags). This is a piece of heavy-weight (upholstery?) cotton fabric I bought for cheap a few years back. Very pleased to have a suitable project for it (I also have a piece the same in turquoise). I scoured the net for ideas that were simple enough and didn't require a zip.

 I found a large authentic leather plaited button in my button stash that was perfect for the closure.

A pinboard for Danielle's birthday. She'd been asking me for a board for several months, so I decided to make a colourful one to match her bedroom. I used ink and stamps to put the flower prints on, and bought a range of ribbons and flowers to embellish it with.

On a roll...

I wanted to make another wee bag for a friend's daughter so made this one up this afternoon using a piece of fabric from my stash (unfortunately when cutting out the flap material I forgot about the direction of the pattern on the fabric!).

A friend sent me a load of buttons recently, and a couple of the colours were a great match for embellishing the front flap.

Argghhhh, I'm busy writing list after list at them moment. We'll be making a trip to Australia for one of my sister's wedding later in the year and needing to sort passports (went and had photos taken this afternoon) for all of us along with all the other things that go along with holidays away from home.

Then, we're off to homeschool camp on Wednesday so need to get us organised and repacked after recovering from the last one!

More refashioning

I've been meaning to make the kids a messenger bag each that they can take with them when we go out for walks. I didn't want them too big, but large enough to pop their water bottle in along with some paper and pens or any items they find while out and about.

Nathan's has been made from a bag I made a few years back. The original bag was a refashion from an old linen skirt of my mums. I repositioned the straps to make it messenger style, added a flap and lining (used more of my hessian stash for that). The pocket and belt loops from the original skirt placed on the inside of the flap were an after thought but work well.