It's been a while between posts. It's been a while since I turned my computer on. I have a hundred and one posts in my head that I would like to write, I wonder if I will ever get to them.
Things have been pretty busy at my place. I would like to say that I have been so quiet because I have been busy with christmas crafting, decorating and baking. But the truth is I have been utilising every spare moment to clean, tidy, de-clutter and organise.
We are preparing to put our house on the market and man is that a lot of work.
I have decided to give myself a few days off leading up to christmas though. Whilst I know that Poppy wont remember this one, I know we will always remember our very first family christmas. So I am going to try and get some crafting, decorating and baking done over the next few days (even if it is last minute)..
Hopefully I will have some last minute christmas handmade goodness to share with you all soon
xxx
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Thursday, 24 November 2011
*Little Review* Handmade Living -A Fresh take on scandinavian style
This past weekend my husband and I had a treat. The grandparents came up to hang out with the Poppet (by which I mean fawn over the poppet) and we went for a late breakfast and movie in Yarraville.
I decided to be a nice wife and let Digger chose the movie (opps), naturally he chose a baseball movie. But I got a great payoff, while we were browsing in The Sun Bookstore before the movie I spotted Lotta Jansdotter's book "Handmade Living" and since Ryan got to choose the movie I got to choose a book to come home with me...Hoorah!!!!
So not only did I get to eat a real breakfast with coffee whilst it was still hot and yummy, I also got to look at Brad Pitt for a few hours and take a pretty new book home.
And the day got even better. By the time we got home Poppy was soo tired from all the adoration and playing that she had a really really big nap. So I got to sit down with a big cup of tea and read my new book cover to cover... and what a book I loved it!!!
This book has everything I adore. Wonderfully creative handmade pieces, practical and pretty storage solutions, lots of textiles, an adorable child, and recipe cards. But what I thought was most awesome about this book is that it's not written by someone with a gargantuan disposable income who has furnished their home with items I could only ever dream of one day putting on my wishlist. This book is full of practical accessible and beautiful items, some from flea markets and garage sales, some hand crafted by the author or her local designer friends and amongst all of this, items from Ikea.
It's a wonderful book and I could say soo many nice things about it but I think I have covered the main points and I don't want to spoil it for you if you decide to have a look yourself, which I thoroughly recommend you do.
I cant wait to break out some of the recipes to make myself, the apple jam one sounds especially tasty.
Happy Weekend everyone
xxx
I decided to be a nice wife and let Digger chose the movie (opps), naturally he chose a baseball movie. But I got a great payoff, while we were browsing in The Sun Bookstore before the movie I spotted Lotta Jansdotter's book "Handmade Living" and since Ryan got to choose the movie I got to choose a book to come home with me...Hoorah!!!!
So not only did I get to eat a real breakfast with coffee whilst it was still hot and yummy, I also got to look at Brad Pitt for a few hours and take a pretty new book home.
And the day got even better. By the time we got home Poppy was soo tired from all the adoration and playing that she had a really really big nap. So I got to sit down with a big cup of tea and read my new book cover to cover... and what a book I loved it!!!
This book has everything I adore. Wonderfully creative handmade pieces, practical and pretty storage solutions, lots of textiles, an adorable child, and recipe cards. But what I thought was most awesome about this book is that it's not written by someone with a gargantuan disposable income who has furnished their home with items I could only ever dream of one day putting on my wishlist. This book is full of practical accessible and beautiful items, some from flea markets and garage sales, some hand crafted by the author or her local designer friends and amongst all of this, items from Ikea.
It's a wonderful book and I could say soo many nice things about it but I think I have covered the main points and I don't want to spoil it for you if you decide to have a look yourself, which I thoroughly recommend you do.
I cant wait to break out some of the recipes to make myself, the apple jam one sounds especially tasty.
Happy Weekend everyone
xxx
Monday, 21 November 2011
The Poppet Update
Here's a little update on our little one.
Well The Poppet is getting big.. At just 6 months (depending on whether you count by weeks or calendar months) she is already wearing mostly 0 and size 1, yes you read that right size 1.
She is busily prattling along all day long, occasionally stringing correct syllables together like ma ma or da da or hu looo but I assume these are all random happy accidents. But oh so fun to hear. She does this in her sleep also which is funny but strange at the same time. It keeps me on my toes.
We have also started solids and this little girl loves her veggies and rice cereal.. fruit not soo much.
I can no longer pop the little miss down on the matt and come back to find her in the same place as she rolls rolls rolls (but never for her dad) and has started to kind of commando crawl face down across the ground.
Poppy has discovered how to walk in the walker.. Previously we just used it as she wants to stand up all the time but now she can go backwards very fast and forwards slowly.
It is soo much fun to watch The Poppet learn and discover new things, like where the water comes from in the shower and what it tastes like. I am having a blast at home with her and don't want to think about having to go back to work ever (or at least right now)..
Oh and the cutest thing ever... Poppy has decided her mum is hilarious and literally laughs at me all day long... You would be hard pressed not to be laughing and smiling along with her.
I will add some new photos soon of our happy little lady.
Hope your day was sunny
xxx
Well The Poppet is getting big.. At just 6 months (depending on whether you count by weeks or calendar months) she is already wearing mostly 0 and size 1, yes you read that right size 1.
She is busily prattling along all day long, occasionally stringing correct syllables together like ma ma or da da or hu looo but I assume these are all random happy accidents. But oh so fun to hear. She does this in her sleep also which is funny but strange at the same time. It keeps me on my toes.
We have also started solids and this little girl loves her veggies and rice cereal.. fruit not soo much.
I can no longer pop the little miss down on the matt and come back to find her in the same place as she rolls rolls rolls (but never for her dad) and has started to kind of commando crawl face down across the ground.
Poppy has discovered how to walk in the walker.. Previously we just used it as she wants to stand up all the time but now she can go backwards very fast and forwards slowly.
It is soo much fun to watch The Poppet learn and discover new things, like where the water comes from in the shower and what it tastes like. I am having a blast at home with her and don't want to think about having to go back to work ever (or at least right now)..
Oh and the cutest thing ever... Poppy has decided her mum is hilarious and literally laughs at me all day long... You would be hard pressed not to be laughing and smiling along with her.
I will add some new photos soon of our happy little lady.
Hope your day was sunny
xxx
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Plus Sized Mama
I don't think I have ever been so bold as to come out and say I am a plus size Mama. It's true and there is no shame in it I just don't believe I have put that out there yet.
Clothes have always been an issue for me. As much as I love them, actually finding clothing that I like that is in my size and somewhat flattering, most days seems like the impossible mission. For this reason I gravitate towards plain kind of boring clothes that I can jazz up with accessories. Since I love brooches and earrings soo much its easy to dress up a plain outfit to still feel like a "mel' outfit.
Recently I discovered I really don't like about 80% of my wardrobe and of the 20% of it that I do actually like only a third actually fits me. I had all of this clothing that I owned merely for the reason that it fit me, it was not necessarily my style or even flattering in many cases it just fit. So with this in mind I decided to turf about 90% of my clothes (some awesome dresses will be on ebay very soon the rest are going to the Salvos). So I need new clothes, but I need to sell some first.
I have felt kind of bad that soo much of my clothing is/was store brought when I love handmade so much but everytime I search "plus size" on etsy I am graced with an array of hippy like tie dyed sacks or maternity clothes, not really my style right now. So for a while I have been a little cranky at etsy and feeling sorry for myself.. Poor me I am big and I need handmade clothes because store brought plus size is mostly ugly and atleast handmade can be made to fit... HAZZAH!!! Lightbulb.... This whole time I should have been searching "custom" not "plus size" and hello etsy I am madly in love with you all over again.
I received in the mail today a dress from a lovely lady in Hong Kong, the fabric has a repeated pattern of ships and it is just divine.
I now have three favourite pieces of handmade clothing The first being my wedding dress made by the ever so lovely Peta Pledger, who buy the way also makes awesome awesome dress that fit all shapes and sizes (several of her dresses are on my new wardrobe wish list). The second is my favourite top in the world made by my beautiful friend Kerstin who is the brains, talent and beauty behind Paul and Paula Kids clothing. Last but not least my beautiful new ship dress from Prototype designs.
I am starting to get excited about clothes again and can't wait to slowly start rebuilding my wardrobe with clothes that I love and can't wait to wear.
I will keep you updated on what I find along my way.
Clothes have always been an issue for me. As much as I love them, actually finding clothing that I like that is in my size and somewhat flattering, most days seems like the impossible mission. For this reason I gravitate towards plain kind of boring clothes that I can jazz up with accessories. Since I love brooches and earrings soo much its easy to dress up a plain outfit to still feel like a "mel' outfit.
Recently I discovered I really don't like about 80% of my wardrobe and of the 20% of it that I do actually like only a third actually fits me. I had all of this clothing that I owned merely for the reason that it fit me, it was not necessarily my style or even flattering in many cases it just fit. So with this in mind I decided to turf about 90% of my clothes (some awesome dresses will be on ebay very soon the rest are going to the Salvos). So I need new clothes, but I need to sell some first.
I have felt kind of bad that soo much of my clothing is/was store brought when I love handmade so much but everytime I search "plus size" on etsy I am graced with an array of hippy like tie dyed sacks or maternity clothes, not really my style right now. So for a while I have been a little cranky at etsy and feeling sorry for myself.. Poor me I am big and I need handmade clothes because store brought plus size is mostly ugly and atleast handmade can be made to fit... HAZZAH!!! Lightbulb.... This whole time I should have been searching "custom" not "plus size" and hello etsy I am madly in love with you all over again.
I received in the mail today a dress from a lovely lady in Hong Kong, the fabric has a repeated pattern of ships and it is just divine.
I now have three favourite pieces of handmade clothing The first being my wedding dress made by the ever so lovely Peta Pledger, who buy the way also makes awesome awesome dress that fit all shapes and sizes (several of her dresses are on my new wardrobe wish list). The second is my favourite top in the world made by my beautiful friend Kerstin who is the brains, talent and beauty behind Paul and Paula Kids clothing. Last but not least my beautiful new ship dress from Prototype designs.
I am starting to get excited about clothes again and can't wait to slowly start rebuilding my wardrobe with clothes that I love and can't wait to wear.
I will keep you updated on what I find along my way.
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Customer Service
My apologies in advance this will come off sounding a bit like a gripe (because it is,, but as always there is a sunny side).
I am presently annoyed with an online bookstore whom shall remain nameless... More than a month ago as a surprise I ordered Digger a book I thought he would enjoy, thinking to myself the whole time how convenient to be able to surprise him at a time when it was just impossible for me to be able to get out and about. Well that was in September! The book in question has been charged to my credit card and it is yet to arrive. Now I know things get held up and I am a fairly patient person. The website in question had a note on my account saying stock was expected on September 27th, however I had to log in to their site to even be graced by this information. There has been not so much as an email to say stock has been delayed etc etc....
I am ever so sad to say this has happened to me in the handmade community also.
I recently purchased a birthday present for a friend, from a melbourne designer who I have admired for sometime. I appreciate just how much work goes into running your own handmade business so I was not concerned at all when a week later I had not received the items I ordered (they were listed for immediate postage once payment had cleared). But when the package had not arrived after two weeks without so much as an email to say thanks for your order I will pop your items in the post shortly, I decided perhaps it was the internets fault and perhaps this lovely lady had not actually received my order. So I sent a nice email to say I was in no rush but wanted to make sure she had received my order. I still have not had a response to this email. However the very next day my package arrived postmarked the date of my email. I did receive additional items that I had not ordered, I am assuming as an apology for the delay. Whilst this was a lovely gesture I would have been content with a quick email saying sorry things have been hectic but I will post this asap. Instead my email went unanswered and I doubt I will purchase from her again.
Its unfortunate that bad customer service happens because it reflects badly on all sales people (it shouldn't but it does).
So much so that when we get good service we tend to rave about it because it is soo uncommon.
SO here is some service I do want to rave about.
I am pleased to say that in my dealings within the handmade community "bad service" has only happened to me once. In every other transaction and there have been many, I have honestly felt a sense of satisfaction from good service that I have experienced nowhere else. Even when you are purchasing something from someone on the other side of the world who you will never ever meet, it still feels like a very personal experience. Even more so when you buy at local handmade markets and get to have a chat with these amazing people, somehow I always end up finding out how they got into making their specific items and why (or maybe I am just nosey).
I wont let my one bad experience colour my view of buying handmade, I may not buy from that particular designer again but thats a different issue. But it served to remind me just how good I have had it with the handmade community to soo consistently have had excellent customer service that one insy wincey bad experience could stand out so much.
So whilst I started griping about bad customer serviced this post is really about just how good customer service is when you buy handmade....
and I remain one very very happy handmade shopper..
I don't think I can say it enough.. thank you to all the handmade sellers out there who have made shopping fun for me again.....
I hope all of your shopping experiences are happy ones.
I am presently annoyed with an online bookstore whom shall remain nameless... More than a month ago as a surprise I ordered Digger a book I thought he would enjoy, thinking to myself the whole time how convenient to be able to surprise him at a time when it was just impossible for me to be able to get out and about. Well that was in September! The book in question has been charged to my credit card and it is yet to arrive. Now I know things get held up and I am a fairly patient person. The website in question had a note on my account saying stock was expected on September 27th, however I had to log in to their site to even be graced by this information. There has been not so much as an email to say stock has been delayed etc etc....
I am ever so sad to say this has happened to me in the handmade community also.
I recently purchased a birthday present for a friend, from a melbourne designer who I have admired for sometime. I appreciate just how much work goes into running your own handmade business so I was not concerned at all when a week later I had not received the items I ordered (they were listed for immediate postage once payment had cleared). But when the package had not arrived after two weeks without so much as an email to say thanks for your order I will pop your items in the post shortly, I decided perhaps it was the internets fault and perhaps this lovely lady had not actually received my order. So I sent a nice email to say I was in no rush but wanted to make sure she had received my order. I still have not had a response to this email. However the very next day my package arrived postmarked the date of my email. I did receive additional items that I had not ordered, I am assuming as an apology for the delay. Whilst this was a lovely gesture I would have been content with a quick email saying sorry things have been hectic but I will post this asap. Instead my email went unanswered and I doubt I will purchase from her again.
Its unfortunate that bad customer service happens because it reflects badly on all sales people (it shouldn't but it does).
So much so that when we get good service we tend to rave about it because it is soo uncommon.
SO here is some service I do want to rave about.
I am pleased to say that in my dealings within the handmade community "bad service" has only happened to me once. In every other transaction and there have been many, I have honestly felt a sense of satisfaction from good service that I have experienced nowhere else. Even when you are purchasing something from someone on the other side of the world who you will never ever meet, it still feels like a very personal experience. Even more so when you buy at local handmade markets and get to have a chat with these amazing people, somehow I always end up finding out how they got into making their specific items and why (or maybe I am just nosey).
I wont let my one bad experience colour my view of buying handmade, I may not buy from that particular designer again but thats a different issue. But it served to remind me just how good I have had it with the handmade community to soo consistently have had excellent customer service that one insy wincey bad experience could stand out so much.
So whilst I started griping about bad customer serviced this post is really about just how good customer service is when you buy handmade....
and I remain one very very happy handmade shopper..
I don't think I can say it enough.. thank you to all the handmade sellers out there who have made shopping fun for me again.....
I hope all of your shopping experiences are happy ones.
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Some books I love you may not have heard of.
I have many many favourite books.. in fact I have two books shelves in my living room that are specifically for my "favourites" and a shelf in my bedroom of the extra special favourites so they are on hand in the event of a case of insomnia.
Theres lots of books you would expect to find if you know me well, even if you don't. They are the standard 150 odd books you must read...etc
My copies of Madame Bovary, The Bell Jar and Mrs Dalloway have been read and reread so many times the corners of their pages are frayed and stained with my fingerprints.. I can quote whole chunks from Wuthering Heights and To Kill a Mockingbird. These are all great books and I love them.
I am somewhat of an obsessive reader when I find an author I like I simply must read everything I can get my mits on that they have written... Like Brett Easton Ellis and Michael Chabon or Don Dellio.
I wanted to share with you some fantastic books that I love that I have chanced upon rather than been told I MUST read, maybe you already know about them. But just incase you don't heres 5 books from my "favourites" shelf they are all very different and in my small opinion beautifully written. Maybe next time you are at the library or secondhand book store you might find one and give it a go.
1. What a Piece of Work by Dorothy Porter (all of her books are amazing)
2. Orpheus Lost by Janette Turner Hospital
3. Youth by J.M Coetzee (I am a little obsessed with his books)
4. Falling by Anne Provost
5. Bureaucracy Blues by Craig Horne
I have to note on this one, that Craig Horne is a public servant who lives in Melbourne in a suburb I dearly miss. He is a solo blues singer. I think this is a book for everyone but would be especially enjoyed by public servants who love music.. so naturally I love this book.
If you are a bookish type yourself I have started a bookish little blog in lieu of starting that book that my Ryan keeps hounding me to write.. You might find it to be a whole heap of random rambling or you might like it.
Your welcome to have a peek at www.bigfatnerdypants.blogspot.com
Hope your having a lovely day
Oh and if anyone is interested... The book I am presently reading to the Poppet is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and through the looking glass by Lewis Carroll.
Theres lots of books you would expect to find if you know me well, even if you don't. They are the standard 150 odd books you must read...etc
My copies of Madame Bovary, The Bell Jar and Mrs Dalloway have been read and reread so many times the corners of their pages are frayed and stained with my fingerprints.. I can quote whole chunks from Wuthering Heights and To Kill a Mockingbird. These are all great books and I love them.
I am somewhat of an obsessive reader when I find an author I like I simply must read everything I can get my mits on that they have written... Like Brett Easton Ellis and Michael Chabon or Don Dellio.
I wanted to share with you some fantastic books that I love that I have chanced upon rather than been told I MUST read, maybe you already know about them. But just incase you don't heres 5 books from my "favourites" shelf they are all very different and in my small opinion beautifully written. Maybe next time you are at the library or secondhand book store you might find one and give it a go.
1. What a Piece of Work by Dorothy Porter (all of her books are amazing)
2. Orpheus Lost by Janette Turner Hospital
3. Youth by J.M Coetzee (I am a little obsessed with his books)
4. Falling by Anne Provost
5. Bureaucracy Blues by Craig Horne
I have to note on this one, that Craig Horne is a public servant who lives in Melbourne in a suburb I dearly miss. He is a solo blues singer. I think this is a book for everyone but would be especially enjoyed by public servants who love music.. so naturally I love this book.
If you are a bookish type yourself I have started a bookish little blog in lieu of starting that book that my Ryan keeps hounding me to write.. You might find it to be a whole heap of random rambling or you might like it.
Your welcome to have a peek at www.bigfatnerdypants.blogspot.com
Hope your having a lovely day
Oh and if anyone is interested... The book I am presently reading to the Poppet is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and through the looking glass by Lewis Carroll.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
One Pot WONDERFUL lunch
It's a lazy sunday afternoon and despite to superbly crappy weather I have had a really nice day.
Today we got to have lunch with two of our very special friends and it got me to thinking. We are very very lucky that we are close enough to some of our favourite people in the world to be able to see them often, or as often as our busy lives allow. It is not lost on me that this is not the case for everyone and it makes me feel very greatful.
For the last few weeks every sunday we have sat down for a meal with some awesome friends and family. They have mostly been spontaneous lunches, which just makes me super excited.
Since our lovely warm week turned cold and sour at its conclusion, I decided to make a wintery warm dish to fill everyone up. I got the recipe from Frankie magazine and as per normal I put my own twist on things.
Basically in a big casserole dish (with lid) I put 1.5kg of chicken thighs and drumsticks with 5 diced white onions and one tin of diced whole tomatoes (half below and half on top of the chicken). Before you put the second half of you onion and tomato in you cover the chicken with a layer of sliced smoked bacon. To finish you add some thyme and bayleaves and 375mls of white wine. It cooks for two hours at 180 degrees, with the lid on only for the first hour.
This is how it looks when it is done
The first picture is a Digger sized serve.
It was warm and comforting, as was the company.
Today was just what I needed wonderful people, yummy food.
All smiles in my house.
I hope your sunday has been brilliant too..
Today we got to have lunch with two of our very special friends and it got me to thinking. We are very very lucky that we are close enough to some of our favourite people in the world to be able to see them often, or as often as our busy lives allow. It is not lost on me that this is not the case for everyone and it makes me feel very greatful.
For the last few weeks every sunday we have sat down for a meal with some awesome friends and family. They have mostly been spontaneous lunches, which just makes me super excited.
Since our lovely warm week turned cold and sour at its conclusion, I decided to make a wintery warm dish to fill everyone up. I got the recipe from Frankie magazine and as per normal I put my own twist on things.
Basically in a big casserole dish (with lid) I put 1.5kg of chicken thighs and drumsticks with 5 diced white onions and one tin of diced whole tomatoes (half below and half on top of the chicken). Before you put the second half of you onion and tomato in you cover the chicken with a layer of sliced smoked bacon. To finish you add some thyme and bayleaves and 375mls of white wine. It cooks for two hours at 180 degrees, with the lid on only for the first hour.
This is how it looks when it is done
The first picture is a Digger sized serve.
It was warm and comforting, as was the company.
Today was just what I needed wonderful people, yummy food.
All smiles in my house.
I hope your sunday has been brilliant too..
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Gifting is fun....
The Poppet is sleeping so right now I should be doing alot of things.. like housework, making myself look presentable..paying attention to the dog!!! I just don't have the energy.
Lately Miss Poppy has not been the happiest camper..
With this warm weather she is having trouble sleeping, she can't sleep unless she is swaddled but summer swaddles are soo stretchy that baby houdini always finds her way out.. So I have been getting up to swaddle and resettle her every half an hour for a while.. This explains why my bronchitis just doesn't want to go away and probably why I have had an irritable girl most days. Or atleast part of the reason, she has been really grumpy around feeding time for quite a while now.. not even the doctor or maternal health nurse had a reason for me beyond "she's probably having a growth spurt"... for two months?????
Understandably we have not been out much. The Poppet has been unhappy and since we live in an area where you have to drive to go anywhere.. sleep deprived I don't really trust myself behind the wheel. So we have stayed in,, And I started to feel a little blue..It's only natural I think.
Luckily I know something that always makes me feel better.. Gifting. Especially when it is something I have made myself or when it's to someone who really needs it.
I am almost to the bottom of my list for the bottle cozies and I am planning some new knitted things too..
It makes me feel good to know that I can cheer other people up even if I am not soo cheery myself.
So that's where Poppet On is at right now. Gifting to some wonderful friends and to some people I hardly know, and it has helped me to feel better.
Well my mother in law is due here any minute... so I best at least brush my hair and make sure there is no food on my face... hang on did I eat today??????????
Hope your having a lovely day
x
Lately Miss Poppy has not been the happiest camper..
With this warm weather she is having trouble sleeping, she can't sleep unless she is swaddled but summer swaddles are soo stretchy that baby houdini always finds her way out.. So I have been getting up to swaddle and resettle her every half an hour for a while.. This explains why my bronchitis just doesn't want to go away and probably why I have had an irritable girl most days. Or atleast part of the reason, she has been really grumpy around feeding time for quite a while now.. not even the doctor or maternal health nurse had a reason for me beyond "she's probably having a growth spurt"... for two months?????
Understandably we have not been out much. The Poppet has been unhappy and since we live in an area where you have to drive to go anywhere.. sleep deprived I don't really trust myself behind the wheel. So we have stayed in,, And I started to feel a little blue..It's only natural I think.
Luckily I know something that always makes me feel better.. Gifting. Especially when it is something I have made myself or when it's to someone who really needs it.
I am almost to the bottom of my list for the bottle cozies and I am planning some new knitted things too..
It makes me feel good to know that I can cheer other people up even if I am not soo cheery myself.
So that's where Poppet On is at right now. Gifting to some wonderful friends and to some people I hardly know, and it has helped me to feel better.
Well my mother in law is due here any minute... so I best at least brush my hair and make sure there is no food on my face... hang on did I eat today??????????
Hope your having a lovely day
x
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
What a Year !!
Isn't it strange how you never really seem to sit down and take stock of just how much you have accomplished in a year? Or it is just me.
I had to call my course advisor the other day, I decided to switch to off-campus study for a while. Whilst we were discussing the pro's and con's of this she asked me about my exam rate, clearly it had decreased quite a lot of the past twelve months. My response... I have kind of had a very busy year......
We went to Japan...
As soon as we got back we listed our unit for Auction...
We put in an offer on a house in suburbia..
We sold our house at auction... The night of the auction we got engaged...
We started planning the wedding...
We moved to our new house...
We started to nail down wedding plans..
We found out we were pregnant...
We changed wedding plans and got a wedding up and running in a very short period of time...
We had some pregnancy drama... (turned out just find)
We GOT married
I got soo big I had to finish up work earlier than planned...
We had a beautiful baby girl.....
Japan I believe was in May/June 2010... Poppy was born on June 3rd 2011.
In between all of those things I have left a lot out, but I am sure my course advisor really didn't want to hear my whole life story..
Seriously though think about it.. Make a list of everything you have done in the last twelve months. Time sure does fly, but I am certain you will be amazed by all you have done.
I had to call my course advisor the other day, I decided to switch to off-campus study for a while. Whilst we were discussing the pro's and con's of this she asked me about my exam rate, clearly it had decreased quite a lot of the past twelve months. My response... I have kind of had a very busy year......
We went to Japan...
As soon as we got back we listed our unit for Auction...
We put in an offer on a house in suburbia..
We sold our house at auction... The night of the auction we got engaged...
We started planning the wedding...
We moved to our new house...
We started to nail down wedding plans..
We found out we were pregnant...
We changed wedding plans and got a wedding up and running in a very short period of time...
We had some pregnancy drama... (turned out just find)
We GOT married
I got soo big I had to finish up work earlier than planned...
We had a beautiful baby girl.....
Japan I believe was in May/June 2010... Poppy was born on June 3rd 2011.
In between all of those things I have left a lot out, but I am sure my course advisor really didn't want to hear my whole life story..
Seriously though think about it.. Make a list of everything you have done in the last twelve months. Time sure does fly, but I am certain you will be amazed by all you have done.
Sunday, 9 October 2011
My favourite things.. Part 1
I tried to make a list of all my favourite things.. The list started getting really really long, which made me think how can all these things be my favourites when there are soo many.. by definition my favourite things should be kind of exclusive.. But then I thought about all the things there are in the world and by comparison my massive list of favourite things is actually tiny..
Here are some of them...
I love lists (well that was kind of obvious)
I love being a mum
I love handmade things
I love Coffee..
I think we already established the above in my last post so here are some other things amongst my list of favourites
I love birds, clouds and hot air balloons. Any item that has pictures or prints of all three I have to have!! Who am I kidding items with any of the above make for a "i really want one.. i must have one" item.
I love animals... especially our dog frank! When the Poppet is bigger the hubby agreed we can have a bunny rabbit.
I love baking and morning tea/afternoon tea.. tea in general.
I love second hand bookstores.. I could spend days and I mean days going through all the shelves.
I love aprons of all shapes and sizes.
I love the colour burgundy, maroon, red wine whatever you want to call it!
I love french films.
I love receiving mail... I still on occasion pen letters to my Aunty in sydney and she always writes straight back.
and when the mood takes me I love to paint...
Thats maybe half my list maybe less. I have only had two coffees today so that severely impacts my ability to think/write. So I am off to do something else I love.. Online shopping for stationary,,, yes I know I am a big fat nerd.
Monday, 26 September 2011
Hi There
Hi my name is Mel I am a new Mama and a Made by hand obsessive and this is my first blogpost ever!!
I have been a compulsively keeping journals for as long as I can remember and have been procrastinating for years about a blog.
Now that I am at home with my beautiful daughter I thought I would give it a try.
So a little bit about me... Well aside from loving being a mum I am using my time to find out how to make as many things as I can myself. Everything from bibs, burp cloths and blankets to bathsoaps and preserves...the list goes on. Not only as a means of being thrifty and saving our family money but also, so that I know where products for my family are coming from and what goes into them. Now there is plenty that I can not do or have not learnt yet and in those cases I try as often as I can to source the items I need from other crafty talented people from local markets and websites like etsy. If something is made by hand you know it is made with love and thats something that is important for me to have my daughter grow up with.
Poppet On started when sadly I was unable to continue feeding my daughter just 2 months into her life. As she had been used to breastfeeding and having small amounts often taking to formula took some adjusting and often she would need breaks during her feeds. I didn't want to be reheating bottles or making up an extra 5 bottles a day so on the advice of a friend I started putting the bottles in a stubby holder. Whilst this worked I didn't really like the smell of the rubber and the added quirk was we were using an Iron Maiden stubby holder... not the best look out in public. I figured if a tea cosy works for a teapot to keep the tea warm perhaps I could knit a bottle cosy to keep Poppy's bottles warm. I played around with different yarns and linings but basically my idea worked. I met another mother in my first parents group who was having the same issue so I made one for the bottles she was using too... Now I have an independent third party also telling me it works and she loves it.
I found it also went down well with my vert tactile daughter who loves to hold things, as she can grasp onto the yarn much easier than the smooth surface of the bottle.
I have now had a few request from other mums so I am slowly making more.... What they don't know is I have also started making tea cup cosies to match for the Mamma's, to remind them to take care of themselves and have a cuppa when they are feeding baby.
.....and then there was Piggy Ears
It may not surprise you to know especially if you have met my husband, that my daughters head circumference is in the higher percentile for babies her age. In addition to this she seems to have a reaction to yarns with acrylic in them so alot of baby beanies didn't fit and the handmade beanies I had brought for her from local markets tended to irritate her scalp.. So I made Piggy Ears from a stretchy yarn made from bamboo cotton and wool. It still fits her and I made it 2 months ago.
Well thats mostly what I have been doing.
I am not the handiest person when it comes to computers so my apologies for the the very simple blog template hopefully I can get some help to make it more pretty.
At some point I would like to start up an etsy store.. I will update it as fast as a I can make things which likely will be rather slow....
The beauty of having a gorgeous baby is that I have learnt all good things do come to those who wait... So theres no need to rush.
I am happy to wait and see what Poppet On naturally evolves into...
Well I am off to search for handy homemade goodies for me and my family
Thank you so much for reading
I hope you are having a lovely day
I have been a compulsively keeping journals for as long as I can remember and have been procrastinating for years about a blog.
Now that I am at home with my beautiful daughter I thought I would give it a try.
So a little bit about me... Well aside from loving being a mum I am using my time to find out how to make as many things as I can myself. Everything from bibs, burp cloths and blankets to bathsoaps and preserves...the list goes on. Not only as a means of being thrifty and saving our family money but also, so that I know where products for my family are coming from and what goes into them. Now there is plenty that I can not do or have not learnt yet and in those cases I try as often as I can to source the items I need from other crafty talented people from local markets and websites like etsy. If something is made by hand you know it is made with love and thats something that is important for me to have my daughter grow up with.
Poppet On started when sadly I was unable to continue feeding my daughter just 2 months into her life. As she had been used to breastfeeding and having small amounts often taking to formula took some adjusting and often she would need breaks during her feeds. I didn't want to be reheating bottles or making up an extra 5 bottles a day so on the advice of a friend I started putting the bottles in a stubby holder. Whilst this worked I didn't really like the smell of the rubber and the added quirk was we were using an Iron Maiden stubby holder... not the best look out in public. I figured if a tea cosy works for a teapot to keep the tea warm perhaps I could knit a bottle cosy to keep Poppy's bottles warm. I played around with different yarns and linings but basically my idea worked. I met another mother in my first parents group who was having the same issue so I made one for the bottles she was using too... Now I have an independent third party also telling me it works and she loves it.
I found it also went down well with my vert tactile daughter who loves to hold things, as she can grasp onto the yarn much easier than the smooth surface of the bottle.
I have now had a few request from other mums so I am slowly making more.... What they don't know is I have also started making tea cup cosies to match for the Mamma's, to remind them to take care of themselves and have a cuppa when they are feeding baby.
.....and then there was Piggy Ears
It may not surprise you to know especially if you have met my husband, that my daughters head circumference is in the higher percentile for babies her age. In addition to this she seems to have a reaction to yarns with acrylic in them so alot of baby beanies didn't fit and the handmade beanies I had brought for her from local markets tended to irritate her scalp.. So I made Piggy Ears from a stretchy yarn made from bamboo cotton and wool. It still fits her and I made it 2 months ago.
Well thats mostly what I have been doing.
I am not the handiest person when it comes to computers so my apologies for the the very simple blog template hopefully I can get some help to make it more pretty.
At some point I would like to start up an etsy store.. I will update it as fast as a I can make things which likely will be rather slow....
The beauty of having a gorgeous baby is that I have learnt all good things do come to those who wait... So theres no need to rush.
I am happy to wait and see what Poppet On naturally evolves into...
Well I am off to search for handy homemade goodies for me and my family
Thank you so much for reading
I hope you are having a lovely day
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)