nest

I love reading Nest.

It's a lovely blog with an even lovelier etsy store and Tamar makes beautiful jewellery, dream catchers and now these gorgeous bird cages.

I think they are so pretty.

project 7!

Project 7 in the Rachel and Elsie class and it was to make felt wall art that best represents your family.

I chose to represent our family as balloons. That the tree is our home and we are tied together as a family.

One day I know that Elton and Audrey will float away to tie themselves to a new tree and their own family and see the world.

a new doggy to love

We had a little dog before we came to Melbourne called Hank. The little white dog.

We moved to Melbourne and left him in the care of our friend Chuck.

I had not seen our new home when we moved over and Ben had only spent a couple of hours out here, so we were unsure of how Hank would go without having a good look at our place. We have no fencing as it is a bush block.

Hank was raised as an outdoors dog. He slept outside in his kennel and had a big backyard to run in at our last home. It was fenced and we knew he wouldn't be hurt or runaway. He was very safe.

When we had Hank he was our baby. We hadn't had Elton and Audrey yet and Hank lived on my lap at nightime. When Elton and Audrey came along, Hank was then demoted to 3rd on the list of kids and I tried to give him as much attention as I could, but you never can give enough, especially after your dog has been No.1 for a few years.

Hank is so happy at Chuck's and in someways, I think it has made Chuck's life too. Chuck can give Hank 100% of his time and attention and they are good buddies. As much as I miss Hank, I could never ask for him back. It would break their hearts.

We saw an ad in the local paper about all the bushfire dogs and puppies that need a home. They are for free for a donation to the bushfire appeal. They are all wormed, vaccinated and vet checked and after talking about it for a few hours, we couldn't not save a puppy.

So we are now the owners of a new little lady. The doggy above. She is a maltese x shih tzu and Ben and the kids named her Milo. We will pick Milo up from Healesville on the 14th of March.

Milo will be raised indoors and will sleep inside in her new doggy basket. Ben is making a corral for her down in the yard this weekend for when she wants a run in the grass.

Elton and Audrey are a little older now and we are ready for a dog again. Milo will provide hours of entertainment for the kids, just as Elton and Audrey will for her, and Milo will teach them to love and care for something.

bunnies

Elton and Audrey with their bunny ears for Easter.

We are really looking forward to Easter because Matt (Ben's Brother) and Renae (or Aunty Anay as Elton and Audrey call her) are coming to visit and will be here on Easter Sunday.

They are staying with us from Saturday until Monday and then they will be in the city for the next few days until they head home.

We have been saving all our good wine for when they visit and Ben is planning a huge egg hunt in the backyard for Sunday. It will be alot of fun.

We can't wait to see them and then hopefully we will see Chris (Ben's Brother) and Tash on the horizon for the snow season.

project 6!

To take my mind off the fire and the water helicopters that are still buzzing around overhead, I made the next project in the Rachel and Elsie class.

I saw these two materials at Spotlight and I thought they looked so great together. Polka dots and cartoon skeletons.

I cut two long pieces and had the good sides facing inwards, stitched around the edge, left a gap then turned them inside out. Then I stitched all the way around the edge.

I am having so much fun doing the class and everyone is so inspiring and lovely.

fire pictures

I took these two pictures yesterday of the fires. After I had taken these pictures, I called Ben to say I was going to leave the house. By the time I had grabbed Elton, I couldn't see the car from the porch.

Next time I will leave much earlier....and not stand around taking photos!

fire

We had a fire here yesterday that was far too close for comfort. This is a map of the fire - we live on Deans Road, right on the green patch which is a park/reserve, about half a kilometre from the fire. (click on the map to make it bigger)

It started at about 3pm in the afternoon and it was a big black ball of smoke directly behind the house looking towards our creek.

I was too scared to leave my view as I was looking out our dining room windows watching the fire. I even missed out on Elton and Audrey's bath time to watch the fire. They just had a wipe and change.

I had just got them into bed and went out to the deck to look at the smoke. I came inside and rang Ben and said that I was going to go and pack some clothes because when he got off the train and got home, we would leave.

By the time I had hung up the phone and walked back out to the deck, it was time to go.

I couldn't see the car the smoke was that thick. I went to Elton's room, got Elton and put his blanket over his face. I put him in the car and told him that he must not move. Then I went and got Audrey.

We were all coughing and we had tears running down our faces and I had to have the lights on high beam as I drove out. There were police and people everywhere. People had trailers filled with belongings, guys were standing on their roof with hoses, there were cars everywhere.

I took the back road down to the next train station because I knew Ben wouldn't be able to get into our stop. It took forever to get down to the station as the traffic on the mad mile (the road down the mountain from the Dandenongs) was bumper to bumper.

Ben arrived and we were so happy to see him. He said that everyone on train were talking to each other and everyone was very nervous. Ben is a calm person, but he said he just wanted to get home and he was nervous. He said to me "look at my shirt" and he had been sweating.

A guy on foot stopped us and asked us about the fires, he was very worried and wanted to get up to his house to see his family. Ben offered to drive him back up the hill to take him home. He said he would probably be quicker on foot.

Everyone was very nice and offering information. People were letting people into the traffic. It was a calm panic. :)

We headed into the city. We didn't have anything besides what we were wearing and our computer hard drive...it has everything on it!

Ben's boss told us to go to work and they would look after us.

We stayed overnight and got lots of phone calls which made us feel safe. Thank you!

We came home this morning and we have quite a cleanup to do. There is black ash everywhere and I will be washing for a week.....but we are all safe and happy and Oy (our cat) was so pleased to see us. He never leaves home and when I went to go, I couldn't find him. When we got home this morning, he was running down the street, so he must have found a nice place to hide. It was a shock to see him on the road, but he is safe too.

project 5!

The next project for the Rachel and Elsie class - Grandma's Doily Throw.

I stained the larger white doily's in tea, the small doily's in red food colouring, then stained them all in tea again to give the pink doily's a brown tinge.

I hand sewed them together last night during a really bad movie. I think that what was spurring me on, to finish it so that the movie would end quicker. :)

project 4!

Project 4 for the Rachel and Elsie class - hide them here journal covers.

I got the moleskin journals from Borders. They came in a pack of 3.

I loved decorating these and they make such a special present because you could personalise them exactly for the person you are sending them too.

You could probably decorate them a trillion different ways.......

new addition

Another chair to add to our motley bunch at the dining table.

I found this chair on the side of the road. Yes, I was one of those rubbish scavengers you see ferreting through your rubbish.

Ben did all the handy work himself. He replaced the rods in the legs, he made the insert in the centre of the chair (it was originally a woven mat) and he painted it roughly for me, so that all the old bits and coloured paint underneath could shine through.

We then had this idea that we become rubbish revampers. We find roadside rubbish, fix it up, then return it to the place we found it good as new.

project 3!

Felt Teepees for the Rachel and Elsie Class.

I love the class so much and the ladies are so lovely. I look forward to each project and feel really happy when I see the finished product.

I have been picking up lots of new tips from all the ladies blogs and from Elsie and Rachel. I have been quilting all wrong, and thanks to Rachel and her picnic blanket layers, now my quilts will have a much nicer finish to them.

once

I saw this movie today and I loved it. It is fantastic and the music is brilliant. You must see it.

blue and green should never be seen...

unless there is a neck in between.

I made two little scarves out of a couple of jersey baby blankets for Elton and Audrey for winter.

The blankets were in the best condition without a mark on them, so I cut the blue stripes and the green blanket into two long stripes and sewed them together.

After I turned them inside out, I then sewed around the edges to give it a border.

Audrey modeled hers for me, but Elton was not so sure about his scarf. I still have a month or so to negotiate with him.

dream workroom

I love reading Posie Gets Cozy and Alicia has the most beautiful workroom I have ever seen.

I think it is a seperate little studio in her backyard.

Alicia's house is just as beautiful.

If we ever had a spare room available, this is exactly how I would want it to look like.

10c

This is a stamp that I made for Stamp-It in Perth.

My one and only stamp.

For every stamp that is sold for $12.95 - I get a whole 10 cents!

That is the reason why it was my one and only stamp.

i love...

Mary Blair.

A beautiful artist who did illustrations for Walt Disney.

Many of her illustrated books are still in print.

If I was going to be an illustrator, this is how I would like to draw.

picnic blanket project 2

I finished the second project for the E&R classes. A picnic blanket. I thought I would leave the embroidery part off until I get a little more skilled in that department.

I love how it turned out, although you can't look to closely at the hemline. It's a bit askew.

I found the material at spotlight and I love how it reminds me of Japan. My little anime blanket. I even had enough material left over to make a couple of pillows, because after you eat, you must sleep the food away.

Auds loved the blanket and that's what makes it all worth while.

people and their good ideas

Look at this room!
It is how I imagine Audrey's room to be.

People are so clever.....the garland above the bed is made out of cupcake patties.

It's lovely, but it could get pretty dusty. Still...they are a dime a dozen, so you could replace it all the time.

I was browsing on the Apartment Therapy site and found some beautiful, inspiring photos for ideas for Audrey's room.


When it was Chinese New Year, we found a pink parasol like the one in the photo and I want to hang it under Audrey's light in her room.

I love how all the lanterns and parasols are clustered together.

I am on the lookout for a wardrobe, and if I find one that's a bit worse for wear, I am going to patchwork the door with wallpaper, like the picture below.

People are very clever and very inspiring.

project no.1

Last night I started the first of my 30 projects from the Rachel and Elsie online classes.

I had to make a scrapbook booklet out of felt with stiching.

The 30 projects are spread out over the next 8 weeks. I will work on my projects at night.

The next item on the list to make is a picnic blanket. Yah!

marvellous mums

Today we went to Marvellous Mums.

It has been moved to a new venue called Fitstart 4 Kids, and we had a wonderful time.

The mums are lovely and the kids all play together really well. The new venue also organises lunch and it was great to see all the little ones sitting together and eating at the table.

Andie always goes to so much trouble. She is a delight.

markets

After breakfast we took a drive into the city and went to the Queen Victoria Markets.

There was a bouncy castle set up and Elton and Audrey had a bounce. They had a great time with the other kids.

There was a time when Elton was afraid of bouncy castles, so when he pointed to it and asked if he could go on, we went straight over.

We then popped over to the deli section at the markets and got our roast leg, and some italian snags and a nice big chook for the coming week.

It has been a terrible week for Australia, so it was nice to go out for a walk around the markets and for everyone to do something regular and not think of the sadness.

You hear so many stories and there is always one you think of the most.

Last night when I was reading the paper, and I read the story of Maddison Bartlett. She is a 12 year old girl and she lived in Kinglake. On the Saturday when the fires came, her Mum told her to run to the dam and she made it, but her Mum, Dad and her sister all died. Maddison was burnt and is now in the childrens hospital.

I can't imagine what that poor little girl must be going through. To lose her parents and her only sister.

I don't know why people have to suffer so terribly and then there are people who exsist who yell at you because you beat them to the air pump at the service station (and that actually happened yesterday morning).

It is an awful saying, but one day at a time, or for little girls like Maddison, one second......then one minute.....then one hour at a time.

messy faces

We have now said goodbye to Audrey's high chair and have introduced meals at the table.

This is breakfast this morning.

They are very fond of jam. Especially Ben.