a little break

I started my blog just before we moved over from Perth to Melbourne, so nearly two years ago.

I started the blog with a picture of Little House on The Prairie and I also got my first comment "your family is beautiful".........it wasn't my family, but it was a start.

I then talked about our new adventures in Melbourne. The weather. Navigating the roads. Trips to Ikea or seeing new places.

Then I started talking about me. The craft I love doing with pictures of my dodgy attempts, things I find at secondhand stores and putting them into the house.

I blogged about holidays we have taken, visitors we have seen in our four walls at home, cooking and the mundane everyday things.

I also added inspiration pictures that I love for some reason or another.

But the things I love talking about the most are Ben, Elton and Audrey (look at those cheesy grins!) and for the same reason that they are my world, is the same reason why my heart isn't into my blog anymore. I want to do things for them and use all my time in a better way.

There is so much to do at home and with our full plates this year and I can't honestly say that after a day spent at Irabina (Elton's school for Autistic children) where you have to have the thickest skin and you feel very flat and full of worry at the end of the day, that I can then switch on the computer and talk about quilts or my favourite colours.

Autism in our family has changed us. Every single action you put in place for your family affects not only Elton who has it, but Audrey who is his sister and then us - his parents.

Ben and I have to make sure Elton is ok and be one step ahead, then we have to make sure we spend the same amount of time with Audrey so that she doesn't build up any negative feelings towards us or Elton, then Ben and I have to make sure we are both ok and have the time for each other.

That is our family and we are a different family in the two years. I wouldn't change a single thing, but it's not who we are anymore, and as the writer of the blog, it's not who I am.

I have lost alot of love for my crafting. I enjoy it so much and it is a part of my personality, but until I find that place where I can sit and craft without feeling guilty about wasting time, I will take it up again. Plus it might be nice to just craft and keep my wonky goods to myself.

But for now and the place I am at, I just want to use all my time for my family. In no way am I saying anything negative about mum's who have a full plate and blog. I admire you for doing it all so well.

I might be away for a week, or a month or post now and again and I will still honour everyone on the a little me list. I will get to the end.

Bye for now.
x

mimi

We had a quiet weekend as Elton had the flu. Little guy's temp was 39 for 2 days and I was so worried about him, we decided to cancel Jamie Oliver.

I was so disappointed to be missing out on our show. I had been looking forward to it since last year, but Elton is worth 50 Jamie Oliver's so we spent the night at home.

Audrey is also a little under the weather so to make them smile again we went and got this little kitten.

Oy (our big boy cat) is getting too old for Audrey and Elton. They like to follow him around, and he is getting to that stage in life where he just wants to sleep and not be bothered.

Mimi will be under the training of Oy, who in our opinion is the best cat in the world.

Mimi is a British Shorthair cat.....the cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland with the chubby cheeks, so she will look like one of her owners. Me...with the same chubby cheeks.

gosh....

another one gone...

when will they ever learn.

38

If I had to pick a dream career I would like to be a doctor.

But I am not smart enough.

I love coffee with Chai and I never drink anything different.

I don't like powdered Chai, only liquid Chai.

I wanted to be a nurse.

But if I see people vomit, I feel like vomiting too.

By oldest friend and I always used to play pretend house and I would give her the part of the backyard with the bbq and the pond and I would get the lawn and bull ants.

Even though we played the game over and over and over and over, we would still tell each other our pretend house set-up.

34 years later, we are still friends.

My primary school crush is one of my friends on Facebook.

I don't really like wearing thongs because they hurt my toes.

I used to be able to wear high heel shoes and could probably run the 100 meters in the Olympics in them.

Now I only wear flats.

When I was a teenager I didn't like jeans.

I have 4 pairs.

My favourite movies when I was a teen was Xanadu and Grease.

I used to roller skate down our driveway in a long floating skirt and leg warmers just like Olivia Newton John.

Mum got the skates for me out of the blue for no reason.

My sister threw a malteser (lolly not dog) at my head and nearly knocked me out.

I was the second girl in school to get a bra.

I kept my jumper on for months because I was shy about it.

When I look at my daughter I tell her she is so beautiful.

But then I feel odd because she looks like me but I think I am ugly.

If my daughter thought she was ugly, I would feel so sad.

My son is so dear to me.

I think he is perfect.

Ben is my soul mate.

I would like him to be more manly when it comes to killing spiders.

He hates them.

I think people are crazy when they lay about in the sun getting hot.

I would rather be in the pool.

I listen to my ipod nearly every night before sleeping.

I love music.

Except country and western.

My Dad always stopped the car for Mr Whippy.

I want to join a choir.

I love singing in a crowd.

But it probably most likely won't happen because I would have to try out and sing in front of people alone.


list inspired by Elise

7 things.....

photo here

I was tagged by the lovely Steph to share 7 things you don't know about me.

I decided to do 7 things you don't know about Ben and I...so here goes.

Ben and I are nerds. We like being nerds.

photo here

Ben stuck a lolly jube up my nose on our 3rd date. We were at the movies and he stuck it up there. I think he thought it was my mouth.

photo here

Before moving to Melbourne, we almost got to live in Tokyo for 3 years with the Australian Consulate. They went with the single guy instead.

Ben still has nightmares about it. We really wanted to go.

photo found at tiny house blog

When we are older, we want to buy a TAB caravan and drive around Australia. It is perfect for Ben and I because we could live in a box. We always said we could survive to be one of those couples they send to monitor penguins in the Antarctic for a year, or live in a dome in the middle of the desert.

photo here

Ben was coming to pick me up for our first date and stopped to buy me some flowers. Ben went to jump the railing separating the store from the car park and fell over it and then down a hill.

photo here

Every Saturday night for dinner, we have pickies night. Pickies night is cheese, gherkins, french stick and something we find at the store - like chicken skewers or some mussels.

We do this every single Saturday and we never get bored of it.

photo here

Ben and I want to live in Paris. It's our dream. I wonder if it will come true?

I tag you!

the unperfect storm

We didn't have Mark Wahlberg or George Clooney running about, but we could have filmed The Perfect Storm on dry land here in Melbourne on Saturday.

At about 2.40pm the sky was as dark as night and we all walked out onto the deck to see the sky. We could hear a rustling in the trees to our right and I had just said to Ben "what was that?!" when an enormous hail stone the size of a lemon landed at our feet.

We ran inside while our house, neighborhood, city was pummeled by huge hail but it was so strange because it was just hail for about 20 minutes. Then torrential rain. We recorded 50mm in 20 minutes.

It was scary and it took little man over an hour to take his hands away from his ears.

We have one cracked bathroom window, dents in the side of our family car (but thankfully nothing on new Tiffany!), dents in our roof, a fallen tree and a leak running down one wall in the dining room, and we lost power for 30 hours but we came out better then some poor people.

We have a carport and not many families in our suburb have one and yesterday we took a drive to get some batteries from the shop. We saw nearly every car window smashed in our street. :(

Hail out the window.

This awning is normally stretched so tightly, but was hanging from the weight of the water.

Our creek which turned into a river. It was over 2 metres deep and was roaring past.

Dents in red circles all over our tin roof.

A hail stone punched a hole through our step.

And our little possum Captain hasn't visited us for a couple of days now and we saw a dead possum hanging from the power pole across the road. We hope it isn't her.

Come home Captain. We have lots of bananas for you.

blogging in 3 pictures

Dean, Jerry or Audrey?

I have always found this photo really interesting.

Besides the fact that it's Dean, Audrey and Jerry sitting on a couch, you have to take a real look at them.

Dean Martin - a crooner, the good looking bad boy, the playboy.

Jerry Lewis - the funny one.

Audrey - more than words.

They are both trying to dazzle her with their goods.

Dean's legs are pointed in Audrey's direction so his body language is saying he's into her. He's sitting up on the arm of the couch adding height (the big man in Hollywood) probably not only to lean over Audrey and tuck her under his wing, but he is sending a message to Jerry - hey, look at this face. I'm the handsome one. If I had a t-shirt on it would read I'm with stupid.

Jerry is going for the sad clown routine. He's no Dean in the looks department, so he will hit her with his funny bones. His legs are forward and his arms are crossed probably sending the message that he can contain himself and he's a good boy, but he is holding his own arms, so he would pounce if he got the right message.

Audrey is trying to be polite towards both guys. She likes Jerry because her eyes are crinkly and she thinks he is funny, but she's on a little lean over towards old Dean. Audrey is a little undecided with who she is finding more charming and will probably skip out on the both of them and go home to watch a girls movie in her pj's.

Finding the right blog for you is alot like separating the Dean's from the Jerry's.

You might like The Dean - polished, styled, inspiring yet lacking a certain closeness to the heart. Dean is perfect. A bit too perfect. Like eating a good cake, you eat and eat, but then you feel a bit ill. Dean woos you with his charms but doesn't deliver much else. You think he's amazing, underneath Dean had a drinking problem and probably bad breath.

Or maybe you prefer The Jerry - funny, real, not as flash as Dean. Could be the diamond under all the rough. He's goofy and you probably wouldn't give him a second look on the street, but he's always there and lovable.

Or maybe you are Audrey - The Reader. Polite to all. She pops in to see the latest show Dean has out but has a hoot laughing with Jerry. She knows Dean has a drinking problem but is there to help. She can see through him but also knows he has some awesome qualities and obvious talent that got him to where he was in the first place. He is perfect but she knows when to stop eating the cake. Just a sliver please.

Audrey can be herself with Jerry.

Just worry about your own space

Jane could get a job at Hooters, she is blond and shiny and she has a mouth of perfect white teeth and flashy earrings, but the little brunette can't be ignored.

She can dance and act and sing. She married a guy for eons and inspired many.

Don't worry about Jane's boobs...you are Sophia Loren!!

Be proud of your chest. Even if you have two fried eggs somebody is going to love them. Just be yourself woman!

No pressure

If you have to resort to writing posts about blogging in 3 pictures because you are stumped for ideas and are riding the ends of a long week and want to hang yourself from this tree, no pressure.

Don't worry if The Dean's and The Jane's are streaks ahead.

Post a pretty picture of Audrey and be on your way.

Happy Weekend to you.

Love

Jerry

x

easter

Last night I made this little Easter tree (branch) for Elton and Audrey to look at when they eat at the table.

Just an Easter egg shape cut from felt x 2 and sewn together, stuffed and decorated with the left overs.

I wrapped a few branches in some material and it looks sweet sitting on the table in those cheery colours.

I also finished my first circle/square for my sunshine quilt. I am learning the puffy stitch and also mastering putting a circle in a square. Still needs alot of work, but it's an ok beginning.

I only swore $4.85 worth! So not bad.

I also realised I too am a circle with a square around it. Sometimes I have no idea where I fit in, so I will just push both parts together and try for the best. :)

wow!

This took 60 takes to do...and finally they got their video in one continuous shot.

I don't know how they did it without losing their marbles.

Ok Go - the treadmill boys are back!

mary, max and penguins

I am so excited about an exhibition at the Australian Centre for The Moving Image at Federation Square featuring the work of Adam Elliot's claymation movie - Mary and Max.

I loved this movie and claymation/stop motion is my favourite animated medium. I think it is amazing and I can't believe the time and work involved just to make something move. Plus, the detail tugs on your heart strings.

The exhibition starts today and goes until June and it's free!

The Penguin Cafe Orchestra also did the music for Mary and Max and they have a unique sound that really captures the heart of the movie.

I love their music.



I first heard of them when I watched Napolean Dynamite - they did the theme song, Music For A New Harmonium.

Sometimes you don't need words, just good music.

Enjoy!

a new dawn

It's Autumn.
It's cold in the mornings and when the sun goes down.
The air through the windows makes my cheeks go red at night when I sleep.
There are extra quilts on our beds.
We have started preparing our wood supply.
Stews are back on the menu.
The leaves scatter on the deck so I sweep more.
The garden is greener then a month ago.
Last night our neighbours had their fires on.
Elton and Audrey go to sleep in winter pajamas.
I wore my dressing gown and had a blanket over me finishing my scarf.
We got the big tin of Milo at the shops.
The air is foggy when you drive up our hill.

Welcome Autumn. So nice to see you again.

...and I finished my granny square scarf. All set for Winter!