My sewing room is waiting

It's such a busy time of year. We've just said good bye to one set of visitors and expecting another lot today. Plus my sewing nook was packed away entirely because we held my husband's work xmas party here. This is the neatest it's ever going to look!

New year resolutions

I've been thinking a lot about my new year resolutions - like some of the people I'm following in blogland. One thing that has really captured my imagination is Michael Pollan's book In Defence of Food. He's made it very easy to understand:

1. Eat real food (that means you need to recognise the ingredients - so none of that oxyhydrogised whatever!)
2. Don't eat too much - so smaller plates, smaller sizes, and don't eat until you feel full.
3. Mostly plants - and he says eat lots of leaves.

One way of looking at it is only eat things your great grandma would have recognised, so that rules out things like those tubes of yogurt.

So I'll be expanding my vege garden this year. Shopping more at farmers' markets. And I think I'll invest in some new crockery.

I think it's all good life lessons for kids. So hopefully they'll teach their kids and their grandkids...

Andrew's back flips

Andrew's been practicing on the trampoline these holidays. He can do forward flips, side flips and now back flips - all landing on his feet.

Quiet time for poetry

Ben has made himself a hideaway.

Yesterday he tucked himself away for half an hour or so, and came back with a notebook with three poems. He didn't show me, I thought he'd come back with such an odd collection of things, so I read through the notebook. One of the poems was great - and yes I know I'm biased. It's all typed as he wrote it, so excuse any stray apostrophes.

I know a cat
That is very fat
Once it found a rat
It gave the rat a pat
The rat said: hey!
Please stay away
The cat looked hungry
it's hair looked hairy
it's mouth looked scary
it looked at it's lunch.
there was a big CRUNCH!

Ben's notes

I've been photographing a few of Ben's notes in the last two days. The first two are on his bedroom door.



No Andrews allowed (Andrew is Ben's brother)



Take your shoes off

 

The next is because Ben and Andrew had an argument today. Ben was trying to be friends again.



Love the little sad face underneath!



Gingerbread men

Gingerbread men
Originally uploaded by Linseed2010
Been doing lots of Christmas baking. Had Mark's Christmas work party here. Now tomorrow is my m-in-law's birthday, and then Christmas. Gingerbread men are just so cheery!!

1. Ginger Bread Men Ornament, 2. The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pans, 3. dirty ginger man, 4. ginger bread man, 5. The Ginger Bread Man, 6. Ginger Bread Man Cookies, 7. ginger bread man, 8. Ginger Bread Man Two, 9. no, not my gumdrop buttons...., 10. Ginger, 11. Order your giant ginger bread men and ladies now! http://bit.ly/gxJihu Have them personalized to look like you., 12. Order your giant ginger bread men and ladies now! http://bit.ly/gxJihu Have them personalized to look like you., 13. Orecchini GINGER BREAD MAN 114. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

Cup cakes

The boys and I braved Christmas shopping today, a quick run into the city. I bribed them with the promise of cup cakes. I've been going to the gym every day, so I had one too.

Ben's dress ups

Ben went through the toy box before we went out today. It's cold for December in Australia, so two beanies and a balaclava and jumper were bearable! He wanted to go to the bank dressed like this. I explained that banks get very nervous if someone walks in covered up like this!

Kathy York's Little Cities quilt

Kathy York's Little Cities quilt
Originally uploaded by Clothworks

Love, love, love this one. I have January without the kids. I think it'll be a very quilt productive month!

Kathy York's Little Fish in a Big City quilt

Kathy York's Little Fish in a Big City quilt
Originally uploaded by Clothworks

Enjoying looking at Kathy York's quilts - lots of them feature fish, they're just amazing.

Andrew's graduation

Liz, Andrew and granny.

Andrew will be in high school next year. Here's a few photos from his graduation.

The kids cross this bridge - the transition from
primary to highschool - but it was raining today.

Ben the rhinoceros

Ben has been pretending to be a rhino. He and his friends have been putting rose thorns on their noses. It's all soo Ben!

Ben's rock collection

Mum sent Ben a couple of display boxes for his growing rock collection, plus she cut up some pieces of paper and added a sharpie pen. Ben knew exactly what the boxes were for when he opened his package. Ben and Andrew spent a couple of hours sorting out rocks on the weekend. I just love the way Ben has classified them for now!! I'm looking forward to seeing how the classification system progresses - from "pink" and "green" to "aragonite" and such...

Birthday party snakes

We went to a birthday party at the zoo today. One of the zoo keepers dropped by our party a few times with different animals - a lizard, a snake, a baby alligator and then two dingos. The boys were cuddled by the snake, who was feeling a little chilly.

Applique bag

Ben had a friend over to play today. When the boy's grandma came to pick up her grandson, I spotted her bag. I took some photos of it, just love it. Applique, buttons and machine embroidery. So inspiring and colourful.

Swinging on top of the world

On Fridays I take Andrew to his recorder ensemble. It's a group of kids who pick up the most complicated jazz and classical pieces as if by magic - at least to my non-musical eyes.

This Friday I had to take Ben along too. His dad was out. Ben and I walked up the hill from the recorder teacher's house to find a park. The view was amazing, we felt as if we were perched on top of the world. Ben climbed the trees and had a good swing.

Hot chocolate

There's a chocolate-only cafe in the city. We don't go out all that often. And over the years, we've tried to get in there every now and then. It's always been either shut or full. Last night we went out to dinner with some friends - and later the cafe was still open.

We've decided - well it's chocolate, been there done that!

Saturday slides and rocks

We had a big day Saturday. Tennis, soccer, then parked at my work so we could go buy some shin guards. The boys slid down the bike slip way down to the basement over and over again.

Then we went to a rock and gem show, and Ben spent some of his birthday money. He bought some fantastic rocks, plus a fossil of a fish.

Happy birthday Andrew (braces boy)

Andrew is now a teenager. He turned 13 while he was away on school camp yesterday. Andrew had the bright idea of joining some of his 13 candles and making a big flame in the middle of his cake.

Andrew said he wants to be rich when he's grown up - and be a philanthropist, giving the money say to people in Africa who need it. I am so impressed with him!!

Ben said Andrew should just get his braces for his 13th birthday. I said that sounded like a very good idea - Andrew was worried for a bit.

Pillow Talk Swap Round 4 - Relish Australia Inspiration Mosaic

Pillow Talk Swap Round 4 - Relish Australia Inspiration Mosaic
Originally uploaded by Relish Australia

Julie's inspiration for a pillow swap she's in. I was at her place when one of these arrived - so gorgeous.

Ben's birthday

11 candles! And smarties...

Birthday week Teppanyaki

It's birthday week at our house - for our two boys and our two girls. (The two girls are guinea pigs, but surprise, surprise, their birthday is the same time as the boys. We went out last night for a pre-birthday dinner at a teppanyaki restaurant.

Close up of the Rachel bird

one of four birds, Debbie's quilt
Originally uploaded by Linseed2010

Debbie's 40th birthday quilt

I gave Debbie (my sister-in-law) her quilt while I was in Alice. She has four kids, two boys, two girls. You'll see that one of the boys has flown away already. (Jack is the blue bird at the top, he's flown away to uni.) And Rachel, who is in year 12, is almost launched.

B&W daisy - the six cousins

B&W daisy - the six cousins
Originally uploaded by Linseed2010

Here's a close up of the quilt I made for Debbie. I couldn't blog them earlier, because she would have seen them...

Diamond Rainbow

Diamond Rainbow
Originally uploaded by Lisa-S

Fantastic work on flickr.

Tropic of Capricorn

Today we drove to the tropic of Capricorn line and beyond. It's been raining here, and mum and dad wanted to see some wildflowers before they're all gone again.

Ben at the Tropic of Capricorn marker.

Ben and the milk crates

Ben hopped in a milk crate on grandma and grandpa's back verandah, and pulled another crate on top of himself. He was sitting inside it when I walked outside. Hope that's not a spider right by his eye...

He is such a nong!

Andrew's mechanics project

Andrew and his grandad worked on his mechanics project while we were staying at their place. It's a fruit cutter. Dad did so much - and made a reality from Andrew's diagram. The boys were fascinated watching dad with an oxy torch, bending a piece of metal into a crank. Dad's a hoarder, and his old pieces of radio aerial came in handy for spacers for the blades.

And because dad's a hoarder, that's why you see his new shed in the background of this photo - to store all his stuff!!

The fruit slicer mecahnics project.

We posed the photo with a lizard tail in the garden. The fruit slicer has a shaft to hold the banana (or tomato or whatever) in place, and the blades are all at different angles. I think Andrew will be getting an A for his project, thanks to grandad Graham!

Jess and her supersized Sims3

My niece Jess is lucky. Her dad is good with computers and has hooked her computer to a supersized TV screen. She's here playing the Sims. I had a go, and the screen is almost too big. You have to keep moving your head around or you miss things.

Solar powered ovens

Not sure what this was, but it was being pulled around the eco fair.

We went to an eco fair in Alice today. Loved the solar ovens baking bread, chocolate chip biscuits and muffins. Just made with scrap, found materials. How eco is that!!