A sunny snippet

I'm loving the sunshine today in Melbourne. Unfortunately I've been stuck in the office for majority of the day, but got a little glimpses of the beams whilst driving into work this morning!

There are a couple of items I'm wearing today that I wanted to share with you; my beautiful opal necklace that my aunt has passed onto me (vintage), my Italian Marco boots (I purchased these from The Salvos for $20) and my watch (I paid $5 for the watch & bought one in 4 different colours! {not so ethical at that price I imagine, eek}).

I hope you are having a fantastic day, wherever you are. xo

Afternoon Gardening.

I love gardening. I haven't always, in fact I had no interest in my younger years. My love may have evolved with my age, owning my own home, the 'timeout' I get when I garden and the appreciation of watching plants grow into something wonderful. The combination of all that I mentioned makes it one of my favourite, um, hobbies? Although I think I'm still one step away from putting 'gardening' under my 'Interests & Hobbies' on my resume!

I look forward to getting out into the garden this Summer with Miss Two. Last Summer it was more about her getting as much dirt in her mouth as possible, this year I hope she will be able to assist me with the weeding! Training started today ... it was a little windy & muddy, but we rugged up and pottered about, we had a lovely time.

I grow my own little veggie patch and have managed to grow a good little crop of vegetables. We have just recently bought a compost and it's so amazing the things you can put in that thing - vacuum dust and all!?

I love my little book Backyard Farming that my friend gave me for my birthday last year, it's so insightful & has some really creative ideas to try out.

Here are some pics from my arvo in the garden. xo

Minty

Off to work in my mint blazer this morning. It was freezing waiting for the train!

This little beauty cost me a $1.50 from Savers. Hubby & I were cycling home from work a few weeks ago and the Savers in Footscray was having a sale. We pulled up, hubby watched the bikes and I had a quick rummage amongst the racks. Two jackets later & $3.00 down, I stuffed them into my bike bag and continued on my merry way! 

Bad decision.

Today started out like any other ordinary Sunday, Miss Two had a little cough and she was up early, but nothing to worry about. Breakfast at a cafe, a mid-morning kid's movie at Highpoint with another little family, coffee, popcorn, a little bit of running around and was then looking forward to an afternoon at home, relaxing. Relaxing turned out to be, well, not so much.

Mid-week my little one tore her curtain in her room, no big deal, but I thought it would be a good idea to replace it today and buy a new set from Spotlight, I was in the area after all. Miss Two had enough by the time we had finished up at the shopping centre, but I insisted (to the hubby and her) we continue on the little drive across the road and buy the curtains, it wouldn't take long. It was a challenge to say the least, I couldn't find the damn curtains (have you been in this giant store?), I had a child balling, a grumpy husband whinging, but I still insisted, 5 more minutes ... we are here now. Bad decision.

I bought the curtains (still not sure if they are the right ones), and we scrambled back into the car. Miss Two stopped crying, ah, what a relief, silence, hang on, too quiet, too quiet too soon. Her head went back, her eyes rolled and she was not ok. At this stage I was now in the back with her, huddled over her and keeping her coherent - I had little response. I was petrified and told hubby to drive to the hospital. He was pissed, annoyed that we had wasted time shopping for curtains when I had all of a sudden made the decision to go to the hospital. I understood and told him it wasn't helping and now is now. He shut up and drove. Good decision.

We got to Emergency and there was a big queue. We waited and fretted and couple of kind people let us in front of them, but it was still a 40 minute upsetting wait. Miss Two was seen by the Triage Nurse, her temp was high and she was given some Nurofen and again we waited. We saw the doctor, her vitals were checked (she even did a little pee in a bed pan to get her urine tested), and they decided her ears were infected. Antibiotics and a lemonade icy-pole later we were back in the car heading home - phew, it's all ok.

We had an experience today, a scary experience. Children can go downhill quickly, suffer badly and they can't always tell you what is wrong. We went to the hospital, my instincts told me so. Good decision.

Creating a talent

 

I sew. Let me rephrase, I try to sew. I joined my 'sewing club' in the middle of last year, which is at a community centre close to home. My teacher is amazing, a true talent, she used to make her own bras kind of talent. Me on the other hand, well, I'm getting there, slowly.

 

I've made two dresses, the first the hubby thought I was going off to clean chimneys and the other one looks like a sack until I tie a belt around my waste, it then looks half decent (although I could be bias because I made it). I'm currently attempting a poncho which in today's class I spent most of my time unpicking a straight line - apparently the type of fabric I'm using stretches easily :-/ so my teacher said anyway. Hubby asked when I got home today "what did you learn in sewing?", I felt myself slip back into my teenage days, "just sewing stuff".

 

When I signed up, I was excited. I could see a future in this. I love all things fashion and thought it was a perfect way to create my own masterpieces, design, pattern, fabric and all ... who needed Uni, a Tafe course or even a short course, two hours on a Saturday would change everything, well, so I thought it would, honestly.

 

So now, over a year later, two average dresses and half a poncho later I've taken a step back, perhaps ten steps back. I'm not even near reading a pattern (I might as well read the periodic table), find my sewing machine options complicated and pattern making is a whole new level. I could blame my mum, she is a great sewer, why didn't she teach me when I was young? It could be a natural ability by now, I could be making bras for goodness sake, but I won't blame her, to be fair I probably wouldn't have wanted to learn back then anyhow. The point is I want to learn now, I want to be amazing now, but unfortunately my 'talent' of sewing is fair, I doubt it will ever be amazing (the pessimist is coming out in me now), but that's ok. I love a cuppa with the girls on a Saturday arvo, I have a goal of developing second hand clothing into one-offs and time will tell, I'll be patient and perhaps my 'unnatural' ability of sewing will one day transform into something wonderful.

 

 

Reflection.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a card for my friend's wedding. I'm not what you would say 'into' words or poems as such, but this verse on the back of the packaging of PAPYRUS cards made me stop. I would like to share:

Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration. Like a hummingbird, we aspire to hover and savour each moment as it passes, embrace all that life has to offer and to celebrate the joy of everyday. The hummingbird's delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty if everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life's sweetest creation.

Getting started.

This seems strange. Writing onto an on-line journal that has the potential to be read by real people. If my ‘entries’ will be anything like my high school journal entries I most definitely will not want anyone reading it (I may even put a lock on it), let alone reading back on the thing after years to come (cringe). Luckily for me (and you) high school days are long gone and my hopeless crush entries will be replaced with shared interests and thoughts with like minded people such as yourselves, hopefully.

I think the biggest challenge when starting a blog is what to actually write about. what will be interesting. what do I want to write about. what is important to me. will anyone want to read about me.

My life is busy, well, I think it’s pretty busy, but I like it that way. The reason I have stopped and thought to have a go at this blog writing business is I have recently got sick – not life threatening by any means, but a week off work sick. The kind where going out seems not quite right, but sitting at home watching rubbish on television makes you feel even more deflated.

I’d like to give a profile of myself in a nutshell, but thankfully I can’t really wrap it up in a couple of words or verbs. The most important two factors of my being, is I’m a mother and a wife, two things I take pretty seriously, the rest as serious as I am feeling at the time.
I run. Ever since I had my child, I developed an ambition for running. I try and run as much as I can, when I can. Not extreme distances, but enough to make it hurt. I have recently become an vegaquarium, which is working out to be easier than I thought. I have toyed with the idea for many years and after talking to someone about their transition from meat to, well, not having meat I got inspired.

I love a bargain which unfortunately can often contradict my concerns for unethical and non-sustainable brands. I try my best. I grow veggies, buy as many products as I can that aren’t tested on animals, I am learning to make my own clothes through upcycling (sourcing ethical fabric is another issue!) and my most favourite thing of all charity shopping! My goodness, I have quiet an obsession (actually it’s pretty loud to my husband) with opportunity shopping – the bargains, the finds …. !! I hope to share these with you, because to me, money doesn’t give you style, it’s how you wear it, and it’s not in the price tag. I went to a wonderful seminar a couple of months ago at Laneway Learnings and the forum was Fashion is Art – and that’s what it is.
I have a cat, a fish and I live in the West of Melbourne. 

I hope to write about the moments in my life from an entertaining, interesting point of view. 
Let’s see.