the week that was

The days are passing by at such a steady pace. Sometimes I find myself wishing everything would just stop so I could surface for air. The constant rain over the weekend was welcomed by us all, for me especially. It was the perfect excuse for bunkering down indoors. Who would have thought earlier in the week we were still swimming in the pool! That's one thing I love about our climate- being able to use the pool for a good chunk of the year, even into Autumn.
The pre-loved couch has been given a lot of attention this week and is almost ready to come into the house. When the painted legs dry she can finally join us in the lounge room. We have also finished painting up the spare room (old sewing room) for Jude and are in the process of getting his furniture sorted. I think its time to move him out of the cot, so I have been working on bees waxing a lovely solid Oak bed head that I am hoping will be suitable. Will write more on that soon, but for now best be getting some rest before the new week begins...

{this moment}

Joining in {this moment} with Soulemama.

Have a wonderful weekend friends x

happiness

Happiness arrived on my doorstep today, thanks to Lilymeru in Japan! Lovely pieces of Liberty, which I am thinking of turning into a throw quilt for the lounge, and the floral's on the left will make something sweet for the girls room- yet to be decided. And how cute are the postage stamps, I wish they made ours as pretty as this!

pink lounge

We came home from the local op shop with this gem of a lounge. Not quiet sure what I was thinking at the time "will I, won't I, arghh... I don't know". In the end we did, and I am so glad it's ours! Now the big clean up begins. I have removed the skirt from around the base (so much dust lurking in there), done some small repairs, a thorough vacuum and now moving onto cleaning the fabric. Happy to say, it is scrubbing up a lot better than I originally thought. Will let you know how it turns out!

{this moment}

Joining in {this moment} at Soulemama.

{this moment}

Joining in {this moment} at Soulemama.

group photo

Finally... the group photo of the mermaids heading up to Queensland for Hope Softies. Packed in like sardines, and looking very colourful all together. For those that are curious, the pattern is from Wee Wonderfuls: 24 Dolls to Sew and Love. I did change the instructions slightly to accommodate sewing with felt, and that in turn cut down my sewing time quiet significantly- a big bonus when sewing in bulk. Goodbye lovely Mermaidens, I do hope you all find wonderful homes! 

passing it on

Let me take you back to the late 80's, I was in primary school. It would have been a hot December evening and the school hall in our little country town was packed with noisy children and parents ready to watch the end of year presentation night. I knew in advance that I was recieving the award for my class, and I was ever hopeful that the prize would be a voucher for 'Angus & Robertson'. They had done that in previous years, and I was eager to recieve the same. As the night wore on, my name was eventually called out. I couldn't have been more excited- the award for 'outstanding progress' also came with the $20 book voucher!
I probably had to wait a month or so before spending the voucher, as we lived in a very remote town and travelling to a bigger shopping center was not something we did very often. The waiting seemed to make the eventual trip, seem even more exciting.

Lovable Mini-Dolls was the book I carefully chose after making a quick bee-line to the craft/sewing section. It was one purchase I would never regret. This book was the one that I poured hours and hours of time into as a child and it helped develop my love for sewing and handicrafts.
I remember making all sorts of bugs, critters, birds, animals and people. None of which I have kept, most (or all) were gifted to friends.

Recently Grace has been showing an interest in sewing toys after watching me put together the mermaids. I pulled this book out to show her today, and instantly she was charmed. She picked out her first project, and while Jude napped we sewed together.

It felt so good, passing on a book, but more importantly passing on the skill that goes with it.

She listened intently, and to my surprise stitched away with ease. If the thread fell out of the needle, she licked the end of it and carefully threaded it back in, then continued on. "It doesn't matter if it's a bit messy to me Mum, because I am keeping it, and I don't mind... I will try my best though" she excitedly chattered as she mastered her new skill. "Now I can knit and sew!"

I stitched the face on for her, as she thought that might be a bit challenging for day one of sewing, but she stitched around all the edges and had a good go at stuffing it. We didn't get around to the hat or flowers bit, but she wasn't fussed.

It was the perfect project for a quiet Sunday afternoon, and time well spent with my precious big girl.
Love you Grace x

{this moment}

Joining in {this moment} at Soulemama.

30mm for 30th

Hello friends. Let me introduce you to my new favorite camera lens- the Sigma 30mm F1.4.
See, I had a rather important birthday (back in the whirlwind that was December) and my good husband decided that a fine gift for a girl with a camera would be a sweet lens for taking prettier photos. Actually... he probably just said "what do you want for your birthday darlin?" and then I replied by ordering myself the Sigma 30mm off the net. That's how we work, and it's good.

Be that as it may, this lens is a keeper. It makes photographing for me much more enjoyable. If I remember correctly, it hasn't left my camera since I ripped it out of its box. Yup, that good.
Unfortunately, I dont know all the technical camera/lens/photography jargon, so I probably cant talk it up all you would like to hear. But believe me, it's a winner.

I hope you enjoyed the photos above (taken with the Sigma 30mm F1.4 on the Canon 550D). A few firsts in there- first ripe tomatoes off our vines, first gappy grin for Grace, first family holiday to the South Coast. So many special memories made.