Some Unintentional but Much Needed Quiet Time

We had alot of fun this festive season. Family have been here visiting from New York and Dublin, so there was alot of family get togethers, sight seeing and catching up. Christmas swung around before we knew it.

We have a Christmas Eve that is the same every year. I guess it has unintentionally become a tradition for us, but we love it. Always hanging out at home together, an early dinner, Mass, driving around all the fabulous local Christmas lights, home, kids to bed, red wine poured, the last of the Christmas presents out to be wrapped, the Melbourne Myer Bowl Christmas Carols on tele and then we watch Love Actually. We never tire of it. We always laugh about it. We love it though. Our in laws are here this year, so it was nice to do it with them as well.

An early start on Christmas Day - 3.45am. WHAT??!! It was back to bed for that young lady, with them both finally waking at a much more decent hour of 7.30am. Oh, the excitement of Santa's visit and receiving much anticipated and hoped for gifts. Santa didn't fail to deliver this year!

A busy morning prepping and finishing organising Christmas lunch - 13 adults and 6 kids this year. A very fun day - food, laughs, drinks, karaoke, cleaning up, more drinks, exhaustion. A very fun day spent with family.

Then Boxing Day rolls around - another unintentional tradition - any friends who are in Sydney come in to say hello, swim, eat, share a bevvie and a few laughs and it is always a fantastic day spent with great people.

Towards the end of the day though I started to feel really off. Mum had a bit of a bug on Christmas Day and spent most of the day upstairs in bed. I thought I was getting her bug. I felt dreadful and had a fairly early night. 5am the next morning it was clear that Miss Z had caught Nanny's bug, and she spent the next 24 hours vomitting. Poor little poppet. Miss C seemed fine. As for me, I couldn't drag myself out of bed. I don't think I have ever felt so unwell. So off I went to the doctor yesterday and it turns out it is a flu virus and an ear infection - who knew!? The rest of yesterday I spent snoozing on the lounge. Today I am feeling brighter but still achey and lethargic. I have manged to indulge in (much needed) quiet time and do a few things I enjoy most...

Gotta love the Ashes! Listening to the English supporters is almost worth watching it for that alone.

Some mindless colouring

And I finished a fantastic book, set in a beautiful coastal village I know so well.

Hopeful that tomorrow I will feel up to getting up and doing alot more. Everyone is getting cabin fever here in a huge way.

Wishing you a happy new year and all the very best for 2014.

Hmmm, I wonder why I don't get it all done...

I took a cue from the lovely Nic...about spending too much time on facebook...so here is what I have been up to according to my status updates over the last month...I might need to start using the timer when I am in the computer...and use the rest of the currently wasted time on sewing!!!

Any suggestions for indoors kids party for a 4 year old other than Wizzy World?

What a day - it is a while since we had rain like this!!!

Wet day = no builders = :-(

yummy Japanese dinner...

This rain is not helping our reno progress!

He's back - yippee. A couple of hours on tuck shop today then out to lunch with my love - perfect Friday!

Can't sleep - excited, my love is in the air, on the way home!

Happy St Patricks Day to you all!

is going out for dinner - 1/3 of me is looking forward to it, the other 2/3 wants to go to bed!

I know it was a big weekend when I put the kids into bed then have a shower, clean my teeth and get into bed myself - at 7.30pm no less!!!

Is it really only Monday?

The world/environment is going nuts!!!!!!

is home from another brilliant weekend south of the border!!!

has come home from Bathurst to half a roof off her house - hooray for progress!

is looking forward to seeing her beloved Nanny tomorrow.

has the headache from hell

A beautiful day, perfect for all the things on my To Do List!!! A couple of quiert moments in there though, especially looking forward to a chai and reading my book in the sun when Lilla is at ballet!

If I am this busy for the duration of the reno then I am going to end up a total looper!!!

has been up half the night with nervous anticiption and excitement...

had a fabulous day - brunch in Coogee with beautiful friends, a visit to my brother in laws where the girls had a great play with their cousins and I went to awesome close by antique shop with my sis in law and spent a bomb on great new things for the house when it is done then out to dinner with sensational neighbours! A busy but great Sunday!!!!

is having an easy weekend, given the craziness of the demolition starting and mad Melbourne coming up - I think this is a good thing!

‎'s hotmail account has been hacked, sorry if you got spam and other cr@p from me! Time I got me a "real" email address....

has no power in the laundry. Is it weird that I haven't had a kitchen for months and it hasn't bothered me one bit but now the laundry is gone I am filled with a sense of loss ?(and dread at the thought of carting our laundry to my sisters and our neighbours place to do!!)

has a "terrible" day planned today - looking forward to a catch up lunch with my beautiful friend in a couple of hours!

Demolition Derby starts at Castle C on Monday - then we will really feel like this is all happening!!! Power being taken out tomorrow - good bye laundry, I will miss you so!!!!!!!!!

is watching the prettiest of sunsets - "And I think to myself, what a wonderful world"...

just had a lovely dinner at the village with AH and family amongst other gorgeous people! Love our little community...

just had "one of those nights" with the kids. My head is pounding. Workout or wine as a stress reliever??????

is having a quiet day at home with her unwell big girl.

it is so true - CONSISTENCY IS KING!

excellent movie is The Kings Speech, I am no Oscars expert but I think it deserved to win!

and now I have another date - with my new 12kg kettlebell that has finally arrived!!!! KB swing intervals - here I come very shortly....

is going on a date tonight...Dave and I are off to see The Kings Speech.

They're Back

We have an amazing tree right next to the entrance to the front courtyard of our house. It is a rare Japanese Gingko. It is stunning when it is in full bloom as it is now and also when in autumn and the leaves are changing colour to a beautuful gold. Admittedly it does cause us alot of grief when it sheds it's leaves and it would have been easier if it wasn't there when we were designing our renovation...Anyway, I digress...We have lived in our home for 3 1/2 years. The first year around this time we started to hear this very strange noise of a late afternoon and into the evening. Zoe was convinced it was monsters. Dave was away at the time and I had no idea what it was. After much Monster Away (lavender) spray was used, eventually we spotted this pair....and they have been back to visit every year since. They are a beautiful pair of Tawny Frogmouth Owls and they love our tree just as much as we do.

Can't Wait to Read My New Purchase...

but I think it will determine that I definitely won't get to 50 books in 2010!

Lazy Day Sunday Turns into Quilting Mania!

After a really lovely night out with friends last night, I awoke with a dull thud in my head as well as feeling totally exhausted. I took myself off to Mass then for a much needed chai latte and came home feeling a little more awake and a little more normal than when I left! We lazed around and read the papers and then I had the urge...to sew, of course!! What a wonderful afternoon I have had! Dave took Zoe out to the park for a couple of hours whilst Ciára had her nap, then he did absolutely everything at home so I could become one with my fabrics and sewing machine!!! I thoroughly enjoyed it and really appreciated Dave's hard work to give me some time out! He cooked, tidied, amused the kids and had a ball...might have to talk him into this being a regular Sunday thing!

Here is my little list of how my afternoon was spent;

1. Love Nest - top completed. Just waiting for the quilter to come back from holidays so it can be custom quilted, then bound.

2. Fr Martin's Jelly Roll Thank You quilt - fabric selected, grouped together and cutting started

3. M'Lady's Passion BOM - most recent block put together. Needs to be handstitched (along with previous 4 blocks - eeks!)

4. Wallhanging Swap - top and back completed, needs to be quilted, sandwiched and bound

I am not even going to pack my machine up as Dave will be away for alot of this week, so that means lots of sewing time once the girls are in bed of a night. Lucky me!

We are having huge internet dramas at the moment, not impressed with AAPT at ALL!! I am on Dave's laptop with remote connection so no photos for now. I will be back on the weekend with a long list of recently completed projects as well as my current WIP's.

Oh, and just the other day I finished Book #9 - Parky; Michael Parkinson's Autobiography. I always love a good life story and this was no exception. I have always loved Parky's interviews and his book did not let me down!

What a Busy Week It Has Been...

So with no computer to distract me and Dave in Singapore on business(therefore no husband to distract me), there has been lots of quilty goodness going on in this house! A fine start to the week when a visit to the post office produced a few parcels! Always fun! Firstly a lovely delivery from my favourite online book store

Then a bundle from another favourite shop... I love this range from Lakehouse. I have no idea what to do with it, but I also bought 2 yards of the butterflies and 2 yards of the spot.
This table runner kit is for the coffee table in the back room. It is the Zippity DooDah range from Moda, I also bought some yardage and charm sqares to make new cushions and throws for the lounges. It is gonna be a busy year of sewing.....
Next to arrive was a little envelope filled with a purchase from Ebay. I love this print and hope to make a bed throw with this as a centre panel...funnily enough something similiar is in this months Better Homes and Gardens magazine with exactly the same fabric.
In the evenings after the girls had gone to bed, out would come my little "Brother" and together we pieced this top for Ciára's cot. Thought I should get onto it given she is 20 months old and soon we will be thinking about putting her in a single bed! It is the Butterfly Fling fabric, which I adore. This is a kit I bought but changed it slightly. It is a good size and can be used as a throw when the cot is dismantled (oooh, my baby is growing too quickly, might have to start thinking about a 3rd one!!??) Anyway, as I love it so much and my expertise at actually quilting is non-existant except for in the ditch, I have decided to have this one professionally quilted! It was so relaxing to just sew sew sew, with music on and Zeus curled up at my feet.
All my quilting gear has been organised into storage boxes and moved up to the garage, as it was so extremely hot here in Sydney I could not bear to take myself up to the garage to go fossicking through to work out what my next project would be....and I was on a quilty roll so something needed to be done. I happened upon 2 jelly rolls in my study that had missed my organising so off I chopped and have started another large throw for our bed. All the blocks are pieced, I just have to put all the blocks together now. Another great range of fabric that I love, it is Friends and Flowers by Mary Engelbriet..nice and bright - just as I love fabric to mostly be! Staytuned for photos of the finished product!

Yesterday it was 38 degrees in Sydney, now I love hot weather and summer, but that was just ridiculous, it was like a sauna, even inside where it was supposed to be cool! Poor Zeus was, I am sure, melting so we filled up his bath and he just sat in it for hours! I love this photo of my handsome boy!

And this photo just has to be taken, it is our version of Where's Wally..."Where's Zoe???" There was alot of activity in her bedroom when she was supposed to be sleeping...however now it is clear that she was having a toy party on her bed and that it all got too much for her and she just crashed mid party!!!

Jumping on the Band Wagon

Things about me
I have seen this on many, many blogs over the last month or two, so decided I should add it to my blog so that you can learn a little bit of trivial stuff about me!

Things you've already done: italics


1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited Hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower - if Hayleys Comet counts I have done this one!6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to Disneyland/world - EureDisney and we think we might in October again
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped - no way!!!!
12.visited Paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning - always a pleasant experience
17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty - I desperately wanted to but with a 6 month old in tow, not an option, I will go back and do it someday!
18. grown your own vegetables - the plan when Zeus is old enough to not want to eat anything and everything!
19. seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. slept on an overnight train - well we didn't sleep much. Bangkok to Chang Mai - how that train rattled and stank!
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in Venice
29. seen a total eclipse - in Trafalgar Square in London - all that hype and it was a bit of a non event
30. watched a sunrise or sunset - my favourite things to do when on holidays...not everyday of course
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise - does 3 days on a feluca up the Nile fall into cruise category?
33. seen Niagara falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an Amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied - it is in the plan!
38. seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen Michelangelo's David in person
41. sung karaoke - too many times when totally inebriated as a youngin.. ok so I was about 30 last time!!!
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited Africa - can't wait to do this one. Towards the top of the to do list!
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted, and entered into Archibald prize
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the Sistine chapel in person
50. been to the top of the Eiffel tower in Paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited Russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason - this is my treat to myself every few weeks
64. donated blood
65. gone sky diving - sensational
66. visited a Nazi concentration camp - have to wait til the girls are old enough to understand this one. I remember how haunted my sister was by Auschwitz as an adult
67. bounced a cheque
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy - a couple, too much of a sentimental fool not to!
70. visited the Lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt - yay for me!
73. stood in times square - New York is my favourite city, what a buzz that place has...not to mention the shopping!!
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in London - too many times!
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the Vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in Jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper - when Bill Clinton was in town we ended up on the front page of the tele...ok so it was in the background...
85. read the entire bible - working on it at the moment...won't be in my 50 books for 09 though I don't think...
86. visited the white house
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox - twice!
89. saved someone’s life - well I helped
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous - no dropping names but there have been a few
92. joined a book club - didn't last too long though
93. lost a loved one - I miss you still Gran
94. had a baby - my princesses!
95. seen the Alamo in person.
96. swum in the great salt lake.
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee