Moved to Tears...

I have sat here with tears still falling trying to write my own review for this marvellous book "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. My words do not do it justice, so I have taken these words from a review written here

The Book Thief is narrated by Death, but revolves around 9-year-old Liesel Meminger who loses her family in Germany during World War II. At her brother's funeral, she steals a book from one of the gravediggers. Once she arrives at the home of her new foster family, she's taught to read from that book, and sets about gathering more books. She saves books from book burnings and steals them one at a time from the mayor's wife's library. Books are the conduit for growing closeness to her new family, and when a Jewish man is hidden in their basement, books form his relationship with Liesel too. Death, though, continues to gather souls, and he still has his eye on Liesel. Markus Zusak's novel has received mostly positive reviews with the Cleveland Plain Dealer saying, "In the end, Zusak's story is about words, the power we give them and the magic they carry in their own right. The Book Thief is both gripping and touching, a work that kept me up late into the night feverishly reading the last 300 pages."

Whilst I didn't stay up "late into the night feverishly reading the last 300 pages", there were a couple of nights I did fall asleep reading it and this morning our house has carried on with out me whilst I lay in bed finishing it. It is not often that I am so moved by a story, I do love to read yes, however I often finish a book and just move onto the next one. I can tell you that this story will stay with me for some time, and I know I will pick it from the book shelf to read again some day. I highly recommend this one, but make sure there is a box tissues by your side when you near the end.

Oh So Pretty

Today when I was in our local homewares shop buying a couple of gifts, I spied this little plate. It is only a wee small thing, 11 cm square, but when I saw it and it made me smile, I knew it had to come home with me!

It is a dark picture, but the one with the flash just made it look funny!

Slowly but Surely...

seems to be the name of the game with anything in my life at the moment....but as they say "something is better than nothing" and it felt good to spend some time on the machine today, even if only for a little while...

Move Along Please, No Quilting to See Here...

Well I really do hope you don't move along and that you do enjoy seeing the little tidbits of my life, but I just had a little giggle to myself as in the title of this blog it reads "These are the Ramblings of My Life, My Loves and My Quilting Journey!". The giggle was how non - existant my quilting journey seems to be. I dream of days of sitting and cutting and sewing and being creative but in the foreseeable future it just ain't gonna happen!!!!

Next week I am going to have a few hours free on Wednesday so I have actually diarised to get out the machine and start my in-laws quilt. When you gotta diarise to quilt, you know life is busy!!

Hope you are fitting in more creativity than I am in 2011 and if you like what you read, please remember to leave a comment....I get such a kick out of it knowing that someone is reading!

xxx

"Operation Dream Home" is go!

Tree protection done and some vegetation/trees removed. I finally got the last bit of paper from council that we needed for the certifier today, so it should all move ahead now - yippee!!!

Oh, the Enthusiasm!!!

The big girl was excited about being in Year 1 but she was so cute giving her little sister a pep talk about her first day at pre-school. Being experienced in these matters given she was there in 2009, there was a fair amount of quiet conversation but I was told that it was "sister talk and that it was rude to listen in!" I wonder if that is something I have really said??? I don't recall....

Well, Day 1 at preschool was a complete success. Given Ciára's personality and that she has been in day care for a couple of years, we really didn't think it wouldn't be. However I was taken aback when I turned up at 12.45 (meant to be a half day for day 1) only to be told by the little miss ""Go away and please come back when I have had lunch with my new friends". The absolutely delightful teacher said she was more than happy for her to stay as she was going to be there til 2.30pm. So off I went to do a few chores in the village (much quicker without her in tow anyway) and then an hour later went back. This time she was very happy to head home.

This morning no sooner had we walked in the school gate to drop Zoe at school, I was being tugged on the arm "It is my turn to be dropped off now Mum, c'mon, c'moooooooon, Muuuuuumy, NOW!"....

Ciára is far from the reserved and quietly confident girl my Zoe is - however Zoe is delighted with her teacher and class mates and quite happy not to be one of the "littlie cute kids" in the school anymore.

All in all, a hugely successful start to the 2011 school year!

What Do You Mean It's Not Good For Me?

Look at all those fresh strawberries, sorbet not so bad...ok the champagne not the healthiest...but it was soooooooooooo good!!

Australia Day

Hope you had as much fun as we did, celebrating this great nation!

Back Into It..Yippee!

With Zoe off at a vacation day camp and Ciára back to day care, my chores as chief domestic goddess took half the time they have been of late and post chores I have indulged in some quality time with my rotary cutter.

This is a gorgeous kit I picked up from the FQS some time ago, thinking it would be perfect for my mother in law. You see she turned 60 some three years ago and I promised I would make her a quilt, this has not yet happened. With the in-laws 40th wedding anniversary approaching as well as a trip for them Down Under, I thought what a perfect opportunity to apply a bit of pressure to myself to get this made for them for when they are here. They arrive in mid April so plenty of time...Woolah, a very belated 60th/40th wedding anniversary gift all in one! Now to get back to it so it actually gets done!

Current Reading..

Half way through but I am just not feeling the love...might have to put it down and come back to it or I will NEVER get through the Book Challenge this year...

Back Into It

Last year I discovered the world of using Kettlebells for fitness. They are fun and user friendly, don't use up much space for storage and give you one helluva workout.

I am so jet lagged, and so tired but I felt I had to do something. I did 6 rounds of 30/30 intervals - Kettlebell swings and a light jog on the spot.

I don't think there was any chance of any endorphins kicking in and helping me thorugh the tiredness but it felt good to do something!!!

Secret Santa

I took part in a Secret Santa with the lovely girls from the Quilty section of EB.I was going to take this gift with me to Ireland but somehow it slipped through the packing net and was left behind. I was very lucky to recieve all of these lovely goodies from the very clever Anna over at Tillytom. A really nice gift to come home to, thanks Anna!

Kicking Butt in 2011

I have a number of personal goals for 2011 that I won't share here but briefly they cover the financial side of our life, my attitude to certain things, some family stuff and sticking to routine!

On the creative side of things;

*Finish Handquilting Jack's quilt
*Mai and Mick's 40th Wedding anniversary Quilt
*Keep slogging away on Dear Jane and Pies + Tarts
*A basic quilt for Abby
*Learn to Crochet
*Get more involved in the world of blogging!

And on the Health and Fitness side;

*Start running again, starting out with C25K and working up to 5210K and beyond!
*Go back to consistently following FYM - I KNOW it works!!! So in saying this I must give the FYM New Year Transformation Challenge my absolute all to get the most possible out of it. It starts on 10th January and runs for 12 weeks.
*Limit wheat - my system hates it!
*Aim to eat cleanly 90% of the time! Organic produce and keeping it simple!
*Eliminate the few chai lattes and coffees that I do have and go herbal all the way!
*Go back to Yoga - even if it is only one class a week - it is good for my mind as well as my body
*Goal weight is 60kgs

Moving onto the House Renovation;

*Every time I go to spend money, think of the house and all the new things I would like to put in it!! Remember I can only wear one pair of shoes at a time, I have a cupboard full and do not need any more in 2011 (unless they are for exercise!!)
*As we are living in the house throughout the reno, on tough days, I must not lose sight of the bigger picture!!!!

I think my goals for 2011 are very achievable and as the great Yoda once said "Do or do not. There is no 'try'!!!

2010 Wrap Up!

What a hectic year 2010 was for our family.

We were at a friends place at Point Piper to see in 2010, a wonderful view, a wonderful host and both my girls were awake at midnight - I thought that was pretty special - even if we did pay for it mid afternoon the next day. NYE is also Zoe's birthday and she thinks that fireworks on her birthday is the best thing EVER! A great celebraton for her 5th birthday.
Zoe started school in late January. Overall it was a success even though we had our moments of clinginess going into class in the mornings when she succumbed to overtiredness mid year. Zoe took part in her ballet exams and blitzed them with a score of 89%, she also lost the Irish gene when it came to swimming and is now like a little fish. A sensitive, quietly confident little girl, Zoe is a thoughtful and wonderful child (prone to uncontrollable emotion when overtired, but we deal with that as we need to). She is a delight and we are extremely proud of her!

Ciara turned 3 in May. Her daycare attendance was upped to 3 days in anticipation of the renovation that didn't actually start in 2010. She loved it so much though that we decided to keep her in there! She did ballet and playball at daycare and loved them both with absolute enthusiasm. She continues to be known by her parents on the quiet as "The Beast" for an assertiveness that is constantly mind blowing to us. She sure is a little girl who knows how to get what she wants using charm that is unparalleled within our family. She is also overly affectionate and loving and uber confident.
We are blessed with 2 little angels that equally delight and frustrate us but we love them with all our hearts and can't imagine how empty life would be without them!

Zeus took us to a whole other level of learning patience with his "issues". We had the excitement of Dr Harry and the Better Homes and Gardens crew coming to consult and film Zeus for a segment on the show...to deal with his tail chasing...and then the excitement of the airing of the segment which was "celebrated" with pizza and beer with friends and neighbours at our place (minus the husband who was enroute to the US). This was a bittersweet night for me as I had just that day had 2 hours on a call with a top behavioural vet and I had learned how deep the issues are that cause the tail chasing. Very sad for my boy who has an awesome temperament and is the most loyal and lovable companion for our family. Basically the German Shepherd breeders have a lot to answer for in my honest opinion. It appears that in the quest for physical perfection they have bread in a range of emotional issues. He is a dog I know, but he is a very important family member too! We continue to medicate and work with Zeus and on a scale of 1-10 we have brought the chasing down from 10/10 to approx 5/10 - we are aiming to 2-3/10. I am determined to get there with him so he can be as normal as possible!
The husband continued to travel for work, sporadically at times and full on at other times. I got the cleaner back in to help me out at these times and then there is always the trusty baby sitters that we have had for years so I could escape and restore my sanity to near normal levels. Dave continues to achieve great things within his organisation and he still loves his role. People ask me how I can stand all the travel. You see the thing is, I see the enjoyment he has from his job and I would much rather that than him being a miserable so and so working 9-5. When he is home he is a very hands on dad, husband and dog owner and he has a great deal of flexibility so is able to be at important days for kids, to be at meetings, or just be at home to have lunch with his wife on the odd occassion too! I adore him and I am so lucky to be so happy with him.
As for me, the usual story. A busy mum and wife who adores her family and wonders where the time goes to all the time. My days fly with chores, organising children, walking the dog, the occassional crafty outlet (not as much as I would like though), exercise, trying to spend quality time with my friends and family and all the other things that make my life as a mum, wife, dog owner and friend. I hope I continue to feel as loved and blessed in years to come!

I was totally spoiled rotten with trips and holidays in 2010.

In January the 4 of us headed up to Palm Cove in FNQ for a week. It was bliss.
In February I went to Hong Kong sans kids and husband to meet my sister for 5 days. We had a lovely time shopping, eating, sightseeing and wandering HK. We were there for Chinese New Year and had great seats to see the spectacular
Dave and I headed to Melbourne for 3 days mid March to meet some friends and head to a huge race day in Flemington. The day was picture perfect for a great day at the track. We were in a sideless marquee with about 20 others having a wonderful day. Not long after Race 5 the sky started to look a little gloomy and all of a sudden a MASSIVE storm rolled in - hail and rain the likes I have never seen. Turned out to be the worst storm in 40 years in Victoria with incrediblew flooding and damage throughout - and Dave massively bruised down his side from holding the marquee down so we had some kind of shelter. Certainly an afternoon that will never be forgotten!
In the July school holidays the girls and I jumped on a plane to Adelaide. Dave was overseas on business and one of my bestfriends lives in Adelaide so off we toddled for 5 days. We had a great time catching up, laughing and reminiscing. We headed up into the hills for a trip to Hahndorf which was lovely. It was a really lovely break. (See another perk of Dave's travel, frequent flyer points that allow for spontaneous and inexpensive trips away)

In the September holidays we flew across to Fiji for 5 days. You can read about that trip here. It was for a wedding, but the wedding was cancelled a month or so out. We all decided to still go (minus the groom) and support the bride and we had a really fun and relaxing time!

There was weekends away to visit friends in Ulladulla, weekends to Bathurst to visit my grandparents, another huge weekend in Melbourne for a hens weekend and as I sit and type this I am still in Ireland where we have been for 5 weeks for a family wedding, Christmas, Zoe's birthday and New Year. You can see a little of our Irish holiday here.

After 18 months of planning we finally submitted our plans into council for our house renovation. It is a fairly extensive renovation. I don't believe in knocking down old homes (ours is a 1919 Californian Bungalow) but in hindsight a rebuild would have been an easier and less expensive option. However we are absolutely delighted with what the designer and architect have come up with. So when we submitted the plans we knew we had pushed a few boundaries but totally expected it to be a simple and fairly painless exercise and we thought we would be on the way to building our dream home somewhere in around September. Then a neighbour lodged a fairly heavy and lengthy objection. Phwoar, we were not only unimpressed but totally taken aback with the detail and level of objection! We had had discussions with all our neighbours and knew there were a couple of things that this neighbour was unhappy about but certainly not to the level of the document he submmitted. After a lengthy process of lodging our response to council we only had to make one quite minor amendment and our plans were approved - so all it did was hold us up. We look forward to 2011 and our dream home coming to fruition. It will finally start in the next couple of weeks!!!

We had 3 births within our close circle of family and friends. We attended a couple of weddings. We weren't touched by death directly but were saddened to hear of the loss of loved ones from friends and neighbours. Serious illness was fortunately quite scarce too. My beloved Nanny suffered a serious stroke and is now in a nursing home which absolutely breaks my heart. It brings a tear everytime I picture her there. I make the 6 hours round trip to spend time with her as often as I can. I miss our daily phone calls terribly! I pray for her and hope that she will go to sleep one night and that will be it. Her zest for life is missed as she is shadow of her former self.

On the quilty front, not very busy I am afraid. Only a number of completed quilts to my name and I was very excited to finally finish a certain cross stitch. All quilts I made were very well received. I have a number of UFO's to work on in 2011.

Health and fitness was successful I think though I continue to battle the last 5 kilos that I really do need to lose. I think eating out and red wine is my down fall. Consistency and no longer running helped this out tool. I will start running again when we get back home. My next post will be about goals for 2011 and I am determined to kick the extra weight once and for all. I feel great though and finally got my bung knee sorted out spending some time with a physio who was very easy on the eye with magic hands (LOL!!). I also discovered an amazing chiro and look forward to going back to my fortnightly cracking with her!

For me, 2010 was a complete success. I continue to work towards bettering myself, dealing with demons of the past, and making myself a happier and more postitive person. I have finally learned that I can not control the thoughts, words and actions of others only my own and this has helped me move forward in leaps and bounds. I try and live by the mantras "Live and let live" and "Your health is your wealth". I feel content in my own skin and happy with my lot. What is not to look forward to in 2011!!!???

Happy New Year to you xxx

Finished Projects for 2010

Mason's Life Journey Quilt
Words to Live By Cross Stitch
Mum's 60th Birthday Quilt
Mels' Love Knots Quilt
Car's PIF - bag!
Siobhan's Quilt
Zoe's Dora Snuggle Quilt
Nanny's quilt


Not as many as I would have liked - in fact it was quiet on the crafting front. I fear 2011 will follow in these same footsteps but I will plod along as I can to get my fix and hope that I do complete something as some stage....

Glorious Books...

This year, again I took the challenge to get to 50 books in 2010. I did better than last year (I think it was the grand total of 39 books in '09) and reached 44 books.

Many types of books, many memorable and a couple to forget! I always have to finish a book though no matter what it is like. I love to read. I could easily cuddle up in bed, or flop on the sofa and spend the entire day lost in a good book. However my wonderful life gets in the way of this pipe dream and I snatch time here and there when I can.

A few of my favourites this year;

The Five people You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom

Fall of Giants - Ken Follett

The Alchemist - Paul Coelho

The Memory Keepers Daughter - Kim Edwards

My all out favourite, without a doubt was Miracle in the Andes - Nando Parrado with Vince Rause. I did a post on it here

This is my entire list for 2010

44. Homecoming - Cathy Kelly
43. My Story - Dannii Minogue
42. The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks
41. Knit The Season - Kate Jacobs
40. Will Mammy Be Coming Back For Me? - Shane Dunphy
39. Beneath the Shadows - Sarah Foster
38. Breaking Dawn - Stehpanie Meyers
37. The Accidental Billionaires - Ben Mezrich
36. Fall of Giants - Ken Follett
35. Precious - Sapphire
34. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyers
33. New Moon - Stephanie Meyers
32. Twilight - Stephanie Meyers
31. The Alchemist - Paul Coelho
30. Major Pettigres Last Stand - Helen Simonson
29. Hell on the Way to Heaven - Chrissie Foster with Paul Kennedy
28. The Memory Keepers Daughter - Kim Edwards
27. Behaving Badly - Isabel Wolff
26. The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas
25. The Two of Me - Andrew Johns
24. The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
23. Only Spring - Gordon Livingston MD
22. The Water Horse - Julia Gregson
21. Olivia - Tim Ewbank
20. Smokey Joe's Cafe - Bryce Courtney
19. The Lilac Bus - Maeve Binchy
18. Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffennegger
17. Burning Bright - Tracey Chevalier
16. The Winding Ways Quilt - Jennifer Chiaverini
15. Circle of Quilters - Jennifer Chiaverini
14. The Master Quilter - Jennifer Chiaverini
13. The Quilters Legacy - Jennifer Chiaverini
12. Miracle in the Andes - Nando Parrado with Vince Rause
11. The Quilters Kitchen - Jennifer Chiaverini
10. The Sugar Camp Quilt - Jennifer Chiaverini
9. Matter of Trust - Sydney Bauer
8. Duet - Kimberley Freeman
7. The Runaway Quilt - Jennifer Chiaverini
6. The Other Side of the Story - Marian Keyes
5. Eat Clean for Kids and The Family - Tosca Reno
4. Eat Clean Recharged - Tosca Reno
3. The Stories of My Life - Ray Martin
2. The Five people You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
1. Cross Country Quilters - Jennifer Chiaverini

I am definitely up for the challenge again 2011, and will give it a whirl to see how I go. I suspect that I won't achieve 50 books due to house renos but let's just wait and see.

Happy New Year to you!

Merry Christmas Everyone...

The weather is freakishly cold and snowy in Dublin, and whilst we are looking forward to getting home and soaking up some sun, we are still having a fun time!

There was a visit to Santa's Cottage up in the north - a wonderful experience for us all, but the kids especially loved it!

There has been a few trips into Dublin city to meet up with Zoe's school friend and her family, who is also visiting Ireland. Dave and I also had a couple of nights in town together..and we took the girls to go into the National Leprechaun Museum and to see the Christmas windows and lights.
Of course there was the whole reason we came to Ireland at this time of year. The wedding of my brother in law John to his gorgeous fiance Sinead. A spray tan, central heating and a short one shouldered dress almost lulled me ito a false sense of security that it wasn't actually sub zero temperatures..that was until we went out into the snow for the official family photos....
Of course there have been lots of cups of tea and red wines with friends and family. To keep me sane I have read 5 books, worked on my Pies and Tarts blocks and been going to the gym a few times a week.
I was also delighted to find a Little People Nativity Set, and the girls have had a great time re-enacting Jesus' birth.
I got the best early Christmas present ever - we are the proud owners of a black AGA cooker that is ordered and will be shipped to Sydney. To buy in Sydney it was way out of the budget but with the exchange rate the way it is it was nearly half the price, even paying shipping costs and duties. I can not wait for my new kitchen!!!

Now we have Christmas day to look forward to, and Zoe's 6th birthday on New Years Eve and then a couple of days later we wil fly out to go home.

I'd like to wish you and yours peace and love this Christmas, enjoy your day and may Santa bring all your dreams true. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!