Street sign update

A few days ago I posted about the rut I seem to be stuck in and I had a few projects to get me out of it.  I'm  pleased to report that as soon as I finished that post I took Little Miss for a walk and then Daddy came home and we went for a swim.  It seems the post worked! At least temporarily anyway.


I also got working on my street sign project that you can read about here. I now have a photo so I can stop trying to describe what it is I'm trying to do with our street number, because I was doing a terrible job of that!

This one is my pretend mother -in-law's.  I didn't look at it closely before I started cutting circles for my own and I have cut out way too many, but I'm sure I can use them all somehow.  Our number is 4 digits so I need to come up with 2 other patterns.  I'm thinking stripes for one and am hoping for suggestions for the other one.  Please?

It is difficult to photograph reflective vinyl in a dark room!

My pretend MIL is holidaying in New Zealand at the moment, so I am waiting for her to come back before I actually start sticking anything.  She is a clever lady and more often than not has a much smarter way of doing things than I do. I love to learn from watching her do anything.  Especially sewing! (I'm good at getting of topic aren't I?)


I should have more to show you in a week or so.  I haven't made it to Spotlight yet, so there has been no progress on the bunting.  I do, however, have a location and a guest list for Little Miss's 1st birthday party and I will get invitations today hopefully.

Random happenings

Well, since my last post I have thought of a few things I want to post about, but didn't get around to it, so I'll put them together here.

Firstly, I wanted to write about the amazing christmas presents we got (even though that was over a week ago).  Everyone was so thoughtful and we got so many useful things for our new house, including rugs for the floor, outdoor lights, farmers hats, a gift voucher for the good guys (how fun) and lots of other things.  BUT, there was one gift that really stood out for me and infact I burst into tears when I got it.  Daddy's sister put a lot of thought and effort into her presents this year and went with handmade presents.  She put effects on some photos with photo shop and printed them on canvas for various people.  Ours was 2 prints about 30cm square each and have a some kind of effect to make them look like they were painted.  One is of the house we just moved out of in Brisbane and the other is of the Shed house.  Now I know the house in Brisbane was just a rental, but we loved the house and it is the house that was Little Miss's home for her first year of life.  (I'm choking up as I write this, what a sook! Although, I'm also listening to Rootless Tree by Damien Rice so that's not helping my emotional state).  Anyway, I loved the present so much and I am so grateful that Little Miss has such a great, thoughtful Aunty to grow up with.   (one of two, incase my sister is reading this!)

Left: Brisbane house Right: Shed house

The present Little Miss got from her Aunty was just as amazing and thoughtful and I can't wait to get into our shed and paint the walls so I can hang these lovely prints up.  So much for not giving her name away! Oh well, I had to show you, they look so good.

Terrible photo, but each print has something on it that starts with that letter: Apple, Meerkat, Elephant, Lion, Iguana and Antelope

I have a few other things to post about, but I think I'll do them separately.

Stuck in a rut

Grrr, I think I need a good shaking and I'm hoping this post will do the trick. A few months ago, after getting into a routine with a baby and things starting to return to normal I found myself feeling a bit (incredibly) lost.  Until then I had always been either studying or working and was used to having deadlines and people relying on me to keep me focused and motivated.  I dislike the fact that it takes something like a deadline or someone else to motivate me and it's something I'm trying to fix (and getting better at), but that's how it is.  Then I really got stuck into sewing and crafting and moving and christmas and, although it sometimes took a little 'pep talk' from myself to do something, I was getting much better and feeling a lot better.  This is also one of the reasons I started blogging.  To keep me focused and motivated.

Now that we are here and Daddy is out at the shed working everyday and it's just me and Little Miss, (although her aunty has been here for the last week and that was fantastic) I feel myself getting back into my rut, which involved watching TV and sleeping when Little Miss sleeps and having no energy and not eating very well and being lazy.  I do have a few projects I could be working on and I thought that if I blogged about them I might actually do them.

Firstly, I really should organise Little Miss's 1st birthday party, which is in 2 weeks. Something I want to do for it is make a pink and red themed bunting to decorate the party and later decorate her bedroom.  I haven't started this, because I need to make a trip to spotlight to get some fabric.  I think I will do that tomorrow. I think I'll use THIS tutorial as a rough guide.

Another project is making a street number sign for the shed.  My pretend mother-in-law (daddy and I aren't married, but have been together for 10 years) made one out of pretty coloured sticky vinyl offcuts for herself and her parents and I am going to make one for us (with her suggestions and guidance along the way I hope!).  Clearly I am not doing this project justice by trying to describe it to you so I will take some photos tomorrow and re-blog about it.

Both of those projects are more than enough to keep me busy, along with visits out to the shed now that we have a playpen and can actually put Little Miss (who is now walking by the way!!!) down on the floor.  Also, as soon I get my sim card sent to me I will have people's phone numbers so that I can catch up with all the relatives I moved here to be closer to.

Here's a funny fact: We moved here to be closer to our family.  My parents are currently in Austria and Daddy's parents are currently in New Zealand.

Sorry that was such a long rambling post. Maybe this one was a bit of a selfish vent.  If you listened then thank-you!

Favourite things to do...

My baby girl is growing up so fast! Every day she learns something new or surprises me with a new skill. I also can't believe how much personality she has already at 10 1/2 months. Not because I don't think other babies do, just because I haven't spent too much time with babies of this age before and didn't know about it until now.  Here a few of her favourite things to do at the moment:

1. Eat arrowroot biscuits and read books.  She loves 'touch and feel' books and quite often I notice she has gone quiet, only to discover she has crawled off to her room and is 'reading' a book.  The one in the picture is called 'Wooly's Walk' and it is her favourite at the moment.

2. Squeal at the birds in the yard. She loves watching any kind of animal at the moment and even tried to catch the ants that crawled past her in the backyard while I was hanging out washing yesterday.

3. Eat fresh summer fruits. This particular delicacy is a white flesh peach.

4. Play with and pull out wipes from the container. This is fine if I remember to close the lid, otherwise it's very messy!

5. Play with her 'dollies', made by Laura from sip one, stitch one for Little Miss's christmas present.  She absolutely loves them and has she has recently learnt to put things 'in' I find them everywhere from random boxes, to the filing cabinet.

I hope this post didn't bore anyone reading too much, but when I look back on this in a few weeks/months/years, I know I'll be glad I recorded it and I will keep doing so as she develops new 'favourites'.  I hope you enjoy her journey with me!

Thanks for visiting!

The week in review

It has been a busy week what with moving cities in a week and christmas approaching.  As we get closer to our departure date I realise how many more people I wanted to see before I go, but have left it too late to organise anything.

In the past week I have managed to pack up most of the house with help from Little Miss, but not Daddy, who has been working like crazy these last few days.  There is now only the music room and a few odds and ends that we need to use over the week left to be packed.  This means it's time to start the cleaning. BORING!

Other things that have happened this week are:

I gave in to the need to craft and unpacked some crocheting to indulge in at night.  I learnt to crochet when I was pregnant with Little Miss and suffering from lots of swelling and high blood pressure.  I needed something to keep me occupied from the couch and there's only so much DVD watching and online crosswords one can handle.

Daddy and Little Miss played in the rain.

I witnessed Little Miss stand up without using anything to help her!

And I baked this interesting dish that actually tasted pretty good. It's tuna mac and cheese with chicken as well as tuna and an ensemble of other ingredients. With only one saucepan, one frypan and only a knife and fork it took a long time to put together, but I enjoyed discovering what I could do with what we have left in the house to eat.

Finally, this afternoon when I got Little Miss up from her nap there was a nappy in her cot.  I could not for the life of me figure out where it came from until I picked her up to find she was no longer wearing one! Now if only she could learn to put a clean one on and the old one in the bin!

I have just been on the phone to some of the very hardworking relatives in North Queensland and should have some photos of the latest developments to show you soon! Can't wait to see them myself!

Thanks for visiting! I'm off to play with a lovely little lady.

Packing Packing Packing!!!

We have come to that point in the packing where you don't know what to do next and it comes to a standstill.  We have packed all the things we can easily go without for another week such as books, dvd's, linen, and random items, so we're up to the things like clothes and the kitchen.  I seem to be unable to make decisions about what I will need to cook with for another week, both in terms of food and dishes.  I just want to pack it all and start the horrible task of cleaning, but if I did that we would have to eat takeaway for a week.  I don't think the budget or our bodies would like this plan too much, despite what our tastebuds say!

This is what the lounge room looks like right now! 

There is a small cleared spot where Little Miss plays and a path to the front door.  Little Miss is loving all the boxes to climb over and hide behind and has been quite the little helper since she has learnt to put things into other things ( a much needed skill for packing boxes!) 9 days to go until our stuff heads North and 10 until we do. 

My little helper

I can't believe how quickly this has all happened and how much it hasn't sunk in yet.  In less than a month the shed will be our new home.  Just cannot get my head around that thought right now.  I suppose I'd better stop trying to and just get on with the packing!