Can we have Christmas again tomorrow.......

This was what Louis asked me this morning in bed.
No, nope, no way - I need a year to recover!

Christmas baking on Christmas Eve - what was I thinking! I nearly didn't get it all done - even with all my little helpers!

Gingerbread - mmmm quite nice really. Up the top are what we call 'Emily's Star Biscuits' as these are her favourites. We've been making them for a few years now. Sometimes we ice them but this year we chocolated them (see below).

Very yummy and very easy.

Making the gingerbread house. This was Emily's first year of making one of these and she learnt a lot from the experience - namely to give herself more time (this was made on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and she wanted to take it along to the Christmas Eve celebration at my mum and dad's house).

The end result was quite nice though even if it wasn't the original plan - she didn't have time to let the icing dry and it was hard to get the lollies to stick!

Here are the boys at our Christmas Eve celebration at Oma and Opa's house. We always give out the gifts on Christmas Eve - I think it is a European tradition. The boys are wearing the Christmas t-shirts that I managed to get done just in the nick of time!

I don't know if you can see, but I have sewed a woolen felt star onto a t-shirt and back stitiched around the edge in silver thread. Very simple but quite cute.

Okay, I best get back to my post Christmas tradition of doing very little. The house has been trashed, but it can all wait until tomorrow for today I must rest.

Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas.

Cheers
l
x

Hey it's me, Emily, Levineke's 13 year old daughter. Gosh, its been a while since I posted, hasn't it?
With only 4 days to go, we up to our necks with Christmas preparations, wrapping, sewing, baking, buying etc. and haven't had much time to post. So, while I have time, I'll show you our latest finished projects.This is a little Christmas fairy I made as a Kris Kringle present for my good friend Ingrid. I was very pleased with it, and so was she. Unfortunately I ran out of time towards the end, so the neck is less than perfect, but i still love her to bits. As of yet she has no name, I left that up to Ingrid.

These are our new family stocking, made from red felt and white crushed velvet by mum. Sorry the photos are crappy, it has been a very grey summer's day today, with thunderstorms and lots of much needed rain.
The letters are cross stitched on, with a leafy pattern embroidered around them. They look great hanging up over the fireplace.
Well I better go, there is a nice fairy cake with my name on it in the kitchen. If we don't post before then, have a safe and Happy Christmas

Emily

Budding Artist

I love those first recognisable drawings!
This is a picture of Louis best friend, Jaspa - he has blue eyes and gorgeous curly hair - just like in the picture. We had to give the card away, but I had to have a photo to treasure.

cheers
l
x

Christmas

I've been a little slack on the blogging front.

Okay, I've been very slack - it was over a week ago that we put up our new Christmas tree. It was a present from my mum and dad. We used to get real trees but we've ended up with a fake one as it suits us better. At one stage we grew our own in a pot, but it died :(

Anyway - when it comes to Christmas we do it with a bang - lots of decorations, lots of colour and lots of fun. We have so much cramped into my little lounge room! It's become a super cosy room. In fact, when I put the lights on at night, it almost feels like we are in Europe somewhere ensconced in a warm dry room whilst outside the winter rains fall- apart from the sweat dripping down my back as it happens to be 34C at 9.00pm with not a breath of wind!

I still have so much to do!

cheers
l
x

Family traditions

We've developed a habit in summer of getting a pizza on a warm summers evening and heading down to our local golf course. When we get there - we set up a little picnic spot in amongst the trees and sit down and eat together.



After we have eaten, we get out some clubs and have a bit of a hit.



The boys are really getting into it these days - they play a couple of holes.



Apparently I have a beautiful swing. I just need to connect with the ball :(



I have to say, it's a beautiful spot for a picnic and a beautiful place for a stroll :)

And I have to apologise as some of the photos are a little dark but you get the idea!!

cheers
l
x

The Men's Room

Last weekend David and my brother-in-law, David F, built a semi pergola to create another 'room' in the garden.
Yesterday the boys finished it off by laying down weed mat and then gravel and this is the end result -

I give you - The Men's Room!

So called because they like to sit there and play games, chat and listen to the cricket (well, one of them likes to listen to the cricket!)

This morning I was allowed in the "men's room" - we had a lovely breakfast together in the early morning warmth - quite delightful really!

Cheers
l
x

Crafty Kids

On Sunday I decided it was time I spent a little quality time with Julian as he seems to be overlooked sometimes, being in the middle. Anyway, I asked him what he wanted to do and he said he wanted to sew. Yes, you heard right, my gun toting/crimefighting/karate kid son wanted to sit down and sew. I wasn't entirely sure what would be appropriate, and in the end I set him up with some cloth and embroidery thread and with the help of me and his big sister, he made this:-

Admittedly he ended up doing big stitches - because 'it goes faster then' - but I think the result is quite gorgeous.

Emily has been busy too - making this:

It's a little elf's shoe made out of white felt and hand embroidered - isn't she clever too!

And at school she made this rather cute elephant cd holder in tech.

She loved making it too.

Finally, I was invited by Gina to take part in PIF. I will be lucky enough to receive a hand made gift and in return I will continue the exchange. So here are the rules:-

1. Leave a comment on my blog to join in the PIF (pay it forward).
2. The first three comments who wish to participate will receive a handmade gift from me within 365 days.
3. Those who choose to participate return the pay it forward by making the same promise on their blog.

I will promise to try hard to make something beautiful for those who wish to participate!

cheers
l
x

Storms and cubbies

After almost two weeks of very warm - one could say hot - weather, a cool change blew in. Unfortunately it blew in a little too hard and the result was this:-


It was such a waste! Poor David - he had lots of seedlings and indoor plants (recovering from being indoor plants I should say) in there. Unfortunately it's beyond repair :(

The cool change also brought a little rain. I was doing housework inside when I realised that I had not heard from Louis for a little while. I found him outside.....



He was having a lovely time, singing and chatting to himself and keeping those whole 18 drops of rain off him!

I left him waiting for more rain - it would have been nice if it had rained more, but unfortunately it was not to be.

On the crafting front, I have made a couple more bags which I will post about later. Things are hectic at the moment - the year is coming to and end - I don't think I'm the only slack blogger out there though????

cheers
l
x

Busy, busy, busy

I hadn't realised it had been a week since I last posted! I have been quite busy - mainly reading blogs and catching up on emails - but that's no excuse really!

I've had a very productive weekend. Today I re-arranged my lounge room to it's summer position. We have a winter room and a summer room - one that takes advantage of the heater and one the air-conditioner. Next week it is supposed to get to 36C degrees so I thought it was time to change it around again. It's always good to do as everything gets a good sorting and dusting etc...

Yesterday I managed to sew the bag that I had cut out ages ago. It never ceases to amaze me that if I follow the instructions properly I can actually make something beautiful. It's such a wonderful feeling. Anyway, here's my latest bag:-


I appliqued the flower on and found an old (or should say, vintage) button from my mother's button collection which she kindly donated to me.


I used denim and some really cute fabric that Em and I found at Spotlight one day. It was one of those quick shopping trips where I just needed to buy one ball of wool and I came out with a little more than that! The bag was so much fun to do - I want to make more now! Lots, lots more.

On another note, one of the biggest novelties in our household is picking carrots. Last weekend I made vegetable soup and I asked if anyone could pick me a carrot - they came running out as fast as they could.





On the same night I asked if anyone could set the table............can you hear the silence?
No enthusiasm there.

cheers
l
x

ps my lovely and talented niece, karen, has just set up a blog - please drop in and visit her blog and perhaps leave a comment. i find the comments really inspire you to blog more!

Afternoon Tea

Once upon a time I used to do lots and lots of baking - it was so much fun. Now, I only bake for special occasions and today David's sister and her family are coming over, so we have a (hopefully) lovely lemon yoghurt cake for afternoon tea.



Oh - and I finally managed to finish the bag - yipee. Well, almost - I have to buy a wooden toggle for it - but that means going into town which is a bit of a hassle.



And, on Friday I felted another bag which now just needs to be lined and have the handles put on. Maybe, just maybe, I could do a stall before Christmas after all!


In between this, I've managed to make a few more granny squares so I might just get my blanket finished before next winter! Here's hoping.

cheers
l
x

ps the cake was delicious - so easy to make and not too decadent - perfect :)

It's Raining, it's Pouring!!

It's so lovely to see the rain, to hear the rain, to smell the rain and to feel the rain.

And just the perfect weather to do the fortnightly baking for school lunches.

Next I will get the sewing machine and finish the bag.

And then it's time to put on the evening roast..... mmmm I'm getting hungry already.

cheers
l
x

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String.....

Well, maybe not, but a nice big envelope with lots of lovely stamps all the way from Holland with a present for me inside!


Corry had posted about the 'moo cards' she had received in the mail that day and in the comments I asked her what they are (still being new to blogland). Anyway, she offered to send me some.


And, she also sent me this lovely bag that she had made which I not only use for shopping, but I have also used for inspiration (see post below).



And she made a lovely card as well - how lucky was I?


It was so nice to get a parcel in the mail - much nicer than bills! Thank you so much Corry, every time I look at the bag I feel happy!

On the crafting front, I am trying very hard to line my recently felted bag and am having difficulties - so, I wont be posting about it this weekend. We have also had a busy weekend, so not much time for crafting :(

But the good thing, we are having a nice weekend. On Friday night we went to Cafe Komodo to listen to Vincents Chair. We had a lovely night - the atmosphere was great, the music was great and the kids had a lovely time too! We might just have to make this a regular outing and I would urge others in Adelaide or visitors to Adelaide to have a look -buy a cocktail and sit back and relax.

Cheers
l
x

Louis Starts Kindy!

This is little Louis - four months old.

This is cheeky Louis in Summer 07

Louis started kindy last week.
He was not looking forward to it.
Louis is shy.
Aggressively shy.
He gets angry if strange people try and talk to him.


So, as you can imagine, I wasn't particularly looking forward to him starting kindy either. I had images of him trying to escape, or hiding, or crying and not being able to be consoled by the kindy teachers because he was too scared of them. But, he did really well. He spent the whole two hours there and he quite liked it. He was really, really proud of himself - and we were proud of him too. I wasn't sure if I should leave him or stay with him so I called the kindy and they told me to leave him for a while and then check to see how he was going. So we did. We came back after an hour and he was happy to stay until the end! Perfect.

On the weekend, to celebrate, I made him a library bag so he can borrow books from kindy. He's very happy with it - and I enjoyed making it. Thanks should go to Corry from Dutch Blue, for her ingenious bag! So simple to make and yet so effective.

Here's mine

Made with the lovely Dick and Jane fabric from Michael Miller Fabrics. And yes, I'm old enough to remember the reader!!!

I'm starting to craft again after the chaos of the holidays. This is my latest bag to felt:-


I will hopefully post the finished product soon. My friend and I are hoping to have a market stall one day so we are busy making things - bags, brooches, whatever we can think of. It was our intention to have a stall just before Christmas, but I have a funny feeling that it's just not going to happen - seeing as I only have two bags to sell at this stage. Perhaps an autumn stall??? With lots of beanies and scarves and matching bags?

Cheers
l
x