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

Home again, home again........

There is little to say about today. We packed up yet again and started our journey home. I think we were all ready to go home - back to all that is familiar.

So, I guess the best part of the journey home was the Coorong. It truly is amazing - although I think I've said that about most of the trip.

This is Chinaman's Well - let's hope there was more water for them then there was for us!






We stopped in Salt Creek (two petrol stations - one with a diner - and a motel) and then in Policeman's Point which has only a caravan park and a motel. Our last stop was at Meningie for a bit of lunch, an opportunity to stretch your legs and a toilet break.

Salt Creek

Our drive home took us through Tailem Bend where you could see the mighty Murray River and then through the Adelaide Hills to home.

Gosh it was nice to be home again!

Cheers
l
x

Day three

We left Pt Fairy, bright and early and headed towards Portland. My intention was to turn off to Nelson just before Portland, but instead we turned off to Mt Gambier and took a different route. This was a shame in some ways, as I had wanted to see the Princess Margaret Rose Caves again (a favourite picnic spot when I was young).
Instead, we went straight to Mt Gambier and then headed to Port McDonnell which was our summer hangout when I was little. Every summer holidays we would take the caravan, annexe, two man tent and as many friends and family as we could, and hang out there for a couple of weeks.
I was scared of the sea so I used to swim in a little creek next to our caravan site, which was on the way to the beach.
I had to revisit that creek!


We didn't manage to stay long in Mt Gambier - but we did get to see the cave gardens



and the Blue Lake - of course

which was even blue! Because, we freakishly managed to get there at the right time of the year.

Our last night was at Kingston. Kingston is a small fishing town on the beach which is not as touristy as the other beach towns around making it a nice spot for us as it was quiet and cheap.
The kids loved the beach and managed to collect a car load of shells.


It was very, very cold though. I managed to take a few photos, but I couldn't take my hands out of my pockets for long or I would lose sensation in them. I kid you not! Absolutely Freezing!!


If you look very hard you can see my boys under all that giant lobster!

This is the Cape Jaffa Lighthouse which comes with a fabulous history (most of which I have forgotten!).


Best go organise some dinner now. I will post the last of the trip soon - not much left to say but I do have some lovely pictures of the Coorong!

cheers
l
x

Now.....where were we?

That's right, we were just heading out of Mait's Rest. From here we took a quick detour through some beautiful rainforests to the Otway Fly. We had hoped to take a tour here but it was very expensive, so we didn't go :(
On a positive note, the drive was lovely - we drove through mist and gentle rain which was just beautiful.



We then headed back on to the Great Ocean Road in search of the Twelve Apostles - a very famous landmark in Australia. Now as luck would have it (or not), Louis lost the plot as he was very tired, so I didn't get to see the Twelve Apostles, and David didn't take the camera - so we don't have a picture. We do, however, have other beautiful photos of the coastline.






The drive was spectacular (I've probably said this quite a few times, but I really need to stress this point!). We were warm inside the car, it was cold and windy out and we could drive past and see such beauty! We stopped a couple of times along the way to have a look but in the end the kids wanted to get to Pt Fairy which was not too far away so we kept driving.


We didn't have much time in Port Fairy, so I didn't get many photos but the kids had so much fun on this giant bouncing pillow and we all enjoyed the indoor heated pool -



well to be honest the kids liked it more than us adults as it wasn't quite warm enough for us. David is doing a Hydrotherapy rotation at the moment and the pool at his work is heated to 35C - this was nowhere near that! lol

This was a lovely caravan park - lots of fabulous facilities (including mini golf) and the owners were really lovely - we will definately go back here.



We'll stop here again - and I will try and post more in the next couple of days. I wish I had taken more photos, or better photos - I feel like I'm not doing the trip justice!

cheers
l
x

We're back...............

Wow - what a week. This was our first real holiday since, well, since I don't know when. We've had a couple of short trips away, but this was a big holiday and it was f a n t a s t i c.... I want to post about the whole holiday, but I think it's best if I break it down into sections. We started off in Melbourne - which is a great city, but I wont post about it as I didn't get too many photos. I don't think I was as impressed with Melbourne as I was with the Great Ocean Road.

I can't begin to stress how wonderful the Great Ocean Road is. Anyone who lives in Australia should do the trip at least once and even those from overseas should come and drive it - it is absolutely bloody beautiful. My photos will not do it justice but here are a few.


This is the beach at Torquay, where we had lunch. Torquay is a very famous surfing spot in Victoria - I can imagine it would be very busy in Summer - but I found it beautiful enough on a rather cold spring day and after the hustle and bustle of Melbourne, I was happy to go somewhere a little quieter.

From here we drove through Lorne (I really wish we had stopped here) and then on to Apollo Bay which is another lovely seaside town. We stayed the night at Apollo Bay in a lovely caravan park. We had fabulous take-away food (I do love not having to cook) and then came back to our cabin to catch up on a little sleep. It rained during the night - anyone who has been or is going through a drought, would understand what a beautiful sound rain is.


The above photo was the view from the caravan park - the hills were beautiful to look at. Below is a photo of us at the beach - it was cold, and threatening rain - but still wonderful. It took the boys about three minutes to get wet, and only a couple more to get most of their clothes off! It must have been freezing!!!

The next day we travelled further along the Great Ocean Road. Up until Apollo Bay, the scenery was mainly coastal. Once you pass Apollo bay, you start to hit the rain forest section which is simply breathtaking. We stopped at a few places along the way - this one, Mait's Rest was just beautiful and reminded me so much of the walks we used to do when I was a child.


I will stop here and post more about the trip soon. I really have to start getting the washing organised and generally unpacking and putting things away :(
I've missed blogging and reading blogs - I hope to catch up with everyone over the next couple of days.

cheers
l
x

We're taking a break.............

whilst we go on H O L I D A Y !!!

We're off to Melbourne for a few days, followed by a long leisurely trip home via the Great Ocean Road - stopping at Apollo Bay, Port Fairy and Kingston, before returning home.

Before we leave, I thought I would show you Em's latest creation that she made from 'Softies', a great book we bought a few weeks ago.



She had lots of fun making it and is very happy with the result!

I haven't made anything lately - I have been all consumed with washing and packing and cleaning before we go away. I have been trying to make granny squares and I must confess that I have started a new bag as well - I'm hoping that the squares and the bag will be finished by the time we get back. Here's hoping!

By the way, after checking a website I discovered that you cannot take crochet hooks on planes - not even big fat ones - so I won't be crocheting my way to Melbourne - but I will still be having fun on the plane as it is Em, Julian & Louis' first plane trip and they will all be very excited - gotta love being a kid!

Till next week,
Take care,

cheers
l
x

holidays.......yipee

Holidays have started here and we've all moved into relaxation mode - some more than others :)
Naturally I've become a lot more busy and my house is never, and I mean, never tidy. But hey, it's only for a short time and at least the troops are happy.



Yesterday was one of those beautiful spring days so we decided to take the boys out to a park. This park is not too far away from us and it has a series of ponds linked by creeks which the boys love to play in. Occasionally they fall in...... We met a couple of older boys who found yabbies in the pond - that was enough to scare Julian into not wading in the water!

We've been enjoying carrots from the garden - don't you just love this one?!

And finally, this is the second bag I made for one of the daughters we are staying with when we go to Melbourne. I've had so much fun making them that I think I will make more. Mind you, these are quick easy projects and perfect for avoiding the bigger ones that I am supposed to be finishing - like my granny square blanket that I started off very enthusiastically, but since starting the bags, have lost enthusiasm for. 30 more squares to go - that shouldn't be hard, should it?

By the way, does anyone know if you can take crochet hooks on domestic flights? I'm not sure what the rules are - and can I pack knitting needles and scissors in my suitcase? I'm pretty sure I can't take them on board the plane - but I will need them for the holiday and the road trip back from Melbourne.

l
x