http://snapknot.com/
http://bit.ly/1pN0GD9
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Image courtesy of: SnapKnot -
http://snapknot.com/
19 October 2014
30 June 2014
Who wouldn't love a new camera???
http://snapknot.com"><
Yesterday was national camera day, and while it may seem there is a day for everything now I love the idea one especially for my camera. And what I love even more is that by following the link above it will take you to the snapknot FB site where you get the chance win either a canon 5Dmark III (drool) or if you are so inclined a nikon D800. I love this photo that was on the snapknot email.
Now all I need to do is wander more, I've started a new job as well as still being at the old one (two kids in uni and another two to go will do that) so my wandering time is a little sparse at the moment. All for a good cause so they say :-)
7 May 2014
Dismal fail
Hmmm, the whole blogging every day thing seems to have gone down the drain pipe. In my own defence I have an 18th birthday party to finish organising for this Saturday night with around a 150 people attending, I think). I also cleaned my little craft room this morning so I can now walk from one side of the room to the other (well the whole three steps) without tripping over everything. My room seems to becomes a dumping ground for everything that doesn't have any where else to go. Not only was it driving me crazy but it was also extremely unproductive, especially when I have decorations and costumes to make and I could hardly reach my sewing machine. Hopefully next week I will be in a slightly better routine and hope to photograph some project life pages to share.
4 May 2014
I'm doing this
I have had a go at making one of these tonight, the printer is churning it out as I type. with everyone having smart phones now we seem to constantly handing out our wifi password, this at least may stop the kids traipsing through my craft room to where the card is kept.
2 May 2014
I really want to try and make these air plant pots on this blog here here , so fun. think the boys would like to try these too.
1 May 2014
Blog every day in May challenge
This may I am going to try doing this blog every day challenge I've always been a bit sporadic with my blogging so will this will be interesting. A very short post and I almost didn't make it. 1 hour until it's the 2nd.
27 April 2014
The story of the boy born on the bed...
I don't think I have ever written the story of Joseph's birth fully, I've done the abbreviated version but not the whole story, so what better day than his 18th birthday. I had been over my due date with both of my first babies, 3 days with Jackson, almost 10 days with Paddy so the idea of having a baby arrive spot on it's due date was something I didn't even consider happening but for days before I had mild braxton hicks contractions and really felt my body was preparing, another thing I had not experienced with the others. We were living a block away from the beach at the time so one of my big sisters who lived nearby and Brendan both spent time walking on the beach with me. The end of a cool April in a coastal town isn't always high beach traffic time and the last thing I wanted was to be stranded in labour alone on a beach in the days before mobile phones. ANZAC day 1996 we went to bed a little later than usual, I felt restless, I guess that in itself should have been a warning.
I'll go back a few days earlier though, on the Saturday, mum had the kids for me while we went to the footy in Warrnambool to watch Brendan play, a rare luxury to have a few hours without having to chase toddlers with a large tummy. I think it was around the 3rd quarter when Brendan landed from a mark, and didn't get back up again, I could see agony on his face and he struggled to get up and couldn't stand, a knee, his whole knee cap had popped off. The rest of Saturday afternoon was spent waiting at the hospital for a very busy orthopaedic surgeon to see him. When he finally got to see him he was much more concerned that I had been left standing all that time waiting than he was about Brendan's knee, I guess joints damaged in football were a common occurrence whereas a heavily pregnant woman may have been a bit of a novelty in his profession. After fussing around making sure the nurses found me a chair and that I was comfy he finally tended to Brendan. Pregnancy had never been an excuse for me to get any special treatment so I was quite amused by the attention I was getting,lol.
After an examination and X-rays he decided he would need to be operated on and set the date for the following Wednesday. Now Brendan, the fast driving stock agent had had his third strike with speeding fines and had his licence cancelled for 6 weeks only days before so here I was, very pregnant, a husband with no licence for the next six weeks and now we had an operation to add to the mix.
Now is the time I will recount what was meant to happen. Several days earlier I had dropped my fully packed bag at my mum's place with the intention of dropping the two youngest off to her, picking it up and heading calmly to hospital to build up to a normal steady labour. With Brendan not driving I even thought I could probably drive us both the few blocks to mums before walking to the hospital, I had gone to the bank in the early stages of labour with my first so thought nothing of a quick 3 minute drive.
So back to that night, or early the next morning I was woken up by a really large, strong contraction, the type you generally get close to the birth of a child, not the sort you usually start with. I woke Brendan up thinking I would give him time to wake up properly before to get things ready to go to hospital, not really sure how he was going to get me there, he was in ankle to thigh plaster (how much difference the arthroscopes of today make) and this was not the gentle start to labour that I had expected. I made it to the bathroom thinking like the other boys I would have a nice warm shower before heading to hospital but soon realised this baby had other ideas as another strong knee buckling contraction hit.
Bren had rung my older sister Rhonda when i first woke him with the idea of waking her up to make her way over when she was ready to watch the two youngest boys instead of taking them to mums, she only lived a block away. Another whopper contraction later and I knew this was no regular labour, this was hard and as the pressure increased I realised it was going to be fast as well. Things were happening rapidly so my memory of the next few minutes was vague, after around the fourth or fifth contraction I was feeling the urge to push, Brendan was trying to hobble down the hall way to get the car ready and I was in intense pain against the wall, I recall him grabbing a fistful of my dressing gown, as much to support himself as to pull me down the hallway towards the door to try and get me out to the car but this baby was coming and it was coming now. Within seconds my older sister walked in the door (major relief) as i did a race back to the bedroom, pulled off my dressing gown and threw it on the bed, kind of did an awkward dive and commenced to give birth.
Brendan sat behind me so I could lean on him and my sister in her calm unflustered way delivered my baby boy. I will never forget the moment she held him in her arms and serenely looked down at him and said "hello Joseph" she looked up at me and said "it is Joseph isn't it?" We had never found out the sex of this baby so named were bandies around quite a bit, several girls names, not many boys though, we were starting to run out of idea for male names, but Joseph was the main name we were talking about if we had a boy, so right there and then he was her Joseph, even if we had decided on another name there was no way I would have ever ruined that perfect moment.
Once we had all calmed a little and while Joseph was tucking him for his first feed Brendan rang the doctor, she arrived with an ambulance right behind her. After doing a quick check and announcing us both fit and healthy Joseph was taken in her car to the hospital and I was bundled up in the ambulance and driven there also. It took around 4 layers of heated blankets to stop me shivering, I think my body had gone into shock after such a quick birth. The rest is all a blur, as I mentioned before I had left my hospital bag at mums so I didn't have anything with me, not even my camera so I didn't get to get any new born photos, not until the next day, no visual reminder of the event. Brendan and Rhonda did the clean up, as much as he could do anyway, and I still remember her having a great chuckle telling me that as she walked back into our room she found the cat up on the bed having a wonderful feed. He was awfully fat and shiny by the time I got home several days later.
I often think of how that moment must have been for Rhonda, to walk in the door expecting just to quietly sit with her nephews while we were at the hospital but instead was faced with a chaotic scene of a brother in law hobbling around still a little zoned out on the pain killers the doctor had given him and a sister about to give birth. I could not imagine there would be anyone who would have handled the situation with as much poise as she did, she never once seemed upset or flustered. She and Joseph shared a great bond for many years to come, she became his Godmother and even threw his first birthday party while we were at a wedding so this story is a much hers as it is his. Sadly we lost my beautiful sister to cancer a few years after we had moved to SA so she never got to see her Godson grow up but I'm sure she is up there keeping an eye on him.
I'll go back a few days earlier though, on the Saturday, mum had the kids for me while we went to the footy in Warrnambool to watch Brendan play, a rare luxury to have a few hours without having to chase toddlers with a large tummy. I think it was around the 3rd quarter when Brendan landed from a mark, and didn't get back up again, I could see agony on his face and he struggled to get up and couldn't stand, a knee, his whole knee cap had popped off. The rest of Saturday afternoon was spent waiting at the hospital for a very busy orthopaedic surgeon to see him. When he finally got to see him he was much more concerned that I had been left standing all that time waiting than he was about Brendan's knee, I guess joints damaged in football were a common occurrence whereas a heavily pregnant woman may have been a bit of a novelty in his profession. After fussing around making sure the nurses found me a chair and that I was comfy he finally tended to Brendan. Pregnancy had never been an excuse for me to get any special treatment so I was quite amused by the attention I was getting,lol.
After an examination and X-rays he decided he would need to be operated on and set the date for the following Wednesday. Now Brendan, the fast driving stock agent had had his third strike with speeding fines and had his licence cancelled for 6 weeks only days before so here I was, very pregnant, a husband with no licence for the next six weeks and now we had an operation to add to the mix.
Now is the time I will recount what was meant to happen. Several days earlier I had dropped my fully packed bag at my mum's place with the intention of dropping the two youngest off to her, picking it up and heading calmly to hospital to build up to a normal steady labour. With Brendan not driving I even thought I could probably drive us both the few blocks to mums before walking to the hospital, I had gone to the bank in the early stages of labour with my first so thought nothing of a quick 3 minute drive.
So back to that night, or early the next morning I was woken up by a really large, strong contraction, the type you generally get close to the birth of a child, not the sort you usually start with. I woke Brendan up thinking I would give him time to wake up properly before to get things ready to go to hospital, not really sure how he was going to get me there, he was in ankle to thigh plaster (how much difference the arthroscopes of today make) and this was not the gentle start to labour that I had expected. I made it to the bathroom thinking like the other boys I would have a nice warm shower before heading to hospital but soon realised this baby had other ideas as another strong knee buckling contraction hit.
Bren had rung my older sister Rhonda when i first woke him with the idea of waking her up to make her way over when she was ready to watch the two youngest boys instead of taking them to mums, she only lived a block away. Another whopper contraction later and I knew this was no regular labour, this was hard and as the pressure increased I realised it was going to be fast as well. Things were happening rapidly so my memory of the next few minutes was vague, after around the fourth or fifth contraction I was feeling the urge to push, Brendan was trying to hobble down the hall way to get the car ready and I was in intense pain against the wall, I recall him grabbing a fistful of my dressing gown, as much to support himself as to pull me down the hallway towards the door to try and get me out to the car but this baby was coming and it was coming now. Within seconds my older sister walked in the door (major relief) as i did a race back to the bedroom, pulled off my dressing gown and threw it on the bed, kind of did an awkward dive and commenced to give birth.
Brendan sat behind me so I could lean on him and my sister in her calm unflustered way delivered my baby boy. I will never forget the moment she held him in her arms and serenely looked down at him and said "hello Joseph" she looked up at me and said "it is Joseph isn't it?" We had never found out the sex of this baby so named were bandies around quite a bit, several girls names, not many boys though, we were starting to run out of idea for male names, but Joseph was the main name we were talking about if we had a boy, so right there and then he was her Joseph, even if we had decided on another name there was no way I would have ever ruined that perfect moment.
Once we had all calmed a little and while Joseph was tucking him for his first feed Brendan rang the doctor, she arrived with an ambulance right behind her. After doing a quick check and announcing us both fit and healthy Joseph was taken in her car to the hospital and I was bundled up in the ambulance and driven there also. It took around 4 layers of heated blankets to stop me shivering, I think my body had gone into shock after such a quick birth. The rest is all a blur, as I mentioned before I had left my hospital bag at mums so I didn't have anything with me, not even my camera so I didn't get to get any new born photos, not until the next day, no visual reminder of the event. Brendan and Rhonda did the clean up, as much as he could do anyway, and I still remember her having a great chuckle telling me that as she walked back into our room she found the cat up on the bed having a wonderful feed. He was awfully fat and shiny by the time I got home several days later.
I often think of how that moment must have been for Rhonda, to walk in the door expecting just to quietly sit with her nephews while we were at the hospital but instead was faced with a chaotic scene of a brother in law hobbling around still a little zoned out on the pain killers the doctor had given him and a sister about to give birth. I could not imagine there would be anyone who would have handled the situation with as much poise as she did, she never once seemed upset or flustered. She and Joseph shared a great bond for many years to come, she became his Godmother and even threw his first birthday party while we were at a wedding so this story is a much hers as it is his. Sadly we lost my beautiful sister to cancer a few years after we had moved to SA so she never got to see her Godson grow up but I'm sure she is up there keeping an eye on him.
23 April 2014
Lately
Brendan and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on the 8th of April, I know it's said all the time but man, time flies so fast. We've had quite the giggle looking back over the different hair styles and fashions of the last quarter of a century. Love the visual reminder of how our family has grown so much over those years. I could write really nice things about my man and how much he means to me but I'm so much an image over words person and I think the photos say it all.
Number 1 son Jacko, he borrowed my spare set of sunnies straight after this, my poor kids have lived their lives with a camera in their faces, ha.
Oh how I love this spazzy dog, he is hysterical and a constant source of joy. He will run all day if we are out and active but is equally happy to lay on my feet at the computer if I have work to do. He's a bitza, his dad a cavalier spaniel and mum a cocker spaniel poodle cross but seems to have picked up a lot of the good qualities of them all. Of course he can be naughty at time (not too often thank goodness) but most of the time his funny personality gets him out of trouble. Totally cracked up when I opened up these shots of the computer on the drive home.
Paddy 'booging'
4 April 2014
High school formal
Photo heavy overload from Joey's year 12 formal last Friday night. The year 11 and 12s get to celebrate the night but being his last year at high school this was was a little more special than last years. His partner for the night, Emily, traveled down from Mount Gambier to join him. 
Love the fact that he wanted to buy her a corsage.
One of Joey's mates Ben and his parter, and Emily and Joey.
Love this photo of Joey with one of his besties, the gorgeous Tahnee. The photo below is the pair of them at last years formal, they grow up so fast.
Love this photo of Joey with one of his besties, the gorgeous Tahnee. The photo below is the pair of them at last years formal, they grow up so fast.
Oh how I love this car. I'm generally not much of a car person, as long as they get me safely from A to B, but this classic monaro owned by one of Joe's mates dads is just beautiful. 
With best mates Ben and Taylor
Taylor is almost like a 5th son in our house, these two have been friends for many many years now.
29 March 2014
If only you could share smells on the internet.
Because this was divine. A mixture of garlic, ginger, lemon grass (home grown), star anise, red chilli and kepap manis. Slow cooked a leg of lamb in this mixture and served over flat rice noodles with a side serve of asparagus (previous post). Not sure why I am on such a cooking kick lately, maybe it's the arrival of the cooler weather that is making me think of food other that the quick summer food we usually eat, lots of salad with whatever goes with it, or salad wraps with chicken or tuna (boys would eat almost anything if it was put in a wrap) Whatever it is I'm actually enjoying being in the kitchen for the first time in ages. Recipe http://emsfoodforfriends.com.au/slow-cooked-sticky-asian-lamb/
This afternoon I had a go at making these bowls http://laughingkidslearn.com/2014/02/how-to-make-a-string-bowl-with-kids.html/ really hoping these turn out because I love the look of them.
25 March 2014
Rocking the 1950s house wife thing
It all started by looking for a recipe to make for the boys as an after school snack, yesterday was toasties an although I made enough for two days they only lasted one. Anyway as I was going through my recipe folder I noticed that lots of my favourites that had been printed out were starting to get a bit tattered and torn around the edges, not to mention a bit of the odd cookie dough mark on some so I decided to grab out my most used and laminate them and store them in this magazine holder I had spare, will decorate it some way I'm sure but will be later down the track. Now all I need to do is grab my fully wipable recipe out and it's right there to touch with my foody hands, not only is it more hygienic, the old favourites will last for so much longer now.
So in keeping with the food theme I decided to give this recipe http://eliseblaha.typepad.com/golden/2014/03/how-we-do-asparagus.html a try, OMG my tastebuds were still dancing and hour later, talk about yummy. The only thing I did differently was to cook up a bit of bacon to go with it, so crispy crunchy delicious. I get tired of trying to come up with fast but healthy lunches so as this covered both bases (well maybe not the bacon) I'm sure it is something I will do again, especially now I have a wonderful non stick stone pan that is amazing to clean.
And then not forgetting my initial reason for getting all foody and 1950s housewifish I then made up these peanut butter and oatmeal cookies. They are called dump bowl cookies but mention that in a house full of teenage boys and it's not likely to get very appropriate response. Instead of the intended dump of extra goodies I just used chia seeds, figured there was enough butter and sugar in them without adding more chocolate or lollies and the chia seeds are not only healthier but give it a yummy bit of crunch. http://michellewooderson.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/dump-bowl-cookies.html
Now what to cook for dinner???
24 March 2014
Loving lately...
This printable I purchased from etsy to print, frame and put in number 3s room. He is mad keen guitarist and will play for hours. It's not always easy to get things related to acoustic guitars, it's mostly electric. I intend to grunge up some printable canvas and put it on that. She also had some gorgeous brush design coffee cups that I just had to have, ha.
https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/160343128/digital-download-art-pen-and-ink-guitar?ref=shop_home_active_2
The new plus one project life kit by Amy Tangerine, that little camera icon makes my heart beat a little faster. And I suppose I should add that I am loving getting back into project life again after a dismal attempt last year. I'm sticking to a simpler format this year, a lot of hand writing (even though I hate it) or using my old typewriter. Sticking to the simpler colour scheme of the midnight kit with splashes of colour thrown in so I don't get too bored and going with my mood a bit each week rather than trying to stick to a totally uniform look. 
Another product I am totally loving for project life is stamps from http://kelliestamps.bigcartel.comLike the fact that so many are unique to Australia and others use real life quotes that suit, well real life, not the rose coloured glasses absolutely perfect life sets that are around. Even though I have soooo many stamps I am mostly using these now. I bought this set from the March release (as well as a couple of other sets,shhh) and adore them. They fit in with some of the things I like most, snuggly winter days cuddling in front of the fire and yummy food.
16 March 2014
Not your Nana's cactus...
Or may be they are, maybe I'm only just appreciating the beauty of what the older generations knew, or maybe it's the influence of social media but I am loving the look of succulents right now. I used to think they were a bit daggy when I was a kid. Over the past week I have tackled a few projects that I have had planned for a couple of months now but never seemed to have the time to get around to. I had this layered fruit basket in my craft room, used for storage, for ages and although I loved the look of it it really was too big for my little space and I ended up ditching it. The idea came to me to convert it to a planter but like lots of things it sat there not done for ages. After spending some time last week while Bren and Joe were away putting succulents in glass jars for indoors I thought they would work well with the basket as well. I am quite happy with how it turned out and can't wait to see it in few weeks when it all starts to grow and the plants multiply (that's what I like about cactus is how they just keep doubling and are so easy to propagate) I love the little bird on the top of the handle and think it is much better suited to outdoors than in.
The cactus in the glass jars that I have placed around the house make me happy with their little pop of green and are so easy to look after, well hopefully they will be any way ;-)
12 March 2014
A wee bit excited
My sexy new little macbook arrived today and I am beyond excited to be once again be able to resume regular blogging as well as all the other useful uses. I'd almost forgotten that feeling butterflies zooming around in the pit of my tummy until the delivery man arrived at my doorstep this morning. I am now officially an apple geek ;-)
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