What a whirlwind the last 6 weeks have been! Merry belated Christmas and Happy New year to all of you.
These are the little candle mats I made and matched up with glass candle holders for gifts. I love the tealights, they are battery operated so I don't have to worry about little fingers and flames.

Emily and Daddy read the Potato People by Pamela Allen for bedtime last night so the first job on this morning's agenda was these little guys.Emily has checked 6 times today to see if they have sprouted yet...uumm...no sweetie....check in a few weeks........




I love the school holiday break over summer as it means heaps of family time together. We have had a few short trips to the coast and to Melbourne. Here are a few pics of the highlights..
Lazy days on the beach at Sussex Inlet...

Getting friendly with the local wildlife......

Little white lie at the Museum......"yes dear that is a T-Rex ! "
Emily is mad about the Night at the Museum movie....I did not have the heart to disappoint her !
I had to drag her out at closing time as she wanted to stay behind to see everything come to life.




Very busy crowded day at the Melbourne Aquarium......


and just ask my 12 yr old cricket mad son, what has been the highlight of his holidays....
got to be Watson scoring his century.....that was a father son expedition to the MCG let me tell you.....Emily and I went to watch the singing Chipmunks and then browse the kids section at the Borders book shop in Melbourne Central...talk about heaven! ( the bookshop , that is..NOT the movie ! )


I made the most of my spare time lazing by the beach and have started my Christmas stitchery quilt for the year ahead...scary huh ! ...just need to see if I can keep up the pace !
The kids are all in bed so I think I will go try to master my new toy....Santa left me a Wii Fit plus under the tree....was Santa trying to give a gentle hint ???
Maybe I will leave a Mirdle ( you know ..that man girdle thing ..ha.ha) under the tree for Santa next year...

x Cheers, PJ.X

tiptoe through the.....

Car packed. ( overpacked as always)
Portable dvd player ready - to allay certain boredom and the repeated question..are we there yet !
Camera battery charged.

Off we go... here....

for a lovely long weekend .

x PJ x

Super-duper sized catch up post !!

I was horrified when I saw the date of the previous post !
Very neglectful of me. So, in no particular order , a glimpse of what I have been distracted with for the last 4 weeks.
A birthday party for Emily, 45 people at our house on a cold, miserable day.
We had the usual party food fair plus games. I made a piniata.Which held together really well. Too well. Note to self..next time use less packaging tape LOL...I think Arny Schwarzenneger would have had a hard time busting it open !
We took some fairy cakes to share as her birthday cake at pre-school. All gobbled up rather quickly...3- 4 yr olds are apparently ravenous by morning tea time when they have been climbing , running and chasing !
Emily is putting the candle in her playdo cake...you know..the one they have at child care and pre-schools to "blow out "the candle...so they don't spit all over the cake that is to be shared !

I was lucky enough to win a few giveaways happening in blog land..and "meet"some lovely crafty types along the way!
These toasty warm, knitted/felted wrist warmers from Miss Muggins , love the wrapping !


and this stunning quilted pillow pattern from Kellie at don't look now.
I was in the newsagent this morning and spotted the latest issue of Australian Homespun..and there was Kellie's gorgeous quilt on the front cover ! She is one talented lady !
We had a trip to my Dad's orchard...Emily follows him around like a puppy dog, chatting incessantly ( NO idea where she inherited that trait from ! ).
She helped Pop in the packing shed...and found a few apples to bring home !
Blake enjoyed riding the motorbike and tractor , then whining all the way home about how hard done by he is , having to live in the city ."why can't I live on a farm ? "
Geez...give me strength !!

Then there's the stitching projects...Amy from Seven Stitches...all the way over the ditch in NZ kindly organised a virtual quilting bee for Aussie and NZ participants,and she called it what else but the ANZAC quilting bee.
Here is the fabric she has sent .Plus her lovely Gee's Bend postcard ! Very Amish inspired colours. We are to construct 2 x 12.5 " blocks using string piecing. I plan on sitting down tonight to complete mine , but Nova was on a mission and had her's finished in record time ! And they look great.

This is my piece for The Quilt Project. With a little extra added !

A big thankyou to Kirsty at kootoyou , for organising this group. I can't wait to see the final result. I must admit I procrastinated so long over my design but I was happy with the final result. I haven't done much stitching before, other than blanket stitch for applique, so the craftmanship may be lacking..do not look too closely !
Do pop over to the flickr group , make sure you see this particular piece..totally inspiring !

This mumma can't do much without her little helper wanting to join in, so here is Emily working on her stitching...she really did quite well for her age..stitch spacing a tad uneven, but she concentrated SO hard on staying on the line !

Last but not least, I found this at my fave op-shop last week. A classic vintage print , the girl reminded me of Emily..had to grab it ..for a princely sum of $2. Yay !
x PJ x

Where did my baby go ?

This is my baby.
Well, she was.
Now she is my big girl.
But she will always be my baby.

Happy 4th Birthday , Princess.

The cake ? A very sad make shift , make do packet thingy . Because you MUST blow out candles on the actual day of your birthday ! No matter how sad the actual cake may be..or how bad it tastes.
Heaps of chocolate frosting can always improve a sad cake however. At least that's what her big brother tells me.
Never mind. Her party is on Sunday.I will once again be able to play super- best mummy in the whole wide world role and create a special cake for the party day .
Which will hopefully taste lots better than this one did !
I am very relieved that she has requested a butterfly birthday cake this year.
Um..should be much easier than what she requested last year .
Go take a peek, I am off to find a recipe.

x PJ x

Paying the price.....

I promise not to roll in the dirt anymore !
Please..no...don't wash me...anything but that !



He just never learns...so much for old dogs and new tricks.

x PJ x

First time.

We have had a busy weekend with a lot of "Firsts "

The first time I have seen a naked Banana !! I think I should have found a maple leaf for his modesty ... his PJ's needed a wash...

The first time Emily collected fresh eggs..

The first time I totally improvised a quilt top ...one way to use up all my flannel scraps !!
Very utilitarian..I know it won't win any prizes !


Hope you all had a lovely weekend !
x PJ x

What not to do......

with a plastic tea cup !



I was hurrying to get ready and out the door this morning, Emily was happily playing in her room with her teaset,when she apparently decided to put the tea cup over her mouth and suck the air out and suction it to her face.

The result was this horrible bruising and she had actually burst tiny blood vessels ,I wiped off droplets of blood.
Poor thing she was so upset...but I had to chuckle...she looked in the mirror then shook her head , turned and said "This is the worst day of my life ! "

okay... not the best day...but I hate to tell you my little 3 yr old popppet....there will probably be worse days than this one !!

Happy Birthday Mr Magoo !

Where do the years go ? My little man turned 12 today. Happy Birthday !
The nickname Mr Magoo has been with him from early on..
Mr Magoo has been a delightful boy, sweet and caring .He tried to wangle a day off school today so he could stay home and play with his presents ,but the sudden tummy ache as it was time to catch the bus was ignored..hhmm...didn't mention it when he got home .....! Funny that !

He had the chubbiest cheeks as a 5 month old......




and here he is 8 yrs old, lying on the hospital bed with his newly born baby sister...I LOVE this photo.....see those protective arms wrapped around her...that is how he is with her now....the doting adorable big brother !


I wish I could freeze time for a while..keep them at their current ages...just for a while .....

Best friends.

So..what to do when your big brother has gone back to school and you do not have a buddy to play hairdressers with ?



Grab a bag of Schmackos and con your other buddy, Buzz, to sit quietly in the one spot for more than 30 seconds so you can brush his " golden rapunzel hair " .
Everything is related back to fairytale princesses when you are 3, did you know ?

Buzzy lives up to his breed's name....he will retrieve a toy and there it will stay in his mouth for the whole day- until food is offered of course !
Today's toy of choice was his Santa toy from this last Christmas...he had been a very good doggy and made it on the nice list .

Please note that choosing clothes was not this Mumma's role this morning.
Asserting her independence, Emily decided that stripes, more stripes and a splash of floral was a great fashion statement.....luckily no need to leave the house today...phew !

puppy love..........


On a crafty note...I would like to introduce you to Pointy Kitty.
Gotta be careful with the eye placement though or she will end up looking like Evil Kitty !
She is fun to make and can be found at her new home...purring...on Emily's pillow.




Like to make one also ? Here is the link at Wee Wonderfuls .

Next on my to do list ( just for the fun of it ) is the oh so cute Ruby doll
Jhoanna,from One Red Robin has some other cute friends to make too !

Must go op-shopping tomorrow...feeling the need...have not been since Monday - which proved fruitless.


Toodles,

x Peta-Jane x

Planning and organising

x PJ x

A busy Easter .... but fun !!

I needed to do some baking for my mother in law's 80th Birthday Party on Easter Saturday.
I have something of a baking ritual happening which involves a bottle of wine and this movie, ( my all time favourite I think ! )
Most people probably listen to music...I listen to this movie..too busy to really watch it as I cook...but I think I know every word by heart.
Besides the trays of apple slice and caramel tartlets, there were 10 dozen mini sausage rolls and 9 dozen mini quiches of assorted varieties..( fetta and semi dried tomato are my personal fave....)


We made tray after tray of gourmet sandwiches on the morning which seemed to disappear as soon as they were placed on the table ( always a good sign ) The party was a success. We hosted an afternoon tea party with 60 guests and the birthday girl, Betty, was thrilled to see so many people there.The rain storm politely stayed away until the last guest had departed and the garden was cleared of any party evidence..then the heavens opened up with some lovely soaking rain .
I had made a quilt for Betty and she loved it ( and I loved that I managed to quilt it in time and that I did not have puckers !!)
Sorry, the quilt photo is rough, but it was the only one I have yet.



Easter Bunny found his way to our home...here is Emily following his trail of footprints ....and her sweet pink bunny dressing gown !



Hope you had a lovely Easter break,
x Peta-Jane x

Pink.

There is a special group of ladies and gents that get together on a Sunday evening to row in this dragon boat. They are either breast cancer survivors themselves or family and friends of survivors or those who lost their battle.Their own blood, sweat and many tears built this boat, as some of their dear friends did not survive to see it completed. I am so grateful that my Mum was one of the survivors and I still get to tell her I love her and give her big hugs .....That is Mum seated last on this side...
Pink is my favourite colour...pink represents my Mum's survival....pink gives me hope.......