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School days.....

First day for Rose at "big school" and nary a tear was shed...not even by mama.
How brave am I ?

The only hitch in the whole day was that her lunch pack was almost too big to fit into her classroom tray, which won't really shock anyone who knows me all that well.People laugh at the amount of food I carry around with me - there is always enough to feed a small army of ravenous children ( actually I often do end up feeding a small army of ravenous children when Steph and I are together - those MacKinnons are very good eaters lucky for me!).
I don't know - perhaps I was an Italian mama in another life.... I just love to see children with a healthy appetite.
Anyway, when we went to collect Rose, there she was with her new teacher trying to squash the cooler pack back into her backpack (and  to be honest, it ain't a small backpack! Rose looks like a turtle when she puts it on). Her teacher laughingly suggested that a smaller lunch pack might be in order,as this one had taken up most of the room in Kindergarten Blue's lunch basket. Oh well, at least she didn't go hungry on her first day at school.....
Off to buy a (slightly) smaller pack tomorrow.
(Anyone need one insulated lunch pack, only used once and big enough to hold a four course meal? Lime green and  lurid purple so guaranteed not to get lost in a crowd)

Here she is, with her studious schoolgirl look!

red

Illustration Friday: "red"
My first one for this year........
Pigment pen on paper

In search of creative inspiration

My girls have that lovely book " Going on a bear hunt" which we read so often that we know it all by heart.
At the moment my own personal version goes something like this...

uh,oh.
A wall
A big, blank creative wall.
Can't go over it.
Can't go under it.
Can't go around it.
Guess we'll have to go through it.
Thud . Thud. Thud.
( that's the sound of my head hitting against that big blank wall........)

The last few weeks I just seem to have lost the momentum for creating things. I do have a few projects on the go ,which have been great to fall back upon in times like these when you need to keep your hands busy. Usually though I have endless ideas for things I want and need to create  buzzing around in my head- my head has been curiously quiet as of late.
January- itis perhaps? Does anyone else suffer from this malaise as well? And if so , what do you do???
In an effort to lift myself out of the creative slump I'm currently wallowing in ( I hate to wallow- so self indulgent) I decided to embark upon a strictly one evening project. I think it helped . In fact I kind of enjoyed it enough to do another the next night. The inspiration was borrowed from here and this is what I ended up with....

 

Hmmmm...maybe, just maybe, I've made a small dent in that big blank wall!

back to the kitchen......

well, well, who'd have thought...... craftblog land filled is with people who are not only handy with a needle but know their way around a lawn mower as well! Thanks for all of the advice... I wore my longest daggiest socks ,set it at the highest cut and well stayed away from the pointy end. And I was very, very careful. Lucky for me to discover that we own a "green" lawnmower which runs on a rechargeable battery and starts with the simple push of a button! No fuel or starter ropes to worry about  at all! Thanks for all of the advice..next time I have to tackle a new household task I'll know where to head for a few pointers.

Before....

after......ahhhhhhh!

How proud am I?

And now back to the fun stuff....
Now that buying bananas no longer means taking out a second mortgage on your house, I have finally been able to make one of my all time favourites, Banana bread. In our house that means great, thick slices toasted and with a bit of butter for extra goodness. Wholesome. Especially when it is a house rule to replace half (sometimes all) of the required pecans with dark chocolate chips.Extra,extra wholesome.Good for you, too.
I did make one early on in the week but Georgie-the- wonder-girl and I helped ourselves to a wee slice whilst watching the DVD of the second series of Gray's Anatomy. So the loaf didn't look pretty enough the next day when I went to take a picture of it.To be honest there wasn't really enough to bother taking a photo. So I ate another slice and decided the best thing was to make a fresh one and take a photo before we got too carried away with the butter and the DVD.
So even though you probably have a recipe for banana bread (completely different to cake I might add) do try this one. It's very simple and I think one of the best of the many recipes I have tried out.
And be sure to be generous with the butter.

Banana bread with Pecans and chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180 deg cel.

Beat these three ingredients together until light and pale
80unsalted butter, softened
110g ( just over 1/2 cup) caster sugar
60g ( just over 1/3 cup) brown sugar

Beat in
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten

Then fold through
275g ripe banana flesh, well mashed
100g chopped pecans ,chocolate chips or a mix of both

Sift together
250g ( just under 2 cups) plain flour ( white or wholemeal or a mix)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

and fold into mix. Pour into a greased and floured loaf tin and bake for 40-45 min until cooked through (test with a skewer).

Cool in tin for 10 minutes then serve sliced at room temperature or better still toasted.

being the man around the house....

Wish me luck...tomorrow I am going to attempt to use a lawn mower for the very first time! Even though I can replace a leaky tap washer, get rid of large hairy spiders and at a pinch, change a flat tire, I have never mowed a lawn. In my house, growing up, the boys always did the lawns while lucky old me was the queen of the never ending pile of ironing. I still hate ironing.
But back to the lawn.......Damian will be home on Saturday evening ( two whole days early but who's counting. Me.And both the girls. And did I mention me?)
While I have been very diligent with putting out and bringing in bins, controlling the hordes of cockroaches that just thrive in the humid climate of Sydney (and I hate cockroaches even more than I detest ironing) not to mention hauling buckets of bathwater out to throw on the parched garden, I have ignored the overgrown patch of grass in our front yard. I am determined, however to tackle it before the Husband arrives home.

Of course, I will also bake a cake of some sort because I am a Domestic Goddess.
One who doesn't iron, but that's besides the point. The lawn will be pin neat and Damian will be able to stand and gaze out over his domain, watching his daughters dance and frolic on the lawn, without worrying that they will become lost in a waist high forest of dandelions. So tomorrow I will tackle the lawnmower. Surely it can't be any trickier than inserting a jet pocket in a tailored jacket? Surely not.....

I am woman.
Hear me roar.

But any tips on lawn mowing would be most welcome and appreciated.

We're really enjoying the spot of fine weather that is with us at the moment. Long ,lazy days spent swimming and just doing nothing ( nothing of course,after you have finished the morning run of washing, cleaning and cooking and before you start doing the afternoon/evening routine of washing,cleaning and cooking!). Love it!

In between times, I have been having a bit of a play with constructing fabric bowls based on a pattern found in this book ISBN4-579-11088-9.( highly recommend this one by the way!)

 

I  felted an old cream baby blanket for one bowl and used a heavy blue linen for the other ( it has been tipped over in the picture below,so you can see the stitched base). Here is the cream bowl at the almost finished stage.

A few french knots and a bit of running stitch and you have a bowl!

I still get emails ( and photos, thank you very much) from people who have made this felt box. I had been planning to make a few more and then came across the fabric bowl pattern. I decided to try those instead. They are a little more wobbly looking than I expected ,but in the end I have decided that I quite like the whole effect.Sort of soft and sculptural looking.....

These bookmarks, also from the same book, are on the to- do list.

In my world, you can never have too many bookmarks and I think that these are particularly appealing.

what's in the box?

This lovely box landed on my doorstep a few days ago all the way from Israel. And inside?

Such a joyful gift that brought a smile to all of our faces. 

The very talented Julie,whose blog and work is a constant source of inspiration and entertainment,made it especially for me! It is based on a poem I used in this little accordion book.
There was also some pages of Hebrew script to use for collage work , a very cute candle in an apple shaped tin and a set of puzzle magnets for the girls to play with. Julie is about to open her Etsy store on the 8th of January, so be sure to pop by and take a look at her marvelous work.
Thank you, Julie- there is nothing as special as a gift made with so much thought and care.

comfort food

what to do when everyone's feeling a little down?......make something sweet of course!
Baking biscuits always brings me great satisfaction - there is something kind of  wholesome about a homemade biscuit even if it is filled with butter and sugar. Probably because it's my butter and sugar and there are no extra numbers thrown in for good measure.No colours, fake flavours, preservatives or anti-caking agents - just a lot of sugar ( good for energy) and butter ( good for the soul).

This recipe never fails - it's easy and quick to make and very,very good to eat. It will earn you the title of Best Mama in the Whole Wide World and the respect of all the neighbourhood if you choose to share the love around. (If these types of accolades aren't forthcoming, make a cup of tea and scoff the rest yourself! )

Incidentally, any recipe you can make with two pairs of little hands helping is a winner in my books. I let them do the fun bits like licking the beaters and making the holes for the jam.

Jam Drops

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C ( 350 F)

Place 180g of softened butter and 1 cup of caster ( superfine) sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until light and creamy. Rescue the rest of the butter from your now greasy fingered helpers and put it back into the fridge. Hopefully nobody will notice the finger prints.

Add one egg and beat well. ( put the rest of the eggs away).
Stir through 2 cups of sifted plain ( all purpose) flour and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.
Mix to a dough - you may need to get your hands in here to bring it all together.
Roll two teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls ( a heaped teaspoon makes perfect child sized ones). Place onto a baking tray lined with non stick baking paper, allowing room for the biscuits to spread.


Flatten slightly then press your finger into dough to make an indent. Fill hole with jam and bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Add a little more jam to the holes if necessary while the biscuits are hot.
Cool on wire racks. Makes 40-60 depending on size.

Eat,enjoy and allow yourself to feel a tiny bit smug. After all you could have just nipped out and bought some at the supermarket!

day one, 2007....(be warned this is a rather boring post)

(This post is really just for my benefit- this way I have all of my resolutions down on paper so to speak....)

When it comes to New Years Eve, I have to admit I'm a bit of a bore: I love a party as much as the next girl but New Years Eve has never seemed to live up to all of my expectations. The past few years I have been content to have a fairly quiet and uneventful one - some good food , possibly a catch up with a few friends and a glass or two of festive cheer fits the bill nicely.Maybe I'm just getting old......

However,I always love the first day of the New Year - fresh,full of possibility and unknown challenges.
No matter what else is planned for the day, I always ,always find the time to go for a run. I'm not superstitious but I feel as though if I miss a run on this day in particular, it doesn't look good for my running prospects for the rest of the year. So, despite the fact that it was really quite hot and humid, I hit the road for a good hour long run. Thankfully it started to rain about 15 minutes into the run which was just perfect.

(Fairy Bower pool ,along the Manly foreshore walk)

Great music, fresh air and a birds eye view out over the ocean. Perfect.

During this time I had a bit of a think about my resolutions for 2007....

• Spend more time dancing with my girls

• Spend more time dancing with my husband

• Spend more time dancing by myself (but with the blinds down so the neighbours don't talk about that weird woman next door)

• Go to bed early at least two nights a week......Repeat. Go To Bed Early At Least Two Nights A Week

• Run a marathon or half marathon at least which leads to.....

• Get up earlier two mornings a week( groan, I already know that this will be my biggest challenge!)

• Empty and sort through every closet, drawer, etc in my house and give away/get rid of anything that we don't need or use (this could take all year and will involve great willpower on my part when I drop things off to the op shop, as I generally tend to come home with more than I left the house with)

• Use less water and energy

• Plant a herb garden

• Be a little more focused when it comes to my artistic/creative pursuits - spend a little more time improving and building upon my skills in things I already know how to do, instead of madly trying out every new thing that I happen upon.

• Draw something everyday - even just a doodle

• Finish or get rid of UFO's

• Be more selective in the projects that I take on/sign up for

• Eat more chocolate ( but only the best quality stuff .....)

I think that about does it for this year....I have danced twice today ( with and without my girls) , clocked up about 10kms and just printed out the entry form for the Canberra marathon.....so I'm off to a good start.Missed the early bedtime due to writing this post but I'll work on that one tomorrow.

Wish you all a year filled with new challenges, loved ones and laughter.

Oh, and chocolate ( but only the best quality stuff of course!)