applehead

another (small) elephant...

Much to their delight, Rose and Charlotte have been invited to be flower girls at a wedding, two weeks before we leave.
So instead of thinking about boxes and cold weather, I have shifted focus to pink embroidered silk and pale green frothy tulle...

I am using a pattern from a favourite Japanese book...

As it will be hot here (hopefully!), the girls will be minus the top and the leggings, with a singlet top instead.

(Fabric details - embroidered silk  and pale green tulle from Tessuti fabric)

what to do...

when you have a house to sort and pack up and the girls want something fun to do?
Teach them to blow eggs of course.

Charlotte got the hang of it quickly - Rose was a little too enthusiastic and ended up with a handful of egg and eggshell.
Quick wash and dry of the  eggs shells, bit of glue and crafty bits and pieces and there you go.

Egg people.

Glamorous egg.

Middle egg toppled over and came up a little worse for wear.
Nothing a bit of sticky tape can't help, though.

As for the eggs...cinnamon butter cake seemed the sensible option.

And the final tally?

Eggs blown: 5 in total with one casualty

Egg people made: 3 whole and 1 a little cracked

Cakes made and eaten: 1

Boxes sorted and packed: ........not many really.
Actually none to be precise.

Oh well.

any excuse...

to stop sorting and packing for a while.
This time I was meant to be sorting through my wool stash, deciding what to take with me, what to store and (gasp!) what to give away. However once I stumbled across a single ball of Noro (actually the only ball of Noro I have ever purchased) it was game over as far as the task at hand was concerned.
I have a Teva Durham pattern  for a Lace leaf scarf  that I had purchased long ago but never found a reason to knit up - now I had a ball of wool and a reason to give it a whirl.

I then came across this post over at the purlbee and decided that I am going to alter the pattern and add a keyhole closure like the one shown. I have also made the neck part twice as wide so that it will actually keep the neck warm! I think it will be perfect for one( or maybe both) of the girls.
Next up on the list of Things to Sort are the art/craft supplies.
I'm thinking that might take a while and a good quantity of tea.

warm weather...

means time outside with a bare bottom.
(thankfully for the neighbours, this generally applies to those of us that haven't reached double digits yet!)
Grace is enjoying the pleasures of being nappy free, wiggling around on her back and discovering her toes.

At almost 6 months, her eyes seem to be getting bigger, the cradle cap slightly less obvious (as long as I remain a diligent mama monkey) and the dribbling* remains pretty much the same.

Grace is like Rose - an early bird.
Charlotte, however takes after me in her love of sleeping late, which is why she doesn't feature in this photo.

*(Incidentally, if anyone has a magic trick for preventing mildew blooming on bibs please ,please share it with me. I don't let them sit about damp, they go straight into be soaked or washed and then dried in the sun. I have tried bleach, bicarb, lemon and vinegar, tea tree oil...nothing works. I am convinced it has something to do with my girls' dribble as I have had the same problem with all of their bibs and many tops as well.)

 

distractions....

I'm in the middle of packing up my office.
I need to sort everything into piles of Things to Take, Things to store and Things that need a new home.
This includes my magazine collection which in theory should be a simple and quick task - pick up a magazine and put it on the Yes or No pile.
Except first I have to open each one and have a brief look through just in case there is Something Useful in it.
Which I then tear out and add to the Pile of Pages of Useful Stuff.
This Pile must then be filed away for future use in a group of folders that I have especially for these types of Pages- let's call these the Folders of Pages of Useful Stuff.
This can take a while.

When I stop for a well deserved reviving cup of tea, I often take a look at what I have just added to my Folders of Pages of Useful Stuff. Then I might pick up a glue stick and my favourite Micron 005 pigment ink pen. Just for a minute or so, because I have come across exactly what I was needing for an idea that has been floating around my head for quite a while.

A quiet song that I have sung all of my babies off to sleep with.
At last,a small collage to hang on Grace's wall.

And a still sizeable pile of unsorted magazines.