2010

 Photo credit to the Mr for this butterfly capture.

2010 was such a big year for us.  Two small children, the search for land, buying land, the move and now the renovation phase.  I wouldn't change anything, but I am ready to relax now thanks very much...

I have loved having time to sew, and to knit.  We have enjoyed settling in to our new small community.  The children have been a delight and I think next year will be even better!

We have tried to be as self supporting as we can.  Lamb, beef and veggies all grown here by ourselves.  Soap and washing liquid made by me and home brew beer.  Next year I would love to do better and buy even less. 

It has been fun experiencing our first lambing season, selling sheep, and having a couple of cows.  Next year will be easier because when we moved in here nearly 6 months ago we had no idea what was what and had to learn quickly!

I took some personal comments about the Possum Blue blog to heart and as a result, made it private.  Today I opened it back up.  Yup, it is the end of the year, and I am putting it behind me and moving forward.

I don't normally make resolutions, but in 2011 I would like to get fitter, by actually exercising.  I would also like to spend less money.

There, it is in writing, so must happen!



I feel content at the end of 2010, and excited by the promise held by the New Year.
I hope you do too.

Happy New Year!

Summer Fun

The warmer weather finally arrived a month into Summer so we wandered down to the creek for a swim.  It is the first time since we moved nearly 6 months ago that it has been warm enough to go for a paddle.

The water is clear and flowing well.

Nice to see all the rain about in good use here!

Summer Fun, at last.

Five Photos. Five Facts.

1. I love the holidays.  Time to play, time to relax.  Special time for the whole family.

2. I buy chocolate chips every time I do the groceries.  They should be used to bake cookies, but I always eat them before I get that far.

3. We don't own a dishwasher, and I say we don't need one, but the Mr mostly does the dishes and he thinks we do need one.  One day when we put a new kitchen in...

4. I really want to win lotto, but not enough that I ever buy a ticket.

5. I would love a good photo with both my children in it, I am still trying!

Playing along with Pip's latest meme. 

The above photos are the children playing in Jelly Baff in the paddling pool outside.

Christmas Day

We have been having a very Merry Christmas in our house.

We slept in, opened some gifts, ate some breakfast and opened some more gifts.

Today we have played, eaten, laughed and shared.

We have listened to 80's music, played snap, and danced.

We cooked the perfect roast for lunch and ate too much trifle.

I set the table and pulled out the good silver.  I said we should say Grace, to which Possum replied 'Grace' and started eating.  Sunday school for us next year I think!

Possum has been feeding us play food from her new play kitchen and I think that will be enough to keep me going for awhile yet, I am still full from lunch.

I had an after lunch snooze which was wonderful.

The children are still playing, but have moved onto Play Doh.

In the spirit of Christmas sharing, here are the jokes from our Bon Bons at lunch time:

Q. What do monkeys sing at Christmas?

A. Jungle Bells, Jungle Bells..!

Q. What did the winner of the race lose?

A. His breath.

Q. Which fish go to heaven when they die?

A. Anglefish.

Q.What is the difference between a fish and a piano?

A. You can't tuna fish.

Advent 23-24

Advent Activity #23. Fun craft!

I had these shapes put away in the cupboard and today was the day I pulled them out along with the glue and bits to stick on.  The above photo shows Blue carefully sticking things to the glue stick.  Possum did a bit better and on the craft wall there are a few butterflies, a bug and a ladybug all proudly lined up.  They are kept company by the 'carpar' below.

Tomorrow's activity will be a visit to Nan and Pop's which will be fun.

We are visiting in the name of Christmas early leaving us to have a quiet day here on the big day itself.

On a different note, I have shown off the photo of Nellie in my washing before, but now she has taken up the hobby of staring at me through the window too.    I took this photo through the glass doors three hours ago,  I just looked again, and she is still there, looking at me...

Advent 19-22

I almost forgot what our activity for Sunday was, until the Mr remembered that was the day we put up the Christmas tree.  Hard to believe we have been that busy that I would forget something that was so much fun at the time!

Monday the 20th was a trip to the park.  The Mr watched the children playing while I did a quick shop.  How nice to buzz around a shop without both children with me.  They had fun too :)

The 21st was cake baking day.  Possum loves cooking and requested a chocolate cake for her birthday, she was more than happy to help bake it.

Today I pulled out a magic painting book.  A brush and a bit of water provided a fair amount of fun.

Only 2 Advent days to go!

THREE

My little girl is three.  

I am sad, and excited all at once.

The past twelve months have been wonderful. 

Watching you learn and explore.  Watching you grow.

I miss your baby talk, hearing you refer to yourself as Boffer before you could say your own name properly.

You still say 'hairy carpar' instead of  hairy caterpillar and I love 'teletone' instead of telephone but I will have to let go soon because you get better at more words everyday and these will soon be a thing of the past too.

You love glue and craft and you love books.  You love Playgroup and your friends and Story time at the library.  You love the park, but not the swings, you much prefer the slide.  You love Charlie and Lola and Playschool on tv.

We have loved you being two.  Now we get to see what three has in store for us all and I can't wait!

Happy Birthday Possum.

Advent 15-18th

Catching up on our Advent activities.  I don't have photos relevant to each activity so am just tossing in some extras from the past week that I have taken.

The 15th saw us in town for the Santa photo.  The creative encouragement behind making the Santa photo happen was the promise of an ice cream after.  Ice cream was bound to be exciting given it is a rare treat so that was a good choice as an activity (and/or bribe...).

The 16th was a sad day here for me after just having had the family dog put down so I picked an easy activity and pulled out another new Christmas themed book to give to the children.  It was How the Grinch Stole Christmas and was another op-shop find. I enjoyed it so if you want a Christmas book this is a good one.

The 17th we ducked into town and bought two gifts to put under the Kmart wishing tree.  I have done this over the past couple of years and think it will be a great thing for the children to be a part of.  Christmas spirit at it's best :)

The 18th, being a Saturday was a great day to have pony rides as the activity.  Possum loves her pony Lily so this is always welcome as far as she is concerned.  She even managed to trot a bit.

Test Knitting

I was lucky enough to be able to test knit this pattern, which has now been released on Ravelry.

I knit the vest version for blue, but this pattern also has a dress and tunic option which makes it great value.  It is also written for both 8ply and 10ply wool.

I used some variegated wool I picked up in the Bendigo Woollen Mill back room and added some light blue Heirloom that was in a large bag of wool given to me by a local Ravelry friend.  Thanks Bron :)



Quilt Blocks

Playing catch up before the end of the year on the block swaps.

For the swap the local girls started on Ravelry, some half square triangles in a 9 patch block.

For Abbe in Around the Block, who requested stacked rectangles in her green and grey fabrics.

For Sheridan, the bee leader in Around the Block, who requested Mondrian style blocks.  This is very striking and will be wonderful as a quilt top!



Man's Best Friend

This is Sam.  I got her as a pup in 2000.

She always came at a run if you called her.  She would bounce like a puppy with excitement when she saw you and would nudge at your hand for a pat.  She never jumped up and got you dirty.

She was great with the kids.  They loved her and she let them pull her hair and pat her with a thump.  Blue calls all dogs 'Sam' and tells them to 'sit' because of her.

She loved the water and would always swim, even when I thought it was too cold.  She loved rounding up the horses, chickens and possums, but never worked stock in a way which would be useful.

She was scared of thunder and would come inside during a storm even though she was strictly an outside dog.  In this house she could open the front door and would let herself in with the first distant rumble of thunder and would be found under my sewing table.

She will be missed.  A lot.

Christmas Clothes and Kids Swap

Awhile ago I posted about what Possum received in the Kids Craft Swap.  Yesterday's post contained Blue's swap package and he now has some fun 'special mail' too.

A wooden car he is playing with as I type.  Some iron on transfers which I need to buy some new tees for and some frog stickers.  I am excited about trying out the transfers, I have never used them before! 

Thanks Marie :)

Yesterday I blogged the Santa Photo.  This is the dress I made that Possum is wearing.

It is the Make it Perfect Pinny #1 which is the same pattern I used the year before.  I love that it lets me use a variety of fabrics.  Once again I modified it by adding buttons to the straps instead of leaving them as ties.

I didn't make Blue new shorts as last years still fit him.  I feel a tad guilty so might make him a new pair in time for Christmas Day.



The Santa Photo

Next year, remind me to smile...

Advent 12-14

Advent activities are still underway.

The 12th was a fun craft day.  I left Possum with glue, paper, crayons and strange bendy pencils.  She coloured and stuck while I sat there knitting.  Blue had a turn colouring so fun was had by all.

Monday the 13th was 'cook something fun' so we put on aprons and made White Christmas. 

Today, the 14th, was 'build a cubby inside day'.  We lined up chairs and covered them like a tent with blankets.  We all have spent time in there today and to add to the fun had to picnic outside for lunch due to the chairs being busy.

Japan

If you have a friend who is going on a shopping holiday in Japan, don't be shy, ask her to pick you up something...

You will be very glad you did!

A Kokeshi from Kyoto, thank you Sheridan, she is perfect!

Boy Knitting

When Tikki mentioned a mystery knit-a-long I knew I would take part.  I have knit a few of her patterns and really like them so this was exciting.  The KAL concept grew until all of a sudden there was going to be a boy version and a girl version to keep everyone happy.  About 250 people signed up which is amazing.

I wanted to knit both the boy Fratello, and the girl Sorello but life got in the way and my Sorello is waiting with just the neckband finished.  I will get back to it soon.

The Fratello is a wonderful pattern.  Just enough detail to keep it interesting and still quick and easy.

I have not knit as many things for Blue as I would like so this was doubly good.

I bought this wool on our Trip to Bendigo in September so it is a back room bargain.

The colour is Guava and I think it is wonderful.

I knit the size 2 so it will be ready next Autumn.

I really like it!

These patterns will both be offered for sale soon if you missed out on the KAL fun.