Rainy weekend

We've had some rain this weekend - reason for celebration given our state of drought. My thoughts are turning to grey water hoses, and tulips. Not that the tulips will help with water usage, but I believe it's cold enough here to get some flowers come spring. Exciting.



I'm having a little trouble with motivation. DH has taken the kids out both Saturday and Sunday, and I simply couldn't decide what I wanted to do. I'm vulnerable to depression right now, and I can feel it hovering just outside the door, so to speak.



The rain has washed the leaves off our lovely red tree *now known to be a Claret Ash* out the back - quite a different look now. We've also had a visitor to our bird feeder - a sulphur crested cockatoo. It's a terrible photo, but we were inside, and very excited.... I'm sure he'll return for more seed :)


And finally, it's been a very satisfying end to the World Cup - Australia were unbeaten in the entire World Cup tournament, emerging as Champions of the World!!!!

Small things...

can make a difference in your happiness.





This isn't exactly a small thing, but it's making me happy.

The clothes dryer has been sitting on the floor in the laundry since we moved in. Now I have room for the clotheshorse to remain in the laundry. Nice!

It's getting steadily cooler here, and I turned our heating on for the first time on Tuesday. I think we have a warm house, but it needs the sunshine to warm up during the day. So, being a newcomer to central heating, I've been trying to figure out how much it will cost us. The first estimate is $1/hour. Hmmm. I guess it's not that much, but last year (in sunny Sydney) we actually didn't notice a winter increase in our electricity bills.

So, instead, I got the flannelette sheets out. Here is Annabelle's bed, ready for slumber. No, it doesn't match. I realised that last winter, Annabelle was still sleeping in her cot. Fortunately, Lucas had 2 sets of sheets. Looks like more shopping, and I better get knitting on Lucas' bedsocks.

The UFO* List

Part One - Knitting

Lucas socks - just cast on
Lucas jumper - front and back done
Dylan cardigan - front and back done
Clark cardigan - on second front
clapotis wrap - stalled due to run out of yarn
Jasper cardigan - just needs buttons
Darwin cardigan - just needs buttons
scarf - about half way through

* UFO = Un Finished Object

I don't know if I'll do Part Two - Quilting. It might be too depressing. Actually, I've probably got more projects in waiting rather than UFOs.

It's cold today - 17 degrees inside at 3pm counts as cold for me. No doubt this is my coastal genes reasserting themselves. I've turned the heating system on - partly to see how it works, partly because my sister is bringing her twins over a bath a bit later, and partly because I'm cold.

The last couple of days I've done a couple of mystery shopping jobs, finished knitting the two-at-a-time socks, and watched a movie. Casino Royale, the latest Bond. I really enjoyed it - I think it works as an explanation for Bond, ladykiller. And the locations were beautiful. I don't remember the last adult movie I've watched. Certainly the last at the theatre was Lord of the Rings 1.

Domesticity

Well, my life has been really very homebased, and I live in a city...

First, some more cooking; Lemon Butter (also known as lemon curd). It's tangy and delicious and this recipe was incredibly easy to make.

I've also dyed some wool (using food colouring) and used the wool to try out these instructions.

The instructions demonstrate how to knit 2 socks at a time on a set of 2 circular needles. They're nearly finished, and I'm very pleased with them.

Annabelle has been waking every morning between 4 and 6 am, and we think it might be because she is cold. We bought new pyjamas last week, and these socks will be her new bedsocks. Very strangely, I haven't heard her wake, and DH has got up to her each time. Most atypical for he and me.

Autumn is progressing here, and our yard is full of leaves, including this tree. The kids are spending a lot of time moving the leaves around...

More birds...

I believe this is a King parrot - spectacular birds which seem to feed silently. We had 3 at the very top of a tree out the back this afternoon (hence the poor photo.) They seemed quite calm, and didn't fly away despite small children yelling "Mummy, there's a bird" underneath them.

I've had a great day. We spent most of it visiting my newly found old friend and her children. We were there around 5 hours, and there were no arguments or disagreements or violence (all too common in playgrounds etc). It was so nice to hang out with a friend. And we're meeting up again next week :)

On the knitting front, I've pulled out all progress on the Jaywalker socks, and am rethinking them. I've also rolled a ball out of a skein of cashmere/cotton sock wool from Posh yarn (there's probably a technical term for this, but I don't know what it is - it took an hour!)

Hang it Out

In response to Janet's meme, here's our laundry. This photo was taken just after Annabelle was born, and is a family photo, showing all our socks, against a background of Annabelle's bunny (kitty?) rug. It's not photographically good, but I like it because it captured that time in our lives. We were living in a new subdivision in a country town, which meant there were no trees. Fortunately, we were only a block away from the bush, where we would see kangaroos daily on our afternoon walks. No trees was actually great for laundry - I remember one (slightly compulsive) day when the washing was in and dry by 11am. By 3pm, I did another load and it dried just as quickly. This meant in a house with 2 cloth nappied kids, the only used nappies were the ones on the kids - a triumph!

Knitting action

Yesterday, I knitted a new washcloth, using one of the patterns from the website mentioned in my previous post. It's very versatile, can be used as a washcloth, or a hat :)

It was a beautiful sunny day today, I spent the morning shopping, where I ran into my best friend from Uni, whom I haven't seen since her wedding umm 8 years ago? We've arranged to catch up on Tuesday, and I'm very excited about this.

Last night didn't include much sleep. By 1am I was still awake, and that's when Annabelle woke up. She woke again several times, after being resettled, and we ended up bringing her into our bed. Lucas woke at 6am, yelling. I didn't get back to sleep (I rarely can), so DH went back to bed and snoozed.

The leaves in our yard are changing into autumn colours, which the kids are very excited about. As we drive along, they yell out 'red leaves' (well, actually 'red leave-ers') when they spot some.

Dishcloth heaven

Before I forget, this is a fabulous site for free patterns to knit dishcloths. I bought some Anchor Magicline cheap a few weeks ago, and plan to knit a few more washers for DH out of it.

Little knitting has happened here lately, although I am onto the second front of the baby cardigan for my new nephew.

His Mummy is having a few troubles getting feeding established, and I am feeling shocking at not being able to offer any support. So instead of being useful, I bought the small boy a present, and am knitting for him.

I'm finding life a bit difficult at present - not sleeping well, extreme tiredness, and definite crankiness. My cold hasn't really developed, thank heavens, but I'm definitely not well. This has meant I can't get my twin cuddle fix from my local nephews, which has probably contributed to the crankiness - not only the cuddles, but also the conversation with my sister.

Meanwhile, there's been birdlife in the backyard;

Book Binge update

I forgot about posting, but have been reading.

Over Easter I have read;

Esther's Gift by Jan Karon

Canberra's Secrets by Margaret Wade

Stalking Horse by John Francome

Entombed by Linda Fairstein

Every Day by Bill Granger.

I have also cooked two more cakes from Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess, for the celebration of my MIL's significant birthday (the first one stuck in the supposedly non-stick pan), and done quite a lot of knitting while sitting around with Dh's family.

Every Day by Bill Granger is a cookbook, and was an anniversary present. DH and I marked our 12th wedding anniversary over the Easter break.

I've hit a major snag with the Clapotis, having run out of wool. So far I've only checked one shop for replacements, but I can't go back to the original store, given we've moved 200km since then. I really hope I can find some more - having knitted 7 balls so far, I'm kind of attached - and have spent WAY to long to pull it all out.

So, I started Devan for my new nephew. It's knitting up fairly quickly, but I have had a lot of uninterrupted knitting time.

Happy Easter

Sightseeing

We've family in town, so spent some time at visiting our major sights.

Firstly, the Australian War Memorial. I found this visit a little challenging, as I do not believe young children need to know anything about soldiers, guns, wars... This photo is taken in front on the Roll of Honour, bronze panels with the names Australia's war dead, directly in front of the name our my ancestor who died at Gallipoli.

We left a poppy in the wall.

Our next 'sight' was the Mint. We made our own coins,

and climber all over the exhibits.

Then it was home for some Easter cupcakes.

We've got the builders in

Well, actually it's DH and his Dad. They're building us a chook shed. It's going pretty well, although the process has required incredible amounts of wood, nails, drawing, and patience.

Books;

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon

and I'm going to the library child-free tonight, so the reading list should spice up in time for Easter.

We're spending Easter at home this year, and will be spending quite a lot of time with DH's family. His non-local sister and her DH are coming visiting the in laws, so we'll no doubt be seeing them. DH's other (local) sister won't be here until Sunday as they are going camping.

I've been feeling fairly sorry for myself lately, but am trying to fight it off.

Time for a binge?

Well, why not?!

I've been inspired by the Book Binge as started by MaryP. Basically, I shall record all books I read during April. This may be embarrassing, but who cares anyway!

April 1 was devoted to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and today I'm spending time with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. You can probably predict what's up next. I've also been dipping into Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess, as I'm considering what sweet treat to produce this afternoon.

We had a good weekend away down the coast. The main purpose of the visit was to support my friends in the Relay for Life, in memory of our friend Kim. It was great seeing (nearly) everyone together again, and I wish we could have been part of the event. Next year.

It was also nice spending time with my Dad. It's been around 2 months since Mum went to England, so he's been spending lots of time on his own. We provided some noise in the house, cooked a roast pork dinner (with the best crackling I have ever ever made), and re-stocked the biscuit jar. We also planted some broad beans in the garden, which should grow themselves, and visited the park;

We came home via a different route this time, off the freeway and through Nerriga and Braidwood. I enjoyed this road much more, although since I didn't drive much, I guess I can't talk that much. The freeway to Canberra is incredibly boring, and this way we saw cattle and houses and crops and sheep and bush... much better!