...finally...

Not sure if its the cold weather, but other than a brief look at facebook, I have been avoiding the computer room. We have since acquired a new heater and its making a huge difference...its gone from 11 degrees an hour ago, to 18 now.

Probably the other reason is life seems a bit hectic lately. Due to a staff shortage at work I'm doing shifts all over the place and most weekends I've had off have been full up. We've had some great family get-togethers. Here are some photos from 2 out of about 5 or so get-togethers in the last couple of months..

My brothers...





Jon's brothers... Bohdi's first birthday...






We have certainly kept to one of our main reason's for moving, which was seeing family more.

Here are some random photos as always..


Taken today.. Everyone says how big Bain is getting, even Mum's from school who only haven't seen him for 2 weeks said he'd shot up, think he'll over take me in the next few years..


Rugged up for a kick of the soccer ball..



Oodle...



Cheers...

...so slack...

I'm sure theres only 2 people, at most, that actually read this thing, but for their benefit, I'm here to freshen up...

There's a been a little bit happening around the place. I've been keeping up with my 2nd go at Project 365 but no new crafty things happening. My spare room is in shambles so that'll have to come first. If anyone has been to my house, you'll have been aware of the green shade clothe that enclosed our little back deck area. It served a purpose - keeping mozzies and flies out - but was well expired. So off it came!!



When the sun is out, its drenched in sunlight, which is great this time of year. You can also see my 2 new chairs - well 2nd-hand...vintage!!! They are so comfy.



Its a perfect spot to have a tea - out of my new teapot, special thanks to Karen.



We have also had Easter,we had a lovely time up at Melbourne with the Yates' and SIL's - great shopping/kid free time!!! There was also a wedding - Jon's cousin, he was groomsman. They had the ceremony at a bluff near Aireys inlet, which was beautiful, perfect spot (except a little rain) and then inland for the reception. I was photographer, and they will appear soon on my photography blog - right after I post the other wedding I photographed late last year. Our nephew turned 5 and Bain had a great time at the bowling party - where he got 2nd place






Bain and Emmy, what a cute pair of spideys..

til next time...

what have i been up to...

Life has been crazy actually, good stuff and very bad stuff happening. But due to my lack of blogging, I have a heap of good stuff...

I was rather fortunate and very excited when I was able to snap some picks of an infamous car here in Ballarat - The Chandelier Mobile, with pink shop in background!!



I've wanted to share this with the world since I first spotted it. This shop is close to Jon's store. What you can't see, in the same fabulous paint job on the side on the car, is the writing on the shop window advertising for cheap LPG car conversions. The chandelier on top of the car is actually wired up to light up. In the shop is every style, size chandelier you could ever want, including one which would barely fit in an average sized bathroom, its huge.



A couple of weeks ago Carly and myself took ourselves off to Stitches and Craft show in Melbourne. We had a great time. there was a lot of your more tradition crafts, but our favourite was 'The Incubator' which featured "the freshest indie craters...the best Australian contemporary craft and design.." - basically all the stuff we love from the bloggers we read and Etsy sites. One of the highlights for me was visiting the Ink & Spindle stall,



where we both purchased some little scrap/sample bundles of their fabrics. I was able to meet and chat with my fave blogger/designers Lara from Kirin Notebook. They were such a friendly, down to earth bunch. We also went to a talk by one of the girls, Bianca, on Home-based craft businesses, which as excellent. I will post some more stuff later on our purchases. Any who.. here are some (mobile phone) photos from the day, there were these little displays dotted around the place... enjoy...



The weird and wonderful green bits and pieces are crocheted..






Paper Babushka dolls...











yes its knitted...













With these pictures in mind, I decided it was time to purchase a little point-and-click camera, that could live in my handbag. Its a little 8meg Olympus and I'm loving it! It is a bit to get use to.. the delay from pressing the button to when it actually snaps is the worst, but it has other features like over and under exposure which I will use a lot.

One little, but fairly labour intensive project I did recently was a Moopy Bunny softie, from the 'More Softies' book. A good friend needed one and I hate following patterns, so this was a real labour of love. Softies look easy. But I am quite happy with the finished result and I would do another, now I know the tricks involved. I used some new fabric, some old, some recycled and the body is fabric purchased from Lara (from Ink & Spindle, mentioned above)







Catch ya on the flip side..

all is....good

Except for the 100km wind. I am a little worried, as anyone who has visted me would know, of the native trees that dot my fence line. I was watching one of the bigger ones before and the main trunk was moving. I guess it could be a lot worse, Bain's school was open, and no fires!

Bain had his first school sports day on Monday. I wasn't sure about the protocol and taking photos, so I only had my phone. Turns out it was no big deal. He 's a bit hard to see, specially with their big, blue school hats - that is Bain is the green T.


I guess this is like an early high jump, they jump on the spot to see who can get the shortest rod thing hanging down.


and hurdles, Bain didn't knock any!! (Bain in the outside lane)

Although he wasn't a super athlete, he did quite well, I guess you'd say he was average for the group- not the quickest or highest or best thrower, but not at the other end either. He had a great time and wanted sports day again on the Tuesday.



Photos from Eastern Beach, a quick Geelong trip on Saturday- just the 3 of us. We did a flying visit of Packo Fest, which is a street festival for Packington street. It was winding up by the time we got there, but I'll definately be there next year. Although you'd have to enjoy food, and more so, food of the world to really enjoy it.








...and Bain's Darth Vader (airbrush) tattoo from eastern beach. We had fun just wondering around without a plan.

In other news...
My cherry tomatoes have gone nuts!! I collected both of these on the same day, and there coming thick and fast... and they're delicious, so tasty and sweet.






And I've started my Project 365 #2 for those who are interested - I'm already a week in!

randomness...

Firstly I thought I'd share some random photos off my phone. I've been clicking here and there around Ballarat - while walking to work etc., and other things.. Theres something about the simpleness of a phone cam that I enjoy, although its restrictive so you do have to think..




love a bit of lens flare...




Floating paper towel at servo -





...jon said I was nuts too...





Clinton and Sarah's dog Rosco













Bain is enjoying school and is always eager to get there, especially after the weekend. Although I think having Wednesdays off has helped him to not be so overwhelmed. He had a casual day Friday to raise money for the Bushfire Appeal and really enjoyed showing off his new Spiderman hoodie. It zips up into a spiderman mask.

I am considering starting up my Project 365 again as, other than the above, I haven't been taking many photos. I look back on that time and realise how enjoyable it was. And now I have more time, it should be easier.. maybe.

Cheers for now.