Seven on Sunday

oh this seven thing works well for me - flexibility!  I have two days on which I can do it! So:

1. We have a goldfish, who we have named Lucky.  Short reason why? We have four cats roaming around our house and grounds. Need I say more?  Actually, I think he has them bluffed - Lucky lives in a round glass bowl, so as he goes around, due to refraction and so on, he becomes this HUGE fish which scares the pants off the cats.  If they wore pants, that is.

2. I hate folding washing.  This post should be alternatley titled: procrastination.

3. I need some more cardstock storage in my scrap area due to shifting around some furniture recently.  I am tossing up between these nice clear plastic stacking shelves, or the fixed timber ones, which are more economical.  Decisions decisions. Also point 4 plays a role in when and if this purchase will happen...

4.  I was saving my money to purchase a 50mm lens for my camera (the 1.8, as much as I would love a 1.4...anyhow).  But I came across a great deal for some coppice log garden edging for the garden ($5 per 2.4m length!) so I am taking my $150 and putting it into an easy-to-mow-and-maintain garden....

5. The whole family has been invited to a wedding in April.  This might be more than anal, but I have in my head what all of the female members of the family are wearing already. (boys being easy!). Providing everything still fits of course, self included!

6. In that same anal minded vein, and in same frame of mind as point 2 above, I have been shopping ebay for a formal/ball dress for a function in...... August!  This is becuase 1. I hate folding washing, and 2.  I can never find anything to wear in the weeks leading up to the annual ball, so I am doing it now.  And I think I have found something! (but I didn't think to save the picture!) I can tell you this, I am not very adventurous or exciting - its black, and there are no plunging necklines or thigh high splits!

7. I love this photo!

One Small Boy

the start of some random, short posts for today.

I built that train track for him (peeease mum!) taking quite some time to construct its elaborate path to go under the bridge and have another "roundabout" loop, which was not easy considering that some of the track peices appear to have gone awol.

Mere minutes into the post construction playing, he had a train derailment, which necessitated in pulling apart the top loop in order to get in the crane/loader to right the wagons.  {someone obviously paid attention when we drove past a recent derailment here!}. sigh. my work is unappreciated.

This one small boy and his mum are still finding their feet now that its just them at home most of the day. Changes of routine and how we go about our day... no sister to play with so more of helping mum, so mum having to change her routine so that she is doing things that the one small boy is able to help with.  Like licking the cake mixing beaters....!

Tea Set

Kate's birthday tea set, enjoyed by her sister and brother while she was at school (Georgie was having a half day).

new favourite books

So if you get Scholastic Book Club at your school you would have probably seen these books recently, or even come across them in the past.  We just bought these from bookclub, and they have become firm favourites, especially with the one small boy. And his mum.

This has been around for awhile, and it has a host of awards for good reason.  My boy's favourite illustrated page is this one (though he loves them all, he has chosen the oldest child to represent himself when he goes through the book).

This is a bird's eye view of the farm, and Angus just loves looking at the road and where the sheds and other things are.  I quite like it myself!

My own personal favourite  - first heard as a slightly wicked song by John Williamson and sung with great gusto by all persons in the car when it comes on.  John Williamson is quite a clever man, and I intend to get the "kids cd" he has had out for awhile....in preference to listening to Pink, who's words I hadn't really listened to until in the car recently...lets just I was quick to change the words when I caught some of "fun house".  {the girls just love Pink! why oh why!} Anyhow, may I present:

I'm a bush I'm a bush, I'm a bush bush ranger

runnin from the law, livin on danger

bang bang here! come stick em up stranger!

I'm a big bad bush bush ranger!

The story book is wonderfully illustrated with a hilarous bushranger wombat and his gang featuring throughout.

Take note of the expression on the face of his faithful fat pony!

And his girlfriend Gayle, who appears to be, quite literally, a fox!

I enjoy this book every time I flick through it, sometime with a child, sometimes NOT!  And I always hear the song in my head as I read the words.

I can so see this being translated into a play for school kids!

and the storm clouds gather on high

of course you would all recognise that line from an old Slim Dusty song, wouldn't you? ;-)

Sunday evening, from my back yard. Thought the end of the world was nigh.

It didn't make it here.  Nary a drop. Same thing every day this week - big, scary thunderous clouds all round...and they keep going AROUND. But at least my washing is getting dry!

Seven On Saturday

My version of Ten on Tuesday because, well, I had nothing to say much on Tuesday.

1. We had a family day out today:  some time swimming at the creek crossing causeway (the aborted plans for last weekend!) smoko alfresco, some time at Grandma's place, and then a quiet evening in with baked beans on toast for tea, and half an hour of an old Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck Merrie Melodies dvd before bedtime for the kids, while the rain fell on the roof. And still drizzles as I type. Perfect evening at home! ;-)

2. Love the smell of rain on the spinifex.  I can't explain it, but its up there (in front even) of freshly baked bread and baby-powered (johnson and johnson of course!) clean babies.

3. Still in the same vein of topic:  I have wet sheets on the clothes line. sigh.

4. I love this revisted project from Ali E and really should get out of my rut off my butt and do this myself.  I don't have a medium sized butterfly punch, but do have a butterfly die that I use in my cuttlebug...but what a way to enable the purchase of a new and suitable butterfly or star or heart punch!

5.Thinking that I  the family might just get myself  me one of these for Mothers Day:

I found these on my favourite handcraft Australian website madeit.com.au, when perusing their weekly email.  Lots of different styles - similar to the American based ones that I;ve seen everywhere.

6. I really need to get myself motivated to join some form of Weight Watchers.  I need to loose some weight, but oh, its hard work! AND I don't like being hungry (hungry/low blood sugar = VERY GRUMPY) and I don't like to excercise just for the sake of it - going for a walk/ride for a purpose - to fill the water trough or wear the kids out - has a purpose! ;-) Basically, I am a couch potato. Why can't they just invent a pill that magically speeds up ones metabolism and removes fat rolls?

7.Why are they showing double episodes of Grey's Anatomy?  I mean, great! twice the enjoyment on a Tuesday night....but boy its making me tired! Especially with my other favourite, Brothers and Sisters, on late the night before! Oh, the problems I have!

and 8. is a bonus as I just thought of something else trivial.  My favourite author at the moment: Marian Keyes -  and my favourite book of hers - This Charming Man.  Definately "chick lit" but very funny, light reading (that I could.not.put.down! and will re-read one day) but with a whole serious underlying topic.  All with a wonderful Irish accent throughout - you'll find yourself thinking in Irish ;-) but perhaps that's just me! But anyhow, in the words of Molly Meldrum "do yourself a favour" and get your hands on a copy!

Just Quickly

I wanted to share this couple of photos from when Mel took our family photos just before Christmas last year.

I think I might frame up the last one...he wasn't smiling appropriately for Mel so she asked me to feel up his leg to get a reaction...so I did, but gave him a little pinch to wake him up.  I think it worked!  I converted the shots to black and white as Trevor was quite sunburnt from working all day welding (from the sun reflection off the steel, not from lack of hat) and I think it worked okay.

Best be off, have to run to town and collect the girls from their swimming lessons.  I have one other set of photos to share with you next time...and then I won't hassle you with these any more - til next time round!

Warning

Truly awful photographs follow.  I really must work on how I photograph my completed pages!! (poor lighting on the day and a grumbling husband thumping around outside didn't help!)

So now you've looked at the pretty picture in the previous post and are all mellow from its tranquilness, let me present my recent scrapping endeavours.  I could have saved them up, but I'm not that sort of person!  All or nothing!

Lets start with my playing with divided page protectors....which only work with true 4x6, not the batch of crappy ones I got printed that had the white border around the outside.  However, you do the best with what you;ve got.  In hindsight this would look better on 12x12 card, but I had fun just sliding the photos into the 4" pockets. On the left a little 6x12 to finish it off.  (The centre bit on the big page was cut from the front of the invitation to his christening and I found spotty paper that sort of matched).

In the album: (a much nicer photo!)

Some more playing with divided pages:

The back and the front.  See those horrible white edged photos. They don't look too bad here...super quick, no cropping and even some handwriting (though blurgh on that count).

Another super quick one - 6x6...with just a little story.  Below is how it fits nicely into the D ring album.

Some real paper and glue and sticking things down pages:

Things didn't go to plan with the one above, a bit rushed, but I love the paper and the dotted bazzill.  Bad title and all, its not too bad! Notice the similarity in design to the one below (which I did first).

For this one I decided to do on paper what I;ve been dong in Elements:  a block collagy style of layout.  I should do this more often as it feels so easy on paper and computer. (About my boys' very low key 1st birthday.) Quite happy with this page!

humm of silence for 10 minutes.....my apologies, this post was rudely interrupted by my husband, who demanded that I stop what I was doing and come drive the tractor to pull his truck out from where it was bogged.  But I am back, tractor driver extra-ordinaire that I am, truck un-bogged, to finish this post...now where was I?

And that ends this installment of poorly photographed and I suspect, poorl crafted scrapbooking pages!  Working on editing my selection of January's photographs, which I will post over at puddin-n-pie, to justify its existence, other than a place for me to bookmark and follow the photographic eye candy  inspirational sites that I've found or been introduced to (thanks to Di, who keeps sending me links to great photography sites, and is to blame for no washing being done today!).

And to explain - I'm moderating comments at the moment to put a stop to spam/robot comments appearing on my blog.  But please, feel free to come out of lurking ;-) and say hi!!

My Favourite

I love magazines, but lately I have found myself being quite choosy and dropping the ones that I find I am not getting much from, apart from that first browse and read - a bit like what I have done to my blog reading list!

Every year I get enough Flybuys Points to get a subscription - this year I chose Better Homes and Gardens AND Home Beautiful (a two for one type deal!). 

Let me just say that Home Beautiful has hit the top of my favourites list for many reasons. Gorgeous photography, lovely but real homes, and great ideas that I can transfer into my own little dusty, very lived in home. Great typography ideas, and I even look at the ads - not just for what they are adverstising but for their graphic design ideas!  But mostly I look at  its true content:  I tore this page from the last magazine to keep me inspired....

I just wanted to quickly share with you my current favourite read....what is your favourite?

Plans

Hopefully we might do some of this again tomorrow - pack an esky with some poppas and biccies, and throw in some camp chairs and mossie spray.

The kids and I went down to the creek crossing on the way to my parents place a few weeks ago and paddled up the creek (along my my mum, brother and his girlfriend);  it goes down quickly so we didn't get to go back. However after the recent rain up here its running across the causeway again, so we need to take the opportunity for another swim! Nice and sandy and shallow for the kids to run and jump off the causeway.  And a nice shady gum tree on the bank for the not so energetic to rest under.

Summer for some is the beach - THIS is summer in the bush!

Catch Up

Just a quick catch up pictorial style post on a few things I've been wanting to share with you...and I've yet to select my photos-for-the-month for January, but there's a few front runners. Hopefully I'll do that tonight, if I can get rid of this headache that's been plaguing me all day!

Anyhow:  here it is - more or less finished.  Have to get a couple of more narrower brackets to finish off (we ended with more shelving than we thought - bonus!) but its workable, just need to find a spot or dump a few more things. Here's some before *yikes* during and nearly done shots.

HE needs to finish his part of the job and put some support under the ends of each shelf....I can't load them up properly until that happens....

And our big girls' recent 7th birthday - which ended up being a drawn out affair, with a little friend sleeping over and another little friend joining us for cake (photo 1) and then a cake at school ON her actual birthday, and then some sparklers on the left over cake that night.  And yes, if you thought the cakes looked alike, you;d be right!  I made a huge double chocolate cake and made two round cakes for the first layered montrosity, and a ring cake from what was left.  And iced them all with the same icing....popped the ring cake in the freezer and brought it out when needed!

I have another super quick collage to share, but will later after I have sorted out some tired, cranky, fighting children!

M.I.A

yes, I know I've been quiet...some slight disruption to routine around here since it rained...husband has been at home since ? and of course hogging the computer or wondering why I am on the computer when I could be doing something more productive. Men.

Anyhow, I finally got HIM to do something productive and we have been finally finishing off the office - shelving, moving the desk, and clearing up the resulting mess.  Its taken longer than I expected, and my enthusiam for putting away the stuff I had to move is waning - especially as my new improved desk area looks so nice and uncluttered now....

Anyhow, pics soon, off to the dreaded 1st dental appointment tomorrow, which I am quietly scared silly about...the first of three or four visits, three weeks apart. Oh joy.  And while I am down there ("there" being Charters Towers) , my computer is also in for a bit of an overhaul and tinker, so here's hoping it comes home in one piece as well!

And then on Friday my cousin, his wife and daughter are stopping for the night, on their way to take their daughter to Ag College....so I really need to clean and scrub the toilet and do all of those jobs you do before visitors arrive (not to mention remove the piled office crap off of the spare bed!)

So hopefully I will be back here on Saturday to share some photos of my lovely new area! 

And here's a cute little doll I found, available on madeit.com.au.  Too cute. Love the flower in its hair!!