some snippets of the past few days...

Some vegemite on toast and red cordial (apparently great for sick tummies? and also well liked by little boys) for morning tea, when the big girl was sick. PJ's and bed head included! Sitting in the sun, on the little front verandah.

Feeding and harassing the show horses down the road, which we are currently in charge of while their owners are away. Show horses are not so sure about the small noisy creatures but putting up with them for the sake of feed.

Hanging washing. Boy laughing at the stuffed Tiger hanging by its tail on the line. Grass at clothes line in dire need of haircut, but its so nice for rustic photographic uses! Indeed, note the rustic, certainly NOT shiny and modern, back of house.

Husband cooking eggs. Cluttered, as usual, kitchen bench. Old stove, that won't bloody die.

The boys room during, and nearly done, clean up and re-shuffle of furniture. It was much much much worse than this, believe me. Reshuffle necessary to make room for the wood heater/stove thing, which whilst "in place" is not installed and probably won't be for another two cold winters. That is how things roll around here (and don't believe that I sound happy about it!)

Driving back into town after feeding the horses down the road again (its an every-afternoon job) I sat the camera on the dash board in front of me and just pressed the button. Must take advantage of that light this afternoon.

Unwilling participant in dog washing exercise (and check out the audience!) more evidence of grass needing mowing!

And how about this for REAL: grubby floor (about to vacuum it actually!) and messy kitchen, kids unpacking the dishwasher (and one using egg rings as a bracelet as well!) . Someone said something about taking the photos of how it really is? Well, this is it. And man, doesn't a photo make you realise how dodgy the floor is on your old house. Its on the list, getting the floors polished and done properly. But there a few other things in front of it....like the splash back...

On the home run with this Week In The Life Project. I've not taken nearly as many photos as it appears other people have, but again, my intention was to keep the whole thing simple. My plan is just two facing pages per day, and perhaps once that floor is clean and kitchen a little less arrrrggggh-inducing ;-) I might have a play.

So there you have it, a tiny taste of the past few days.

Some more Week In the Life

(and I really should have wiped the crap off the table before taking that shot! oh well, its all about realness isn't it!)

That's my second daughter in the middle of doing her wicked wicked laugh, after being allowed to ride the four wheeler with her sister.

Cutting up capsicum for a pasta bake for dinner, and really, really really, needing a haircut. And to tidy that bench.

And one more, from this morning (lets just say, the middle of the night fun involving a big girl and regurgitation of her dinner, were NOT recorded)

yes, it does appear to be spreading through the kids - its working its way through the school population...fingers crossed the third child here (and her mother) might be spared. Off to spray some more Dettol about. 

what makes me smile

This, while not WITL (from last week, and its gone in the mail) makes me smile. I should have scanned it. But didn't. Was feeling lazy.

And that little story is in her own words. Especially the "he likes to swing and swing and swing every day". :-)

And here is a picture of Cheeky Charlie. Complete with TAIL in case you thought it was some other bit of anatomy! And her handwriting? her own little embellishments with curly bits and hearts. All in year one. Got to give her points for creativity I guess! (lets not talk about spelling, I just let her go and get her story told)

Plugging along with WITL...

allright, so I am doing it too

A Week In The Life.

Or attempting it in any case. Trying to keep the process as simple and streamlined as possible. So we'll see how the week pans out!

A taste of my day/s so far. Fun hey. :-) 

Post from me over at Simple Aussie Girls today as well.

the roses

that I cut are keeping well, and I am so pleased I was able to cut so many unopened buds. Because look what has happened:

opening in all their blousy, sweet smelling glory (truth be told, the scent is pretty mild, these are a fairly standard Iceberg, which are more known for prolific flowering than scent)

And suddenly, the vase doesn't look so empty, and my bad arrangement so awful!

I probably should fertilise my rose bush a little more often!

she's wounded

don't ask me how, some sort of mucking about that ended in her forehead connecting with the latch of her wardrobe. She cried that cry when you know they are hurt, one you don't hear from a big girl like this too often.

It looks far better here, the next day, than the evening before when it happened. The egg was large, the bruise prominent. But obviously that fancy, horrendously expensive cream that I have really DOES work on bruises. Like magic.

Not one to miss out on milking a good wound however, even if she is a Big Girl (or nearly ;-) she laid on the couch and clutched at her head with an ice pack, and laid there all quivery and sad, until Home and Away came on and she managed to forget her woes. Father did not even notice the wound, and Mother, after initial first aid and assessment complete, continued to read the paper and watch Home and Away, all at the same time.

Sympathy only comes in small doses in these parts! ;-)

le toure

except, not of France. Just by co-incidence, on Friday we held our  own le Toure, out to a nearby property and return. Some 14 kms. Not so far if you are support crew and driven by diesel power, perhaps a fair way if you are self propelled! ;-)

And, yes, there was a dress up theme, why do you ask?! There were ladybirds, Hermione's, Explorers, Cheerleaders and Equestrienne's, and many others. Participation by kids and adults alike was enthusiastic. Support crew however, got a FAIL on the dress-ups. We've consulted, and  plan on dressing as playboy bunnies next year, seeing as we all have the right physique ;-) Or at the very least, get some matching fluro orange vests and have flashing lights on the roof of our vehicles!

My boy bailed on riding himself when he realised that he could hitch a ride. Looks smug, doesn't he!

Not sure his steed was quite as excited about his passenger by the end of the first stage!

Minnie Mouse (the fitness mad and slightly crazy teacher aide) had a passenger too. Spoilt mutt.

And I guess we will do it all again next year. Adult participation  is increasing each year, to such a point as I think we had the same number of adults as kids.

And who said there was nothing to do out in the sticks?!

afternoon light

I have to confess that, so far, I've done diddly squat in editing wedding photos. And about the same in preparing for the BAS due next week. And about paying this month's bills. This week I am in denial, or perhaps recovery from the adventures of two weekends in a row. Next week, my butt will be in this darned office chair and I will be looking for excuses to do laundry or, heaven forbid, bake a cake or something.

In the spirit of procrastination, yesterday I decided to cut some flowers, after my much neglected Iceberg rose came back to good health after getting a hefty feed of cow poop from the cattle yards. Multi vitamins for roses, would could say. I dragged grandma's crystal vase out of the cupboard in which to house them, and then, they looked so pretty, and the light outside was so good, I had to pick up my camera.

I made sure to cut only stems that had buds and not fully opened flowers on them. I am the worlds worst flower arranger, but really, any fresh flower bunged in a vase looks nice doesn't it?!

Then I got all excited about the light refraction of the setting sun through the crystal vase. 

The sunset in winter up here is so much milder and gives such great light. Summer? Its just burny and harsh, and the sunset colours are different. Its only at this time of year that we get these colours....

taken from my favourite spot, near the clothes line (of course!) I should show you how dodgy this old fence is one day...we do "rustic" well. Its a pity "rustic" feels more like "falling down and needs fixing" when it belongs to you!

another weekend away

and here is a little taste of what I was up to:

   I swear I will never do another wedding again!  And funny how these few shots, my favourites, are about the details and the colours! and one cute kid.

More later. Washing to attend to. And much, much sorting and editing.

a forgotten page

For more, head over to the SAG blog.

Last weekend

We went on a little trip last weekend, a two and a bit hour drive to a friend property, to help them prepare for and celebrate their joint 40th birthdays.

It was birthday of the green shirted mate (and his wife) of  my husband (and I must admit I giggled at I deliberately packed my husband's own green shirt for him to wear! it probably is me, but I think its funny!)

The lunch menu was camp oven cooked meats (beef, pork, lamb and corned beef), with boiled jacket potatoes (served with a choice of condiments) damper and crusty dinner buns, and large colourful salads.

Of course, the camp oven thing required constant supervision by all of the men. Like a bbq I guess.

This outgrown tractor was dragged out of retirement by this boy and was well used, until I begged one of the green shirts to put the bloody thing away in a shed HIGH UP to put a stop to the arguments between Angus and the other little boy that was staying. 

The garden looked lovely and inviting. The lawn was glorious - especially for the middle of winter! And the weather was gorgeous too.

this girl got all trendy - and (I've only just noticed!) applied lip gloss liberally!

And this one, who never has any trouble finding a little friend to play with (no matter its one she's never met before) had a ball at the party and well into the night, until mum declared NO MORE and bathed the lot of them and sent them to bed. There can be too much of a good thing!

We came home Sunday mornings (after arriving Friday afternoon) we were meant to come home SATURDAY afternoon when the bulk of the other guests were leaving....but someone was apparently settling in for a big night with his mates. 

At least they had dinner cooked before they started!

And the rest of the week? spent catching up on the washing and wandering how it could have gotten so out of hand in just two nights away from home!

a change of pace

I was feeling like tinkering with my sewing machine and fabric the other day, instead of paper and glue (or even instead of folding washing or cobwebbing) so I started with a simple project for that still un born baby girl.

A burp cloth - some pretty fabric on top and some chenille/towelling stuff on the back. Just a bit nicer than an old cloth nappy slung over the shoulder, yes? especially for outings with baby. I've got a couple of more on the go, and they take very little time and thought to put together. And are very pretty all stacked up together! Feels nice to create a gift that is (hopefully) useful, instead of buying something from the shop, or even from the likes of madeit dot com, that someone else has made.

Something that did take more time, and more thought for this rusty at sewing brain, involved a slight miscalculation that changed the intended purpose of this next little creation.

Which ended up being a rather great miscalculation - a little, padded wallet thingy for the big girl to keep all of her electronic gadgets all in the one spot - especially for in the car!  A pocket for the mp3 player, one for the DS, and another pocket for any extra games that she might wish to take (if she had any more than three games of course, but that day will come I am sure!) The two pockets on the left have little clips to shut them so mp3 players don't fall out and total devastation occur because it has been lost ;-)

I pinched one of the girls hair ties to turn into a fastener, and a firmly attached button to keep it all together. All in all, it ended up being a success, and of course will probably have to make at least two more as the other kids eventually get their own gadgets.(am also thinking could be a great gift idea for the cousins as well! in suitable boy or girl fabrics as the case may be) Our recent trip to the city WITHOUT this wallet proved that it really is needed to keep these valuable little toys safely in one spot, instead of floating around on the floor or on the seat under a bum.

Hoping I get some time to run up some more simple little sewing projects, but this week isn't looking good for that so far!

Challenge # 4 at Simple Aussie Girls

Its my turn to host the challenge over at Simple Aussie Girls, and I was issued with the directive to do a colour challenge. Colour isn't normally the first step I take in designing a layout, so this was a true challenge for me - although I did shortcut a little I guess when I chose a photo that I wanted to use, and then found a nice colour palette (thanks to pinterest!) that suited.

See the full challenge over at the SAG blog.

Love those "fabric" thickers (which are really fabric glued onto chipboard) from AC. You'll be seeing a bit of them, seeing as I bought two packets of them, and I am making a conscious choice to use up as many of them as I can before they become non-sticky!

Another rustic backdrop, this time in my greenhouse on my gardening bench - the wind outside at the time of was gale force like which is great for the washing drying at the clothesline, but not so much for taking photos of layouts!

Please do pop on over to the Simple Aussie Girls blog and see what the other girls have done.

a page: gone fishing

See more over at the Simple Aussie Girls blog. Photo taken at the scene of much recent controversy, my clothesline. Or specifically my laundry trolley/bench (which was a bbq trolley in a former life). I realised, only recently (duh) that the corrugated iron wall in the background, which is the wall of my laundry, is that exact pale bluey green colour that everyone seems to be wild about at the moment. I kinda like it rustic-ness from a photographic point of view (although not so much from the point of view of the one that does the washing!) hence it being the location of many photos recently - and this spot nearly always has great light.

See you Monday at Simple Aussie Girls for my turn at Challenge Day!

that sort of day

and this too:

Tis indeed that sort of day...my efforts in child slavery are today proving to be most difficult, its a full time job to be getting them to do ANY of their chores without supervision. Little stinkers. Like its hard to 1. clean your room and 2. tidy the bathroom and 3. unpack the dishwasher.

Yep, cranky mum is in the house. Best get back to cracking the whip.