Another one bites the dust : )

I hosted Mum's 'n' bubs here this morning. Our 'babies' are now 15-16 mths and C is already 32 weeks pregnant with baby #2, due in October. K announced this morning that she is also expecting around when our babes have their second birthday. I wonder who will be next? I can promise you it won't be me!

Congratulations K!

Cures for morning sickness

Mum - don't get excited I'm not pregnant!
I just thought I would share. When I was pregnant with Missy Moo I had awful morning (all day!) sickness. It lasted 7 months and resulted in me losing a meal at least once a day. I didn't want to take medication and I wasn't losing weight so I researched and tried everything you could think of. Things that worked for a while would stop working so I had to get creative. Here is what worked for me.......

• Acupressure travel sickness wrist bands (awesome! and very 'Flashdance.')
• Ginger - sucking on glace ginger (ginger in syrup), ginger beer, ginger tea which you can buy in the Asian grocers
• Starburst sour lollipops (although I can't eat them now - they remind me of feeling sick!)
• Apple or orange juice watered down with soda water
• salt and vinegar chips
• bacon and cheese toasted sandwich (Greasy stuff is supposed to make morning sickness worse but it actually helped me)
• Mineral water
• sour green apples
• vitamin B tablets - ask your pharmacist for the dosage, you can get them over the counter
• I ate lots and lots of dry biscuits - had a box of them next to the bed
• ditto with wafers - I ate bags of those sweet Austrian hazelnut wafers - - I just had the biggest craving!
• fruit tingles
• hamburgers (weird, huh!)
• lasagna (I think it was the combination of carbs and fat)
• NEVER having an empty stomach. I used to munch on breakfast cereal all day - without milk. Those little honey oat things, like cheerios.
• use baby toothpaste in fruit flavour and use a REALLY soft kids toothbrush. Just looking at my toothbrush made me feel sick so on really bad days I just brushed my front teeth. (Obviously I'm not a dentist!)
• drinking sparkling mineral water - I really craved it in the evenings
• vegemite on white toast (wholemeal made me sick)
• fresh air - going outside
  

And, always carry a plastic bag in your handbag for those 'stuck on a train' moments...... ewwww

Baby's jacket

Also for my new niece or nephew due in October. I'm getting excited!

One photo is too dark, one the flash makes the cream material seem too bright. Will take another photo in daylight tomorrow.

This is the very first 'garment' I have sewn since doing textiles in early high school. I won't tell you how many years ago that was - let's just say that is was long ago enough that I had to call my Mum several times for advice because I couldn't remember anything! I'm quite proud of the result...... Not too shabby!

Mashimaro (I think.....) inspired softie

I made this bunny for my soon to be arriving niece or nephew.

I was feeling all inspired on Sunday afternoon so I quickly sketched a 'pattern' on an A4 sheet. Once cut out, I adjusted the length of the limbs and ears. Then I embroidered a face - sleeping eyes because I couldn't quite draw eyes that I liked! Now I quite like that he's sleeping.....

It's mostly made from an old nappy/diaper (washed and sanitised of course!) and the ears are from my stash. My original idea had straight stuffed limbs but I thought they would be nicer to play with if they were thin and floppy. I knotted the legs as an experiment (they were really long) and liked it so they stayed that way.

Fabric shopping

I wanted to get some flanelette to make some baby clothes and some cotton to make some summer dresses for Missy Moo. This is what I came home with. (Along with pinking shears, quick unpick and two sizes of bias tape makers.)

Here is the cotton.

Flanelette - this was all I could get!
More cotton - the polka dot is a remnant.

This is...... my trade secret

OK, I'm fairly new to the craft thing so I am going to learn from everyone else's posts.

I'm told that I am a fairly good cook, so I thought that I would give away my cooking trade secret instead.

My trade secret is to have the audacity to ask someone else for their secret recipe.
I ask the cook questions when I taste something I like and sometimes they will tell me their secrets! When living in Korea I tasted THE best Korean 불고기 (Bulgogi) so I asked the chef (my friend's mum) how she made it. She told me her secret ingredient was Coke and I was flabbergasted! However, I'm game to try anything so I gave it a whirl. The Coke tendorises the meat and gives it that lovely sweet caramel taste that it should have and is usually obtained by using grated Asian pear and syrup. So, here is my 'trade secret' recipe (especially for Clare from Quarter Acre Roots!):

Photo from Grab Your Fork.

300g thinly sliced sirloin (it helps to put it in the freezer for a while to stiffen it up before slicing)
4 spring onions (shallots) sliced thinly on the diagonal
sliced mushrooms to your taste

Seasoning:
3 tbsp soy sauce (preferably Korean or use a light soy sauce - not a dark one!)
4 tbsp of minced onion (use a fine grater)
3 tbsp coke
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tbsp minced garlic
a pinch of ground sesame seeds
1 tbsp of finely grated Asian pear if you can get it
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the seasoning ingredients and then add your meat, spring onions and mushrooms. Toss. Grease a cast iron fry pan heavily with oil (don't use olive oil or other strong flavoured oils). Place the marinated meat on top. Cook for 250 degrees Celsius (480 Fahrenheit) for 20 mins.

If you prefer, you can cook this Korean style on a gas table BBQ.

Thanks to Bollewangenhaptoet for this weeks 'this is.....'.

On the 'to do' list.

Make Missy Moo a pillowcase dress as seen here.

I've got the pillowcase from the set I bought at the op shop the other day (70's yellow/orange stripes) and a very tempting bed linen outlet down the road which I'm sure will have some gorgeous pillow cases worthing of making into summer dresses..... I'm thinking pretty embroidery, crispy white or summery florals or gingham... I'd love to make some for Christmas presents but the problem is I only have nephews and all my closest friends have boy-childrens. SIL is due in October so let's hope it's a niece!

How to entertain a toddler #2.....

The other day Missy Moo was looking through some old magazines and leaving them open on pictures of animals. She loved the pictures so much that I decided to cut them out for her. BUT I thought they were going to get trashed pretty quick so I got some 'contact' (plastic sticky book covering stuff) and sandwiched the pictures in between plastic - kind of like laminating without the nifty machine. Then we cut around the edges, leaving about 5mm (1/4") to keep it all together. Then we stuck them on the fridge and much delight was had sticking and unsticking the animals. Missy Moo even took each one off and gave it a kiss. So cute! We then practiced making animal noises and Auslan signs - she knows all her animals!
And here is the little surprise she left me in the pantry - it made me smile a big Mummy smile! Labrador in a glass jar.....

The Op shop Gods are smiling on me

I visited one of the other op shops in town today. To my absolute joy there was a box of patterns. I started to flick through and found a baby layette pattern. Yay! Kept flicking. Children's clothes. And then they just kept on coming! I bought 20 patterns for $8 - most of them from the mid 70's but one from 1960 and one from 1982. Here are my favourites......

Chair sling

Okay, I sewed this tonight after Missy Moo was asleep so I wasn't able to model with a real live wiggling toddler. The bear below is not my daughter. She's not that furry.

Thank you to Jan Andrea for the FREE pattern and instructions. You can find them here. I varied mine slightly by using a double thickness of fabric which negates the need for bias binding along the edges of the seat.


This cost me about $3 to make. All materials were 'freed' from the opshop/thrift store. Sewing machine is Mum's old one (30+ years old), cotton, bias binding, sheet and table cloth all reclaimed! And to think I could have gone to 'insert Chain Baby Store here' and bought one for $30.

Mike's ABC radio interview podcast

For those of you who missed Kathy Bowlen and Jill Singer interviewing Mike on the ABC radio Conversation Hour on 10th July it is now online. It can also be downloaded from the ABC podcast site.

Michael Peck 2006, Oil on canvas

Op shop awesome! Thrift shop terrific!

Went to 'the local' this morning on the way to the supermarket - didn't make it to the supermarket because I found so much at the op shop that I couldn't possibly carry the shopping as well so I had to go home again and venture out in the afternoon for the groceries.

Here is what I got (photos to come as my camera had flat batteries):

1. Wide striped yellow/orange/red double sheet set from (I am guessing) the 70's. Made in America. Brand is Martex. BIL hates it. I love it.
   
2. Bright yellow table cloth in similar shade to sheet set
   
3. 10m of elastic
4. 5m of forest green bias binding
5. 5 cute red buttons
6. Original (STILL IN THE PACKET!!!!!!) Japanese felt animal craft kit (including everything but the stuffing) circa 1960s.
7. 4m length of fire engine red fleece
8. 'Hit the pegs into the wood with a hammer' set for Missy Moo. (What do you call that anyway?)
9. Wooden stacking/counting set for Missy Moo.
   

How much would you expect to pay for all this? $10!

I bought the yellow table cloth and bed sheets to make this tie on baby-seat/chair sling and I have so much material that I think I will make a few more and give them to friends who are nice to me. (Who also happen to have babies otherwise it would be weird.....)
I want to make pants/sleeping bag/stroller foot muff for Missy Moo with this lovely red fleece.
Was so excited when I got home that I had to call my Mum and tell her about my loot. Hubby is not quite so appreciative of my quest for the perfect op-shop treasure.....

mememe

Thanks to Bollewangenhaptoet for this meme.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

10 years ago I was 23 and living in Sokcho on the far north-east coast of Korea - a hop skip and jump (literally!) from the DPRK (North Korea). I’d finished my grad. Dip. In Korean and decided to live in the countryside to escape people who wanted to speak English to me while riding on the bus. It worked! People in the country don’t speak English like they do in the big cities. I was teaching English to University and mature age students, learning how to make Korean chilli paste and kimchi in the traditional manner from the Grandma who lived downstairs.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today- not in any particular order?
Sleep.
Sleep.
Sleep.
Sleep.
Sleep.

3. Snacks I enjoy.
Chocolate.
Cake.
Fruit. Especially pineapple and berries.

4. Places I’ve lived
The Mornington Peninsula, Preston, Clayton, Mitcham, Kew, Hawthorn – all suburbs of Melbourne. Forshaga and Tystberga in Sweden. Seoul, Pusan, Ilsan and Sokcho in Korea.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire
Have a heartattack! After I’d done that I would buy nice houses for my immediate family members. Start a charity of some kind and start my own business.

6. What are some jobs you’ve had?
Tour guide, television presenter, TV extra, teacher, insurance underwriter, translator, Telstra slave, lolly shop worker (awesome!), Mum.

I love...... Kelpamare

Kelpamare is a distinctive seasoning sauce that contains concentrated kelp (among other things!). Kelp contains iodine which is an essential micro nutrient during childhood for growth and brain development. In adults iodine plays an important role in thyroid function and for pregnant women it is critical for the normal development of the growing fetus. A deficiency of iodine can lead to weight gain, lethargy, intolerance to cold, increased blood cholesterol, mental slowness and reduced heart function. Iodine deficiency is re-emerging in Australia and New Zealand and you can read about it here and here.

BUT, the real reason I love it is that it tastes great! I use it anywhere I would use stock or soy sauce - in soups, stews, casserole, savoury pies, salad dressing, dipping sauce, stir fries and noodle dishes. YUM! My 'famous' organic chicken pie uses this as it's secret ingredient but more about that later.......

This is..... photos I haven't looked at for a while

In 2004, before we were married, my husband and I went on our 'before we have responsibilities' trip to Europe. We spent 6 weeks travelling from London to Vienna through central Europe.


I took the photo above in Zurich and the one below in the infamous Berchtesgaden. The water in the lake was so crystal clear....

On top of the Jungfrau!

The Roman baths in Bath - I didn't know it then, but on researching my family history my Mum's family actually hails from Bath originally. No wonder I felt at home here!

Swedish Meatballs - Köttbullar

So many people have asked me for it so..... here it is.... my now not so 'secret' recipe.

Photo by Slice.

250g minced beef
250g minced pork
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 egg
1 stock cube dissolved in 1 cup of milk or water
1 very finely diced brown onion, lightly fried and left to cool

Place the bread crumbs in a large bowl and pour the stock cube milk/water over it. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Roll into meatballs and place on a greased oven tray. Cook at 180 for 30 mins. You can also use a fry pan which is the traditional way but I prefer the lazy oven way which browns the meatballs nicely all over without them falling apart.
Serve with lingonberries (you can buy them at IKEA or at some large department stores) and gräddsås. Don't forget boiled potatoes or mashed potato and perhaps some dill pickles.

This recipe is also nice if you swap out the breadcrumbs and stock water for mashed potato. Just remember that as there is no stock cube you will need to add salt - I prefer to use Herbamare.

Sheer luxury.

Haircut: $25
Shoulder massage: $15
Coffee: $2.70
Sanity: priceless

Every Wednesday Missy Moo and her cousin go to Grandad and Granny's house for the day. I like to do the housework, sew or catch up on sleep but I decided on the spur of the moment this morning to venture to Box Hill to my favourite cheap but nice hair salon. It's been four months since my last haircut which is a new record for me - I usually only get my hair cut about twice a year. Generally, I have long natural hair which doesn't require coloring or styling and I just can't justify spending the money on something as ridiculous as that - $50 for a haircut - get out of town! Anyhoo, enjoyed the haircut and on the way back to the train station I walked past one of those Chinese acupressure torture massage places and stopped for a shoulder massage. Wonderfully painful yet somehow relaxing at the same time.
Thanks to Granny I am now ready to face another week with Missy Moo.
I think I'm bruised though.....

I love....... Baby's 1st Toothbrush

I have been trying to brush Missy Moo's teeth since they erupted with little success. Like most young children she has no idea what I am trying to do and no amount of demonstration or just 'getting in there' does the job. What I hate most is that it usually deteriorates into something that neither of us look forward to.

While in Kmart yesterday I came across 'Baby's First Toothbrush' (Ryco Corporation PTY LTD) and it is fantastic. Missy Moo bites on it and voila - clean teeth! $9.99 from Kmart - expensive for a toothbrush but cheaper than a trip to the dentist!

(I tried to find a link to this company and was unsuccessful. )

This is....... what makes me happy.

On Wednesday afternoon I eagerly went to One Little Acorn's blog to check what this weeks 'This is' would be. That evening as I was walking into the kitchen I saw our shoes sitting on the floor randomly where I had left them when tidying in the afternoon. They only made it to the kitchen (they should have been put away!) I remembered the 'This is' challenge and decided that this was exactly the thing that makes me happy.

My family.
My wonderful husband and my darling Missy Moo.

Thanks 'One Little Acorn' for this weeks 'This is.'

Background TV can damage small children

An article I translated from the Swedish newspaper 'Aftonbladet.' You can read the full article here (in Swedish of course!) Please forgive me for any weird grammar....... I just did it for practice and without the use of a dictionary.....

Foto: Katrin Jakobsen
Studien: THE EFFECTS OF BACKGROUND TELEVISION ON TOY PLAY

New study: TV Can damage children’s development
When small children play with a TV on in the room it interrupts their concentration. Interrupted play can lead to children not developing to their full potential. This is the result of a new American study.
Showing adult programs in the same room that small children play can be a threat to the children’s development. Earlier, it was believed that TV didn’t affect children unless they watched it. But now researchers from the University of Massachusetts have actually studied how very small children react when they play in a room that has a TV on, writes Dagens Nyheter (another Swedish newspaper).
The sound and lights cause interruptions
The children, aged between one and three, were studied as they played in a room with a TV showing the program Jeopardy. They were also studied playing in the same room but with the TV off. When the TV was on, the sound and light flicker made the children stop their play more often to glance at the TV even though they were not watching the program. Interruption of play can lead to children developing concentration problems, say the researchers, as the ability to concentrate is developed in the early years. This research has led them to warn against the dangers of leaving a TV on in the background at home when there are small children around.
On the other hand the researches point out that the study applies only when the TV program shown is meant for a mature audience. To let children see appropriate children’s programming may have a different effect.

(This is me...) Either way - having the TV on can't be good! I'm currently limiting Missy Moo to about 30 mins a day - Playschool on the ABC as she loves it, it is educational and I can have a shower etc without having to worry about her climbing the couch, playing superman and breaking her neck while unsupervised! It is the only TV program that she will actually sit and watch. She dances and claps to the songs and laughs when they show footage of animals. (Yep, I spy on her when I've finished my shower : )