A message from Pip at Meet me at Mikes

Apart from URGING you to donate MONEY to the Victorian Bushfire Appeals - via NAB, ANZ, Bunnings and Myer to name just a few donation points, we urge you to start making!

Mike's and The Toy Society are both keen to get you making toys, clothing, quilts, baby things and other handmade items so that we can work together to get them to people in need!

You can drop your donations off at Mike's - or mail it to us - we'll hang onto it until the appropriate time (once agencies are ready to receive such donations).

Visit Mike's or The Toy Society to register your support or to get your business involved in this community project.

xx Pip

Don't forget to DONATE (via the Salvation Army or Red Cross) and register to DONATE blood too!

Terrible

Photo from The Age.

I turned on the news this morning to see that the place where we go for holidays and to celebrate our wedding anniversary has burned to the ground. Not the one building. THE WHOLE TOWN.

There were many fires burning out of control in Victoria yesterday on the hottest day on record. Confirmed death toll is 25 35 with up to 40 unofficially. 400 homes burnt to the ground. It's terrible. Really terrible.
Even my brother was out on his roof hosing it down - in suburban Melbourne..... So scary.

Update: latest news reports 84 are dead. I'm speechless.
........ 173 now......

Mind your eyes

Cause this stuff is BRIGHT!

Bias tape and bright orange table cloth from Ivanhoe oppy. Yellow fabric from IKEA (offcut). Firefly Japanese print from Kimono House.

I want to make something for Moo. Any suggestions? What should I make with it?

Scoodie

In a weeks time my BIL is off to Oregon for a friend's wedding. It's pretty cold over there (in the minus I believe) so I made him this scoodie (= hoodie + scarf). I got the idea from here and modified it for my own use. I had a very wide and thick polar fleece scarf that never got used so I re purposed it. Because it was so thick and didn't need finishing I did the following:

• used a hoodie that fitted hubby well and used the hood as a template
  
• lined the top of the hood up with the fold so that there was no seam on the front edge
• sewed up the back, gradually reducing the amount of the seam to give a smooth finish to the hood (no pointy bit!)
• sewed the two pieces of scarf together, end to end
• sewed the hoodie to the scarf along the bottom edge
• DONE!
  

Here is BIL doing his best 'catalogue' pose. It's a bit hard to see with the dark scarf on the dark shirt but you get the picture....

BIL is also quite the creative guy. Click here for his manly craft blog.

Hooray!

Things are finally back to normal. School started back after the summer this week so Moo's creche also reopened. Granny and Grandad are back from their holidays so Moo will be having 'grandparent time' every Wednesday again. Tuesdays we spend with Nanna, Wednesday Moo spends the day with Granny, Thursday is Mum's group for a few hours and Friday she spends 3 hours at creche. All this means I will have more time to do all my projects! 1 1/2 days a week entirely to myself. *yay*
What am I going to do with this time? I don't have too many sewing plans at the moment - I'm too obsessed with painting the hall and the bathroom....... We have 'faux embroidery' wallpaper in cream, green and brown in the hall and the skirting boards are dark brown wood. It makes things feel so dark and drab so I am going to paint everything white. My favorite (albeit boring) decorating base. I've never found a colour that I think I could live with 24/7 for years. Yes, I could repaint but I'm just not that excited about repainting when I get tired of the colour. At least with white you can change your accent colours whenever you feel like it....
A little white interior and tidiness inspiration found here at chez larsson.....

Eye spy...... a small object

Actually, I don't spy a small object. All small objects are banned in this house due to a certain Missy Moo who likes to put small objects in her mouth and the ensuing paranoia felt by her parents.
You might find a lentil that has missed being sucked up by the vacuum as Moo loves to transfer lentils. We're into Montessori in this neck of the woods. I'm sure I could find a lentil that's rolled away under some furniture but to be honest I just can't be bothered getting up from the sofa.....
x x x

6 random things about me

• I really, REALLY wanted to be Princess (above) from 'Battle of the Planets,' when I was younger. Maybe I still do.....
• I once hosted a 5 min Saturday morning TV show - in Korean!
• I have a birthmark in the shape of Jesus on my left arm. OK, that's not true. But I did have one on my chin (not in the shape of Jesus) which I had removed because people used to think I had a drop of water hanging from my chin.
  
• I hate drinking beer but love traditional apple cider
• I like animals but I've never owned my own pet.
• I estimate that I ate about 20kg/44lbs of chocolate on my last European trip. You could say our trip was called, 'Chocolate and other goodies from London to Vienna.' Pity we skipped Belgium...... Lucky we walked for hours every day so I didn't put on any weight!
  

Things to do when it's REALLY hot

We've been stuck inside for the past week. The longest heat wave in a hundred years (see previous posts!). We're pretty much confined to two rooms of the house because everywhere else is waaaay too hot. Here are some of the ways we've cooled down (keep in mind I am accompanied by a toddler!)

• Get out some interesting kitchen things - strainers, slotted spoons, empty plastic sauce bottle (safety first! No dangerous objects please~) Play in the bath. For an hour twice a day : D
  
• Freeze giant ice blocks in interesting shapes. Use some food dye if you dare. Play with them. Freeze plastic toys inside - zoo animals are great!
  
• Make home made ice lollies with fruit juice and cut up pieces of fruit. Eat them.
  
• Hit your local mall. Walk around. Have an ice coffee. Loiter.
• Get a baby sitter and go and see a movie (OK, we normally wouldn't do this but it is hubby's birthday.)
• Dampen a muslin cloth or bed sheet. Wrap it around you and sit in front of a fan/breeze
• Watch Happy Feet or another movie set in a cold place. Eat ice cream and pretend your a polar bear. ( I know, bears don't eat ice cream.....)
• Bring out every trick in your arty crafty book to entertain the kidlets. We've done finger painting, collages, painting with straws, painting on an easel, colouring etc etc etc There are plenty of ideas floating around the internet thingy so get a googlin'
  

Why eat organic meat?

• grass and other feedstuffs used must be organic (no animal by products are fed to them!)
  
• livestock rearing involves strict animal welfare standards
• growth hormones are prohibited, as is the routine use of antibiotics and other veterinary drugs. Antibiotics are only given to organic animals in cases of acute illness, when the animal might otherwise suffer.
• no artifical light used to promote growth
  
• genetic modification is not permitted
• Naturally leaner and higher in protein
• Contains fewer calories
• Rich in Omega 3 fatty acids
• High in Vitamin E
• Has a higher level of muscle building and energy promoting creatine
• Much lower risk of E Coli and Campylobacter
• High in Beta Carotene
• Contains low levels of saturated fat
• High in healthy Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLA’s)
• The satisfaction of eating meat as nature intended you to!

Or, you could try going vegetarian..... Personally, I like to eat meat. I was vegetarian for over 2 years when I went through a 'don't fancy eating meat' phase. I definitely care about the welfare of the animals that I eat. This may seem hypocritical when you think about raising an animal for slaughter but if you compare the treatment of non organic and organically raised animals you may be able to understand my logic?
Hubby and I decided some time ago that we didn't want to compromise the quality of the food that we eat. We decided to eat less meat of better quality (let's face, eating organically can be expensive) and to spend our money on fresh organic produce instead of take away or highly processed food. We've both noticed a reduction in our 'hay fever' symptoms (stuffy nose, wheezing etc) and hubby's reflux has also improved since our conversion to mostly organic foods. Moo's egg and lactose intolerance have both improved and I have less eczema. That's worth the extra money to me!

It's hot.

The toilet seat is warm.
The bed feels like it has an electric blanket turned on.
Going out the front door feels like walking into a giant oven.
43 today. 110 Fahrenheit.
It's horrid.
The weather is going to be like this for another 3 days at least. YUK!

I hate summer

Tomorrow's forcast temperature is 38. Then as the week progresses 38, 41, 40, 40, 40, 31 and 30. For all you fahrenheit people, that's 100-106 degrees for a week! It's going to be (I hope they are proven wrong) the hottest week here for over 100 years. Don't think I'll be getting any use out of the slippers I made...... Roll on winter. Please.

Bloody global warming.

Felted jumper/sweater slippers

I cut these out a few weeks ago and finally got around to sewing them up this afternoon when Moo was having her nap. It took all of 10 mins. So easy and I love them sooooo much. Reasons;

• super comfy
• loose but don't fall off (I hate tight shoes and even wear a size bigger than I need to)
  
• feels like bare feet but your feet don't get cold (not that I have to worry about that at the moment)

The pattern was found here. All you have to do is enlarge it to your required size using a photocopier. I used our printer/scanner/copier which doesn't have a manual 'enlargement percentage' button which made it a little tricky to get the exact size. But after a lot of experimentation I got the size I was after. *phewf* That was the trickiest part.


The felted jumper was another 'oops, woolens shouldn't be washed in hot water with normal detergent' accident. I'm so glad I was able to make something out of that poor shrunken mini jumper. Who would have known when I shrunk it over5 years ago that I would learn to sew and finally rescue it from a fate worse than landfill? I just threw it in the back of the wardrobe because I felt too bad about wasting a jumper that wasn't worn out. It even moved house when we did. Who knows what I thought I might be able to do with it - but there you go! Being a hoarder is not such a bad thing after all!

Well there you go.....

Moo when she was a few hours old - looking slightly sore....

I've just been looking through some boxes and I found some things that my Mum had saved - cards and paper from when I was born and my first and second birthdays. There was also the tags she and I wore in hospital and the tag off my humidicrib. It was very interesting to me (maybe not to you....) that there are huge similarities between my birth and Moo's birth. Mum and I were both admitted to hospital for an induction for being overdue (I was already 2 weeks over) and it was 2 days before our babies were born. They were both POP (persistent occiput posterior) - ie around the wrong way. I was delivered by forceps (and more which I won't share in this forum) due to fetal distress and Moo was born by C-section for the same reason. Annie and I were both slow to respond and lost over 200g (1/2 lb) before leaving the hospital. Moo was born only 1/2 a centimeter (1/5") taller than me. I weighed 3580 (7lbs 15ozs) and she 3850 (8lbs 6oz).

Moo at 6 weeks - looking more like herself - but with a funny expression on her face...... : D

I got bored...

... of my old template. I felt like I wanted to freshen it up - that brown was getting really tiring.....

Yay!

How it's going on the getting organised front.....

I have done a ton of research. I love to do that. I read anything I could get my hands on on the internet and then went to Borders and looked at some books. Realised that the information in the books was easily found on the internet and decided to save my money (and time to keep from putting the damn thing away again and again) and to go by the tips I had already gathered.

Basically, this is what I have done so far;

• worked out exactly what needs to be done at our house on a daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal basis
• wrote each thing on a piece of 3x5 inch card and filed it under the days of the week, then weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the month and then each month of the year in one of those office organiser thing-a-ma-jigs
• I sat down and wrote out all the appointments I have each week, like Mother's group, Moo's creche day, etc etc and decided which days to: do the grocery shopping, do cleaning, pay bills and do the finances etc (obviously not set in stone because I'm just not that kind of person!)
  
• I place each card behind it's day or month and so it's there to tell me what to do each day/week. (Mind you I don't always stick to doing the things. Sometimes I just refile them for another day.)
  
• wrote a huge long list of all the things that have been bothering me re the house, like painting and repairs and am slowing working down this list
  
• set aside 20 mins each day to devote to decluttering. I've found that like going to the gym the starting is the hard part. I have actually been spending a lot more than 20 mins because once I start I get all inspired.... (sad, isn't it ; )
  
• placed a container in each room for all the stray bits and bobs. When the box is full all of the things go back to their homes. It means I can do a quick tidy in 5 mins and the room looks spotless again. I also got a box with hubby's name on it to put all of his things in. He can put them away himself 'cause I'm no maid...... : )
  

This may seem completely over the top but I needed to do it. The state of things was really stressing me out and cleaning had become such a chore because the longer you put things off the harder they are. A boring example: Each morning after I finish showering I take a rag (I have a box of them under the sink) and I quickly swipe around the basin and wipe any marks off the mirror. Bathroom always looks like it's just been cleaned and I've spent all of 30 secs.
I've come to the conclusion that it's all about habits and working things into your everyday routine. The cards are just there to remind me and keep me on track. Of course seasonal things are easy to forget so it's nice to have a reminder for that stuff.....
Now that I've bored the socks off you it's time to go and tidy the dinner dishes! (And you put those socks that I've bored off you into the dirty laundry basket or else!!! ha ha ha)

Eye-spy something begining with 'J'

Jumping jackrabbits it's hard to find things that start with J (that aren't jam or junk).
I had to go and make something - this jazzy jumper. OK, it's not a jumper in the sense that us Aussies use (sweater) but it says 'jumper' on the pattern (Simplicity 7366 circa 1977).

It's a size 3 which swamps our skinny Moo Moo but I figure she can wear it next winter with a long sleeved top and leggings underneath and the bonus is it will still fit next summer. And the summer after that. And let's face it, most likely until she is 4 years old. Great! (She can still wear clothes meant for 9mth old babies - the are just waaaay too short. Dresses become tops and pants become shorts. Handy use of last summers clothes really.)
I guess I should have placed my pattern more carefully so the pattern was not misaligned on the front but basically I just didn't have the patience....... How terrible is that???
Mum saw the post where I wrote about finding the bed sheet and pattern and she tells me she made me the very same jumper when I was about the same age. That's nice.

Thank you to Cindy at Bug and Pop who is hosting Eye Spy and to Lauren for the fun theme.

Feeling nostalgic

Today I got an email from my friend in Sweden. She attached some photos and in some of them E and her family were making a little camp fire on an island in the middle of a frozen lake and eating snacks. It reminded me of the day we went there. The weather was perfect - the lake was frozen but there hadn't been any snow yet (perfect for skating!). The sun was shining and it was just before Christmas so we ate lussekatter (saffron buns) and drank coffee. We too made a fire and grilled some sausages. We skated around and acted like kids. B (my friend's brother) did some 'ice dancing' (parodi) and we cut some holes in the ice in the hope of catching some fish. Fun times.
When we were in high school E and I used to write to each other at least once a week. Now we're lucky enough to manage an email every 6 months. That doesn't mean that we don't think of each other - it's just that being a grown up means you have other responsibilities. I can't sit in Math class anymore and write a letter, pretending I'm solving equations.....
But, I'm going to try and make an effort to write more to my friends who live far away. B and E and C in England, Sweden and New Zealand are the first 3 on my list.
If I can write a blog I can find time to email my friends, right?

*sigh* I miss you 'syster yster'!

If only it were true.....

I've been reading a Swedish blog called 'tjuvlyssnat', which I guess translates to eavesdropping or overheard. People send in convos that they've heard and some are very amusing..... I liked this one:

Two girls about 20 are in the dairy section buying supplies for what appears to be a taco night.
Girl 1: Hey, look at this! She picks up a small carton of sour cream from the shelf and points to the label.
Girl 2: What?
Girl 1: Look, 30% fat! That's heaps!!
Girl 2: Oh bummer....but we have to have sour cream. What'll we do?
Both are silent for a moment and look devastated when one girl sees something on the shelf that makes her smile.
Girl 1: Look! This one is a large carton!
Girl 2: Yeah, so?
Girl 1: Don't you get it? If we buy a large carton instead of a small carton, the 30% fat is diluted in a larger surface area.
Girl 2: Oh, of course!! Damn right we are good!

If only it were fact!!! Then I could get the giant chocolate bar, the giant cake, the supersize lasagne......

Overheard in New York is the English version of the tjuvlyssnat site. Go and have a laugh!

Eye spy - A taste of summer

The beach. Cousins, Uncles, Grandads and family. Floaties and rashies.

Sandy towels. Seaweed. Snacks on the beach when you're tired of swimming.

Floaties and blow up boats. Rainbow hats.

Watermelon, afternoon naps, ice cream, movies, camping and boating.
Sitting outside in the evening with a beverage of your choice, enjoying the breeze.
Fish and chips, crunchy salads and BBQs.
Thunderstorms, home grown tomatoes and having no schedule.
Oh, summer! How I love thee. (When you're not tooooo hot.....)

Thanks Anastasia for this weeks theme.

One of my favorite rants

SHOPPER’S GUIDE TO PESTICIDES IN PRODUCE

DIRTY DOZEN
Buy These Organic if you can (HIGHEST IN PESTICIDE)
Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Lettuce
Grapes (Imported)
Pears
Spinach
Potatoes

CLEANEST 12 (LOWEST IN PESTICIDE)
Lowest in Pesticides
Onions
Avocado
Sweet Corn (Frozen)
Pineapples
Mango
Sweet Peas (Frozen)
Asparagus
Kiwi
Bananas
Cabbage
Broccoli
Eggplant

The Full List: 45 Fruits & Veggies

RANK	FRUIT OR VEGGIE	SCORE
1 (worst)	Peaches	100 (highest pesticide load)
2	Apples	96
3	Sweet Bell Peppers	86
4	Celery	85
5	Nectarines	84
6	Strawberries	83
7	Cherries	75
8	Lettuce	69
9	Grapes - Imported	68
10	Pears	65
11	Spinach	60
12	Potatoes	58
13	Carrots	57
14	Green Beans	55
15	Hot Peppers	53
16	Cucumbers	52
17	Raspberries	47
18	Plums	46
19	Oranges	46
20	Grapes-Domestic	46
21	Cauliflower	39
22	Tangerine	38
23	Mushrooms	37
24	Cantaloupe	34
25	Lemon	31
26	Honeydew Melon	31
27	Grapefruit	31
28	Winter Squash	31
29	Tomatoes	30
30	Sweet Potatoes	30
31	Watermelon	25
32	Blueberries	24
33	Papaya	21
34	Eggplant	19
35	Broccoli	18
36	Cabbage	17
37	Bananas	16
38	Kiwi	14
39	Asparagus	11
40	Sweet Peas-Frozen	11
41	Mango	9
42	Pineapples	7
43	Sweet Corn-Frozen	2
44	Avocado	1
45 (best)	Onions	1 (lowest pesticide load)

Why Should You Care About Pesticides?
There is growing consensus in the scientific community that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can adversely affect people,especially during vulnerable periods of fetal development and childhood when exposures can have long lasting effects. Because the toxic effects of pesticides are worrisome, not well understood, or in some cases completely unstudied, shoppers are wise to minimize exposure to pesticides whenever possible.
What’s the Difference? An EWG simulation of thousands of consumers eating high and low pesticide diets shows that people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent by avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated instead. Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to about 14 pesticides per day, on average. Eating the 12 least contaminated will expose a person to less than 2 pesticides per day. Less dramatic comparisons will produce less dramatic reductions, but without doubt using the Guide provides people with a way to make choices that lower pesticide exposure in the diet.
Will Washing and Peeling Help? Nearly all of the data used to create these lists already considers how people typically wash and prepare produce (for example, apples are washed before testing, bananas are peeled). While washing and rinsing fresh produce may reduce levels of some pesticides, it does not eliminate them. Peeling also reduces exposures, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the peel. The best option is to eat a varied diet, wash all produce, and choose organic when possible to reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.
How Was This Guide Developed? The produce ranking was developed by analysts at the not-for-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) based on the results of nearly 51,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2005. A detailed description of the criteria used in developing the rankings as well as a full list of fresh fruits and vegetables that have been tested is available at www.foodnews.org.