Bugger.

Having a bit of a personal crisis. Going to take a break for a little bit but will be back soon! Promise.

This is........ three weeks of 'This is.....'

This is 'something I'm surprised I like.'
Oh, I can't believe I'm even admitting this. I like Quarter Pounders from McDonalds international evil empire. We mostly eat organic food but there's just something about the cheesy, oniony, pickly taste of a quarter pounder that I can't resist. The bun is so soft and sweet and disgusting - how could I????? Yes, I am surely surprised that I like it.

This is 'a favorite recipe I would like to share.'
From my Grandma:

COFFEE OAT BALLS.
1 cup rolled oats
4oz margarine
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 cup coconut
1 tablespoon instant coffee
Cooking chocolate
Walnuts

Cream icing and margarine. Add all other ingredients. Roll into balls. Place in freezer for 1 hour.

Dip in melted chocolate, place a walnut on top to decorate. Store in refrigerator.

This is 'my favorite quote.'
I used to have so many quotes that I like but these days I have to be honest and say that I don't really think about it that much. Let me think....
I remember reading this quote before I had children and thinking that it was nice. Now that I'm a Mum this quote can easily bring a tear to my eye.....

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”
Elizabeth Stone

Now, I am going to try really hard to keep up with 'This is....' from now on. Promise.

And to make me smile.

My Moo who thinks Mummy's sunglasses are waaaaay cool!~

Busy busy busy

Do you ever feel like you've been crazy busy but when you try to think what you've done you can't think of anything? I feel like that today. The past few weeks have been mayhem. I'd like to blame the bathroom but I'm not a plumber or a carpenter and haven't had all that much to do with it really. I guess it is time consuming talking to the tradies and letting them know exactly what we want, making decisions and the like..... And having a building site in the middle of your house isn't exactly good feng shui (or pungsu if you are Korean!)
I've also been really tired which hasn't helped. A few days I have had to go and lie down when Annie has her nap because I just can't function. Hopefully this will pass soon!
There's been a lot of washing to catch up on. The weather has been bad and with Annie having been sick there was her extra washing that got priority which caused me to run out of undies on the weekend. D'oh.
Hubby has been doing uni assignments so he hasn't been helping as much as he usually does either. *blah* I hope I can be more organised soon. Before I loose my marbles.....
And, if you didn't manage to guess from the feeling of this post, there has been NO crafting done here. My sewing machine (poor thing) is sitting on top of the heater in the dining room. Looking all lonely and forlorn.....

Things have been crazy around here.....

More 'before' shots.

I removed the wallpaper above the tile line....

Our 'beautiful' bathroom light and ventilation doodah.... thankfully no longer residing here.
The hole in the floor, and you can't see it well here, but the electrical outlet right under the shower taps was quite 'interesting.' Whoever did this bathroom originally should be punished!

Days one and two: Ugly light removed! Woo hoo! Sheeting for the tiles put up and water proof membrane painted on. Plumber came and checked out all the pipes etc before the tiles went up.

Hole in the floor fixed, shower base installed. We are having a completely tiled floor with a drain in the bottom for the shower. The shower frame will be glass that sits directly on the tiles.

IXL fan/light/heat lamp installed and dangerous electrical outlet removed. Second outlet moved so it is not so close to the sink - illegal as it was! Day three: tiles start to go up. The pencil tiles make a line that extends around the whole room. The colour is 'taupe.'

Whole in the roof patched up....

Now in day four so I will update again later....

YUK!

Moo was really sick this week. You could have filmed a remake of 'The Exorcist' at our house.

**insert horrifying picture here**

Poor little thing was so shocked and appalled every time she was sick. We had two very sleepless nights but I am glad to say that things are back to normal now and our cheeky 'diving from sofa into beanbag' monkey is back and smiling!

Dress

Do you think I could get the model to be still???? NO WAY!

This dress is from Amy Butler's, Little Stitches for Little Ones. I finished it a while back but gave it to my Mum to do the button holes because my machine is old and annoying. The size is 12mths and Moo is 18 mths so it's a little short. But she's skinny so it fits - just. I didn't make it for her though so it's alright......
I was very pleased with myself for making a fully lined dress. The patterns are so easy to follow in this book so I am glad that I bought it.

Sugar soap is not so sweet

So, there has been little done on the crafting front as I have been fighting the wallpaper in the bathroom and there are only so many hours in the day. I've finished half the bathroom and have only got to sugar soap off the rest of the glue off the walls. YUK! It takes a LOT of elbow grease to get that stuff off the walls and I have to do it while standing on a ladder and concentrating so as to not fall off! I managed to spill a giant bucket of warm soapy water off the top of the ladder so it was a good thing we have giant holes in the floor....... *yikes*
In other bathroom news we have ordered and paid for the tiles - unpolished dark concrete for the floors, white gloss on the walls and taupe pencil tiles as a border around the whole room. I borrowed a crow bar off my FIL and have taken the skirting boards off. I had a look at the shower base and it's not even stuck down!! So, that will be easy to remove. And then it's just the floor boards which I will do next weekend. ~PHEW~

Check it out.

My brother in law's website is up and running. Mike's work is awesome and you can see it here.
His next exhibition will be in December with the next solo exhibition being in May next year.
GO MIKE! (Yep, I like to cheer for my friends and family!)

Stay at home Mum. Chef. Accountant. Project Manager.

Feed baby and husband. Check.
Feed self. Check.
Turn on Sesame Street and The Night Garden to keep kid quiet while on the phone. Check.
Tax return. Check.
Call Centrelink. Check.
Wait forever to talk to someone. Check.
Get annoyed. Check.
Order tiles. Check.
Call Bunnings. Check.
Call glazier. Check.

And it's not even 10. I think it's time for a cup of tea!

It may not be craft but it's makin'

I put together the vanity for our new bathroom!

All by myself and without messing up the instructions! Good thing I was educated at a technical school and know how to use a screwdriver. My time in Sweden taught me how to appreciate sitting down for coffee and a kanelbulle (cinnamon bun) and also how to interpret IKEA assembly instructions......

Now all we need is walls and a floor - yep - that is the underneath of our house you're looking at there! Hopefully there are no elves or trolls living under there......or come to think of it - SPIDERS~~~

Soon to be ripping out the floor and old shower base. Sugar soaping the walls and then it's all up to Mr Tradey to do the rest. Can't wait!

Impromptu fun

Last week I spied what I suspected to be asbestos in our 'to be reno-ed' bathroom. I called the asbestos man who confirmed my suspicions and so they came on Saturday morning to clean up. This meant that we were banished from our house at 8am - Moo and I were still in bed when they rocked up!
So, what do you do on a weekend morning at 8am? Go and have a lovely cooked breakfast made by someone else! Woo hoo~~ Moo and I shared a 'Big ass breakfast.' (I didn't call it that. It was on the menu!)
After we got the all clear we had a home pit stop and after parting with a few hundred hard earned dollars trotted off to IKEA. We managed to stick to our list and picked up the vanity/sink, towel rails and mirror without incident and without any talk of divorce. Hubby actually felt like looking around (what kind of miracle was that!!??) so we looked around and dreamt about kitchens and window seats and an organised wardrobe. *sigh*
When we got home hubby said, 'I feel like having a BBQ.' So, we ended up having a nice relaxed Saturday evening BBQ. Beer. Irish cider. Steaks. Lemon and herb fish. Kartoffel salat. Friends. Fun.
Sunday morning hubby was really getting antsy that he had not started his homework (part time uni student) but he also admitted that he was suffering from a severe case of procrastination. Then the phone rang. BIL rang and asked if he could come over with the family (new nephew!) We asked them to stay for lunch and MIL come over too. We enjoyed some family time. Moo and her cousin rough housed (and nearly broke the joint!) and I had the perfect excuse not to make tea for everyone - a tiny one week old nephew asleep in my arms.....
For a weekend that had no plans it turned out to be exceptionally fun.

And I just noticed.....

.... that I've had my 1001st visitor. That's exciting!

I guess.....

This is......

... my favorite film(s). I have sooo many favorite films I just wouldn't know were to begin. So, here are a few favorites....

Garden State


You me and everyone we know


The Wedding Singer


Friends with money


The movie that I can never think of the title of and I always call, 'The film were the main character can hear the narrator.You know.....' I believe it's called 'Stranger Than Fiction.'Will Ferrel's character says he can hear 'a voice talking about me, accurately and with a better vocabulary.'



Also a big Tarantino fan. I love a good horror film - my favorite is 'The Shining' but no one does horror like the Japanese. The Hollywood versions don't cut it for me.
Don't mind an old movie or two, Hitchcook or Ingmar Bergman. Dam Busters.....

This week's 'This is...' was brought to you by Hokey.

Perfect

This morning Moo had creche. I dropped her off and then went to a local cafe and had a freshly squeezed OJ, a toasted croissant and a coffee. Sat and munched and drank and read 'The Financial Review.' Enjoyed the peace and quiet and the fact that no one was pulling on my leg saying,' Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!'
Got home and my bestis was there with her son 'O' and we walked together to pick up Moo. After arriving home we made picnic food. Got out the picnic rug and ball etc and went to a local park. We ate fruit, apple and cinnamon bread and strawberry yoghurt. Then we all went and played in the playground.
When we finally made it home (the kids wanted to stay!) we watched bestis' DVD of her little 12 week fetus rolling around.

The sun is shining. The house is quiet. So much to be happy for today.
Ooooo, and it's Friday!! Tomorrow we are buying all the stuff for our NEW BATHROOM!!!!
Woo hoooooooo~~

A Kodak moment

My BIL and SIL and my newest nephew, Ollie.

Where would I be without my Mum.....

... I certainly wouldn't have this choc-chip banana cake recipe!

180g butter
180g raw sugar
1 banana
3 eggs
180g wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
100g dark chocolate bits

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and flour (or line) a standard size loaf tin.
Cream the butter and sugar. Mash the banana and then beat it into the creamed butter and sugar. Sift the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl. Lightly beat the eggs in another bowl. Add 1/3 of the egg mixture to the butter mix. Beat. Add one third of the wholemeal flour. Beat. Alternate with the remaining egg and flour, beating between. Mix in the chocolate chips and pour into the cake tin. Bake for 45 mins or until a cake skewer comes out clean.

It's wholemeal and has bananas, right? Can't be that bad..... (?!)

Not a huge fan of green beans.....but.....

... we got a heap of them in this weeks Organic box. I searched on the internet for some recipes and found one for green beans with mustard vinaigrette. I modified it a little so here is my version:

Blanche and then plunge into cold water 2 handfuls of beans.

Make the vinaigrette by combining the following in a jug:

• 1 small squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp of mustard (I used German 'cause I like it but seeded would be better)
• 2 tbs ground almonds
• a small amount of crushed garlic (to your taste) I used the juice only from one clove.
• a pinch of sugar or other sweetener
  
• season to taste with salt and pepper

Pour an appropriate amount of the vinaigrette over the beans (enough to lightly coat) and serve. You could make it look pretty by sprinkling some slivered almonds over the top.

The vinaigrette probably makes a little too much for the amount of beans cooked so I ended up putting some in the fridge for tomorrow's bean cook up.

I don't like beans, but these are goooooooood~~~~~ mmmmm

Possibly TMI

OK, I am about to mention feminine hygiene products so if this topic doesn't do it for you stop reading NOW.....

This is a public service announcement. : P

For a while now I have been using a small face washer (folded to make 3 layers) instead of a 'panty liner.' I read about it on a blog and thought that I would try it. For a number of reasons - that I don't like chemicals, that I don't like adding to landfill and that I want to save money and find it outrageous that these 'necessary' items have a 'luxury tax' applied. I initially wanted to buy some cloth liners, then I thought I would make some and then when I came across the 'use a facecloth' post it just seemed like the thing to try first. Initially I was skeptical and I only did it at home but now I am a real convert. So much so that with the left overs from making Moo's fitted cloth nappies I have made some panty liners from toweling.
It's amazing how much fresher it feels. Yes, it actually feels nicer than a disposable pad. I really hate wearing the other one's now. Yuk.
If you change often enough during 'heavier' days you don't leak either (which was a major worry for me!). Because of the texture of the material it doesn't slide around in your undies so you don't need anything to keep it in place. As I already have a bucket in the laundry for soaking bibs and the like I just throw them in there when I am done and then it's into wash. They clean well and I'm not adding to landfill. Makes me feel good ; )
OK, you can't go swimming with it and I wouldn't recommend doing gymnastics....

But, if you dare, try it! You'll never go back. Promise.

It worked!

When Moo woke I up I changed her nappy/diaper to the one I had just whipped up. It was very easy to put on and didn't leak or anything. Yay!~
I am therefore going to make more. After use I am dry pailing and washing them every other day. Works for me. Hopefully we won't use as many disposables now because there will be a heap of easy to use, quick drying cloth bums.