Practice Is Good

This square looked the scariest of them all so far in our Crochet along challenge, but wasn't at all.  It was time consuming & I had a little disagreement with the Elongated Back Post Stitches, but we kissed & made up after a little while.  Yeah, even the name of the stitches scared me!  This is the New Year's Eve square. It also turned out large, as once again I couldn't make it smaller.  Well I wondered if the green lacy looking bit could have managed with one row less, but I just left it as is.  The Star Odyssey square I did last week is slightly smaller so I will add a row to that one & it will be the same as this.  I am guessing that as I go along making squares it will happen that there are a couple of different sizes, & some that I can't adjust much.  So I will go with it for now, & will end up with two sampler blankets I guess.  That's cool too.  In the meantime I am learning, developing my crochet skills, learning to read patterns better, figuring out some finer points of crochet that I still wonder about each time I change colours, & wonder if I will ever know the secrets to these things.  In the mean time I hope I am doing some of these things right.  I guess time will tell, if the blankets fall apart!


An end of an era today with mum's shop being open for the last time today.  Wow, after 18 long years it is time for her to move on!  It's scary for her but exciting none the less.  Bring on retirement!  Yay Mum!

Terrific Tuesday

I'm lucky enough to work in a craft shop.  At the moment I am only there a day a week, so by the time I get there again it's often the case that a bunch of new stuff has arrived again that I get to catch up on.  Today was no different.  I got there & for once there was a range of fabric that although I had to look at it a few times it really grew on me & I came to love it.  Often I look at new fabrics & think blah, or a couple in a group are OK only, but this lot I must say really sucked me in with all of them.  I don't know why as I really am not a florally person.  But this range seems to have a bit of a vintage feel about it.  It's really cool.  The range is Covent Garden by Benartex.  This is 12 of the range.  I see there are a few more in different colour ways but these as a set of 12 are really great.  I got to cut up a whole stack of it today for kits which will look awesome.   I am seriously considering some of this range.  I love the colours.  The 4th one from the left looks so vintage sheet-ish.  I am really taken with this lot.  I wonder if I can find something interesting to use them for.  I must have a plan before I buy some as I must get enough before it disappears & disappears fast I think.  Lucky I don't have girls to sew for else they would be well decked out in this I think.  

Sunday Treats

It had been a while since we did anything like go out on an outing such as this.  So it was a real treat for us, but especially for train mad BJ.  We had a few relatives over from the big bit of Oz so spent the afternoon first having a barbecue lunch at home & then we went for a nice leisurely train ride.  As you do.  It was somewhere we had talked about going for a while to let BJ experience the train & now we had the perfect excuse.  It was a nice little ride.  We go past the place often, but you know, you just don't do those tourist things so much when they are right on your doorstep.  So we have finally experienced the Don River Railway.  BJ loved it so much he wanted to go back today of course.  Or next week.  He doesn't mind when but I guess the sooner the better.  Maybe we will again before his birthday as he is still free!  

The carriage we were in was a cute old wooden thing.  Lovely little hi-lite windows at the top with etched glass.  Loved that bit.  The kids all had a great time, not just BJ.  But so did all the grown ups.  

 Cute little interiors

 Watching the steam engine back onto the carriages.  Fascinating stuff for little (& big) boys!

 Ice-creams all round...

Just to top it off nicely we went to the bestest ever chocolate factory around for after treat treats of icecream.  I did get a couple of chocolates to take home for later though.  Shhhh don't tell.  Oh I did give one to Stuart but it was treat for once the boys were in bed.  Love their chocolates.  Heaven...  now I must admit though that this is one tourist place I do know very, very well.  They do a great coffee, they do a great hot chocolate, they do great light meals & they do the bestest ever desserts.  (try the Orange Mousse Cake if you are there, but if I'm there too make sure you leave a piece for me!)  Oh & they also have a bit of factory viewing which wasn't in operation on a Sunday but I have seen them working there through the viewing window.  Quite interesting.  There are also plenty of samples to taste test which we did.  I was very lucky as they had my favourite hazelnut truffle in the taste containers this time.  What a lovely afternoon.  No doubt I will be there again soon, even if it is just for a take away coffee or hot chocolate as you get a piece of fudge & a truffle with each takeaway drink so worth the stop for sure!  

I have been there a few times over the last couple of months.  I am in a group on Ravelry that is made up of a few locals & this has become our meet up place for a couple of hours of knit & crochet time, with a coffee & cake of course!  (that is the point after all!  You thought the point was the knit & crochet time didn't you!)  Each time we have been there it has been packed with people.  It's always so busy on a weekend.  Anyway, I will leave you drooling over the thought of such yummy chocolate.  If you haven't been there before or tasted their stuff, you don't know what you are missing.  If you have been there & tried it, ha ha, you do know what you are missing!

An Old Favourite

Do you have a favourite shirt that you just can't part with?  I do...  I have had my We Will Rock You t-shirt for such a long time & I haven't been able to wear it since pre-kids.  lol  It lost its shape terribly & also became too small for some reason.  Oh well.  But still I couldn't throw it out.  For one thing, I really loved the show.  Loved it.  Totally.  In fact, I changed my flights & stuff to fit it in after Stu had been to Melbourne for a concert & this & he said I just had to see it.  So, I did.  Well worth it & heck I got an extra night in Melbourne!  Bonus!  

 I saved it.  Yesterday was laundry day.  I did get it all finished, but in between I did re-purpose this old shirt for BJ.  I thought it would be hard, or trickier than it was, but it was so easy.  Took about ten minutes.  That's it.  & that included re-pinning around the shirt where I used BJ's Scooby-do shirt for sizing.  He thought I was wrecking Scooby!  So took the pins out again.  Anyway, it worked.  It probably won't last much longer but it does the job of my not having to ditch the shirt quite yet.  New life in it & he was happy with a new shirt.  So easily pleased at that age!    

I Want To Be Little Again

After my post the other day when I said that BJ was upset because he wanted to be little again (you can find it here), I got to thinking how nice it was to be little.  It's nice to be oblivious to all the grown up stuff going on around you!  I really don't want my boys to grow up too fast but I wonder these days if the way we live does make it happen sooner than it did in my growing up days.  I know I was naive about so many things that went on around me for a long time!  I guess so much has changed & now it will be a good lesson in how to protect my boys from things to a certain degree, before I feel like they need to do or know stuff...


I thought I would have a turn at being little again anyway, with a little group of pictures of me back then...

1. Myself, little baby Chris & Mum.  No idea where this is.  I can see expressions of BJ & DJ in me there.  
2. Big sister Judy on the big bike.  Myself & Chris squished on the trike.  We used to spend a LOT of time riding our bikes on our driveway.  
3. Ours summers were spent camping.  We didn't leave town, we took the caravan over the river to a camp ground there & spent most of the summer there.  They were good times.  Myself & Chris sunbaking!  At least I have zinc cream on my nose, but I doubt the rest of me has any sunscreen!  
4. Beach babe Me!  You won't see me in a bikini ever again!
5. Chris, Mum & I again.  This time planting fruit trees in the new garden.  We each had our own fruit tree that we chose.  Mine was a plum tree.  
6. Judy & I.  My first pay packet.  The olden days when you got paid in cash in a little envelope specially made for pays.  Our Opa had a business & we used to help I guess.  Turned out I ended up working there for 10 years later on so this was the start of a long career.  

So there you go.  I love it that there are gadgets that can convert slides to PC.
Stay cool!

More Playtime

I did another square.  I couldn't wait for Sunday to roll around with the announcement of our next square for the crochet along...  So I did this Easter Day square.  It wasn't hard at all, but I find it interesting that my centre is kind of off centre.  Kind of a little crooked.  Well not kind of, it is!  Maybe I didn't join one in the right spot.  Who knows.  But live & learn right.  Oh & I found a mistake on one corner but I won't tell you where.  Someone will inspect & find it I'm sure.  lol  But it's ok.  I had to leave one row off this to make it the size of my other squares.  I don't love it, but I don't hate it either.  They are all tucked back away until Monday when I will dig out the yarns again to do the next one.  The new ones are announced on Sunday but it is Sunday evening my time so I don't really get a chance to do anything about it then.  

 Speaking of Sunday, anyone waiting to watch the new Young Talent Time on Aussie TV on Sunday evening?  I am looking forward to it.  I for one am not scared to say I lived for YTT in my younger days.  My sister & I knew everything about it.  We still do.  I have the DVD of the old stuff that they brought out a while back.  It's good.  I don't watch it often of course but hey, maybe I should get it out again & put it on for BJ.  He might enjoy it now.  Anyway, I will be interested to see what this new make of it is like.  Plus I have to see Tina Arena.  She is such a talent.  Not afraid to say I have all her CDs too.  Love each & everyone.  One day I will get to see a show of hers live.  I think the last time she was here I was pregnant or something so had no chance of going.  She is an awesome singer & it will be interesting to see what she does on the show as a judge I believe.  

Just another indulgent Mummy moment going on here with this gorgeous face of DJ.  

Happy Saturday.  Looks like another scorcher but one I must spend doing laundry.  Lovely fun!  Must fill the pool for the boys for later on though.  I think we will need it.  

More Square Fun

I had to make another square.  There are so many great squares on Ravelry so I thought I would make another.  We still have a number of weeks left in the crochet along I am joining in with but that won't make many squares so I thought I would have a play with a couple more.  So I did this one.  It's Odysey & quite pretty I think.  I enjoyed doing it.  Only problem is it is way bigger than all my other squares.  I couldn't make it smaller as the round section itself was as big as my other squares.  Then I still had to add the rows that make it into a square.  Oh well, I will donate it to anyone that could use it for a scrappy throw for charity or something.  I will have to make my selections more carefully now & make sure I pick the ones that are done in 10ply yarn so when I do them in 8ply they are my size!  That's where I went wrong here.  This one was done in 8ply & I didn't notice.  Not to worry.  It is pretty & would look great in a whole blanket of these.  But probably not in these colours!


Summer continues to rock with more picnics & paddling in the garden.  We are sure making up for no summer last year this time round.  I got out BJ's old swing that we used to hang on the deck at the old house.  There isn't really anywhere to hang it here, but I really wanted to put it up for DJ.  So I stuck it in the apple tree.  For now it's a good spot since he is still so little.  But poor BJ was devastated.  He's too big for the swing.  He told me he just wants to be little again & sobbed & sobbed.  He really really wanted to be little again so he could go on it.  The problems of a child are just too sweet.  Wish they were my problems too.   I don't want to be a grown up, I want to be little again...