my Marimekko week & the school year resumes

Greetings all, 

Last Friday i finally made it into the Marimekko store in Sydney, wow, what an experience & boy did i wish it wasn't raining so so hard, as i was head down running, not able to soak up the experience - just the raindrops!!  I mean, look at these racks of print & colour, pattern & fun.  I've been collecting Marimekko fabrics for over a decade, they are sensational, coveted & beautiful to work with.  I'm going to make a glorious family patchwork quilt, two actually.

After cruising the entire store, upstairs & down, i managed to finalise my favourite 10 bolts & chose a shoulder bag in signature print Unikko, which my children can borrow too.  I certainly loved the cushions!!

I have been dreaming up what to make with my new prints, while clearing out my studio all week.  Life is always very different after 7-8 weeks of having my four children home on Summer school holidays, to them suddenly resuming school for the year.  My husband started his new job here in Canberra, a couple of weeks ago, so the house is very quiet, just the chatter of chickens & our puppy to keep me company.

My eldest daughter is now in year 9 & was very keen to get back into school, she is doing a triathlon this weekend to kick start her sports.  She has a variety of subjects, electives & non electives, with up to 10 different teachers.  

Finally, after a few days of a new 'organic' process of the children & teachers moving around the classes to discover what 'feels right' my 3 primary schoolers were advised who their classes & teachers were.  Girl 2 has the same teacher as last year, job sharing with her 4th grade teacher, whom she adored, so that is a nice mix.  These days in small schools, they are often composite classes with job sharing mothers teaching part time - we've experienced it all & while i prefer male teachers (as my husband is away so often) - the job sharing situation is often a really positive as the teachers are always fresh.  

Girl 3 has the same teacher as last year, if you could imagine Taylor Swift as a teacher . . . complete with guitar, beautiful singing voice & leg warmers, this is it, perfect for our ethereal little sprite, who feeds off a creative teacher.  So those twins are now year 6 & ruling the school, they will receive special Tshirts too & prepare themselves for high school.  

Finally that baby boy of mine is fast approaching his sisters in height, year 4, with a gorgeous young teacher & all his girlfriends from previous, he'll be just right.  While we've attended 9 different pre, primary & high schools as we've moved all over Australia with the Army, it's nice to be settled & know we just have one more new school - when our son commences to high school, as the girls go to a ladies college. 

All by myself . . . the housewife life . . . so what to do with all this new spare time . . . well i've organised 40kg of no-longer-loved fabric for our daughter's ladies college; middle daughter's piano lessons have extended as 'she's a natural'; sorted school stationery; piled up all the excess kitchen pots, pans, microwave, knives, oven mits, cups, bowls, plates, utensils from the bachelor pad for our primary school canteen; spare linen for charity; removed garbage bags of rubbish from my studio; booked hair cuts; organised lunch dates; delivered fresh lunch to my husband; animal entertaining; i resume a Michelle Bridges 12WBT on Monday so doing my fitness tests; hoisting up a new canopy over the chicken coop; housework; groceries; dinner planning & preparation . . . today i'm finally going to do some shopping, swim & run.

 We'll be back in this city next month for a family wedding.  After dining with Kim Pearson here last Friday night, it brought back all the happy memories of spending my 20th birthday at the ANA (now the Shangri-la) & it's where my husband proposed 16 years ago . . . we booked a suite . . . only this time with ajoining room for 4 children!!  That's my Valentine's Day present right there!!  Valet parking & breakfast for 6.  So excited!!  

Have gorgeous weekends, we're off to a triathlon, love Posie