social commentary Sunday . . . 'what does your husband get up to when you go away??'

Greetings all,

I just spent a great weekend with the Sew It Together girls, who came from all over Australia to my current home town of Canberra (last year Sydney, year before Melbourne, next year??)  There was a lot of talk on what our husbands were getting up to while we were crafting ourselves silly.  Many men were taking the children to the grandparents or McDonalds.  Granted i was coming home to my husband late at night, he does a great job in my absence - especially cooking for the family.  

 On my way home from dropping a bunch of ladies at the airport, after the final craft session of Sew It Together, i rang my husband & said i had a headache, felt tired & hungry . . . a little pathetic, exhausted from too much shopping, classes, chatter & craft, woe is me.  I came home to 4 happy children, washing done & put away + my husband putting a batch of Women's Weekly 1960's scones in the oven.  While i laid on the lounge with an icepack pressed into my head, i rested to the sound of the mixmaster whipping cream.  Life is tough.

 My husband finds cooking relaxing & thought a strong Thai green chicken curry might help my headache . . . presented with perfect mounds of rice.  This photo doesn't do it justice although he was very happy for me to photograph & blog about his heroic rice moulding efforts.  We don't dull the spicy flavour for the children either, they just drink more milk & water while they chow down. 

 Just as i thought the cooking & baking was finished, handsome soldier fancied 'a snack with flavour' which included icecream . . . so grabbed My Grandma's Kitchen for a Margaret Fulton Saucy Chocolate Pudding recipe . . . as i type, it's bubbling away in the oven.   

Special mention to our Hamburg hen who laid that whopping egg this afternoon.

This isn't novelty helping out around the house because he's lived interstate/ overseas for 2.5 years or the children are older/ more capable, he just does these things to help & it would have been the same 5 years ago with younger children too.  I know i got lucky - he was raised by very dominant women.  No take away for our children, not when they have this amazing cook of a father.  Funnily enough, drill-sergeant-dad gets the children to complete more chores than i do too.  I half expected to find them standing by their beds for inspection when i got home.  I have to stop thinking it-would-be-quicker-to-just-do-this-myself when children drag their feet, it is so fantastic to share the responsibilities of parenting - with someone so capable.  Oh & have a fabulous weekend off too - i truly feel spoilt!!  

When was the last time your husband was home alone to make all the parenting decisions, meals & housework??  For so many of us mothers, this is not a-weekend-away-on-a-whim, it takes months of planning, penny pinching, preparing, convincing & instructions.  Last time i did anything like this was Sew It Together last year, before that . . . um . . . cannot even remember.  Shall post more about my purchases, classes, creativity & lucky door prize shortly, love Posie

my creative space . . .'Sew It Together' craft weekend

Greetings all,

Yay, Sew It Together is on this weekend - i have to say, there is no blogging community like the crafty one & we have some of the best get togethers EVER!!  I've just finished the fabric packs for the goodie bags for Sheridan - our leader - who cruises in to Canberra tomorrow, then i'm off for an airport run to collect half a dozen of the first interstate arrivals.  I can imagine that many crafters in my car will be louder than my children!!  

There's a lot of talk about how the husbands will cope for the weekend while we craft care free, well i know my husband will be fine (he's such a natural parent) & this year it's local . . . tonight he made chocolate caramel slice.  Our daughter made a batch in high school cooking class today, however, was reluctant to share, so i boldly announced i had the ingredients, we'd have a cook off (when i say 'we' i meant 'my husband'.)

 While i'm still not sewing since hand surgery - partly unmotivated, mainly busy with other things around the house - i decided to change all the linen on our high schooler's bed, including a new wool doona too.  Her room (half of my studio) is really cold at night, she's loving her new bedlinen, including owl flannel sheets & when i find a European pillow insert - a lovely Euro pillow too.  It was a surprise while she was at volleyball the other night, she loves me.  You really can buy a teenagers love!!  It's all from Bed Bath & Table, around 30-40% off.

 I love these colourful wall paper suitcases from Lark, i did buy them for my studio, however,  they look so pretty here & i love that this child is still into colour.  The whole room is very Dutch inspired, i was always a big fan of Room Seven (daughter of the Oilily family.)

 In our spare time, we've been cleaning out the garage (no royal 'we' here, i'm doing the heavy lifting.)  I normally do this myself but i need my husband's tough love approach to tossing things out, especially as i no longer do markets, i don't need the props!!  Seriously, we have boxes which have remained unopened for 4 interstate moves, so we cracked them open & shredded the tax returns from the last millennium.  So happy to find all the school photos from NSW & NT.  We also tossed the last of our garden chairs, purchased in 1998!!  Already 2 trailer loads have gone to the tip, i'm on an organisational high. 

 Our ducklings are one week old, could they be cuter??  The children gave them a bath - adorable - they loved it (FYI ducks are so messy, they fill their bills up with drinking water & spray it all over their cage, they love to be wet, so you have to put their food up high & dry) & we loved watching their dry-dance.  As always, the runt/ little one/ last born/ had to be helped from shell is thriving, i think we have a gift with special needs farm animals.  Bless our hens too, still laying eggs in the -5C nights, some during the day too, nice surprise when i clean out the coop after the school run.

 Our 4 children sat in a circle watching these sweethearts dry themselves.  They don't have much oil or any feathers yet so we let them do their own thing.  Then added their friendly chick gang to the mix on the lounge room floor (that is 4 Hamburgs & 2 Pekin bantams) who are growing very fast & feathery.  The children sit them on their desks while they do homework - these chicks & ducks are amazing spellers & mathematicians!!

Let's just say - making up creative excuses on what i have to keep in the garage, baking new recipes, a craft weekend & raising these ducklings indoors, while they soak everything, is keeping my creative brain active.  To all of the cool ladies attending Sew It Together this weekend . . . welcome to Canberra!!  For more creativity, check out Village Voices My Creative Space.  Love Posie