my creative space 'garden craft'

Greetings all,
Seeing my studio is sweltering in unairconditioned heat, i haven't been sewing as much i should be with a huge Handmade market looming 2 weeks away . . . but it's still school holidays, i have extra children over & the garden is always an ace place to entertain children. 

 I selected my supplies from the hardware store, swung the pick into the ground & put up a mini wooden fence for my mini pumpkin patch.

 Several bags of potting mix & special vegetable boost enhanced fancy top soil later . . . my willing helpers transplanted the 8 germinated pumpkin seeds into position.

 With carrots down the centre as an experiment, water, then the magic touch of sugar cane mulch.

 It was so hot i had that eye-stinging-sweat-dripping-off-my-face thing going on, at 9.30a.m. & when we checked on our cool new pumpkin patch, the pumpkin leaves were frying in the sun, so it lost all street cred & i put a beach umbrella over it.  There were also German Shepherd paw skid marks across the carrots, he is SO serious chasing butterflies, he clearly forgot the mini wooden fence was meant to keep large dogs out??!! 

 The lettuce continues to grow like crazy, loving my fresh herb salads at lunch.

 Don't you wish you were the mother of these girls??  Or the cleaner of their shower??  Or the washer of their fluffy towels??  Mud pies, they made them for HOURS!!

 Freshly squeezed orange juice for the masses of children.  I'm practising my mother-of-the-year wave as i pick orange pith out of my teeth.

 Easiest way to feed a group of hungry children after running around the garden all morning . . . a platter of simple sandwiches & where would a mother be without a stack of IKEA plates & cups??  Then i made up some cookie dough & broke it up into vanilla icecream for poor man's Cold Rock/ Ben&Jerry's icecream.  When one mummy collected her son, it was at icecream serving time so i fed her boys in the car too, i was very popular in the driveway!!

 They decorated the fish bowls & we swapped the fish around, yes i had unpaid child labour doing the dirty work all day.

 I can seriously imagine these two girls on Survivor, they look like they'd fit right in & yes i know they need back to school hair cuts!!  I actually had a dream once they were on a Survivor series & they were twins, but pretended to not know each other (extra sneaky) & set up alliances which were so clever . . . they ended up being runner up & winner, splitting the cash!!  Hmmm, evil twins, brilliant!!  Oh, to be the mother of reality show children, so NOT brilliant.

For proper sewing, crocheting & knitting type Creative Spaces, check out Kootoyoo, love Posie

a typical school holiday kind of day

Greetings all,
Well there is no doubt i LOVE the school holidays.  I get a lot done each day, the days are unscheduled & relaxing.  I'm often in my jammies until it's time to jump into a swimsuit, ahhhh . . . Summer!!  I managed to feed & water the children 3 times, as well as making homemade yoghurt & hanging laundry in the glorious sunshine today along with . . .
cleaning out the fish bowls . . .

 pebbles & plastic plants waiting for the next fish bowl renovation!!

 Picked up this tool box for $10 at Revolve for my agaves, potted them, now grow . . .

 they say due to the floods in Qld lettuce will be in short supply, but not for us, our collection of cos, butter & coral lettuce are coming along nicely.

 I spent the morning sewing up 12.5" squares for the Quilts for Qld project . . .

 i made 10 of these stripey goodies . . .

& 5 of these pretty piecey squares, there will be more!!

 Also picked up this ugly pine glossy chair at Revolve for $10 & started sanding it back . . .

 i went to the hardware store for paint (i already had a tin of chalky white), i was thinking orange but who can argue with a $4 'stone' paint tin when experimenting with techniques, also proof something on special can completely sway my choices . . .

 my helper was quickly distracted with roller blades & collecting daisies from the neighbourhood while i painted on the driveway, yes she roller blades with feathers in her hair, houndstooth socks & a tutu, don't you??!!

The stone top coat was used as the under coat . . .

 oh back to the agaves, look, a preying mantis (this end of the handle, trying squinting) . . . the children told me i must see & blog about, i know, how incredibly interesting (i don't do insects) . . .

then off to the pool at the local Army barracks for a couple of hours - the children swam while i chatted & flicked through my new cookbooks (i'd love to say i picked them up from a quaint book shop while i was out at the hardware store, toy shop, supermarket & bakery this morning, alas, they're from  Big W, all these for $55) . . . more on Poh's Kitchen later, the book is a sheer delight!!

 & because the sky still looked like this at 7.30p.m. . . .  

 the white under coat was used as the top coat, then got a sanding to reveal the stone colour on the faux warn edges . . . i think i like it??

 oh after this dinner was devoured at 6p.m. of mashed potato surprise (chives & crispy salami) a recipe my 3rd daughter concocted, she LOVES potatoes, as per her very Irish name would suggest; fresh home grown herb leafy salad & chocolate mousse made by my eldest daughter as a treat . . . i had a lick of a spoon, ok a dessert spoon, um, a heavily loaded heaped dessert spoon . . . off to walk the dog an extra block!!

 back to the chair, finally, distressed/ aged/ shabby chic/ faux vintage, whatever you want to call it, i think it's done.  I can imagine a pretty Cath Kidston seat cushion but then you won't see the bottom-rub-marks i went to the trouble of breaking finger nails to sand back with a block to fake.

Now where to put it, i know my husband will be reading this thinking good GOD no, not another bloody chair, he only just realised Revolve is not some swanky 2nd hand shop but the recycled furniture end of the local tip!!  Anyway, i think it might look quaint in the bedroom next to my tall ball, in a void??  I shall experiement & let you know.  That was my day!!  Love Posie

are you READY for the auction & raffle flood appeal MANIA??!!

Greetings all,
Sure i'm doing a raffle, auction, donation & making quilting blocks for the Qld flood victims, but i'm also super keen to enter the raffles my handmade loving clever bloggie friends are doing too. 
I thought up this quick & easy raffle ticket buying method . . . get your credit card, go to the official flood appeal website, donate $5 & have the receipt emailed to you; find the blog raffle(s) you wish to enter, use that receipt number, then file away the email receipt for your tax return.  

I did 20 last night, i have my receipt numbers ready for the motherload of raffles launching tomorrow.  If i find an auction requesting a $10 ticket, i'll use 2 of my $5 receipts!!  Go for it, quick & easy & good luck!!

 The Make it Perfect coordinated Flood Appeal i'm working with, launches all auctions, raffles & donations tomorrow/ Monday.  It's huge, well organised & all 'donations' by way of raffle tickets & auction wins go DIRECT to the official flood appeal website.  You'll find hundreds of handmade things to 'win' in the most feel good donation atmosphere on line!!  Spread the word & get your non on line 'what's a blog' friends involved too.  My whole family is entering (without a single blog between them) so that's an extra 20 adults & $1K donated, all keen competition for you!! 

 Bid on my handmade patchwork quilt auction in pretty Japanese fabrics here . . .

 donate $5 a ticket & enter my book, pencil roll & fabric + crafty goodies raffle here . . .

 this fabric is part of a mega raffle at The Red Thread, live NOW . . . over $1200 worth of sewing machine YES AN AWESOME SEWING MACHINE, fabric, pattern & more handmade goodness, donate $10 a ticket . . . here!! 

 I'm taking the day off tomorrow, says the mother of 4 in rain soaked school holidays, to quilt up my 12.5" blocks for the Quilts for Queensland, an amazing can-do concept RetroMummy has organised, like me, her husband works in Brisbane too.  Join in, get sewing with your gorgeous bright & colourful cotton fabrics, the finer details over at Corrie's blog here . . . 

 Now for some animal survival images of the Qld floods (i find the human tragedy ones too horrible to post).  Today i would have done a post on 'have fish, will travel' as we took our fish with us to Sydney, in a big plastic tub with a battery operated filter, really, the fish came on holidays with us. 

 Kangaroos are so timid & flighty, they must have been wrecked to hop in a boat & not fight it!!

 Crocodile in the town of Gympie Qld, sure, of course!!  Now people are arguing if this is a genuine photo??  I doubt you'd stage it, that is one big crocodile to position, pose & ask to smile, he he.  I would say yes, it's real . . . with crocodiles, anything is possible.  We lived in Darwin for 6+ years on 2 Army  postings, my 4 children are genuine Territorians, born in Tiwi, they had crocodile softies in their cribs.  If the NT News doesn't post a crocodile story on the front page atleast 3 times a week, something is wrong.  Crocodiles get into people's pools, golf courses, garages, walk down the Stuart Highway, they can be anywhere.  The fact they can walk just makes them more scary than sharks!!
EDIT: Carol from Naturally Carol has spoiled my fun & confirms a Gympiite was just having fun, the 'crocodile in the middle of town' photo isn't real.  I'm a bit disappointed, if it was Darwin it would have been true!!  Oh well, safer for everyone in Gympie.

 I'm no lizard expert but i'm guessing a big goanna??

 Possibly my favourite animal rescue story "there is a cow on my neighbour's roof".  Thanks to Kylie for alerting me to this one, her husband was asked to organise a helicopter??!!

 Too cute, green tree frog hitching a ride on a brown snake!!

In much safer conditions, our fish on holidays.
Thanks everyone, every little bit helps, donate or create or volunteer to clean up!!
My husband is busy knee deep in mud in the Lockyer Valley, it's very sombre. 
My God Mother & her husband have all but cleaned out their fencing business sheds on the Bremer River & moved onto friends' houses to clean out.  I can assure you that Queenslanders are feeling the love & support.  Love Posie

styling is a fishy business

Greetings all,

The fish are gathering in numbers at our place. 
Ever since my manipulative well meaning sister gave my eldest daughter a fish for Christmas, the other children wanted one.  Seems pretty harmless, a school holiday activity.  I'm good at keeping children, plants & a dog alive, how hard can fish be??  Flash back to burying a Siamese Fighting Fish (complicated) earlier in the week, i asked the 'fish&chip shop' for simple, uncomplicated fish to keep alive.  My sister's original complicated fish lives on, very strong & beautiful. 

5 fantales for $20 seemed reasonable + $40 in plants, food, conditioner . . . & voila, here they are in the giant glass vases i bought mid week, with the pebbles & shells i teased you with in yesterday's post.

 After conditioning the water & balancing the temperature, they were released from their plastic travel bag into their new stylish homes.

 This large bowl is in our son's room, he loves it.  I think the blue Shanghai fighting ship mixed with the green ukelele from Hawaii screams for a styling award, non??  Especially teamed with a red bird house . . . ironic, eclectic, original, unique.  The art of unpredictable styling, that's my boy.  

 I had a fabulous green plant for this smaller bowl below, however, it proved a useless prop & space hog, so i'll get them a larger bowl tomorrow.  This is in the twin bedroom.

 I love my twin girl's idea of styling here, do you think the fish are happy with a sushi loving kokeshi doll hovering nearby OR the oven OR the glow in the dark light up IKEA pussy cat??  I wonder if fish suffer from stress??

I didn't want fish, now i kind of like them.  I don't like boxy fish tanks, now i love these huge shapely vases.  I wonder what i can find tomorrow . . . i mean stylish fish bowl substitutes, not more fish!!  Stop me!!  I also have to stop calling the Pet & Aquarium the 'fish&chip shop' it really annoys the children.  FYI we eat fish & chips about once a year so no idea why it keeps slipping out!!  Love Posie
PS I'm scheduling my posts to update after midnight, so they are fresh for the day & i enjoy a sleep in or morning exercise.  I won't be posting this often once my husband leaves/ school goes back/ real life resumes . . . but daily posts are so much fun!!

RIP Rocky Road, i'm on a diet

Greetings all,

So how are all the New Year diets going??  I'm going along swimmingly.  Certainly no Rocky Road anymore.  Couple of hidden meanings in there, read on . . .
i'm eating grilled fish & salad for dinner . . .

 & not eating the delicious homemade pasta like the children (we made a huge batch for homemade lasagne for my father-in-law on Boxing Day & with the left over dough, we made fettuccine which we let dry, freeze & it was perfect!!) 

 We made yoghurt too, delicious, but only a little taste, i'm on a diet!!

 Rocky Road in our house is not a chocolate & marshmellow treat, she was a Siamese Fighting Fish.  Sadly during the night, she passed away, in her fish tank, alone.  Rocky Road was only with us for a month, RIP Rocky Road.  Do you like the blue pebbles from her fish tank, the 4 children even dressed in black for the funeral (FYI they don't own black clothes so they actually dressed in Halloween outfits making it look like a creepy pagan/ witchy/ black magic satanic ritual - use your imagination, photos were not taken, it was a funeral!!) 

 I'm not a fan of fish, i like useful animals like dogs, however, my evil sister bought our eldest a fish for Christmas (a male Siamese Fighting Fish named Omega) & my husband condoned the gift buy buying another one + a larger tank & accessories!!  He was the hero parent for a whole week.  Anyway, after reading Rocky Road's obituary in today's newspaper, i took my chance at being the favourite parent for the day & you guessed it, i took our daughter & bought a replacement fish.  It was going well until i called the pet shop the "Fish & Chip shop" about 3 times on the trip there.  Faux Pas??  Freudian Slip??  We did eat fish for dinner??
Moving right along . . . Meet Olive. 

 I was quite disturbed by my fishy behaviour, so i took our dog (useful animal) for a walk.  How disturbing is this . . . eeewww, another watery grave, this time for a teddy bear.  Why??

Be careful by the water people, it's dangerous, evil lurks. 
What's your best dead pet story??  I'm new to this small critical life & death fish challenge, we've only had 2 German Shepherds, the first lived happily for 11 wonderful years.  See, useful animals with longevity.  Love Posie