seeing green, amber & red in a trucking convoy

Greetings all,

Who knew SO many people would want to come to Canberra (considered so boring) but come they did . . . to tell our minority government exactly what they think . . . about everything.  Whatever you hear in the news, it was HUGE & there were 100s of heavy vehicles still heading into the city mid morning.
I really wanted to swing by the Brazillian Embassy - they were expecting an invasion of Navi - truly, people painted in blue to protest the Belo Monte dam (world's 3rd largest).  The Avatar creators believe the Amazon is the real Pandora on earth & support the cause.     

Back to our very unHollywood No Confidence truck convoy . . . it was well coordinated by the police, each 50 car/ truck/ caravan group had their own personal escourt (from the border) & where chatting happily with the police while stopped at the red lights, then when the lights went green, it was on - flags flying, horns honking & so many banners from each partcular group (steel worker/ farmers) it was full on & so noisey. 

 I wish i was stuck at this cool set of traffic lights.

 I didn't bump into Greg & Nev from Townsville (warm tropical Far North Queensland) . . . i hope they enjoy the -3C evening they're about to experience. 

 Totally worth sitting in the traffic to find this bounty at the Post Office waiting for me - in honour of my journey, i'm showing off the green, amber & redish pink colour prints, an ode to my stop start traffic lit up trip.

 Then i got home & decided to sort my shoes, do you think i have enough ballet flats??  Then i realised i had lined them up in green, amber/ bronze & red, hello, dizzy or what??

Could my day have been any less interesting or more robotic??  I'm soooo tired & drained!!Love Posie  

a cold, wet & sleepy weekend - preparing for the crazy that will be Monday

Greetings all,

What better way to spend a cold, wet & sleepy weekend without any sport, parties or shopping to do, than in your jammies & knitted booties, baking & playing with fabric.  I did go to Pilates, there was also sunshine in spurts, then took a bath, slide into new pyjamas & put fresh linen on my bed, which i shall enjoy tonight (after the finale of The Block).   

After the success of the chocolate self saucing pudding, we gave a butterscotch one a whirl.

For authenticity i thought i'd add this next image - the moment after shooting the pudding, which had already been attacked by it's maker (middle daughter) . . . a sword fight broke out between her spoon & her little brother's fork. 

 I have a few giveaways coming up with Lego & books, i thought i might play around with my Scrabble magnets to make a fun image for the giveaway posts??

 It's not the neatest of fabric stacks but i'm trying to turn from fabric stockist & return to sewing as a hobby, reducing this to a personal stash.  At least i'm no longer a lazy fabric librarian.  I'm using up all my bolts on sewing & selling FQ at the next Handmade Market.

 Yay, i have a studio floor again.  All the vintage Tshirts on the rack will be on my website for sale in a few weeks, huge discounts, stay tuned for when i next open my on line shop.

 Look what i unearthed . . . my Marimekko remnants.

 The prints are so large & bold, i've made bags & cushions from them before, maybe now i'll make some simple retro cot quilts??

 We had lamb on Friday night, i NEVER cook lamb without my husband, like EVER.  I used a gourmet lamb rub, i think it's a New Zealand brand, it was fabulous!! 

 The children made a waffle batter & used the Penguin machine thingy, which we hadn't touched in years - it was a slow weekend indeed.

So feeling well rested, a bit zen & thoroughly organised in my studio.
Wish me luck getting the children to school tomorrow (we live 20km north of the city) as . . . Canberra is expecting over 10 000 cars, trucks & caravans to descend on our nation's capital city at 9a.m. for a dozen different no confidence protests - most coming from our direction.  To say it's going to put our little city into grid lock, is an understatement.  I'm talking road trains - no idea how they are going to get through the roundabouts??  This is going to be crazy.  Most of we mummies were chatting on Friday afternoon at the school gate, we don't plan to attempt to head to school before 10a.m.  Eeekkk, there goes my Spin class, bummer.  The schools are expecting children all day, it's that HUGE & insane. Wishing you gorgeous weeks, spare a thought for me stuck in a protest convoy for 2-3 days, i'm just trying to get the children to school, love Posie

i'm grateful for . . . 'my papa's health & great fathers'

Greetings all,

This weekend's I'm Grateful For is . . . my papa's health - he's all clear from mid week cataract surgery.  Not normally a nervous man & he loves medical intervention, however, with 50% sight in his other eye, this was confronting, if it didn't go well, where would his eye sight be??  As it happens, the surgery corrected his eye so well, after 65 years of wearing glasses . . . he doesn't need them anymore.  He was excitedly telling me it's like a celebrity eye makeover, ok Dad, what was he reading in the waiting room??!!

I'm thinking of sweet Jane at Life on Planet Baby blog, as she lost her father this week.  I'm so lucky . . . pace makers, stents, bolts & now plastic in his eyes . . . i'm fortunate to still have this amazing positive influence in my world.  Our eldest chose 'Grandad' as the star of her recent history assignment (like a relic) & we all learned from his incredible memory details of his first jobs, long career in the Navy & above all, his love for our mother, who needs him more than ever (Alzheimer's Disease).  The assignment scored an A+ for the most interesting presentation & credit to Grandad. 

FYI he thinks the most important invention in his life time has been the Jumbo Jet - world wide travel should be for everyone.  Right on Dad!!  He was born in the 1930's Depression in Australia, raised in poverty & joined the Navy to see the world - good thing he did as he met Mum in England, otherwise, we wouldn't be here!!  He took us around the world a dozen times on Jumbo Jets during our school years. 

 I love the expression "to be a great Father to your children, you just need to love their Mother".   

We might go months between visits but my father loves how affectionate our children are, like we saw them yesterday.  Our first born is named after him, she considers herself 'the favourite'. 

The saying 'Daddys' girls marry their Fathers' is creepy but true.  I might not have realised it 15 years ago - but . . . right down to the hearing loss, bad ankles & supreme sense of responsibility like military service, i did exactly that.  No need to tell you what a great father my husband is to our 4 children, i bang on about it enough on this blog. 

 

 Getting sick of my Lego soldier series yet??  There are more.

My husband is VERY aware of how much time he spends away from this little bloke, how it affects him & how he'll grow up to be a fantastic father too.  I think it's quality.  My father was in the Navy for 30+ years, my brothers are amazing husbands & fathers.  Dad is the true patriach of our family, his greatest joy was having 4 children, who created a generation of 14 grandchildren.  He'd like me to add 'we're not Catholic' - he was raised Church of England, that was very important to him, that he was NOT Irish Catholic. 

When my husband is home, he's "home", he can't exactly practise soldiering in suburban Canberra . . . it's like my father - he couldn't exactly park an air craft carrier in our pool . . . it's ALL about quality when they're home - mucking around with wood & nails in the shed, to baking sponges & licking the beaters in the kitchen.  Love Posie

things i'm loving . . . 'breakfast in bed'

Greetings all,

Things i'm loving with Paisley Jade this week was a no brainer - yesterday was a pupil free day & kapow, my gorgeous twinnies brought be breakfast in bed.  Surprise!!  Sliced up fruit salad, icey water + a fried egg on a pancake, presented on a Nigella platter no less.  This is what i woke up to, breakfast in bed & no school run, bliss!!

Yes, my independent almost 10 year olds can make pancakes, fry eggs, pop ice out of trays & slice up fruit - we've taught them how to use knives/ stove properly & how to be careful, they're not silly & check out what happens when you let your children shine - impromptu cooked breakfast in bed!! 

No, the high schooler was not supervising, as if she'd be awake unnecessarily.  In short, child labour is welcome in our home . . .

. . . we do provide them with quality stylish aprons to cook with!!

 

So an A+ to my super star girls who so lovingly treated me like a Queen yesterday morning.
Sorry about shodding images, i think the camera is a bit dodgy, it was dropped in the school holidays, no worries, it's only our 4th little Nikon Coolpix to meet with an accident.  I can hear my husband screaming all the way from Brisbane "4 bloody cameras Jennie", his sister dropped it, ha, not me for once!!  Love Posie

our creative space . . . 'a pudding kind of day'

Greetings all,

It's wet, it's cold & it's a pupil free day in Canberra so i'm home with all 4 children & quite frankly nothing better to do than bake them a self saucing pudding, chocolate & everything.

No, until now i'd never heard of a pupil free day - on a Thursday, in the middle of term 3, what?? 

Anyway, voila, pudding is done, not quite on the window sill of my homestead kitchen fantasy, but on the drainer of my Army house, please don't examine the windows.

If the children are to have a Department of Education sanctioned day off school, they may as well be spoiled.  I was spoiled yesterday with some tulips from Tania McCartney!!  Oh stay tuned, i'll be doing a giveaway for her latest book in a fortnight. 

 A day without school runs & children begging to have a pyjama day - i should be tidying my studio, look at my sewing machine . . .

 sorting out what is in these bags - all those blue fabrics were taken to Brisbane & back in the school holidays, i was meant to cut them up for a hexagon quilt, still untouched . . .

 & putting fabric back on racks, i'm such a lazy fabric librarian!!

 Instead, i went to the gym, then the accountant (in that order, poor bloke) & have been having fun with the children.  Not very creative but damn meaningful.  I'm being lured back to the lounge, after i dish out servings of pudding for afternoon tea (if you know me, my children rarely ever get afternoon tea or pudding or dessert, so their heads are exploding with joy).  Me, well i'm on an eating plan, so i'll just sniff their chocolatey bowls of deliciousness & lick the serving spoon.
Check out Our Creative Space for other creative pursuits, beyond pudding & messy studio floors, love Posie

loving all things French & Festivalish

Greetings all,

A month ago (excuse the tardiness) we were in Brisbane & went to their French Festival (tipped off by Thea from Thea&Sami screen printer extraordinaire).  It was fantastic . . . c'est magnifique!!

Brisbane suffered rather chilly Winter school holidays so this is not how their glorious warm & sunny skyline normally looks, even in Winter, alas, check out the French flags & HUGE crowds. 

 While in the queue for crepes, i sent the children around with the camera to take some snaps, so this is their view of the stilt walkers, called the Baguettes or something quaint.

 My darling patient husband queued up for 90 minutes to provide our family with delicious crepes.  I took the children to play at South Bank, it was spitting rain but by GOD we were having crepes!!  Look at these banana deliciousness.  Note to self: get rich quick scheme, make crepes & charge a fortune for them at a French festival!!

 Ok so some quiche & pies were purchased too.  Lucky our children are into sharing, by way of passing around a quiche or pie & each taking a bite - i referred to it as 'a tasting plate'.

 Using this Frenchy inspiration to make good use of my Frenchy stationery.

 Playing around with new tags & loving the red, white & blue!!

 This is a bit orange, sorry for quick snaps at night on the kitchen counter!!

Love a good international festival, many macarons were consumed & it was great fun.  Shall mark it for the calendar next year, with my complimentary military holiday home husband's bachelor pad in Brisbane.  Love Posie

sucker for story book themes

Greetings all,

Are you a sucker for a particular print on a fabric??  I am, Babushkas, i have to have!!  But i'm also a huge fan & collector of quirky & cute story book themes on fabric & stationery. 

You bet that Little Red Riding hood is right up there with my favourites. 

 Fantastic . . . Mr Wolf.  He's big, he's bad & he's sporting a kerchief, adorable, even if he did just eat Grandma!!

 I so want a red riding hood cape, for me to wear in Winter, maybe a felt one??

 Playing around with my new stamps, loving my Little Red!!

You like??  Now for some fun sewing with this new fabric & me thinks a cute handmade product tag with a matching Red Riding Hood is a must!!  Love Posie