Fun day out!

As it's school holidays here and I'm working a large portion of them I am trying to do 'fun' things when I am home. We had planned to visit a local 'wildlife park & zoo' over the weekend although the weather was against us , cold and wet. The horsey one decided that didn't matter so she organised us all and we set off yesterday morning. SH was working and HS not interested so it was just the three of us and we met Mum there. First adventure was getting there! I will confess now I have no memory for directions and not much sense for them as well.......I knew the general direction but when faced with a forked road, yep you guessed it I took the wrong one and we went over the mountain and even being the driver I was feeling a little on the seedy side, anyway it took longer than I expected but we arrived safely. We had a wonderful day. You are allowed to feed most of the animals and as you walked in the gates the deer become your new best friends and stay with you, very close until all your food has run out! There are kangaroos and wallabys,a koala, wombats (sound asleep), possums (also sound asleep), dingos, emus, ostrichs, monkeys(?), lots more deer, peacocks, and even a huge pig. After exploring Mum and I got our coffee fix while the kids looked at the reptiles and generally ran around getting rid of some excess energy while eating every last cookie I had packed along with the thermos!

The evening was spent as a family (in a somewhat dubious manner!), after eating a magnificant roast dinner that SH had prepared we settled down to watch the return of 'Gladiators' tv show. It was a favorite of HS when he was a tot and it has just been relaunched with all new gladiators. He wondered out loud if it was as corny when it was on 12 years ago - yes! but we all still sat and watched and probably will again next Sunday evening!!!

Not much in the quilting news - oops will try better later in the week.

World Earth Hour

Last night at 8pm we celebrated 'World Earth Hour' (think I've got the title right) which consisted of turning off the lights and appliances for an hour. The Hosey one and Seb got right into it and plans were made for a Yahtzee challenge , the choc chip cookies were baked , the caramel popcorn made and the candles organised. Handsome son being a computer loving teenager was not going to take part, not in any shape or form!! He did turn the computer off eventually when he realised we wouldn't fold but he would go to bed - he wasn't going to have fun....... you guessed it , he couldn't resist and came and joined us and the game finished well after the allotted hour.

Little Boy Blue complete!!

One block down of the nursery rhyme quilt, NINE to go! Have put together 3 little pigs this morning so ready to start the stitching. Doesn't help that I have another 3 projects on the go at the same time which are distracting!

Managed to get the kids moving yesterday and today, slow mornings but definately not all day pyjama days. Yesterday afternoon I took them to the indoor pool to swim where what a shame I drank coffee, read a magazine and stitched while supervising, then today sent the younger two to the movies to see 'Dr Suess - Horton hears a hoo'. The horsey one enjoyed it.

I must explain, my profile does say I only have 2 children but we also have an 11 year old chinese boy from Hong Kong that lives with us. Seb arrived in April as a very small 10 year old with no english to attend the school that my children go to. As he was too young for the boarding house we agreed to him homestaying with us. This is a stepping stone for him to learn a bit of the culture, some sport and the language before he joins his 3 brothers (there is also a sister still in HK - so yes 5 children in the family ) in Adelaide in July this year. He went home for 6 weeks at christmas time but otherwise has been with us. It has been both a rewarding and frustrating experience. It has taught my children tolerance and sharing but has also impeded our lifestyle to a certain extent. We had just got to the easier stage with ours and all of a sudden had to think again what boundaries were appropriate for a 10 yr old, particularly one with poor social skills. As he is clever he has been in classes with older children for most of his school life. He is currently doing year 8 with the horsey one as opposed to year 5 which would be age appropriate. His English has really improved and he is a happy little boy who has fitted in to this madhouse well. We will miss him when he leaves but gosh it will be nice to make the streak from bathroom to bedroom in just our underwear!!

Cold and Wet!

Back to work today after the easter break and the weather has changed. We have some much needed rain and it is cold. I have even put the heater on this evening and my electric blanket is warming my bed already!
I have a deadline for a quilt for my nephew John, he turns 2 in July and my mum is heading to London to visit so I would love to send it with her. I am doing a Block of the Month - Nursery Rhymes which I have had all the blocks for at least 12 months. I pulled it out last night and it is a very sad state of affairs, I have only got 1 block put together which is only 3/4 appliqued!!!!!! Yikes! I am hoping it will not be long before I am regularly posting photos of completed blocks...
It is school holidays here and when I left for work this morning the children were all up and moving , well when I got home they had hardly moved and were all still in pjs! Things WILL be different tomorrow as I only have to work till 12, watch out kids......

I love new whitegoods....

Neither my Super Husband or I had to work today and the kids are on school holidays so a mucky day trying to accomplish a few household chores. SH and I started the day by searching out a new fridge. Ours was about 12 years old but had travelled the country on our many moves , the seal was shot and it was either freezing things or not keeping cold. Time to be relegated to the shed as a beer fridge! We managed to find what we wanted that would fit in the very tight gap and even better the competitor business matched the price and delivered this afternoon. We now have a very shiny new member of the family, don't think it has any idea just how overworked it is going to be!!
While SH and kids slept in this morning I got up at normal time and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the house. Even managed to get some computer time and then some ironing done while watching the morning news on tv - bliss.
I have to admit, over the last few months of reading others blogs I have often wanted to comment or had things I would like to write about. Now I am finding I am a bit nervous about it all, the words are not flowing quickly and it is taking a bit of getting used to. Please bear with me as I am sure the teething problems will soon disappear and I will wonder why I ever struggled!
No quilting or stitching to report on today, and I must confess the quilt yesterday was Mums that she is making Gracie....
SH has just made the most beautiful blueberry and banana bread - I know what I want for supper tonight.

Mum time....

Have had a lovely day. Headed off early to travel an hour to have lunch with my Mum. She has been on her own now for over 10 years after losing Dad to cancer and we spend as much time together as possible. My only sister lives in London. Mum had gone to so much trouble for Easter and I am now officially 'chocolated' out!! (at least for an hour or two). Spent a lot of the day chatting and inspecting each others craft projects. Mum is currently making the most gorgeous beaded felt shoes (about 10cm long). She has almost completed a quilt top for her granddaughter Gracie in London, only a little applique to finish.I'm sure she will love it when Mum delivers it in July. I'm hoping to have a quilt finished for her little brother John's 2nd birthday. It was meant to be his 1st birthday present but the way I am going he may get it for his 18th!!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday today and I really missed going to church. I had to help horsey daughter feed horses for friends and then drive handsome son to his part time job as a kitchen hand in a small town 20 minutes away. Never a dull moment with this family! Later in the day I supervised the horsey one while she rode which really wasn't a chore as I managed to get some stitching done. I am working on a christmas redwork piece at the moment. No photos yet - sorry. A lovely easter roast for dinner and far too much chocolate!

New beginnings!

Well I've finally managed to set up my blog with the help of my handsome son and horsemad daughter! Not sure how much I'll have to say of interest but I'll share with you my quilting and stitching projects and snippets from my everyday happenings. I am a relatively inexperienced quilter and what I have seen on other blogs both inspires me and puts anything I do to shame. Until tomorrow......