This month





 

This month.....

• included two weeks of school holidays,
• we went on a family holiday and stayed at a divine cottage in Nornalup for three nights (thank you, Aunty Jan!)
• the girls all had their first fishing expedition - it didn't last long but it put smiles on their faces!
• we visited quite a few artists who were showing their work as part of the Southern Art Trail (it was awesome!!) These paintings are by Serena MacLauchlan at Hotchin Gallery.
• I got a crocheting bug - three cowls later.....
• I managed to finish another little oil seascape painting - yay!
• my love affair with the Schoolhouse Tunic entered its seventh episode, this time with a gorgeous purple linen,
• my football team did NOT win the Grand Final, but I still love them!!!
• Miss M started to learn how to use the sewing machine - she has yet to earn her learner's permit (which means she can use the machine without me having to constantly supervise), but she is almost there,
• I experienced my first ever blogger/insta-meet - I bumped into Kate from 2littlebanshees while we both happened to be browsing the fabric racks at Albany Spotty at the same time.
• we celebrated Miss M's birthday with a BIG party and the most decadent ice-cream cake of all time!! Happy Birthday, my girl!!
• I have (obviously) had a break from my blog.

And it is good to be back.

 xx



Handy parenting hint

 

 

One of the best bits of parental advice I have been given by a friend is this:

 

If your child is having a case of the attitudes, if they shout or speak to you in a rude manner, if they forget to say please, or thank you....

 

to help them think about their manner and give them time to take a breath and regroup,

 

 

say, "I think you should try that again."

 

 

This has been brilliant for me with my sometimes moody brood! It helps to diffuse overwhelming emotions - on both sides! Of course, there are times when a little person's emotions are completely out of control and in need of a different strategy, but 4 times out of 5, this works a treat.

 

So, thanks, Deb! Mwah!!

 

 

Do you have a favourite handy parenting hint to offer?

What helps to calm your little people down?

 

 

On another note, we had another 'magic day' yesterday - the weather was glorious, and we took the opportunity to head east to Cheyne's Bay/Beach, hence the photo at the top. Beautiful day!

 

Hoping you all had a lovely weekend.

 

 

xx

 

 

 

 

watercolour

Typical! I put my apron on to try and sneak in some more painting, and the twins decide that now is the time for some painting of their own!

 

And then they produce beautiful watercolour wet-on-wet pieces like these and I really can't complain any longer. 

 

 

 

 

Except I'm glad I took a photo - the paintings don't look like these anymore! Boo hoo!!

 

 

xx

Book Chat on Instagram

Last month's bookchat winners - from instagram.com/kimpearsoninteriordesigner#

 

I love a good read, and I love being a part of a book club, but I never thought of starting a book club on instagram.

 

But somebody did!

 

Kim Pearson* thought of it and mentioned it on instagram. Julie Gibbs, Penguin publisher, read Kim's comment, got in contact, and they now run instagrambookchat on their instagram pages as well as on facebook.

 

Check it out - they are announcing the topic for April on Saturday and there are always bookish giveaways to be won!

 

http://www.facebook.com/instagrambookchat

 

Happy reading!!

 

Sam xx

 

 

* Kim Pearson is my talented and very clever sister. You had better believe I have a personal interest in mentioning her!! :)

Kim Pearson

Ever since my very clever interior designer and stylist sister launched her website 5 weeks ago, she has been receiving lots of positive online attention. Today, for instance, she is having her home photographed for a major Australian lifestyle magazine. She has also been contacted by a publisher!!

 

I'm Impressed!

 

Kim has had much success in the 15 years since she started down this path. And now, the power of social media is helping to take her talent into another realm!

 

Kim helped us to style our last house so it was perfectly presented for selling. This time she is determined to get hold of our new place to give us advice before we start renovating.

 

And I'll listen. Because she obviously know her stuff.

 

www.kimpearson.com.au

 

Her work is beautiful. Check it out.

 

 

Sam xx

 

Beanie

 

What a great little pattern this is - Snowflakes on Mulberries Hat designed by Amy Klimt. Fun to knit, quick, with top quality results. My only modification was to knit 17.5cm before beginning the decreases, allowing the wearer (in this case, G) to fold the lower edge up as much as he likes.

 

Knitted in Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 8ply in Graphite - grey, with an underlying blue hue, and oh so artfully modeled by G, while distracted by the cricket on telly!!

 

Hoping you all had a lovely weekend!

 

Sam xx

 

 

Seachange

 

 

Why move?

 

Our goal* is to eventually live on a large block of land (or as G would have it, a farm) where we can grow more of our own food. We did do that to some extent at our last home in the Perth Hills on 1/2 acre; we had a sizable vegie patch, 20 or so fruit trees, and kept up to 10 chickens while practising organic principles. Moving to the South Coast brings us closer to that goal, closer to another side of the family, closer to the lifestyle we envisage for our family.

So why, now, the smaller block near the beach? We no longer have any chickens**, our vegie patch is growing in pots, and there's not a fruit tree in sight!

 

It's all part of The Plan.

 

This house, while lovely and brilliantly located, is our 'Stepping Stone House'. It's purpose is not only to provide us with a beautiful place to live, it's also a gateway for us, a house through which we hope we can achieve our ultimate lifestyle dream - our 'Forever House' - once we establish ourselves in the community, and locate the larger block that we dream about.

 

Even so, this house suits us right now - and this has surprised us. It might be that we stay longer than we original planned.

 

A Seachange!

 

But I still miss my chickens.

 

 

Sam xx

* An idea triggered, once again, by Allison Tait and her Life in a Pink Fibro blog. Thanks, Allison!
** which have found (or rediscovered) loving homes before we left! I wouldn't leave them with just any one!!

Instinct

We did some serious house hunting on the weekend and, after an extremely dissatisfying and exhausting Saturday, we went to see one on Sunday morning with my sister-in-law's family.

 

It was perfectly situated and looked really promising. As we approached the house, we saw the owners and their boys driving away. My 10 year old nephew M, who was sitting in the front of his family's car, recognised one of the boys - he was in his class.

 

Did M like him? Was he a nice boy? No, not at all!

 

Oh.

 

Still, G and I liked the house. M wasn't so sure - he was visibly rattled as he walked through it, but I assured him that we would put some positive energy and love into the house if we bought it. We put an offer in straight away.

 

But now, after lots of game playing, feet dragging and poor form shenanigans from the owners, I reckon that M's instincts are spot on!

 

It's not the house's fault, but I do believe that we will be continuing our search for a new home this weekend. And not dealing with that awful agent again, either!!!

 

 

Sam xx

 

 

"Houses do not clean themselves"

 

“Houses do not clean themselves.”*

No, they do not!

Normally, a superficial wipe of surfaces and irregular vacuuming and mopping would be sufficient to keep our house in a comfortable (for us) state of ‘cleanliness’. But recently, following our decision to put our home up for sale, it has become patently clear that my interpretation of ‘clean’ does not fit the lifestyle and home living magazine ideal. Nor does it meet the expectations of a potential house buying public, and that’s why I have spent the last 6 weeks cleaning, decluttering and tidying our house, making up for the past 8 years of ‘near enough is good enough’.

Yesterday my interior designer sister arrived in a whirlwind to put into action the house dressing and styling plan we had drawn up a few weeks ago so that the house could be photographed ready for market. She took the items that we own, threw in a few extra pieces, rearranged everything and presented us with a home worthy of one of those magazines I mentioned earlier.

And the results?

Absolutely Amazing! My home is beautiful! Why did I wait 8 years for this?? (A rhetorical question, of course!)

 

My sister, kimpearson.com.au, is Brilliant At Her Job!!

 

 

Sam xx

 

* http://lifeinapinkfibro.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/an-inconvenient-truth-about-mothers-and.html

 

 

 

 

Windmills

 

Miss E's beloved Perth Royal Show purchase, more coveted than the Barbie Showbag,

the perfect hat for windy occasions......

 

the 'Spinny Hat"!

 

 

Sam xx

Squirrels in the Sky

We have been talking with Miss M about what happens when people pass away.

"Does that mean that Uncle Lindsay is a star in the sky just like my Great Grandpa Squirrel?" she asked.

Squirrel?

"Oh, my darling. You mean Great Grandpa Cyril!!"



Sam xx

Knitting Needle Neediness

I've hit a snag in my Mara shawl.

 

My circular needle is not long enough to hold all the stitches, now that I am at the increasing row for the edge.

 

The lady at the local habby shop hasn't a needle long enough, and I have little chance of heading down the hill to the 'Big Shops' given that I am housebound with a flu-ridden family, G included - not that I'm much healthier that they are, only that my flu is on the mend, whereas theirs is not. And I do mean 'flu'. This virus was not a cold!

 

I've needed my knitting in the last week, its soothing repetition. I'm enjoying the Mara shawl pattern 'mindlessness' when I've been too weak to do anything else, or when stuck on the couch with sick kids. Pick it up, put it down, knitting when needed.

 

And now I am needed for more 'kid on the couch' cuddles. I might have to start another Mara just to keep me soothed.

 

Hmmm. Now there's an idea!

 

 

Sam xx

 

(cough, splutter... )

Family Bushwalk

G and I first met when we were on a bushwalk organised by the Perth Bushwalkers' Association. So it would seem logical that we would have done quite a lot of bushwalking together.

Except we haven't.

So yesterday, Sunday, we took the whole family for a bushwalk - not too far from home - just five minutes away.

And away we went - away from the endless jobs, the football on telly, the washing, the folding, the messy playroom, the distractions.

And it was beautiful!

What did you and your family do this weekend?

Sam xx

Party Food + Hidden Vegies!!

It is birthday party season in these here parts, and when a tray of food is requested or required to assist the party hostess, I always make these - Pizza Rolls.

I love them! They meet all my essential kids' party food requirements:

- they are easy to prepare beforehand, freeze, and then reheat

- you are always left with an empty plate (adults like them too!)

- they are low in fat (provided you use reduced fat ingredients, of course!)

and, best of all in my mind,

they contain Hidden Vegies!!!

In the 5 years I have been making these I haven't been following a recipe but an idea a friend gave me. These amounts of ingredients are what work for me - by experimenting with amounts and different fillings, you can adapt this to work for you too. One piece of advice about the cheese, though - don't put in too much or it just melts out of the roll and onto your baking sheet or oven floor! Trust me!! 

Pizza Rolls

makes 24 rolls

3 sheets reduced fat puff pastry
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup tomato sauce/ketchup*
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrot
1 1/2 cups finely grated zucchini
2/3 cup grated mushrooms
1 1/2 cups grated reduced fat cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan forced. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Without removing the plastic backing, thaw the pastry just enough so it is no longer solid - you will need to roll it up, so the pastry can't be too hard or too soft. Place one of the pastry sheets on a chopping board.

Combine the tomato paste and sauce in a small bowl. Spread the pastry sheet with 1 heaped tablespoon of the tomato sauce mix, leaving about 2-3 cm of the upper edge of the pastry free of sauce, and 1cm on the lower edge, as can be seen in the photo below.

Take about 1/2 cup of grated carrot and spread it evenly over the tomato sauce.

Take about 1/2 cup of the grated zucchini, squeeze out the excess liquid into a spare bowl, and then spread it over the carrot. Follow this with some of the grated mushroom.

Finish with about 1/2 cup of the grated cheddar cheese and use your hand to flatten it all down, still leaving the upper and lower edges of the pastry free from filling, as in the photo below.

Now it's time to start rolling your pastry. I use the backing paper to help me, removing it as I roll. It takes a bit of practice but it is possible!

Once the roll is complete, pinch along the edge to stick it to the wall of the roll so the whole thing doesn't come apart in the oven and spill out every where! You could also use a pastry brush to apply lightly beaten egg along the join to stick the pastry but, given the number of children with food allergies, I prefer just to pinch it together.

Using a serrated knife, cut the roll in half, cut these pieces in half again, and then once more. You should end up with 8 pieces. Place these on their sides evenly spaced on the lined baking sheet.

Repeat these steps for the second and third pieces of pastry.

Once all the pieces are placed on the baking sheet, bake in the oven for about 14 minutes or until golden and cooked.

Remove from the oven and cool for about 10 minutes before eating. Yum!!

Now, if you want to freeze them for a later date, only bake them for 11 or 12 minutes. Cool completely to room temperature, place in an airtight container and freeze for up to two months. When you want to reheat, remove them from your freezer and thaw to room temperature before placing in a 200°C fan forced oven for about 6 minutes or so.

Yum Yum Yum!!!

Pizza Rolls, anyone?

Sam xx

 * I like to use my homemade spicy tomato sauce

Nightmare Help

In Maxabella’s most recent post, she writes about how much trouble her 8yo son is having trying to get to sleep. He’s scared.

In recent months Miss M has been having the same difficulties. She has been telling me about her dreams/nightmares. She has been telling her teachers.  She told her classmates for her news item. But her nightmares continued.

I talked with a GP about the problem but didn’t get much joy there. It was when I spoke with Miss M’s teacher that I remembered something.

Worry People

Fifteen years ago, a member of my family died suddenly. I was devastated and went straight to a wonderful friend of mine who is a school psychologist, and she threw me into the car and took me to the Oxfam shop where she bought me a gift; “Worry People”.

The Worry People are teeny tiny dolls from South America in a teeny tiny bag.  The idea is that you tell these tiny people your worries, thereby giving the responsibility to them. You then put them back into their little bag, put it under your pillow and that allows you to go to sleep.

It worked then. Maybe it will work with Miss M?

It has,  along with some other strategies; soft gentle music* to sleep with, a new big cuddly toy to grip on to, and special bedtime stories from Nightlights books, suggested by her teacher. We have been bad dream free for two weeks now and Miss M is calmer, more settled and doesn’t mention them, except for when we change her pillow slip – we have to make sure that the Worry People are safe, after all!

And happily, we alre all sleeping soundly now. I hope you and yours are too!

Sam xx

What are some of the things you have done to help with your child’s night time fears?

 * Mostly Enya - not my personal fave but it works for Miss M!

Party Bag?



Treasure Hunt!

The girls and I went to a 5th Birthday party on Saturday. It had all the usual birthday attractions for the girls; lots of kids to play with, party games (in particular, a brilliant treasure hunt around the property), the sugar minefield that is the party food table, and the birthday cake, of course!

And to finish it all off, they got to take home a party bag.

The only trouble is, Miss E also brought home a party bug - a nice vomity one!

That's not quite what I had in mind for the start to the school holidays!!


Sam xx

Memorable Mothering Moment #729.....

...is the delicate balancing act that is helping a child do an emergency number 2 at the park – although, what makes this particular incident memorable is not the act itself, but what happened to the car keys that were sharing my pocket with the tissue I was rummaging around for.....

Oops.

What to do? One hand was stopping the crouching child from over-balancing, the other hand was still in the aforementioned pocket, and my line of sight was focused squarely on the keys....

...wondering how on earth I was going to get out of this one??*

Sam xx

*Leaves! Leaves, plastic bags and LOTS of hand sanitiser. And a fair bit of hysterical laughter!!

One of the best things about my life is that I get to watch my daughters grow up and be with them as they experience many firsts.

If they let you!

Miss M went to her first disco on Friday night, put on by her school and suitably age appropriate; it ran from 5.30 to 7pm. Very civilised! Preparations for the event were wonderfully painless; no fashion parades, no hair consultations, only "I want to look pretty". Right! We can do that! Bring out the flashing necklace!!

But when it came to who was to be her chaperone, me or her father, I was dumped!!

And so, with an inner silent sob of sadness, I bid her farewell as she left for the ball...er...disco.

Her baby days are well and truly behind her. *sob*

Sam xx

By the way, the disco was a great success with lots of excitement and energy, according to G. *grumble*


I can remember my first disco when I was in Year 8 - lots of Kim Wilde and Duran Duran. Can you remember yours?

A sense of Community

I love The Weekend Australian Magazine – when I can get to it - and this week I managed to steal some time on Sunday morning and actually read the articles. One in particular, “That’s the Spirit” by Miriam Cosic, a discussion about people’s sense of community, caught my attention;

“We’re losing our sense of community, it’s often said. But is it true?”

That made me think.

G and I moved up to the Hills 8 years ago. We based our decision on financial limitations and a search for certain lifestyle options. It meant a move away from my family and my main circle of friends. It meant we would have to find new connections in our new suburb.

Our initial attempts to form friendships with neighbours weren’t helped by the neighbour’s dogs’ incessant barking, nor the three cars of police who turned up early one morning to have a chat with another neighbour, not realising he had moved out weeks before. And just as well!

But it wasn’t until we had our first daughter, and I attended the local Child Health parenting classes, when I met other women who felt equally out of their depth as I did. I was naturally drawn to other mothers in my age vicinity, all of whom had had careers before children, so we felt a certain affinity and formed a Mothers’ group. One of these women in particular has become an amazingly loyal and dependable friend – we babysit each other’s children and help out each other when we can. I found community through having children.

In more recent times I have found an online community – other craft bloggers who are also trying to find a way to document their creative lives and have something that belongs to them. This is bringing me great satisfaction as I can dip into this creative world while staying at home with the children.

In the end, trying to find a connection with our immediate neighbours hasn’t been a total failure. Our most recent neighbours, R and L, moved in 18 months ago. Their children are the same ages as ours. We share life similar values. We all have a meal together every couple of months. We fixed the fence so the kids can talk and play without becoming impaled on the wire. We discuss the laying habits of our respective chickens. We discuss the imminent dispatching of roosters.

And on Sunday R helped us out when we really needed it.

G was collecting wood from the official Department of Conservation site – the girls and I bought the permit for that on Friday. Unfortunately, once ensconced in the bush, G’s ute decided not to start. He was stuck, but after a 4 km walk in steel capped boots to get mobile coverage, and another 4 + 7 kms out to the road, he managed to get hold of me, and I managed to get hold of R. And R graciously agreed to help us out.

Not such a cheap firewood experience as expected but, for the cost of the car trailer hire and fish and chips with R’s family, we all arrived back home just after dark, firewood in tow.

Is our sense of community disappearing? I don’t believe so. It just changes as our lives change. We find community where we make it and where we find people who have similar life beliefs. And I’m extremely thankful that some of them live just over our back fence!

Sam xx

Edited to add:: School P & C meetings are also a great way to develop community. Besides, you can find out some great .....information .....along the way!!

What do you think?

Do you agree that our sense of community is disappearing?
To what communities do you belong and how did you come to be part of them?

Here comes another one...

Another Olearia cardigan, that is! This time I am knitting it for Miss E - cardigan number three - in Madeleinetosh Tosh DK Oceana. Mmmmm, lovely! This photo gives a much more realistic representation of the colour, compared to the photo I included in this post.

I am determined to get it finished so I can start something new, and also because the weather has declared that it is, most definitely, winter. This morning was rather chilly; it was only 3°C when we left for school. Funnily enough, Miss J wasn't too keen to go to her swimming lesson but Miss E wasn't so shy. Did I mention that the pool is heated and indoors?

And I haven't forgotten the hexagon blanket! That will get a work out as soon as I get this project completed. It is waiting patiently in its basket, waiting, waiting.....

And don't forget to check out the other Creative Spaces here.

Sam xx