I Took a Break

Christmas came and went. January has gone by. Tomorrow I am ‘officially’ back to work (quilting work that is - a mother’s work is NEVER done). I have a ton of pictures to upload and some of the best pictures and our exciting news is at the end. It was great to have a long break from quilting – I think I was starting to burn out a little bit. I had planned to make a show quilt for 2009, but in the end, I didn’t want to do it without putting in 100%, so it will have to wait for next year as I have a rather full schedule at the moment.

We had a great summer holiday and did lots around the house and also had a day or two out and some visitors as well, so very nice.

The chooks are doing well. here they are sharing the nest. They all lay in the one nest and I guess one cannot wait when the other has it occupied. luckily my chooks all get along and can share. Even when one has her head pressed against the wall.

 

My dog Kira.

Kira is ‘helping’ me with the laundry. She is holding a sock for me. She is so smart…it fell on to the ground and she just knew I would be re-washing it once she picked it up for me. Never mind the slobber.

Here are the mystery gifts I was talking about in my last post. They are Schmerpis. You can buy the patterns from Helen at Pattern Press. Mine are naked…they are supposed to have clothes, but I think they looked good au naturale. The recipients LOVED them and they were a lot of fun to make. Hubby cut them all out for me and the kids all helped me turn them out and stuff them. A real family effort. They are made from polarfleece and make a great gift.

Here is the new Schmerpi family posing under the Christmas tree.

Of course, the month would not be complete without at least one kitchen disaster. This is what happens when you try to tip 12.5kg (about 30 pounds) of flour into a bucket, but instead you miss the bucket.

Major messiness all over yourself, the benchtop, the floor….

Over your brand new digital photo frame that you got for Christmas…. On your handbag….IN your handbag…not that you find that out until later…in the mixing bowl…yep, it went all over the place.

A new look for the discerning cook.

Mission finally accomplished. Next time, I will make my hubby do this so I can have a good laugh at him instead!

We had some really HOT weather. This is a local hotel in my town where it measured 47 degrees celcius. That is 117 degrees on the ‘old’ scale. Not that I was born when they used to use Fahrenheit for temperature. I digress….

We took the kids to the zoo. We parked the car under the Opera House and caught the Ferry across to the Zoo. This is a really nice way to start and end the day trip.

The view from the Zoo, looking back the the city. It is a beautiul place to visit for locals and tourists alike.

Some pretty birds, you actually walk through the enclosure, it is like a rainforest walk. Very nice.

 

PJ loved the penguins.

Everyone loves Koalas.

This may be our last Zoo trip for a while. Last time we went, the eldest was sick in the car on the way home. This time the second eldest was sick in the car on the way home…can you see the pattern emerging? We have two more kids….let’s not tempt fate shall we?

While the kids were home, I thought I would train them up to take over the business…just kidding, but they had a lot of fun quilting on a practice piece I had on there. Who knows, maybe they will be involved later on, but only if they want to.

And now for our big news.

This is Abby. She is 6 weeks old in this photo that I took last week. Next week, she comes to live with us forever. We are so excited to have this new puppy. She is a Miniature Poodle.  I have been taking grooming lessons from her breeder for the last few Mondays. I grew up with a poodle and love them. Now I am over the ‘baby’ stage of raising children, I feel that I can take on the comitment of grooming and caring for this little gorgeous girl. I know I can do a better job training this little one than I did with Kira, now that I have a little more life experience. Oh, and I am not 22 this time ’round. Looking back, at that age, you don’t even know what you don’t know! I am still no expert now, but I know a lot more than I did back then.

Of course our old girl Kira is still doing well for her age, but I need to face facts that she will not be here forever so this is the right time (for us) to adpot a puppy. I will be going grooming again tomorrow and I will find out exactly which day she is coming home with us the following week. I can’t wait!

She is just so cute!

Look at these feet!

 

So that…..is that.