Time to get the duster out...

oh yeah!  Let's dust this ol' blog down!!!

I've been 'out of the office' lately, and while I was 'away', I had to consider a few things...

Why blog?

Do I really like to blog?

How much?

Where does blogging sit in the list of priorities?

How much time do I allocate to it?

Where do I want to be with my blog in a year?

2 years?

5 years???

Okay, so I guess you get the idea!!!

So, after thinking about it a lot while being Busy Elsewhere, I realised that Yes, I Like To Blog.  A Lot.  But Not So Much So That I Can't Get The Washing Done, Feed My Family, Spend Quality Time With Them, Do The Garden And Have Fun Doing Other Things I Enjoy...

So I did those things, and now that things have settled down a bit with school and our new term's routine, I can comfortably sit down and write again :-)

I have lots of photos to put up over the next... while!

:-)

Garden goodness

Here are the other night's pickings from our combined garden!!!

We did a bit of a swap with a friend - a bag of courgettes for a few headds of broccoli. Great stuff :-)

I will catch up with the weekly updates early next week - you will be amazed at the changes!

:-)

Back to 'school'...

Tuesday was our first 'official' day back at school! We've had a quiet, happy hum about the place as we've  talked through goals and aspirations for the coming year, and started back into a sort of organised routine.

I guess that Tuesday was mostly about getting back into the swing of things, but imagine how happy and surprised when, at 7:45 a.m. S asked if he could please start now, and was that all I wanted him to do!!! He has repeated the question each day this week - I am wondering when the aliens will give me back my son lol!

M has worked away quietly on a wee project, Z and I made his liquid powered clock, and T decided he wanted to sort out his workspace (it really needed it - guess who he takes after lol).

A great day!  A great week!

No scientist is complete without his goggles.  He puts them on for the photo...

:-)

Crystal update

You may remember Z's science kits...

Well, the water has all evaporated, and this is what we've been left with! We have loved seeing the way the crystals have spread and grown around the jar.

They grew really well on the jute string I had put in, and not so well on the stones that the kit suggested.  String is obviously the 'thing'.

By the way, my project 366 is still going!  I haven't had a chance to flick through my photos and figure out which were from which days, so I will do that and begin to build my wee collage and have it up as soon as I can!  I have to admit, I am rather pleased that I have managed to keep it going for so long - ok, for only a month - but I am not one for being very consistent with creating new, good habits, so it's quite a shock for me!

:-)

I've been out of the office...

Yep, S, M and I did a bit of a road trip to Dunedin for a swim meet.

Our time there was spent primarily driving to and from the pool, sitting/watching/swimming/crocheting (the crocheting was me, not the boys), eating enormous quantities of pasta (them, not me) and sleeping.

But we did get out and about on one afternoon.  M had a tummy bug, so we couldn't really be too far from any bathroom facility at any time :-)  I happen to like trains, and so I made them come and look through the railway station, which is actually pretty cool.

Especially the ceramic panels upstairs...

and the mosaic floor downstairs

the mosaic steps...

the arched porches...

and the general symmetry of the building and gardens.

On the way home we decided to do some exploring, seeing as it was my birthday and I felt like taking my time etc etc.

We had lunch (more pasta) at Karitane.  Sunny, but Very Windy.

We did enjoy walking along the beach in bare feet, and running around in the COLD water, and exploring the rocks.  Brought back some lovely memories of our former life on the East Cape :-)

I then had to stop just up the road at the Moeraki Boulders to have a wee nap (or was that an hour?) but managed to squeeze in a walk to find the boys  to enjoy the boulders

Look!  I found them!!!

And the boys were there too!!!

along with some sand art by S...

M modelling on the boulders... 

and again...

and S discovered he could write in Alien.  :-)

It's good to be home
:-)

Friday Craftiness

Well, it's finished!!!

Last week, I Finally completed the Purple Quilt!!!

Why get so excited about completing a quilt?  I have made quite a few quilts before, but this one really held me back!  I cut it out and put it together the week before I had T, who will be 11 in April.  Obviously I felt that having 2 toddlers and being 39 weeks pregnant wasn't enough.

I began to quilt it about a year later, but didn't like the design (probably hormonal, as I was pregnant again by then, with Z) so I ripped it out, and then decided to handquilt it!  A bit ambitious for my first attempt!!!  I must say though, that my stitching was rather nice :-)

So I ripped that out after it was apparent 2 years ago that I wasn't going to finish it that way, and started quilting it by machine again.

And then I got a bit busy and it has sat in the cupboard until last week when I got all Brave and decided to finish it, once and for all.

It was rather a shame that I chose purple thread to do it in when I had my last attempt, as it shows every wiggle - you can see which lines were done at night when I was past it!!!  Definately not prizewinning material here!!!  No close inspections please lol!!!

But now, every thread is snipped, and it is ready to snuggle under come winter.
I cannot begin to express my relief at having this project done.  I guess now I'll be able to finish some of my other UFO's!!!  

The light in these next two photos has made the colours a little duller, but it is still nice.  Very nice.

Actually.

:-) 

What!! Learning in the Holidays???

I know, I know!  But we DO let our children continue to learn even when they are on holiday.

Radical I know!

(I am hoping you adopted just a hint of sarcasm as you read that...)

S cleaned out his room, and offloaded his carefully hoarded stash of science kits he'd been given to Z, who is having a blast!  Right up his alley!

So, he's made a propellor car (- that goes!), and then he used the Grow your own Crystals kit (as if we couldn't have used salt or washing soda as we've done before!) and is so excited at the growth of the crystals - and they started growing in just a couple of hours too!

And any kit is going to be way cooler than the salt  from the pantry if it contains...

Goggles.

Oh Yeah.

A must for my autumn wardrobe ;-)

To Be Continued... (I'll post some pics when it is all crystallised!)

:-)